At dinner, Liu Changxu showed his family the first Fireball Talisman he had made. His parents and aunts were all delighted for him, especially his mother, Lin Yulian, who was overjoyed.
After dinner, Liu Changxu returned to his courtyard and carefully studied the Primordial Unity Body-Tempering Art in his training room.
After reading through the art several times, Liu Changxu found that the Body-Refining Technique of the Primordial Unity Body-Tempering Art was just as the second elder had said: easy to learn, but difficult to master.
The art consisted of three layers. The first layer granted strength equivalent to the early Qi Refinement stage, and breaking through to it would give the practitioner a tremendous strength of a thousand jin. Upon perfecting the third layer, that strength would reach nine thousand jin, enough to contend with someone at the peak of Qi Refinement.
Unfortunately, the Liu Household did not possess the art's subsequent layers. Otherwise, its grade would have been at least low-grade Mystic rank.
Ordinary Qi Refinement arts absorbed and refined spiritual energy, spiritual herbs, spiritual pills, and other spiritual substances. These passed through the meridians and acupoints throughout the body before gathering and condensing in the dantian to form gaseous magical power. Once that gaseous magical power had condensed and grown sufficiently to turn into liquid magical power, the cultivator would have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Thus, although ordinary Qi Refinement arts also nourished the flesh and bones, their primary focus was condensing magical power in the dantian, so their nourishing effects on the flesh and bones were only modest.
This Body-Refining Technique worked in precisely the opposite way. It absorbed and refined spiritual energy, spiritual herbs, and other spiritual substances of heaven and earth, channeling them along the meridians and acupoints throughout the body to nourish and strengthen the bones and muscles, increasing physical strength and toughness.
Therefore, practicing this art would multiply the consumption of cultivation resources such as spiritual energy, spirit rice, spiritual herbs, and demon beast meat.
His third uncle, Liu Shijie, and fifth elder brother, Liu Changshun, were a case in point. Because this father and son practiced the art, they ate several times as much as ordinary people and consumed far more cultivation resources than ordinary spell cultivators, leaving both of them poor.
Improving the art's effectiveness and speeding up progress would require even more cultivation resources.
The art recorded several medicinal decoctions and pill formulas for body tempering. At present, two were suitable for Liu Changxu.
The first was a medicinal decoction called the Icefire Body-Tempering Soup, prepared from three spiritual herbs: bone-tempering grass, bloodred flower, and ice jade fruit. All three were first-tier spiritual herbs. Although they were available in the Family Treasury, each batch of the decoction cost thirty Lineage contribution points, equivalent to thirty low-grade spirit stones.
The second was the Body-Tempering Pill. These pills were not cheap either, costing twenty Lineage contribution points apiece.
Of course, this Body-Refining Technique also offered many benefits.
First, the art had no side effects and could be practiced alongside ordinary Qi Refinement arts. The two could reinforce each other and help break through bottlenecks. Many other body-tempering arts, such as the Hundred Poisons Body-Tempering Art, could easily damage the body if practiced improperly, causing irreversible harm.
Second, it granted formidable combat prowess and survivability. Body cultivators could often fight opponents above their level, and their powerful bodies could withstand stronger attacks than those of spell cultivators while also recovering from injuries more quickly.
Third, a powerful body could lay a solid foundation for cultivation in the next realm. The higher one's cultivation realm, the more important the body became, and many mighty cultivators practiced both spell cultivation and body tempering.
After memorizing and mastering the art's instructions, Liu Changxu began cultivating according to the method recorded in the Primordial Unity Body-Tempering Art.
As Liu Changxu continued circulating the cultivation method, red, green, and blue spiritual energy began to appear in the surrounding air, flowing rapidly into his body with every breath.
As he circulated the method faster, the red, green, and blue spiritual energy gathered ever more densely, eventually forming an enormous cloud of spiritual energy that enveloped Liu Changxu.
Two hours later, Liu Changxu felt a refreshing clarity throughout his muscles and bones. His physical strength and toughness had both improved slightly.
However, the hunger in his belly was unbearable. He took a large chunk of Demon Serpent meat from his Storage Bag and began roasting it. Once it was cooked, he ate it while it was still piping hot, and the large chunk of Demon Serpent meat soon disappeared.
Liu Changxu smiled wryly to himself. I've become a bottomless pit too.
Even so, Liu Changxu was extremely satisfied with this art!
After finishing the roasted meat, Liu Changxu began practicing the Primordial Unity Vacuous Palm, the martial technique that accompanied the Primordial Unity Body-Tempering Art. This palm technique could fully unleash the formidable physical strength developed by the body-tempering art.
Liu Changxu thrust his palm toward a piece of blue steel stone three feet away, striking through the air. A clear palm print instantly appeared on the stone. He had only just begun learning the technique; as his strength continued to grow, its power would increase further and further.
By then, it was already midnight. After taking up the Body-Refining Art, Liu Changxu felt more keenly than ever that there were not enough hours in the day. He hurriedly began practicing the Essence-Nurturing Qi Refinement Art. After all, cultivation remained the foundation.
Before you continue