Chapter 11 Copper Bones Achieved Perfection (Seeking Follow-Up Read)

Xu Yan's spirit lifted, and he muttered, "With no thought of women, does cultivation become divine?"

"Master, I've had a realization, thank you for your teachings!"

He respectfully performed a bow.

"Master, your disciple will go cultivate now!"

"Mm, go ahead."

Li Xuan nodded, his eyes filled with some doubt, "This foolish disciple of mine, he hasn't really become a man without thoughts of women and only cultivation in mind, has he? This is a travesty, I shouldn't have spoken so idly!"

Xu Yan arrived at the place of cultivation, assuming a firm horse stance, his gaze resolute.

"Master is right, after enduring setbacks, one can forge ahead courageously!"

"With no thoughts of women, does cultivation become divine... I understand Master's deep meaning now, using 'women' to represent all distractions. For a man of my age, women are indeed the greatest distraction!

"As long as I conquer this greatest distraction, then no external thoughts can perturb me, my heart will be clear, and my comprehension of nature will naturally improve, making my cultivation progress much faster!"

His Qi and blood circulated, and he commenced Bone Refinement.

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck Xu Yan, "Master said, 'With no thought of women, does cultivation become divine,' is he hinting that my Bone Refinement is so slow because I have yet to grasp its essence?"

"Reconsideration and intentional focus are needed. I must discard distractions and keep my thoughts clear, delicately perceiving changes in my Qi and blood to find the essence of Bone Refinement... That must be Master's deeper meaning!"

At that moment, Xu Yan supplemented his understanding, the more he delved into thought, the more he felt every word and action of his Master was laden with profound significance.

"Master leads the entry into cultivation, but the individual progresses. Master is a hidden sage, his teachings are beyond ordinary understanding, he focuses on insight... always reminding me to deepen my comprehension!"

With such thoughts, Xu Yan started to intricately perceive his own Qi and blood, feeling the changes in his bones, and gradually he entered a state of complete immersion.

"Something is not quite right here… the flow of Qi and blood is slow, not penetrating deeply enough, the refinement isn't strong enough… I should adjust it."

"The speed of Bone Refinement has increased... indeed, Master was reminding me that I hadn't mastered the essence of Bone Refinement!"

"I've understood! This is truly the way of Bone Refinement!"

At a certain moment, Xu Yan felt the flow of his Qi and blood smooth out, the speed of his Bone Refinement greatly increased, and his Qi and blood strengthened along with it.

"With no thoughts of women, does cultivation become divine. Master has truly not deceived me!"

Xu Yan was extremely excited.

"With this pace, in five or six days, I will have refined Iron Bones!"

"Refining Gold Bones should be no problem, I will surely compare with the prodigies of ancient times!"

Xu Yan immersed in cultivation, forgetting both himself and time.

Come evening.

The village had already started to darken.

Li Xuan looked at Xu Yan, who was still cultivating, a flicker of confusion crossed his eyes, has this boy forgotten the time?

And, has he been maintaining the horse stance until now?

Without any rest in between?

"That's impossible, right? Even if he's used to practicing the horse stance every day, he couldn't possibly maintain it for so long without getting tired."

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

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

But on second thought, "This foolish disciple of mine was heartbroken from being jilted, he's using cultivation to soothe his emotions, I better not disturb him and just cook dinner myself tonight."

With a sigh, Li Xuan went to prepare dinner himself.

...

Half a month later.

Since Xu Yan's return, Li Xuan had resumed his leisurely life this past half-month, not needing to worry about anything as Xu Yan handled all miscellaneous tasks.

The chickens grew steadily fatter, and the chicks also got significantly bigger.

Even he raised a few wild rabbits.

Li Xuan sighed to himself. Although the cultivation was fake, Xu Yan had learned many life skills.

Over the past half month, Xu Yan had cultivated even more diligently.

Li Xuan admired this perseverance. He couldn't bring himself to discourage Xu Yan, so he could only occasionally offer some words of encouragement.

Unbeknownst to him, Xu Yan had already entered the stage of Bone Refinement.

For Xu Yan, this half month of cultivation had truly felt divinely assisted. He had time and again gained insights into Bone Refinement, speeding up his strengthening process.

Every word of encouragement from Li Xuan provoked deep thought. After supplementing these thoughts with his own interpretations, he gained a new understanding!

He made slight adjustments to his method of refining blood and bones, speeding up the process once again.

Every time this happened, he was utterly thrilled. In his heart, Master's image was no longer describable as merely a reclusive expert.

"Master is truly unfathomable!"

"At Master's realm, traditional and ordinary teaching methods are transcended. He is enhancing my ability to perceive at every moment!"

"He allows me to constantly comprehend the true essence of cultivation, understanding its 'intent'!"

"Planting vegetables, cooking, raising chickens, raising rabbits...these seemingly mundane chores actually relax my mind after cultivation, letting me return to the state of an ordinary person, rather than being tightly wound as a Martial Arts cultivator.

"No wonder Master seems like an ordinary person. This must be what Master refers to as 'Returning to Nature, Daoist as nature.'"

"Master's realm is too high!"

Xu Yan sighed in his heart. When would he be able to reach Master's realm?

"I have already refined Copper Bones, and I'm one step closer to Gold Bones. Maybe in another half month, I could step into Gold Bones?"

"According to Master, the transition from Copper Bones to Gold Bones is a massive leap and transformation, not easily achieved."

"After I complete refining Copper Bones, I should return home and see if I can buy treasures like the Nine-leaf Lotus Root."

Xu Yan made up his mind. Once he completed refining Copper Bones, he would go home to see if he could find treasures like the Nine-leaf Lotus Root to increase his chances of refining Gold Bones.

Ten days later.

Xu Yan had perfected his Copper Bones.

At this moment, as he was cultivating, he felt a bottleneck, as if his bone refinement had reached its limit.

He knew he had encountered a Gold Bones bottleneck. At this stage, only talent, perseverance, and persistence could help.

Most importantly, he needed more insight!

"Having a treasure for assistance could increase the probability of a breakthrough."

Xu Yan prepared to go home again in search of a treasure to aid in his cultivation.

Li Xuan stood at the door, watching Xu Yan train in the distance, lost in thought.

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

Seemingly emanating a more majestic aura?

"Could my foolish disciple actually be achieving something?"

"No! Absolutely impossible. I made up the method myself; even if there really is such a thing as blood and bone Martial Arts in this world, how could something I invented randomly work?"

"It must be because he has been practicing the horse stance for so long, making him look more stable and powerful!"

He had been practicing the horse stance for so long; it was time to let Xu Yan try a different pose.

Constantly maintaining one stance was too monotonous.

Pondering over which new horse stance to teach Xu Yan, Li Xuan recalled the martial arts videos and images he had seen in his previous life.

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

"Since it's all made up and nothing will come of it, just continue to instill in my disciple the belief to keep cultivating. There's still time until the year is up."

"Being able to part ways amiably under the pretext of no fate between master and disciple is the best outcome."

Thinking thus, Li Xuan waved Xu Yan over.