Chapter 80: Nurturing Inner Strength, Tempering the Body

"One pill is stronger than another!"

Swallowing a Zeng Xue Dan, Li Yuan felt the heat in his abdomen explode outward, and his previously sluggish blood qi surged like he'd been injected with stimulant.

The movement of his inner strength accelerated by an incalculable margin.

Huh~

Li Yuan lifted his hammer and moved, feeling the violent circulation of his blood qi—until eventually, he could almost hear the sound of blood flowing.

This had been a sign only seen when blood qi broke through before!

"Pure medicinal force may not surpass top-grade Bu Yuan Dan, but it's just too perfectly targeted!"

With Xu Tui's martial posture, Li Yuan felt utterly refreshed.

As his inner strength flowed, he sensed a tingling numbness, as if his tendons, bones, and muscles were subtly trembling and growing.

During this process, his inner strength also showed slight growth.

Blood qi circulated, inner strength flowed, blood qi was consumed to nourish the body, inner strength strengthened… this cycle repeated endlessly until the medicinal force was exhausted.

"Huh!"

He exhaled a long, turbid breath; sweat and steam rose from his entire body, as if every pore had opened wide, breathing deeply.

"Medicinal force spent, blood qi instantly dwindled—this one Zeng Xue Dan equals nearly half a month of natural growth. Truly, outstanding effect!"

After swallowing just one pill, Li Yuan felt as if white silver coins were rapidly slipping away from him.

Having experienced this kind of growth, how could he possibly endure the tortoise-speed progress without pills?

"But pills can't be taken too often—such violent blood qi manipulation does damage the body. Hmm, best to take one every seven days… How long should I nurture my inner strength?"

Stretching his tendons and bones, Li Yuan pondered in his mind.

The Bai Yuan Hammer Technique had reached its limit at the inner strength stage, and the Bing Dao Dou Sha Hammer lacked its core section—progress speed was manageable, but the real question was: how to cultivate after this?

He knew that after inner strength came Cu Ti.

But he didn't know whether Cu Ti had any secrets, how to perform it for maximum effect, how to control speed and timing, what the ideal heat level was… what the best supporting pills were, or when exactly breakthrough occurred.

He didn't know any of it…

"I can only nurture my inner strength slowly."

Li Yuan never dwelled too long on troubles; soon he stopped thinking about it, yawned, and went back to sleep.

At dawn, he woke up on time.

He continued standing there, washing up, feeding the little rat, then locked his door, went to the roadside for breakfast, and headed to the forging shop.

With Yu Zhen's threat gone, Li Yuan returned to normal life—and even felt his cultivation efficiency had increased significantly.

"Comfortable!"

After eating his fill, Li Yuan wiped his mouth and went to work.

But as soon as he entered the forge room, he was surprised: since returning from Fa Jiu Mountain, the blacksmiths had grown lazy—yet today, they'd all arrived early.

"Good morning, senior brothers."

Li Yuan sensed something odd in the atmosphere but didn't pay it much mind; he greeted them and prepared to light the furnace, continuing yesterday's workflow.

"Master Li, good morning!"

One blacksmith forced a smile, stiff and awkward.

"Huh?"

Only then did Li Yuan remember: yesterday, Zhang Ben had assigned him to temporarily oversee the forge room. Seeing the blacksmiths' unnatural behavior, he couldn't help but laugh bitterly:

"Something happened in the shop—Master is now managing the shop's business, and he just asked me to serve you senior brothers. What does that have to do with being an overseer?"

There were thirty blacksmiths in the shop, all with more seniority than him—Li Yuan had no intention of waving a feather like a command seal.

"Is that so?"

Some believed him; others remained skeptical.

But he didn't explain further—just forged as usual. Slowly, the blacksmiths and apprentices relaxed a bit, though their interactions still carried a hint of awkwardness.

"The enhancement from the Dajiang's Hammer truly has a huge impact on forging skill advancement…"

As he forged and quenched with practiced ease, Li Yuan sensed the changes in his control.

Controlling the Feng Hu Chu and Bi Jing Tong Hammer had caused his power to surge—but without the Dajiang's Hammer, his progress in forging had plummeted.

"So, fully internalizing the control effect and making it part of oneself—that's the correct way to use the Zhang Bing Lu!"

Li Yuan's conviction in this idea grew stronger.

The Dajiang's Hammer was no longer under his control, but the forging skills he had already mastered were real and solid—not lost the moment he switched control.

All morning, Zhang Ben didn't come to the forge room; only the external affairs manager came once, informed them of the weapons to be forged in the coming days, and recorded Li Yuan's required iron materials for procurement.

Li Yuan knew these procedures well—the seamless handover left the external affairs manager quite surprised.

"Brother Li!"

At lunch, as Li Yuan drank his health-nourishing soup, Yue Yue Yunjin arrived with Zhao Zhao Xiaoming, both glowing with joy—after a day's absence.

Glancing at Wu Ming, who trailed behind them with a dark face, Li Yuan stood up:

"Brother Yue, something good happened?"

"Hah, sort of."

Looking at Zhao Zhao Xiaoming, whose cheeks were flushed, Yue Yue Yunjin was in high spirits:

"Young Lady Lu sent word: Miss Fang has returned to Huicheng and wants to meet us!"

"Oh?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred: "When do we go?"

"Now!"

Yue Yue Yunjin had clearly prepared already—but Li Yuan couldn't just leave now; he had to return to the forge room, make arrangements, then hurry off.

……

Inner city, outside the Lu residence.

"So many people?"

Looking at the sea of people outside the Lu residence, Li Yuan was startled too—when had this gathering grown so large?

He swept a casual glance over them. Besides the young ladies and young masters of the inner city, the apprentices from a few outer-city families were also present; he even spotted Niu Gui in the crowd,

and Wang Gong, who had lost his father only a day ago.

"Senior Brother Yue, what's with the big show today?"

Li Yuan found Yue Yue Yunjin, who also looked completely blank, clearly unaware of what was happening.

Zhao Zhao Xiaoming's expression was a touch unnatural, but she still clung to Yue Yue Yunjin's arm.

In his peripheral vision, Li Yuan caught Wang Gong not far off, fists clenched, face flushed red, looking ready to kill someone, while Wu Ming stood by watching coldly.

Good lord, a love triangle!

He sighed to himself. Li Yuan didn't much care for other people's private affairs; after a quick sweep of the crowd, he turned his eyes toward the front gate of the Lu residence.

"The Soldier's Path Battle-Killing Hammer!"

On the steps, Fang Fang Yunxiu scanned everyone before the gate, skeptical.

The Soldier's Path Battle-Killing Hammer is the foremost of the inner sect's five great secret transmissions, and also the hardest to learn and master. She truly could not believe anyone could enter its door through a fragment obtained from Nian Jiu.

In Soldier's Path Battle-Kill, the killing is the technique; the "soldier" is the Dao itself.

So broken and incomplete—what kind of talent would it take to learn it, to even enter the door?

"Auntie, why did you call so many people?"

Lu Lu Bailing also looked completely blank.

"Next March, my Divine Weapon Valley will throw open its mountain gates. Any commoner under the jurisdiction of Zhilong Prefecture who has outstanding talent and excellent root bone may enter the sect!"

Fang Fang Yunxiu channeled her qi to project her voice, making sure everyone present could hear:

"I am Fang Fang Yunxiu, inner sect disciple of Divine Weapon Valley, Talent-Seeking Vice Commissioner…"

Full of vigor!

Li Yuan, standing at the back, heard her perfectly clearly, and was quite curious about this vocal technique.

Qin Xiong's voice is naturally loud, but this one is clearly technique—technique, and that means it can be learned…

Divine Weapon Valley!

Many present had already seen Fang Fang Yunxiu before, but hearing the name "Divine Weapon Valley," they still couldn't help being deeply stirred.

"Fairy Fang, we've heard Divine Weapon Valley places primary weight on root bone. If our root bone is poor, can we not join Divine Weapon Valley?"

Someone in the crowd called out loudly.

"Of course you may!"

Fang Fang Yunxiu's brow furrowed slightly, then she answered:

"Those with outstanding talent, even if their root bone is poor, may also join my Divine Weapon Valley!"

"May I ask Fairy Fang, what counts as outstanding talent?"

Another person spoke up to ask.

The crowd was already stirring restlessly; many were even leaping with excitement.

"Anyone under thirty-five years of age—even those with the very worst root bone—as long as they can cultivate any one Wu Gong to Perfection, may enter the gates of my Divine Weapon Valley!"

"Perfection!"

The previously restless crowd, hearing these words, instantly fell silent.

Before reaching Internal Force, as long as one's family had deep pockets, even those with the worst root bone could pile up qi and blood to Great Completion—it was merely a matter of fast or slow.

But Wu Gong is not qi and blood; the progress of skill requires endless tempering, and cannot be piled up by external means.

To train a single Wu Gong to Great Completion, even those with superior root bone need three to five years; those with poor root bone might need eight or nine; as for Perfection…

"Fairy Fang, if we could train a Wu Gong to Perfection, how could we possibly have the worst root bone?"

That same person from before started clamoring again.

But this time Fang Fang Yunxiu did not answer. Lu Lu Bailing frowned slightly, and someone had already dragged the man away.

"Any Wu Gong—be it blade, spear, staff, fist, kick, or weapon—once it reaches Perfection, no matter how poor your root bone, you have a chance to enter my Divine Weapon Valley!"

Fang Fang Yunxiu swept her gaze over the crowd:

"Those under twenty years of age, with mid-to-lower root bone, whose Wu Gong has reached Great Completion, may also enter!"

This time, the crowd did not stir. Many had already begun to disperse; only a scant few had a gleam in their eyes, clearly meeting the conditions.

Li Yuan glanced over—they were disciples of the three great martial halls of the inner city. One of them was even Liang Liang Ashui's junior brother, with mid-to-upper root bone and excellent talent; he had mastered the Six Harmonies and reached Great Completion in Wu Gong several years earlier.

"Great Completion works too?"

Li Yuan felt a little relieved. If it had required Wu Gong Perfection, he wouldn't have planned to step forward at all.

He had been training in martial arts for less than a year, all told; if he displayed Perfection-level hammer technique, it would be a bit too eye-catching.

Great Completion, while still astonishingly fast, would still fall within the range of genius.

He had heard that in the more than two hundred years of the Weapon-Forge, there had once been a fine seedling who reached Great Completion in Wu Gong in just over a year…

"Mm, it probably won't be too eye-catching…"

Li Yuan had a plan in mind, but he didn't rush forward; instead, he carefully watched the two martial hall disciples demonstrating their skills.

The two—one used a saber, the other used palm strikes—every move was methodical, clearly having reached Great Completion long ago. Their qi and blood were vigorous, and both talent and root bone were excellent.

"It's Shen Shen Shangying and Miao Zhen!"

Yue Yue Yunjin's expression solemn, he recognized the two apprentices.

Compared to these two, aside from slightly better root bone, he was inferior in every other respect. Without Fang Fang Yunxiu's guidance, he might not even have comprehended the Six Harmonies by now…

"Not among these people?"

Before the gate, Shen Shen Shangying and Miao Zhen were fighting with great vigor, but Fang Fang Yunxiu seemed somewhat distracted. Even when those two stepped down, she was still a little disappointed, until someone stepped forward with cupped fists:

"Li Yuan of the Weapon-Forging Shop, adept with the White Ape Cloak Hammer!"

(End of chapter)