Chapter 343: Great Hardening

"Great Hardening."

Li Rui murmured softly.

Hardening arts are among the most common external arts; not only do those who have entered the ranks of martial cultivators practice them, but even some physically robust individuals can dominate ordinary people after learning Hardening.

There are countless practitioners of Hardening across the land.

Not to mention distant examples—Tan Hu and Liu Tiezhu, both natural Vajras, both studied some Hardening, and it is especially common in armies like the Anning Guard; rumors say the northwestern frontier troops practice it even more.

Of course.

Besides Hardening, there are also Iron Shirt, Golden Bell Cover, and others.

Different sects vary in emphasis, especially Buddhist sects, which favor external arts focused purely on defense.

But by the middle to upper ranks, far fewer practitioners remain.

As for the Great Hardening mentioned by He Qianian, it remained unknown.

He Qianian's voice drifted like mist:

"My Great Hardening hinges on the word 'Great.' Those who practice mere external arts confine themselves to their own little patch—they lack vision."

"Others cultivate their bodies with the energy of heaven and earth, but since heaven rejects me, I shall cultivate it myself."

"Thus, after deep contemplation, I created this Great Hardening."

"I originally intended to pass it on to my disciples, but each of them cultivates both internal and external arts, and their external cultivation is truly mediocre—giving it to them would be useless."

"But you, boy, have some potential."

"Come, come, I'll teach you this Great Hardening right now."

Finished speaking.

He Qianian suddenly rose to his feet.

In an instant,

to Li Rui's eyes, he appeared like an ancient divine demon, his body radiating terrifying pressure—ordinary martial artists would likely collapse on the spot merely from sensing this aura.

His fist shot out like a dragon!

In an instant, He Qianian struck a thousand million times, so fast it defied comprehension—even Li Rui could barely see the motion.

The might of a Grand Master was fully revealed.

He was stunned.

Is this the power of a top-tier third-rank external cultivator?

He Qianian's fist intent flowed freely, harmonious and natural, each movement aided as if by divine force.

At this moment,

a sliver of moonlight appeared on the horizon.

A miraculous scene unfolded.

The cold moonlight seemed drawn to He Qianian, gathering around him, gradually increasing in volume.

Finally, it blazed like a sun, brilliant and dazzling.

Enveloping He Qianian!

Stirring celestial phenomena!

Li Rui's pupils contracted sharply.

A Tongxuan cultivator—terrifying indeed!

The entire process lasted an entire hour before He Qianian's fist movements gradually slowed and finally ceased.

The moonlight dispersed.

His hunched figure reappeared.

As if the previous scene had been nothing but a dream.

He Qianian's fist intent still lingered; his piercing gaze fixed on Li Rui, making one feel as if trapped in a ten-thousand-zhang ice cave.

"Have you learned it?"

His Great Hardening had no heart method, no incantation.

It was simply practice.

How much one grasped depended entirely on one's own destiny.

He had once taught this fist art to Xiao Yu, but Xiao Yu grasped not a single essence; enraged, He Qianian kicked him repeatedly, and since then, Xiao Yu, his most promising senior disciple, had never seen his master's good face again.

Li Rui closed his eyes and pondered.

He Qianian did not rush him, merely sat aside calmly sipping tea.

Another full hour passed.

Li Rui finally opened his eyes.

"I understand."

He Qianian grinned: "Then tell me, what exactly do you understand?"

Li Rui: "All along, external arts have been practiced wrongly."

He Qianian's face brightened: "Go on—where exactly is the mistake?"

Li Rui's expression was serious:

"Too gentle."

He Qianian's smile widened: "Explain—how is it too gentle?"

"Only focusing on your own cultivation will never make you a terrestrial immortal. You must seize—compete with fellow martial artists, seize from beasts and ghosts, if heaven won't give, then seize from heaven itself."

If you can't obtain it, then take it!

"Good."

"Excellent!"

He Qianian burst into loud laughter, his voice shaking even the disciples in the training hall.

Each wondered what could make the third-rank master so delighted.

Outside the courtyard gate,

several disciples drawn by He Qianian's laughter exchanged glances, asking Senior Brother Xiao Yu: "Senior Brother, what's wrong with Master? Why is he so happy?"

Xiao Yu gazed at the courtyard gate with a complex expression.

He already had a suspicion.

Five years ago, this same scene had occurred—back then, the man inside the courtyard was him.

But he had failed to comprehend his master's fist intent, and was ultimately kicked out.

Clearly,

Li Rui inside had succeeded.

'He truly is stronger than me.'

This was pure inferiority in skill; Xiao Yu had once had this chance himself and failed to seize it—now someone else had, and he felt no jealousy, only pure admiration.

Xiao Yu slowly told the disciple beside him: "Master has found his true successor."

Inside the courtyard,

He Qianian clutched his belly, laughing until tears streamed down his face, as if recalling something immensely amusing.

"Yes—you must seize!"

"If we martial cultivators lack even this vision, what's the point of practicing fist arts? Just pluck out your cock and become a woman!"

"Whoever won't give—go seize it!"

"Even heaven is no exception."

Seizing—that is the absolute essence of his Great Hardening.

Li Rui looked at He Qianian, bowed deeply, and paid his respects: "Thank you, Elder, for teaching me this fist art."

He Qianian waved his hand:

"It's your own ability—you don't need to thank me."

He was genuinely delighted.

One wrong step, and every step after is wrong.

He had lost the possibility of advancing further, but that didn't mean external arts were useless—he was determined to train a disciple who could kill with external arts alone.

Li Rui was quite good. "Master, please accept this bow from your disciple."

He Qianian had given him such great help—if Li Rui remained passive, he'd be utterly ungracious.

As Li Rui prepared to kneel, He Qianian intercepted him first: "I only taught you the fist art—I never said I'd take you as my disciple. If you truly wish to thank me, then train until you become a true first-rank terrestrial immortal, and let the world know external arts are no weaker than internal arts."

Li Rui took a deep breath:

"I'll do my best."

He Qianian nodded, even more satisfied with Li Rui.

Li Rui made no grand vows—he simply said what he could do.

That was good.

Very good.

This calm temperament, He Qianian liked more and more.

No error in any single word or detail!

The boy, aside from looking a bit old, has no major flaws!

At the other end.

Qinghe City, Huacai Residence, Heaven-Class Room No. 1.

A man in short, fitted training attire pounded loudly on the door.

Shortly after.

Song Shi opened the door and stepped out.

"Come in."

Saying this, he turned and walked back inside; the man outside was his trusted retainer, brought from the Song family.

The man entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Then he spoke: "Master, I and Er Er have inspected the Ten Thousand Mountains. That cult calls itself the Purple Gold Palace. We lay in wait outside for days, but there were Primordial Cultivators guarding it—we dared not approach."

Song Shi slightly narrowed his eyes.

Primordial Cultivators?

A little-known, obscure cult, guarded by Primordial Cultivators?

This display rivals even the imperial palace.

Strange.

Extremely strange.

"Could this be the work of a Banished Immortal?"

He had once accompanied Commander Yang Bing to handle a Banished Immortal incident; their methods were truly incomprehensible, so having Primordial Cultivators as gatekeepers didn't seem so implausible.

"Go investigate first."

Song Shi murmured thoughtfully.

The few men he brought were no weaklings—they were Sea-Viewing Cultivators.

But facing Primordial Experts, sending them would mean sending them to die—utterly useless; they could only observe from afar and gain no valuable intelligence.

Qinghe does have some Primordial Cultivators.

But they're all Elders of major sects—he can't command them.

As for the other covert agent in the city, the Mountain Seeker, he's only at Sea-Viewing level—useless.

"The Divine Concealment Technique is subtle; they won't detect me."

He mused to himself.

To become a covert agent, one must be chosen from thousands.

First and foremost, loyalty.

His lineage and background were spotless, and with excellent roots and mastery of lightness skills, he was selected as a covert agent, then gradually promoted to Dingshan Agent.

He naturally had confidence in his ability to survive.

Seeing Song Shi intended to act personally,

the Song family warrior hesitated: "Master, that Purple Gold Palace is deeply strange—why not summon help?"

Song Shi waved his hand:

"I'll decide for myself."

"Marvelous, marvelous."

In the courtyard.

Li Rui gripped the Immortal Blade, slashing and whirling it with its scabbard.

It was the Great Horizontal Training passed down by He Qian Nian, yet his movements bore no resemblance to He Qian Nian's form.

This was much like the old tales of Master Zhang and Young Zhang.

The faster you forget, the deeper you learn.

He Qian Nian was teaching Li Rui the ferocity of a martial artist fighting heaven and earth for fate—how could a cultivator compete if he lacked ferocity?

Li Rui had grasped the essence of Great Horizontal Training.

He no longer needed to be bound by forms—fist or blade, it was all the same.

After only a few days of practice,

Li Rui could clearly feel the power of Great Horizontal Training: stealing qi from heaven and earth, utterly unlike ordinary Primordial methods, yet accelerating the purification of his body.

He had only just broken through to the Primordial realm.

He was still in the first stage: Body Refinement.

With Great Horizontal Training aiding him, his cultivation speed would surely accelerate greatly.

With this Great Horizontal Training,

Li Rui's confidence in entering the Embryo Realm had grown immensely.

At this moment,

Tie Kuang sensed the commotion in the front courtyard and walked over.

After merely glancing a few times,

he recognized the exceptional nature of Li Rui's martial art and asked in surprise: "Boy, where did you learn this madman's technique?"

Li Rui's martial art

appeared utterly formless, yet gave off a sense of devouring heaven and swallowing earth.

Wasn't that madness?

But his standards were high—he could tell this art came from a master's hand.

Li Rui didn't hide it: "It was taught by Elder He of Qianhe Martial Hall."

Upon hearing it was passed down by He Qian Nian, Tie Kuang was no longer surprised.

He Qian Nian was a Third-Rank Earth Immortal.

To possess such skill was perfectly normal.

How could he fathom the methods of an Earth Immortal?

Li Rui: "Elder Tie, would you like to learn this martial art?"

Hearing this, Tie Kuang's eyes lit up: "I can learn it?"

Li Rui smiled: "Of course you can. Don't worry—Elder He said it's teachable."

Tie Kuang immediately grew enthusiastic and urged: "Quickly, give me the incantation!"

An hour later,

Tie Kuang grumbled back to the back courtyard's forge room,

utterly frustrated.

Some martial arts—even when right before you—still can't be learned.

Comparing oneself to others truly drives one mad.

(End of Chapter)