Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

Chapter 89 Vajra King Practice (5th Update)

Xia Dong carefully put the warm, smooth jade cloth close to her body.

He knew very well that although the court claimed that meritorious service should be rewarded, there was a lot of trickery involved.

If it weren't for Zhao Ting's tireless efforts in mediating and maneuvering for him, with his current position as a mere Eagle Wolf Guard captain and his superficial "Inner Strength Realm" martial arts cultivation, it would have been a pipe dream for him to come into contact with such a body-refining method from the Immortal Realm.

He accepted this genuine favor.

"Brother, rest assured, I will study this carefully when I get back and will never let you down," Xia Dong said sincerely, raising his head.

Zhao Ting smiled slightly upon hearing this.

He knew all too well how incredibly difficult the requirements were for this Vajra King Technique, and didn't want to burden Xia Dong with too much pressure, so he comforted her, saying, "You don't need to feel too much pressure. This technique is all about opportunity and comprehension. By the way, aren't you going to attend the Qixia Immortal Sect's auction later?"

Xia Dong nodded, without denying it.

"When the time comes, if you encounter an opportunity at the auction, you might as well pay more attention and try to bid on those spiritual items that are of great use in enhancing martial arts qi and blood," Zhao Ting earnestly advised. "The auctions hosted by the Qixia Immortal Sect always have some rare and precious items that are hard to find in the mortal world. If you can have the assistance of rare and precious materials, your chances of breaking through to the Transcendent Realm in the future will naturally be much higher."

"Thank you for your guidance, brother." Xia Dong bowed in thanks. Zhao Ting's words were indeed from his perspective and were made with his best interests at heart.

Hearing Xia Dong's thanks, Zhao Ting seemed to remember something and couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly: "Hey, look at me, I was just being nosy. With your connections, you can even get your hands on pills that cultivators use to improve their cultivation, so how could you lack methods to enhance your qi and blood?"

In Zhao Ting's view, Xia Dong has the backing of the powerful Master Guyue, and may even have a secret background as a descendant of the Xuantian Temple. His trump cards are difficult to fathom.

Xia Dong said very sincerely, "That's different. I will always remember your concern, brother."

2

Whether Zhao Ting was wary of his "background" or genuinely valued his potential, the friendship and protection forged in humble beginnings were exactly what Xia Dong needed.

"Haha, there's no need for such formalities between brothers." Zhao Ting laughed heartily twice, then waved his hand and said, "Alright, since we don't need to worry about the Qin family's case, Xueyi, if you have nothing else to do, you should go back early. Prepare well for the auction; it's a major event in the cultivation world of Lin Yuan Prefecture."

"Alright, I'll take my leave now." Xia Dong readily agreed, then turned around and strode out of the inner hall.

Xia Dong returned to the quiet courtyard in the county town and carefully explained the trivial matters at home to Xiao Hong. Then, without hesitation, she began:

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They set off and, under the cover of night, hurried back to the hidden cave deep within Tiger Hill.

This trip to the prefectural city involved witnessing the upheaval in the Qin family and meeting with Master Guyue. Now that everything has settled down, he finally feels much more at ease.

Back in the secret chamber of the cave, Xia Dong sat cross-legged and lit a pine resin oil lamp.

He took out the jade scroll containing the "Vajra King Mantra" from his bosom and, by the dim light, began to carefully study it word by word.

Upon examining himself, Xia Dong has a very clear understanding of his current progress in cultivation.

Currently, he is relying on the "Divine Treasury Chapter" of the "Eternal Spring Path Technique" to continuously nourish his origin and solidify his foundation. However, in order to deal with the Ghost-Faced Spider, the Bronze Ancient Bell forcibly absorbed a small portion of his "Innate Essence," causing the progress of this technique to be significantly slowed down.

This missing essence must be painstakingly rebuilt up little by little; it cannot be rushed and can only be filled slowly over time.

As for the cultivation method of "Mysterious Yin Scripture," he had never neglected it in the slightest. Furthermore, the cultivation of condensing "Netherworld Sprout" talisman seeds in "Taiping Yin Talisman Scripture" had long been perfectly integrated into his daily talisman-making process, allowing him to continuously improve in a subtle and gradual way.

Overall, Xia Dong's current absolute cultivation level is not particularly high, but he is making progress in immortality, martial arts, talismans, and alchemy all at the same time. This amazing versatility is truly unmatched in the entire cultivation world.

However, he does have a clear deficiency in martial arts techniques.

Before reaching the "Transcendent Realm," martial arts cultivation mainly involves rudimentary skills such as tempering qi and blood and strengthening muscles and bones, which can be managed with ordinary techniques.

However, once one enters the Transcendent Realm and beyond, the core of cultivation shifts to the in-depth development of the human body's own "great treasure," at which point the shortcomings of ordinary cultivation methods become apparent.

Now that he has the Vajra King Mantra, which originated from ancient immortal relics, in his hands, it perfectly fills his fatal weakness in this area.

Holding the jade scroll, Xia Dong pondered the body-refining technique over and over again for a long time. Finally, he suddenly realized why Zhao Ting said that the entry threshold for this technique was that one had to be a martial arts master at the Transcendent Realm.

Because the core cultivation method of the Vajra King Technique is actually to draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body!

Generally speaking, martial artists who are below the Transcendent Realm do not possess the "divine consciousness" of cultivators, nor have they cultivated the "true meaning" of martial arts itself. They are unable to perceive the spiritual energy wandering between heaven and earth, and naturally cannot draw energy into their bodies.

Only when a martial artist enters the Transcendent Realm, just like the remains of the Eastern Palace Guard that Xia Dong discovered deep within the Ghost-Faced Spider's Nest in the Yinling Mine, can they gradually cultivate an extremely strong martial intent within their body.

When this martial arts intent is cultivated to its fullest potential, it can be used as an opportunity to attempt to break through to the sixth level of martial arts—"True Intent".

Furthermore, once a martial artist cultivates a trace of martial intent in the Transcendent Realm, this intent can generate a rudimentary and wondrous function similar to the "divine sense" of an immortal cultivator, thereby barely drawing spiritual energy from heaven and earth into the body.

However, this kind of intention is ultimately not as refined and clear as the divine sense of a true cultivator, and appears somewhat false and vague.

Therefore, in the minds of martial artists, only by truly entering the "True Realm" and cultivating a profound martial arts intent can one possess the wondrous power comparable to the divine sense of an immortal cultivator, hence it is truly called "True Intent".

What alarmed Xia Dong the most was the way the Vajra King Technique was used to draw spiritual energy from heaven and earth into the body.

Unlike cultivators who absorb spiritual energy and transform it into gentle magical power, this method uses the violent spiritual energy of heaven and earth to brutally cleanse and purify the physical body in a unique and domineering way within the cultivation technique!

This refining process was like being cut into a thousand pieces and having one's bones reshaped; it was extremely painful and unbearable.

During cultivation, even the slightest carelessness or momentary lapse in will can lead to loss of emotional control, resulting in being devoured by the violent spiritual energy, ultimately leading to demonic possession and death from body explosion.

This is why even top martial artists who have already entered the Transcendent Realm often find it difficult to even begin to learn this technique.

Generally speaking, only martial arts fanatics who have been tempered through countless trials of life and death and possess extremely strong and resilient willpower can grit their teeth and endure such inhuman pain.

Xia Dong, however, smiled calmly. What he feared least was going astray in his cultivation.

With a permanent certificate to maintain his state of mind, he had no need to worry about losing control of his emotions in the midst of excruciating pain.

The inscription on the jade scroll clearly states that once a martial artist successfully masters the Vajra King Technique, their physical strength will undergo a qualitative change, far surpassing that of ordinary martial artists of the same level.

As the cultivation technique deepens, the cultivator's physical body can even directly engage in hand-to-hand combat with demonic beasts of the same level.

Xia Dong carefully put the jade and silk away close to his body, took a deep breath to calm his mind, and prepared to directly try to cultivate this "Vajra King Technique".

He slowly closed his eyes, his divine sense penetrating his body, and easily captured the spiritual energy wandering between heaven and earth.

The first step, "guiding qi into the body," which is incredibly difficult for ordinary martial artists, is as natural as breathing for Xia Dong, who possesses the divine sense of a cultivator.

Under his guidance, wisps of violent spiritual energy from heaven and earth seeped into his body through his pores and were then forcibly incorporated into the extremely domineering and obscure circulation path of the Vajra King Technique.

The moment the spiritual energy entered his body, Xia Dong's body trembled violently.

This was not the gentle refining process of cultivators, but rather like countless tiny, sharp boning knives frantically cutting, rubbing, and slicing through his flesh, tendons, and bones.

The excruciating pain struck like a tsunami, but Xia Dong remained calm and forcibly pushed her spiritual energy to circulate within her body.

I don't know how many times I tried this cycle.

When Xia Dong opened his eyes again, he was soaked in sweat, as if he had just been pulled out of the water.

Not only that, his martial arts blood and energy, which were originally as vigorous as a furnace, have now dimmed and withered, and his meridians are faintly tearing and itchy.

He gritted his teeth and slowly circulated his qi and blood to nourish his muscles, which were on the verge of spasm. During this time, he also took out several packets of specially made "qi and blood powder" from his storage bag and swallowed them.

After his depleted blood and energy were replenished, Xia Dong finally let out a long breath.

He sighed softly, "In the end, I was thinking too simply."

While the blood and qi at the Inner Strength Realm level are certainly considered robust among ordinary martial artists, they are ultimately not as inexhaustible and profound as those at the Transcendent Realm.

His experiment just now proved that the Vajra King Technique, which draws spiritual energy into the body, does indeed have an extremely amazing body-tempering effect.

However, in this brutal refining process, in order to repair the tears caused by the cutting of spiritual energy, one's own vital energy is also being consumed in large quantities.

With income not covering expenses, not only is progress far slower than one has imagined, but if one forces oneself to cultivate for too long, subtle, imperceptible injuries will accumulate deep within the body.

Having hidden injuries requires an extra amount of time and energy to treat, which is really not worth it.

"It seems that it would be more appropriate to formally cultivate the Vajra King Technique only after one has truly broken through to the Transcendent Realm in martial arts and undergone a qualitative change in one's blood and qi."

Although he had temporarily suspended his cultivation, Xia Dong was generally satisfied. Through this hands-on experience, he had thoroughly grasped the mechanism and operational path of the first level of the Vajra King Technique.

Once your Qi and blood reach the required level, formally entering the path will be a natural progression, and theoretically, there will be no bottlenecks or obstacles left.

Since his martial arts skills could not be improved by leaps and bounds for the time being, Xia Dong simply calmed down and focused his energy back on cultivating his spiritual sense.

In the days that followed, he leisurely stayed in his cave, making talismans and refining pills while continuing to temper his divine consciousness.

After a month of slow and steady work, he finally swallowed and refined the last "Yinling Pill" he had.

Nourished by the pure medicinal power, his already powerful spiritual cultivation rose rapidly, gradually reaching the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refining.

They were only a thin veil away from the seventh level, which represented the late stage of Qi Refining; it was just a step away.

The closer Xia Dong got to a breakthrough, the less anxious he became.

Instead of blindly rushing through the challenges, he used intense talisman-making to repeatedly compress and condense his surging divine consciousness.

Until it is refined to the point of being as responsive as an arm or finger, and its solidity far surpasses that of cultivators of the same level, the superficiality brought about by the pill is completely eliminated.

Time flies in the mountains, and before we knew it, the day of the Qixia Immortal Sect auction was fast approaching.

Xia Dong ended her seclusion and tidied up her belongings.

After confirming that there were no omissions or flaws, he left through the underwater secret passage, then transformed into a gentle breeze and sped out of the deep mountains, heading towards the Yinling Mine to meet up with Qin Wan.