Chapter 133: The Green Snake Body and the Red Dragon Fish

"Worship oneself as god, seek it within the body!"

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The scripture of the introductory chapter of Bai Shen Zheng Fa flowed through Li Yuan's mind.

He was wary of this Qi Gong, but giving it up would truly leave him somewhat unwilling.

Ordinary folk at seventy are rare; even body-transforming martial artists seldom live past a hundred and two, yet historical records show that Great Yun's founding emperor, Pang Pang Wenlong, lived over four hundred years!

Four hundred years might not cover the seas turning to mulberry fields, but in a past life it would be enough to sit and watch dynasties rise and fall.

Daoist Li also wanted to live that long.

"Hoo!"

Taking a deep breath, Li Yuan sank his waist and lowered his hips, his two arms like whips, churning the iron sand so it flowed around his body like water, producing countless sounds of blades scraping ox hide.

Under the violent friction of the iron sand, even steel blades could be ground smooth, yet on his skin it left only Longhu Longhu Dandan white marks.

"This Cunshen Xiaohuandan seems to be able to lessen the pain of altering the root-bones?"

Li Yuan could feel his qi and blood boiling, but the medicinal power of the Xiaohuandan was cool as water, spreading through his whole body, neutralizing the ache and numbness of the root-bone alteration.

What a fine thing!

Li Yuan rejoiced in his heart and sped up the alteration of his root-bones.

Hum!

Hum!

The flow of qi and blood grew ever more urgent; Li Yuan felt his whole body tingling and numb, as if electricity were constantly passing through it, and even with his teeth clenched tight he could feel his joints trembling.

After gathering the nine forms, every alteration of the root-bones would drive the sinews and bones of the whole body to tremble and change, and this time, the most obvious change was the skin.

The Zhao family's Little Qing She Dao Fa altered the "body"—the little green-snake body.

Wooo!

Enduring an ache and numbness far less than usual, Li Yuan churned the iron sand with both hands as if pushing a millstone,

faster and faster, more and more urgent, until the friction of the iron sand sent up great bursts of sparks.

Crack!

A long time later, as another great vat shattered, the root-bone alteration was complete.

Li Yuan staggered and fell to the ground, gasping for breath, sweat pouring down like rain, but he did not relax or ease himself,

forcibly enduring the emptiness within his body, he sat cross-legged at once.

The medicinal power of the Xiaohuandan still wandered through his body, restoring qi, blood, and internal strength.

"Now is the moment!"

When his qi and blood had plunged to their lowest ebb, Li Yuan silently recited the scripture of the introductory chapter of Bai Shen Fa, drawing out a thread of qi and blood from his nearly dried-up body.

The recovery speed of qi and blood for a ten-form root-bone was extremely fast; apart from this brief window after altering the root-bones, Li Yuan found it very hard to drain his qi and blood down to just a single thread.

"Hoo!"

Li Yuan closed his eyes.

Having altered his root-bones again and again and nurtured various internal strengths, his control over his qi and blood was also very strong.

He focused his spirit intensely, guiding that thread of qi and blood to surge upward, to his neck.

This was the spot where the great circulation of qi and blood came closest to the head.

"Once qi and blood leave the coverage of the great circulation, they will swiftly dissipate…"

With his qi and blood nearly spent, Li Yuan was not worried about them leaving the circulation and ***; after reviewing it in his mind many times, he only then carefully controlled the qi and blood into his brain.

"It won't work."

The first attempt failed; the instant the qi and blood left the circulation, they dissipated and could not be forcibly controlled.

Li Yuan was not discouraged; while his qi and blood had not yet recovered, he once more drew a wisp upward to his head.

This time was slightly better, but still a failure.

……

"Hoo!"

A moment later, Li Yuan opened his eyes; when his qi and blood had recovered to less than half, he no longer dared to try again.

He kneaded his aching brow, somewhat understanding:

"This introductory chapter of Bai Shen Fa is incomplete, or rather, it lacks an auxiliary Wu Gong for cultivation."

Re-circulating his qi and blood, Li Yuan felt that the originally perfect great circulation seemed to carry a sense of something left unfinished.

"Above the small and great circulations of qi and blood, there must be another great circulation that even covers the head! That Wang Fuzi was certain I didn't have this kind of Wu Gong…"

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling the Hidden Dragon Prefecture's ranking of supreme arts.

Setting aside those already lost

Qi Gong aside, the one ranked first was the Shenbing Valley's supreme art, "Five Weapons, Five Colors, Lingxu Qi."

"Encompassing the strengths of the inner sect's five great secret transmissions, this Lingxu Qi… is passed down only by the Valley Master, one person per generation."

After resting a while, Li Yuan slowly rose, somewhat understanding why the people of the Xieshen Sect did not practice Zheng Fa.

If even with his talent and root-bones it was this arduous, ordinary folk would likely find it utterly impossible to master.

"The grade of Bai Shen Fa must be very, very high."

Li Yuan ran through several sets of Bingti Shi to ease his sinews and bones, and also felt the changes after the root-bone alteration.

The root-bone alteration was immediate; as he raised his hands and kicked his legs, he felt his movements more agile, his skin smoother and more sensitive.

"Still two forms short."

Li Yuan was somewhat expectant.

Lord Master Gongyang Yu was able to suppress Han Han Chuijun and become Valley Master precisely because of the Mu Mu Xiantian Great Dragon Form, and he himself was not far from the thirteen forms either.

After completing several sets of the Weapon-Iron stance, Li Yuan sensed that the medicinal potency of the Spirit-Preservation Minor Return Pill had already withdrawn back into his abdomen.

"Truly worthy of being the Fucheng Pill King priced at eight hundred and seventy taels of silver — not a trace of medicinal potency wasted. It might be enough for me to break through to Internal Strength."

Li Yuan was quite satisfied.

Body Tempering to Internal Strength is the process of internal force moving from outside to within, interweaving with the viscera into a web.

This process requires the consumption of a great deal of internal force. Without taking a great medicine and relying only on slow grinding, he estimated it would take at least half a year or more.

But with this Minor Return Pill, he reckoned he could break through to Internal Strength in at most half a month.

……

Over the next few days, Li Yuan proceeded step by step, training in martial arts, smithing, and reading every day with great regularity.

Boring and monotonous, Li Yuan could feel himself improving bit by bit, and this feeling left his body and mind at ease.

What cast a slight shadow over him was that Han Han Chuijun still hadn't returned, and three more inner disciples had been killed on the Talent Ranking — this time, their heads were hung on the Fucheng city wall.

When the news came, the Divine Weapon Valley was greatly shaken. Even Valley Master Lord Master Gongyang Yu came out of seclusion ahead of time, furious with rage.

That very day, the several great elders of the inner sect together with the several great elders of the outer sect led teams out of the valley. Shi Hong even personally led the Divine Guard army to seal off Zhe Long Fucheng, conducting house-to-house searches.

For a time, inside and outside the Divine Weapon Valley, the atmosphere was one of panic at every rustle of wind, and many inner and outer disciples out on assignment were startled into returning.

It was June, already the rainy season.

That day, Li Yuan pushed open the door; outside, a light drizzle had begun.

"This rain's a bit light."

Li Yuan picked up a bamboo hat, put it on, and walked into the rain.

His internal force was far from sufficient to circulate endlessly, unable to keep the rainwater blocked outside for long.

He reached out to touch the raindrops. The rainwater dotted onto his skin and quickly slid off; his arm was slippery as a snake's body.

"Every kind of root bone has its special qualities — it's just that they only become apparent once you reach the Shape Transformation realm…"

Li Yuan felt it out for a while.

The benefits of a good root bone only become fully apparent at Shape Transformation, further widening the gap with ordinary root bones.

"Before Shape Transformation, maybe I can gather a hundred shapes?"

Li Yuan valued root bone highly, but he wouldn't imitate Old Han — he planned to advance on all fronts equally.

Realm and root bone — he felt there was no conflict between them.

The inner island in the rain was very quiet; only some menial disciples were still busy, hauling iron materials, repairing houses…

"Red Dragon Fish!"

Li Yuan's hearing had grown increasingly sharp — even through the drizzle he could hear the exclamations and footsteps from afar.

"Liang Liang Ashui?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred, and he turned to walk toward the direction the sound came from.

From a distance, he saw several dozen disciples gathered around the Cold Pond. Going closer, the one surrounded in the middle was indeed Liang Liang Ashui.

"Last time I saw a Red Dragon Fish, wasn't it last year?"

"How is yours this big?!"

"Junior Brother Liang's luck is just too good — that's a hundred gold right there."

"This Red Dragon Fish must weigh Liu Shi Jin Zhong, a hundred gold couldn't buy it — it'd take at least over three hundred taels

of gold!"

……

A crowd surrounded Liang Liang Ashui, offering all manner of congratulations and exclamations, their envy plain for all to see.

Three hundred taels of gold, at the official rate, would be three thousand six hundred taels of silver — most inner and outer disciples didn't have that kind of wealth.

Even those who did couldn't help but feel envious.

The Red Dragon Fish was no ordinary spirit fish — not only could it nourish qi and blood and strengthen the physique, it also had a very small chance of altering one's root bone.

It counted among the most expensive kinds of spirit fish.

"Just luck, just luck."

Liang Liang Ashui was drenched all over, clutching a large fish that was entirely crimson and shaped like an eel.

The fish was quite large and quite strong. Liang Liang Ashui held it in a death grip, his face flushed red from the strain.

"Such a big one?!"

Li Yuan was also somewhat startled. From what he knew, a normal Red Dragon Fish was little more than ten jin at most.

"Senior Brother Li!"

Someone noticed Li Yuan and hurriedly bowed in salute; the rest also parted to open a path.

Li Yuan cupped his hands in greeting, walked into the crowd, and caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of several inner disciples running toward the interior of the island.

"Senior Brother Li."

Liang Liang Ashui's mood wasn't just good — it was excellent.

"Congratulations, Brother Liang."

Li Yuan examined the fish. It was shaped like an eel, entirely crimson, with whiskers but no scales, round in front and flat behind, with a fine pointed tail — and especially two small bumps bulging on its head.

At first glance, it really did have a few points of a dragon's form.

"Just luck."

Liang Liang Ashui wore a smile. Seeing Li Yuan's curiosity, he handed the dragon fish over to him, and felt somewhat relieved in his heart.

This dragon fish was far larger than he had expected, and its value being so high made him uneasy — but with Li Yuan present, things would be fine.

"It really is over sixty jin."

Li Yuan took it casually.

This fish was incredibly strong, thrashing constantly, yet how could it escape his palm?

"Does Senior Brother Li want it?"

Liang Liang Ashui was secretly alarmed.

That dragon fish had been drugged by him before being caught; its strength must have been over a thousand jin, yet with a casual grab by Li Yuan, the fish didn't even struggle.

Just how much strength was that?

"Three hundred taels of gold is actually a fair deal."

Li Yuan certainly wanted to buy it.

The Crimson Dragon Fish was not only delicious with tender meat, but its nourishing effects were no worse than the 'Soul-Nourishing Small Return Pill'.

Especially since this fish weighed a full sixty jin.

Except for not keeping well and the high price, it truly had no flaws.

"However, I don't have that much gold or silver on me right now; I'll have to pay you in installments."

Li Yuan knew Liang Liang Ashui was offering a discounted price, but alas, he was truly short on funds himself, possessing only seven or eight hundred taels of silver.

"This..."

Liang Liang Ashui hesitated slightly; he wanted to get the silver immediately.

Li Yuan didn't want to put him in a difficult position and proposed a condition:

"Within a year, I can forge a famous artifact for you; you must prepare the materials yourself."

"A famous artifact?"

The inner disciples watching all stirred with excitement.

The Divine Weapon Valley did not lack famous artifacts, but they were certainly not available to everyone; the vast majority of inner disciples used only high-grade sharp blades, and supreme-grade sharp blades were rarely seen.

"Good!"

Liang Liang Ashui agreed at once: "However, you must give me at least a thousand taels of silver first."

"Hmm, how about this, Brother Liang, come with me to the Bingtang."

Li Yuan was not the least bit panicked.

Although he had no money, there were many places he could borrow from; Ba Ba Wanli and Fang Fang Bao Luo were both worth tens of thousands.

At the very least, there was Gao Gang.

"Wait!"

At that moment, a voice came; amidst the fine rain, someone strode forward, dressed in white robes and carrying a sword, moving with extreme speed.

"Senior Brother Ding!"

The inner disciples watching all scattered and bowed.

"Senior Brother Ding?"

Li Yuan raised

his

These past few days it had rained several times, and he had gone out along with the rain, caught a few inner disciples who had been at the birthday banquet that day, and within a few questions had gotten out Sun Zan's scheme from that day.

These past few days, several light rains had fallen; he had gone out in the rain once, captured a few inner disciples from the birthday banquet that day, and after a few interrogations, learned of Sun Zan's plot from that day.

The one who intended to give him a hard time that day was Ding Zhi.

Ding Zhi strode forward, his gaze falling on Liang Liang Ashui:

Ding Zhi strode forward, his gaze landing on Liang Liang Ashui:

"Three hundred taels of gold; I want this Crimson Dragon Fish!"

Liang Liang Ashui's heart skipped a beat, inwardly groaning at the trouble, and could only look toward Li Yuan.

Liang Liang Ashui's heart skipped a beat; he muttered that trouble had arrived and could only look at Li Yuan.

Li Yuan frowned: "Senior Brother Ding, even transactions must follow the principle of first come, first served, right?"

"The deal is only complete when silver and goods are exchanged; you cannot produce the silver, but I, Ding, can!"

Ding Zhi sneered, pulling three hundred taels worth of gold notes from his robe:

"If you can produce three hundred taels of gold right now, then you go first; if you cannot, do not talk about who came first!"

Liang Liang Ashui only felt his scalp go numb; he had no desire to get mixed up in the competition among the true disciples.

Liang Liang Ashui felt his scalp go numb; he did not want to get involved in the competition between the True Disciples.

Especially since this Ding Zhi was a direct disciple of the Valley Master, with Wu Gong and status even higher than Li Yuan's.

A mad dog?

Li Yuan felt slightly cold in his heart.

Within the Divine Weapon, he had provoked no one.

Ding Zhi's eyes were cold:

"Junior Brother Li, do you have an objection?"

"What Senior Brother Ding says makes a lot of sense."

Li Yuan smiled and handed over the Crimson Dragon Fish: "This junior is short on funds and will not compete with Senior Brother."

"Hehe, then many thanks to Junior Brother Li for yielding!"

Ding Zhi naturally did not reach out to take it; someone behind him would naturally serve him.

He reached out and patted Li Yuan's shoulder, smiled, turned and left, though contempt and disappointment lingered in his eyes.

This kid really knows how to shrink back; he wanted to make a move but couldn't find an opportunity...

The surrounding inner disciples watching had long since tacitly scattered the moment they sensed something was off, leaving only Liang Liang Ashui standing in place, feeling as if needles were on his back.

The inner disciples watching around had already scattered in tacit understanding once they saw something was wrong; only Liang Liang Ashui remained in place, feeling as if thorns were on his back.

【181】 "It's just a fish."

Li Yuan smiled, seemingly unbothered.

Being a true disciple isn't easy either…

Liang Liang Ashui turned the thought over in his mind, then said, "Next time I catch a Red Dragon Fish, I'll deliver it straight to your little courtyard."

"Then many thanks, Brother Liang."

Li Yuan cupped his hands in salute, as if nothing had happened, turned, and walked toward Casting Weapon Valley.

Over the next few days, he still forged iron, trained in martial arts, and read books, no different from before.

……

……

"Hah!"

"Hup!"

Several days later, inside the small cabin, Li Yuan raised his hammer and moved, lightly executing the Soldier Body Stance, his sinews and bones popping in rhythm.

His whole body was crimson, like red-hot iron, the blood and qi within him surging violently, even letting out a 'whoosh whoosh' sound,

Under the bed, the little mouse let out terrified squeaks; outside the cabin, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, rain pouring down in torrents.

At a certain moment, Li Yuan suddenly halted his stance, the hammerhead dropping to the ground.

"Hah!"

Li Yuan opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of turbid breath; then, every pore on his body seemed to open at once,

Sweat-vapor like fog, drowning the entire cabin; rolling waves of heat spread out, scaring the little mouse under the bed into terrified whimpers.

Within the sweat-vapor, Li Yuan closed his eyes; he could feel that, after the internal force entered within, his physical strength had risen another step.

He had broken the human body's limit for the second time!

"Internal Strength has been achieved!"

A long while later, Li Yuan opened his eyes; he stretched his arms, feeling only an explosive power surging within his body.

The greatest difference between Internal Strength and Body Tempering is that the former can already, through that great internal-force circulation from the inside out, stimulate the viscera.

Using this to grow the physique, and to erupt with a burst of force far surpassing Body Tempering.

"Body Transformation?"

Li Yuan turned around; in the bronze mirror, his face was expressionless, his gaze cold and fierce.

The Dragon-Shaped Root Bone was like one limit-breaking; counting it up, he and a Body Transformation

martial artist no longer had any gap between them.

Hah!

He took out a bamboo hat, hemp garment, boots, and a human-skin mask from the Soldier Controlling Space…

After changing into them one by one, he carefully inspected himself once more, and only after being certain there was no problem,

He locked the cabin door, without any delay,

Turned and stepped straight into the pouring rain.