Reforging His Foundation and Physique

Nothing happened that night.

The next morning, Lin Baichuan had been practicing Wind Shadow Steps and Brute Ox Fist in the courtyard when a voice suddenly came from outside.

"Is Lin Baichuan here? Myriad Treasures Hall has come to deliver the goods..."

The ringing voice reached Lin Baichuan's ears clearly, leaving him stunned before wild joy surged through him. He immediately withdrew his fists and hurried over to pull open the courtyard gate, where he saw a young man waiting outside.

When the young man saw Lin Baichuan emerge, he froze for a moment, then promptly bowed with respect. "You must be Lord Lin! I am a staff member of Myriad Treasures Hall, ordered to deliver your auction items."

As he spoke, he handed a box to Lin Baichuan.

"Thank you!"

Lin Baichuan was overjoyed. He took the box and immediately opened it, only to find that there were nine smaller boxes nested inside.

Each box contained a precious spiritual herb.

"Lord Lin, if there is no issue with the goods, please sign here so I may return and report back." The young man took out a document and handed it to Lin Baichuan.

After Lin Baichuan finished signing, the young man turned and left without hesitation, clean and decisive, without the slightest bit of dawdling.

With the medicinal ingredients in hand, Lin Baichuan had no mood to continue practicing Wind Shadow Steps and Brute Ox Fist. He turned and entered the cultivation room in the courtyard, then took out the nine spiritual herbs from the box one by one. After examining them carefully, he placed one of them into his Space Ring.

The other eight spiritual herbs were laid out in a row on the table in the room.

Lin Baichuan then took out the Mysterious Sun Fruit and Earth Spirit Milk as well. Once he had arranged them all properly, he muttered, "Now that the spiritual herbs are all gathered, it is time to make the Return Origin Bone Tempering Soup."

As he spoke, Lin Baichuan's gaze fell upon a massive wooden barrel in the center of the room.

He had specially bought it for medicinal baths. Although Return Origin Body Tempering Soup had the word "soup" in its name, it was not meant to be drunk. It had to be used through a medicinal bath.

If one rashly drank it, the final result would likely be exploding to death.

Making the Return Origin Body Tempering Soup was not difficult. The recipe Qin Qing had given him recorded the process in detail. Lin Baichuan merely had to follow the steps and mix it like a foolproof formula; there was not much skill involved.

Around two hours later, Lin Baichuan looked at the half-basin of pale green liquid before him, thick as paste, and muttered, "This thing doesn't look like soup at all! It looks more like paste. Could something have gone wrong?"

As he spoke, Lin Baichuan lightly stirred the liquid in the basin. A fragrant aroma immediately wafted out, and he instinctively took a deep breath, feeling his entire body relax as though he were soaking in a hot spring.

It felt as though all one hundred and eight thousand pores across his body had opened in an instant.

"Good stuff! Let's test the effect..."

A sharp gleam flashed in Lin Baichuan's eyes. He immediately went outside to fetch water, filled the wooden barrel already prepared in the room to two-thirds full, then dumped all the Return Origin Body Tempering Soup into it in one go.

Gurgle, gurgle...

At once, the cold water in the barrel began to roil as though it had been brought to a boil. A rich fragrance spread out, instantly filling the entire room.

Gritting his teeth, Lin Baichuan immediately stripped off his clothes and jumped into the wooden barrel.

"Hiss... fuck, why does it hurt this much?"

The moment he entered the barrel, Lin Baichuan could not help sucking in a cold breath. He gnashed his teeth and cursed under his breath, "That woman Qin Qing never said this stuff would hurt so much! She must have done this on purpose. Sure enough, a woman's heart is the most poisonous..."

Agonizing pain swept through his entire body. At that moment, Lin Baichuan felt as if the flesh all over his body were being torn apart.

At the same time, a cool yet powerful force seeped into his body through all one hundred and eight thousand pores, remolding his flesh and physique at a terrifying speed, even reforging his foundation and potential.

At that moment, Lin Baichuan could clearly sense the inner strength within him growing more vigorous. If his inner strength had once been a scattered little stream, it was now transforming toward a river. Yet compared to the increase in his physical strength, that slight improvement in inner strength was hardly worth mentioning.

"What powerful energy, what astonishing effects! I can feel my body transforming, undergoing the ultimate sublimation. My physical strength is soaring, skyrocketing."

Countless thoughts rose in Lin Baichuan's heart, and he was utterly exhilarated. He took a long breath, endured the pain coursing through his body, and submerged himself completely in the liquid. Since he was tempering and transforming, it had to be a complete transformation. Not even his hair could be spared.

Time flew like a shuttle, each second slipping away at speed.

The rising sun climbed and fell, darkness gradually shrouded the land, and a night wind howled through heaven and earth, carrying biting cold.

Late at night, when all was still and the moon hung high in the sky.

Inside the room, a muffled pop rang out. Lin Baichuan, completely submerged in the wooden barrel, suddenly sprang up and shot out like a phantom.

With the energy within his body surging, the water droplets on him instantly evaporated.

"Haa..."

As he exhaled a breath of turbid air, it condensed into a pillar that lingered for a long time. His gaze was as deep as the vast starry sky, faint gleams of light flickering within it. When he moved, a series of crackles erupted from his body like exploding firecrackers.

His tendons and bones rang in unison, while his skin membrane was like metal, faintly gleaming with a metallic luster. He had cultivated Bronze Skin, and the flesh across his body was as tough as bronze.

Ordinary weapons wielded by mortals would strike his body as though they were hacking at metal.

"Return Origin Body Tempering Soup truly is extraordinary!"

Lin Baichuan muttered to himself, his face brimming with excitement. "My physique and foundation have now been reforged, and even my comprehension has improved further. This is simply shedding my mortal frame and exchanging my bones."

His physical strength had advanced by leaps and bounds. It had probably already surpassed thirty thousand jin.

As he spoke, Lin Baichuan suddenly threw a punch.

Crack... boom...

A muffled blast erupted like thunder. Even the air was forcibly blown apart. The powerful airflow swept through the room, sending quite a few tables and chairs flying, while the massive wooden barrel in the center exploded outright. The Return Origin Body Tempering Soup, which had long since turned into clear water, splashed over him. With a fierce shake of his body, droplets of water struck the ground like pearls and jade.

If an outsider had been present, they would certainly have been shocked beyond measure.

This meant that his flesh had been tempered to an unimaginable realm: water would not cling to him, and even mosquitoes could not land on him. Since ancient times, those who could achieve this at the Ninth Rank Skin Refinement Realm were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, few enough to count on one's fingers.

"For ordinary Ninth Rank Skin Refinement Realm martial artists, reaching five thousand jin of physical strength already makes one a genius. Ten thousand jin makes one a favored prodigy. If one can shatter the limits of the human body and break through the shackles of ten thousand jin, then one is an unparalleled prodigy, a supreme monster.

"Not to mention Cangwu County—even in Eastern Wasteland Prefecture, such people would likely be as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns."

Lin Baichuan withdrew his fist and muttered, "Yet I have not only broken through the limits of the physical body and cultivated Bronze Skin, my physical strength has likely surpassed thirty thousand jin. Moreover, I can feel that this still is not my limit. My physical strength can continue to break through.

"The effects of the Return Origin Body Tempering Soup are simply too powerful. It has completely remade me, reforged my foundation and physique, and made up for the innate gap between me and the descendants of those great Aristocratic Clans. My future path of martial arts will become incomparably smooth..."

Lin Baichuan felt refreshed all over, his face covered in smiles. He felt as though he had strength he could never exhaust.

He immediately put on his clothes, stepped out into the courtyard, and began practicing his fist techniques.

Reforging his physique and foundation had not merely improved his body. His natural talent and comprehension had likewise undergone a complete transformation. He felt that he had gained a deeper understanding of Wind Shadow Steps and Brute Ox Fist, and wanted to seize this chance to master the basics of both martial techniques in one stroke...