Bone-Forging Body-Tempering, Foundation of the Innate Realm

Bone-Forging Body-Tempering, Foundation of the Innate Realm

The wind and snow gradually subsided as dawn broke.

Weishui County Seat came alive with bustle.

At Qingfeng Mausoleum, Yu Chen tightly shut the doors and windows. With a thought, he took out the Scripture of Deliverance and unfolded it.

At the beginning of the scroll, the gray words of the old cobbler's final wish had vanished like smoke.

In their place, by the Yellow Springs River, the hunched ghostly figure gave Yu Chen a gentle bow, then stepped onto the surging river.

It disappeared from sight.

Immediately afterward, smoke-gray words flashed across the beginning of the scroll.

[A ninth-rank mortal wish fulfilled; a ninth-rank mortal soul delivered; "Bone-Forging Body-Tempering" bestowed]

[Bone-Forging Body-Tempering?]

[What was this thing?]

[Was it a treasured book like the Paper Effigies and Paper Horses Art? Or some kind of pill?]

Just as that thought arose in Yu Chen's mind, golden light flashed from the Scripture of Deliverance, and an immense pulling force descended upon his body.

The next moment, Yu Chen felt the world spin around him.

When he opened his eyes again, his familiar shabby little hut was gone. In its place stood an incomparably enormous hall.

The hall was towering and magnificent, grayish-black throughout, its edges sharp and distinct, exuding an air of solemn majesty.

Through those imposing doors, Yu Chen saw a vast river that flowed without end, its waves roiling and surging like the roar of dragons and tigers. It was an awe-inspiring sight.

Only then did Yu Chen come to his senses.

Wasn't this surging river the mighty Yellow Springs he had seen in the Scripture of Deliverance before?

Had he... entered the painting within the Scripture of Deliverance?

Yu Chen suppressed the shock in his heart and looked around.

Within the enormous hall stood all manner of bronze-colored creations he could not understand. At the entrance, savage beast statues sprawled across the way.

After only one glance, Yu Chen's head swam, and he hurriedly withdrew his gaze.

Then he glanced downward and froze.

—At the center of the hall stood a huge ancient-bronze cauldron with a beast-head design. It was filled with black, viscous, unknown liquid, like a terrifying abyss waiting to devour someone.

Of course, none of that mattered. What mattered was that Yu Chen was currently inside that cauldron...

Instinctively, he reached out, wanting to brace himself against the rim and jump out.

But the black, viscous liquid seemed to weigh ten thousand jun. His limbs could not move at all!

Then, a thunderous sound rang out in Yu Chen's mind.

[Temper the body and forge the bones, cleanse the tendons and marrow; from the Acquired Realm into the Innate Realm—this is the beginning of Qi Refinement, the foundation of all things.]

At that moment, Yu Chen was stunned.

Could this cauldron be the so-called "Bone-Forging Body-Tempering"?

In other words, no one was trying to boil him alive. This was... a benefit granted by the Scripture of Deliverance?

Using an iron pot to stew himself?

That was certainly distinctive.

Yu Chen grumbled inwardly.

But very quickly, he had no mind to think about any of that.

—Because the black unknown liquid began to boil.

Just like water coming to a boil, it gurgled and bubbled.

Scalding heat billowed forth!

At the same time, a terrifying temperature like molten bronze and iron coursed through Yu Chen's limbs and bones!

Even stranger, that heat did not merely act upon his skin. Like a festering sore clinging to the bone, it surged toward every inch of Yu Chen's body!

For a time, Yu Chen felt as though he had fallen into terrifying magma, in such pain that he wished he were dead!

Yet during the process, he could clearly feel his bones, flesh, skin, and organs being forged again and again like red-hot iron billets beneath countless hammer blows!

Stronger!

Tougher!

More powerful!

Countless inexplicable impurities were extracted from every inch of Yu Chen's body, like a filthy sponge gradually being washed clean beneath a stream of water.

The process was undoubtedly extremely stress-relieving, especially for someone as withdrawn as Yu Chen.

—Of course, it would have been better if it did not hurt so much.

Who knew how much time passed.

The intense agony crashed over Yu Chen's limbs, bones, and organs again and again like waves.

Tempering!

Hammering!

As though it would never end!

Who knew how much time passed? Perhaps several hours, perhaps several days and nights.

Amid indescribable agony, Yu Chen could feel as though his body had been hammered tens of millions of times.

Until his bones were like trusses, his tendons like iron whips, his flesh and skin like metal and leather, and his blood and qi like a boiling furnace roaring without cease!

Only then was he finally kicked out by the Scripture of Deliverance.

The terrifying pain of being submerged and soaked in magma slowly receded as well.

In the real world, he was still in that shabby little hut, and only an instant had passed.

—Just like the last time he learned the art of Paper Effigies and Paper Horses, although Yu Chen had subjectively spent a long time inside, in the real world, perhaps not even the time of a blink had passed.

"Phew..." Yu Chen let out a long breath of stale air, rubbed his temples, and muttered, "So this is Bone-Forging Body-Tempering? It really is torture."

But though it was painful, the benefits were considerable.

The moment he opened his eyes, Yu Chen clearly sensed... the changes.

His eyes could see every speck of dust on the ground. His ears could hear the sound of crows beating their wings in the snow outside, even through the walls.

Keen ears and sharp eyes!

And that was not all!

Yu Chen lowered his head and looked at the Scripture of Deliverance in his hands.

The smoke-gray words at the beginning of the scroll had changed somewhat.

[Book Bearer: Yu Chen]

[Office: None]

[Cultivation: Innate Realm]

[Divine Ability: Paper Effigies and Paper Horses]

The Innate Realm?

Yu Chen raised a brow. He had heard of such a thing from the old hands of the martial world in the county seat.

When martial artists trained their flesh-and-blood bodies to the limit, they would use all kinds of medicinal herbs to bathe themselves, cleanse their essence and marrow, and cultivate the so-called "force."

With this force, one could be called Innate. A punch could unleash a sonic boom, a palm could sever flowing water, one could lift a cauldron with strength, shatter stone, and strike through iron with ease.

There were even rumors that the Innate Realm was the foundation for stepping into the gates of so-called "cultivation" and "Qi Refinement."

Of course, Innate martial artists were rare, and Dao-entering immortal masters were rarer still.

—In all of Weishui County Seat, it seemed that only one or two officials in the Aura-Observing Bureau of the yamen had stepped through the gates of so-called "cultivation."

After thinking for a moment, Yu Chen closed his eyes and could sense that an indescribable "force" truly lay dormant within his limbs and bones.

As if by instinct, his muscles and tendons pulsed, driving that force as he threw a punch!

Boom!

A deafening sonic boom echoed through the room, whipping up a fierce gust that tore through the air and blew out the burning oil lamp!

Tsk!

Only now did Yu Chen understand just how great the benefits of this so-called Bone-Forging Body-Tempering truly were!

As the saying went, a poor man could study literature, but martial arts required wealth.

Weishui County Seat was not large to begin with. Though there were many who practiced martial arts, to reach the Innate Realm required not only talent, but money.

—Leaving aside the various precious herbs needed to cleanse one's essence and marrow, even the meat one ate every day cost a great deal of silver.

Surely one could not eat vegetable leaves and watery porridge, then dream of cultivating bronze skin, iron bones, and a body impervious to blades and spears?

Even so, for a martial artist who had trained since childhood to cultivate Internal Force would take at least ten years or so.

Yet the Scripture of Deliverance had only taken... an instant?

Without counting the time he spent within the Scripture of Deliverance, it had truly taken only an instant for him to go from a weak youth incapable of trussing a chicken to an Innate expert.

For the time being, he possessed only physique without techniques, and strength without experience.

But the changes to his body still gave Yu Chen a sense of security he had never felt before.

—If he encountered Blade and Sword and Big Strong now, he would need neither Paper Effigies and Paper Horses nor any tricks of playing god. With this Innate Realm body alone, he could easily crush those two ruffians!

Unfortunately, there was nowhere to put it to use for now.

After that brief surge of excitement, Yu Chen calmed down.

At the same time, an extreme hunger assaulted every inch of his flesh and blood! Like a starving ghost that had gone ten days or half a month without food, it tugged at every one of Yu Chen's nerves!

—The side effect of being an Innate martial artist had arrived.

Martial arts were like that: the better one trained, the more one ate.

The Scripture of Deliverance could temper Yu Chen's body to the Innate Realm in an instant, but it could not replenish the nutrients and energy his body required.

After considering it for a moment, Yu Chen took out the money he had saved over the years and went down the mountain.

Nothing else mattered. First, he had to fill the temple of his five viscera!

(End of chapter)