Chapter 214 - 120: Flesh as Warp, Bone as Loom, Forging a Glazed Body, Transforming into a Celestial Human

Chapter 214: Chapter 120: Flesh as Warp, Bone as Loom, Forging a Glazed Body, Transforming into a Celestial Human

[When the Glazed Scroll is complete, the skin will be like suet jade, thin as a cicada’s wing, and smooth as flowing clouds. Neither Secret Martial arts nor Spiritual Weapons will leave a mark.]

[To advance this scroll, one need only gather Great Medicines and Spiritual Objects that nourish the body, enrich the blood, strengthen the viscera, and fortify the physique. With time and accumulation, it can be honed to completion.]

[If one can find an Earth Treasure that aligns with the True Intent of the ’Glazed Scroll’ and completely consumes and refines it, the process can be greatly shortened.]

Spring, autumn, winter, summer—the Four Seasons Rotation!

’Does it imply "Reincarnation"?’

Ji Xiu’s heart skipped a beat. He was struck by the essence of this Skin Refining Technique. It truly surpassed the so-called ’Skin Refining’ Secret Techniques circulating in the County by a vast margin.

With his current realm, status, and financial resources,

it wouldn’t be impossible for him to find and obtain some crude Skin Refining Methods or formulas if he so desired.

However, most of the Skin Refining Techniques circulating in the County, and even in the Prefecture City, only included a single scroll on skin honing. They didn’t even touch upon Outer Gang or the Immortal Robe.

Those that could cultivate the Jade Skin were considered Lower Grade.

Any technique that reached the Outer Gang stage could already be considered a Middle-Grade Secret Manual. Only a few Grand Lineages in the Prefecture City would let them slip through their fingers, rewarding them to accomplished fighters and Stewards to win their loyalty.

Take Lu Chengfeng, a leader of the Three Major Professions—why did he work for that Grandmaster from the Wind and Cloud Association?

For one, they once shared a master-disciple bond. For another, it was simply to seek his own advancement.

The Outer Gang Scroll was already so difficult to find, to say nothing of an Immortal Robe Scroll. And this Feathered Immortal Robe... it even contained a more profound method, one sufficient to break the ’Third Great Limit’!

Such a Secret Inheritance probably didn’t exist even within those Grand Lineages!

’It’s a shame. Powerful as it is...’

’I won’t even mention the Outer Gang stage that comes later.’

’Just to reach the Perfection and Leakless state, where the body is like glazed jade, requires an ’Earth Treasure’ as a supplement. And the chosen Earth Treasure and Spiritual Objects must align with the Dharma Gate, or progress will be exceedingly slow...’

’With such demanding conditions, what kind of family could possibly afford to practice this?’

It was hard to imagine a clan where three generations all needed to consume Earth Treasures. The total consumption over several decades would be staggering!

The calculation made Ji Xiu click his tongue in silent amazement.

’Truly worthy of being one of the top ’Nineteen Houses’ in the world.’

’Within an ordinary Prefecture, you probably couldn’t find a single family with such capital!’

According to the Great Pill Master Xu Li, who came from the Prefecture, these Earth Treasures were all priceless. While a Grand Lineage’s assets might include a few stalks, more or less, they were all used for concocting medicines or for cultivation.

Even when used in medicine, only a single leaf or root would be plucked at a time. The rest was used to nurture Spirit Soil and enhance the lineage’s foundation. If someone were to use an entire plant, a whole one for their Cultivation...

They’d be a genuine spendthrift! He’d never heard of any family being so extravagant.

Based on this point alone, even if this ’Feathered Immortal Robe’ were to spread, how many could possibly cultivate it to completion?

Seeing Ji Xiu gazing at the ’Feathered Immortal Robe’ Secret Manual, silent and motionless,

Duan Chenzhou thought Ji Xiu had been intimidated by the harsh requirements and began to speak in a reassuring tone.

"The conditions you meet determine the foundation you build. This ’Feathered Immortal Robe’ is even more Superior than the Five Declines Gang Armor your Ancestral Master inherited from the Sword Dao Ancestral Court."

"With similar Secret Techniques, some can break the ’Third Great Limit,’ but the instructions are vague, requiring you to figure it out yourself."

"But others show you exactly how to break through. You just need to follow the steps, and success is guaranteed."

"Although the difference between the two might seem subtle, with the former, you could be stuck at this hurdle for several years, even more than ten, and never succeed."

"With the latter, however, you have a clear direction. As long as you don’t damage your foundation or advance too rashly, you can go all out without any fear of treading the wrong path."

"This is why those Celestial Pillars, Giant Houses, True Sects, and Nobles... every one of them manages to produce a ’World Traveler’ every decade or so, who then makes a name for themselves across the Great Xuan Domains and gets listed on the Juvenile Dragon Stele."

"It’s because, before the Qi Barrier, the word ’threshold’ simply doesn’t exist for these people. They and the other Martial Artists of the world are not walking the same path at all!"

"Dharma, companions, wealth, and land—they lack none of the four. As long as someone shows some innate talent and the promise of revitalizing the clan, how could their family not pour all their resources into cultivating them?"

"However, my disciple, you need not belittle yourself. The foundation you built at the Power Barrier is in no way inferior to theirs. In fact, it might even be superior."

"And once you become a ’Qi Cultivation Grandmaster,’ the path ahead will change dramatically."

"No matter how good one’s background is, it becomes impossible to break through a ’Great Limit’ as easily as eating and drinking."

Duan Chenzhou laid out a plan for Ji Xiu:

"You’ve advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching Skin Refining at just seventeen. That already makes you a prodigy even in the Prefecture."

"For the rest of Skin Refining, if you take the long view and proceed step by step over several years, by the time you reach the Qi Barrier, you’ll only be twenty-six or twenty-seven, right in the prime of your life."

"Although your Cultivation will progress much slower than before,"

"at your age, you still have plenty of time."

"This is the perfect opportunity to advance in all your studies simultaneously—your Secret Martial arts, Fist and Foot arts, Dao Skill, Alchemy Skill, and everything else you can learn. Become a grandmaster of your generation who has dabbled in a hundred schools and mixed various Daos!"

"Other Grandmasters, when cultivating a successor to their mantle, all fear their disciple will be led astray by some Side Sect or crooked path, delaying their Martial Arts progress. But ever since I witnessed your comprehension, Master can only say one thing."

"For an all-rounder like you,"

"to learn one less Skill or Method is a loss for that Skill or Method itself!"

"This fits exactly with what your Ancestral Master used to say: if you can learn it, then learn it to be the best. Otherwise, how will you beat those so-called prodigies until they can’t even stand up straight?"

"The Cultivation of this Feathered Immortal Robe requires four kinds of Earth Treasures, which are very demanding conditions. If your Ancestral Master Wang Xuanyang were still around, it wouldn’t be a big problem for him to go out, make some inquiries, and ’borrow’ them all for you."

"But we don’t have that advantage now. However, you’ve established a Mountain Living business in the County, so using your wealth to find some daily Spiritual Herbs and Medicines for your Cultivation shouldn’t be difficult."

"As for the rest, we’ll talk about it after you enter the Prefecture. If you can get into the Mansion Courtyard, secure a position for yourself, and stand out from the crowd, things will be much easier."

"On one hand, the Court provides a ’stipend’ of resources. On the other, any Prefecture Official who appreciates your ability to take the top spot will make a contract with you in advance, placing their bets on you."

"I’ll explain the ins and outs of all this when I get the chance later. You must not be careless and let yourself be plotted against."

"If you can’t get in... Master will figure something out for you. Worst-case scenario, I’ll return to my old trade, go deep into the eight-thousand-li East Canghai, and catch Spirit Fish and search for Sea Marvels for you!"

"You should know, back in the day, Master was the General Leader of the Fishing Trade at Eight Dock! My reputation was quite something!"

"Of course, that’s all a story for later. You must understand that your most important task right now is to master the basics of this Feathered Immortal Robe."

"Master once studied its secrets day and night. Every word is truly a pearl of wisdom, and many of its insights left even me amazed."

"Unlike the two barriers of sinew and bone, the Skin Membrane barrier actually involves the five viscera and six bowels. It’s incredibly complex and very difficult to refine. I predict that even with your aptitude, it would take you two or three months just to master the basics. By the beginning of next spring..."

Duan Chenzhou hadn’t even finished speaking.

When he watched, wide-eyed, as Ji Xiu seemed to reach an epiphany. He closed his eyes and sat cross-legged. Instantly, a plume of white smoke over ten feet long emerged from his body, rising from his shoulders.

In that instant, he used his ’skin as the furnace and his blood as the primer,’ stimulating his five viscera and six bowels to generate a mysterious Qi Mechanism that linked them all together!

Flesh and blood as the warp and weft, sinews and bones as the loom!

CRACK, CRACK!

Duan Chenzhou watched, wide-eyed, as Ji Xiu’s fingernails began to fall off, only to regrow as semi-transparent, semi-glazed new ones.

He was left utterly, speechlessly silent.

The first barrier of Skin Refining—the Jade Skin Realm!

To reach full mastery, there is one sign.

One’s teeth, fingernails, and toenails... must all fall out and regrow. The skin must also transform, glowing with a jade-like luster.

At the stage of Great Success, there is even a ’symbol’—

’Tears fall like pearls; where they land, smoke ascends!’

This is the result of Qi and Blood being refined into the viscera, and Qi Force rushing to the four extremities, so that even a single teardrop or a drop of water...

can conceal ’Qi Force’ within it, enough to corrode sand and stone just like ’Blood-Melting Gold.’ It is terrifying!

This is the meaning of Blood Exchange and Hair Cutting, with viscera like a dragon!

And the transformation of his fingernails...

was the very first sign that he had entered ’Skin Refining’ and begun his transformation.

"This..."

"He’s done it!?"

Duan Chenzhou recalled how he had eaten three hundred Spirit Fish back then just to shed his own fingernails. It had taken him a full several months for the Force in his palms to reach his fingertips, advancing his power to a new level.

Now, he looked at Ji Xiu.

He was completely silent, at a loss for words.

Ever since coming to Anning County.

His temperament of ’manifesting saintliness before others and being fond of lecturing’...

had run into his own lineage disciple.

And he was so thoroughly crushed that his personality was about to change.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Jiangyin, Garrison Mansion!

(P.S. It was New Year’s yesterday, and my family forced me to hang out with them. The Spring Festival Gala was so boring. I would have rather been serving my dear readers... ┭┮﹏┭┮)