Failure

From the information he gathered from his experiences in training his four fundamental internal forces, he knew that the difference between a 'living' entity and a 'surviving' entity relied solely upon whether it had a consciousness. Only a entity that had both a Heart and Mind could be considered an actual 'living' entity.

When Alex Stuman first started to reverse-engineer the ancient Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn style, he realised that the circulation technique that served as the foundation of the style had been altered over time. The circulation method now named the Chaotic Primordial's Flesh Tempering technique was once called the Chaotic Primordial's Spirit Tempering technique, and it was actually once a technique that cultivated the soul using the heart as a catalyst for refinement.

Due to unknown reasons, the spiritual energy of Earth became so scarce that there was barely any over time. This lead to the newer practitioners of the Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn style becoming weaker and weaker until they started to 'fix' the method by changing circulation technique to cultivate Ki.

This realisation led him to believe that the Chaotic Primordial's Flesh Tempering technique was actually weaker than techniques created by other Grandmaster level martial artists of Earth. Since Alex was determined to never kill innocent people for money anymore, he travelled the world and created his own unique circulation method to symbolise his change.

The Harmonic Deity's Bone Cleansing circulation method was made to be a similar but much more calmer and 'softer' version of the core technique passed down to him by his master. The fact that it was able to create a harmony between the physical body and soul was also similar to the original version of the Chaotic Primordial's Flesh Tempering in ancient times.

Moving onto the present, Fang Yun was using the original circulation method of the Chaotic Primordial's Flesh Tempering technique along with his own unique Harmonic Deity's Bone Cleansing technique in order to create a vortex of Internal Qi spiralling within him in the place of Spiritual Channels.

After the Chakra within his Soul was natural converted into Psion within his Mind, he used the Harmonic Deity's Bone Cleansing technique to artificially convert his Psion into Ki within the meridians of his physique. The 'revolution' of his internal forces didn't stop their as his Ki naturally converted into Aura before being artificially converted back into Chakra once more.

Lou Meng seemed to be absorbed in a deep state of meditation as he didn't even notice his young master's perilous circumstances. What was even worse was that he was still simultaneously training both the circulation methods from the War God's Sword Tactics and the Harmonic Deity's Bone Cleansing technique in order to replenish his lost Internal Qi in hopes of saving his now constantly regressing cultivation.

This made it so an endless stream of Internal Qi was being pushed into Fang Yun's body along with new Internal Qi which was supposed to be stored within Lou Meng's Spiritual Channels.

Fang Yun's heart clenched as he started to feel impurities being pushed out of his physical body, the same happened with Lou Meng due to the fact that they were both using the same method to 'cleanse' even their bones of impurities.

Lou Meng felt a pain like maggots entering his flesh due to his impurities being forcefully removed in such an overbearing way, but little did he know that his young master's pain was even more unbearable than his own. Fang Yun could feel his soul being tempered in flames as his mind experienced revelations from his past life as Alex.

This was also adding the fact that he needed to keep a clear head in order to not explode from absorbing an excessive amount of Internal Qi. The speed of how he was able to assimilate Lou Meng's Internal Qi increased as he gained profound enlightenment regarding the Dao of his past life.

The Dao of Metal formed from the memories of his fighting experience integrated with his Physique Force.

The Dao of Yin formed from his actions as a slaughterer in his past life integrated with his Heart Force.

The Dao of Space formed from his time escaping the void in his astral form integrated with his Mind Force.

And last but not least, from the revelations he gained after being struck by a lightning tribulation of heavenly retribution, the Dao of Lightning integrated with his Soul Force.

As these four Daos integrated with his four fundamental internal forces, he realised that now was the best time to forge his unique Spiritual Artifact.

Since humans of the Azure Sky Continent haven't heard of hot weapons before, it was natural that he'd choose the most effective weapon he could think of as his Artifact.

Using the vortex of Internal Qi within him as a furnace, he first smelted his internal forces beforehand in order to merge them together into an Artifact.

Along with the clockwise spin of the vortex of Internal Qi which was strengthening his four fundamental internal forces appeared an anti-clockwise revolution above it so that he could form his own Internal Qi.

He smelted the Chakra within his Soul in order to extract the purest Dao of Lightning, and did the same with all of his other fundamental internal forces.

What was supposed happen was that his Chakra, Psion, Ki and Aura were supposed to fuse into Internal Qi as soon as they crossed each other, but the results were far from his expectations.

It seemed as if the four different Daos integrated with his four fundamental internal forces were incompatible with each other, but he didn't give up on his endeavour to forge his Artifact by refining its four components instead.

He started off with creating the base of the firearm using his Yin Aura, unlike the regular Aura of a normal person, a faint residual essence of evil could be felt from the different components he was assembling in the vortex of Qi.

With careful, meticulous control, he put each compromised of the purest Yin Aura to create most of his Spiritual Artifact. It was only when he finished the final touches did he move on to refining a bullet cartridge for his Desert Eagle Spiritual Artifact using the Spacial Psion gathered from his Mind.

He wasn't used to loud firearms that gave away his position so he specifically used his Lightning Chakra to refine a silencer and twisted it onto the barrel of the custom-made Desert Eagle within him. He then put on the finishing touches of the firearm by adding a bayonet knife using Metal Ki.

As soon as he finished putting everything together, he once again attempted to fuse his four internal energies into Internal Qi but failed as the firearm disassembled itself and forcefully returned to their origins inside his fundamental internal forces.

He wanted to attempt fusing his internal energies once more but realised that Internal Qi supplied by Lou Meng's Spiritual Channels was running out. He could only sigh in defeat as he reluctantly settled on stabilising his four internal forces.

After a few moments of stabilising them, he let go of Lou Meng and sensed the changes caused by the multiple Daos that integrated with his body. He wasn't sure why he failed in forging his Spiritual Artifact but he was content with the strength he received gaining profound enlightenment on the Dao.

He was only capable of mastering Ki due to his lack of innate talent for training Aura and Psion in his previous life, yet now he had evolved his four fundamental internal forces to be a lot more powerful than a regular humans.

It was hard for him to figure out if he could take on an Internal Root stage Cultivator or not so he just decided that as long as he didn't need to reveal his strength, he wouldn't. It was best to rely on others for now since he wasn't capable enough to handle everything himself. Just when he finished sensing his internal changes, a foul odour entered his nostrils and made him realise that he really needed a bath.

"Damn! What is that smell?" Lou Meng suddenly spat out before realising that the smell actually came from his body.

"I'll explain it to you after we've washed these impurities off our skin." Fang Yun wasn't really bothered about Lou Meng's dissatisfaction regarding the impurities on their skin since it was actually a physical condition that grandmaster martial artists of Earth would even kill each other to obtain.

The Physique Perfection realm of the human body not only increased the strength on a martial artists immune system, it also allowed one to reach the peak human physical condition that allowed one to test the human limits of their bodily endurance and strength.

From what he knew about the stages of cultivation practiced by those of the Azure Sky Continent, a Physique Perfection realm martial expert was comparable to someone at the fifth level of the Nascent Forging stage.

After seeing that Lou Meng had finished his meditation, he patted his shoulder to get his attention before gesturing mucky guy to follow him. He walked out of the room and headed towards the nearest bathing house.

"Little Yun, what happened to you?" A curious voice entered his ears as soon as he left the residence. He turned to see that his grandfather was holding his nose in disgust from his odour.

"I'll tell you after I've had a bath." He wasn't in the mood to talk and just bolted towards the nearest 'Onsen'. Lou Meng could only helplessly shrug his shoulder and show his own confusion before chasing after him, leaving Fang Yun's grandfather in puzzlement.

At the counter of the bathing house was a woman in her forties, Fang Yun casually let the bill go on his grandfather's debt and nonchalantly walked into the men's area of the bathhouse. His previous incarnation wasn't particularly against eastern culture just like his current one, so he wasn't bothered if other men saw him.

Perhaps if it was a woman... then...

Hot springs weren't cheap but today was different from the norm. All he wanted to do was relax before the sun rose and a new day was born. As soon as his grandfather entered the bathhouse as well, he chose to not go to the same area as Fang Yun until the guy had took a proper bath. This was different from what Lou Meng did as he really didn't care where he was as long as he could wash the impurities that had entirely covered his physique.

After washing the black impurities off his skin, Lou Meng was shocked to see that his skin underneath has actually become more clear and defined. His muscles had also become stronger along with the rest of his body, and just when he thought he things couldn't get any stranger, he gasped as he saw his reflection in the hot water below him.

"Don't be too surprised. The beautification you received is just a side-effect from cleansing your entire body of impurities. There's a reason Body Cultivators are sometimes sought by female Cultivators when they start looking for Dao Companions." Fang Yun walked towards Lou Meng and sat next to him without minding the shocked look on his face. He knew that it was a little harder to recognise him now that his face was handsome.

"Brother Yun, is that really you?" Lou Meng asked in disbelief as he saw the unfamiliar young man who sat next to him. After Fang Yun's change in personality, he could still recognise him instantly, but now he had to take a good long look at him before he could safely say that he knew who he was.

Both of them hadn't changed much, but the combination of paler skin and slightly altered facial features made it hard for others to recognise them. Lou Meng even believed that he may still be able to get a girlfriend if he played his cards right. A devious smile curved on his face as he looked like a total lecher.

"Stop daydreaming." Fang Yun could tell what was going through his mind and slapped his head. He even somewhat regretted turning this pervert handsome since he knew of this guy's secret roguish personality.

Lou Meng still chuckled in response as he really couldn't see through his young master anymore. He was in no way actually fooled by Fang Yun's lazy excuses and knew that his personality shift was not as simple as anyone could imagine, but he still trusted him because he strongly believed in his heart that Fang Yun wouldn't hurt him.

He slowly stopped chuckling and clenched his fist, he decided that until his young master was willing to tell him the truth, he would pretend to be ignorant about it for the rest of his life.

Fang Yun was able to see through Lou Meng's thoughts but didn't say anything. Although he trusted him with his life, he couldn't allow his situation to be leaked. Who knows what dangers he would encounter once others found out about his successful reincarnation.

"Little Yun?" His grandfather barged in and looked around but couldn't find that grandson of his anywhere. He looked towards the two handsome men relaxing in the hot springs and nodded his head to them before turning to look somewhere else. Fang Yun couldn't help but burst out laughing for the first time after his reincarnation as he watched his grandfather close the door.