Chapter 2: Reforging the body

"Master?"

"Hmmm...oh nothing. I like your ambition brat but you need to become much much stronger if you're to learn from me."

Luo jumped with joy and then groaned with the pain the landing caused him "Then, you'll accept me as a disciple master??"

"Well, in a way. But don't get ahead of yourself. Your body, it needs to be...reforged into a stronger one for it to bear my teachings, otherwise your body will just explode if I teach you my techniques now. But ready your resolve, for it will cause a million times more pain and if you lose your sense of self in that pain, then even I can't help you. It's a gamble. Willing to take it up?"

Luo reflected on Yin's words. 'This master does not seem ordinary. So he means that just normal cultivation is not enough and for his techniques I need a much stronger body. How much stronger will I be if I go through this opportunity of a lifetime I wonder? I don't have anyone or anything that causes desire for my current way of life. It's Do or Die. If I do live through the reforging of my body, I am going to become the strongest this world has ever seen.'

With steeled eyes that burned with the fires of ambition, Luo LianHao made up his mind and looked at his new master. " Master, I will do it. If I live through this, I swear, I will become the strongest this world has ever seen"

Yin nodded in approval. "Strongest in this world huh. Well, that's good for starters."

"Alright, now follow me, we will be heading to an isolated place teeming with Qi to help aid you in the process." Luo LianHao and Yin headed outside his wooden shack and outside Xian town towards the nearby mountains where the natural Qi energy flowed in abundance.

Once they reached, Yin asked Luo LianHao to take off his ragged shirt. Yin, then placed his right hand near his Dantian, his core and pulled away a little. Enormous amounts of Primordial Qi was being concentrated into a pill form in his hand. A purple colored pill formed in his hand and Yin smiled at the confused face of Luo.

"This is the Pill of Reforging. It hurts like a bitch but if you manage to refine its Qi while maintaining a sense of self then you will have a very strong base for your cultivation. Whether you reach the step that is after the reforging of your body or not will be up to your will".

Yin put out his hand again Qi started revolving. "I'm going to reinforce your spirit a little bit. It'll help you. I wish you luck young Luo". He gave Luo the pill after strengthening Luo's spirit.

Luo sat down in the lotus position and put the purple pill in his mouth. He swallowed it. He began using the breathing techniques he imitated all the time before but could never actually circulate Qi with. But something was different this time. The pill cleared his meridians and his Dantian of the turbid Qi blocking them and it was all expelled in a big explosion of Qi around his body.

He did not get any pain because of the explosion, surprisingly. The first step was easy. Now let's see what's next.

His breathing was now beginning to circulate Qi through his meridians and he was slowly gathering Qi. And just like that Luo, who could not cultivate till now in his life, broke through to the Gathering Qi realm's 1st layer. He felt happy but was waiting for when the pain would start now. He meditated until eventually the natural Qi filled his Dantian but instead of attaining a sort of equilibrium, his body still continued pulling in Qi.

And then it started.

The refinement of his body began with Qi dissipating into his body, his muscles, his viscera, his bones and his marrow. The overload of continuous Qi dissipation into his body was refining his body by removing impurities. The process of refinement for him felt like his bones were being pulled apart by a huge force and then putting it back in place only to repeat again and again.

He felt the pain of his muscle fibers and tendons tearing down and building up again and again. A white wall of pain blindsided his brain and he, rather his consciousness was floating in a void of white, colorless, wordless, where no sensations reached him anymore and his body, his identity, his reality was a thing that was a faraway thing for him to comprehend.

He floated in the white sea for what seemed like infinity without a single thought. Then one wisp flew into his mind 'Who am I?', beginning a whole slew of questions until he finally comprehended the space that he was in. He gained enough of his perception back that the spiritual pressure that Yin had planted earlier took a hold of his mind and he was yanked back again into the reality of this realm.

The amount of Qi that he was refining was huge and the air around him started to become charged and wind teared at the surroundings like a thousand sharp invisible blades. The ground underneath the lotus of his legs compressed inwards and his skin had tears everywhere, black blood drenched his entire body and he looked more like a hellspawn.

He opened his eyes and amid the charged air, the roaring wind and the enormous Qi that was collecting in his Dantian, his attention was slightly tugged at by a faraway shrill sound of someone screaming. The enormous amount of Qi that was concentrating into his core, condensed and was used up in expanding the limits of his Dantian a hundred times over till all that was smoldering was a small amount of primordial Qi in the center of his expanded Dantian.

Then suddenly like a candle blown out by a sudden wind, it all stopped and finally as the sounds died down he noticed that the screams were his own. He closed his mouth and gathered his mind and looked at Yin who was wearing a small grin as if a most curious thing had occurred.

Yin walked up to Luo "Brat, that was good. I know you feel like hell but that was way better than I imagined. You've gone through all the stages of Body refinement in one go. I did not expect that. All that black stuff you're drenched in are your body's impurities and they have all been expelled.

I can sense that your Dantian has been expanded and the Primordial Qi that is flowing in it. Tell me do you feel it?"

Luo concentrated on the Qi's flow and yes he could feel it but it was as if there was a limitation or a suppression on it and could only reside in his core and not flow through all the meridians in his body freely.

He looked at Yin with a Puzzled expression "I..I can't make it flow through the other meridians. Why is that?"

" Ahh...you've already noticed it. Good. That's the next piece of the puzzle but don't worry you don't have much to do in this part. Just go wash up in the stream of all those impurities and we'll begin."

Luo obeyed and took a dunk into the stream that was flowing by and he was surprised by the way his body responded so lithely. He flexed his muscle groups and tried jumping out of the stream by pushing off in one go. He jumped 10 feet in one go, out of the water and onto the land and managed to land on his legs, without even feeling any pain. His old body would've jolted his brain with enough pain so that he would've passed out but now he felt no pain.

No, no pain at all. He felt great, electrified with the strength and performance of his body. With a smile from ear to ear on his face he walked up to Yin. "Master, I see that the sun is rising again. We were here all night then?" Yin roared with laughter and responded "One night?? That's what you think? Boy we've been here for ten days straight. Now get yourself ready for the next part."

Luo had no response to Yin's reply. 'Has it really been ten days. Well cultivators do spend months at a time in isolation for cultivation. This just proves that I have awakened to being one.'

Luo smiled "I'm ready for the next part, master."

Yin nodded in response and asked him to lay down on the ground on a nearby flat rock. Luo did just that. "Now what?"

"Now you just lay down and shut up and watch me work my magic"

Without even so much as a change in his expression, Yin gathered an enormous amount of Qi in both of his hands. In a flicker, he bombarded Luo's closed meridians with concentrated Primordial Qi, with thousands of punches, so many so that Luo's eyes could no longer follow Yin's hands with his eyes.

What was even surprising for Luo was that what seemed like punches were not even hurting him because Yin drew back at just the right moment to retract the force behind his punches but enough time to push his Qi through to Luo's meridians forcing them open.

Luo was dumbfounded and could only imagine what kind of power Yin's punches would've packed if he had not retracted them. "Now Luo, focus on your Qi and circulate it through your meridians. You should be able to do so now."

Luo's Qi burst through from his Dantian and through his meridians in a full circuit throughout his entire body. He repeated the process of making his Qi flow through and gradually the flow became very smooth.

A day passed and Luo was shrouded with energized Qi which peaked suddenly and died down. He had broken through to the 2nd Layer of Gathering Qi.

Luo noticed that the Qi flowing through his body was very light compared to the natural Qi of Heaven and Earth that was present everywhere in nature. It was hard to gather as Primordial Qi was lesser compared to the natural Qi. He left this mystery up for a later time, satisfied now for having taken the first steps towards cultivation.

He opened his eyes and looked at his master, sleeping without a care, his back to a big tree. He woke up Yin, who groggily woke up with multitudes of curses. "Well, you seem to be done now. That's good. Like I promised, I have given you good foundations. Now the rest is up to you. Time for me to go on and resume my journey."

With a burst of Qi, Yin propelled himself from a seating position into the mid air and then landed neatly on the ground and began walking without looking back.

Luo ran behind Yin in a hurry "Master, what am I to do. Shall I join the other sects to further my cultivation? But then, you're my master and not them? What do I do?"

Yin stopped and looked back at Luo " Aaaah, you're so much trouble. Fine, I'll give you a kind of mark. It...well it's sort of like a mark on your soul. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not making you my slave, just giving you a mark."

"What does it do, master?"

"Ohh, this and that. You'll understand in time. I'm sure It will come in handy."

Yin put a finger on Luo's forehead and many runes appeared on his forehead, covered his entire body for an instant and then disappeared.

"That's it?"

"That's it. Now be on your way. If fate has it then we'll meet again."

Saying that, Yin seemed to be very amused as if laughing at a joke that only he could understand and turned his back to Luo and walked on towards the horizon.