Chapter 175: Every Action Is Cultivation

The guard outside the Divine Weapons Pavilion remained extremely strict, with disciples patrolling from time to time, just as before.

If not for his focused spirit sensing the glow of the weapons, Li Yuan would have been deceived.

"It seems the Inner Sect is already prepared..."

Li Yuan felt a slight chill in his heart; this indirectly confirmed his guess. Without Lord Master Gongyang Yu's written order, who could have emptied the Divine Weapons Pavilion?

Turning these thoughts over in his mind, Li Yuan kept his pace normal, walked briskly past, and arrived at the Library Tower.

Outside the Library Tower, the grass and trees had turned green; before the chess table facing the sun, two elders stationed at the tower were still playing chess.

"Elder Wang, Elder Liu, starting chess so early?"

Li Yuan offered a greeting.

"Little Li, long time no see; your vital energy has improved even more."

The elder holding the white stones was named Liu Liu Zongcang; he was older, with white beard and hair, and a gentle voice, responding to Li Yuan.

"Elder Lei is in a hurry; these past few days I've been in the Weapon Casting Valley."

Li Yuan leaned in closer.

"The Weapon Casting Valley, hmm, good, good."

Liu Liu Zongcang gave Li Yuan a look with some depth:

"Here to borrow books again? Hmm, might as well borrow more; in a few days, the Library Tower will undergo repairs, and then you won't be able to borrow anymore."

"The Library Tower is undergoing repairs?"

Li Yuan clasped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, Elder Liu, for the reminder."

Repairs? It's likely they're going to empty it out.

Li Yuan understood clearly; after chatting with the two for a while, he entered the Library Tower, into the inner building.

Li Yuan knew the various fundamental diagrams in the inner building by heart; he didn't waste time, returned the ones he had borrowed earlier to their original places, and selected four from the fundamental diagrams he had picked out beforehand.

Spirit Ape Gun Fa, Spirit Monkey Twin Blades, Xiong Hu Dao Fa, and a mid-grade one combining two forms: the 'Spirit Fox Sword Art'.

"Changing the bone structure of a spiritual beast takes even longer; these four should probably last me half a year..."

Reluctantly glancing at the other fundamental diagrams, Li Yuan went downstairs to register, then turned and left.

On the way back to the Weapon Casting Valley, he took a detour to find Liu Zheng and Wang Wang Peiyao, asking them to subtly inform Yue Yue Yunjin and Wu Ming not to go down the mountain for the time being.

With his protection, the group had all been transporting iron materials for the disciples of the Weapon Casting Valley on the Inner Island and rarely went down the mountain anyway.

After exchanging a few casual words, he went to the Sword Weapons Hall; before even climbing the mountain, he met Fang Fang Yunxiu coming down.

"Senior Sister Fang is going down the mountain again?"

Li Yuan glanced at her luggage; like most Inner Sect disciples, Fang Fang Yunxiu was constantly on the move, rarely having free time.

"Hmm, it seems there are bandits mixed into the gathering place outside Fucheng; quite a few people have died."

Fang Fang Yunxiu was dressed very practically, carrying only a simple pack and a sword, looking heroic and spirited.

"Senior Sister, you haven't long since changed your form; you should probably settle down for some time. When isn't a good time to accept a mission?"

Li Yuan offered a tactful piece of advice, though he knew he couldn't dissuade her.

During the most turbulent days in the valley due to the assassinations, Fang Fang Yunxiu was one of the most active, a true battle-hardened woman.

"Fighting a life-and-death battle is better than three years of bitter cultivation; I don't have your talent and treatment; constant seclusion won't make me a True Disciple."

It had only been a year or so; Fang Fang Yunxiu had grown a lot, and Li Yuan saw the shadow of Elder Ku Yue in her.

Compared to when she was at Gao Liu, she had lost some of her youthfulness and gained some ferocity.

"Senior Sister, be careful."

Li Yuan sighed slightly in his heart and could only watch her depart into the distance.

For most Inner Sect disciples, even most martial artists, constant travel was the norm.

Someone like him was the minority.

Li Yuan wandered around the Hammer Weapons Hall again; he didn't see Gao Gang, and upon asking, learned that Gao Gang had also gone down the mountain early this morning.

"Going down the mountain on the same day?"

Li Yuan felt a slight stir in his heart; he asked about the whereabouts of many others and discovered that a number of Inner Sect elites on the island, plus some guardians and elders, were all going down the mountain today.

Has Lord Master Gongyang Yu really returned?

Or is the Xieshen Sect making some move?

"They really can't just be at peace, can they?"

Li Yuan could vaguely sense the atmosphere of an approaching storm and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

He just wanted to practice martial arts and forge iron properly...

Li Yuan wandered around the island for a long while, found a canteen to eat after noon, and only then returned to the Weapon Casting Valley.

Hearing the 'ding-ding-dang-dang' of the forging field, his heart finally felt much calmer.

"Old Lei didn't go down the mountain."

Li Yuan breathed a sigh of relief; before returning to the Red Fusion Cave, he went to see Lei Lei Jingchuan.

"Nothing much."

Lei Lei Jingchuan had short hair and still bore the throbbing pain from forcibly breaking into the Red Fusion Cave; hearing Li Yuan ask, he brushed it off lightly:

"Just a group of bandits came to the gathering place down the mountain; it's not a big deal."

No way!

How sharp was Li Yuan?

Most of the time, he wore the Five-Step Spirit Snake Skin Belt; at such a close distance, he could clearly sense Old Lei's heartbeat accelerating.

But he didn't press further; he asked Old Lei for the 'Secret Tunnel Map', memorized it several times to deepen his memory, and then returned to the Red Fusion Cave.

"Something bad is going to happen."

Glancing toward the direction of the Crimson Fusion Tunnel, a black light surged in his eyes. Li Yuan took a deep breath.

He activated five forging hammers to bolster himself, accelerating the speed at which he forged the Crimson Dragon Fish Skin Armor.

His speed in forging weapons and armor was already faster than others; with all power unleashed, another three days passed before he completed the first piece of Crimson Dragon Fish Skin Armor.

"Limited by the material, it cannot become a superior-grade famous artifact."

Li Yuan felt his mastery of weapon-casting deepen; in just ten days, he had forged a famous-artifact-grade inner armor.

Of course, for a normal weapon-caster, there would still be steps like polishing, shaping, and soaking afterward.

Li Yuan naturally did not care about this; he only wanted the control effect. Aesthetics, comfort, and durability were things he did not consider at all.

Without even looking closely, he stored it on the gray stone platform and immediately began forging the second fish-skin inner armor.

"Huff!"

After finishing a day of forging, Li Yuan let out a sigh of relief, rested for a moment, stood up, and performed several sets of the Weapon-Body Stances.

He then began altering his bone and root structure.

"Spirit Ape Gun Fa Fundamental Diagram!"

Li Yuan had his own considerations when selecting a Fundamental Diagram; the weapons required for most of these four diagrams, he had previously obtained from other inner disciples under the guise of "trading old for new."

A small portion he had withheld, saving them for final repair.

For instance, the two staffs required for this Spirit Ape Fundamental Diagram...

"Huff!"

Swallowing several Zeng Xue Dan, Li Yuan activated the Handle-heavy Hammer. The long-handled heavy hammer bore a high similarity to Gun Fa, so he grew familiar with it the fastest.

Before long, he had entered the state.

As the medicinal power took effect, the soreness, numbness, and stinging pain surged up again. Li Yuan, familiar with the process, walked into the Crimson Fusion Tunnel.

Using pain to suppress the itch.

He had done similar things many times and was already well accustomed to them.

Moments later, Li Yuan, soaking in the cold spring vat, gasped for air heavily, began moving the thin blood qi, and attempted to complete the final step of the Great Blood Qi Circulation.

Thread by thread, wisp by wisp...

The Dahe Grand Canal of Pingjiang rolled eastward, with merchant ships following in its wake.

Outside a gathering place by the banks of the Dahe, Fang Fang Yunxiu frowned deeply; only a single corpse hung from a tree in the clearing.

Yet the scent of blood she smelled was far more than that.

"Senior Brother Gao."

She glanced at Gao Gang; the latter nodded and headed toward the dense forest, while Fang Fang Yunxiu walked into the gathering place.

"Where are the people?"

Fang Fang Yunxiu's expression turned grim.

The gathering place outside Fucheng of the Zhe Long Manor was the smallest of them all, yet even the smallest was a large village with thousands of households.

Even with fewer people at noon, it should not be this quiet, especially combined with this overwhelming scent of blood...

"Beasts!"

Walking along the long street into the village, the long sword in Fang Fang Yunxiu's palm trembled; she was filled with extreme shock and fury.

Before her eyes stood a deep pit fully twenty or thirty zhang in circumference, and at this moment, the pit was filled with corpses.

Outside the deep pit lay a blood-colored altar, upon which three large characters were written:

"Thousand Spirit Sacrifice!"

A series of messages, more or less, made Li Yuan feel a sense of urgency; Li Li Daoye, who was always prone to thinking of safety while in danger, displayed astonishing capability.

For the second fish-skin inner armor, he actually completed it in only seven days; this speed surprised even himself.

However, for the third piece, Li Yuan was very cautious.

With his current mastery of weapon-casting, there was still a possibility of failure even when forging a superior-grade famous artifact.

"It really hurts!"

In the vat, Li Yuan felt weak all over, his vision turning dark; forcing his spirit, he barely managed to mobilize his blood qi.

Buzz!

He closed his eyes slightly; the Five-Step Spirit Snake Belt bolstered him, allowing him to vaguely perceive the outline of the Great Blood Qi Circulation.

Blood qi wove into a net, spreading across his limbs and torso; among these, the waist and abdomen were the brightest, the back of the neck the faintest, while the neck itself was pitch black.

At first glance, he looked like a headless man.

"If the head is not included, it cannot be considered a true Great Blood Qi Circulation; this is a flaw."

Although Li Yuan currently felt no issue, he felt this step must be taken, just as he had integrated the Great Blood Qi Circulation before cultivating internal strength.

Moreover, blood qi circulation is the foundation of internal strength circulation; the more perfect the circulation, the more internal strength it can contain.

Buzz!

After countless attempts, Li Yuan was already very familiar; following the blood qi route he had explored, he slowly moved the blood qi.

A warm, hot sensation spread over his head. Li Yuan squinted slightly, feeling extremely drowsy; were it not for his strong self-control, he would have fallen asleep immediately.

Thread by thread, wisp by wisp...

Li Yuan moved the blood qi bit by bit; gradually, he grew bolder and began increasing the blood qi.

Buzz~

He did not know how long had passed before Li Yuan's heart trembled; with his eyes closed, he saw light.

That light seemed to ignite within his mind, faintly red yet dazzlingly bright.

It was as if, amidst boundless darkness, a single star had ignited.

Focusing his perception, he finally saw it: a complete great circulation of the human body. Although the flow above the neck was so faint it could be ignored, it was still a great circulation!

"It succeeded!"

Li Yuan accelerated the speed at which he circulated his blood qi until he felt a slight stinging pain, then stabilized it.

Whoosh!

Li Yuan opened his eyes, gripped the long-handled hammer, and lightly pushed into the Soldier Body Stance.

The moment the complete great circulation of blood qi was formed, he felt as though he had instantly become whole and harmonious; the circulation of his blood qi seemed truly linked to his breathing.

"The breathing method has taken hold!"

Li Yuan did not control his breathing, yet as his blood qi circulated, his breath naturally changed in rhythm with his movements.

Ape Six, Tiger Might, Green Snake, Soldier Nine Forms...

Every movement, every variation in breathing during different applications of force, seemed to have truly become instinct the moment the great circulation of blood qi was achieved!

"This is the true completion of internal strengthening!"

The heavy hammer struck the ground with a dull thud; Li Yuan's eyes shone with a terrifying brightness.

Only now had he truly reached the realm where walking, sitting, lying, and resting are all cultivation!