Chapter 153: Old Friends Reunited

(Recommendation: "Supreme God Position", everyone will surely like it! The same kind of exhilarating Immortal Sword novel!)

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, the power of your sword formation is truly immense! To think you turned that corpse into minced meat!"

Han Liang put away his Square Heaven Painted Halberd, his eyes filled with astonishment as he looked at Zhang Nuo. He had not expected that in just the three months since they had left the Trial Ground, the other party would have grown to such a degree. Even if he were to fight Gu Yu one-on-one, he might not necessarily fall behind!

"Indeed! Junior Brother Zhang, where did you learn this move? It's too powerful!"

At this moment, Chu Budong and the others also arrived at the side of the two, and the sounds of praise made Zhang Nuo feel somewhat embarrassed.

"So this was the surprise you had for us!"

Zhuge Qing also looked at Zhang Nuo with a smile as she spoke, but in her heart, she was shocked to the extreme. Zhang Nuo's growth speed was too astonishing; not only had his cultivation improved, but his attacks had also become extremely sharp!

It seems Nanxuan Laozu was right; even if this person does not have the destiny of the Killing, Breaking, and Wolf stars, based solely on his own growth, he will be enough to become a pillar of the Nanxuan Sect in the future!

At this time, the group of cultivators watching the excitement, seeing there was nothing left to see, flew back to the Tianjiang Trade Fair one after another. However, starting from the battle this evening, Zhang Nuo's name became known to everyone, especially his sword formation, which was rumored to be miraculous!

"Fellow Daoist Han, how did you end up clashing with Gu Yu?"

Zhuge Qing could never figure it out; she did not know why these two had started a war. However, the current result made her very satisfied. First, it helped Han Liang, which also fulfilled what she had said that day in the Trial Ground. Second, in this battle, Zhang Nuo had greatly saved face for the Nanxuan Sect.

In the end, Gu Yu left. Although he lost a Blood Corpse, Leng Xinghun would definitely not come knocking just because of one corpse.

"Sigh, it's a long story! After coming out of the Trial Ground and returning to the Wuji Sect, I told my master everything that happened inside. As a result, my master was furious and wanted to go settle the score with Leng Xinghun of the Corpse Refining Sect immediately, but fortunately, we all persuaded him otherwise!"

Everyone knows that Xiao Zhengxing has a fiery temper, but no one expected that he would disregard everything and go directly to find Leng Xinghun. This approach was too impulsive. If the other party insisted that Tie Lin had succeeded in forming his Golden Core on his own, and they had no evidence in their hands, they would surely end up with the reputation of being the ones who provoked the conflict.

"Then what happened later?"

Zhuge Qing asked with a cold expression.

"Later, after my master calmed down and thought about it carefully, he realized that going to their door was indeed not a solution. So he told us that we should find an opportunity in the future to deal with Gu Yu!"

When Han Liang said this, he made a downward slashing gesture with his palm. Zhuge Qing and the others were shocked; they hadn't expected Xiao Zhengxing to give such an order to his disciples. It seemed he was determined to fight the Corpse Refining Sect!

In fact, it was no wonder. Back in the Trial Ground, the Wuji Sect had lost the most disciples, and most of them had fallen at the hands of Tie Lin. How could he swallow this anger?

"So you started fighting as soon as you met Gu Yu today?"

Zhuge Qing said helplessly.

"Exactly. I brought more than ten fellow disciples, intending to attend the Tianjiang Trade Fair, but I didn't expect to run into Gu Yu. I immediately used every means to provoke him, and this kid actually took the bait, starting a duel with me right here. From the beginning of the duel, I didn't show any mercy! However, Fellow Daoist Zhang appeared later and helped me quite a bit; otherwise, Gu Yu's Blood Corpse would have been enough for me to deal with for a while!"

As he spoke, Han Liang's gaze fell upon Zhang Nuo, and the gratitude in his eyes deepened.

"This is not a place to talk. How about this, if Fellow Daoist Han doesn't mind, you can come to our lodging to rest!"

"That would be excellent! I am troubling the Young Sect Master!"

Han Liang cupped his fists toward Zhuge Qing, speaking words of thanks repeatedly. By now, the inns in the Tianjiang Trade Fair should be full; if not for Zhuge Qing taking them in, the people from the Wuji Sect would likely have to sleep on the streets!

"It is no trouble!"

With a faint smile, Zhuge Qing and the others led the Wuji Sect cultivators toward the small building where they were staying.

Since the second, third, and fourth floors of the small building were all booked by the Nanxuan Sect, with almost one room per person, Zhuge Qing had several men stay together to clear out a few rooms for the Wuji Sect members.

Han Liang was deeply grateful for this! For Zhuge Qing, these matters were just a small favor that cost no effort, and she could win the other party's favor; why wouldn't she do it?

Zhang Nuo's eyes rolled, and a thought arose in his heart. He immediately grabbed Han Liang and insisted on sharing a room with him. Out of gratitude for the help just now, Han Liang found it hard to refuse and had to stay with Zhang Nuo.

Zhuge Qing watched all this, feeling very puzzled. What was Zhang Nuo trying to do? Why did he insist on staying with Han Liang? Standing in place and thinking for a long time, she still couldn't figure out the reason. She shook her head helplessly before returning to her own room.

At this time, in Zhang Nuo's room, he and Han Liang sat opposite each other. They first chatted about the Trial Ground, then discussed the battle with Gu Yu just now, and finally, Zhang Nuo actually asked about the Body Refining Technique.

Only then did Han Liang finally understand why Zhang Nuo insisted on staying with him; it turned out the other party wanted to learn about body refining.

After carefully observing Zhang Nuo for a long time, Han Liang asked with some confusion:

"Does Fellow Daoist Zhang also want to learn the Body Refining Technique?"

One must know that there is a great difference between a Body Cultivator and a Dharma Cultivator. Body Cultivators mainly focus on strengthening their physical bodies and rely very little on things like Magic Treasures. Even without Magic Treasures, they can continue to fight based solely on the toughness of their bodies. However, Dharma Cultivators are completely different; all their supernatural powers are in their Magic Treasures. Once they lose their Magic Treasures, it is equivalent to losing their combat effectiveness.

Hearing Zhang Nuo ask about body refining, Han Liang thought the other party wanted to switch from being a Dharma Cultivator to a Body Cultivator. As for Dharma-Body Dual Cultivation, he hadn't even thought about it! After all, it was too difficult. A person's energy is limited; just like Gu Yu, who put all his energy into making corpses, his own strength had greatly declined.

"Fellow Daoist Han, don't misunderstand. I have no such intention. It's just that I have encountered some problems in my cultivation recently and wanted to learn from the experience of body refining, hoping it might resolve the doubts in my heart."

Zhang Nuo naturally wouldn't tell Han Liang the truth, so he found a reason and spoke nonsense.

"So that's how it is! Actually, there isn't much to say about this. Like Dharma Cultivators, we Body Refining Cultivators must absorb external Spiritual Qi and then continuously temper our bodies through cultivation techniques. In general..."

Han Liang did not hide anything and spoke endlessly about his experience in body refining. It was the first time Zhang Nuo had heard about the cultivation process of a Body Cultivator, so he listened with full concentration, unwilling to miss any detail.

Time passed until late at night. Han Liang had told Zhang Nuo a lot in one breath, and Zhang Nuo remembered it all in his heart. Finally, Zhang Nuo asked:

"Is there a type of body refining technique that can refine a certain object into the body and then use this object to temper the body?"

"Of course there is. This is also a common method in the Body Refining Technique, but to refine an object into the body, one must have the cultivation of the Golden Core Stage. Otherwise, without the cultivation of Pill Fire, we cannot do it with our current cultivation!"

Han Liang's words made Zhang Nuo gasp. According to what he said, one cannot refine an object into the body without entering the Golden Core Stage. The body refining technique he bought earlier clearly required refining 'Red Glow Fire' into the body and then using the power of this fire to temper the body. But without entering the Golden Core Stage, how could one refine the fire seed of 'Red Glow Fire' into the body?

When he bought the technique, the skinny stall owner clearly said this body refining technique was for the Foundation Establishment Stage. Could the other party be lying? But according to the Jade Slip of the technique, every step of cultivation started from the Foundation Establishment Stage! And it was logical! How could this be explained?

After thinking hard for a long time, Zhang Nuo still couldn't figure it out. However, he couldn't ask Han Liang directly about these problems, so he had to keep the questions in his heart and wait until the Tianjiang Trade Fair ended to find the skinny stall owner and ask him properly!

The two talked almost all night. As soon as the sky turned bright, Han Liang got up to say goodbye and took the Wuji Sect cultivators to the trade fair to buy things. Zhang Nuo sat cross-legged on the bed alone, carefully recalling what Han Liang had said about body refining last night, and felt he had a bit of a grasp on it.

It seems this body refining matter is also extremely complex, even more difficult than being a Dharma Cultivator. After all, a Dharma Cultivator only needs a good Magic Treasure to roam the world, but a Body Cultivator can only repeatedly temper their own body to make it stronger!

No wonder Chunyangzi strongly opposed it when Zhang Nuo first proposed Dharma-Body Dual Cultivation. It seems Chunyangzi was right; if one attempts Dharma-Body Dual Cultivation and fails, the result is both sides suffering and achieving nothing!

But Zhang Nuo had his own plans. He didn't want to cultivate the Body Refining Technique to be incredibly strong; he just needed to be able to withstand the impact of his Spiritual Qi vortex on his meridians!

Looking at the sunlight outside the window, Zhang Nuo was lost in thought for a moment. His own cultivation had already encountered such a big obstacle; how do the Nascent Soul Stage monsters like Nanxuan Laozu cultivate?

It seems the saying "Cultivation is difficult, more difficult than ascending to the blue sky" is very reasonable! Even for someone like Zhuge Qing, whose natural talent is excellent, she still needed countless Pills to assist her when breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage. For someone with poor talent like Zhang Nuo, if not for the Nine Dragon Sword Case and Chunyangzi's guidance, he probably wouldn't even touch the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage for decades!

Thinking of this, Zhang Nuo gave a bitter smile, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, muttering to himself:

"Since I have stepped onto this road of no return, I cannot turn back!"

"What is it that makes you unable to turn back?"

Just as Zhang Nuo's voice fell, a voice like heavenly music suddenly rang out from outside the door! Without looking, he knew it was Zhuge Qing who had come again!