After the Great Dao died

When Chen Lingxi returned to the Marquis's residence, dusk had already fallen.

Back in his room, he placed the incense burner in the center of the table, sat cross-legged on the prayer mat, closed his eyes and regulated his breathing for a moment. Once his breathing was steady, he placed his right palm on the lid of the burner.

The azure energy in his dantian flowed slowly, penetrating from his palm into the furnace.

The dark golden viscous liquid at the bottom of the furnace trembled slightly, and milky white mist rose up, supporting the wisp of purple energy fragment in the center.

Purple mist drifted slowly through the fog.

"Learn from Lin Su Ri to refine the purple energy."

Chen Lingxi took a deep breath, activated her spiritual energy, and ventured into the mist, trying to touch that wisp of purple energy.

The instant the spiritual energy touched the purple aura!

An extremely sharp aura swept back along his spiritual energy, piercing his meridians and causing his fingertips to go numb, at which point his spiritual energy dissipated.

The purple aura continued to linger in the mist, remaining perfectly still.

Chen Ling frowned, but was not discouraged.

He tried again.

This time, he condensed the spiritual energy into a finer and more resilient form, like a needle, and slowly pierced into the purple aura.

The purple aura trembled, and that sharp aura rebounded once more, even more fiercely than before, causing the spiritual energy to dissipate again.

the third time.

the fourth time.

the fifth time.

Each time ended in failure.

That wisp of purple energy seemed tiny, but the power it contained was unfathomable. When his spiritual energy probed into it, it was like throwing an egg against a rock; he couldn't even budge it an inch.

Chen Lingxi withdrew his hand and exhaled a long breath.

"It takes more than one day to achieve this."

He shook his head, wrapped the incense burner again in coarse cloth, and put it under the table.

The moonlight outside the window was like water, spilling onto the bluestone ground, creating a cool and serene atmosphere.

He stood up and walked into the courtyard.

A night breeze blew from afar, carrying the lingering fragrance of the late-blooming flowers in the garden, and brushed against my face, cool and refreshing.

He looked up at the sky.

The moon was full and hung high in the sky, with a few stars scattered around it, casting a cold, eerie light.

He stood still in the courtyard, assuming the starting stance of the Seven Forms of Ceasefire.

With each strike, from pulling the mountain to entering the river, blood and qi surged through the meridians, and crimson energy emanated from the body, weaving a thin layer of light around it.

He practiced his boxing three times in the courtyard, then sat cross-legged and practiced breathing exercises for half an hour before slowly opening his eyes.

"Let us calm our minds and cultivate ourselves."

Chen Lingxin muttered to himself.

-

In the following months, Chen Ling's washing schedule was set.

He leaves the mansion twice a month, departing at Chen time (7-9 AM) and returning at You time (5-7 PM).

The place he frequented most was Jirentang, the largest pharmacy in the east of the city.

What was being referred to was, of course, a medicinal bath.

Jirentang naturally also offers the medicinal baths needed by martial artists, but they are quite expensive.

The medicinal herbs for a single bath cost two taels of silver.

Two taels of silver is enough for a commoner to spend for half a year.

But here, there's only enough for a bath; no wonder people often say that practicing martial arts is like entering a brothel.

However, Chen Lingxi is not short of money now. Her monthly allowance is thirty taels, plus the twenty-odd taels she got from Wang Kong, which is enough for her to soak in the water ten or so times a month.

Although the medicinal bath at Jirentang is not as effective as that at the Hou Mansion, it is equivalent to three days of breathing exercises.

If you want to improve your cultivation level as soon as possible, you can't skimp on this silver.

Besides that, Chen Ling didn't have any other expenses.

It's July now, and it's already the height of summer.

The locust tree in the courtyard has grown lush and verdant, casting a dense shade on the ground. When the wind blows, it rustles softly, as if someone is whispering.

Chen Lingxi stood up from the medicinal bath tub, water droplets rolling down her back and pooling on the bluestone floor.

He picked up the coarse cloth draped over the edge of the bucket, dried himself, put on his clothes, and let out a long breath.

The medicinal properties penetrated the skin and nourished the muscles and bones. A warm sensation flowed slowly through the body, sweeping away the fatigue of the past few days of cultivation.

"Refreshing."

He was talking to himself.

His gaze immediately fell on the small musk pouch that he had prepared not far away.

The Dragon-Inducing Powder in his bag was almost gone.

"This is the last time I've taken the Dragon-Guiding Powder. I wonder if it will allow me to break through the bottleneck and reach the third level of Qi Circulation?"

He poured the dark brown powder into his palm and swallowed it with warm water.

The moment the medicine entered the stomach, that overwhelming torrent of spiritual energy exploded once more, rampaging through the meridians.

The Concealing Edge Technique circulated quietly within the body, the spiritual energy barrier steadily blocking the poison from the outside, only gathering and refining the violent spiritual energy bit by bit, and bringing it into the dantian.

Time passed little by little.

As the sunlight outside the window shifted westward, the light and shadows filtering through the windowpanes slowly moved from the east wall to the west wall, gradually fading away.

As the last ray of light disappeared into the horizon, Chen Lingxi opened her eyes.

He let out a long breath.

The breath condensed into a white arrow in the air, shooting straight for more than three feet before hitting the wall and dispersing into a thin mist.

Within his dantian, the wisp of green qi had grown from the thickness of an infant's arm to the size of an adult's arm, becoming more than a circle thicker.

It circulates slowly in the dantian, its color as rich as jade, with a faint luster flowing on its surface, just like the water in a deep pool, with undercurrents surging beneath, yet the surface remains calm and still.

Chen Ling was overjoyed and closed her eyes to look inward, carefully sensing the changes within her body.

"Finally, we've reached the third level of the Spiritual Qi Realm!"

It is different from the second floor of Lingqi.

When you are on the second floor of the Spiritual Qi, the Spiritual Qi clears the meridians and refines the bone marrow, gradually removing the old stagnation and obstruction, making the meridians as wide as river channels, and allowing the bone marrow to radiate new vitality.

And the third floor...

He channeled his spiritual energy, which slowly traveled along the surface of his bones.

Wherever the spiritual energy passes, the bones feel slightly warm, and countless tiny spiritual energies seep into the bone tissue, compressing and strengthening the originally loose bone tissue layer by layer.

Bone density increases visibly.

It gradually changed from its original grayish-white color to a translucent white, and from that translucent white, a very faint, jade-like radiance shone through.

The spiritual light was extremely faint; it was almost impossible to detect without introspection.

"The third level of spiritual energy tempers the bones, causing them to radiate spiritual light."

He muttered to himself, stood up, and stretched his limbs.

His bones crackled and popped, the sound crisp and clear, like a string of firecrackers exploding inside his body.

He pointed his fingers like a sword and activated the Azure Edge Technique.

A bluish-green, sharp light shot out from his fingertips, solid as a real sword, drawing a cold arc in the dim room.

The sharp edge pierced the air, and with a hiss, it shaved off a piece of the table corner, leaving a smooth, mirror-like cut.

He closed his five fingers, dispelling the remaining radiance.

"The Azure Edge Technique can now be used four or five times."

He estimated that with the abundance of spiritual energy in his dantian, he could unleash the Azure Edge Technique four or five times with full force, and even if he only unleashed a small amount of sharpness, he could withstand seven or eight times.

"In a life-or-death struggle, this is equivalent to having many more trump cards to survive."

He nodded in satisfaction, cleaned up the medicine packet residue on the table, and went out the door.

The moonlight in the courtyard was excellent.

The moon hung overhead in mid-July, its clear light illuminating the entire courtyard as bright as day.

Chen Lingxi stood in the courtyard, looked up at the sky, and took a deep breath.

The night breeze was cool, carrying the rich fragrance of gardenias in the garden, mixed with the scent of grass and earth, which was refreshing and invigorating.

He stretched his shoulders and back, stood still in the courtyard, and assumed the starting stance of the Seven Forms of Ceasefire.

He drew the mountain to light the furnace, divided the river to calm the sea, and after the city collapsed and the earth split, he concealed his sharpness and entered into great harmony.

The incomplete scroll of the Seven Styles of Ceasefire clearly states that the momentum of pulling the mountain condenses the qi and blood, while the momentum of entering the river makes the qi and blood surge like boiling water!

"As for the third move, City Collapse... it's somewhat similar to Mountain Collapse Force, but more importantly... it can help one break through to the Silver Bone Realm!"

After three months of arduous training, Chen Lingxi had already reached the pinnacle of the Copper-Red realm and was able to activate the landmark [Opening the Copper Furnace].

Now that he has entered the third level of spiritual energy cultivation, his physical constitution has greatly improved, and his physique has undergone a qualitative change.

"Entering the Silver Bone Sect will also take place today."

Chen Lingxi closed his eyes and concentrated, going through the nine variations of the "Collapse of the City" technique in the incomplete "Seven Forms of Ceasefire" in his mind.

Then, he moved.

The starting position is a mountain-like stance, with both feet firmly planted, the back arched like a bow, and the right arm slowly raised upwards as if embracing a huge object.

Qi and blood surged forth from the dantian, filling the limbs and bones, and crimson energy emanated from the body, weaving a layer of light around it.

Immediately afterwards, he changed his approach and entered the river.

With a turn of his body, his arms moved like dragons parting the water, and his blood and qi surged within his body like a tidal wave, one wave after another, layer upon layer, never ceasing.

His breathing became rapid, and the armor around his body shone even brighter, with crimson flames flickering erratically.

Then—[the city collapsed].

He suddenly let out a low shout, clenched his fists, and his blood and qi suddenly reversed, turning from surging outwards to collapsing inwards.

It was like a city gate, collapsing and sinking inch by inch from the foundation, smashing all the bricks and rubble into the earth's core.

That surging, boiling blood and qi were compressed, condensed, and settled at this moment.

The molten copper and blood began to cool.

The crimson aura gradually faded, replaced by a silvery-white, cold luster that appeared and disappeared on the surface of the armor, like moonlight falling on snow.

The copper fire and silver threads intertwined, like ice and fire in a furnace, yin and yang merging, slowly circulating within his body.

Chen Lingxi was startled.

He could clearly feel something forming within his bones.

It was a silvery-white, flowing marrow that slowly seeped out from the depths of the bone marrow, like a clear spring flowing along the bone cavity, leaving a faint silver sheen on the bones wherever it passed.

The silver marrow is beginning to form!

The symbol of the Silver Bone Realm.

He stopped and stood up, looking down at his hands.

The crimson armor on its body surface had faded by more than half, replaced by a layer of silvery-white radiance, appearing and disappearing like moonlight enveloping the skin, cold and restrained.

Judging from his appearance, his qi and blood fluctuations were much thinner, like a martial artist who had reached the minor stage of the Bronze Red realm, or even worse.

However, he could clearly sense that the vital energy had not disappeared, but had settled deep into the bones, turning into silver marrow, hidden and not revealed.

"Silver Bone Realm".

He muttered to himself, a hint of joy in his eyes.