Chapter 212: Above is hard-body, below is body-tempering

A quarter of an hour later!

Yu Yongnian came out of the separate courtyard, and Lin Chen was already waiting at the entrance of the separate courtyard.

"Let's go, go see Teacher."

Yu Yongnian took Lin Chen toward the central area of the mansion, but when they were halfway there, they met Huang Fenghua again.

"Yu Shidi, Teacher is in the back courtyard."

"Back courtyard?"

"Hmm, Teacher said that since we are all family, it won't be so formal."

Huang Fenghua explained. If they were outsiders, it would naturally be in the front hall, but Yu Yongnian was a disciple, and Lin Chen was considered Yu Yongnian's disciple, so they were family.

Being family, it was naturally more intimate in the back courtyard area.

"Good."

Yu Yongnian nodded. The two followed Huang Fenghua toward the Huang family back courtyard, passed through several separate courtyards, and finally arrived at a relatively quiet separate courtyard.

"Teacher likes quiet and generally lives here. Even for us disciples, we are not allowed to disturb Teacher without reason. Many times when there are cultivation problems, we mostly ask the First Lin Lin Shixiong."

Huang Fenghua turned back and explained with a smile. This wasn't said for Yu Yongnian to hear, but to explain to Lin Chen. As a disciple, Yu Yongnian naturally knew his teacher's habits.

"Teacher, Yu Shidi and Lin Shizhi have arrived."

In front of the courtyard gate, Huang Fenghua spoke loudly. Soon, someone spoke. Seeing the middle-aged man who opened the door, Huang Fenghua immediately said: "Second Lin Lin Shixiong."

"Father is just talking about you. Come in quickly."

Huang Kun's gaze passed over Huang Fenghua and looked at Lin Chen, who was standing behind Yu Yongnian, but he only took a glance before withdrawing his gaze.

"Lin Chen, this is my Second Lin Lin Shixiong, and also the Young Master of the Huang family."

Yu Yongnian introduced Huang Kun's identity to Lin Chen. Lin Chen had a count in his heart; of the Huang family head's several disciples, this was his biological son.

"Lin Chen has met the Second Senior Uncle."

"Haha, no need for formalities. I have heard your name many times recently. You have truly brought glory to our Jiangnan Dao. Now, who still says that the younger generation of my Jiangnan Dao is inferior to other provinces?"

Huang Kun spoke with a smile. Before Lin Chen could speak, Yu Yongnian said first: "Second Lin Lin Shixiong, don't praise him anymore. There are many people praising him during this period. If you praise him anymore, I'm afraid he will fly to the sky."

"Yu Shidi, you are wrong. If you have ability and skill, you should be praised. Is this an achievement that can be obtained just by praising? To say something shameful, when I was in the Acupuncture Stage back then, I also thought about leaving my name on Mount Wudao, but let alone leaving my name on Mount Wudao, I couldn't even stand on the steps of the same stage. Leaving your name on Mount Wudao once is very difficult, let alone leaving your name seven times like Lin Chen, creating the record for leaving names on Mount Wudao in our Daliang."

"Second Lin Lin Shixiong is right. If this were my son, I'm afraid I would be beating drums and gongs, setting up a running banquet for several days and nights, and I would have to say it once every time I met someone. If anyone asked me if I had eaten today, I would have to reply: How did you know that my son, who left his name on Mount Wudao seven times, hasn't eaten today?"

Hearing Huang Fenghua's words, Lin Chen smiled. The words of this Fifth Senior Uncle reminded him of the fishermen in his previous life. When they caught a twenty-jin big fish, no matter what others asked, the answer was always twenty jin.

"What are you all saying at the door? Why don't you come in quickly."

In the courtyard, an old voice came. Huang Kun hurriedly said: "Come in. Father must be waiting anxiously."

Several people entered the courtyard. Lin Chen saw at a glance the old man standing under a guest-welcoming pine in the middle of the courtyard. The old man was in high spirits, his eyes were bright and piercing, and he was different from the old seniors Lin Chen had seen in the past. He only wore a tight-fitting suit, and the arms exposed outside were not withered but had distinct lines, showing no signs of old age at all.

"Father, Yu Shidi and Lin Chen have arrived."

"This disciple has met Teacher."

"Lin Chen has met the Grand-Teacher."

Huang Yuanliang stroked his beard and said with a chuckle: "We are all family, no need to be so formal."

"Yongnian, this time you have obtained the seventh-rank official position. After going to the Education Pavilion of the Wuzheng Office, entering the Ranked Tier is no problem, but just entering the Ranked Tier is a bit of a waste of this opportunity. Teacher has prepared some things for you, which can help you break through to the eighth rank in one go in the Education Pavilion."

Yu Yongnian was stunned, not expecting his teacher to consider him like this.

"This disciple..."

"Don't be in a hurry to be grateful. The Education Pavilion is used by the Wuzheng Office to reward those who have made contributions to education. Going to the Education Pavilion can indeed enter the Ranked Tier, but the subsequent potential will be gone. This means that if you are ninth rank when you come out of the Education Pavilion, you can only be ninth rank in this life. If you are eighth rank, you will also be stuck at the eighth rank stage for life. Have you thought it through?"

Lin Chen, who was on the side, heard this, and there was a thoughtful look in his eyes. Only then did it seem somewhat reasonable.

Otherwise, the Wuzheng Office had the means to let martial artists enter the Ranked Tier, and martial artists wouldn't be so difficult to enter the Ranked Tier.

Entering the 【Education Pavilion】 was a shortcut, but the price was losing the potential to go further in the Martial Way.

"This disciple will be very satisfied if I can be ninth rank."

Yu Yongnian's expression was not surprised. He had already heard from his Shijie about the situation in the Education Pavilion. There was no potential for subsequent cultivation in the Martial Way. It seemed like a high price, but he was already over thirty. Relying on his own normal cultivation, he would at most reach the ninth rank.

"Hmm, it's good that you can understand the joints in this."

Huang Yuanliang nodded. Yongnian's martial arts potential was just like this. Breaking through to the eighth rank more than ten years in advance was at least better than cultivating until his blood energy began to decline and still not necessarily being able to break through to the eighth rank. Going to the Education Pavilion was indeed a better choice.

Turning his gaze to Lin Chen, Huang Yuanliang's face showed a smile: "Grand-Teacher will not praise you. Your two Senior Uncles have already praised you enough. This time I let Yongnian bring you here, not just to meet you and see what a genius who left his name on Mount Wudao seven times looks like, but also to give you a fortune."

Straight to the point!

Huang Yuanliang didn't sell any suspense, and didn't even test Lin Chen's attitude toward the Huang family. Huang Kun's expression on the side remained unchanged; he already knew his father's arrangement.

"Grand-Teacher..."

Lin Chen was about to speak, but Huang Yuanliang waved his hand, signaling Lin Chen to listen to him finish.

"Grand-Teacher asks you one sentence: to what layer have you cultivated the Zhenyue Manual now?"

"The second layer."

"When did you break through to the second layer?"

"When I left my name on Mount Wudao for the first time."

Hearing Lin Chen's answer, Huang Kun's pupils on the side shrank. He finally understood how big the difference was between his and his father's vision.

Lin Chen left his name on Mount Wudao for the first time, but it was only a few days away from the Wuzheng Office coming to borrow the Zhenyue Manual technique. This meant that Lin Chen had cultivated the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer in a very short time.

He knew very well how difficult it was to cultivate the Zhenyue Manual. He had the family's resources to assist in cultivating the Zhenyue Manual. Just the first layer took three years, which was the perfection of the Iron Bone Skill. After that, he cultivated for another four years before cultivating the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer.

He spent a total of seven years to cultivate the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer, while Lin Chen only spent less than a year to cultivate the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer, which was enough to prove how terrifying and astonishing Lin Chen's talent in the Zhenyue Manual was.

Even if Lin Chen left his name on Mount Wudao seven times, he hadn't thought that Lin Chen had already cultivated the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer.

"Just as Grand-Teacher expected."

Huang Yuanliang's eyes also had a glimmer of light. He had expected that Lin Chen had already cultivated the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer, which was why he let Yongnian bring Lin Chen to the Huang family. But he hadn't expected that Lin Chen had cultivated the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer so early.

The Organ Cultivation Stage was not the requirement to enter the ancestral land; the second layer of the Zhenyue Manual was.

He estimated that with Lin Chen's martial arts talent, when he reached the Organ Cultivation Stage, he might have cultivated the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer.

"Haha, you gave Grand-Teacher a surprise. Grand-Teacher is now even more confident in the fortune you will obtain this time."

Huang Yuanliang laughed loudly and scanned the other people on the scene: "You are not outsiders either, so I won't hide it from you. My Huang family ancestor comprehended the Zhenyue Manual here back then. After that, the Huang family began to settle here. Besides the reason that the ancestor liked Mount Huang, there was another reason, which was that in this Mount Huang, there was a place where a fortune was hidden."

Speaking out the Huang family's secret on the spot, Huang Yuanliang had also thought it through carefully. Lin Chen was going to enter the ancestral land, and with Lin Chen and Yongnian's master-disciple relationship, Yongnian would know sooner or later. As for Fenghua, he wasn't an outsider either, and was also a Huang family clansman.

Hearing this, except for Huang Kun, the three of them pricked up their ears to listen.

"But taking this fortune is not an easy matter. It can only be entered once every twenty years. Regardless of whether one can obtain the fortune, to enter again next time, one needs to wait another twenty years." Huang Yuanliang scanned the crowd, and finally his gaze fell on Lin Chen: "Since the ancestor, three people from my Huang family have entered, but no one has succeeded."

Lin Chen's eyes narrowed. He originally thought that coming to the Huang family, Grand-Teacher was going to teach him some tips for cultivating the Zhenyue Manual, or that the Huang family had some special way to speed up the cultivation of the Zhenyue Manual. But now it seemed it wasn't what he had thought.

"To enter the ancestral land, one needs to cultivate the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer before the Organ Cultivation Stage. This one condition alone excluded many people."

Huang Fenghua and Yu Yongnian suddenly realized. No wonder they hadn't heard the teacher mention it. It wasn't that the teacher was keeping it secret and only leaving it for the Huang family; just this one condition alone, neither of them met. Huang Fenghua had cultivated the Zhenyue Manual, but until now it was only the first layer. He knew the Zhenyue Manual was extremely difficult to cultivate and put more energy into other techniques. As for Yu Yongnian, he hadn't cultivated the Zhenyue Manual at all. At his age, cultivating hard-body kung fu was already late.

"Lin Chen, you will be the fourth person in my Huang family to step into the ancestral land besides the ancestor. Rest well today, and tomorrow Grand-Teacher will take you to the ancestral land."

"Thank you, Grand-Teacher."

Lin Chen didn't expect Grand-Teacher to be such a decisive person. He had only just arrived at the Huang family today, and tomorrow he was going to the ancestral land.

If he were Grand-Teacher, shouldn't he let him have more contact with the Huang family and stay at the Huang family for a month or so? In this way, the relationship with the Huang family would be even closer.

What Lin Chen didn't know was that this was Huang Yuanliang's shrewdness.

To send a favor, send it thoroughly, send it directly. In this way, it would instead make Lin Chen have a better impression of the Huang family.

……

……

A good night's sleep.

The next morning, Lin Chen got up and had breakfast with his instructor. Huang Kun appeared at the separate courtyard. "Yu Shidi, Lin Shizhi, follow me."

Huang Kun led the way, went from the back door of the Huang family mansion, and finally appeared at the foot of Mount Huang.

Huang Yuanliang was already waiting at the foot of the mountain.

"Yongnian, you and Kun'er wait at the foot of the mountain. Lin Chen, you follow Grand-Teacher to climb the mountain."

"Good."

Lin Chen nodded and followed Huang Yuanliang to start climbing Mount Huang.

In the early morning of late autumn, the mountain was filled with clouds and mist, bringing damp cold. However, neither Lin Chen nor Huang Yuanliang was affected. Following the steps and bypassing the waist of several mountain peaks, Huang Yuanliang suddenly changed direction, no longer going up but walking along another downward step.

The further down they walked, the deeper the clouds and mist became. In the end, the visibility was less than a zhang around them.

"Many people only know that there is a thousand-year-old guest-welcoming pine at the peak of Mount Huang, and know the three main peaks of 'Lotus', 'Bright Peak', and 'Tiandu', but very few people know that under the sea of clouds of Mount Huang, another special place is hidden."

Huang Yuanliang looked at Lin Chen: "My Huang family ancestor also entered this place by accident. The further you go inside, the more you will feel the pressure in the depths of this sea of clouds. At first, it's like goose-down fine needles, and then like light hammers..."

"Can clouds and mist be this magical?"

Lin Chen was somewhat surprised. Huang Yuanliang didn't answer, but after more than ten breaths, Lin Chen felt the feeling of clouds and mist like needles that his Grand-Teacher had mentioned.

His pores were covered by the clouds and mist, and bursts of goosebumps rose, as if being pricked by fine needles. And as he walked forward, the strength of these fine needles pricking became greater.

"No need to operate the Zhenyue Manual to resist. In fact, the first small stage in the first layer of the Zhenyue Manual, which is the copper skin of the Iron Bone Skill, was comprehended by the ancestor here feeling the clouds and mist like needles. As long as the Zhenyue Manual is cultivated to the first layer, you won't fear these clouds and mist."

Huang Yuanliang's voice came from the front: "You should carefully feel it. These clouds and mist pricking on the skin surface—are there any similarities with the way the Zhenyue Manual operates blood energy?"

Hearing this, Lin Chen also felt it while walking. It was indeed as Grand-Teacher said. These clouds and mist were very strange, floating and landing on the body, but they didn't prick all parts of the body at the same time, but were divided by area and time, exactly matching the order of the acupoints opened by the Iron Bone Skill.

"Grand-Teacher, is this cloud and mist manufactured by a powerhouse?"

Lin Chen really couldn't believe that such magical clouds and mist would be the work of nature. He was more willing to believe that it was created by some martial arts super powerhouse.

"Born of Heaven and Earth."

Huang Yuanliang knew Lin Chen's thoughts. When he first arrived here back then, he was also shocked by these clouds and mist.

But the ancestor said that even a first-rank martial artist couldn't have such means. And this was just the beginning. The further you go inside, the more magical the clouds and mist will be.

"Next, you will feel the clouds and mist like heavy hammers. Watch your feet. There is only one road here. One wrong step is an abyss."

This time Huang Yuanliang's voice carried a trace of seriousness. Lin Chen was also fully prepared.

Whoosh!

A mountain wind whistled, and Lin Chen saw the clouds and mist ahead being blown and rushing toward his face.

The clouds and mist brushed against his body, actually like heavy hammers falling. Lin Chen's whole body's bones made a clear sound. Fortunately, it didn't affect him much, and his feet were as stable as a rock.

With the appearance of the first mountain wind, every few breaths of time, a mountain wind would attack, like heavy hammers one after another. Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. This scene made him think of the Thousand Hammer Diagram.

Thousand Hammer Diagram, it was also like this!

Could it be that the two had any similarities?

"Grand-Teacher, this disciple once obtained a diagram..."

Lin Chen took the initiative to speak and briefly explained the situation of the Thousand Hammer Diagram. After Huang Yuanliang heard it, he pondered for a moment: "The front part of hard-body kung fu is roughly the same. The Thousand Hammer Diagram you cultivated should have been drawn by a hard-body powerhouse with martial arts will, but it doesn't have much to do with the Zhenyue Manual."

After speaking, Huang Yuanliang's face showed a smile: "No wonder you could cultivate the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer in such a short time. The Thousand Hammer Diagram left by that martial arts senior is also a profound hard-body cultivation technique. You have already laid the foundation in advance."

"But the Zhenyue Manual is not just a hard-body cultivation technique. In the ancestor's words, the Zhenyue Manual is a body-tempering technique."

"Body-tempering technique?"

"Hard-body kung fu has an upper limit. Generally, after martial artists pass the two barriers of Acupuncture and Organ Cultivation, the body reaches its limit, and this is also the upper limit of hard-body kung fu. But body-tempering technique tempers the body, allowing the physical strength to grow continuously. Cultivated to the extreme, like that guest-welcoming pine at the mountain peak, it won't fall even if struck by lightning."

The Zhenyue Manual is not hard-body kung fu, but a body-tempering technique.

This matter was a top secret in the Huang family. Even for his son Huang Kun, Huang Yuanliang hadn't told him.

"Grand-Teacher, what is body-tempering? Why have I never heard of it?"

During this period of time, his teacher had brought him many cultivation books, but had never mentioned body-tempering.

"Body-tempering has been in decline for a thousand years. Even I only understand a little from some notes left by the ancestor. Our Daliang's hard-body kung fu is mainly through external hammering to increase body strength. After martial artists break through from the Acupuncture Stage to the Organ Cultivation Stage, the body reaches its upper limit. But body-tempering is different. It is through continuous tempering, allowing your bones, organs, and meridians to be continuously strengthened, even after entering the Ranked Tier, it can still be improved."

"But if you want Grand-Teacher to tell you specifically what body-tempering is, Grand-Teacher can only answer you four words: explore it yourself."

Lin Chen:...

"Cough, cough. Although the ancestor mentioned that the Zhenyue Manual is a body-tempering technique, not everyone can walk this path. The Zhenyue Manual has two cultivation paths. The second layer is a watershed. Going up is hard-body kung fu, just much stronger than ordinary hard-body kung fu. Grand-Teacher walks this path. Going down is the body-tempering technique. Grand-Teacher hasn't been able to walk this path either."

After Huang Yuanliang's voice fell, his figure also stopped. Lin Chen, who was following behind, was thinking about the meaning of Grand-Teacher's words. Seeing Grand-Teacher's figure stop, his gaze also subconsciously probed forward.

Ahead, the clouds and mist suddenly became thin, and two roads appeared.

One going up, one going down.

He had arrived at a fork in the road!

"Grand-Teacher!" Lin Chen asked curiously.

Huang Yuanliang turned back and smiled: "This is the reason why I said the second layer is a watershed. This road going down—the ancestor left words in his notes that only by cultivating the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer in the Organ Cultivation Stage can one choose to walk this road going down. So what is in this road, Grand-Teacher doesn't know, because Grand-Teacher hasn't walked it."

This road going down, besides the ancestor, a total of only three people from the Huang family have walked it.

Regrettably, these three ancestors all gained nothing, and after coming out, they didn't mention what was in this road going down.

"At the end of this road, the fortune to open body-tempering is hidden."

Hearing this, Lin Chen looked at this road going down, but unfortunately, the clouds and mist were heavy, and he couldn't see anything.

"Grand-Teacher, then this disciple will just go down like this?"

After a few breaths, Lin Chen spoke. Huang Yuanliang nodded: "Go. Although there is no danger in here, you still need to be careful."

If there were danger in this road below, the ancestor and those three ancestors would have left notes to warn future generations of the clan. But neither the ancestor nor the three ancestors who had entered mentioned this matter, which meant there was no danger in this road.

"Good."

Lin Chen nodded heavily. Having arrived here, he naturally wouldn't give up this opportunity.

Watching Lin Chen's figure walk toward the bottom and soon be wrapped in clouds and mist, Huang Yuanliang's face also had a trace of expectation.

If Lin Chen could obtain the fortune, the Zhenyue Manual would shine again in his hands. Although the ancestor created the Zhenyue Manual back then, he was already old. According to the ancestor, even if he tempered his body, it was the weakest kind.

The Zhenyue Manual technique was mostly prepared for the Huang family's future generations.

Regrettably, the Huang family's descendants were incompetent and failed the ancestor's expectations.

Huang Yuanliang gave Lin Chen this opportunity not only because he was optimistic about Lin Chen's potential in the Martial Way and wanted to send Lin Chen a big favor, but also because he hoped that Lin Chen could go further on the path of Zhenyue Manual body-tempering, go further than the ancestor, and be able to guide the Huang family's future generations to step onto this path in the future.

Looking around, the clouds and mist were vast.

Lin Chen walked toward the bottom step by step, fully prepared, and soon he discovered something wrong.

He could feel his body temperature dropping.

This was an abnormal situation.

With his current blood energy, even in the cold winter months wearing thin clothes, he wouldn't feel cold. But in the mountain clouds and mist, it made him feel his whole body temperature dropping. There was only one possibility: his blood energy was affected.

Lin Chen tried to operate his blood energy. The next moment, his pupils shrank. His blood energy actually couldn't be operated.

Zhenyue Manual, Nine Turns True Blood Organ Cultivation...

Lin Chen tried to breathe and exhale, but the blood energy in his body didn't rise and fall with it, only having slight adjustments with the length of his breathing rhythm.

And this, even ordinary people could do.

A palm shot out, slightly carrying a bit of palm wind!

"This palm wind—as long as the hands and feet are fine, even those useless college students in my previous life could do it. So, am I sealed in strength now?"

Lin Chen curled his lips in self-mockery, but there was no panic in his eyes. He was just used to having martial arts strength, and suddenly becoming an ordinary person again, he was somewhat unaccustomed to it.

As he continued to go deeper, layers of goosebumps appeared on his body skin. This was caused by excessive drop in body temperature.

"Under twenty years old, Organ Cultivation Stage, and having cultivated the Zhenyue Manual to the second layer—is this the reason why one can walk this road?"

A guess flashed in Lin Chen's mind. At his current age, his blood energy was still in a growth stage. To use a common saying, young people's bodies were like furnaces...

So these clouds and mist were to block those who wanted to rely on blood energy operation to resist this cold!

These Mount Huang clouds and mist were truly magical!

Thinking this through, Lin Chen was also full of expectation for what would be at the end of this road.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 213 =====