Iron Body Realm

The human figure in the painting twisted like a monstrous pine coiling around a boulder, shoulders and back arched taut, knees and elbows bent backward. Every turn bore dense annotations explaining how to regulate the breath, exert force, guide qi with intent, and shake specific muscles and bones.

Without the foundation of a hundred days of Foundation Establishment, forcibly practicing this form would, at best, tear tendons and ligaments; at worst, injure the internal organs and leave behind hidden ailments.

Chen Lingxi stared at it for a long while.

Outside the window, dusk clouds hung low. Another snowfall was on its way but had yet to arrive, and the daylight was dim as gray-glazed glass.

No lamp was lit in the side room, and the writing gradually blurred. Yet he felt as though those nine postures had come alive, dismantling and reassembling one by one in the gloom, imprinting themselves upon his mind.

"Give it a try."

Those three words silently rose from the depths of his heart, yet filled him with inexplicable excitement.

He pushed open the door and stepped outside.

The secluded courtyard was empty. Though the snow had been swept away, solid ice still filled the cracks between the stones, and cold seeped up through the soles of his feet.

Several servants in the same grayish-brown short garments shuffled past the courtyard gate, shivering. Catching sight of him standing alone in the yard, their eyes held their usual numbness and a trace of barely perceptible mockery—this newly arrived official slave must have frozen himself stupid.

Who knew why he deserved a courtyard all to himself!

Chen Lingxi ignored them and shut the courtyard gate.

He removed his outer padded jacket, leaving only a thin old shirt, then slowly closed his eyes.

First, he drew in a breath according to the Breath-Absorption Method. The breath entered his nostrils, paused in his throat, sank through his chest and diaphragm, and settled in his dantian.

That familiar warmth began to circulate, driving the chill from his skin.

Then, following the opening movement of the first form, "Mountain-Winding Stance," from memory, he moved.

His right foot planted firmly, his left foot lightly touched the ground, his body turned slightly sideways, and his right arm slowly rose as though he were lifting some colossal object.

The movement was agonizingly slow—so slow that he could hear the faint crackle of his joints stretching. His muscle fibers seemed to lengthen inch by inch, tightening taut.

Unlike the bizarre postures of the Breath-Absorption Method, this Mountain-Winding Stance did not seek prolonged, suspended breathing, but the unification of force and intent!

As though his hands wound around a mountain and his feet stood upon bedrock!

The first variation was completed with surprising smoothness.

There was none of the stiffness or pain he had imagined. Instead, that warm breath seemed to sense something and flowed of its own accord toward his circulating right arm. Wherever it passed, his muscles and bones warmed faintly, as if soaked and pressed by hot water.

Chen Lingxi steadied his mind and did not stop moving.

Second variation: his body twisted in reverse, his left arm pressing down as though suppressing raging waves;

Third variation: his spine arched segment by segment, as though bearing the blue heavens;

Fourth variation: both knees crossed and sank, as steady as an ancient pine with roots coiled deep...

Until, through all nine variations of the form, he completed them in one unbroken flow!

When he finally drew back the stance and stood still, a thin layer of sweat covered Chen Lingxi's body.

The sweat met the cold and rose as white vapor, curling around his hair and shoulders.

His breathing was slightly hurried, but his eyes gleamed brightly.

"Not only am I uninjured, but my entire body feels wonderfully at ease."

Every joint in his body felt extraordinarily comfortable. There was no stiffness as he moved; he felt light and nimble.

Moreover, a newborn, vigorous heat surged from the depths of his limbs and bones. At first, it was thin as a stream, but as he willed the Breath-Absorption Method into motion, the heat suddenly blazed fiercely!

It was as if a furnace lay hidden within his body, neither awake nor asleep, and the movements of Mountain-Winding Stance together with that strange breathing had pried open a tiny crack!

Scorching breath burst forth, racing wildly through his blood vessels and sinews.

This breath was completely different from the gentle, clear qi cultivated through the Breath-Absorption Method!

As it flowed through him, faint yet distinct numbness, itching, and prickling pain arose from Chen Lingxi's flesh, blood, and bones.

He could not help letting out a low groan as he clenched his fists.

This was...

He suddenly recalled the description of the Iron Body Realm in Seven Forms of Ceasing War: "When qi and blood first take shape, they flow like mercury. Strength pierces through skin and membrane, flesh and bone gradually harden, and every lift of hand or step of foot carries its own fierce wind."

Fierce wind?

He tried swinging his arm. The air split with a sharp "hiss," far more piercing than before!

"It seems there truly is fierce wind accompanying it. Have I just entered the Iron Body Realm?"

"Looking closely, that qi and blood is still flowing through every part of my limbs and body."

Chen Lingxi closed his eyes to sense it, then abruptly opened them!

For he discovered that the qi and blood produced when he had just entered the Iron Body Realm, and the "qi" cultivated through the Breath-Absorption Method...

Actually existed at the same time!

"The reason I silently completed the hundred days of Martial Dao Foundation Establishment was because the Breath-Absorption Method produced [qi]—for now, I shall call it [qi]!"

"This qi seems to have transformed my body. It even gave birth to, converted, and strengthened this so-called qi and blood!"

Two kinds of power coexisted within him, running side by side without conflict.

The qi was even nourishing the newly born qi and blood.

"Could the qi cultivated by the Breath-Absorption Method and the qi and blood sought through Martial Dao Foundation Establishment have originally shared the same source?"

"Or is that qi something even higher and more unfathomable?"

Chen Lingxi stood dazed in the cold dusk wind, allowing the newborn, blazing blood to roar through his body.

At some point, snowflakes began drifting down again. The moment they landed on his heated skin, they turned into white vapor and vanished.

"No matter what, this is a good thing."

"The best possible thing."

A faint gleam appeared in his eyes as the fragmentary scroll of Seven Forms of Ceasing War turned over in his mind!

"Seven Forms of Ceasing War: Mountain-Wrenching, River-Splitting, City-Crushing, Sea-Calming, Thought-Cutting, Qi-Joining, War-Stilling!"

"Mountain-Wrenching kindles the furnace fire, River-Splitting steadies the sea's waves; after City-Crushing splits the earth, hide the blade within Great Harmony! This fragmentary scroll records only the first four forms. If I can master all four, I can enter the realm of Silver Bone Perfection!"

Chen Lingxi encountered no obstruction while practicing Mountain-Winding Stance, so he decided to try River-Splitting Form!

He assumed a horse stance, then slowly pushed his right palm to the right, palm facing outward, like a palm-blade cutting through water.

He tried adjusting his breathing, guiding qi with intent, hoping to lead the newly born qi and blood into the heel of his palm and forearm...

But the newly born qi and blood seemed far too weak. It dispersed throughout his body and was absorbed by his muscles, tendons, and bones. Before it could reach the heel of his palm and forearm, it had already scattered away completely.

So Chen Lingxi withdrew his stance and no longer forced the matter.

"Mountain-Winding Stance condenses qi and blood, tempering the physique so that all the skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and internal organs possess the nature of iron! River-Entering Stance makes the qi and blood throughout the body churn, even boil!

Without enough qi and blood, the prerequisite is not met. Naturally, I cannot complete River-Entering Stance.

I still need to persist in practicing Mountain-Winding Stance and accumulate qi and blood."

He thought no more about it and instead practiced Mountain-Winding Stance once again. He performed all nine variations in turn, while that thread of qi within him seemed to help temper his body and generate qi and blood...

A full half hour passed before Chen Lingxi was finally exhausted. Piercing pain came from every muscle fiber in his body.

Enduring the pain, he returned to the room. His body curved like a bow as he practiced breath absorption.

Several streams of strange clear qi were drawn into his mouth, eventually falling into his dantian and merging with the thread of qi there!

That thread of qi then flowed through his body.

Chen Lingxi immediately felt the pain lessen, and his body was no longer so fatigued.

"This thread of qi... is simply marvelous."

"The fragmentary scroll of Seven Forms of Ceasing War says that after a hundred days of Foundation Establishment, anyone who can persist in Mountain-Winding Stance for a quarter hour has extraordinary Martial Dao talent. With that thread of qi aiding me, I persisted for a full half hour.

"Now, I can even rely on this thread of qi to recover faster. I need neither medicinal baths nor supplements..."

Chen Lingxi's heart settled completely...

"Practice with all my strength, and I will have a foundation to break free from this cage!"

Ten days slipped quietly away.

In those brief ten days, Chen Lingxi had changed considerably.

His once-thin body could not be called brawny, but it had become sturdier. His face remained gaunt, yet its dullness had faded, revealing an extremely faint, gentle luster—as if a piece of ordinary iron had just been touched by its first wisp of furnace fire.

After ten days of breath absorption, Chen Lingxi's breaths had grown longer and deeper, while the thread of qi in his dantian had thickened to the width of his little finger.

And ten days of practicing Mountain-Winding Stance had made the qi and blood within him increasingly vigorous. His skin, fascia, bones, and muscles had all undergone many changes.

That day, Chen Lingxi washed up, left the courtyard, and headed to the rear garden.

The north wind swept through corridors and eaves, brushing aside the curtain of snow over the rear garden—the ice patterns on the pond were like torn silk, while the Taihu stone rockery wore a cloak of snow and white.

Cold winds battered the trees, harsh frost sealed the courtyard orchids, and the garden was a scene of surpassing beauty.

Chen Lingxi wore a new set of winter clothes bestowed by the West Courtyard after he had presented flower arrangements last time, walking through the rear garden.

Ten days of arduous cultivation had greatly enhanced his five senses as well.

As he concentrated and observed carefully, he could clearly see the paths of snow grains spinning through the air, the patterns of ice crystals forming on branches, and even the trembling of the tender yellow stamens at the hearts of distant wintersweet blossoms.

He slowly inspected the garden, his gaze bright as a mirror, passing over snow-covered holly hedges, frost-bitten curled banana leaves, and tenacious saxifrage growing between stones... before finally stopping beneath a stone wall sheltered from the wind.

Four kinds of plants grew there.

The first was an old vine, twisted and gnarled like iron as it climbed the wall.

The second was withered lotus, its leaves ruined and stems broken, yet swaying lightly like bells whenever the wind passed.

The third was moss, its green life not yet extinguished. Snow grains that fell upon it did not melt, piling into the finest sands of jade dust.

The fourth was an icicle hanging more than three feet from the eaves, crystal-clear from end to end.

"Old vine for bone, withered lotus for soul, moss for breath, icicle for crystal. All four aspects are present—this should be enough to account to Lin Longyue."

Chen Lingxi murmured to himself, preparing to pluck down the old vine.

Suddenly, footsteps came breaking through the snow!

Those footsteps were swift and solid.

"Someone!"

Hearing the sound, Chen Lingxi's back tensed slightly. Before he could turn around, a fierce wind had already struck toward the back of his head!

Someone threw a punch at him!

That punch came without the slightest warning!

Before the fist arrived, a hot, fishy gust of air rushed against his neck!

The qi and blood within Chen Lingxi suddenly surged, and his muscles instantly tightened.

He had no time to think. Merely sensing the direction of that fist wind, he lightly folded his body like a tangerine branch bending in the wind!

Hiss!

The fist wind grazed his right shoulder, instantly tearing apart his new winter clothes. The scattered cotton batting looked like snow flying from the sky.

Chen Lingxi spun around, planted himself firmly, and looked up.

Wang Kong, who had delivered medicine to him and Liu Changle just days ago, stood five paces away. He wore a dark blue satin robe beneath a black fox-fur cloak. The Hetian jade set into his little black velvet cap reflected the snowlight, looking all the more lustrously glaring.

Cold stars flickered in his narrow eyes, though a smile rested on his lips. "Oh? As expected of one of the only two medicine slaves who survived."