Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong

Outside the Black Armor Battalion.

Monkey and Dog walked out of the tent and stood side by side. They still moved as though entering an uninhabited land; not a single passing patrol soldier noticed their presence.

After walking for a while, Dog finally said in a low voice:

"What you did today was not exactly wise."

"Not only did you teach him Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong, you also casually promised him some recruitment position. We do not have that authority, do we?"

"Among the twelve Attendants, only the Chief Attendant can decide that."

"You broke the rules."

Faced with Dog's rebuke, Monkey did not care in the slightest. He chuckled. "What, do you really think he can master it? I merely gave him something to hope for."

"Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong was an extreme martial art specially created by the Chief Attendant to contend with those Transcendents. At its core, it was never meant for people to cultivate. To this day, only people like us—those who rose above ordinary mortals and possess Transcendent bloodlines—have achieved anything with it."

"With that level of difficulty, what did it matter if it got out?"

At this point, Monkey sighed. "Other than imperial Attendants like us, no one would cultivate this martial art at all. The gains simply would not be worth the losses."

"Besides, that kid had skinny arms and legs. He did not even have calluses on his hands. One look told you he was not cut out for hard-body arts. Nor did he have secret medicines and precious pills to aid him as we did. How could he possibly succeed? It would already be fortunate if he did not rush for quick results and end up ruining his own body."

Only then did Dog finally understand.

"So you merely gave him hope, so he would work more earnestly and not die too soon—so he would not be thrown into the water without even stirring up a splash?"

"What else?"

Monkey said blandly, "People always need something to hope for."

"But what if he truly succeeds?" Dog continued. "What if he really masters the martial art and does not die in Longxing County? What will we do then?"

"If he truly succeeds?"

At those words, a trace of amusement immediately appeared on Monkey's face. "If he succeeds, then we will truly take him in. At worst, I will recommend him to the Chief Attendant."

"At the absolute worst, we would just drape the cloak on your body over his shoulders."

"...Do not talk nonsense."

Dog hurriedly tugged at his cloak.

The Attendant Hall also had ranks and seniority, and cloaks were the clearest sign of them. From lowest to highest, they were divided into three grades: Black Cloak, Vermilion Cloak, and Violet Cloak.

Those who had not rendered outstanding merit could not wear a cloak.

The Black Cloak on his body had been earned only after he gambled his life and barely survived nine deaths to quell an Aberration uprising. It was not something just anyone could possess.

For a mere newcomer, being allowed into the Attendant Hall would already be a blessing from heaven. He wanted to wear a Black Cloak too? He did not know his own limits. He should obediently work in the Attendant Hall for a few years first. Otherwise, with one careless misstep, he might end up like Pig from some time ago—dead in a foreign land, with even having his corpse collected becoming a luxury.

The two figures gradually disappeared into the distance.

Inside the tent, Wang Ping had his eyes tightly shut, his Spirit Sense locked firmly onto them. Only after a long while did he finally relax and let out a long breath.

"Good. It was not that I truly could not detect them."

With his Spirit Sense locked on them, he had clearly seen Monkey and Dog's movements and finally understood the secret behind how they could come and go through the military camp like ghosts.

"Their boots should be a Named Treasure. Together with a corresponding movement art, they can easily step into other people's visual blind spots."

This was no longer something achievable on a physical level. It was the supernatural power granted by a Named Treasure-grade weapon. Because they always remained within visual blind spots, the two of them could freely enter and leave the Black Armor Battalion, even evade Spirit Sense detection, and silently appear around him.

"It seems I need to be more careful in the future."

Wang Ping inwardly warned himself. "Since my rebirth, I have not formally begun cultivating immortality. The Spirit Sense that comes with the Desire-Realm Celestial Body is still too weak."

"I need to make up for that as soon as possible."

"As long as my Spirit Sense is strong enough to cover every visual blind spot and negate the supernatural effects of their Named Treasure, they will not be able to hide from my eyes."

Wang Ping sat on the bed and calmed his mind.

The next second, as the world fell into stasis and heaven and earth spun around him, he entered the Morgue once again. He then turned his gaze toward a corner of the high platform.

There lay a mountain of Life Essence Pills.

This had been his greatest harvest from the Immortal Sect world in his previous life. Combined with Life-Stealing Thief, it was enough to make his cultivation advance by leaps and bounds even without a Spiritual Root!

"No time to lose."

Having made up his mind, Wang Ping immediately reached toward the small mountain of pills. In an instant, countless densely packed pills turned into a rolling flood and surged into his body.

"Rumble!"

In an instant, a sound like exploding firecrackers roared out from Wang Ping's body. His formerly calm breathing suddenly became rapid, carrying the scent of blood.

"It hurts!"

Looking over him, Wang Ping's entire body had taken on a layer of deep crimson. As time passed, that crimson gradually seeped into his skin.

Throughout the process, the rumbling within Wang Ping's body grew fiercer and fiercer. His bones ground together, his skin membranes pulsed, his muscles shook, and his body swelled. His skin, infused with blood and qi, changed again, turning a faint yellow before gradually deepening and reflecting a layer of brilliant golden radiance.

"...!!!"

This violent transformation, from the inside out through his entire body, brought an itching agony that seeped from his bones. Wang Ping nearly ground his teeth to dust.

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, Wang Ping stared wide-eyed as he felt something wrong in his mouth. He opened it and spat, spraying out a mouthful of blood and shattered teeth.

He had really bitten them apart!

With a hint of panic, Wang Ping hurriedly touched his mouth. Yet instead of finding it empty as he had imagined, his fingers encountered a texture like steel.

These were... my teeth?

Wang Ping froze. He simply looked with his Spirit Sense, only to see a mouthful of densely packed, pale white teeth—forty in all!

Seeing this, Wang Ping could not help scratching his head.

Then he no longer had time to care about his teeth.

Because with that scratch, he discovered a huge clump of hair in his hand. An eerie coolness also spread across his scalp...

"Fuck!"

Before Wang Ping could react, the cool sensation rapidly spread. Great clumps of hair kept falling out, helplessly drifting onto the ground around him.

I went bald!?

Wang Ping reached up to touch his head again, only to find that fresh stubble had already grown from the scalp that had just been stripped bare. Before long, it had returned to the appearance of a crew cut.

"Am I shedding my mortal body and exchanging my bones?"

Wang Ping finally understood a little. He no longer dwelled on it, gritted his teeth, and continued circulating Life-Stealing Thief, frantically devouring the stored Life Essence.

He did not know how long it took before the violent changes finally eased. It felt as though he had cast off the heavy shackles that had always weighed upon him. Whether his arms, hands, or feet, every movement was several times more nimble than before. As his palms and fingers opened and closed, a terrifying sense of power filled his heart.

"Unbelievable!"

Wang Ping examined his transformed self and felt as though his limbs had been stretched several inches longer out of thin air. He had also shot up in height, while his shoulders and back had become broad and imposing.

The clothes that had fit him perfectly before had now become tight.

Even his little brother had become much sturdier.

"The fingers are the tips of the sinews, the tongue the tip of the flesh, the teeth the tip of the bones, and the hair the tip of the blood. Sinews, flesh, bones, blood... External Arts Perfection is nothing but fart compared to this!"

Wang Ping happily stretched his sinews and bones.

"Pa! Pa! Pa!"

With just two casual punches, explosive power blasted rings of visible air ripples through the air, producing shrill tearing sounds.

Afterward, he closed his eyes and sensed himself for a moment.

"As expected, Heavenly Roc Force has disappeared again."

Just as in his previous life, Celestial Roc Dragon-Subduing Body had not been high enough in grade. Once he formally began cultivating immortality, it collapsed and merged back into his dharma body.

Thus, from the perspective of Great Shun's Martial Dao, he was merely an external arts martial artist at this moment.

"However, compared to ordinary external arts martial artists, I should be a little stronger." Wang Ping circulated his Spirit Sense and carefully assessed his current strength.

An Inner Force Martial Master? More than that!

Wang Ping slowly exhaled and circulated his blood and qi. His pale-yellow skin looked as though it had been forged from gold, while the sinews, flesh, and veins beneath it shone with a lustrous radiance.

This was the hallmark of a Perfectly Sealed True Body.

"Perfectly Sealed True Body, as the name implies—once one possesses this trait, one can lock in every bodily change brought about by any future cultivation."

Put simply, once certified, forever certified.

"When mortals train in martial arts, they cannot afford the slightest slackness. Otherwise, they immediately regress."

"Yet once immortality cultivators possess a Perfectly Sealed True Body, once certified, forever certified. Any technique they learn will never regress. That is the advantage of immortality cultivators."

That did not even include the changes the Perfectly Sealed True Body brought to his physique. Wang Ping felt that even relying purely on physical strength, he was no weaker than Xu Bingzheng now!

"No, I should be stronger!"

At the very least, compared to the Xu Bingzheng he had faced that day, Wang Ping felt he was stronger. That was only a comparison of raw strength, without counting the scriptures and spells he had mastered.

Wang Ping let out a long breath and suppressed his swelling excitement.

"I need to calm down. That dog of an official may have been a Titled Martial Master, but he ranked near the bottom of the Weapon Ranking of the Great Shun Court. He cannot serve as a benchmark."

Wang Ping thought of Monkey and Dog, whom he had just met.

Those two should also be Titled Martial Masters, but they were clearly far stronger than Xu Bingzheng. He wondered who was stronger between them and his current self.

Perhaps because he had just made a breakthrough, Wang Ping could hardly wait to find someone to test his fists and feet on.

Only after quite some time did he completely calm down.

"It is not over yet. I can become stronger still!"

The next second, Wang Ping returned to reality. He then took out the Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong that Monkey had given him earlier and began reading it carefully.

As its name suggested, this martial art contained thirteen techniques: Iron Head Skill, Iron Throat Skill, Iron Arm Skill, Iron Elbow Skill, Iron Fist Skill, Iron Sand Palm, Iron Finger Skill, Iron Knee Skill, Iron Leg Skill, Iron Foot Skill, Iron Cloth Shirt, Iron Abdomen Skill, and Iron Ox Skill. They covered the entire body, without the slightest flaw.

"Every martial art has a corresponding combat method."

After finishing the manual, Wang Ping was utterly amazed. "Good heavens, was this martial art meant to train a person directly into a Divine Weapon?"

Extreme and pure.

It was difficult to cultivate because of its extremity, but it was also powerful because of its purity. More importantly—this martial art was exceptionally compatible with him!

"I now possess a Perfectly Sealed True Body. Using an immortality cultivator's dharma body to train martial arts already yields twice the result with half the effort. With the boost of Spirit-Communing Thought on top of that, my Spirit Sense is vastly enhanced. I can precisely control the circulation of my blood and qi and improve my training efficiency. I can also swiftly recover any bodily damage through Qi Suppression."

The crushing advantage of immortality cultivation over martial training was displayed here in the most vivid fashion.

If anything could slow his martial training, it would probably only be comprehension. But for a peerless genius like him, even that was not a problem.

"A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold, lend it to me!"

The next morning.

Wang Ping sat upright on the bed. Though he had not slept all night, he was bursting with vigor. Morning sunlight fell across his body, faintly transforming into layer upon layer of halos.

Every halo that descended upon him made him appear increasingly solemn and precious, like a sacred image.

Copper Head, Iron Brow; Thousand-Jun Arm; Earth-Standing Vajra.

Hundred-Step Divine Fist; Stone-Splitting Fist; Land-Piercing Steel Step.

Mountain-Sinking Elbow; Bronze-Wall Knee; Armor-Hard Abdomen.

Stone-Piercing Finger; Steel-Blade-Locking Throat; Golden Spear Unyielding.

Steel Sinews, Iron Bones.

All thirteen combat methods blessed his body at that moment, making him so majestic that he scarcely seemed human. He resembled more a seated divine statue within a temple.

And when the thirteen combat methods fused together, they formed an entirely new combat method:

Indestructible Vajra Body!

"The person who created this martial art was truly a heaven-blessed genius!"

Only after truly mastering it did Wang Ping understand the core principle of Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong, and he was profoundly shaken by it.

"The creator must have intended to use this martial art to let a mortal body break through the limits of external arts. Once perfected, it could even rival an immortality cultivator's dharma body."

With his Spirit Sense examining himself, Wang Ping felt the effects of Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong more deeply than anyone. By his estimation, even an ordinary mortal who managed to master this martial art would probably gain effects close to a cultivation trait such as the Perfectly Sealed True Body!

Entering the Dao through martial arts—nothing could describe it better.

"Unbelievable. It truly is unbelievable." Though filled with emotion, Wang Ping was also in high spirits. After all, this was a great opportunity for him as well.

"Sure enough, one cannot underestimate the people of the world."

"Though it cannot compare with cultivating immortality, Great Shun's Martial Dao still has its merits. Especially those standing at its pinnacle—they may not necessarily be inferior to immortality cultivators."

With that thought, Wang Ping looked at the manual in his hand again.

He had felt nothing before mastering it, but afterward, he could clearly sense that this martial art was incomplete. At most, it was only the first half.

"There should be a deeper second half."

Wang Ping's eyes brightened slightly. "Above external arts lies Inner Force. In that case, could the second half be the corresponding Cultivation-Body Diagram?"

"...I will ask another day."

Recalling Monkey and Dog from yesterday, Wang Ping felt somewhat expectant. "With their seniority, as long as they master the first half, they will surely obtain the second half."

Unlike him, they were mortals. But this Thirteen Guardians' Iron-Body Qigong was not difficult—could they really fail to cultivate it?

Meanwhile, outside the Black Armor Battalion.

Monkey and Dog, who had likewise gone without sleep and trained bitterly all night, opened their eyes. Their gazes held unconcealed exhaustion, along with disappointment from laboring without result.

"Still a little short."

Dog sighed. "Why is this damned martial art so hard to cultivate? Even the Chief Attendant who created this thing probably could not master it, right?"

"Look on the bright side."

Monkey was equally helpless. "Combat methods of the same type clash with one another. How to suppress those clashes is precisely the greatest difficulty in cultivating this damned martial art."

"You have barely mastered seven techniques. I am a little better, having mastered nine. Even so, that is already quite good. After all, you and I are Titled Martial Masters and can use Divine Intent to harmonize the conflicts. For martial artists who do not even possess Divine Intent, the difficulty rises another level."

Dog frowned tightly at that. "Is there no other way?"

"It is not as though there is none."

Monkey sneered. "Ultimately, the conflicts between combat methods are simply because the body cannot adapt to the drastic changes they bring and cannot withstand their empowerment."

"If you allow the conflicts to run wild and let them damage the body..."

"Then take precious medicine afterward, slowly nurse your injuries, and let your body adapt to that transformation during recovery. That can greatly alleviate the harm caused by the conflicts."

"However, as the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to heal sinews and bones. Even with precious medicine, using self-mutilation to improve yourself is far too slow. It may even leave incurable hidden dangers. Therefore, it can only be used after every other method has failed and there is no further path forward."

"For example, Dragon has recently entered seclusion, attempting to use this method to break through to the thirteenth layer. But I doubt his chances of success are high."

Dog's face went blank with disbelief.

"So in other words, to cultivate this martial art to the thirteenth layer of perfection, one must first possess an extremely powerful physique, then have bodily control no weaker than Divine Intent—or even far beyond it. Next, one must possess a means of rapidly recovering the body, and one must even have considerable comprehension?"

Monkey nodded. "That's right."

"This..."

Dog's scalp went numb as he listened. He could not help saying, "What kind of joke is this? This kind of martial art wasn't meant for humans to practice, was it? It would make more sense if it were for Transcendents."

"You're overthinking it."

Monkey sighed. "Those Transcendents have their own divine pills and miraculous medicines to strengthen their bodies. Why would they waste precious time on crude methods like ours?"

Dog fell silent at once.

Monkey let out another long sigh:

"So, ever since the First Seat created this martial art, aside from the First Seat himself, not a single person has successfully cultivated it to the thirteenth level of Great Perfection."

"Not in the past."

"And I'm afraid not in the future, either."