Chapter 64: Initial Success

Half a year later, Gusu was in deep winter, everything bleak, all things resting and recuperating.

Wu Chengyu still rose before dawn to practice the Ox and Horse Stance, never missing a day these past months. Train in the coldest days of winter, train in the hottest days of summer; environment changes a person. In his previous life he found climbing mountains tiring, when had he ever been so diligent?

The first form of the Ox and Horse Stance, Acting as Ox and Horse, he had mastered two months ago; next he still needed to practice every day until his tendons and bones were completely transformed. According to the bamboo slips, this form alone required at least two years of cultivation, with plenty of room for improvement.

Now Wu Chengyu had grown half a head taller than when he was at Gushan, and his two arms had over a hundred catties of strength. Know that he had just turned eleven; the key was that the Ox and Horse Stance only began formally increasing strength from the third form, and his current strength increase came entirely from the constant strengthening of his tendons and bones.

What he was now practicing was the second form, Tall as Ox and Horse. Perhaps in the eyes of the ancients, a tall stature was the symbol of strength. This form's main function was to increase height, expand the frame, and enhance the flexibility of the tendons.

Wu Chengyu's Achilles tendons had clearly increased, and through inner vision he could clearly see his own epiphyseal lines. According to later common knowledge, the human body's epiphyseal lines determined height growth; once the epiphyseal lines closed, height growth stopped.

And cultivating Tall as Ox and Horse could effectively control the epiphyseal lines, delaying their closure to the maximum extent. This was already considered a violation of the body's basic growth laws.

Theoretically, after mastering Tall as Ox and Horse, one could maintain the open or closed state of the epiphyseal lines. That is to say, as long as nutrition was sufficient, even if Wu Chengyu grew tall enough to look down on Yao Ming, it was no problem. Of course, this was just a hypothesis.

Wu Chengyu's ideal state was to control the closure of the epiphyseal lines when his height reached around 185. In the Jiangnan region of the Southern Song, such a height could already be considered that of a giant.

The more he cultivated the Ox and Horse Stance, the more he felt the wonder of this external art; its transformation of the human body was nearly miraculous.

Besides the Ox and Horse Stance, his Turtle Grandson Technique was also becoming more proficient. The wonder of this art had to be fully realized only upon Great Accomplishment, and its cultivation difficulty was far greater than the Ox and Horse Stance. Now Wu Chengyu could maintain the breathing method of the Turtle Grandson Technique even while awake.

The specific effect was that his stamina greatly increased, his breath was long and steady, and his stamina recovery speed quickened. Previously, cultivating for one shichen would leave him exhausted; now, without considering over-cultivation damaging his tendons and bones, cultivating for an entire morning was no problem.

According to the bamboo slips' information, while sleeping, the Turtle Grandson Technique could still only be maintained for a very short time, and had not yet formed complete muscle memory. But even this very short time was enough for him to quickly enter deep sleep, and every morning he woke up full of energy.

To maintain the Turtle Grandson Technique completely while walking, sitting, lying down, and sleeping every day would take at least another year. Wu Chengyu held great expectations for the results after mastering it.

But these past few months, besides practicing external arts in the morning, Wu Chengyu put all his energy into fusing the Quansheng Divine Art and transforming the Biling Wave Xinfa.

This process was absolutely impossible to accomplish overnight. It was not like when he first transformed the Bibo Xinfa; he had cultivated the Bibo Xinfa for five years, knew it thoroughly, and it was relatively simple.

The circulation path diagram of the Quansheng Xinfa was extremely complex, with countless twists and turns. Just understanding the Quansheng Xinfa bit by bit under the guidance of the bamboo slips, and memorizing these routes, took Wu Chengyu a full month before he could roughly explain the ins and outs.

Next, first supplement the defective circulation paths of the Hand Jueyin Pericardium Meridian and the Foot Jueyin Liver Meridian, then compare the circulation paths of the Quansheng Xinfa with the Biling Wave Xinfa. Under the bamboo slips' hints, connect the fusible parts under the effects of inner vision and the Supernatural Five Senses, paying high attention to whether the body had any abnormalities when opening new paths.

Even with multiple safeguards, Wu Chengyu twice nearly went qi deviation, and rested for over ten days. Being so cautious, yet occasionally taking bold risks, to this day the Quansheng body-cultivation method had basically been fused into the Biling Wave Xinfa.

Half a year was already godly speed. Without this bamboo slip as a golden finger, even without considering qi deviation, Wu Chengyu would need at least two years.

But the current art was still a half-finished product; the five hidden vessels of the Quansheng body-cultivation method had not yet fused with the new xinfa.

Bamboo slip evaluation: Nameless Xinfa (pending name), Taoist School top-tier Foundation Establishment xinfa, Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit, nourishing tendons and bones and the body's meridians, maintaining youth, prolonging life; after Great Accomplishment, even at a hundred years old one could still walk briskly.

Internal Qi accumulates rapidly; Internal Force can gradually be compressed and evolve into True Qi, with large reserves and astonishing power. Cultivating this internal art, one can enter the ranks of Yipin Gaoshou within five years, and in ten years, in terms of Internal Force alone, be no less than the top experts of this world.

Drawbacks: Currently only three hidden vessels of the original Biling Wave Xinfa; the five hidden vessels of the original Quansheng Xinfa have not yet been fused, so it cannot be considered a top-tier divine art.

Seeing the bamboo slip's evaluation, Wu Chengyu was very satisfied with the current art. In ten years, relying on Internal Force alone, he should be able to match the Five Absolutes. Placed outside, it was already a divine skill grade, only in the bamboo slip's eyes it still lacked something.

But now Wu Chengyu temporarily had no mind to continue transforming the xinfa and fusing the five hidden vessels. The past half year had truly been too draining on his mind and spirit. If not for the Turtle Grandson Technique clearing negative states, he would not have held out. Just this current xinfa was enough for him to cultivate for a long time.

Today's medicinal bath required Wu Chengyu to prepare it himself. A Ku had now completely let loose; every day after breakfast she ran out, and at noon no one knew whose house she was mooching a meal from, only returning at dinner time. Wu Chengyu had prepared shuttlecocks and beanbags for her, and the little girl had already become the big sister of the young misses in this area.

But the water had only been half boiled when A Ku pushed the door open and came in, returning early. In this era cotton had already been introduced. Wu Chengyu managed to gather some and made cotton clothes and cotton pants for A Ku, wrapping a fur coat over the outside. The original little chubby girl was now completely a ball.

"Big Brother, someone at the village entrance sent you things, and there's your letter. I brought the letter back for you. There are too many things; I can't carry them. They'll deliver them later."

Wu Chengyu took the letter and looked. Sure enough, it was from Lu Zhiyi. In this world, outside Wu Family Slope, he only had friends among the Yue Family Army Descendants.

These past six months, Lu Dage and the others had sent letters incessantly, occasionally sending things over. He Zhiyu had even made several sets of clothes for Wu Chengyu and A Ku. A few months ago Lu Zhiyi had even come in person to see how Wu Chengyu was doing in the clan. Now counting the days, his wife's child must have already been born.

Wu Chengyu opened the letter and looked. Sure enough, Lu Zhiyi's letter said his wife had given birth to another son, named Luliding, who had just turned one month old.

He also said that the brat Lu Zhanyuan was becoming more mischievous, especially liking to hang out with young misses, causing his father no end of headaches.

Look, look, three years old determines eighty. Lu Zhanyuan's scoundrel constitution had already begun to develop. In the future, if he provoked Li Mochou, he might even need Wu Chengyu, this uncle, to wipe his buttocks.

But Wu Chengyu bore no ill will toward Lu Zhanyuan. Fooling around outside, but returning home to marry his original wife—that already counted as being responsible. Compared to the scoundrels Wu Chengyu had seen in his previous life, including himself, Lu Zhanyuan was nothing.

The martial arts chapters are written up to here; otherwise someone will say I'm slow again. Next, entering the specific plot.

Now some people suddenly popped up out of nowhere. I don't know if they've read or not, directly leaving messages saying my previous book wrote a million-word novel and was a first-tier writer.

How to put it? My previous book still has people reading it now, with average subscriptions nearing six hundred. Having readers means it can't be said to be worthless; it can only be said it didn't receive everyone's liking.

As for me personally, this is not my disgrace. No one has confidence before writing their first book that they can definitely write a million words. To persist, especially to persist when few people read, is victory. This process is absolutely not accomplished overnight; it is very painful and difficult, and great for my own mental tempering. One can say, even if I later really write a few books everyone thinks are good, in my heart the first one is always the most important.

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(Chapter End)