Summoning

Inside the Alchemy Hall of the Five Mountains Sect, Zeng Fan was cultivating with his eyes closed. The Ironwood around him continuously released streams of black energy that he absorbed, while the black-gray radiance around his body grew denser and denser. The texture of Ironwood had begun to emerge faintly across his body, accompanied by a subtle sense of oppression.

After returning, Zeng Fan focused his cultivation on the Alchemy Hall and the waterfall. He would first cultivate Ironwood Body in the Alchemy Hall, then head to the waterfall to temper his physical body, striving to merge Fish Dragon Dance with Ironwood Body. After all, running both techniques at the same time required constant practice before he could gradually master them.

The radiance around him slowly faded. Zeng Fan opened his eyes. He had already begun growing accustomed to the itchiness caused by cultivating Ironwood Body; it was no longer as unbearable as before. What concerned him most was the increase in his strength.

"Cultivating this technique is purely a matter of piling up resources. As long as there's enough Ironwood, the cultivation progresses extremely quickly. All I need to do is keep absorbing it." Zeng Fan sighed with emotion. As long as he had enough resources, certain aspects could surpass those of others, and his overall strength would rise as well.

"There are only a few days left. I wonder if I can completely cultivate Ironwood Body before we set out." A trace of anxiety appeared in Zeng Fan's eyes.

Only a few days after returning, while Zeng Fan was still burying himself in cultivation, he received a notice: ten days later, the sect would dispatch disciples below the Foundation Establishment Realm to fight outside. This was also a custom of the Five Mountains Sect. Whenever a new batch of Body Tempering Realm disciples grew to a certain point, the sect would send them out for tempering. After all, the sect had no need for flowers raised in a greenhouse. As it happened, an affiliated force had requested assistance, so this mission would serve as the trial ground for the Body Tempering Realm disciples. Every disciple had to kill two demonic beasts of the same realm to pass the test.

Zeng Fan understood that this could be considered a war between two forces possessing Foundation Establishment cultivators. Wherever there was war, there would be casualties, and the sect did not particularly care about that—at least not when it came to disciples like them with Profound Veins and Yellow Veins. If they wanted to pass the trial and survive in such an environment, they could only rely on themselves. Thus, Zeng Fan felt an increasing sense of urgency. If he could cultivate Ironwood Body to Major Accomplishment before setting out, his odds on this journey would increase considerably.

Today's absorption had reached its limit. Zeng Fan rose and walked outside. Yao Ling'er was still wearing a long robe and standing guard for him at the door, but today she was not reading. The girl gazed blankly at the sky, apparently lost in thought.

Hearing the commotion, Yao Ling'er came back to herself and looked toward Zeng Fan with a smile at the corners of her lips. "Finished absorbing today? How does your cultivation feel? Lately, everyone's been saying the Ironwood in the storehouse seems to have gotten worse. They have to add a few extra pieces whenever they refine pills. I feel like I'm almost unable to hide it." The girl moved closer to Zeng Fan and asked softly about his progress.

Zeng Fan smiled faintly. "Almost there. I feel like I'll finish in the next few days."

"That's good. It probably won't be exposed." Yao Ling'er breathed a small sigh of relief. If he could finish within the next few days, she would still be able to hold out.

"You're participating in this trial, right?" Yao Ling'er thought for a moment before speaking to Zeng Fan.

"You don't have to?" Zeng Fan found her tone a little strange and could not help asking. According to the sect's notice, all Body Tempering Realm disciples should have to go.

"Nope, hee hee hee. Didn't see that coming, did you? The sect requires ordinary disciples to go. The disciples of our Alchemy Hall don't have to, because the demands on our combat ability aren't that high." Yao Ling'er looked at Zeng Fan smugly.

"After all, you count as a special talent~" Zeng Fan was not surprised. Alchemists, like talisman masters, required special talent. Although there were far more alchemists than talisman masters, there was still an overall shortage. Some people simply had no talent for cultivation, but as long as they became an alchemy grandmaster, someone would naturally be willing to back them and help their cultivation advance another step. Yao Ling'er had become a disciple of the Alchemy Hall while still in the Body Tempering Realm, so her talent in alchemy was clearly not weak. The sect naturally would not send such a disciple to participate in the trial, because their "battlefield" was different.

Yao Ling'er pondered silently for a moment, then raised her head and looked at Zeng Fan. "Then I'll work a little harder these next few days and refine the Body Tempering Pills for you. Even if they no longer have any breakthrough effect, they'll still be excellent pills for replenishing Spiritual Energy during battle."

"Good. Sorry for the trouble." Zeng Fan grinned at Yao Ling'er.

"Enough, enough. Don't be so falsely courteous with me." Yao Ling'er rolled her eyes at Zeng Fan.

After leaving the entrance of the Alchemy Hall, Zeng Fan headed straight for the waterfall. A faint pressure now lingered in his heart; only a rapid breakthrough in strength could put him at ease.

When he reached the waterfall, Yuan Jin was already practicing his punches. He was bare-chested, his skin a healthy bronze color, and the muscles across his body bulged high, making him look explosively powerful. Compared with before, his boxing was now more fluid. Ferocity still ran through it, but there was also a trace of softness. Too much rigidity led to easy breakage—Yuan Jin had gradually developed his own understanding of his technique.

If one looked closely, one could also see a faint black-gray radiance emerging from Yuan Jin's skin. It was Ironwood Body. After learning that the trial had been initiated, Zeng Fan had told Yuan Jin the cultivation method. Yuan Jin no longer held back. Knowing how dangerous the trial was, he simply bought the Ironwood needed for cultivation with Spirit Stones. After all, his Lineage did have a Foundation Establishment Ancestor.

However, Yuan Jin had started cultivating several days later, so his progress was naturally behind Zeng Fan's. Even so, it still brought a considerable increase to his strength.

Zeng Fan stripped off his clothes and entered the pool directly. The icy water stimulated his skin, and his mind slowly calmed. With a thought, his skin gradually turned pitch-black, while a dense black-gray radiance slowly emerged from within his body.

Clearly, his Ironwood Body was close to Major Accomplishment. Once he fully succeeded, he would possess a hardness comparable to Ironwood, making it difficult for attacks from the same realm to break through. The Huang Brothers had merely reached the entry level of Ironwood Body; the radiance on their bodies had only been able to barely cover them from head to toe.

Zeng Fan began moving across the stone platform, unfolding the movement technique of Fish Dragon Dance as well. A thoughtful look flashed through his eyes.

"Still not working? It always feels like something is missing." Zeng Fan had been trying to combine Ironwood Body with Fish Dragon Dance. Every time he used Fish Dragon Dance while activating Ironwood Body, the circulation of Spiritual Energy within his body would encounter a faint obstruction, preventing the techniques from flowing together as smoothly as he wished.

"Yuan Jin's Five Kill Fist is rigid. What he needs now is to bring softness into that rigidity. My Fish Dragon Dance could be said to combine both rigidity and softness, but once Ironwood Body is added, that balance is disrupted. I need to establish a new balance..."

His body slowly practiced the techniques while his mind kept pondering how to balance the two. Unfortunately, he had no clue.

At night, the moon shone bright beneath a sparse scatter of stars, and silvery moonlight spilled down from the sky. Beside the waterfall, a red bonfire burned, occasionally giving off the sound of branches cracking in the flames. A large hand skewered several fish and turned them back and forth over the fire.

The firelight shone across Yuan Jin's face. A gust of wind passed, making the flames tremble and causing Yuan Jin's and Zeng Fan's faces beside him to flicker between light and shadow. Yuan Jin pinched off a piece of fish directly from the roasted fish, not afraid of the heat, and tossed it into his mouth. After chewing and deciding it was done, he handed it to Zeng Fan.

"Eat some fish first. You need a full stomach before you'll have the strength to cultivate."

Zeng Fan came back to himself, took the fish Yuan Jin offered, and bit down hard. His brows furrowed, and he glared at Yuan Jin. "How did you not even clean off all the scales? I bit down and got meat and scales mixed together!"

Before Yuan Jin could answer, Zeng Fan suddenly froze. Then he abruptly looked at the fish in his hand, and a light suddenly burst into his eyes.

"Fish! That's right, just like a fish! The scales are on the outside, and the meat is inside. Why do I have to run both techniques inside my body at the same time? I can put Ironwood Body on the outside and Fish Dragon Dance on the inside. My defense will be somewhat weaker, but perhaps I can activate both at once!" Zeng Fan suddenly sprang up from the ground and ran straight toward the waterfall, leaving Yuan Jin at a loss. However, Yuan Jin knew that Zeng Fan had probably made a breakthrough, so he did not mind. He silently took another bite of the fish in his mouth, his face filled with a smile.

At the waterfall, Zeng Fan experimented with his new idea. The technique of Ironwood Body circulated within his body, but unlike before, under Zeng Fan's control, its circulation expanded outward from throughout his body and eventually stabilized on the outside. At the same time, the technique of Fish Dragon Dance began flowing inside him. Yet the moment it started circulating, it dispersed.

Zeng Fan simply repeated the process without stopping. He understood that he was merely unfamiliar with this method of circulation. As long as he gradually became proficient, he believed there would definitely be a different change. The two techniques started again and again, then dispersed again and again. As time passed, the length of time they coexisted quietly grew longer.

At one particular moment, after Zeng Fan patiently and tirelessly continued experimenting, the two techniques began circulating simultaneously without a sound, smooth and natural, without the slightest obstruction.

"I did it!" Joy flooded Zeng Fan's heart. Yuan Jin, who had been cultivating with his eyes closed, suddenly heard a burst of laughter. He looked up and saw black-gray radiance flashing around Zeng Fan's body. His aura suddenly surged, and he threw a charged punch toward the waterfall.

With a thunderous boom, a patch of black rock appeared before Zeng Fan's eyes. The waterfall had actually been cut off by that punch, revealing the cliff behind it. After several breaths, white water poured down and covered the black rock once more.

After throwing that punch, Zeng Fan leaped back onto the ground. His body was somewhat drained from the instantaneous burst of power, but his gaze was exceptionally bright. His idea had worked—Ironwood Body and Fish Dragon Dance could be used simultaneously!

"How is it? Did you succeed?" Yuan Jin slowly walked over.

Zeng Fan nodded with a smile. "I can use them both at the same time now. Their power will be even greater. The only question is whether I can improve Ironwood Body further over the next few days."

Yuan Jin planted his hands on his hips. "I told you it would work, but you didn't believe me! I'll have to put in more effort these next few days too. I can't let you leave me too far behind!"

Seeing Zeng Fan's improvement, Yuan Jin also felt a faint sense of urgency.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and the time to set out for battle had arrived...