Days passed one by one, pills were swallowed one by one.
He had to admit, Zhong Bai already felt that his grand words before becoming a disciple were nonsense.
A whole year, and Zhong Bai was still a tiny bit away from bringing the Supreme Clarity Body Forging Art to initial success.
How should one evaluate this talent?
Well, Lin Fengjiao of the Talisman Hall took ten months to reach initial success.
Zhong Bai had to admit that his talent had not reached that one-in-a-million level.
Of course, it was definitely not weak either, but with just this speed of cultivation, wanting to wait until he descended the mountain to avenge his mother and father would take at least ten full years.
At first, Zhong Bai felt somewhat depressed about this, but as time went on, he leveled his mindset.
Through this year of exploration, Zhong Bai had also figured out the relationships among the various halls of Mount Mao.
Mount Mao had a total of five halls and three pavilions.
The Law Enforcement Hall, whose Law Enforcement Elder was his master, True Immortal Qianyuan, at Foundation Establishment Consummation.
The Talisman Hall, controlled by the future master of Lin Fengjiao, whose strength also seemed to be at Foundation Establishment Consummation.
The Corpse Herding Hall, controlled by Four-Eyes' master, whose overall strength depended on the strength of the controlled corpses.
In addition, there were the Spirit Communication Hall and the Pill Halls.
As for the three pavilions, they were the Scripture, Treasure, and Demon-Locking Pavilions.
Each hall and pavilion had three elders presiding over them, and Zhong Bai's master, True Immortal Qianyuan, was the chief elder of the Law Enforcement Hall.
Night fell.
On the roof of the small courtyard.
Looking at the bright moon hanging high and the clear moonlight, deep inside Zhong Bai's heart, thoughts began to flutter.
"Swallow a single golden core into your belly, and from then on my fate is up to me and not the heavens. Ha, the protagonists in novels are all proud sons of heaven.
How is it that when it comes to me, Zhong Bai, I am completely ordinary and without any special traits?"
Shaking his head, Zhong Bai sighed softly, feeling somewhat helpless while at the same time driving himself hard deep inside.
"The Supreme Clarity Body Forging Art is about to step into initial success. Tonight will be the start of a new chapter in my cultivation, Zhong Bai!"
Gritting his teeth, Zhong Bai took out a jade bottle and swallowed several pills in succession.
Immediately afterward, he began to practice the Supreme Clarity Body Forging Art right on the roof.
The first diagram met with no obstruction...
The movements of the second diagram were also extremely fast.
By the ninth diagram, fine beads of sweat began to seep from his forehead.
By the twentieth diagram, he only felt a terrible soreness in his hands and feet.
By the thirty-second diagram, Zhong Bai's eyes were already bloodshot.
With a resounding boom!
Until the thirty-sixth diagram ended, all in one go, the macrocosmic orbit had a beginning and an end.
A wave of heat continuously pounded his tendons, bones, blood, and flesh from within his limbs and skeletal frame.
That refreshing soreness was impossible to describe in words, at least at this moment Zhong Bai was deeply immersed in it and unable to pull himself out.
In the process where the flesh, bones, and tendons within his body began to transform, Zhong Bai's clothes were already soaked through. Accompanied by a layer of black filth seeping out of his body onto his skin, very quickly, Zhong Bai smelled a foul stench.
Yet, at this moment he simply had no time to care about this. When the Supreme Clarity Body Forging Art reached initial success, it was naturally capable of Marrow Cleansing and Bone Forging, expelling most of the impurities within the body.
This scene right now was simply too normal...
Inside the Law Enforcement Hall.
True Immortal Qianyuan and the other two Law Enforcement Hall elders were originally using the Kui Niu Drum to temper their physical bodies and divine souls.
However, the next second, True Immortal Qianyuan opened his long-dormant eyes.
His gaze was somewhat burning as he looked in the direction of Zhong Bai's small courtyard, and a smile gradually appeared.
"Senior Brother Qianyuan, your newly accepted disciple has brought the Supreme Clarity Body Forging Art to initial success in merely a year. Such talent can be considered a decent piece of uncarved jade.
From now on, our Law Enforcement Hall can also be considered to have successors!"
As the second elder of the Law Enforcement Hall, True Man Liu Gang also had a fiery look in his eyes.
After all, Zhong Bai was ultimately a disciple of their Law Enforcement Hall. If Zhong Bai could successfully reach Foundation Establishment in the future and succeed them to become a Law Enforcement Hall elder, they would also save face.
Heh, after all...
Not every hall or pavilion could cultivate a qualified successor.
The minimum standard for an elder to take office on Mount Mao was the Foundation Establishment realm, and this had been lowered time and time again over the past thousand years.
A thousand years ago, when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was abundant, none other than a Nascent Soul Dao Lord could serve as an elder.
Five hundred years ago, before Liu Bowen slaughtered all the dragon veins of the world, Mount Mao required none other than a Golden Core True Monarch to serve as an elder.
And now... although the standard had dropped to the Foundation Establishment realm, it was still somewhat awkward.
During the last elder succession, the Corpse Herding Hall had no choice but to transfer a Foundation Establishment disciple from the Talisman Hall because they lacked three qualified Foundation Establishment disciples.
Although everyone belonged to the same sect, it was ultimately losing face...
The current Law Enforcement Hall already possessed two disciples with good talent, who were the personal disciples of Second Elder Liu Gang and Third Elder Cui Cheng respectively.
Liu Gang and Cui Cheng were both confident they could nurture these two disciples to Foundation Establishment within twenty years.
As for Zhong Bai...
He was the very first disciple of True Immortal Qianyuan, the chief elder.
Well, twenty years from now would be the time for the succession, and wanting to go from nothing to Foundation Establishment in twenty years was nearly impossible without some talent and fortuitous encounters.
Fortunately, for now, Zhong Bai's talent appeared passable, achieving initial success in the body forging art in a year, which was at least somewhat better than what their two personal disciples had managed at the time.
Hearing the flattery from Junior Brother Liu Gang, it would be a lie to say True Immortal Qianyuan was not happy.
They say flattery never fails, and in the past True Immortal Qianyuan had not been short of teasing from these two junior brothers regarding taking in disciples.
And now... well, with Zhong Bai around, his ears had finally quieted down quite a bit.
"Junior brother, stop praising him. Cultivation is not easy; Zhong Bai has merely just qualified to step onto the Dao of cultivation.
His future is still long, and wanting to grow to Foundation Establishment in twenty years still carries considerable difficulty."
With that, True Immortal Qianyuan stood up.
Zhong Bai was already close to finishing the process of Marrow Cleansing and Bone Forging. If no one looked after him next, Zhong Bai would fall into a state of extreme weakness.
Therefore... it was time for him, the master, to make a move.
On the roof of the small courtyard.
Zhong Bai was currently weak all over, letting the filth envelop his clothes, but that thumping heartbeat told him he had succeeded!
A breeze swept past, and Qian Yuan arrived before Zhong Bai. With just a single glance, he saw through the approximate condition inside Zhong Bai's body.
"This brat really has some nerve, forcibly breaking through to body forging initial success. Fortunately, his meridians were not damaged, otherwise it would be quite troublesome..."
Shaking his head, True Immortal Qianyuan did not continue watching. With a casual wave of his hand, a stream of flowing light instantly drilled into Zhong Bai's body.
The next second, Zhong Bai, who had been drained of energy, felt full of vitality and brimming with vigor.
He stood up and paid respects with a bow.
"Disciple Zhong Bai pays respects to Master!"
"Rise. Since the body forging art has already achieved initial success, from tomorrow onwards you can head to the Scripture Repository Pavilion to select your primary cultivation technique."
Saying this, True Immortal Qianyuan's gaze grew profound.
"This selection of the technique pretty much determines your path before Foundation Establishment.
You must not take it lightly, and even less should you be arrogant and complacent."
Zhong Bai was slightly stunned. How was he supposed to know what he was suitable to cultivate?
However, not knowing did not matter. Wasn't his own master right here? Just ask and that was it.
"Master, this disciple is terrified and completely clueless about the primary cultivation method. Please guide me through my confusion!"
Hearing this, the originally profound look in True Immortal Qianyuan's eyes instantly relaxed.
Well, good thing Zhong Bai had not been blinded by the initial success of the body forging art; his intelligence was still online.
Before you continue