As time passed, dawn arrived with the sun just about to rise.
The two of them passed through stretches of forest.
They arrived at a house standing in the middle of nowhere.
"Stand down. We're done for the day."
Daoist Priest Four-Eyes blew out the flame in the shrine.
He then removed his Daoist hat and walked toward the house.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Jia Le, open the door. Jia Le..."
Daoist Priest Four-Eyes grew impatient. He slipped both hands through the oiled paper on the door and opened it.
Inside, Jia Le was sprawled in a bamboo chair, fast asleep.
Seeing this, Lin Fan was about to go forward and wake him up to say hello.
Daoist Priest Four-Eyes hurriedly grabbed him, then revealed a hateful expression.
He walked toward the corridor and carried over a pile of bamboo tubes.
He neatly handed one to each zombie.
"Heaven is efficacious, earth is efficacious. The walking dead have souls, the walking dead have wills."
"Forget the sound of the bell. Hear 'Hey' and strike, say 'Ah' and pummel. 'Ah, ow!' is the command."
As the incantation ended,
in the blink of an eye, Daoist Priest Four-Eyes and the zombies surrounded the sleeping Jia Le.
Suddenly, a bamboo stick appeared in Lin Fan's hand.
"Jia Le, run!"
Smack!
A light sound rang out.
Lin Fan shoved hard with his palm, pushing Daoist Priest Four-Eyes into the zombies' encirclement.
"Senior Brother Lin Fan, what brings you here? This is wonderful!"
As if he had seen the living Guanyin, Jia Le flipped over and shot out.
The two of them closed the door behind them and ran outside in unison.
"Long time no see. You've grown stronger, Jia Le. It seems your uncle-master's Body Refining Technique isn't bad."
Lin Fan spoke casually.
"Senior Brother, go in and save my master. Otherwise, he'll still punish me later."
Jia Le replied with a bitter smile.
From inside the room came the repeated sounds of bamboo sticks striking.
The sounds were accompanied by cries of "Ow!"
"Then you go. We traveled all night, and I'm tired. I'll go rest first."
With that, Lin Fan headed toward the spare room next door.
"Senior Brother, it's that one. No one lives in that room."
Jia Le pointed toward the spare room at the very end.
Watching Lin Fan leave, Jia Le opened the door again.
He no longer struggled with himself.
Either way, he was going to die, so he might as well save his master first.
Jia Le hurried forward and nimbly slipped through the crowd.
He crouched down and instantly covered Daoist Priest Four-Eyes' mouth with one hand.
The command that was about to leave his mouth abruptly stopped.
Then he whispered, "Master, stop shouting. Otherwise, these zombies will beat you to death."
"What are the two words? Tell me."
Daoist Priest Four-Eyes wore a pained expression.
"Oh! It's that 'Hey...'"
Jia Le immediately realized what was happening and stopped the command.
He said awkwardly, "Master, I can't say it."
"Can't say it?"
Daoist Priest Four-Eyes still refused to give up.
As his master, I've taken so many hits.
How could my disciple take fewer?
That's what it means to share hardships and blessings.
Suddenly, the hand beneath Jia Le's crotch changed direction.
The five fingers clenched into a fist.
The thumb rose.
It thrust straight toward Jia Le's behind.
"Ow!"
A painful cry rang out.
Jia Le endured the pain and leaped away by himself.
The two of them stared at each other.
Daoist Priest Four-Eyes wore an expression that said he wanted to beat Jia Le to death.
To prevent further trouble, Jia Le immediately called out the command from the corridor, luring the corpses into the morgue and putting them away.
Inside the spare room.
Lin Fan sat cross-legged and focused his mind.
"System, upgrade the Body Refining Technique."
[System notification! The host has expended Skill Points. Body Refining Technique has advanced from Entry Level to Minor Accomplishment!] [System notification! The host has expended Skill Points. Body Refining Technique has advanced from Minor Accomplishment to Major Accomplishment!] [System notification! The host has expended Skill Points. Body Refining Technique has advanced from Major Accomplishment to Grand Perfection!]
Several system notifications rang out.
Lin Fan listened to the sounds with satisfaction and could not help nodding inwardly.
No wonder this system is so convenient.
It even saves me the time needed to cultivate techniques.
I have to admit, it really does save a lot of effort.
Lin Fan slowly opened his eyes.
He raised two fingers like a sword, and as his aura circulated,
he used the Body Refining Technique after reaching Grand Perfection.
Suddenly, the vast vital essence within his body surged toward every part of him.
Countless meridians were battered by the vital essence.
Lin Fan covered his chest and let out a muffled groan.
He endured the pain as it cleansed his body.
Countless streaks of blue light burst from his dantian.
They traveled along his meridians.
In an instant, they swept through his entire body.
A powerful aura lingered around him, making him seem untouchable.
The beam of light grew increasingly dense, shooting into the sky and blooming with dazzling radiance.
A moment later, he could no longer withstand or maintain it.
Lin Fan was forced to give in and stopped using the Body Refining Technique.
He could barely even maintain it at the fourth layer of the Xiantian realm.
If someone in the Xiantian realm used this technique, they would probably explode and die.
At that moment, Lin Fan finally believed what Daoist Priest Four-Eyes had said.
It was not that he had been unwilling to teach him. Lin Fan's physique really was just a little lacking.
The intense shockwaves caused by the collision against his meridians—
he had nearly been unable to recover from them.
He slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself drenched in sweat.
Lin Fan clenched both fists and felt his body after undergoing a single refinement.
His muscles were sharply defined, and his arms had actually grown a little thicker.
The tendons in both legs were like two marble pillars, immovable.
Feeling his taut body, he felt as though every muscle had been stretched to its absolute limit.
At that moment, he was as strong as a war god descended into the mortal world.
Boom!
Unable to hold back, Lin Fan threw a punch.
The surface of the wall beside the head of the bed had caved in several inches.
A fist-sized imprint appeared before his eyes.
Holy crap!
I haven't even infused it with my aura yet.
If I had infused that punch with aura, wouldn't that have been terrifying?
This was merely the effect of the Body Refining Technique cleansing his meridians after maintaining it for a short while.
If his realm grew higher in the future and he could maintain it for longer,
cultivating it continuously day after day and year after year,
wouldn't he become invincible? Even Black Zombies and Purple Zombies might be unable to bite through a single strand of his flesh.
Lin Fan was startled inwardly.
An ordinary punch already possessed such power.
He probably had not even used one-tenth or one-twentieth of his strength.
If he had infused the punch with aura just now, wouldn't it have alarmed everyone in the house?
Even a wall as sturdy as this one might have shattered.
This Body Refining Technique was truly enthralling.
Not to mention its benefits for strengthening the body,
in the future, when facing zombies and the like, he could fight them with his fists and feet.
He could win through sheer strength instead of relying on Daoist Magic.
The path of cultivation suddenly did not seem so boring anymore.
Lin Fan was overwhelmed with joy, and his eyes were full of anticipation.
Thump!
"What's going on? Did I overexert myself?"
Lin Fan suddenly felt as though his body had gone out of control, and his limbs seemed to have lost all support.
His body crashed onto the bed, as though it were carrying a thousand-kilogram burden.
His eyes slowly closed as if driven by some unseen magic.
He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
Before you continue