Herbal Marrow Cleansing (1)

The sunlight slowly rose above the mountain valley, birds chirping and chasing each other through the trees. As time passed, the sun gradually moved towards the center of the valley, then slowly slanted towards the western peak until, in the evening, it slowly sank behind the mountain, and the earth was shrouded in darkness, with only the chirping of autumn insects rising and falling.

Time passed day by day. Eight or nine days had passed since Li Yan began cultivating. He only opened the door briefly each day to eat and wash, otherwise, the door remained tightly closed.

Inside the room, Li Yan, now dressed in a black robe, sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, eyes slightly closed, hands forming a mudra at his abdomen, breathing evenly. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, his brow furrowed. He had practiced diligently for the past eight or nine days, but still failed to stimulate the Qi in his Dantian. He had asked his teacher, Military Advisor Ji, who replied that the initial cultivation varied from person to person, taking as little as three to five days, or as long as ten days to half a month to stimulate the Dantian Qi. The most important thing in cultivation was to avoid being impatient and restless; one needed to calm the mind and spirit. However, it had been almost ten days, and he still couldn't find the feeling of cultivation, and he couldn't help but feel discouraged.

He simply got out of bed, opened the door, and walked out. Watching the sky slowly darken, he strolled slowly through the valley, pondering the meaning of each sentence and word in the incantation. As he walked and thought, he suddenly heard the sound of trickling water. He had unknowingly arrived at the pool. Listening to the sound of the mountain spring slowly flowing down the cliff, and looking at the pale moonlight cast by the half-crescent moon above the valley, the sound of the water echoed in his heart. Suddenly, he felt a sense of understanding. He stood still and silent. He didn't know how long had passed, but he suddenly felt a coolness in his body that resonated with the sound of the water. He immediately sat down cross-legged by the pool. The "Qi Guidance Art" that had been lingering in his mind flowed naturally. Soon after, a black aura faintly appeared on his face. This black aura did not appear strange, but rather had a sense of cold, deep water lightly covering it, with a faint transparent color.

At this moment, Li Yan was unaware of all this. He only felt the sound of the flowing water filling his mind, and with each breath, it began to fill his body. Suddenly, he felt a coolness rising from his Dantian, slowly flowing along the meridians guided by the "Qi Guidance Art." Each time it passed, the meridian would suddenly feel cool, but not cold. Instead, it felt like a fish returning to the sea. As the coolness circulated through the meridians, the coolness in the Dantian intensified, making it increasingly cold.

Inside the stone house on the east side of the valley, Military Advisor Ji also sat cross-legged behind the table, his eyes closed in meditation. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, a smile on his face. He said to himself, "Finally, he sensed the Qi of Heaven and Earth? It seems that I can prepare the Herbal Medicine. It's really something to look forward to." After saying that, he slowly closed his eyes again.

After a long time, Li Yan slowly opened his eyes. The valley was still the same, and the trickling stream on the cliff was still the same, but the moon had disappeared above the valley. It was now the middle of the night. A look of hesitation appeared on his face. The mountain nights in autumn were very cool, but Li Yan didn't feel the coolness of the outside world at all, because the coolness in his body was even more intense, but it didn't make him feel uncomfortable at all. Instead, he felt clear-headed, sharp-eyed, and light all over. However, he remembered that the "Qi Guidance Art" said that stimulating the Dantian Qi should produce a warm current. Why was his the opposite? Was there something wrong with his practice? If so, would it be like his senior brother before? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. Just as he stood up hesitatingly, he suddenly felt a stagnation in the coolness emanating from his Dantian, and it became unsmooth. He was stunned, and a voice rang in his ear, "Li Yan, you have finally completed the entry, very good indeed."

Hearing this voice, he was startled and quickly turned around. A person in a black robe stood silently behind him. Then he calmed down, because this voice was his teacher's voice. He quickly bowed, "Teacher, you haven't rested yet." He felt a little surprised. His teacher's internal strength was so profound. He had just experienced some changes in his body, and his teacher immediately knew. It was truly remarkable.

Although the moonlight in the valley had faded at this time, Li Yan could vaguely see his teacher's smiling face under the starlight. He hesitated and continued, "Disciple, disciple, is not sure if he has succeeded."

"Oh? I felt the aura of you stimulating the Dantian Qi, it should be so." Military Advisor Ji said calmly.

"But, unlike what the incantation said, my Dantian did not produce warmth, but rather a slight coolness." After saying that, Li Yan's face showed anxiety.

Military Advisor Ji was stunned at first, then smiled and said, "I didn't tell you this in detail. The Qi Guidance Art only stimulates the Dantian Qi, and everyone experiences different sensations when stimulated, such as sourness, numbness, itching, coldness, and heat. Usually, warmth and heat are the most common. That's why the incantation I gave you only listed the common sensations. You don't need to worry about this."

Hearing this, Li Yan breathed a sigh of relief, his worries dispelled. He thought, "It seems that I should just ask the teacher directly about these things in the future. I'm just scaring myself with my own wild thoughts."

Military Advisor Ji seemed to be able to see Li Yan's expression in the darkness, chuckled, and said, "You have been quite tired these past few days. You don't need to cultivate anymore today. Go to sleep early. Tomorrow, you can officially practice the 'Wood Yin Skill'."

"Yes, Teacher, then disciple will take his leave." Hearing this, Li Yan was overjoyed. In this way, he had entered the door and was qualified to cultivate the real techniques. He actually had the urge to cultivate the techniques immediately, but he also knew that this could not be rushed. Although he had not consumed much physical strength in the past ten days, his mind was indeed tired. So he walked towards his stone house. After he took a few steps, the feeling of stagnation in his Dantian diminished a lot. He couldn't help but admire his teacher's profound skill. He had no such feeling when he had no internal energy before, but now that he had this little bit of internal energy, he also felt the pressure brought by his teacher.

Watching Li Yan's disappearing figure, Military Advisor Ji also turned around and disappeared from the spot. When he reappeared, he had arrived in his room. He waved his sleeve behind him, and the door closed silently. He sat cross-legged behind the table again, his face changing uncertainly. He pondered in his heart, "So, what he sensed first from the Qi of Heaven and Earth was water. In that case, the black aura that I saw during the needle test last time was indeed the strongest. Then cultivating wood-based techniques is not the best choice. But fortunately, he has a Mixed Spirit Root, and judging from his performance last time, the green aura is still there, second only to the perception of water, so he can still cultivate it. However, it will definitely take longer. I don't know if I can suppress this poison until the day he succeeds in cultivation."

Military Advisor Ji shook his head and smiled bitterly after thinking for a moment. "Being able to guard the arrival of this second person is already great luck. I'm overthinking things. Can I ask for a better result than this? Then, let's start tomorrow. In any case, my body can't wait any longer." Thinking of this, he closed his eyes and entered meditation.

The next morning, Li Yan woke up, feeling refreshed and in a good mood, just like the blue sky outside the window in early autumn. After eating breakfast, he came to his teacher's house early. As before, as soon as he arrived at the stone house, Military Advisor Ji's voice came out, "Is that Li Yan? Come in."

Although Li Yan only came out of his house a few times in so many days, he roughly knew that his teacher only went out once every few days, and usually stayed in this stone house in the valley to cultivate behind closed doors.

Li Yan went in again, and it was another half a day. After he came out, Military Advisor Ji also slowly walked out, summoned Chen An and Li Yin, and instructed them. Then he walked straight into the second stone house. Not long after, Chen An and Li Yin carried a finely crafted bronze furnace to Li Yan's door. Li Yan was waiting in the room as instructed by his teacher. Seeing them coming, he asked them to put the bronze furnace in the room. His stone house was also large, so he could just find an open space to put it down.

The bronze furnace was about half a person tall, made of refined copper, and the whole body was glowing with copper. The bottom was a solid jade base. Three Purple Dragons were carved around the furnace body. The dragon heads were raised upwards, forming a supporting shape. There were several hollowed-out places in the dragon body and the furnace body, and the inside of the furnace could be vaguely seen. At this time, the inside of the furnace was already a fiery red, but it was not known what fuel it was, but there was no smoke coming out, and waves of heat were surging out of the furnace body.

About a quarter of an hour later, Military Advisor Ji walked out of the second stone house, his green-gray face a little tired. Chen An and Li Yin immediately entered the stone room, and after a while, they carried out a copper basin from the stone house. There was also heat coming out of the basin. Then they carried the basin to Li Yan's stone house and placed it on the three dragon heads of the copper furnace. After bowing to Military Advisor Ji and Li Yan, the two closed the door and walked out.

Military Advisor Ji came to the bronze furnace, a smile on his tired face, and said to Li Yan, "Have you memorized the mental formula I told you this morning?"

Li Yan also stood in front of the bronze furnace and respectfully replied, "Disciple has already memorized it."

"Well, although each level of the formula is not too much, its Dao meaning is profound and subtle, and you must understand and comprehend it. I spent half a day to explain it to you, just to make you fully understand the usage of this first level of the formula. The rest depends on your own diligent cultivation. As the saying goes, 'The master leads you in, but the cultivation is up to you.' This is an eternal truth." Military Advisor Ji nodded and said.

"Disciple will practice diligently and thank you for your guidance, Teacher." Li Yan replied respectfully.

At this time, the copper basin on the copper furnace was steaming hot. Looking closer, one could vaguely see many herbs tumbling in the juice under the swirling smoke in the copper basin, and strands of cyan-black gas were rising upwards, lingering above the copper basin.

"Well, the preparation of these Herbal Medicines is a secret method of this sect. This basin of Herbal Medicine can be used repeatedly for seven days. After seven days, these Herbal Medicines will lose their effectiveness and need to be prepared again, but the amount will increase by several percent. After repeating this for forty-nine days, your meridians will undergo the process of Marrow Cleansing and Vessel Cutting, and finally become extremely strong. Only such meridians can withstand the domineering internal force of this sect. In terms of the meridians alone, just these forty-nine days of work are comparable to the second- or Third-Rate Expert in the martial arts world. Usually, it takes nearly ten years to reach this point, but this sect can achieve this through secret methods of washing the meridians. However, the process is also extremely painful, and those without great perseverance cannot complete it. You have to overcome these one by one. Do you understand?" At this point, Military Advisor Ji's voice became serious.

"Disciple knows and will not disappoint Teacher." Li Yan looked at his teacher with firm eyes. He had been repeatedly told about this in the morning, and he was also a person with a firm will, knowing that there was no unearned benefit. The Martial Arts of this sect was so domineering, and cultivation must have its harsh aspects. He had already prepared himself.

"Okay, then you can start. I will guard you outside the house for these few days. If you have any problems, I will help you solve them in time." After saying that, he didn't say anything more, opened the door and walked out, then closed the door again from the outside, sat cross-legged on the stone table outside, and closed his eyes to meditate.