Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

Is that really true?

Li Xiuyuan was so excited that he almost jumped up from the table and chair.

He quickly suppressed his excitement and made himself appear more composed.

Pang Dehai witnessed this scene and knew how much this fellow Daoist valued the method of dispelling evil, as it concerned his life and death.

He didn't keep them in suspense and went straight to the point: "It is said that before ancient times, the world was not like this."

"At that time, the path of immortality was flourishing and spiritual resources were abundant. There was no such thing as pill poisoning when ancient cultivators used pills for cultivation."

"At some unknown time, the world underwent a tremendous change, which is said to be caused by powerful beings fighting each other in pursuit of the Great Dao."

"Divine weapons, their magical powers pierce through countless continents, their divine abilities conquer heaven and earth, causing countless worlds to collapse."

"As a result, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth declined, and the spiritual objects and precious medicines that were once everywhere disappeared without a trace, causing many elixirs and miraculous medicines to lack raw materials, and their lineage was cut off from then on."

"After generations of cultivators improved and modified the ancient pill formulas, the original formulas with extraordinary effects have been completely changed. It was only after that that the saying about pill poisoning began to circulate."

Li Xiuyuan pondered Pang Dehai's words carefully: "Great supernatural beings... can destroy the heavens and the earth with a mere gesture. What immense power this is! To reach the pinnacle of the Great Dao, one must face countless dangers."

"So the theory of 'almond poisoning' stems from later generations' misunderstanding of ancient alchemical formulas?"

"good!"

"All things in the world are in harmony of yin and yang; there is gain and loss in everything."

With a deeply moved expression, Pang Dehai continued, "The world's heroes are as numerous as carp crossing a river; how could their path be blocked by such a trivial poison?"

"Legend has it that a great being went against the grain. He was born with a body of calamity and poison, and on the day of his birth, life within a hundred miles ceased. After embarking on the path of immortality, he created his own cultivation method, which refined all the poisons in his body and transformed them into magical power. He could use this power to improve his cultivation or to control enemies."

"Once he mastered his supernatural powers, he called himself the 'Venerable One of Ten Thousand Poisons,' and with his unparalleled poison skills, he directly transformed even poisonous pills into resources for cultivation."

The more Li Xiuyuan listened, the more excited he felt, and a surge of heroic spirit welled up in his heart.

He quickly came to his senses and realized what Pang Dehai meant, saying directly, "Could it be that the method you mentioned is related to that 'Venerable One of Ten Thousand Poisons'?"

"Exactly!"

"The Feng family?"

Li Xiuyuan was filled with thoughts. After much deliberation, he realized that the only person Pang Dehai had recently mentioned regarding methods to neutralize evil spirits was this Feng family cultivator.

Pang Dehai did not reply, but silently picked up a steaming cup of spiritual tea from the octagonal table and savored it.

It should be known that only those with great supernatural powers who have broken through the infant and transformed into a god can call themselves "Venerable".

Such individuals are recognized by Heaven and Earth, and are incomparable to ordinary people.

Li Xiuyuan understood immediately, thinking to himself, "If he were a descendant of the Venerable One, why would he end up in Shanyang Market? Could there be something else going on?"

He already had a plan in mind; the cultivation techniques of a Nascent Soul cultivator were not so easily lost to outsiders.

Such a treasure, if handled carelessly, could lead to a deadly disaster.

After a long silence, Pang Dehai finally spoke: "The Venerable One lived a solitary life, never taking on any disciples or leaving any offspring. It was a close friend of the Venerable One from his humble beginnings who left behind a scroll of body-refining techniques."

"Oh, it's a body-refining technique?"

……

Li Xiuyuan walked briskly along the main road of the outer city, his expression calm.

His mind, however, was racing through Pang Dehai's earnest words: "This body-refining method places great emphasis on body-refining talent and consumes a great deal of body-refining resources."

"Since the ancestor of the Feng family, who started out as a mortal and embarked on the path of martial arts, achieving great mastery of cultivation techniques, his martial arts supernatural abilities are comparable to those of a Golden Core Grandmaster."

"The Feng family was once extremely powerful, but it was short-lived. Very few of the Feng family's descendants have mastered this technique."

"After all, nothing in this world lasts forever, and no sect or family can remain immortal for generations. As the Feng family gradually declined, each generation became worse than the last, and they ended up wandering around."

"I have accidentally learned of this secret. Fellow Daoist Li, please do not reveal it to others, lest you bring about your own death..."

As Li Xiuyuan entered the entrance of the market for independent cultivators, he was greeted by a bustling scene.

The market for independent cultivators is located on the east side of the market, and cultivators come and go in an endless stream.

Before noon, many stalls were already packed with people, and the sounds of bargaining and haggling filled the air.

Li Xiuyuan walked along the main street, keeping his eyes and ears open.

There were significantly more people, and many unfamiliar faces.

He was clearly a wandering cultivator who spent most of his time traveling. He was dressed simply, with a gloomy and mixed aura, and was very inconspicuous in a crowd.

It must have been caused by the monsters in the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains, as Du Wuxin said.

Li Xiuyuan walked and pondered.

The Ten Thousand Demon Mountains are in turmoil, with demonic beasts frequently appearing and causing chaos. It is said that the demonic cultivators are becoming increasingly rampant.

He snapped out of his thoughts and continued walking along both sides of the street, asking about prices.

He mastered the art of Bigu Dan (a type of elixir), but the one hundred sets of alchemy materials purchased by Lingbao Pavilion were insufficient to meet his alchemy needs.

He wanted to purchase some alchemy materials in batches at the market for independent cultivators.

As he walked to the south side of the street, an inconspicuous little stall caught his attention.

The stall wasn't big, about one square meter in size.

A tattered animal hide lay on the ground, with mostly yellowed books and various odds and ends laid out starkly in the air.

The stall owner was a tall, thin old man, leaning leisurely against a wooden stool with his eyes half-closed.

Li Xiuyuan's gaze fell on those books, and he paused slightly.

Iron Bone Kung Fu, Diamond Sutra, Flowing Sand Palm.

These are all ordinary martial arts techniques, specifically designed to strengthen the body and forge the physique.

Li Xiuyuan was a martial arts master in his previous life and was very familiar with this.

It's normal for the cultivation world to have these mortal martial arts techniques, since they are methods for ordinary people to improve their health and strength, and are not very useful for cultivators.

Among independent cultivators, only a few people with special preferences, such as those with superhuman strength or innate divine power, would practice a few of these techniques to enhance their combat power.

However, there are not many such people, so they don't fetch high prices in the market.

Li Xiuyuan wasn't particularly interested in this either; what truly stopped him was the bloodstained books in the pile.

He stopped, squatted down in front of the stall, and picked up the bloodstained book.

"Yi Jin Duan Gu Gong" (a type of exercise).

He opened the book and examined it closely. He was initially delighted and began to read it at an increasingly faster pace.

He was engrossed in reading when the book was closed.

"That's it!"

"What happened?"

The old man, who had been dozing with his eyes half-closed, opened them, glanced at Li Xiuyuan, then looked at the booklet in his hand, and lazily asked, "Fellow Daoist, are you interested in this cultivation technique?"

Without hesitation, Li Xiuyuan asked directly, "How much?"

"Five spirit stones per book, no bargaining!"

The old man held up five fingers to indicate the price.

Li Xiuyuan remained composed, but he had already made his plans.

"This technique is the first volume of the Yi Jin Jing I saw that day. As far as I know, just by relying on the first volume, one can cultivate to the sixth level of Body Refinement, comparable to a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator."

"I'm going to take it."

He said in a deep voice, "Even the complete book wouldn't cost this much. Let alone this incomplete copy of yours for five spirit stones. Do you think I'm a complete novice in the world of cultivation?"

Li Xiuyuan put down the book and turned to leave.

The old man's lazy demeanor instantly broke down as he saw that Li Xiuyuan was handsome and looked like a young man.

Thinking he was a "fat sheep" and wanting to haggle, little did he know that this person was a cunning old devil.

"We haven't had any business for five days, and we've finally got a customer."

Seeing that Li Xiuyuan was serious, the old man quickly called out, "Fellow Daoist, wait a moment! Let's talk this over!"

This booklet was obtained from a robbery and murder he committed last month.

After pondering for several days without finding a solution, he decided to try his luck at the market for independent cultivators.

Li Xiuyuan slowed his pace and smiled at the old man with his back to him.

Turning around, still looking annoyed, she said, "What do you want? Three spirit stones. If you don't buy them, I'll go somewhere else."

"make a deal!"

Fearing that Li Xiuyuan might escape, the old man quickly stuffed the booklet into Li Xiuyuan's arms.

Li Xiuyuan took out three spirit stones from his pocket and handed them to the old man.

He turned and left, then wandered around the market.

After finding several suitable stalls run by independent cultivators, I spent two spirit stones to buy fifty portions of materials for the Heart-Clearing Pill and two hundred portions of herbs for the Grain-Breaking Pill.

The demand for the Heart-Clearing Pill among cultivators in the market is extremely high, and the various materials needed to refine this pill are not scarce, with abundant raw materials.

There's no need to worry about a lack of alchemy materials, nor about high prices.

The market is there, the demand is high, and everyone hopes for a greater output of Qingxin Dan.

……

As Li Xiuyuan approached the courtyard, he released his divine sense to survey the surroundings.

No abnormalities were found. The gate was opened, then closed, and the array was activated.

Back in the training room, Li Xiuyuan took out the book.

He carefully read through it and finally confirmed that it was indeed the first volume of the Yi Jin Jing.

"This is a lucky find."

Li Xiuyuan devoted himself entirely to comprehending this cultivation technique, without pausing.

Li Xiuyuan's divine sense touched the white rune deep within his sea of ​​consciousness.

The next moment, the rune-inscribed spirit fish symbolizing the Yi Jin Jing was absorbed by Li Xiuyuan.

Rapid refining.

The next moment, a strange feeling arose in his mind.

Suddenly, a wealth of experience in practicing the Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic) flooded my mind.

It was as if the book contained the breathing techniques, energy circulation routes, movement outlines, and key points of various moves...

Every word was engraved in his heart, as if he had already mastered the technique to perfection and knew every detail perfectly.

"These cultivation runes must be a simulation of the entire cultivation process, directly saving me the tedious work of comprehension and understanding!"

At the same time, his meridians and bones stretched out, as if he had developed self-awareness and was breathing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

"Boom!"

A series of booming sounds, much like boiling water, emanated from his body.

"This is a disturbance in the flow of Qi and blood!"

At the same time, he felt a warm sensation in his lower abdomen.

This warmth is like the winter sun, gentle and lasting, like a slowly flowing stream that flows through the body.

Heart, liver, lungs, kidneys... every organ is nourished by this warm current.

Li Xiuyuan took a deep breath and clearly felt his internal organs become stronger and more robust.

Clench your fists and feel like you have inexhaustible strength!

At the same time, the panel changed.

[Introduction to Yi Jin Jing: 1/50]

Clearly, this was what Li Xiuyuan learned from the initial stages of the martial arts technique.

He successfully refined his body.

He got up and stretched his limbs.

"Boom boom boom!"

He suddenly threw two punches forward.

This move is the first form of the Yi Jin Jing, "Old Tree Roots".

It is the foundation for body refinement, and the moves are in line with the principle of "open meridians and smooth blood circulation" in body refinement.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned inward, and heels pushing off the ground.

The muscles and tendons throughout the body are slightly tense, the hands hang down with palms facing inward and pressed against the inner thighs, and the spine is straight as a pine tree.

When you inhale, your meridians surge upward with the blood and qi, and your muscles bulge slightly, like an ancient tree sprouting new buds.

When exhaling, relax your muscles and tendons without losing your strength, let your blood and qi sink to your dantian, and grip the ground with your feet as if rooted in the soil.

Maintain a specific breathing rhythm to circulate the body's Qi and blood to the lower abdomen (Dantian).

With each breath, a faint warmth flowed through my lower abdomen.

After about half an incense stick's time, the heat flow stabilized and began to circulate throughout the body according to the energy flow path.

Another half hour passed, and the heat flow had completed a full cycle. There were slight delays in some minor areas, but the general process had taken shape.

Li Xiuyuan finished his practice, stood up straight, and relaxed his muscles.

A faint cracking sound was heard coming from the joints of the bones.

Clenching your fists together makes you more powerful, and the muscles in your forearms and shoulders are more active and stronger than before.

The skin also changed; while it wasn't completely impervious, it became slightly yellowish.

Clearly, opening up the superficial meridians throughout the body strengthens the skin, making it more resilient and powerful.

Once the cultivation technique is mastered to a minor degree, the body and bones become strong enough to withstand the impact of low-level spells.

It can also quickly restore blood and qi, and prevent muscle strain caused by excessive force during combat.

With a thought, the following text appeared on the panel:

[Yi Jin Jing (Beginner): First Form, Old Tree Roots 2/50]

It's improved a little.

From the time I started practicing until now, it's only been about an hour.

According to what he inquired about in the market, even a body-refining prodigy would need ten days to half a month to go from zero experience to mastering the Yi Jin Jing.

Even ordinary cultivators need to cultivate diligently for several months to see results.

And it had only been an hour since I started.

"Could it be that I'm a genius at body cultivation, really?"