Dust-Cleansing Body Purification

There was about a quarter of an hour left until the Hour of the Tiger. Dong Lin had already arrived atop that thatched hut.

He sat cross-legged on the roof, facing southeast.

The first cycle of Dust-Cleansing Body Purification contained a Purple-Qi Dust-Cleansing Formula, which drew upon the qi of heaven and earth to cleanse oneself.

At the Hour of the Tiger, one sat cross-legged facing east, formed the Midnight-Noon Seal with both hands, and pressed the tongue against the upper palate.

Dong Lin silently circulated the technique and waited patiently.

At dawn during the Hour of the Rabbit, as the rising sun emerged, a wisp of purple qi would be born in the void along with the great sun.

This was Innate essence. It could be used to expel the turbid qi within one's body, cleanse the dust and purify the body, while also aiding one's cultivation.

As Dong Lin successfully guided a wisp of purple qi into his body, it slowly circulated within him.

The Postnatal impurities hidden within his mortal flesh—unseen by the eyes and unfelt by the spirit—were gradually forced out of his body under the effect of the Innate Purple Qi.

Thick black filth, dark as ink, seeped from Dong Lin's pores.

If anyone passed by at this moment, they would surely be shocked and might even mistake Dong Lin for some devil.

Dong Lin's body was now covered in filth. As the great sun slowly rose—

the purple qi vanished as well.

"The quality of purple qi in this world falls short of what the technique described."

Having finished circulating his cultivation technique, Dong Lin let out a soft sigh.

The technique claimed that all turbid matter could be expelled in three days, but by Dong Lin's estimate, even if he made efficient use of this faint purple qi every day, it would still take at least two months to achieve that effect completely.

Finding a mountain stream, Dong Lin washed away the filth covering his body before hurrying back to the inner sect.

"Morning, Junior Brother. Just back from the mountains?"

The moment he reached the entrance to the Thunder Division, he ran into his Sixth Senior Brother, Zhang Shaoyou, who was heading out.

Zhang Shaoyou held a pile of formation flags in his hands, apparently intending to go set up a formation.

"Morning, Sixth Senior Brother. Going out to set up a formation?"

"Mm-hm. I took a job to help someone set up a Beast-Trapping Formation.

"If you need anything related to formations, come find me. I'll give you half off."

"Thank you, Senior Brother. If I need anything, I'll definitely come to you first."

Knowledge of formations was extremely important.

In the wilderness, if one wished to conceal oneself from prying eyes, temporarily setting up some screening formations could achieve that very effectively.

Most Rogue Cultivators who cultivated deep in the mountains and other desolate, uninhabited places would set up several defensive and concealing formations around their caves.

Formation knowledge could be considered an exceedingly practical method in the cultivation world.

Most cultivators might know little about alchemy or artifact forging, but they all had considerable knowledge of formations.

When venturing out for experience, formation arts were what they used most often.

When I have time, I can ask Senior Brother Zhang for some pointers.

Dong Lin watched Zhang Shaoyou's retreating figure as he hurried away and thought to himself.

Over the next half month or so, Dong Lin continued his cultivation. Unfortunately, he had too many matters to attend to and could not settle down for a long period of secluded cultivation.

Every morning, he had to enter the mountains and use purple qi for Dust-Cleansing Body Purification. Then, once the time came, he had to go to the Spirit Fields to kill and remove mutant insects.

After returning to Thunderwave Hall, he would begin cultivating the Li Huo Heart-Protecting Seal with the Thunder Fang Spirit Flame.

With the aid of a Second Rank beast flame, the Li Huo Heart-Protecting Seal had now reached minor attainment.

Dong Lin's fire-controlling arts had also begun to show some progress.

He could be considered half a fire cultivator now.

After eating his noon meal of exotic beast meat, he would begin body tempering.

Dong Lin had also handed the exotic beast meat he obtained last time to the steward, Xue Zhan, asking him to add it to his daily meals in portions.

Under the continuous effects of Dust-Cleansing Body Purification, Dong Lin's body-tempering progress was astonishingly fast.

The Tiger Might Body had just crossed the threshold. Dong Lin had completed the Skin Tempering stage and begun Bone Tempering.

The impurities throughout his body were being removed bit by bit, greatly improving the efficiency of both his Qi Refining and body tempering.

In two more days, the sect would hold a grand Hunting Tournament.

The event's full name was the Dao-Xuan Grand Hunt Across All Domains.

A group of elders shut within the mountain gate with nothing to do had pushed with all their might for this unprecedented sect-wide competition.

It was divided into a Qi Refining division and a Foundation Establishment division.

The rewards were also exceptionally generous. It was said that the first place winner in the Qi Refining division alone would receive one thousand contribution points.

There were also countless heavenly treasures and earthly materials.

Unlike sect competitions where disciples merely sparred, this Hunting Tournament killed two birds with one stone and won the unanimous approval of the sect's higher-ups.

It not only tempered the disciples' combat abilities, but also cleared some hidden dangers from the sect's secret realms, making future expeditions to search those secret realms for resources far more convenient.

After his previous battle with those Earthshell Beasts, Dong Lin had discovered how important movement techniques were in combat.

If his movement technique had not come into play during that previous encounter, his body would likely have been smashed to pulp long ago.

Over these brief two-plus weeks, Dong Lin had set aside some time specifically to practice his movement technique.

Pine-Wind Treading Snow had entered minor attainment, while Moon-Seizing Chasing Wind had also produced considerable results.

His cultivation progress in the Wind-Chasing Realm had passed the halfway mark of minor attainment, and the Moon-Grasping Realm had basically caught up with the Wind-Chasing Realm.

At this point, Dong Lin's movement technique had reached the average level of Qi Refining Stage disciples.

While my movement technique can no longer be called a strength, at least it won't be a shortcoming.

However, unlike his former identity as a turret mage, Dong Lin could now be considered half a spell tank.

After the Tiger Might Body began to take shape, this body-tempering art bestowed a fist technique called the Tiger-Might Fist.

It was divided into two moves: the basic move, Tiger Claw Strike, and the advanced move, Savage Tiger Pounces on the Mountain.

Dong Lin had already cultivated the basic Tiger Claw Strike to minor attainment.

Whenever he used the Tiger-Might Fist, it faintly carried a trace of tiger might, already forming the beginnings of a tiger's Divine Intent.

"This Hanging-Eyed White Tiger Painting truly deserves to be called a Divine Intent Diagram of a primordial cultivation technique."

Dong Lin knew clearly that his aptitude was not outstanding. His current progress owed a great deal to this Divine Intent Diagram.

Dong Lin spent every day studying this Divine Intent Diagram to cultivate, and his progress was immensely gratifying.

However, Dong Lin lacked practical experience in close combat, and such experience was extremely important for close combat.

Most of the time, a ranged mage's combat routine consisted of defense, evasion, and casting spells.

But close combat was different. It contained countless moves, and without extensive experience fighting others, those close-combat moves would be difficult to bring into play in actual battle.

Thus, Dong Lin intended to find an expert in this area and exchange blows with him.

Baili Tianming was an excellent choice.

Baili Tianming cultivated the Celestial Dipper Child Body Art.

It was the personal cultivation technique of Bao Hei, the master of the Law Enforcement Hall, and had been inherited by his direct disciple, Baili Tianming.

Baili Tianming had followed Hall Master Bao Hei since childhood, tempering his body and stretching his sinews and bones from an early age.

In terms of fundamentals, Baili Tianming, a newly initiated disciple of the Heaven Sect's Law Enforcement Hall, was not much inferior to Dong Lin in physical constitution.

But that was only temporary.

Although the Eight-Nine Mystical Art was an immortal Dao technique that cultivated both life and fate, its ultimate goal was bodily sanctification, and it leaned toward physical cultivation.

Once Dong Lin's Five-Element Escape Art reached major attainment and his body purification reached completion, he would surely leave the present Baili Tianming far behind.