From bone collectors to the supreme ruler of humanity

Chapter 29: The Great Accomplishment of the Body Tempering Realm

This move was a change of tactics.

Halfway through the slash, it suddenly changed direction, the blade turning horizontally to slice towards the neck of the imaginary enemy from the side.

Xiong Kuo's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

He had used this move unconsciously once before, but he didn't know it was the sixth move, let alone how to practice it systematically.

"Seventh move, Head-wrapping move. Eighth move, River-overturning move. Ninth move, Formation-breaking move."

After finishing the nine moves, Lin Yan sheathed his sword and stood there, looking at the twelve dumbfounded bandits in front of him.

"Did you see clearly?"

No one answered. Even Xiong Kuo forgot to answer.

"If you didn't see it clearly, watch it again." Lin Yan demonstrated the nine moves again, this time deliberately slowing down and explaining each move in detail.

By the end of the morning, all twelve bandits had learned the first two moves.

Xiong Kuo has learned the first five moves and is now stumbling through the sixth.

In the afternoon, Lin Yan began teaching them the [Micro-Dust Step] that he had learned from the bodyguards.

"Military swordsmanship is suitable for frontal combat, but you are not a regular army. You are mountain bandits, and what you need is flexibility and surprise attacks."

Lin Yan demonstrated and explained at the same time.

"The essence of a bodyguard's footwork can be summed up in four words: 'Steps follow the body.' Follow me."

......

The morning at Jimingling was shrouded in mist.

Lin Yan stood on the boulder at the pass, looking down at the only narrow path leading into the mountain.

Five days have passed since the incident in Shiqiao Town. The scouts sent out brought back news—Zhao Yuanlang has mobilized his men and is currently gathering them.

"Chieftain." Xiong Kuo emerged from the mist, the whip marks on his face now scabbed over. "The scouts have returned. Qing Fengxiang has gathered at least forty men, led by Zhao Yuanlang himself."

"Number forty," Lin Yan repeated the number.

There are only twelve capable fighters in the village, making fourteen if you include himself and Xiong Kuo.

"Have the accountant lead the elderly, women, and children into the hidden cave in the back mountain." Lin Yan jumped down from the boulder. "Move in the food and water; it should last for half a month."

"It's already arranged," Xiong Kuo said, following behind him. "Sister Chen and Xiao Xiu were sent in first."

Lin Yan paused for a moment, then continued walking forward.

"I marked six points on the cliffs on both sides of the pass," he said, pointing to the steep walls on both sides. "The boulders are piled up at those six points and caught in a net of vines. Once they enter the narrow passage, they'll cut the vines."

Xiong Kuo looked up at the six positions, his eyes lit up for a moment, then dimmed again: "Rolling stones can stop the minions, but not the experts at the True Qi Realm."

"Zhao Yuanlang is none of your business."

Lin Yan gripped the broken blade at his waist; the hemp rope on the hilt was blackened by sweat. "Train those twelve men well, guard the pass, and don't let the henchmen sneak up."

"And you?"

"I'll take him on one-on-one."

Xiong Kuo was silent for a few moments, then chuckled hoarsely, "You want to take on a second-grade True Qi Realm cultivator one-on-one? Do you know how much difference there is between the True Qi Realm and the Body Tempering Realm?"

"have no idea."

Lin Yan said, "You'll know once you've tried it."

That afternoon, Lin Yan sat in meditation alone in the open space behind the pass.

[Basic Body Training (Beginner) 489/500].

He is only eleven points away from reaching the Great Perfection of the Body Tempering Realm.

He closed his eyes, and his blood and qi circulated slowly within his body.

Sitting posture, standing posture, and bowing posture.

He had mastered the flow of Qi and blood in the three postures so well that he could switch between them simultaneously without having to consciously switch between them.

The broken ribs have healed.

You can still feel a slightly raised callus at the site of healing, but it no longer hurts.

The more noticeable changes are in the bones.

With each circulation of Qi and blood, a trace seeps into the bones.

At first, it was just a warm feeling, but later it turned into a tingling sensation that emanated from deep within the bones, as if something was taking root and sprouting in the marrow.

This is the core of the Body Tempering Realm: Qi and blood permeating the bones.

The reason why the body tempering realm is called body tempering is because...

This is because the flow of Qi and blood needs to be tempered like a blacksmith quenching fire, thoroughly tempering each bone in the body. Once the bones are thoroughly tempered, their hardness and toughness will be greatly improved. Only when all the bones in the body are thoroughly tempered can they withstand the impact of the circulation of true Qi.

Only with such a physique can one break through to the True Qi Realm.

Xiong Kuo trained in the border army for ten years, and his blood and qi permeated half of his bones, but he was stuck at the Great Perfection of Body Tempering and could not break through.

Lin Yan practiced for less than a month, and his blood and qi had almost completely tempered all the bones in his body.

It wasn't that he was particularly talented; it was that he had an excellent foundation in that incomplete breathing exercise manual.

Even the first three pages of this incomplete text are far superior to the military manuals that Xiong Kuo studied at the border military academy.

The evening of the fifth day.

[Basic Body Training (Beginner) 500/500].

【Skill Advancement: Basic Body Forging (Rough) (1/1000)】

[Effects: The bones throughout the body are tempered, blood and qi are generated naturally, endurance is greatly increased, and the self-healing speed of internal organs is significantly improved.]

Lin Yan opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath.

The breath of stale air condensed into a white line in the cold wind, shooting three feet away before dissipating.

He looked down at his hands.

When I clench my fist, the sound my knuckles make is no longer the dry, crisp sound of before, but rather a muffled sound, like two iron rods striking each other.

"Body tempering has been completed?"

Xiong Kuo appeared at the back at some point, carrying a thick-backed sword, and looked at Lin Yan with a complicated expression before speaking.

"Great Success".

Lin Yan stood up. "I'm just one step away from entering the realm of true qi."

"Once you complete those three steps, you'll reach the True Qi Realm."

Xiong Kuo walked over and squatted down, massaging Lin Yan's shoulders and arms. "Your bone density is even higher than mine, and your qi and blood are much stronger than when you killed me. What kind of martial arts are you practicing?"

"It's a fragment," Lin Yan said. "There are only three steps; that's all."

Xiong Kuo was silent for a moment: "What a pity. If it were the complete version, you probably could have directly reached the second rank just now."

"We'll talk about it later."

Lin Yan stood up, dusted himself off, and asked, "Where is Zhao Yuanlang?"

"It's thirty li down the mountain. We'll arrive by noon tomorrow at the latest."

"Let the brothers go to bed early tonight."

When Zhao Yuanlang arrived, it was drizzling.

There were more than forty people, twenty of whom were thugs temporarily hired by Shiqiao Town, and the rest were guards from Qingfengxiang who came from the prefectural city.

Zhao Yuanlang rode a black horse and walked in the middle of the procession.

He was wearing an oilcloth cloak and stared at the road laid out in front of him with a gloomy expression.

In the past two months, he lost Su Wenyuan and Zhou Kaiquan for that tattered brocade pouch.

The higher-ups have already given the order.

If he can't find his things, he doesn't need to go back.

It was later discovered that it was all the work of a bone collector named Lin Yan.

A lowly, disgraced man stole his brocade pouch, killed his accountant and guards, and even seized a mountain stronghold on Jiming Ridge to become a mountain king.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yuanlang tightened his grip on the reins.

How much further?

"Sanli".

The scout leading the way said, "The Jimingling Pass is just around the next bend."

Zhao Yuanlang looked up at the terrain. There was a narrow path between two mountains, so narrow that only two people could walk side by side.

"stop."

He reined in his horse and called over the two guard leaders: "Take ten men and cross the ridge on the left, and another ten men and go on the right. There's definitely an ambush at the pass. I'll go from the front, and you two will flank from both sides."

The two teams accepted the order and left.

Zhao Yuanlang dismounted, tossed the reins to his attendant, and stretched his wrists.

He circulated his internal energy, and the rain was deflected half an inch away from his body, leaving not a single drop of water on his cloak.