"Gulp!"
Feeling the terrifying Vital Energy radiating from his master, Xu Yan's heart trembled. The excitement and exhilaration of stepping through the gates of martial arts instantly calmed down.
I'm too weak!
Before my master, I'm no more than an ant. I still have a very long road ahead of me!
At this moment, Xu Yan felt that he was far too insignificant. He had only just entered the path—what right did he have to be excited?
What right did he have to be proud?
"It must be that my master saw me becoming arrogant, so he revealed a little of his Vital Energy to let me know what true strength is!
"I must guard against arrogance and impatience, remain humble and low-key, and cultivate diligently!"
Xu Yan reined in his Vital Energy and respectfully came before his master.
"Master, your disciple has entered the martial path!"
Li Xuan kept one hand behind his back, trembling slightly from excitement. His expression, however, remained calm, and he still wore the bearing of a strict master.
"Mm!"
He nodded and looked at his foolish disciple with a faintly gratified gaze.
"Do you see this? This is the Vital Energy of the Entry Realm at the Great Accomplishment stage. I'll show it to you."
Li Xuan spoke indifferently.
"Master, I will definitely guard against arrogance and impatience and cultivate steadily!"
Xu Yan said with a face full of shame.
Li Xuan reined in his Vital Energy and gazed at his disciple, speaking with satisfaction. "I gave you a year. You entered the path ahead of schedule, and I'm very gratified!"
He walked over and sat down on a chair beneath the large tree. Xu Yan hurriedly brewed tea for his master and respectfully attended him at the side.
"There is no end to the martial path. Right now, you have only just entered it, and you still have a long road ahead. Let me ask you: Is your martial heart firm?"
Li Xuan asked with a solemn expression.
"Master, my martial heart is firm!"
Xu Yan dropped to his knees with a thump and spoke with ringing conviction.
His heart was surging with excitement. Master is finally going to truly accept me as his disciple and teach me the supreme martial path!
"Good, very good. From today onward, you are truly my disciple!"
Li Xuan's face was filled with gratification.
Then, as if speaking casually, he said, "Disciple, your cultivation journey must have been arduous. Think back carefully—when did you temper your skin, when did you refine your bones, and when did you refine your organs?"
Li Xuan was genuinely curious about how this monstrous disciple had managed to cultivate the cultivation art he had fabricated out of thin air.
When Xu Yan entered the martial path and the golden finger appeared, he had directly brought the cultivation art to Great Accomplishment. Naturally, his mind also contained the processes and methods for Skin Tempering, Bone Refining, and Organ Refining.
These processes and methods for Skin Tempering, Bone Refining, and Organ Refining had clearly been comprehended by Xu Yan himself.
It could not be said that they had nothing to do with the cultivation art he had fabricated. After all, Xu Yan had comprehended them from that fabricated art. But fabrication was still fabrication, while genuine cultivation methods were genuine cultivation methods.
The two were no longer the same.
The fabricated cultivation art could be viewed as a set of illusory theories, while Xu Yan had brought those illusory theories into reality, turning them into an actual cultivation art.
Only by understanding how Xu Yan had comprehended genuine cultivation methods from the fabricated art could Li Xuan continue fabricating the subsequent cultivation methods and later martial realms.
Li Xuan had a feeling that even fabricated cultivation arts had to possess a certain theoretical foundation. Even if the theory was illusory, the realms still had to connect, and their levels had to be clearly defined.
The previous realm could not be martial arts while the next realm suddenly became immortal cultivation.
That would make it absolutely impossible to cultivate.
Li Xuan felt that these impressions of his had most likely been transmitted by the golden finger.
"Yes, Master!"
Hearing this, Xu Yan's heart filled with excitement. His master was going to guide him, have him fully comprehend the cultivation process, and let him experience the profundity of martial arts.
Thus, he began explaining how he had cultivated.
How he had comprehended the deeper meaning behind his master's words.
Li Xuan listened quietly, nodding from time to time, but in his heart, one what the hell followed another.
This disciple was far too damn monstrous.
His comprehension was practically heaven-defying. He was also extraordinarily skilled at filling in the blanks himself, forcing his words into an entirely different layer of meaning!
"The cultivation formula Master imparted to me is truly profound beyond compare. This disciple is dull-witted and spent a very long time before finally comprehending it. If Master had not taught me this formula, I fear I would never have been able to temper a Golden Bone!"
Xu Yan sighed emotionally.
Li Xuan was utterly dumbfounded inside. The cultivation formula I made up? He could comprehend even that? Too monstrous. From now on, I'll just make up more cultivation formulas and let this foolish disciple comprehend them!
"After tempering a Golden Bone, this disciple was already satisfied. Thanks to Master's guidance and your urging me to persevere, I was able to temper a Jade Bone!"
Xu Yan recalled how, after tempering his Golden Bone, he had smugly prepared to report the good news to his master, having reached the level of the Ancient Prodigies.
If not for his master's veiled hint, which had led him to temper a Jade Bone, how could he have possessed his current strength?
At the thought of this, Xu Yan's face filled with shame.
Li Xuan continued to be dumbfounded. When did I ever guide this foolish disciple to temper a Jade Bone?
His expression remained calm as he asked, "Disciple, how did you know that I was guiding you?"
Xu Yan said sheepishly, "After I tempered my Golden Bone, I prepared to report the good news to Master. But when Master saw me coming, you threw down the Golden Sword and began playing with the Jade Ruyi... That was when I knew Master was speaking in metaphor, encouraging me to keep climbing toward the summit and strengthen my resolve to temper a Jade Bone.
"I almost failed to understand Master's metaphor. I truly feel ashamed!"
The way Li Xuan looked at his disciple changed slightly. Back then, he had simply liked the Jade Ruyi more. He had thought that the thing was more valuable than the Golden Sword.
He had never expected such a coincidence to cause his disciple to misunderstand.
What was more, Xu Yan had filled in the blanks himself and tempered a Jade Bone.
At this thought, Li Xuan felt his scalp prickle. It was not that this disciple's mind failed to work—it was that it worked far too damn well!
"Mm! The fact that you understood my metaphor shows that your comprehension is passable. To persevere and temper a Jade Bone, you must have suffered quite a bit."
Li Xuan spoke with a face full of gratification.
"The fact that I was able to temper a Jade Bone was still thanks to Master's guidance. If Master had not guided me to hunt Fire Mane Wolves in Evil Fiend Forest, I'm afraid I would never have been able to temper a Jade Bone."
Xu Yan looked at his master with reverence and worship.
Li Xuan's scalp prickled slightly. He now understood: whether it was the tiger or the Fire Mane Wolf he had mentioned, both had been killed by Xu Yan.
It had not been the result of gathering the estate guards and hunters to act.
That fierce tiger had clearly been formidable. Xu Yan had actually hunted it down!
And what was the story with that Fire Mane Wolf?
"Tell me about the process of hunting the Fire Mane Wolf."
Li Xuan's expression did not waver in the slightest. His tone was calm, as if he wanted to guide his disciple through the shortcomings of his hunt.
"Yes, Master!"
Xu Yan answered respectfully and began describing how he had fought the Fire Mane Wolf, how he had hunted it down, swallowed its blood, and then boiled its flesh into a great tonic.
With such assistance in his cultivation, he had quickly completed Organ Refining and stepped through the gates of martial arts!
Li Xuan's face remained calm, but inwardly he was horrified. The Fire Mane Wolf was that fierce?
It was no longer an ordinary beast.
Even more frightening was that Xu Yan had actually killed the Fire Mane Wolf bare-handed and used it to temper a Jade Bone!
From Xu Yan's account, Li Xuan could sense how dangerous that battle had been. With one careless move, Xu Yan would have become prey in the Fire Mane Wolf's jaws!
This foolish disciple is heaven-defying too. He actually comprehended the method of tempering a Jade Bone and killed a Fire Mane Wolf!
Li Xuan sighed inwardly. This foolish disciple was far too monstrous.
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