Body Forging Mastery

Shen Yi slowly opened his eyes.

A crackling, thunderous roar burst from the sinews and bones all over his body. He was drenched from head to toe, as though he had just been fished out of a deep pool.

After body forging reached mastery, one's qi, blood, sinews, and bones would tremble, expelling all the impurities accumulated within the body at once through sweat.

Shen Yi immediately caught a faintly fishy stench wafting from his body.

This set of clothes was ruined.

He pulled out a set of green robes Qin Jianghe had given him from the bundle at his side, then rose and headed out of the cave.

He paused slightly at the entrance and said casually, "I'm going to take a bath."

The skinny man stared blankly as Shen Yi departed. Instinctively, he patted his ears, wondering whether he had heard things.

Just now, he seemed to have heard a low rumble of bones vibrating, like rolling thunder that shook without end.

In the Vajra Body Forging Art, this was called the "Great Brahma Thunderclap." It was the sign of having cultivated the Vajra Body Forging Art to the first-rate realm.

The skinny man muttered, "No way."

"There must be something wrong with my ears."

"He's only just obtained the method. Being able to get started would already make him a genius among geniuses—how could he possibly cultivate it to mastery?!"

Suddenly.

The skinny man caught a faint fishy stench.

The wind blowing in from outside soon dispersed it, but that trace of a scent left the skinny man completely dumbfounded.

If he had still harbored half a doubt before, then after smelling that strange odor, he was one hundred percent certain that Shen Yi had cultivated the Vajra Esoteric Art to mastery!

Only at the mastery realm would one expel spoiled blood and impurities from within the body. Both he and the fat man had gone through that stage.

And they had remained stuck at that realm ever since.

Unable to advance any further.

The skinny man clutched his head and cried out in disbelief, "What a monster!"

"Skinny, what are you yelling about?"

"Where's Young Hero Shen?"

The fat man strode in at a brisk pace, carrying a wild rabbit in his hand.

Shen Yi had not gone far before his exceptional hearing picked up the sound of water. Drawing closer, he found a clear stream.

He looked around and saw no one nearby.

He stripped off his sticky clothes, held Cold Night, and waded into the water, letting the stream wash away the sweat stains and faint traces of black blood on his body.

His consciousness sank into his sea of consciousness once more:

Host: Shen Yi

Cultivation: First-rate

Martial Arts: Sixfold Wind-Thunder Slash (Perfected), Bone Dislocation Hand (Perfected), Grass Treading Flight (Perfected), Nameless Heart Sutra (Mastery), Vajra Body Forging Art (Mastery)

Ultimate Skills: Wind Slash Thunderclap, Water Treading Wave Step, Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing

Remaining Secluded Cultivation: 1 year, 2 months

His realm continued to settle within the first-rate level, but his actual combat strength was no longer what it had once been.

His blade techniques had now reached perfection. He had merged them with a mental method he had created specifically for himself and deduced it to mastery.

Furthermore, he had cultivated his body-forging external discipline to mastery as well.

If he faced the version of himself from the days at Broken Blade Hall, Shen Yi was confident he could defeat himself within thirty moves.

Even ordinary Acquired Realm experts like Fang Yu and Qin Jianghe would likely be no match for Shen Yi now.

Shen Yi gripped the hilt with one hand.

Clang!

Cold Night left its sheath!

He did not use any inner force. He merely stirred his qi and blood, shook his sinews and bones, and slashed downward with the strength of his physical body.

Splash!

Drawing Blade to Sever the Stream!

With a single slash from Shen Yi, the entire stream was cut apart!

A full two breaths passed before the blade's momentum gradually weakened, and the clear stream resumed flowing through.

Shen Yi gave a soft chuckle, his spirits soaring. Nothing brought greater joy than truly feeling his own progress.

He rinsed himself clean.

Circulating his inner force, he evaporated the water from his body, then changed into a fitted azure outfit and draped a blue robe over it.

Suddenly.

Shen Yi sensed a faint disturbance carried on the wind through his spiritual awareness. It did not seem like a natural breath.

"Who's there?!"

Shen Yi shouted sharply.

He stomped one foot against the ground and expelled his inner force. A pebble jolted into the air, and Shen Yi swung his blade, striking the pebble with its sheath.

Whoosh!

The pebble shot away.

Like a flying knife, it pierced through a nearby tree trunk and streaked deep into the forest, startling several birds into flight.

"Was it a bird?"

Shen Yi's eyes narrowed slightly.

Then he shook his head and headed toward the cave.

After Shen Yi left.

Where the birds had taken flight.

A pretty, youthful girl in white hid behind a tree trunk. She patted her flat chest and let out a relieved breath.

"Good heavens, I almost got discovered."

"I didn't give myself away either, did I? Could his senses have gotten stronger again?"

The girl's little face was flushed red.

After thinking it over from every angle without reaching a conclusion, she leapt into the air. Like drifting clouds and flying snow, she vanished in the blink of an eye.

Shen Yi returned to the cave.

He had only just reached the entrance.

When he caught the scent of meat, and his stomach obligingly rumbled.

Shen Yi stepped inside and saw the fat man had built up a fire, roasting a rabbit until it was golden and glistening with fat.

The fat man looked up, then lowered his gaze.

"Young hero, you're back."

"Please wait a moment. It'll be ready soon."

Shen Yi nodded faintly and returned to the corner, sitting cross-legged as he circulated his internal arts.

Whenever he was not using the system for secluded cultivation.

He kept his inner cultivation circulating without pause. Not only did this keep him alert and ready to erupt at any moment, but more importantly, it was a habit he had carried over from secluded cultivation—one that had already become an instinct woven into his daily life.

"Young hero, the meat is ready."

The fat man spoke cautiously.

Shen Yi opened his eyes. The fat man was already holding out a roasted rabbit leg, standing respectfully three paces away.

The moment he saw Shen Yi open his eyes, no further words were needed.

He stepped forward and offered him the rabbit leg.

Meanwhile, the thin man beside them stared intently at Shen Yi, as though he cared deeply whether Shen Yi would accept the fat man's rabbit leg.

"Thank you."

Shen Yi accepted it and thanked him. For some reason, he felt that the fat man and thin man had become increasingly respectful toward him.

There was even... a trace of awe.

But Shen Yi did not care what others thought. Gripping the rabbit leg, he tore into it in great bites.

Perhaps because his body tempering had borne fruit, he felt especially hungry. In just a few bites, he had gnawed the rabbit leg clean.

Was there any more?

Shen Yi looked up and saw that the fat man had somehow, as if performing a magic trick, put another rabbit on the rack. It had already roasted to the point of char marks.

Shen Yi smacked his lips.

Just as he was considering how to ask.

The fat man held out another forked branch. This time, an entire roasted rabbit was skewered on it. He gave a quiet grin.

"Young hero, eat."

Shen Yi looked at the fat man and the skinny man's awestruck expressions and was at a loss for words. He seemed to have become some kind of tyrant.

But he really was hungry.

Without further hesitation, he picked up the roasted rabbit, thanked them once more, and began wolfing it down.

The fat man and the skinny man exchanged a furtive glance.

By now, they were utterly certain—perhaps Shen Yi's Vajra Body Forging Art had truly reached great mastery!

After finishing the rabbit, Shen Yi patted his satisfied belly.

He rose to his feet, casually picked up his bundle, and looked toward the cave entrance. "Stay here and tend to your wounds."

"I'm leaving."

Shen Yi's words were indeed rather sudden.

Although Shen Yi had miraculously cultivated the body-forging secret art to great mastery in a single night and no longer needed the fat man's repeated explanations, the two men had never expected...

In the middle of the night, Shen Yi would eat one meal and immediately leave.

The fat man blurted out instinctively, "So soon?"

"Won't you rest for another night?"

Shen Yi smiled.

"Our deal is done."

"Rest for another night?"

"If I stayed the night, I'm afraid neither of you would sleep soundly. Of course, I wouldn't sleep soundly either."

"I'm off."

"Going to find somewhere to sleep."

With that, Shen Yi strode out of the cave. Under the stunned gazes of the fat man and the skinny man, he headed north beneath the starlight.