The horizon began to glow white as a ray of the morning sun shone through the narrow passage of the village, illuminating Xu Yan, who was in the midst of his cultivation.
As always, Xu Yan had risen before the break of dawn to practice cultivation. His heart was filled with excitement at this moment. As his vital energy circulated, his skin tightened at one point, producing a cracking sound, similar to a guitar string being rapidly tightened, resounding sharply.
His skin seemed seamless and round in that instant.
His power had grown stronger, and his vital energy had ascended instantaneously.
His Skin Refinement was completed!
"Twenty days! It took me twenty days to finally complete skin refinement. Though I am far from the prodigies of the past, I am now among the ranks of the prodigies!" he thought.
"Once I refine the Golden Bone, I won't be inferior to the prodigies of the past!"
With overwhelming excitement, Xu Yan lifted his hands and clenched his fists, feeling an immense power radiating from within.
Even when unarmed, he was virtually fearless against swords!
He could now easily take on hundreds of adversaries single-handedly!
Yet, this is merely the result of completing the Skin Refinement, which is the most basic stage of the foundational realm!
"I'll settle down today and start Bone Refinement tomorrow!"
Xu Yan finished his cultivation practice, picked up a hoe, went to plant vegetables, and feed the chickens. He relaxed the spirit, preparing for the Bone Refinement tomorrow.
He remembered his Master's teachings, to combine work with rest, and to keep calm!
After waking up and freshening up, Li Xuan left his house only to find, to his surprise, that Xu Yan wasn't practicing cultivation!
For the first time since he was accepted as a disciple, Xu Yan wasn't practicing cultivation early in the morning!
"What's going on? Did he give up?"
"Impossible! Just yesterday, he was still practicing diligently. Did he suddenly give up?"
Li Xuan's understanding of Xu Yan over the past few days suggested that Xu Yan was a man of singular focus and not very bright, so it's unlikely he would just give up abruptly.
Li Xuan went to check on the chicken coop, where the chickens had just been fed, and saw Xu Yan weeding in the vegetable garden from a distance.
So, he walked over.
"Master!" Xu Yan greeted respectfully.
"Hmm…not bad. You are calm and composed and have managed to keep the vegetable garden neat and orderly…" Li Xuan glanced at the vegetable garden, somewhat surprised to find all weeds gone and vegetables growing well, even better than when he was tending it himself!
"It's all thanks to Master's excellent guidance."
"Why did you decide to come weed the vegetable garden so early this morning?"
Li Xuan came to inquire why Xu Yan wasn't practicing cultivation that morning.
From what he observed so far, Xu Yan didn't seem like he'd given up.
"Following Master's teaching about balancing work and rest, I am settling down, preparing for strenuous training ahead." Xu Yan responded respectfully.
Li Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. Indeed, Xu Yan had not given up but was simply calming himself before resuming practice and intuiting the flow of energy.
A person of such singular focus wouldn't easily give up.
Li Xuan then left with a satisfied smile on his face, "I am reassured to see your profound understanding".
Xu Yan was extraordinarily ecstatic. He secretly thought, "Indeed, it was the right choice. After completing the Skin Refinement, not rushing straight into Bone Refinement but to give the mind and spirit a break proves it as the correct path in cultivation!"
"Maintain a good mindset, neither proud nor impatient, and success will certainly follow!"
Li Xuan encouraged before he left.
He made a round in the village. Ever since the death of the last elder in the village, the houses in the village had become dilapidated.
Several houses had been converted into chicken coops by him, and the rest had been overrun with weeds.
"How did Xu Yan get through the Evil Forest? Was it due to sheer luck, narrowly avoiding the ferocious beasts?"
"I can't always be trapped in the village, there has to be a way. The breakthrough is with Xu Yan..."
Li Xuan pondered deeply in his heart.
"As a transmigrator, it's really pathetic that I can't even leave the beginner's village!"
Li Xuan lamented.
…
The next day.
Before dawn, Xu Yan had already got up to practice.
"The vital energy permeates the bones, polishing them...Although this is slightly different than skin refinement, the principles are similar. My goal is to obtain golden bones, only by doing that can I rival the prodigies of old."
Xu Yan's gaze was resolute.
"Although Master doesn't articulate this, he surely hopes that I can forge the golden bones. Only by rivalling those prodigies of old can I be worthy of being his successor!"
"As for jade bones, Master says that it can't be achieved by sheer persistence or talent alone…I'll do my best. If I can form jade bones, I will inevitably surpass those prodigies of old!"
The challenge of creating jade bones is too high, and it can't be achieved through talent or perseverance alone, so Xu Yan's primary goal is to create golden bones!
Xu Yan circulates his vital energy, which begins to slowly seep into his bones. At a certain moment, it feels like his whole skeleton is being nibbled at by ants, it's itchy and uncomfortable!
"The vital energy has seeped into my bones and is in the process of refining them. I didn't expect this feeling!"
Xu Yan gritted his teeth and persisted.
"No wonder Master said that to form golden bones requires a combination of talent, persistence, and determination. Just the beginning of bone refinement is this difficult, it's clear that once I reach the stage of golden bones and the energy seeps into the marrow, the feeling will be even more unbearable!"
With his whole skeleton feeling itchy as if ants were crawling all over, sweat started appearing on Xu Yan's forehead. Despite this, he gritted his teeth and persisted, his gaze firm. He will persevere no matter how unbearable it is.
Fortunately, as the vital energy continued to seep in, after enduring the initial stage, the itchy feeling and sensation of ants crawling reduced.
What followed was a sense of his bones being tempered. It was similar to skin tempering but much more difficult.
The process of vital energy seeping into the bones for tempering was extremely slow. It remained on the surface of the bones and couldn't penetrate deeper.
At this moment, Xu Yan realised that the difficulty of bone refinement was far beyond his imagination.
No wonder there were so few who could form golden bones.
Li Xuan came out of the house and instantly saw Xu Yan in the midst of his practice. He nodded, a stubborn person indeed wouldn't give up easily.
He's maintaining a good attitude!
Xu Yan, from the corner of his eye, saw his Master's nod and his heart instantly stirred.
"Master must be acknowledging that I've endured the pain of bone refinement and persevered!"
"I must persist! Persist! No matter how great the pain, I must persist and never give up!"
Xu Yan encouraged himself in his heart.
He continues to temper his bones. As more and more vital energy seeps in, covering his bones and constantly refining them, the feeling of ants crawling disappears.
But, a sensation similar to the friction of sand appeared.
Sweat appeared on Xu Yan's forehead but he clenched his teeth, keeping quiet and continued with the tempering.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but the sensation of sand grinding his bones grew stronger. Xu Yan felt that he was nearing his limit.
Sweat dripped constantly from his forehead.
Li Xuan, who was lying in a chair under the tree, looked at the time and then at Xu Yan.
"It's almost time for lunch, what's with my disciple today? Has he forgotten about time? He should be cooking by now!"
So Li Xuan voiced out: "All right, go and cook. It's late!"
At his words, Xu Yan was instantly startled, he began to cease his exercise and the sensation of sand rubbing against his bones gradually disappeared.
At that moment, he felt extremely touched, "Master must have figured out that I've reached my limit, so he told me to take a break."
"Yes, Master!"
Respectfully, Xu Yan ended his exercise.
ps: Seeking continued following, votes, and all else