Body Forging

That night, Yang Xiong was ready to begin putting some of his recent Body Forging plans into practice.

Over the past few days, Yang Xiong had purchased all kinds of medicinal herbs in Seven Treasure City. As one of the most prosperous cities on the entire Douluo Continent, Seven Treasure City had countless herbal shops, with practically every kind of medicinal herb available.

A massive iron bath barrel stood in Yang Xiong's room. It had long been filled with clear water, while charcoal burned beneath it. The water in the barrel seemed to be on the verge of boiling.

Yang Xiong took out a number of medicinal herbs from his Soul Tool and tossed them into the bath barrel. The once-clear water instantly turned a deep red, like blood.

Yang Lin looked somewhat nervous. "Little Xiong, you're still young. There's no need to rush like this, is there? Body Forging is indeed beneficial and highly suited to your Martial Soul, but it's still too early for you."

Yang Xiong said, "Father, I'm absolutely certain it won't harm my body. Besides, this formula is anything but ordinary."

Some time ago, Yang Xiong had found Bone Douluo's cultivation records—The Way of Defense—on the seventh floor of the library. As the continent's foremost defense expert, Bone Douluo had relied not only on absorbing defensive Soul Rings, but also on external means to temper his body to the utmost limit.

A supreme defense expert like that was not only unafraid of water and fire, but even immune to Deadly Poison. That was the pinnacle of The Way of Defense.

Following the instructions in The Way of Defense, Yang Xiong had bought a large quantity of medicinal herbs. Today was the first attempt, meant to temper his body through the Fire Attribute.

The herbs he had bought were not expensive, but they were all Fire Attribute plants and carried a certain degree of toxicity. The process would be extremely painful, but this was the foundation of The Way of Defense.

Yang Xiong did not concern himself with anything else. He stripped naked and jumped straight into the bath barrel.

Yang Xiong felt as though his entire body had been plunged into a sea of fire. His skin seemed to be burning, especially as the red liquid in the barrel seeped through his skin and entered his body. Every muscle and even every bone felt as though it were being roasted by flames.

Even after Yang Xiong summoned his Martial Soul, it seemed difficult for it to withstand such heat and toxicity. His entire body began to burn. Even with Yang Xiong's powerful physique, he could not help gritting his teeth, his face twisted in extreme pain.

A full hour later, the blood-red liquid in the bath barrel gradually began to fade. Its medicinal potency seemed to slowly dissipate after flowing into Yang Xiong's body.

Yang Lin hurriedly pulled Yang Xiong from the bath barrel. Yang Xiong looked utterly miserable at that moment, his body covered in patchy burns. He looked rather like someone who had been badly burned.

His mother, Sun Yu, looked exceptionally distressed. "Little Xiong, why put yourself through this? I'll take you to find a healing-type Soul Master."

Yang Xiong shook his head. "Mother, I think the effect is excellent. There's no need to seek treatment. My Martial Soul should be able to heal these injuries soon enough."

This was the greatest advantage of a Body Martial Soul. After the body was injured, it could rapidly heal through the Martial Soul. In terms of recovery alone, Body Martial Souls were absolutely among the very best of all Martial Souls.

Over the following days, Yang Xiong spent nine consecutive days tempering himself with Fire Attribute herbs. His entire body became bright red, yet miraculously, after a night of meditation and cultivation, he could recover more than half of his injuries.

Of course, that was also because Yang Xiong had reduced the dosage of the Body Forging herbs to the minimum. If he had truly followed the later-stage herb ratios and selections described in The Way of Defense, an ordinary person would likely melt in a very short time. Only mid- to high-level Soul Masters could endure it.

After nine days, Yang Xiong began using another kind of herb. The water in the bath barrel had originally been brought to a boil, but after the herbs were added, all the water in the barrel rapidly turned blue. The bubbling, boiling water abruptly plummeted in temperature and even gave off waves of cold air.

After Yang Xiong jumped into the bath barrel, his entire body felt as though it had been placed within Frost. Endless cold seeped into his body, and every inch of his skin seemed about to freeze solid. He looked almost like an ice statue, and the pain was no less than that caused by the Fire Attribute herbs.

Especially while immersed in Frost, it was not only his body that seemed to freeze. Even his Martial Soul and Soul Power felt as though they were being solidified. Yet under such extreme conditions, he could better grasp the direction in which the Soul Power within his body circulated.

This was the body tempering against cold described in The Way of Defense.

After another nine consecutive days in the freezing bath barrel, Yang Xiong began training in another aspect.

At that point, the water in the bath barrel was boiling, while the entire barrel had turned a vivid green. What Yang Xiong had added this time was poison he had purchased.

Compared with the tempering of ice and fire, poison-based tempering seemed even more destructive to the body and even more painful. His entire body felt as though it were being gnawed by countless insects. In particular, when the poisonous liquid invaded his bone marrow, it felt as though every bone in his body were about to shatter.

Poison was especially destructive to the body's cells, flesh, and blood, and it clung like maggots to bone, making it extremely difficult to dispel.

Yet the advantage of a Body Martial Soul revealed itself once more. Since the Martial Soul was his own body, the toxins could actually be absorbed and gradually utilized by it. The effect was even better than that of ice and fire. No wonder Du Busi and the others liked to follow the path of Deadly Poison.

Over the following period, Yang Xiong basically underwent all three forms of training every day. The methods of blazing fire, Frost, and Deadly Poison were each practiced for nine consecutive days before switching to another.

As time went on, Yang Xiong felt as though his body were being reforged. Under the continuous tempering of ice, fire, and poison, his entire body seemed to collapse time and again, only to recover rapidly each time.

In particular, as his Body Forging progressed, his Martial Soul seemed to be gradually growing stronger. Even his physical strength and Soul Power had improved. Especially after each Body Forging session, meditation felt much faster—at least far more effective than after an ordinary Medicinal Bath.

Yang Xiong even felt that his meridians had grown stronger under the tempering of ice, fire, and poison. Perhaps his Innate Soul Power Level had also improved to a certain extent.

Naturally, Yang Xiong did all this in preparation for the future. A Body Martial Soul was far too special, and relatively weak in its early stages. Only by desperately forging his body and following The Way of Defense might he have a chance of achieving a Second Awakening in the future.

Of course, truly achieving a Second Awakening would be far more difficult than this. A Second Awakening required the extreme pressure of life and death. This little pain was nowhere near comparable.

However, Yang Xiong searched through the entire library and still failed to find any method for cultivating spiritual power. It seemed that throughout the entire Douluo World, aside from Tang San's Purple Demon Eyes, no one possessed a similar cultivation technique.

According to Yang Xiong's plan, Body Forging could bring his physical qualities to an extremely powerful level. From another perspective, this could also be called vitality and blood. Among all Soul Ring attributes, strength-type Soul Rings provided the greatest increase in Soul Power and vitality.

Yang Xiong wanted to cultivate his vitality, Soul Power, and spiritual power to their limits. Combined with elemental attributes, he would absolutely be able to reach unprecedented heights.

Tomorrow, he planned to learn how to roll balls, which could make up for his own shortcomings.