Chapter Sixteen: Arduous Cultivation and Bottlenecks

Time flew, the sun and moon turned in their endless cycle!

From the day Gu Han defeated Wang Lang and rescued Jingyuan, when Ben Zhen promised to do his utmost to provide medicinal pills for Gu Han's cultivation, Gu Han had entered a mode of frenzied training.

In the first year—the fourth year since entering the Heavenly Azure Realm's Great Yan Kingdom—with ample support from White Tiger Sinew Pills, Gu Han devoted himself to cultivating two martial arts from different worlds: the "White Tiger Sinew Refining Fist" and the "Vajra Body Refining Fist."

These two martial arts, born from different philosophies, complemented and promoted each other. Working in tandem, it was as if a chemical reaction had occurred, unleashing an incredible power within Gu Han!

In one month, he thoroughly refined one major sinew!

In two months, he thoroughly refined two major sinews!

In three months, he thoroughly refined three major sinews!

As time passed, Gu Han's major sinews were refined one by one. Throughout his cultivation journey, he encountered almost no bottlenecks, advancing triumphantly at a steady pace of one major sinew per month, rapidly marching toward Sinew Refining Perfection.

Until the end of the first year.

Gu Han, immersed in his cultivation, suddenly rose to his feet. His body shook, and his sinews and bones immediately rang out in unison, like firecrackers, producing twenty-four muffled sounds and twelve crisp cracks.

Indeed, after a year of bitter training, Gu Han had finally thoroughly refined all twelve major sinews of his physical body. At the age of sixteen, he formally became a Sinew Refining Perfection martial artist of this world.

With this, the path of Sinew Refining had reached its peak. Even without considering the enhancement from Bone Forging, Gu Han's strength in Sinew Refining alone could be considered that of a top-tier second-rate expert in the martial world, on par with many of the Yuan-generation masters of the Dharma Institute and Prajna Hall.

As for the Bone Forging level of cultivation from the other world, although it lagged behind his Sinew Refining progress due to a lack of medicinal pill support, his cultivation speed still climbed rapidly with the aid of the "Vajra Body Refining Fist"—a top-tier foundation-building technique from the Yue Kingdom—and the supplementary "White Tiger Sinew Refining Fist." Merely three months after breaking through to Sinew Refining Perfection, he caught up and broke through to Bone Forging Perfection as well.

At this point, Gu Han had achieved Perfection in both Sinew Refining and Bone Forging. The fusion of martial arts from two worlds now fully revealed its power. With their mutual reinforcement, his strength far surpassed that of same-tier martial artists from a single world by several times. A single arm could unleash five thousand jin of divine strength, and a single punch could deliver power exceeding ten thousand jin!

This was a terrifying force comparable to Blood Tempering Perfection martial artists of this world's Great Yan Kingdom or Organ Refining Perfection martial artists of the real-world Yue Kingdom. Beneath the realm of Inner Qi, he had nearly reached the end of the road, making him a top-tier first-rate expert of this world. Compared to when he had defeated Wang Lang, his strength had multiplied several or even dozens of times over!

Joy filled Gu Han's heart, and he continued his cultivation.

Several more months passed.

After regulating his breath, nourishing his qi, and solidifying his foundation, Gu Han began his first attempt to break through to the Blood Tempering and Organ Refining realms.

First attempt: Breakthrough to Blood Tempering—failed!

Second attempt: Breakthrough to Organ Refining—failed!

Third attempt: Breakthrough to Organ Refining—failed!

Fourth attempt: Breakthrough to Blood Tempering—failed!

There was no denying it: the talent of Gu Han's current physical body was truly abysmal. Not to mention comparing him to Jingyuan, even against an ordinary disciple of the Dharma Institute or Prajna Hall, he was worlds apart.

No wonder the simulator had rated his Martial Path Talent as "Feeble"—his martial aptitude was indeed pathetically weak!

In the early stages, he could rely on the mutual reinforcement of two worlds' martial arts to ignore bottlenecks and cultivate quickly. Even if he later reached Blood Tempering Perfection, he estimated that using his powerful blood and qi to refine essence into qi and break through to Inner Qi would be simple. After all, breaking through to Inner Qi didn't test martial talent but the strength of one's blood and qi. So, for Gu Han, breaking through to Inner Qi would also present no bottleneck.

But no matter how much Gu Han calculated, he never expected to get stuck at the mere Blood Tempering and Organ Refining realms. No matter how hard he tried now, he could only sit helplessly.

"Sigh! Forget it! I'll take it slow. I refuse to believe that after enduring so much hardship, I'll be stuck at a mere Organ Refining realm!"

Gu Han let out a sigh, his eyes filled with unwavering determination.

If once doesn't work, try twice!

If twice doesn't work, try three times!

If three times doesn't work, try ten times!

If ten times doesn't work, try a hundred times!

As long as he kept at it, he would eventually succeed. He still had plenty of time to grind it out!

Gu Han thought to himself.

In truth, during this period of repeated failures, he had occasionally entertained the idea of abandoning this body and starting over, gambling on a better next life.

After all, although he hadn't accomplished much in this life, he had at least reached Perfection in Bone Forging and Sinew Refining, and he had defeated Wang Lang, sparing the Treasure Pearl Temple's thousand-year reputation from ruin.

So, if he calculated carefully, he should still have some Simulation Points as a reward. If he truly started over, his next life's talent would certainly be far better than this one's.

But unfortunately, the variables in reincarnation were too great. If he could get his wish and be assigned a big-shot identity with a body of terrifying talent, that would be fine.

But what he feared was bad luck—being assigned a role like a villainous second-generation scion who had offended a Child of Destiny, as in those online fantasy novels from his past life. Wouldn't that be an instant death sentence?

After all, with his current meager abilities, trying to contend with a Child of Destiny was nothing short of a fool's dream. One burst of power from them, and this mere Blood Tempering martial artist would simply vanish from the face of the earth. What could he use to resist?

And if his luck was truly that rotten, spending all his Simulation Points without making progress, then in the life after next, he might not have such good fortune again.

If he didn't spend Simulation Points and let the simulator randomize, becoming a beggar or a blind cripple in the next life would be tolerable. But if he became a vegetable or something similar, unable to restart even if he wanted to—that would be truly tragic!

Just thinking about it made Gu Han shake his head inwardly, temporarily abandoning the idea of starting over.

After that, he continued his journey of repeated failures and fresh attempts at breakthroughs.

Time passed slowly. Gu Han remained unable to break through to Blood Tempering. No matter how anxious the Abbot Ben Zhen and the heads of the various halls of Treasure Pearl Temple became, or how many resources and medicinal pills they provided, he simply couldn't break through.

Minor Return Pill after Minor Return Pill was consumed. Lecture after lecture from Inner Qi experts was given. Many other pills that could aid cultivation were also taken. But nothing worked.

Gradually, even the Abbot Ben Zhen and the hall heads began to lose hope in Gu Han, slowly reducing their attention to him.

Throughout the entire Treasure Pearl Temple, only Jingyuan occasionally visited Gu Han's secluded training site, encouraging him not to give up. Though it was of little use, it still brought a trace of warmth to Gu Han's heart.

And so, time trickled away. Days, months, and years slipped by quietly.

As Gu Han remained in seclusion, detached from worldly affairs, the great reputation he had earned at Treasure Pearl Temple for defeating Wang Lang and saving Jingyuan gradually faded.

Jingming of the Arhat Hall—this man was like a shooting star, burning his brilliance in an instant, briefly illuminating everyone's eyes, only to vanish the next moment. Except for a few, no one remembered or mentioned him anymore.

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