Chapter 66 - 66: Body Tempering, Spirit Refinement, Reading, Meeting the Demon Lady Again
The night was boundless, and the stars were like flying shuttles.
It was as dark as ink, and the moonlight was thin and cold.
In the small courtyard, the quiet Ninth Prince, Zhao Xianyou, had already left.
An Le sat quietly on the small chair with a contemplative expression on his face, as if he was thinking about the Ninth Prince’s motive for looking for him. Was it really as simple as drinking?
Just as Qin Qianqiu had once tried to recruit him, An Le originally thought that this Ninth Prince would also recruit him as an advisor. Unexpectedly, the other party seemed to be just here to drink and observe Green Mountain.
Perhaps the other party knew that Green Mountain had released sword qi in front of the Martial Chief Stone. That was why the other party had come to visit Green Mountain. Seeing that Green Mountain was not suitable, he did not force it and did not snatch it.
An Le admired the Ninth Prince’s carefree attitude and elegance.
Although his otherworldly temperament seemed to be very difficult to approach, after drinking a cup of yellow wine, they were still chatting happily.
In this world, having one more friend was better than having one more enemy.
An Le stood up and cleaned up the mess. He moved the flowers and potted plants to a corner and stood in the courtyard. He swiped his sword at the Ink Pool Sword at his waist. The Ink Pool Sword swept out and stabbed into the old locust tree.
Now, there were two sword pits on the old locust tree. One belonged to the Ink Pool Sword, and the other belonged to Green Mountain. It could be considered that when he was practicing the Five Animals, the two swords had a place to settle down.
An Le did not make additional holes. After all, he was afraid of stabbing the old locust tree to death.
Standing in the middle of the courtyard, An Le took a deep breath. With a thought, a light screen appeared in front of him.
[Name: An Le]
[Age Qi: o wisps]
[Age Dao Fruit: Thousand-year Genius (Molten Gold Age Qi 0/2 wisps, 25/100 wisps), Innate Swordsman (3/100 wisps), Collapsing Sword Force (5/10 wisps), Trance, Fearless Heart, Demon Tempering Treasure Jade]
[Cultivation Technique: Sword Waterfall Diagram (1 wisp), Qi Drawing Breathing Technique (1 wisp)]
[Skill: Ancient Demon Five Animals Scripture (21 wisps), Zhao Zu’s Long Fist (Incomplete) (1 wisp)]
His eyes sparkled as his gaze landed on the skill column. The original Five Animals Body Tempering had been replaced by the Ancient Demon Five
Animals Scripture. Furthermore, the augmented Age Qi had not changed.
This allowed An Le to accept the replacement of this technique without any obstacles.
In the quiet courtyard, An Le closed his eyes, and the Qi Blood on his skin began to surge!
The Demon Tempering Treasure Jade on his waist suddenly emitted an extremely dense demon qi. The demon qi rose and wrapped around An Le’s body.
Under the tempering of demon qi, An Le played the role of refining the Five Animals!
The moment he opened his eyes, the entire small courtyard seemed to tremble slightly. As he practiced the Tiger Form, the scene of the ancient demon tiger appeared in front of him. Slapping, pouncing, charging, smashing, and other Tiger Form movements became even more ferocious!
As the demon qi refined, An Le’s blood qi circulated faster, surging like a river.
His skin, meridians, and Spirit Bone were all enduring a huge tempering.
Vague heat waves spread from An Le’s body, steaming up the cold spring night!
Qi Blood surged and seemed to form a vibrant demon tiger. Its sharp teeth were like two sharp knives that could tear everything apart!
As it roared, it shook off ten thousand feet of stars!
The Spirit Bone emitted an explosive sound as its five fingers curled slightly. As it struck out, the qi currents seemed to be shattered, and Qi Blood condensed into the phantom of the demon tiger, carrying a power that shook one’s mental power.
On his body, Qi Blood intertwined to form a faint scripture circulation, augmented by the ancient demon tiger phenomenon.
The Demon Tempering Treasure Jade trembled violently as the demon qi was continuously extracted. The demon qi patterns on it began to disappear one after another.
This time, the Demon Five Animals’ practice used more demon qi than the previous times combined.
With the enhancement of the [Thousand-year Genius] Dao Fruit, An Le felt that his comprehension of the Ancient Demon Five Animals had deepened, and the scriptures on his body gradually became clearer.
During the practice of the Ancient Demon Five Animals, his heart meridians were pumping. As they spewed out, the force was like a flood. His Qi Blood was constantly washed away, and the essence seeped out of his Spirit Bone. It was mixed with his Qi Blood and gathered in his dantian.
His dantian was like a furnace, and his Qi Blood was like boiling fire. As his Qi Blood surged, it gradually condensed.
As long as he continued to refine it, the dense blood qi would condense into a core. It meant that An Le had stepped into the third realm of Body Tempering, the Inner Core Condensation!
For a moment, An Le’s fighting spirit was high. He wore the starry moonlight and cultivated continuously.
In the center of the Sword Furnace, there was a sonorous sound. His dantian was like a furnace, and his Qi Blood surged!
Qingbo Street, Imperial Ancestral Temple.
The door opened.
Zhao Huangting stood with a bamboo cane in his hand. Opposite him was Zhao Xianyou, who was dressed in luxurious clothes and had loose hair.
Perhaps because the knot in his heart had been resolved, Zhao Xianyou came to see Zhao Huangting and said a lot.
He cupped his fists and floated into the mortal world, disappearing into the night.
Zhao Huangting retracted his gaze with a strange expression. He did not expect Zhao Xianyou to be with An Le and drink the old yellow wine with him.
“However, that’s good too. A high and mighty immortal will become heartless or even heartless after being immortal for a long time. Only by making one or two good friends and savoring the life of the mortal world can one maintain one’s original heart and not be destroyed.”
Zhao Huangting said calmly, his long eyebrows blowing in the night wind.
Suddenly, he thought of something. He looked at Zhao Xianyou’s direction and let out a long sigh.
“The so-called mortal immortal is just a pitiful person.”
Retracting his gaze, Zhao Huangting narrowed his eyes and looked into Imperial Ancestral Temple Alley.
“Good lord, he’s gained a lot from taking a look at the Martial Chief Stone. Is this still the Five Animals Body Tempering Technique? Changing the mortal beasts of the Five Animals to ancient peerless ferocious demon beasts… This group of Martial Temple martial artists really knows how to play. Even thousand-year-old demons will cry when they see it!”
“If this Ancient Demon Five Animals cultivation technique is placed in the
Demon Race’s Kun Peng Mountain, it will probably be considered a top-notch
Body Tempering cultivation technique.”
Zhao Huangting stroked his beard and suddenly raised his hand. Sword qi flew like starlight and intertwined above the small courtyard. With the sword qi as ink, it was like a painting scroll.
He completely suppressed the movements of An Le’s Ancient Demon Five Animals.
He wanted to prevent such a commotion from attracting the attention of some experts and disturbing his peace.
The spring rain was like a young girl’s emotions. It was unpredictable. After three consecutive days of drizzle, it finally cleared up for another three days.
Six days passed in the blink of an eye.
An Le was still practicing the Ancient Demon Five Animals Scripture in the small courtyard. Strictly speaking, this was his first time cultivating in seclusion. As Madam Hua had given him a break, it was fine if he did not go to the Lin Residence to paint.
Therefore, for the past few days, An Le had stayed in the small courtyard and used the demon qi in the Demon Tempering Treasure Jade to temper his body. He practiced the Ancient Demon Five Animals to temper his body and wanted to break through to the Body Tempering Inner Core realm!
The entire day was arranged. He woke up in the morning to practice the Five Animals. Even though the spring rain was pattering, he did not stop and bathed in the spring rain to practice martial arts.
In the evening, he drank old yellow wine with the old man of the Imperial Ancestral Temple or Zhao Xianyou who occasionally came to freeload. After taking a wisp of Age Qi, he began to sit cross-legged and visualize the Sword Waterfall Diagram. He refined his Shedding Mortality mental power. Sometimes, he painted to tidy his mental state, and sometimes, he comprehended Sword Qi Draws Near.
When night fell, he held the candlelight and sat upright in front of the window. Accompanied by the spring rain or the bright moon and starlight, he read for four hours. He flipped through the necessary books like “Literary Words” and “Spring Autumn” to prepare for the Imperial Examination’s Spring Quarter Examination.
Body Tempering, Spirit Refinement, and reading. These were his tasks for the moment.
Although it had not been long since An Le broke through to the second realm of
Body Tempering to forge the Spirit Bone, An Le had obtained the Green Mountain sword qi and the Martial Chief Stone’s Qi Blood to cleanse his body and make up for his original flaw.
With the enhancement of the Thousand-year Genius Dao Fruit, An Le’s comprehension and talent improved rapidly!
His dantian was like a furnace, refining Qi Blood and the essence of his body, making it as thick as glue. There was a faint sign of condensation. He was only a step away from forming a core.
It could be said that An Le could step into the third realm of Body Tempering at any time.
Another day of spring rain.
The morning breeze blew over with a cold intent. An Le came to the center of the courtyard, his Qi Blood surging as he practiced the Ancient Demon Five Animals. The scriptures on his body were faintly discernible.
However, An Le did not practice for long this morning. He retracted his Qi Blood and changed into a clean white robe. He took out the Green Mountain and Ink Pool Sword from the old locust tree.
An Le opened the oil-paper umbrella and left the small courtyard.
It was not that An Le did not want to go into seclusion, but the Spring Quarter Examination was imminent. As an imperial examination candidate who had entered Lin’an to take the examination, An Le had to register at the Gong Hall today and receive his examination pass.
If one did not have an examination pass, they would not be able to enter the examination hall of the Gong Hall and would lose the chance to participate in the Spring Quarter Examination.
There was another reason. An Le had been in seclusion to cultivate Body
Tempering for the past few days. Other than coming into contact with Zhao Xianyou, who occasionally came to freeload wine, and drawing eight wisps of Age Qi from him, there was no more Age Qi.
None of the eight wisps of Age Qi drawn from Zhao Xianyou’s body were Molten Gold Age Qi. This made An Le intuitively feel that his luck was bad. Or could it be that Zhao Xianyou was too immortal and did not have any experiences?
During this process, An Le also tried to obtain Age Qi from the old man of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, but he failed. This old senior’s cultivation was still unfathomable.
Today, An Le planned to make a trip to the Lin Residence after receiving the examination token. He would replenish some Age Qi while painting.
After leaving the small courtyard, he walked in the Imperial Ancestral Temple Alley. Stepping on the moist limestone, rain fell from the sky and dripped onto the umbrella, making a crisp sound.
Suddenly, An Le stopped in his tracks. The Demon Tempering Treasure Jade at his waist trembled slightly. He sensed something and raised the umbrella curtain slightly to look up.
At the entrance of Imperial Ancestral Temple Alley, a woman wearing rough clothes that could not hide her impressive figure was slowly walking towards the alley with an oil-paper umbrella.
The Demon Tempering Treasure Jade that had been squeezed dry by An Le at her waist kept absorbing wisps of demon qi from the woman.
An Le was slightly stunned because he realized that this woman was the squirrel demoness who had sold him the small courtyard back then.
The woman also saw the white-robed young man walking out of the alley. She raised the umbrella curtain and took a look.
The ancient demon phenomenon that An Le emitted on the surface of his body…
It made the woman’s plump legs start to tremble uncontrollably..