Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

The next day at noon, under the blazing sun, was the time when the yang energy was at its peak.

Xia Dong planned to explore the inside of the dry well.

He made thorough preparations and then instructed Xiao Hong to guard the wellhead. If the rope he lowered showed any unusual movement, she was to immediately pull it up or run out to call for help.

After making the arrangements, Xia Dong slowly climbed down the well wall.

As the depth increased, the light gradually dimmed, but the water at the bottom of the well had become very clear, no longer possessing the eerie green glow that had haunted the night before.

Xia Dong placed his feet on a protruding rock slightly higher than the bottom of the well and carefully explored his surroundings. Soon, he discovered a hidden horizontal passage about two feet above the water.

The passage was about waist-high and dry. Xia Dong crouched down and slipped inside like a nimble cat.

The passage wasn't long; after climbing about ten steps, the view suddenly opened up before us.

He actually entered a square underground secret room!

To Xia Dong's surprise, the secret chamber buried deep underground not only didn't feel stuffy or putrid, but the air was actually quite fresh. Even more miraculously, as soon as he stepped inside, a soft light shone from the walls in the four corners of the chamber, illuminating the entire space, yet he couldn't find any light source such as candles or luminous pearls.

"Is this the method of cultivators?" Xia Dong wondered to himself.

With the help of the soft light, he could see the scene in the center of the secret room at a glance.

There sat a stark white skeleton, its clothes long since weathered to ash. On the smooth stone slab in front of the skeleton, twenty crystal-clear spirit stones were neatly stacked!

Summer and winter's breathing became sluggish.

Besides the spirit stone, there was also a dark green jade slip and a tattered black banner next to the skeleton.

Suppressing his inner turmoil, Xia Dong didn't immediately touch the spirit stones. Instead, he carefully picked up the jade slip. He had seen many of these in fantasy novels from his previous life; they were mostly used to record information.

But he has neither spiritual roots nor spiritual power, so how can he open it?

Xia Dong tried to stick it on his forehead, concentrate all his energy, and try to perceive it with his "thoughts".

hum.

I felt a slight stinging pain in my mind, as if a lot of my soul had been drained of its power.

But at the same time, a flood of complex information also entered his mind through the jade slip.

It turns out that after entering the basics of martial arts, one's vital energy and blood become abundant, nourishing the physical body. When the spirit is complete, the vital energy is sufficient, and vice versa.

This makes Xia Dong's spirit much stronger than that of ordinary people.

Therefore, although jade slips require the divine sense of cultivators to easily view, mortals with strong enough divine souls can also forcibly perceive them with their will, although it is extremely mentally taxing.

He rubbed his temples, quickly processing the contents of the jade slip.

This is actually the introductory chapter of a demonic cultivation technique called the "Mysterious Yin Scripture"!

What surprised Xia Dong even more was that ordinary people could also practice this skill.

The Xuan Yin Jing leans towards the path of ghosts.

They can also capture ghosts or the souls of living people to create a magical artifact called the "Gathering Yin Banner".

During this period, as long as one continuously nourishes and refines it with one's own essence and blood, even mortals without spiritual roots can use it to control the Yin Gathering Banner and urge the ghosts inside to fight against martial artists and cultivators.

In addition, the "Mysterious Yin Scripture" also has an extremely domineering refining technique—it can directly refine and absorb the power of ghosts and living souls to strengthen the cultivator's own divine soul!

If one absorbs enough, even a mortal can forcibly cultivate the divine sense that only cultivators at the "fourth level of Qi Refining" possess.

With divine consciousness, one's perception will undergo a qualitative leap, and there are many other benefits as well.

However, the jade slip sternly warns that absorbing ghosts and living souls will inevitably draw in their resentment and malevolent energy from their previous lives.

Over time, cultivators will be disturbed by these negative emotions, causing their qi and blood to dissipate, their cultivation level to drop, them to go astray, and ultimately lose their reason.

Unless, one can use "pure Yin spirit power" to assist in cultivation.

This pure Yin spirit power contains no resentment. Absorbing it not only has no side effects, but the aura it exudes is exactly the same as that of orthodox immortal soul cultivation. There is no need to worry about being regarded as an evil cultivator.

Seeing this, Xia Dong recalled the two "Yin Sha Pills" that the ancient bronze bell had refined last night.

The resentment and malevolent energy of those ghosts had long been completely purified by the ancient bell, so this elixir might contain pure Yin spirit power.

Xia Dong suppressed the pounding in his heart and looked at the tattered black banner next to the skeleton.

The terrifying shadow that crawled out of the well last night was actually the spirit of the Yin-gathering Banner left behind by this skeleton before its death!

Unfortunately, this ferocious artifact spirit crashed headlong into the ancient bronze bell and was directly refined by it. Without its spirit, this malevolent Yin-gathering Banner has now become nothing more than a broken, low-grade magical artifact.

Xia Dong took a deep breath and packed the jade slip, the tattered banner, and the twenty spirit stones into his bosom.

...

...

Afterwards, Xia Dong returned along the same route, quickly climbed out of the dry well using a rope, and sent Xiao Hong away.

After several days of studying the Xuan Yin Scripture, Xia Dong gradually gained some confidence and began to try to cultivate the Xuan Yin Scripture's refining techniques.

However, to cultivate the Profound Yin Refining Spirit Method, one must refine the power of the Yin Soul in order to even begin, so he still needs to take the Yin Sha Pill.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, took out a jet-black Yin Sha Pill from his pocket, and swallowed it.

The pill melted instantly upon entering the mouth, lacking the bitterness of ordinary herbs. Instead, it transformed into an extremely cold and pure stream of energy. This energy did not sink into the dantian, but instead rushed straight to Xia Dong's brow and sea of ​​consciousness!

Xia Dong dared not delay, immediately closed his eyes, and began to cultivate according to the visualization and breathing techniques of the Profound Yin Refining Spirit Method.

boom!

A chilling current exploded in his mind's sea, yet it contained no resentment or violence of a vengeful ghost. It was as pure as the clearest ice spring in winter, quickly nourishing his soul.

Xia Dong felt an indescribable clarity and understanding arise in his heart, as if his soul was being soaked in cool spring water, constantly being stretched and tempered. His five senses were amplified at this moment, and even with his eyes closed, he could clearly "hear" the trajectory of the fallen leaves in the courtyard, and even sense Xiao Hong's steady breathing in the next room.

Half an hour later, the medicinal effects were completely absorbed.

Xia Dong slowly opened her eyes and stepped out of the courtyard. At that moment, even the dust on the ground and the texture of the jujube tree branches in the courtyard suddenly came to life, as if there were endless secrets to be explored.

The small space inside the courtyard suddenly felt much more spacious.

Xia Dong knew very well that although he was still a long way from the "divine sense" that cultivators at the fourth level of Qi Refining could release, as recorded in the jade slip, he had already truly stepped into the threshold of the "Mysterious Yin Scripture".

This pure spiritual growth brought him greater inner peace and strengthened his resolve to pursue the Dao.

...

...

Next, Xia Dong planned to strike while the iron was hot and try to practice the "Five Animal Frolics" that he had obtained from the county government.

However, after gesturing for half an hour, he had no choice but to stop.

"Although the Five Animal Fist is comprehensive, it always feels somewhat stiff and sluggish in my hands." Xia Dong frowned slightly.

After his spirit and soul became stronger, his control over his physical muscles and his perception of the qi and blood in his body reached a new level. He could clearly perceive that there was a subtle friction and repulsion between the Five Animal Frolics and the Crane Stance he practiced.

Xia Dong shook his head, decisively abandoned the Five Animal Fist, bent his legs slightly, stretched out his arms, and re-adopted the Crane Stance he was most familiar with.

Under the precise control of a powerful divine soul, this time the Crane-shaped stance was absolutely perfect, without any flaws!

He also discovered that the crane-shaped stake seemed to be tailor-made for his current body, and the two fit together perfectly.

Even though the Crane Formation technique has been locked at the "Breaking Limit" level, preventing him from comprehending new moves, it still strengthens his blood and qi foundation day after day.

What surprised Xia Dong even more was that the medicinal power of the Yin Sha Pill remaining in his body produced a wonderful reaction under the impact of boiling blood and qi!

One is cold, one is hot; one is yin, one is yang.

This conflicting force did not damage his meridians; instead, under the harmonizing influence of the perfect crane-shaped stance, it continuously stimulated and tempered his skin.

Xia Dong felt waves of tingling and stinging pain all over his body, as if countless tiny iron filings were grinding against his flesh. When he finished his exercise, a thin layer of gray dead skin peeled off his body. The new skin, although seemingly fair, felt much tougher to the touch; even scratching it with a fingernail could only leave a very faint white mark.

"The extremely Yin power of the Yin Sha Pill can actually replace the poisons and iron filings used in external martial arts to help me temper my skin!"

Xia Dong took a deep breath, and with only the residual medicinal power of a Yin Sha Pill, he actually reached the threshold of the second level of martial arts, the "Skin Polishing Realm," in a very natural way.

Over the next few days, Xia Dong swallowed and refined the remaining Yin Sha Pill.

His soul became more stable, and his skin became more resilient under the tempering of alternating hot and cold.

Furthermore, as his practice of the Crane-shaped stance deepened, the qi and blood within his body became increasingly robust.

With a slight clench of his fist, the veins on his arm bulged out like writhing dragons, and his whole body was filled with a violent power that seemed about to burst him apart.

"The Qi and blood are too abundant. Although the Crane Formation can continuously nourish the Qi and blood, it is ultimately biased towards lightness skills and health preservation, lacking an attack method to release and hone this violent power."

Xia Dong stood in the courtyard and suddenly threw a punch out of thin air. The force of the punch caused the leaves of the jujube tree several feet away to fly off.

He realized that the qi and blood within his body were like a lurking giant snake or python, and he needed to find a way to control his vigorous qi and blood in order to perfectly apply his martial arts cultivation in actual combat.

The martial arts taught publicly by the imperial court are still too rudimentary and do not meet Xia Dong's requirements.

Xia Dong thought of Miss Qin. For a cultivation sect like Qixia Immortal Sect, martial arts techniques should be plentiful. After all, martial artists are likely the kind of "talent" that the Immortal Sect urgently needs in this era.

So Xia Dong began to write a letter.

This was a reply to Miss Qin, his former fiancée and pen pal who was also a cultivator.

The letter begins by stating that if his future child has spiritual roots, he will definitely have the child make a deal with her using Foundation Establishment Pills.

Since he doesn't have spiritual roots, he won't be able to receive the Foundation Establishment Pill.