"This Vajra Skill is no ordinary martial art of the jianghu. It is a superior Body Refinement Technique that points directly to Force Entry!"
Zheng Shan introduced it in a solemn tone.
"Upon reaching the Entry Stage, your skin will be tough as cowhide. At Minor Accomplishment, your tendons and bones will be strong enough to withstand blades and swords."
"At Major Accomplishment, your entire body will be like iron, and your blood qi will naturally generate rebounding force. If you can cultivate it to Perfection, you may use this skill to enter Force Entry and condense the supremely hard and supremely yang Vajra Strength."
"Where Force Power reaches, nothing is indestructible, and its defensive power is even more astonishing!"
Wang Yuan accepted the manual. It felt slightly heavy in his hand, and sensing the weight contained within, he could not help but feel delighted.
A superior Body Refinement Technique that pointed directly to Force Entry!
This was precisely what he needed most right now.
However, when Senior Disciple Brother Shi Long saw the manual, his eyes went straight. He could not help muttering under his breath, his tone dripping with sourness.
"Master, you're being far too biased."
"When I wanted to cultivate body refinement back then, you found me common goods like the Iron Cloth Shirt and Golden Bell Shield, saying they were enough."
"I begged you so many times to let me see this Vajra Skill, but you would not even let me take a single look."
Hearing this, Zheng Shan shot Shi Long an irritated glare and barked.
"You fool, and you still have the nerve to say that!"
"The Vajra Skill has an extremely high cultivation threshold. Its demands on one's natural physique, comprehension, and blood qi are exceedingly harsh!"
"With your talent and temperament, giving it to you would have been a waste. You probably would not have touched the threshold of Force Entry even after your beard turned white."
"If you can cultivate the Panshi Fist to Perfection and use it to enter Force Entry, your ancestral graves will be smoking with good fortune."
"And you still dare to aim too high? Get lost and practice your Panshi Fist!"
After being scolded, Shi Long shrank his neck and no longer dared to speak.
He could only stare at the Vajra Skill in Wang Yuan's hands with envious eyes.
Seeing her Senior Disciple Brother in such a deflated state, Zheng Ying finally could not hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.
It was like spring flowers blooming, scattering some of the resentment hanging over the courtyard.
Wang Yuan also laughed inwardly, while tightening his grip on the Vajra Skill.
He looked toward Zheng Shan and gave him a deep bow.
"Thank you, Master, for bestowing this skill upon me!"
"This disciple will certainly not disappoint Master's expectations and will cultivate diligently!"
Zheng Shan waved a hand, and his tone softened.
"Xiao Yuan, since you have made up your mind, there is no time to lose."
"To enter body refinement, one must use external force to pound the tendons and bones, supplemented by medicine that permeates the body and stimulates the blood qi to nourish oneself in return. The process is rather painful."
"Luckily, I obtained a portion of Vajra Powder in my early years, prepared specifically for entering the Vajra Skill. I shall use it on you today."
As he spoke, he took out a jade jar.
After opening it, they saw a thick dark-golden ointment within, giving off a pungent and strange medicinal fragrance.
"Ying'er, help your junior brother apply the ointment. Make sure it evenly covers the major areas of his tendons and bones."
Zheng Shan instructed.
"Yes, Father."
Zheng Ying stepped forward in response and accepted the jade jar.
Though she was somewhat shy, her movements were not the least bit awkward. She gestured for Wang Yuan to remove his upper garment.
Children of the jianghu did not fuss over minor formalities.
Wang Yuan did as instructed, revealing his lean and powerful upper body.
The lines of his body were smooth, his muscles taut but not bulky, containing explosive power.
He sat down cross-legged.
Zheng Ying dipped her fingers into the dark-golden Vajra Powder and carefully spread it over key areas such as his arms, chest, abdomen, and back.
When the ointment touched his skin, it was icy cold at first, but quickly transformed into a burning sensation.
It felt as though countless tiny needlepoints were pricking him, bringing waves of stinging pain and numb itchiness.
Wang Yuan frowned slightly, yet his body remained as steady as a boulder as he silently endured it.
At that moment, Shi Long, who had been watching the show from the side, brightened up. A sly grin appeared on his face as he raised his booming voice and shouted outside.
"Hey! You two strong ones outside, come in with practice staffs!"
Very soon, two burly Entry Stage disciples carrying long hardwood staffs entered, looking at Shi Long with some confusion.
Shi Long pointed at Wang Yuan, who sat cross-legged on the ground while having ointment applied, and ordered the two disciples.
"Yes, your junior senior brother."
"Come, come, don't hold back. Strike the places where he has applied the medicine—hard."
"Remember, put some strength into it. I want to hear it ring!"
"This is helping your junior senior brother toil his tendons and bones. It's a good thing!"
The two disciples exchanged glances and hesitantly looked toward their master, Zheng Shan.
Zheng Shan glanced at Shi Long but did not stop him.
He merely said calmly to Wang Yuan, "With body refinement, external pounding can indeed speed up the absorption of the medicine and stimulate the blood qi."
"Though your Senior Disciple Brother is fooling around, his method is not wrong."
"Bear with it."
Wang Yuan looked at the malicious grin on his Senior Disciple Brother's face, then at the two sturdy hardwood staffs, and could not help feeling helpless.
But he also knew this was a path body refinement had to pass through. Taking a deep breath, he said in a low voice, "Come."
"Orders received!"
Shi Long chuckled and motioned for the two disciples to begin.
Seeing that their master had tacitly approved and their junior senior brother had agreed, the two disciples hesitated no longer.
They swung their hardwood staffs and vigorously struck Wang Yuan's medicated back, arms, and other areas with whistling force!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dull impacts echoed through the inner courtyard.
For an ordinary martial artist, even one at the Second Blood Change,
if they did not circulate their blood qi to protect their body, being struck full-force by such hardwood staffs would certainly leave them in agonizing pain, their skin split and flesh torn.
But how tough were Wang Yuan's Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone!
The staffs struck his body with dull booms like war drums.
His skin merely reddened slightly, with barely any swelling marks appearing.
Instead, the force of the blows, mixed with the medicinal power of the Vajra Powder, continuously stimulated his tendons, bones, and skin like refined iron being hammered and forged.
Wang Yuan held his breath and focused, circulating the Vajra Skill's method with all his strength.
The vigorous blood qi from his Second Blood Change was mobilized, surging toward the areas being struck.
Driven by his blood qi and stimulated by the external blows, that scorching medicinal power
penetrated his skin, fascia, and even deep into his bones at an astonishing speed.
He could clearly feel that his tendons and bones were undergoing some subtle yet resilient transformation.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pounding continued without pause.
A full half hour passed.
The two staff-wielding disciples were already sweating from their foreheads, their arms sore and numb as they inwardly cried out in misery.
Was this junior senior brother's body forged from iron?
The rebounding force left their tiger's mouths numb, yet he had barely furrowed his brow.
At first, Shi Long had only wanted to watch a show.
But as he watched Wang Yuan's endurance far beyond that of ordinary people, as well as the faint pale-golden glimmer of blood qi emerging around him that matched the Vajra Skill's description,
the smile on his face gradually faded and became shock.
"Th-this kid... what kind of monster is he?"
At a certain moment, when a stream of scorching blood qi flowed into Wang Yuan's right arm and he forcibly endured a heavy strike,
Buzz!
The blood qi beneath the skin of his right arm suddenly condensed, as though it had been plated with an extremely faint, nearly imperceptible golden sheen.
A sense of tough, stable, rebounding power naturally arose.
At the same time, a tiny wisp of blood qi seemed to split off from the surging blood qi within him.
Yet it carried an aura of hardness and solidity entirely different from the blood qi of the Panshi Fist, coiling within the tendons and bones of his right arm.
Vajra Skill—Entry Stage!
Though it was merely the embryonic form of a trace of Force Power, confined to his right arm,
it marked that he had officially stepped across the threshold of the Vajra Skill.
The sounds of pounding came to an abrupt stop.
Everyone sensed the instantaneous change in Wang Yuan's aura.
The two staff-wielding disciples were dumbfounded.
A strange radiance flickered repeatedly in Zheng Ying's beautiful eyes.
Shi Long's mouth hung wide enough to fit an egg inside. Pointing at Wang Yuan's right arm, he stammered.
"V-Vajra Skill blood qi?"
"Junior Brother, you entered... entered the Entry Stage? In only half a day?"
"When I cultivated the Iron Cloth Shirt to the Entry Stage, it still took me three days!"
At last, Zheng Shan revealed an undisguised smile.
He glanced at Shi Long, who was too shocked to speak, and said blandly.
"Now do you understand why I would not let you cultivate the Vajra Skill?"
"You cultivated third-rate body refinement techniques like the Iron Cloth Shirt and Golden Bell Shield, yet you still needed three days just to barely reach the Entry Stage."
"Yet your junior brother possesses a Body Refinement Treasure Physique, and his blood qi is far more vigorous than those of the same rank."
"In half a day, he has already condensed a wisp of Vajra Skill blood qi!"
"This is the difference."
Shi Long's face turned red to the ears. He scratched his bald head and stood there speechless.
But when he looked at Wang Yuan now, all that remained in his gaze was wholehearted admiration, along with a trace of amazement at a monster.
Wang Yuan slowly opened his eyes. Feeling the faint yet genuinely existing Vajra Blood Qi in his right arm, the corner of his mouth could not help curling into a smile.
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