Chapter 23: The Infinite Cultivation of the Spirit

  The hustle and bustle will eventually come to an end, and life will return to calmness.

  Five days later, in the old forest of Western Hills, a gentle breeze blows softly and the green water flows slowly.

  Lu Fan stood firmly on his horse's hooves, standing under the waterfall, with a clear wind blowing across his face and water splashing onto his body, yet he remained motionless.

  Suddenly, Lu Fan opened his eyes, and his gaze sparkled.

  With a forceful step, he jumped up three zhang high.

  The air current rose, and the whirlwind under his feet made him pause for a moment in mid-air. Then, Lu Fan stepped lightly on the waterfall again, continuing to flip upwards.

  Essentially no need for both hands, Lu Fan rushed all the way to the top of the waterfall.

  His speed was incredibly fast, and falling water couldn't stop him at all. Just as he was about to rush up the mountain top, a sudden whole waterfall rolled back, and the water flow turned into a roaring fierce tiger, opening its bloody big mouth towards Lu Fan.

  Lu Fan showed no fear, his entire body suddenly bursting into flames as he threw a punch at the fierce tiger.

  Inferno Crumbling Mountain Fist.

  A deafening sound echoed through the air, and the fierce tiger was punched into a splash of water. Lu Fan's hand was stuck deep into the cliff wall, but he didn't fall off.

  Then he flipped over and jumped, Lu Fan arrived at the top of the waterfall.

  "Great, this time is much faster than yesterday. It seems that the waterfall training is about to end."

  Wu Chen was already standing at the top of the waterfall without knowing when he got there.

  Lu Fan panted heavily and said, "Master, don't be so ruthless. The water-shaped creature is getting more ferocious each time, last time it was just a deer shape, this time it's turned into a tiger."

  Wu Chen smiled and said: "If I don't push you hard enough, how can I see your limits? Give me the seal stone on your chest."

  Lu Fan took out the sealed power stone and handed it over to Wu Chen, saying: "Master, what's going on? Don't we need to use the sealed power stones from now on?"

  Wu Chen said, "Such a good cultivation tool, of course, must be used. It's just that the seal stone now has little effect on you and needs to help you re-practice it. However, some materials are still lacking, take this."

  Wu Chen placed a white flower in Lu Fan's hand.

  This flower is called Dragon's Saliva Flower, its entire body is white and has a slight fragrance. It was the spiritual medicine that the Mo family lost to the Lu family, and at the same time, they also lost a copy of the Small Destruction Fist. Lu Fan still remembers the expression on the face of the Mo family's young master when he brought these two things over the next day, his eyes were so fierce that it seemed like he wanted to swallow people whole, and after throwing them at the door, he turned around and left.

  However, the Mo family is also quite stingy. The two things they sent over are both useless. As for the Dragon's Saliva Flower, although it is a spiritual medicine, its only effect is to make people look younger and more beautiful when eaten. If it were given to a woman, it would be considered a decent gift, but for Lu Fan, this thing is unnecessary.

  The boxing technique sent over was even more incomplete, the most critical parts were not written at all, it's obviously a rough draft. Of course, the Mo family is much better than the Zhang family in any case, until Lu Fan returned to Xishan to continue his practice, it seemed that the Zhang family still didn't intend to pay up.

  So, although Lu Fan had obtained these two things, he never used them. Wu Chen showed some interest in the Longyan flower, so Lu Fan gave it to him very readily. How come now, he took it out again.

  "What's it for, Master?"

  Wu Chen smiled and said, "The effect of Longyan flower in medicine is indeed not great, it can only be used to make some beauty pills. But its other effect is rarely known to people, that is, attracting wild beasts. I have already added some spices to the Longyan flower, enough to bring out its greatest effect. You are now at a bottleneck in your cultivation and need a life-and-death battle. Don't think that your fight on the arena a few days ago was a life-and-death battle, although I didn't go watch it, but I also know that it's still far from it. Your next cultivation task is to take the Longyan flower with you to help me find something."

  "What thing?"

  Wu Chen said: "Ice Heart Meteorite."

  Lu Fan opened his mouth, this thing seemed to have been heard before, a few years ago, it was as if a small family in Xishan found such a thing and sold it for a sky-high price at an auction.

  Wu Chen continued, "I'm sure you've heard the rumors. All I can tell you is that the Iceheart Meteorite won't appear alone, it'll at least scatter over a region. If you can't find any, it means they've been eaten by the Wild Beasts. What you need to do is kill those Wild Beasts and bring back the undigested Iceheart Meteorites or the Beast Cores."

  Lu Fan nodded and said: "Understood, sounds quite challenging."

  Wu Chen said: "It's very challenging, but if you're not careful, it can also cost your life. Before you start cultivating, you need to prepare some things. First, this is for you."

  Wu Chen took out a small tripod from his bosom and handed it to Lu Fan.

  Lu Fan looked at it for a long time before recognizing it and said: "This is... Wen Huo Ding."

  Wu Chen said, "That's right. With the Wen Huo Ding, your alchemy speed will increase significantly, and at critical moments, you can also hide in the cauldron to save your life. The specific method is to use the energy inside your body to activate it. You should be able to do it now."

  Lu Fan solemnly accepted the tripod and put it into the ring.

  Wu Chen took out another book and said, "Next is the most important thing. Before I give it to you, I want to ask you one last time, Lu Fan, are you really willing to cultivate both internal energy and martial arts? It may make you achieve nothing in this life."

  Lu Fangdao said: "I won't change what I've decided on. Master, you can rest assured."

  Wu Chen nodded with a hint of relief, saying: "Alright, this is the most crucial part of the Wu Xing dual cultivation technique - the Wujie Lian Shen Jue. First, I need to tell you that this is an unusual Qi refinement method, and apart from its creator, no one else has ever cultivated it."

  "What about its creator?"

  "After a moment of silence, Wu Chen said: 'Its creator is me.'"

  Lu Fan was stunned at this time, Wu Chen rolled up his sleeves and let Lu Fan see his arm.

  The blood vessels on top were bulging, and the dense network of blood vessels had twisted into a knot at the elbow. From the elbow up, it was all a dull grey. Putting down his sleeve, Wu Chen said: "This is the price I paid for cultivating it. My meridians are blocked, my blood flow is not smooth, and the universe has turned upside down. Every moment, my strength is leaking away, until one day, my dantian shatters, and I explode to death."

  Lu Fan's eyes flickered and he gritted his teeth: "Can't be cured?"

  Wu Chen said, "Of course it can be cured, but the required medicine is too precious. I have traveled all over the world for twenty years and gained nothing. Maybe there is someone in this world who can find those medicines and refine them into pills. But it's definitely not me. However, you don't need to worry about me. As long as I don't look for trouble and fight with people, I can still hold on for a few more decades. Now, are you still willing to cultivate it?"

  Lu Fan fell silent for a moment, then said: "Master, you wouldn't use the technique you created yourself to harm me. Since you let me practice it, you must be confident in my ability to master it, right?"

  Wu Chen's eyes shone brightly as he said, "That's only natural. When I first created it, I made a huge mistake - after years of cultivating my Qi to its peak and solidifying it, I forcibly merged the martial artist's aura into it, resulting in the two being incompatible and causing me to suffer heavy injuries. But even so, I still succeeded, as you can see."

  Wu Chen said, his fingertips releasing a wisp of airflow, the milky white airflow dancing like flames.

  Wu Chen smiled and said: "The mighty power of a martial artist, combined with the primordial energy of Qi repair, I call it Gang Qi!"

  With a wave of his hand, Wu Chen threw the airflow into the water flow, and this small airflow made the entire waterfall suddenly emit a loud roar.

  A terrifying explosion shook the air, water splashing everywhere, and Lu Fan also saw countless streams of water rapidly condensing into ice, impacting everything around.

  "With powerful explosive force, also possessing the power of heaven and earth transformation, this is the mighty aura, unique and unparalleled in its might."

  Wu Chen said, his eyes filled with frenzy.

  Lu Fan watched all of this, first with astonishment, and then infinite longing arose for this kind of power.

  "Master, is this power dangerous?"

  Wu Chen nodded and said, "That's right, it is very dangerous. But if a person cultivates the aura from the beginning, the aura and yuanqi are generated simultaneously in his body, then merge, there will be absolutely no backlash like what happened to me. And then he continues to cultivate, getting stronger and stronger, I can't even imagine how far he can go."

  Lu Fan clenched his fists, life is hard to come by a few times of fighting.

  "Gritting his teeth, Lu Fan said: 'Master, teach me.'"

  Wu Chen said: "No regrets?"

  Lu Fan nodded and said, "I will never regret it."

  Wu Chen smiled and handed the Wuji Lian Shen in his hand over to Lu Fan.

  "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on you until you successfully cultivate your first strand of aura, and I won't let the tragedy that happened to me repeat itself on you."

  Lu Fan nodded heavily and opened the Wuji Lian Shen Jue.

  The first line of large characters hit Lu Fan's eyes directly.

  "The Ultimateless gives rise to the Supreme Polarity,

  the Supreme Polarity gives rise to the Two Forms,

  the Two Forms give rise to the Four Symbols,

  the Four Symbols give rise to the Eight Trigrams,

  the Eight Trigrams give rise to the Ten Thousand Things."

  Lu Fan slowly sat down and quietly studied the Wuji Lian Shen Jue.

  Wu Chen turned his head and looked around, from here he could see the entire mountain range stretching out.

  The mountains and rivers stretch endlessly, with a gentle breeze under the red sun.

  From this moment on, Lu Fan will embark on a brand new and unknown path.

  Even he himself does not know what achievements he will make on this road.

  A flock of birds took to the skies from the forest, flying straight into the clouds.