Chapter 4

Pop! Pop! Pop!

At some point, such sounds began to ring out one after another.

They came from Zhao Yun's body. During his body refinement, all 720 acupoints in his body had been thoroughly opened.

Next, the eight extraordinary meridians were successively unblocked.

Finally, the martial arts spirit meridian was also connected, which linked to the dantian.

The body refinement cycle was thoroughly completed.

And Zhao Yun, due to exhaustion, lay down on his back, the cloth in his mouth drenched in blood.

The first body refinement nearly cost him his life.

But the pain was not without reward; the rough bones in his body had been shed, and the meridians had become thick and resilient.

"Indeed, it is tyrannical."

Zhao Yun was overjoyed, sitting up with heavy breaths. The pain from body refinement had dissipated, leaving him feeling cool and refreshed. What excited him most was that the martial arts spirit meridian had been connected, and it was even more resilient than before.

He calmed his mind and focused his energy, silently reciting the Zhao family's cultivation technique.

Immediately, the heavenly essence gathered, and all his acupoints expanded, greedily absorbing the essence. The spiritual essence entered his body like streams of sweet spring water, flowing throughout his body, refined into true essence, and surging into his long-dry dantian.

This was the process of opening the meridians and condensing essence.

Now, he was no longer a waste of a body. After a tumultuous fate, he had become a martial cultivator once again.

"A long-lost feeling."

Zhao Yun's voice was hoarse, feeling quite unreal. Because of a single martial arts spirit meridian, he had endured so many cold glances and so much ridicule. His dramatic rise and fall vividly illustrated the unpredictability of life.

"Is this technique effective?"

The Moon Deity lay on the moon in her consciousness, eyes closed, speaking as if it were a distant celestial melody.

"Effective, it is indeed effective."

Zhao Yun gathered his thoughts and chuckled. Just one cycle of operation had connected the spirit meridian. If he continued to operate it daily in the future, it would surely be a heaven-defying rebirth. The body refinement technique of the barbarian god lineage was indeed tyrannical to the extreme.

"Senior, what level of secret manual is this?"

Without waiting for the Moon Deity to speak, Zhao Yun asked again.

"What level do you think it is?" the Moon Deity said casually.

"Well!"

Zhao Yun stroked his chin, pondering in his mind.

In the martial arts realm, cultivation techniques were divided into levels, and the same applied to secret manuals. From high to low, they were divided into four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Mystery, and Yellow, each rank further divided into high, middle, and low levels.

For the Zhao family, the highest-level secret manual they inherited was of the Yellow rank.

As for the Heaven rank, it might be hard to find even one in the entire Great Xia Dragon Dynasty.

After much thought, he looked at the Moon Deity, "At least Earth rank, right?"

"Earth rank."

Hearing these two words, the Moon Deity was amused, her tone filled with disdain.

"Heaven rank?" Zhao Yun asked tentatively.

"Martial cultivation techniques, Purple Mansion Mysteries, Great Void Immortal Arts, Daoist Divine Techniques."

"What... what do you mean?"

"The Heaven rank you mentioned belongs to secret manuals; the Muscle Transformation Classic I passed on belongs to divine techniques."

Swallow!

Zhao Yun swallowed hard. Once these words were spoken, anyone with a brain could tell that the Muscle Transformation Classic was far superior to Heaven rank secret manuals by a vast margin.

Because of the shock, he was filled with joy.

It wasn't just finding a treasure; it was discovering a divine treasure trove!

"How about it, aren't you going to thank this deity?"

The Moon Deity smiled gently.

"Thank, of course I will." Zhao Yun was deeply grateful, "The great favor of Senior, I will never forget."

"Thank me, but better thank that little girl." The Moon Deity said calmly.

"I should thank her." Zhao Yun looked towards the bridal chamber, as if he could see Liu Ruxin sleeping through the wall.

Was this a case of a fortuitous mistake?

A wedding that was a case of mistaken identity had bestowed upon him a heaven-defying transformation.

A blessing of nine lifetimes had pulled him back from hell to the human world.

At this moment, despite any lingering doubts, his gratitude was sincere.

This gratitude was not only for Liu Ruxin but also for Liu Ruyue, who had tied this red thread of fate.

"Take good care of her. A blessing of nine lifetimes is not something anyone dares to bestow lightly."

"Is there really reincarnation in this world?" Zhao Yun asked.

"Perhaps there is, perhaps there isn't. Who can say for sure?" the Moon Deity said idly.

"Senior, can you cure her eyes? Can you help her open her spirit meridian?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Her eyes will recover when they should; her spirit meridian will open when it should. I have a word of advice for you: before her eyes recover, do not use any spiritual medicines on her. Just use true essence to nourish her body daily."

"Understood."

"Also, do not touch her." The Moon Deity added.

"This...?"

Zhao Yun couldn't help but cough dryly. He understood the meaning behind the Moon Deity's words.

By "do not touch," it meant not to engage in marital relations.

"If you can't resist, you can take care of it yourself."

The Moon Deity smiled sweetly.

Zhao Yun's lips twitched. Was this how even deities talked so casually and elegantly?

Suddenly, more golden characters were etched into his mind.

Zhao Yun tilted his head, looking at them for a long time without a word.

Why didn't he speak? Mainly because he didn't recognize those ancient characters, which looked like a scripture.

The Moon Deity coughed, then waved her hand, and a new set of golden characters floated in the air.

This time, Zhao Yun could understand them.

The golden characters were ethereal, arranging themselves, each one imbued with the essence of the heavens and surrounded by lightning.

"Primordial Heavenly Lightning Technique."

Zhao Yun murmured. These five characters were the largest and most brilliant, making his eyes sparkle.

After a long look, he subconsciously scratched his head.

The Primordial Heavenly Lightning Technique only had a mental technique. What it did and what abilities it had were not introduced. What was certain was that it must be related to lightning, otherwise, it wouldn't have the character "lightning" in its name.

"Memorize this technique; you will need it in the future."

"Understood."

"Also, prepare an iron rod."

"Sure."

After this brief exchange, the Moon Deity fell silent, lying comfortably on the moon.

Zhao Yun calmed his mind and focused his energy.

For nearly half an hour, he thoroughly read the Primordial Heavenly Lightning Technique and, out of curiosity, silently operated it once.

It seemed to have no special abilities.

However, once the technique was operated, he felt a tyrannical force surge through his body.

"Truly wondrous."

Zhao Yun murmured, feeling his whole body tremble, and faintly hearing a distant thunder.

Heaven rank?

Zhao Yun muttered, secretly glancing at the Moon Deity.

Just as he looked, the Moon Deity opened her eyes, saying nothing, but her gaze conveyed everything: If you mention Heaven rank again, I'll slap you to death.

Zhao Yun smiled and looked away, knowing from the Moon Deity's expression that this was another divine technique of the Daoist school.

Of course! A mighty deity's technique couldn't possibly be an ordinary one.

Without further thought, he sat cross-legged, operating the Muscle Transformation Classic to refine his body while opening all his pores to absorb the essence of heaven and earth. More impurities were refined out of his body, and after being tempered, his body was nourished by the essence of heaven and earth. Gradually, his physical strength increased, and true essence accumulated in his dantian.

Pop! Pop!

As dawn approached, two consecutive sounds came from within his body.

He had broken through.

Becoming a martial cultivator tonight, he had broken through two minor realms, reaching the third level of essence condensation.

"Tyrannical."

Zhao Yun closed his eyes, a smile spreading across his face. The feeling of true essence filling his body was truly wonderful.

"The Liu family, wait for me."

He spoke softly in his heart, a roar from his soul. This time, returning to martial cultivation, settling scores with the Liu family would be his first mission. The humiliation suffered by the Zhao family would be repaid a hundredfold in the future.