Chapter 11: Copper Bone Perfection (Seeking Readers)

Xu Yan's spirit was invigorated, muttering to himself, "Without women in one's heart, cultivation is like having a deity?"

"Master, I have some enlightenment. Thank you for your teachings!"

He bowed respectfully.

"Master, your disciple will go to cultivate!"

"Hmm, go ahead."

Li Xuan nodded, with a hint of suspicion in his eyes: "My foolish disciple, he can't really have become so heartless, with nothing but cultivation on his mind? What a sin, I shouldn't have just talked nonsense!"

Xu Yan came to the place of cultivation, stood in a horse stance, and his gaze was resolute.

"Master is right, only through setbacks can one become brave!"

"Without women in one's heart, cultivation is like having a deity... I understand Master's deeper meaning, using women to represent distractions. For a man of my age, women are the greatest distraction!"

"As long as I overcome this greatest distraction, my mind will be free from external things, my heart will be clear, and my understanding will naturally improve, making my cultivation faster!"

His qi and blood began to circulate, and he started to temper his bones.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Xu Yan: "When Master said, 'Without women in one's heart, cultivation is like having a deity,' was he hinting that I haven't truly grasped the essence of bone tempering, which is why it's so slow?"

"Re-enlightenment, focus on the essence. I must discard distractions, keep my mind clear, and carefully perceive the changes in my qi and blood, to find the essence of bone tempering... This is Master's deeper meaning!"

At this moment, Xu Yan's mind was filled with thoughts, the more he pondered, the more he felt that every word and action of Master was profound.

"Master leads the way, but cultivation is up to the individual. Master is a reclusive expert, and the methods he teaches are unconventional. Master emphasizes enlightenment... always reminding me to seek deeper understanding!"

With this in mind, Xu Yan began to carefully perceive his own qi and blood, carefully sensing the changes in his bones, gradually entering a state of complete absorption.

"There's something wrong here... the circulation of qi and blood is slow, the penetration is not deep enough, the tempering is not strong enough... I should make some adjustments."

"The speed of bone tempering has increased... indeed, Master was reminding me that I haven't grasped the essence of bone tempering!"

"I have enlightened! This is the true method of bone tempering!"

At one moment, Xu Yan felt his qi and blood circulate smoothly, the speed of bone tempering greatly increased, and his qi and blood also strengthened with the tempering of his bones.

"Without women in one's heart, cultivation is like having a deity, Master truly did not deceive me!"

Xu Yan was extremely excited.

"At this rate, in five or six days, I will have tempered my bones to iron!"

"Tempering them to gold should not be a problem, I will surely rival the ancient prodigies!"

Xu Yan was immersed in cultivation, completely absorbed, unaware of the passage of time.

In the evening.

The village was already darkening.

Li Xuan looked at Xu Yan, who was still in cultivation, with a hint of confusion. How could this kid forget the time?

And he seemed to have been in a horse stance the whole time?

Without taking a break in between?

"It can't be possible. Even if he's used to standing in a horse stance every day, it's impossible to stand for so long without getting tired."

"Maybe he rested when I wasn't paying attention."

Li Xuan was about to call Xu Yan to stop and make dinner.

But then he thought: "My foolish disciple, heartbroken from the broken engagement, is using cultivation to relieve his sorrow. I won't disturb him, I'll make dinner myself tonight."

Sighing, Li Xuan went to make dinner.

...

Half a month later.

Since Xu Yan returned, Li Xuan's life had returned to a leisurely pace. Xu Yan took care of all the chores, so Li Xuan didn't have to worry about anything.

The chickens were getting fatter, and the chicks had grown much larger.

He even raised a few wild rabbits.

Li Xuan sighed inwardly, although cultivation was fake, Xu Yan had learned many life skills.

In the past half month, Xu Yan's cultivation had become even more diligent.

Li Xuan admired his persistence and didn't want to discourage him, so he occasionally encouraged him a few times!

Unbeknownst to him, Xu Yan had already entered the stage of copper bone cultivation.

For Xu Yan, the past half month of cultivation was truly like having divine assistance. He repeatedly perceived the method of bone tempering, and the speed of tempering further increased.

Every word of encouragement from Li Xuan, he deeply pondered, and after a series of self-supplementations, he enlightened again!

The method of qi and blood tempering was further adjusted, and the speed of bone tempering increased once more.

Each time, he was extremely excited, and the image of Master in his heart was no longer simply a reclusive expert.

"Master is truly unfathomable!"

"At Master's level, he has transcended traditional and ordinary teaching methods, constantly enhancing my enlightenment!"

"Letting me continuously perceive the essence of cultivation, the 'meaning' within!"

"Planting vegetables, cooking, raising chickens, raising rabbits... these seemingly ordinary chores can relax my mind after cultivation, allowing me to return to a normal state, rather than being constantly tense as a martial cultivator."

"No wonder Master looks like an ordinary person, this is what Master means by returning to simplicity, the way of nature..."

"Master's realm is too high!"

Xu Yan sighed, wondering when he could reach Master's level.

"I have already tempered my bones to copper, and I am one step closer to gold. In another half month, I should be able to touch the realm of gold?"

"According to Master, the transition from copper to gold is a huge leap and transformation, not easily achieved."

"After I complete the tempering of copper bones, I should go back and see if I can buy precious herbs like the Nine-Leaf Yuanzhi to increase the probability of tempering gold bones."

Xu Yan made up his mind. After completing the tempering of copper bones, he would go home and look for such precious herbs.

Ten days later.

Xu Yan's copper bones were perfected.

At this moment, he felt a bottleneck in his cultivation, as if the tempering of bones had reached its limit.

He knew he had encountered the bottleneck of gold bones. At this stage, it could only be overcome by talent, perseverance, and persistence.

Most importantly, it was about enlightenment!

"With the help of precious herbs, the probability of breaking through will be higher."

Xu Yan decided to go home again to find precious herbs to assist his cultivation.

Li Xuan stood at the door, looking at Xu Yan who was cultivating in the distance, lost in thought.

For some reason, he felt that Xu Yan had changed somewhat.

It seemed he had gained a sense of—martial prowess?

"My foolish disciple, could he really have achieved something?"

"No! Absolutely impossible, this is all made up. Even if this world truly has qi and blood martial arts, the cultivation method I made up can't possibly work!"

"It must be because he has been standing in a horse stance for so long, making him look more steady and powerful!"

After standing in a horse stance for so long, it was time for Xu Yan to change his posture.

Standing in one horse stance for too long was too monotonous.

He pondered what new horse stance to teach Xu Yan, recalling the martial arts videos and illustrations he had seen in his previous life.

"It doesn't have to be exactly the same. I'll adjust the stance and teach it to my foolish disciple!"

"Anyway, it's all made up, nothing will come of it. It's just to give my disciple a bit of motivation to continue cultivating. There's still a long way to go before the one-year period is up."

"The best outcome would be to part ways amicably, citing a lack of affinity between master and disciple."

With this in mind, Li Xuan waved to Xu Yan to come over.