"sky reaches its highest point."
He Xinggu, holding a lotus flower and a detachment from worldliness, observed the night suspended at the head of the cloud.
Last night, she sensed a malevolent aura soaring into the heavens, feared for Chen Yun's safety, and followed closely behind to guard him.
Unexpectedly, the evil remnants of the Tianping Sect encountered Guanyin Bodhisattva Guan Yuanzang (Guan Chang), who was guarding Buddhism. The evil being was so scared that it left its tiger mount behind and fled in a hurry.
What was even more unexpected for He Xinggu was that Chen Yun had created the "Xiangqi" game, which was so interesting and connected with Warden Zhao Gongming, one of the four Marshals protecting Buddhism, and Guanyin Bodhisattva Guan Yuanzhang.
"This lad has a profound blessing, which is why he obtained the tiger whip of the tiger spirit. With this tiger whip at his disposal, I suppose his transformation of the valley into essence will be successful soon."
Compared to Chen Yun's night encounter with the divine and receiving an unprecedented opportunity, He Xinggu admires Chen Yun's wisdom for creating Xiangqi, a game full of interesting strategies that contains elements of war, which can be said to be like a pearl in one's ear.
Divinities and ordinary people coexist in the heavens.
There are not a few people who have encountered divinities.
But there are few people who can seize the opportunity and form a connection with divinities like Chen Yun.
"Well, since he has no issues, I should also go to the realm of immortals to plan the immortal enshrinement with the elders and other immortals. The Wuzhou period is not humane. The Tang Dynasty established itself using the revered name of the Daoist supreme elder Laozi, but Wu Zha has established many temples of Buddhism instead, intending to put Buddhism ahead of Daoism. Although she returned power to the Li Tang before her death, this behavior angered Laozi, and the fortune of Li Tang will decline. Another new dispute is imminent. I and the elders will choose our camps and strive to gain more incense."
With that thought, He Xinggu's figure above the clouds gradually dissipated, as she journeyed to the realm of immortals to discuss the grand plan of enshrining immortals.
...
Chen Yun had no idea that He Xinggu had secretly guarded him for a night, nor did he know anything about the grand plan of enshrining immortals.
After hiding the tiger whip, tiger skin, and the tiger spirit's body in the hidden compartment of the small bronze furnace, he set off on his journey back to the Pathway Transmission Hall.
Upon returning to the Pathway Transmission Hall, it was close to the beginning of the hour of dawn.
Wang Zixi was standing in front of the dormitory with a stern expression on his face.
Zhang Gan and Li Si's faces were full of worry and fear.
Moreover, Wang Siyan, Yu Lüpin, and Tang's elder brother and others all looked puzzled and seemed to not understand where Chen Yun had gone.
As soon as they saw Chen Yun appear, Wang Zixi ran up straight away, opening his mouth to scold.
However, as he opened his mouth, he hesitated and staring at Chen Yun who was covered in blood, he frowned and asked, "Where did you get that demonic aura?"
On his way back, Chen Yun had already figured out what to say and responded in a half-truthful manner, "Master Wang, last night after I returned from taking someone's money down the mountain, I happened upon a deity and watched them play Xiangqi for a night. Afterward, they appreciated my skills and gave me the tiger whip of a tiger spirit. Therefore, I became stained with tiger's blood and demonic aura."
"Encountered divine beings? More than one?" Wang Zixi was surprised and asked, "Who are these divine beings?"
Chen Yun said, "Zhao Marshal and Guanyin Bodhisattva."
"Oh, Zhao Marshal and Guanyin Bodhisattva." Wang Zixi suddenly understood, "It's not surprising to encounter the two divine beings. They often meet at night in a mulberry tree and mock Xiangqi. Senior brothers who have been staying longer at the Pathway Transmission Hall have also encountered them. It's just that you can have them appreciate you and bestow treasures, which is quite rare."
Zhang Gan, Li Si, and the others nodded in agreement.
Because Zhao Gongming's temple is located on Mount Zhongnan, and he often meets with Guan Yuanzhang's ghostly form at night, so as long as one stays at the Pathway Transmission Hall for a while, they will encounter the two of them in some way.
Even Tang's elder brother had a disagreement with the two deities over how to play Xiangqi, so they have a good relationship.
But unfortunately, even though Tang's elder brother was well-acquainted with the two deities, he was unable to gain any benefits.
Everyone, upon hearing that Chen Yun had received the tiger whip of a tiger spirit from two deities in his first encounter with them, was green with envy.
Just as Chen Yun was about to answer, an itching sensation in his nose came over him, and he let out a loud "Achoo!" as he sneezed.
Wang Zixi stared at his face carefully and said, "You were chilled last night, and it seems that you are going to catch a wind-cold illness. Wind-cold is an evil disease. You should go back to the house and rest properly, following the route of the one-hundred-day foundation establishment cultivation technique to refine your qi, so that you can eliminate the focus of wind-cold illness. You don't need to work today."
Chen Yun was indeed very tired after a sleepless night, and seeing Wang Zixi giving him a break, he hurriedly said, "Thank you, Master Wang."
...
Back to the dormitory.
Chen Yun was about to start cultivating to disperse the wind-cold illness and then take a nap before getting up to brew the tiger whip into a soup to drink and practice cultivation.
As soon as he took off his clothes, the door of the dormitory room suddenly echoed with a soft "thud" sound.
Chen Yun had no choice but to rush over and open the door, and found that Zhang Gan, Li Si, and Ning elder brother were standing outside.
"Chen junior, are you all right?" Zhang Gan asked with concern.
"It's nothing, just that I got some rain last night, and I might have contracted some cold."
Chen Yun said while inviting the three of them inside the room.
Li Si laughed and said, "It's all right then. I didn't see you this morning, and Zhang elder brother and Ning elder brother and I were worried for quite a while, fearing that you might have encountered some trouble on your way down the mountain."
Ning elder brother nodded and said, "Yes, you are so small in stature, and not very tall. What if you encounter evil people or wild animals? That would be a problem."
The deep concern shown by the three elder brothers moved Chen Yun greatly.
Indeed, due to malnutrition from a young age, even though he is seventeen years old according to the lunar calendar, he only weighs sixty to seventy catties (about 30-35 kg) and is about 1.5 meters tall. It would be a life-and-death struggle if he were to encounter bandits or wild beasts.
After chatting for a while, the three of them said goodbye and went to eat breakfast.
Close the door.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Chen Yun practiced the one-hundred-day foundation establishment technique, located the focus of the illness within his body, and then broke through it with a single effort.
After finishing, he slept soundly for a while.
...
When he woke up, it was noon.
The hunger-stricken Chen Yun originally wanted to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat.
But unfortunately, he woke up a bit late, and everyone had already finished their lunch.
Reluctantly, Chen Yun had to go to the kitchen at the back to heat up some leftover food.
Suddenly, he remembered that he had the tiger whip.
Chen Yun decided not to heat up any more food and instead found a knife in the kitchen.
He didn't rush to process the tiger whip.
First, he held a sharp knife and inserted it into the tiger spirit's body. Then he used a jar to collect the tiger blood. After that, he began to process the tiger whip.
If a normal body had been placed for so long, the blood would have solidified long ago.
The small bronze furnace's hidden compartment has a magical function to preserve and keep fresh, so the tiger blood was still scorching hot when it was cut open.
He stored the jar with tiger blood in the hidden compartment of the furnace wall.
Chen Yun then took out the tiger whip.
He carefully peeled off the outer layer and cut a small piece, removing the fine hairs and sweat glands. Then he also cut some tiger meat and washed it thoroughly with clean water.
After completing all these steps, he put the tiger whip and tiger meat into the pot and added cooking wine. He then directly started boiling them together.
About an hour later, just as Chen Yun was starving, the soup made from the tiger whip and tiger meat was finished.
He put the tiger whip soup into a bowl and added a little salt to flavor it.
Once the tiger whip soup had cooled down a bit, Chen Yun swallowed the tiger whip, tiger meat, and soup all at once.
The tiger meat and soup were quite delicious.
However, the tiger whip had a faint fishy and astringent taste.
Although it was hard to eat, Chen Yun knew that the tiger whip contained the essence and still swallowed it all, forcing himself to bear the taste.
After eating, he washed the bowl and chopsticks clean.
Then, Chen Yun returned to the dormitory.
"Ah, it's time to refine the essence and transform it into qi."
He mused to himself, "Master Guan and Marshal Zhao said that the tiger whip is a great tonic, which can help me complete the refining of grain into essence more quickly. I'll try cultivating and see how effective it is."
Thinking of this, Chen Yun began to follow the prerequisites for the early stage of the "Refining Essence" cultivation.
"Step one, first dispel food."
First, he placed his palm over the life gate, then slowly and gently massaged downward until he reached the sacrum.
Once.
Three times.
Fifteen times.
He soon did it for 81 times.
Feeling the food in his stomach digested, Chen Yun did not stop but continued massaging to eliminate food.
Second round.
Third round.
Soon, he finished the fourth round.
"The food has been digested sufficiently; now it's time to cultivate."
Chen Yun directly sat cross-legged, with his head straight, neck in line, chin slightly tucked, and his tongue pressing against the upper palate.
Having completed the basic movements, Chen Yun didn't rush to close his eyes but first calmed his mind and regulated his breathing.
Only when his mind was completely calm and his breathing even did he slowly close his eyes.
He could clearly feel that after the food was digested by the stomach, it had turned into water and grains, which spread to the spleen.
Perhaps it was the spiritual essence contained in the tiger whip that made Chen Yun feel the spleen generating a large amount of postnatal essence.
Large quantities of postnatal essence surged out of the spleen like a dam breaking, in great waves.
"Hissing, the effect of this tiger whip is too good! It truly deserves to be called a tiger transformed into a spirit!"
Chen Yun hastily withdrew his wandering thoughts, used his spirit to control the qi, and guided the postnatal essence generated by the spleen into the eight extraordinary meridians for storage.
Time passed minute by minute and second by second.
About half an hour later.
Chen Yun felt that the spleen no longer generated postnatal essence.
He knew that the food had been completely refined.
Originally, Chen Yun thought of practicing the Five Boxing Exercises for a while to let his body absorb the postnatal essence.
But then he remembered the secret method of "Accumulating Essence and Refining the Body" that Marshal Zhao had given him.
"Let's see how Marshal Zhao's essence accumulation method works."
"In his mind, Chen Yun reviewed the formula for the method: 'Possessing the divine qi and remaining one with the body, it cannot be separated. The spirit is complete, and it can bear the body. The Dao has a sky net, and the human body has a sky net. The breath is exclusive and soft. Accumulating essence can become a god!'"
Following the method, he used his spirit to control the qi, activated the postnatal essence stored in the eight extraordinary meridians, and slowly spread it towards his four limbs and hundred bodily parts.
Once the postnatal essence entered the limbs and bones, it was immediately absorbed by the body through the power of the cultivation method.
At first, it was a bit unfamiliar.
Chen Yun's cultivation was quite slow.
As time went by, Chen Yun gradually became familiar with the practice routes of the "Accumulating Essence and Refining the Body" method, and his cultivation speed also gradually increased.
Postnatal essence kept being absorbed.
The strength of the body could be easily perceived as constantly increasing.
After another half an hour.
All the postnatal essence was absorbed.
As Chen Yun gradually withdrew his cultivation effortlessly, he noticed that his blood and qi were surging throughout his body, and his hands and feet had become somewhat warm, as if there was a significant change in his body.
"This Accumulating Essence and Refining the Body cultivation, combined with the tiger whip from the spirit tiger, has such a remarkable effect?"
He was extremely surprised. The effect of this cultivation was almost twice as good as that of the Refining Essence Soup.
From the effects, it seems that "Accumulating Essence and Refining the Body" combined with tiger whip is far superior to "Refining Essence Soup."
However, Chen Yun still noticed a hint, "After taking the Refining Essence Soup and absorbing the postnatal essence, there is no burden felt in the body. In contrast, after practicing 'Accumulating Essence and Refining the Body,' the body feels a bit tired. It seems that the Refining Essence Soup is not just about refining grain into essence; it can also reduce the physical burden to the lowest during the refining process, which is something that both 'Accumulating Essence and Refining the Body' and 'Refining Essence Practice' cannot match."
Nevertheless, the benefits from this cultivation are still considerable.
His body strength had greatly increased, and the qi in his body was also abundant.
Chen Yun made a judgment, "Judging from the current situation, it should take no more than another fifteen days to complete the refining of grain into essence."
Cultivation truly requires the addition of rare treasures.
Like Li Si, Zhang Qian, and others who have been practicing the refining of grain into essence for so long, they haven't completely finished.
He easily understood how to refine grain into essence after taking the Refining Essence Soup.
Now, with the tiger whip of the tiger spirit, the progress of his cultivation has greatly increased.
This made Chen Yun quite satisfied.
At the same time, he secretly looked forward to completing the refining of grain into essence as soon as possible and obtaining the method of refining essence into qi.
