Whale Rubber and the Sword Path

Three months passed in the blink of an eye. In the Worship Hall, Golden Crocodile Douluo was beaming, laughing heartily: "Big Brother, it's miraculous! That ancient book your disciple Li Taibai brought out—the Whale Rubber mentioned within can truly enhance one's physique and increase the age limit for spirit ring absorption!"

"We gave both Ye Fan and him ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber. After three months of refining, I've tested them; they can absorb spirit rings of at least two thousand years. Yesterday, they both successfully absorbed their first spirit rings!"

"That brat Ye Fan has a beast spirit and a formidable physique; he managed three hundred years more than Li Taibai! Both of them have jumped three levels in cultivation, becoming level thirteen spirit masters!"

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, his eyes gleaming: "At this rate, won't our Martial Soul Hall be able to mass-produce geniuses in the future?"

Qian Daoliu stood with his hands behind his back and said, "Whale Rubber is a rare treasure of the sea; it is not easily obtained."

"Over these past few months, the Worship Hall has searched almost the entire continent, yet we have only obtained a few pieces over ten thousand years old, hundreds of thousand-year pieces, and over two thousand hundred-year pieces. Almost all the existing Whale Rubber is now in our hands."

"Take a piece of ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber and send it to Bibi Dong's side," Qian Daoliu said slowly.

"What? To that woman?" Golden Crocodile Douluo raised an eyebrow, looking utterly unwilling. "She is..."

"Sigh, it's all in the past," Qian Daoliu interrupted him, a flash of complexity crossing his eyes.

"Ling Feng is also a genius of our Martial Soul Hall. Relying on his own formidable physical constitution, he absorbed a spirit ring that had just entered the thousand-year mark for his first one. This talent is worthy of the Whale Rubber."

"Remember, refine the Whale Rubber before giving it to him. Don't let Bibi Dong see its origin, and it must only be given to Ling Feng."

Although Golden Crocodile Douluo was still dissatisfied, he bowed and replied, "Yes, Big Brother, I understand what to do." With that, he turned to leave.

"Wait," Qian Daoliu called out to him.

"Take this remaining piece of thirty-thousand-year and one piece of twenty-thousand-year Whale Rubber to Little Xue, and tell her how to use them."

"Yes." Golden Crocodile Douluo understood—over these past few months, Qian Renxue had Porcupinefish Douluo return to Martial Soul City frequently to collect a large number of rare herbs, once every month without fail. It seemed this Whale Rubber was exactly what she needed.

After Golden Crocodile Douluo left, Qian Daoliu stood alone in the empty hall, looking out the window and sighing softly. He murmured despondently, "Little Xue, why bother? Is it worth it for her?"

At Li Taibai's residence.

He was sitting at his desk, flipping through the system mall panel.

"It's a good thing I have the system. I used points to redeem that ancient book detailing the uses of Whale Rubber and specifically used the system to make it look like an old book; otherwise, it would have been hard to explain."

He snorted, "Ye Fan that guy got a bargain, but it doesn't matter."

Over these past few months, he had gone to pay his respects to Qian Daoliu every day, accompanying the old man to play chess and chat. He had finally managed to raise his favorability to sixty-five, and now he could get six hundred and fifty points every day just by checking in.

"As soon as I save up another ten thousand points, I can unlock the second binding object. There are quite a few big shots in the Worship Hall who can be bound, and by then..." Li Taibai's smile grew even brighter.

At Ye Fan's residence, he was standing by the window, looking in the direction of Li Taibai's room.

"Li Taibai, oh Li Taibai, you are still too impatient. You exposed your trump card so quickly," he said, shaking his head lightly.

A few days later.

In Heaven Dou City, at a secluded courtyard.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled into the courtyard.

Qian Renxue was practicing a set of basic sword techniques over and over again. The sword light flickered, cutting through the air with a sharp whistling sound.

Thrust, hack, slash, lift, pick, intercept, wipe, carry...

Every basic move was dismantled and recombined, paired with steady footwork to evolve into eighty-one sets of combos, flowing like water and meticulous in every detail.

This sword technique was called the Body Refining Sword Art, specifically chosen for her by Chen Qingxuan. It appeared simple, but it could temper the physical body to the greatest extent, combining body refining with skill refinement.

The sun gradually sank below the horizon.

Qian Renxue stood still, putting away her sword. Her forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat that soaked the stray hairs, sticking them to her cheeks, and her training clothes were also drenched.

She walked over to a stone stool and sat down, resting her chin on her hands on the stone table, watching the sky grow dark. Her golden pupils held a hint of frustration.

"Master, do I not have the talent for cultivation?" she asked in a low, dejected voice.

"What makes you say that?" Chen Qingxuan's voice echoed in her mind.

"It's been over three months, and I've only just entered the Tendon Refining Realm out of the five body refining realms," Qian Renxue pouted, her fingers unconsciously drawing circles on the stone table.

"There are still the Blood Refining, Skin Refining, Bone Refining, and Organ Refining realms left. You said they get harder one after another and will only take more time. I..." She lowered her head, her voice becoming even smaller, "Am I too stupid?"

"The saying goes that literature is for the poor and martial arts for the rich; practicing martial arts is inherently a path of defying heaven to change one's fate," Chen Qingxuan's voice carried a sense of distance. "It emphasizes breaking through one's own limits. Every breakthrough requires a large amount of medicinal herbs to assist and compensate for the body's wear and tear during training."

"Only in this way can one enter the Dao through martial arts, draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body, and become extraordinary."

"But Master, you started practicing martial arts at six and reached the peak of body refining at eight. It only took you two years," Qian Renxue looked up, her pupils filled with envy and unwillingness. "At my current speed, I don't know when I'll reach the peak of body refining..."

"Little Xue, do not belittle yourself," Chen Qingxuan comforted her.

"Your talent is excellent. The Primordial Nirvana Sutra I gave you emphasizes a step-by-step approach to build the most solid foundation; its cultivation speed is naturally much slower than ordinary body refining techniques."

"Why?" Qian Renxue crossed her arms over her chest, looking aggrieved.

"Xue'er wants to cultivate spirit power as soon as possible. How could you choose such a slow technique for me?"

"Little Xue, how much strength do you have now?" Chen Qingxuan did not answer directly, but asked instead.

Qian Renxue was stunned for a moment. She touched her lips with her finger and thought seriously: "I'm not sure, but I can easily lift that stone lion outside the courtyard."

She paused and added, "By the way, in the last few months, my appetite seems to have grown much larger. I eat over ten pounds of meat at every meal, but my body hasn't gained any fat at all, and my strength seems to be increasing every day."

"This is the mystery of the Primordial Nirvana Sutra," Chen Qingxuan explained.

"This technique is known as the strongest immortal-grade foundation technique in the Floating Life Immortal Domain. From the start, it allows you to possess five times the strength of the same realm."

"Although it cannot compare to those top-tier immortal techniques that allow you to possess ten, twenty, or even fifty times the strength of the same level, it allows you to constantly polish your foundation."

He continued: "The five body refining realms are each divided into three levels: early, middle, and late, and each level has three grades: high, medium, and low. The most terrifying thing about the Primordial Nirvana Sutra is that it allows for an extra 'perfect' level in each realm."

"Others only have the early, middle, and late stages, but you have four: early, middle, late, and perfect."