Chapter 36

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No risk, no reward!

Li Wenjun quickly realized that jumping into the bathtub and testing the medicinal bath was his only way out. If he didn't do this, he wouldn't be able to make rapid progress on his path to cultivation. Besides, hadn't he risked his life to gather the herbs and forcibly obtained the wild mountain spirit from Kong Yishi, Dai Zenghong, and others for this very moment?

How could he back down now?

Li Wenjun quickly reheated a pot of boiling water and added it to the already cooled bathtub. Then, he stripped off his clothes and jumped into the bathtub.

The water in the bathtub was warm, with a faint medicinal fragrance. On such a cold day, jumping into it was incredibly comfortable.

Li Wenjun's hand always gripped the edge of the bathtub, ready to leave at the first sign of any problem. However, after soaking for a while, nothing happened.

Did the medicinal bath fail to brew properly? Or was there a problem with another step?

Li Wenjun decided to try again. This time, he couldn't just soak; he needed to cultivate and run the "Eternal Spring Technique." He sat cross-legged in the bathtub, palms facing the sky, and quickly entered a meditative state.

At first, Li Wenjun felt nothing different from usual. There was very little spiritual energy around him. But as he absorbed the spiritual energy and was about to end his cultivation, something changed.

The water in the bathtub began to bubble, producing many tiny bubbles smaller than millet grains. As soon as they appeared, they burst, releasing wisps of spiritual energy.

If these spiritual energies were magnified, one would notice that their color was not pure, being white with a tinge of black. Experienced cultivators would avoid such spiritual energy at all costs and never absorb it. However, Li Wenjun didn't know this, and he had no way to distinguish good from bad spiritual energy.

These spiritual energies, like kissing fish, were attracted to Li Wenjun and surged towards him in waves.

They didn't know gentleness. When they hit Li Wenjun's skin, they didn't slow down at all, blindly forcing their way into his body.

The intense tearing sensation and piercing pain hit Li Wenjun, almost making him faint. He didn't know if this was a necessary process; the "Eternal Spring Technique" didn't mention it.

Li Wenjun wanted to stop cultivating immediately, but when he felt the spiritual energy accompanying the excruciating pain, he gritted his teeth and endured it. Not only did he not stop, but he also accelerated the circulation of the "Eternal Spring Technique."

This was a rare opportunity for cultivation, and he didn't want to miss it. As for whether this would have adverse effects, he could only comfort himself that it would end well.

The process of brewing the Qi-Gathering Powder and later mixing the medicinal bath had significant issues. This led to a severe consequence: the bath contained too many impurities, and the spiritual energy it secreted was far from pure, containing many impurities. For cultivators, these impurities were toxins, only harmful and never beneficial.

These impurities, along with the spiritual energy, rushed into Li Wenjun's body, wreaking havoc in his meridians and acupoints. They were like sharp knives, cutting and piercing inside his body, making him feel as if he were being flayed alive, even more painful than the real thing.

Flaying involves cutting the flesh off a person piece by piece, but Li Wenjun was being cut by hundreds of knives inside his body.

Which was more painful was obvious.

Before long, Li Wenjun couldn't bear it and opened his mouth, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The blood instantly dyed the water in the bathtub red.

Despite the pain, Li Wenjun noticed that his meridians had accumulated a significant amount of spiritual energy. Once it reached a certain level, he could break through to the first level of the Qi Cultivation stage.

Since it was effective, Li Wenjun didn't stop cultivating but endured and continued.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, no more bubbles emerged from the bathtub, and no more spiritual energy was secreted. Li Wenjun stopped cultivating, opened his eyes, and felt a tearing pain all over his body. Every bone and muscle in his body ached, and his body and limbs trembled uncontrollably.

What made it even harder to bear was that the impurities he couldn't absorb continued to wreak havoc in his body, damaging his meridians and acupoints and stimulating his pain nerves to the maximum.

Li Wenjun was at a loss and could only leave it to fate. He panted heavily, crawled out of the bathtub, and used a towel to wipe the water droplets off his body. Then he crawled into bed, pulled the blanket over himself, and shivered for a while before falling into a daze and falling asleep.

He slept until the next day, when the rooster crowed. Li Wenjun suddenly opened his eyes and felt no pain at all, feeling incredibly energetic.

The impurities that had wreaked havoc in his body had disappeared. These impurities were rootless and would not grow stronger; they would naturally dissipate after a certain amount of consumption.

Li Wenjun was amazed and quickly got up, feeling his body. He found no pain anywhere. He sat cross-legged and ran the "Eternal Spring Technique," surprised to find that his cultivation had improved significantly. The spiritual energy he had absorbed in the bathtub yesterday was still there, circulating in his meridians, unceasingly.

Li Wenjun clenched his fists, which made a cracking sound. When he swung his fists, both the speed and strength were much greater than before. He jumped out of bed and began practicing in the empty space in the room.

The results were unexpectedly good. His body's flexibility, speed, and strength had all improved significantly. Everything indicated that yesterday's cultivation had been very successful. The pain he had endured during cultivation was insignificant compared to the achievements he had made.

Li Wenjun was overjoyed and immediately decided to continue preparing the medicinal bath and cultivating.

When it was light, Li Wenjun first had breakfast with Sun Baicao and Sun Jianing, asked about their situation, and then returned to his room to prepare for the medicinal bath.

Although Sun Baicao and Sun Jianing were curious about what Li Wenjun was doing and why he was so secretive, they hadn't found a good buyer yet, and their herbs were still in stock. They were too preoccupied to ask Li Wenjun for details.

When Sun Baicao and Sun Jianing went out to look for buyers again, Li Wenjun repeated yesterday's process. However, this time, after brewing the medicinal soup, he didn't immediately prepare the bath. Instead, he scooped out a spoonful, mixed it with a basin of water, and put the little lamb in the copper basin to test the medicine.

As before, the little lamb was unharmed. Since the lamb couldn't cultivate or run the "Eternal Spring Technique," it couldn't trigger the spiritual energy in the bath, and even soaking in it for three days and three nights would be harmless.

Seeing that the medicinal soup was safe, Li Wenjun took the lamb out of the copper basin and gave it a cabbage, which it happily chewed on.

Li Wenjun then boiled a large pot of water, poured it into the bathtub, and added cold water and the medicinal soup. The water in the bathtub immediately turned a reddish-brown color.

Li Wenjun jumped into the bathtub, sat cross-legged, and ran the "Eternal Spring Technique." Before long, the excruciating pain, even more intense than being flayed alive, surged towards him like a tidal wave.

Li Wenjun gritted his teeth, his molars cracking. Although the pain was unbearable, he didn't make a sound throughout the entire cultivation process.

...

For several days, Li Wenjun spent his time this way. With the help of the Qi-Gathering Powder bath, his cultivation progressed smoothly. Most of his major meridians had accumulated some spiritual energy. Once all his major meridians were filled with spiritual energy, he could form a complete cycle, marking his successful cultivation to the first level of the Qi Cultivation stage.

During these days, he made significant progress but also endured a lot of pain. Almost every day, he would suffer as if he were on the brink of death.

Each time he cultivated, his meridians and acupoints were severely damaged. If it were anyone else, they would have become a cripple long ago. However, after each cultivation session, he would sleep deeply, and when he woke up, his internal injuries would be gone.

Li Wenjun had a theory that the mysterious green light that had saved him several times was likely responsible. He never expected that the green light could not only quickly heal physical injuries but also treat internal injuries that left even martial artists at a loss, with astonishing results and efficiency.

The reason Li Wenjun dared to prepare a bathtub of medicinal bath every day was largely due to the existence of the green light. Without it, even knowing that the medicinal bath could speed up cultivation, he wasn't sure if he would have the courage to endure such intense pain.

One day, after finishing his cultivation, Li Wenjun, as usual, slept deeply. When he woke up, it was still dark outside, and the rooster hadn't crowed yet. Li Wenjun felt extremely energetic and couldn't fall back asleep.

He thought about his recent cultivation. He had been focusing on hard work and felt good, but he wasn't sure how good it was. He decided to take advantage of the quiet night and test his abilities outside.

With this in mind, Li Wenjun got out of bed, dressed, put on his storage bag, and walked to the courtyard. He didn't want to disturb Sun Baicao and his son, so he planned to go outside the town. He tiptoed towards the gate.

Just as he was about to pull the latch, he pulled his hand back, stepped back a few steps, looked at the three-story-high gatehouse, took a deep breath, bent his knees slightly, and pushed off with his feet, leaping up.

With a swoosh, Li Wenjun soared into the air. To his surprise, he flew a bit higher than expected and cleared the gatehouse. He quickly dispersed the energy in his dantian, lowered his body, and landed steadily on the street outside.

Li Wenjun looked back at the tall gatehouse and grinned. In the past, he had struggled to jump over a wall as high as a person, but this time, he had leaped over a height of three to four people. The improvement was obvious.