Seeing signs that Zhang Teng was about to lose his temper, Tieniu hurriedly spoke faster.
"Senior brother, I heard that Hall Master Cheng of the Six Harmonies Martial Hall has already broken through to the Dantian Sea Realm. Your Dantian was destroyed, and I was worried you'd act rashly. That's why I told Master first."
At those words, some of Zhang Teng's anger faded.
The Dantian Sea Realm!
That was the second realm of martial cultivation.
Only after passing through the Body-Tempering Realm could one draw on surging blood and qi to refine one's own vital essence and gather it in the Dantian.
He had reached the Dantian Sea Realm before, so he naturally knew how powerful it was.
Bronze skin and iron bones simply could not bridge the gap between major realms.
Even now, however, Zhang Teng was not afraid.
After all, he had attained indestructible diamond. Whether he could win would only become clear when they clashed.
Still, the strength of the Six Harmonies Martial Hall's master had cooled his head.
After all, against someone in the Dantian Sea Realm, he had no certainty of victory.
"Now I know how strong he is."
Zhang Teng looked at Tieniu.
"Keep an eye out for me. I've only just comprehended the Breath-Absorbing Art, and my strength is still growing.
I need to get as strong as possible before he arrives. Surely a little challenge like this doesn't warrant Master's intervention."
"No problem." Tieniu thumped his chest in assurance. "I'll keep watch for you and stay alert to what's happening outside. Are you confident?"
Zhang Teng's expression turned grave.
"If he comes right now, I'd have a forty percent chance at most."
"But for every day that passes, my chances will improve by at least ten percentage points!"
Tieniu was stunned.
"Senior Brother Zhang, wasn't your Elixir Sea destroyed? How can you still be so confident?"
Zhang Teng smiled confidently.
"Before, I was a martial artist. Of course I wasn't confident. But now, I'm an immortal cultivator."
"Hall Master Cheng of the Six Harmonies Martial Hall is only qualified to contend with me while things stand as they are now."
Zhang Teng took immense pride in having crossed the threshold to becoming an Immortal Cultivator.
The moment he stepped across that threshold to Immortal Cultivation, his bronze skin and iron bones broke through their limits and reached the level of indestructible vajra.
Martial legends? Indestructible vajra?
Before immortal cultivators, those were merely the bare minimum for entry.
The Martial Arts Grounds.
With Zhang Teng setting an example, the village apprentices practicing Tai Chi became even more enthusiastic.
As Lin Bei watched the apprentices before him, his heart felt calmer than ever.
After observing things over this period, he had discovered that his Golden Finger could not create something out of nothing.
Only when someone comprehended a method he had taught could he receive feedback.
When Zhang Teng's martial cultivation advanced from bronze skin and iron bones to indestructible vajra, he had received no feedback whatsoever.
Beyond that, Lin Bei gradually realized something else.
His Golden Finger could directly feed back knowledge at Perfection, or even beyond its limits.
What did that mean? Lin Bei ventured a bold guess: his Golden Finger might possess an extraordinarily powerful capacity for extrapolation.
Shaking his head, Lin Bei settled his mind and prepared to consider what he should invent next.
Yet even after racking his brains, he had no leads. He simply could not come up with anything.
Looks like forcing myself to think won't work. I need to find the right direction, the right approach.
With that thought, Lin Bei stopped trying to force it.
He understood that the time had not yet come!
If he insisted on forcing it, the cultivation method he invented would be far too hollow and abstract.
Even with Zhang Teng's heaven-defying comprehension, he probably would not be able to cultivate anything meaningful from it.
Looks like I need to guide Zhang Teng at the right moment and have him spend his time comprehending the Breath-Absorbing Art.
Once Zhang Teng's Breath-Absorbing Art broke through to Perfection, his own would advance to Limit-Breaking.
Then, finding the right direction would become vastly easier.
Just then, Tieniu came running over.
Seeing that he was about to practice his boxing, Lin Bei called him over instead.
"Master, did you call for me?" Tieniu treated Lin Bei with great respect.
"What is Zhang Teng doing?"
"Master, he's using the Breath-Absorbing Art for Body Refining."
Lin Bei frowned slightly and said in displeasure,
"Nonsense. He's only just grasped the basics of the Breath-Absorbing Art. He should focus on comprehending it first. As the saying goes, sharpening the axe doesn't delay chopping wood. Must I teach him even that?"
Seeing this, Tieniu hurriedly explained.
"Master, I told him that Hall Master Cheng was coming to challenge us. He said he needed to grow stronger as quickly as possible, so he wouldn't have to trouble you with something so minor."
At those words, Lin Bei's anger vanished like smoke in the wind.
Comprehension could wait. There was no rush.
As far as Lin Bei was concerned, dealing with the trouble first was what mattered!
"Is he confident?" Lin Bei asked again.
"Senior Brother Zhang said he'd broken through to indestructible vajra and had a forty percent chance of winning."
"Now he's using the Breath-Absorbing Art for Body Refining. For every day that passes, his chances improve by ten percentage points."
Honesty was Tieniu's defining trait. The moment Lin Bei asked, everything came spilling out like beans from a sack.
Excellent!
Lin Bei nodded inwardly. With his prized personal disciple holding the line in front of him, he could rest easy.
"Go practice your boxing."
"Yes."
Watching Tieniu leave, Lin Bei abandoned the idea of urging Zhang Teng to comprehend the Breath-Absorbing Art.
After all, Zhang Teng still had to shoulder the trouble facing the Martial Arts Grounds.
Instead, Lin Bei returned to his room and began cultivating in seclusion.
He, too, had some expectations for the Breath-Absorbing Art's Body Refining effects.
Time passed.
The next day.
After a night of cultivation, Lin Bei felt refreshed in body and mind.
He could feel his body growing stronger at a visibly discernible rate under the nourishment of Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Power.
This level should count as the Qi Refining Realm—using Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Power to temper the body.
As he cultivated, Lin Bei began to understand qi refining.
He also realized that he absolutely could not invent qi refining haphazardly based on novels.
Novels might divide cultivation into numerous realms, but ancient texts referred to such cultivators collectively as Qi Refiners.
I remember the Qi Refiners recorded in ancient texts... Among them were quite a few legendary figures on the level of immortals and gods.
Lin Bei gradually realized that qi refining might be an extremely crucial foundation of cultivation.
The Breath-Absorbing Art not only refines one's own vital essence, but also draws in and releases the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.
Qi refining means tempering the body so that it can resonate more easily with heaven and earth.
Lin Bei began reviewing the Immortal Cultivation Method from the beginning.
The first step of qi refining is breath absorption. The second should be called the Dao Body. Then what about the third?
As he thought, Lin Bei gradually found a direction.
I've got it! Absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to temper the Dao Body. Then the next step should be to use the Dao Body to wield Dao methods! To cast spells!
Lin Bei's heart filled with delight!
At last, he had invented a complete Qi Refining Realm.
Its stages were breath absorption, Dao Body, and Dao-Method Wielding!
Now he had a direction and a concept, but how was he to practice Dao-Method Wielding?
Lin Bei believed that once the time was ripe, he would naturally understand how to invent the art of Dao-Method Wielding.
Time passed.
On the third day of cultivating the Breath-Absorbing Art.
Lin Bei opened his eyes from cultivation.
The Breath-Absorbing Art at Perfection allowed his cultivation to advance a thousand miles a day.
In just three days, his body had been completely renewed, as though every cell had been replaced by a new generation.
I'm still a long way from attaining a Dao Body!
Lin Bei understood that this was only his body's first transformation.
He would need many more such transformations before he could truly forge a Dao Body!
Just then.
Tieniu's anxious voice came from outside the door.
"Master, Master! Something terrible has happened!"
Something terrible?
Normally, even in an emergency, Tieniu would only say that something had happened...
A sudden flicker of foreboding crossed Lin Bei's heart, and he paused in the middle of drinking his tea.
"What happened?"
Tieniu spoke, his voice tinged with tears.
"Niu Er... Niu Er... He's being beaten to death!"
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