Chapter 388: Acupoint Transforms into Dragon-Kun

Hum~

Li Yuan closed his eyes and entered meditation; in his sea of mind it was as if a bright mirror hung high, clearly reflecting every organ and viscera within his body, down to the finest details.

This was not the ordinary warrior's inner-vision, but a combination of Li Yuan's own spiritual transformation and the empowerment of various treasures he commanded, such as the Fire Dragon Sword's 'Sword Heart Clarity' and the Divine Fire Bone-Forging Ring's 'Photographic Memory'.

Only when the two were layered together did he gain this inner-vision experience where every hair-thin detail was laid bare.

"With my current physique, I can fully bear the augmentation of three strikes of the Thunder Dragon Jun Heaven Hammer, but each time after the burst, there will always be some hidden injuries within…"

Focusing his spirit to sense the subtle changes within his body, Li Yuan murmured to himself.

The various organs, viscera, sinews, bones, and meridians of the human body were complex and intricate; the sudden surge and drop of power would inevitably compress the organs to some extent — this was unavoidable.

But with the Long Hu Da Dan present, he only barely noticed; those tiny hidden injuries had already been wholly mended by the medicinal power, leaving him thoroughly refreshed inside and out.

"The Long Hu Da Dan is indeed a fine thing, but it's a pity its medicinal power can't last much longer… Tonight when I killed Yan Yan Chunyang, that should count as a Da Gong at the very least, right? Trading it for one Long Hu Da Dan should be no problem, no?"

Muttering to himself, Li Yuan felt it should be fine — after all, he had genuinely put in the work.

"I'm only a hair's breadth away from marrow refinement, and the nurturing of the organs cannot stop either…"

Li Yuan focused his spirit, sensing the rhythm of his five viscera and six bowels.

That he had achieved Great Accomplishment in organ refinement several days early was naturally thanks to the Divine Organ Scripture being cultivated to the third layer. At this moment, under his perception, his various organs felt distinctly renewed.

"After Great Accomplishment in organ refinement, as long as true qi nurtures them, in theory the organs can remain in their most perfect state forever. At this step, as long as one suffers no internal injury, one can live to two hundred years old, free of illness and disaster."

The records of predecessors in the Scripture Pavilion flashed through his mind; matching them against his own sensations, Li Yuan felt quite pleased. Immortality was beyond reach, but longevity — he had already achieved it.

But this too was already the limit. What determined lifespan was not only the organs; in the parlance of his previous life, it had to do with genes and cells.

And no matter how he focused his spirit to sense, he could not see cells or genes…

"But… can a Land Immortal only live to two hundred as well?"

Daoist Li's thoughts drifted; recalling the scene of Dao Master Long raising a hand to disperse wind and rain, he always felt something was off. A figure of that caliber could only live to two hundred?

With a wave of his hand he could alter the very phenomena of the heavens, yet he could not achieve longevity…

"Bai Shen Zheng Fa."

After his thoughts had drifted for quite a while, Li Yuan thought of the Bai Shen Fa — this was, among what he currently knew, one of only two methods to extend lifespan and achieve immortality; the other was the Long Hu Nourishing Furnace.

"Thump~"

"Thump~"

Li Yuan listened to his own heartbeat — steady and forceful — and with each beat came the 'whoosh-whoosh' sound of blood rushing.

In a certain sense, this too had already departed from the realm of ordinary mortals.

Li Yuan was feeling the changes brought by Great Accomplishment of the Divine Organ Scripture. Within his five viscera and six bowels, he could faintly sense a point of light — that was the acupoint hidden deep within his body.

Under his perception, the acupoint was also pulsing, like a heart; with each pulse, his organs underwent subtle changes, as if being tempered.

"Acupoint… hmm, in the Yixieshen Sect's parlance, this is the 'god'."

Li Yuan recalled the Bai Shen Fa.

The Divine Organ Scripture, Divine Foot Scripture, and Divine Palm Scripture all originated from this peerless divine art, the Bai Shen Fa.

This divine art, like other ultimate divine arts, was divided into seven layers, from shallow to deep: Seeking the God, Seeing the God, Inviting the God, Depicting the God, Worshipping the God, Seeking the God, and Soul Transformation.

'Lighting up' the acupoint, by his estimation, should count as the third layer.

"After Inviting the God comes Depicting the God. According to the Divine Palm Scripture, from this step onward one must involve the general outline — that is, the Bai Shen Fa…"

Li Yuan murmured to himself; this step was not complicated.

Those who primarily cultivated the Blood Vajra Worshipping Method, at this step, must depict the 'acupoint' in the likeness of the Blood Vajra in the temple; those who worshipped the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Method depicted it as the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva.

The reason he had previously delayed reaching this step was that the Bai Shen Zheng Fa he had learned was incomplete, and he did not wish to depict any particular god.

Hum~

Li Yuan focused on his organs, sensing the Shan Xuan Jing true qi within; using it as a medium, he seemed able to perceive the changes within his viscera.

Within his heart, a thunder-dragon-shaped true qi circled around a 'ball of light', drawing near at times and moving away at others.

"If the Shan Xuan Jing true qi takes up residence in this acupoint, does that count as Depicting the God?"

Li Yuan sensed it — within his five viscera and six bowels, dragon-kun after dragon-kun circled around the 'ball of light', as if detecting his thoughts.

Within his stomach, that wisp of Shan Xuan Jing true qi trembled lightly, attempting to touch the 'ball of light' deep within.

"With the Long Hu Da Dan present, I can try; if things look bad I'll stop immediately."

Li Yuan murmured to himself, guiding that wisp of Shan Xuan Jing true qi to touch the acupoint. He heard only a 'hum', and under his perception,

the Shan Xuan Jing true qi suddenly vanished.

"Hmm?"

Li Yuan first frowned, then Yu Yu Xuanji understood at once.

His qi channels had always encompassed the various acupoints; when the Shan Xuan Jing true qi touched the acupoint, it was naturally reabsorbed into the qi-channel network.

Hoo!

The next instant, that wisp of thunder-dragon true qi in his stomach reappeared.

"This Depicting-the-God step still requires 'Visualization of the Spirit-Self'."

A turn of thought in his mind, and Li Yuan began to try — guiding the visualized Spirit-Self into his body. Over the past year-plus, he had attempted this many times and was already thoroughly practiced.

Hum~

He only felt a slight heaviness between his brows; a coolness like water flowed down, passing through his face, along his throat, and with a 'plop' leapt into his stomach.

The next instant, as the coolness spread, under Li Yuan's perception, that acupoint suddenly trembled, as if kneaded and reshaped by an invisible great hand.

"Hoo!"

After several breaths, Li Yuan felt a burning sensation and immediately stopped, guiding the Spirit-Self back. After a brief pause, he drew it in once more.

Before the union of body and spirit, one's own qi and blood would scorch the Spirit-Self; Li Yuan had tried this many times and had excellent control over the degree.

Hum~

After a dozen or so attempts, Li Yuan felt a heaviness in his stomach—the wisp of Mysterious Whale true Qi he had guided into his viscera suddenly dispersed, swallowed by that acupoint.

Then, under his gaze, that acupoint trembled lightly and actually transformed into the shape of a thunder dragon!

"That's it?"

Li Yuan was mildly pleased; he hadn't expected this step to be so simple.

"Makes sense. Although I don't have the follow-up methods of Bai Shen Zheng Fa, my spirit, nourished by the Mysterious Whale's Qi, is already quite strong, and I've mastered the separation of the spirit soul from the body."

Li Yuan quickly realized that what the Divine Palm Scripture called difficult was hardly a difficulty for him now.

The great mountain ordinary geniuses could not overcome was nothing but a small mound before world-shattering talent.

Hum~

Following the same method, soon all eleven acupoints in Li Yuan's five viscera and six bowels had transformed into the 'Long Kun shape,' followed by his hands and feet.

A moment later, the transformation of all the acupoints in his body was complete.

"Whoosh!"

When Li Yuan opened his eyes, it was already evening. In less than a day, the Divine Viscera Scripture, Divine Foot Scripture, and Divine Palm Scripture had all broken through to the fourth layer!

"This step brings a great change."

Li Yuan stretched out his hands; a dark glow rose up, faintly revealing the shape of a Long Kun, and he had not deliberately urged it on, yet both palms had grown heavy.

"This is rather interesting."

Li Yuan flexed his fingers slowly, feeling as if he were wearing a pair of gloves—his dexterity was unaffected, yet several points of power had been added.

He stood up and went into the courtyard to stretch his limbs.

He felt that after the acupoints transformed into the shape of the Mysterious Whale, all his viscera, hands, and feet had gained an extra three parts of strength, and it kept growing as he accumulated more.

"So that's how the Mount Mo Tian master and the Blood Vajra's spirit projection worked—the same principle?"

Li Yuan mulled it over, but without the follow-up methods of Bai Shen Zheng Fa, he didn't know if his guess was right.

'This kid actually cultivated the Divine Palm Scripture to the fourth layer that quickly?'

The little tiger cub dozing in the room couldn't help but glance sideways; Li Yuan turned his head sharply, and she immediately lowered her gaze again.

"Strange."

Li Yuan looked around—he had just had the illusion of being spied on.

"Where can I get the follow-up methods of Bai Shen Zheng Fa? That Bronze Pagoda master hasn't left, has he?"

After familiarizing himself a bit, Li Yuan ate something. The Long Hu Longhu Dadan could stave off hunger to a degree, but he still needed to eat.

Two big pots of spirit rice in his belly, Li Yuan returned to his room content, sat cross-legged, and began practicing Wu Gong again.

'Too diligent.'

The little tiger cub glanced at the sky, muttering inwardly, wondering how to abduct this kid.

'Hateful, that Ink Dragon didn't make a move; otherwise, if I'd risked it all last night, I could've just left…'

She felt a pang of regret.

Last night she had kept watch atop the Dragon Tiger Pagoda for most of the night—this was Long Yingchán's arrangement—but in the end, no one had snuck into the Dragon Tiger Pagoda at all.

Shaking her head inwardly, she yawned and lay down again, her spirit drifting as she began repairing her own Shen Jing.

"Huu!"

Li Yuan closed his eyes, and specks of light flickered within his body.

The fifteen acupoints echoed one another, and faintly, there seemed to be some connection between them.

"According to the Old Dragon Head, divine skills are all Wu Gong opened up based on spirit imagery. The essence of Bai Shen Fa can probably only be revealed after entering the Dao…"

Li Yuan's thoughts settled, and he began to ponder marrow refining and blood exchange.

After these three Wu Gong broke through to the fourth layer, his accumulation in Bai Shen Fa was also nearly exhausted.

"Marrow refining and blood exchange is, in a sense, a realm—marrow generates blood…"

Li Yuan divided his attention, visualizing, refining his viscera, and circulating true Qi—all proceeding in an orderly fashion—while simultaneously dissecting the various challenges of marrow refining and blood exchange.

"Use blood to refine marrow, use marrow to generate blood… the key to refining marrow lies in the fusion of true Qi and Qi-blood, using it to hammer bone and marrow, and finally, when marrow is formed, blood is born, new blood replacing the old…"

As for the challenges of marrow refining and blood exchange, the Old Dragon Head had explained them in detail, and Li Yuan had even consulted that Bronze Pagoda master, so in his heart he actually had no doubts.

For him, the only challenge lay in the step of new blood replacing the old.

This step required him to empty all the blood in his body, and not just once…

"The medicinal power of the Long Hu Longhu Dadan is enough for me to refine marrow, but probably not enough for great completion. Fortunately, I still have over seventy spirit pills on me—more than enough for great completion of marrow refining!"

"By then, I'll be able to buy next year's pill quota, and the sect's rewards should have arrived too…"

After a brief calculation, Daoist Li was inwardly satisfied.