119. Five Months of Cultivation

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119. Five Months of Cultivation

In the mountains, time loses its meaning; a thousand years may pass in the blink of an eye. Because Tong He was preoccupied with reshaping his own body, he had no time to spare to guide Qi Fei’s cultivation as he once did. Consequently, Qi Fei was forced to rely entirely on his own exploration to practice his techniques. Carefully cultivating this body-tempering method became his top priority. As a martial artist, one’s physical foundation is paramount, and having spent considerable time with Tong He, Qi Fei’s insight far exceeded that of ordinary practitioners.

Qi Fei retreated to the depths of the valley, practicing day and night, forgetting both food and sleep. In roughly five months, he successfully mastered the movements of this body-tempering manual, becoming quite proficient. However, he was still not entirely comfortable with the transitions and fluidity between the movements.

Deeply aware of the precious nature of this technique, Qi Fei viewed every obstacle as a form of training. He bore the daily agony of tendons being stretched and bones being forged without a single word of complaint, never once slacking in his efforts.

Even with such grueling training, Qi Fei could only execute two to five movements consecutively. Any further, and he would either be overwhelmed by the pain in his limbs or lose his balance and fall due to a clumsy transition.

Fortunately, over the course of these five months, this strange technique had rendered his entire body’s tendons and muscles incredibly resilient. The agonizing sensation of skin tearing had vanished completely. As for the perfect integration of the movements, it was likely merely a matter of insufficient familiarity. He believed that with continued practice, linking all ten postures would not be a difficult task. Five months passed in the blink of an eye, and the season of summer had arrived. Thinking it was time to check on Tong He, Qi Fei temporarily set aside his training and returned to the cave dwelling.

Upon opening the stone door and entering the blade storage chamber, he found a thin layer of dust covering the tables and floor. To his surprise, it seemed Tong He had not moved an inch in five months! He remained sitting cross-legged, his body rhythmically expanding and contracting, maintaining the exact same posture as before without any change.

Seeing this, Qi Fei shook his head helplessly and sighed with a touch of amusement, "Old man, I can't tell if you're digesting medicinal energy or preparing for the actual transformation. You haven't given a single hint; it’s truly impossible to fathom."

With that, Qi Fei turned and left the chamber. Tong He’s five months of motionless meditation had come without explanation, leaving Qi Fei unable to guess the details. However, seeing that Tong He showed no signs of distress, Qi Fei felt reassured. After all, no news was good news, and Tong He had left no specific instructions other than to keep watch.

If something were to go wrong within the half-year period, Qi Fei would have been completely at a loss, given his ignorance of the body-reshaping process. Now that everything appeared stable, he put his mind at ease and resumed his own cultivation.

Because Qi Fei had already mastered the individual movements, he found himself able to link more and more of them together through persistent practice. After another half month of focused effort, he finally succeeded in connecting all ten movements seamlessly. To his shock, he discovered that the transitions between these movements formed an incredibly profound set of footwork. Even when used in reverse, they could easily evade enemy attacks. Because the movements were so unorthodox, opponents would never anticipate such evasive maneuvers. Qi Fei had even tested this by having the Golden-Silver Wolf King attack him at will; he found that by randomly employing one of these ten postures, he could narrowly dodge the Wolf King's strikes with hair-breadth precision.

The Golden-Silver Wolf King had since advanced to an Eighth-Rank demonic beast, with significantly improved speed and aggression. Its attack angles were devious, yet even its naturally swift strikes could not touch him. It was clear that if used cleverly, this strange technique could easily bypass an opponent's defenses. Qi Fei even felt it would be highly effective in group melees. The fact that a body-tempering technique also possessed such evasive capabilities was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

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It seemed that the Body-Tempering Manual was not only essential for physical strengthening, but its tendon-stretching stage also offered profound benefits. This alone explained why the original owner of the cave had valued it enough to keep it in his study; it was truly a rare and remarkable cultivation technique. Naturally, having mastered these movements, Qi Fei did not dwell on them for too long. Having reached the mid-stage of bone-tempering, and without the worry of bottlenecks, he turned his focus to the next stage of the manual. The next stage, fittingly for his current level, was the method of bone-tempering.

Having entered the tendon-stretching stage, Qi Fei was delighted to find that the bone-tempering method was actually a highly aggressive set of fisticuffs: the Eight-Armed Wind-Thunder Fists! According to the book, this technique could temper every bone in the human body. Once mastered, it would signify reaching the peak of the late-stage bone-tempering realm, and if pushed to its limit, it could even be used to strike at the next realm: internal organ tempering.

Most surprisingly, Qi Fei realized that practicing this technique significantly boosted one’s raw physical strength. It was no longer just a method for bone-tempering; in terms of offensive power, it had reached the level of a true martial skill. Indeed, as Qi Fei read on, he noticed a few lines of tiny, fly-head-sized annotations beside the main text: "Eight-Armed Wind-Thunder Fists: the definitive method for bone-tempering, can also be utilized as a martial skill; rank approximately Mid-Tier Profound."

Clearly, these were the insights left by a previous reader. While this judgment might not have been made by the original owner of the cave and might not be perfectly accurate, even if the annotator had overestimated the grade, it should at the very least be a Low-Tier Profound martial skill. A Profound-grade skill was already a treasure worth hoarding by any major family, let alone one that served as the foundational bone-tempering step within the Body-Tempering Manual!

After realizing this, Qi Fei couldn't help but exclaim, "These Eight-Armed Wind-Thunder Fists are excellent!" But he immediately realized this was just one component of the manual, and he marveled at the treasure he had stumbled upon. If a single segment was this impressive, the entire Body-Tempering Manual, which encompassed the whole process, was invaluable. He realized then that for a martial artist, this library was worth more than the wealth and influence of entire great families combined.

However, these things now belonged to him. As long as he held onto this cave, the library would be an inexhaustible treasure trove. Setting those thoughts aside for now, Qi Fei calmed his mind and began to study the training methods and techniques of the Eight-Armed Wind-Thunder Fists. According to the book, the technique consisted of thirty-six movements in total, divided into four sets of eight. Mastering each set of eight corresponded to completing a minor stage of the bone-tempering realm. Mastering the first eight completed the early stage, the second eight completed the middle stage, and the final sixteen were for the late stage.

He had never encountered a realm defined by specific movements before, but given his comprehension and learning ability, Qi Fei felt he would soon master these thirty-six strikes.

Indeed, with his terrifying talent for martial arts, he had previously learned several Yellow-tier skills in a very short time. He possessed immense confidence in this regard. Yet, the Eight-Armed Wind-Thunder Fists were vastly different from ordinary skills. He spent over a month on the first eight movements alone and still had not fully mastered them. Every time he reached the fifth strike of the seventh layer, he felt an excruciating pain radiating from his bone marrow. Even someone as accustomed to pain as he was couldn't help but groan and collapse, forced to stop his training.

In the following days, Qi Fei cast aside all distractions, practicing the fists again and again as prescribed by the manual, hoping to force a breakthrough through sheer repetition, much like he had done with the tendon-stretching movements. Unfortunately, this method, which had never failed him before, yielded minimal results.

As he lived in a daze, the half-year period Tong He had mentioned quietly slipped away. On this day, Qi Fei was struggling with the fifth strike. He had almost mastered the first four, but five months of grueling effort had only yielded five movements comparable to a Profound-tier skill. In the past, he would never have believed such a long period of effort would yield so little.

Yet, the reality was as unyielding as steel. He had clearly underestimated the difficulty of the bone-tempering stage. Still, this objective reality did not discourage him. He had no intention of giving up. The spirit of a martial artist lay in facing difficulties head-on. Without the resolve to overcome all obstacles, one could never become a true powerhouse.

Fortunately, Qi Fei possessed such determination. Despite the bone-deep pain that persisted during his practice, he never yielded. He gritted his teeth and pushed through, just as he had endured the immense suffering while studying the foundations of the Yuqing Technique in the past. This new pain was not enough to make him retreat. However, this fifth strike was truly difficult; he had spent half a month on it and still couldn't find the key to mastering it.

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On this day, from the first light of dawn to the high noon sun, and then to the blood-red sunset, Qi Fei’s continuous, strenuous practice had not only failed to bring progress but had left him utterly exhausted. After catching and grilling a fish for dinner, he contemplated using the abundant vital energy within the fish meat to fuel his training. Just as this thought crossed his mind, a solemn yet familiar voice suddenly echoed from the sky above the valley: "Kid, I am about to reshape my body. If you are free, come and watch!"

"Old Man Tong He, is it finally time?" Looking toward the source of the voice, Qi Fei immediately abandoned his thoughts of the Eight-Armed Wind-Thunder Fists. He identified the direction and sprinted toward the cave. Though time in cultivation passed without notice, half a year had flickered by like passing clouds. When he arrived, he was nearly eighteen; now, his birthday was almost upon him.

Qi Fei sighed inwardly, his feet never slowing. Within half an incense stick’s time, he returned to the storage chamber. Tong He had ceased his meditation and was standing with his hands behind his back, gazing at the cave ceiling as if it held some captivating view. Only after Qi Fei spoke did Tong He turn back with a faint smile. "Kid, I am about to return to a mortal form. Are you prepared to protect me for a while?"

"Rest assured, Old Man Tong He. Although there is still much I do not understand, I at least have the ability to protect a few people in the Divine Continent," Qi Fei replied confidently, nearly thumping his chest. In truth, having reached the Innate Realm and believing his comprehensive strength rivaled that of the legendary immortal experts, protecting a few mortals in the Divine Continent was not a difficult task.

Tong He clearly understood Qi Fei’s current standing. Hearing this, he nodded. "Very well. Wait by my side and guard me. Reshaping my body will take five days and five nights."

"No problem," Qi Fei replied, though he was inwardly curious. How would Tong He reshape his body? His curiosity did not last long; Tong He beckoned, and a fish-white shadow suddenly darted out from somewhere. Qi Fei’s heart tightened. Wasn't that the evolved Flatfish Dragon that Tong He had killed earlier? Why was its body still here?

Soon, he had his answer. As the dragon fish carcass was drawn toward him, Tong He suddenly exhaled a white flame from his mouth—a fire he had never shown before. The moment it appeared, the temperature in the room soared, as if the very air were burning. However, as the flame enveloped the dragon fish, the temperature dropped, and the room returned to normal. The white flame did not extinguish; under Tong He’s control, it stabilized into a ball, continuously searing the dragon fish's body.

"Old Man Tong He, are you reshaping your body or refining pills? This looks exactly like the way you melt medicinal ingredients into liquid," Qi Fei asked in confusion. But he immediately sealed his lips, as Tong He was clearly in no state to converse.

The flame burning the dragon fish had a small tail that connected directly to Tong He’s mouth. It appeared as though Tong He were continuously exhaling the white flame to maintain its form. The more he observed, the more Qi Fei felt that what Tong He was doing was identical to his own pill-refining process. Of course, Tong He wasn't playing around. After pondering for a moment, Qi Fei concluded that Tong He was using a special technique to extract the vital energy from the dragon fish to reshape his own form through heaven-defying means.

Naturally, this was just a guess. The truth would only be revealed after five days and five nights.