Time flew by, the sun and moon turned in their endless cycle!
Ever since Gu Han defeated Wang Lang and saved Jingyuan, and Ben Zhen promised to do his utmost to provide pills for Gu Han's cultivation, Gu Han had entered a mode of frenzied training.
In the first year—his fourth year in the Great Yan Kingdom of the Heavenly Azure Realm—with an ample supply of White Tiger Sinew Pills, Gu Han devoted himself to cultivating the White Tiger Muscle Tendon Strengthening Fist and the Vajra Body Refining Fist, two martial arts from different worlds.
The two martial arts, founded on different principles, complemented and spurred each other onward. Working in tandem, they seemed to undergo a chemical reaction within Gu Han's body, erupting with unimaginable might!
One month to temper one major sinew!
Two months to temper two major sinews!
Three months to temper three major sinews!
As time passed, the major sinews throughout Gu Han's body were tempered one after another. Ever since he began cultivating, it was as though he had encountered no bottlenecks at all. He charged onward in triumphant song, maintaining the pace of tempering one major sinew each month as he rapidly advanced toward Muscle Tendon Strengthening Perfection.
Until the end of the first year.
Gu Han, immersed in cultivation, suddenly rose to his feet. With a shake of his body, his sinews and bones immediately rang out in unison. Like firecrackers, they produced twenty-four muffled sounds and twelve crisp cracks.
After a year of bitter cultivation, Gu Han had finally tempered all twelve major sinews of his physical body. At the age of sixteen, he officially became a Muscle Tendon Strengthening Perfection martial artist of this world.
At this point, the path of Muscle Tendon Strengthening had reached its peak. Without counting the enhancement from Bone Forging, Gu Han's Muscle Tendon Strengthening strength alone was enough to make him a top second-rate master in the martial world, comparable to many Yuan Generation martial uncles from the Dharma Institute and Prajna Hall.
As for the Bone Forging cultivation of the other world, it had lagged somewhat behind his Muscle Tendon Strengthening cultivation due to the lack of pill assistance.
However, under the effects of the Vajra Body Refining Fist, a supreme foundational technique from Yue Kingdom, and with the aid of the White Tiger Muscle Tendon Strengthening Fist, Gu Han's cultivation progress continued to climb rapidly. Only three months after breaking through to Muscle Tendon Strengthening Perfection, he caught up as well, breaking through to Bone Forging Perfection.
At this time, Gu Han had finally achieved perfection in both Muscle Tendon Strengthening and Bone Forging. The fusion of martial arts from two worlds fully displayed its might. Their mutual reinforcement made him several times stronger than martial artists of the same rank from either world alone. With a casual swing of one arm, he could generate five thousand jin of divine force; with one punch, his strength surpassed ten thousand jin!
This was terrifying power comparable to Blood Tempering Perfection martial artists of Yan Kingdom in this world and Organ Refining Perfection martial artists of Yue Kingdom in reality. Beneath the Inner Qi realm, he had practically reached the very end of the road. He could be called a top first-rate master in this world. Compared to when he defeated Wang Lang back then, how could he merely have grown several times stronger, or even ten times stronger?
Gu Han was delighted. Afterward, he continued cultivating.
Several more months passed.
After regulating his breath, nurturing his qi, and consolidating his foundation, Gu Han began his first attempt to break through into the Blood Tempering and Organ Refining realms.
First attempt: breakthrough into Blood Tempering, failed!
Second attempt: breakthrough into Organ Refining, failed!
Third attempt: breakthrough into Organ Refining, failed!
Fourth attempt: breakthrough into Blood Tempering, failed!
It had to be said that this body of Gu Han's truly possessed talent so dreadful it beggared belief. Forget comparing it with Jingyuan—even compared with any ordinary disciple from the Dharma Institute or Prajna Hall, it lagged behind by an entire ocean.
Worthy indeed of the "weak" Martial Path Talent rating in the simulator. His martial aptitude was truly feeble beyond measure!
In the early stages, he could rely on the complementary nature of martial arts from two worlds to disregard bottlenecks and cultivate quickly. Even when he eventually reached Blood Tempering Perfection, he estimated that relying on the strength of his own qi and blood to refine essence into qi and break through to Inner Qi would be easy enough.
Because the fundamental test for breaking through to Inner Qi was not Martial Path Talent, but whether one's qi and blood were strong enough. Thus, breaking through to Inner Qi could be said to pose no bottleneck for Gu Han either.
Yet no matter how Gu Han calculated, he had never expected to get stuck at the tiny Blood Tempering and Organ Refining realms. Now, no matter how hard he tried, he could only sit there helplessly.
"Alas! Forget it! I'll take it slowly! I refuse to believe that after Gu Han has endured so much hardship, I'll still get stuck at a mere Organ Refining realm!"
Gu Han let out a sigh, his eyes filled with determination.
If once didn't work, then twice!
If twice didn't work, then three times!
If three times didn't work, then ten times!
If ten times didn't work, then a hundred times!
As long as he tried enough times, he would eventually succeed. He had plenty of time to slowly wear "it" down!
Gu Han thought to himself.
In truth, during this period, faced with failure after failure, it was not as though he had never considered abandoning this body, starting over, and taking a gamble on his next life.
After all, although he had not accomplished many great things in this life, he had at least reached perfection in both Bone Forging and Muscle Tendon Strengthening. He had also defeated Wang Lang, saving Treasure Pearl Temple's thousand-year reputation from being ruined in a single day.
So, after careful calculation, he should still receive some Simulation Points as a reward. If he truly started over, the talent of his next life would certainly be far better than this one's.
But unfortunately, there were simply too many variables in starting over through reincarnation. If he could truly get his wish and choose the identity of some great figure along with a body possessing terrifying aptitude, that would naturally be fine.
But what if his luck was bad, and he directly chose an identity like those second-generation villain characters from web novels in his previous life, the sort who offended a Child of Destiny? Wouldn't that mean instant doom?
After all, with his current little bit of ability, wanting to contend against a Child of Destiny was simply the ravings of an idiot. All it would take was one burst of power from the other side, and this puny Blood Tempering martial artist would vanish from the face of the earth. What could he use to resist?
If his luck truly proved that rotten, and he spent all his Simulation Points without making any progress, then in the life after next, he might not have such good fortune as last time.
If he did not spend Simulation Points and let the simulator choose randomly, it would be fine if he became a beggar or a disabled person such as a blind man in the life after next. But if he directly became a vegetable, then he would not even be able to start over when the time came. That would be truly miserable!
Just thinking about it made Gu Han shake his head repeatedly. For the time being, he abandoned the idea of starting over.
Afterward, he continued embarking on a journey of repeated failures and renewed breakthroughs.
Time slowly passed, yet Gu Han remained unable to break through Blood Tempering. No matter how anxious Abbot Ben Zhen and the heads of Treasure Pearl Temple's various halls became, or how many resources and pills they provided, he simply could not break through.
He swallowed Minor Return Pills one after another, Inner Qi masters gave lesson after lesson, and he consumed quite a few other pills that could aid cultivation, yet none of it had any effect.
Gradually, even Abbot Ben Zhen and the heads of the various halls slowly lost hope in Gu Han and gradually paid him less attention.
Within all of Treasure Pearl Temple, only Jingyuan occasionally came to where Gu Han was in seclusion, encouraging him not to give up. Although it was not of much use, it still brought a trace of warmth to Gu Han's heart.
And so, time slowly flowed onward. Days, months, and years quietly slipped away one after another.
As Gu Han remained in seclusion and ignored worldly affairs, the great fame he had earned at Treasure Pearl Temple for crushing Wang Lang and saving Jingyuan slowly faded away.
Jingming of Arhat Hall was like a shooting star. In an instant, he burned with his own brilliance, briefly illuminating everyone's eyes. But in the next moment, he vanished without a trace. Aside from a handful of people, no one remembered him or spoke of him again.
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