I'm Just Making Up The Exercises, My Disciple, Have You Really Mastered Them?

Chapter 12: Making Up Techniques, Xu Yan's Realization

Xu Yan saw his master beckoning and immediately became spirited, excitedly approaching.

"Master must have realized that I am just one step away from the Golden Bones, encountering a bottleneck. This must be him guiding me to break through the Golden Bones!"

Excitedly coming before Li Xuan, Xu Yan respectfully bowed and said, "Master!"

"Hmm, you can maintain your enthusiasm and diligently cultivate. Very good!"

Seeing Xu Yan's excited face, Li Xuan nodded, indicating his recognition of Xu Yan's diligent cultivation.

In his heart, however, he sighed, "Someone with a dull mind, but so persistent. Even though he can't achieve much in his cultivation, he remains single-minded and diligent. Truly rare!"

"I have to say, this disciple... is actually quite good. It's just that I'm not a master!"

Although Xu Yan is single-minded and not very bright, easily deceived, it must be said that his pursuit and dedication to cultivation is truly commendable.

"You have been practicing for some time now, and you have been practicing the horse stance for a long time. Today, your master will teach you something stronger."

Li Xuan said with the air of a strict teacher.

"Thank you, Master!"

Xu Yan was extremely excited. Indeed, his master must have noticed that he had encountered a bottleneck in the Golden Bones and was now teaching him a more powerful tempering method.

"Watch carefully!"

Li Xuan said, then turned sideways, bent his knees, one foot in front of the other, slightly squatting down, hands up and down, one in front and one behind. The left hand stood in front of the lower abdomen, palm facing down, while the right hand bent the elbow and raised the palm to shoulder height, palm facing up.

After assuming the posture, Li Xuan looked at Xu Yan and said, "Next, you will practice this horse stance. Do you understand?"

Following his posture, Xu Yan assumed the horse stance and nodded, "Master, I understand!"

Li Xuan put away the posture, folded his hands behind his back, and said, "This is the basic posture. There are two key points. You should ponder them carefully. How much you can comprehend depends on your opportunity."

Teaching a new horse stance alone is too monotonous. Let's make up another key point.

Thinking this way, Li Xuan slowly said, "Remember, the key point is 'observe my true intention with a clear mind, forge the body like a dragon with qi and blood.' You should ponder it carefully. If you can comprehend the key point, you will be able to experience its subtleties."

After saying this, Li Xuan walked away leisurely with his hands behind his back, displaying the demeanor of a master.

At this moment, Xu Yan was extremely excited, muttering to himself, "Observe my true intention with a clear mind, forge the body like a dragon with qi and blood... Truly profound and extraordinary. I must carefully comprehend it!"

"This must be the marvelous technique for tempering the Golden Bones, and even the Jade Bones. If I can comprehend its profundity, I will definitely be able to temper my Golden Bones!"

At this moment, Xu Yan was completely immersed in the "key point," forgetting himself.

His mind was filled with the key point, repeatedly chanting and silently contemplating, hoping to comprehend something from it.

However, even until late at night, he still couldn't comprehend anything from it!

"It's too profound. I consider myself to have a high level of comprehension when it comes to Bone Refining, with a deep understanding. Yet, for a moment, I couldn't comprehend its profundity."

"Indeed, as Master said, if I can comprehend the key point, I will be able to experience its subtleties."

"Xu Yan, you can definitely do it. You can definitely comprehend the key point and temper your Golden Bones!"

Xu Yan kept encouraging himself.

His gaze was firm, without the slightest hint of discouragement.

It has only been less than a day. It's normal to spend three to five days contemplating such a profound key point.

...

Before going to bed, Li Xuan came out to take a look and saw Xu Yan, that foolish boy, still standing there, muttering the key point he made up.

"Is this foolish boy going crazy?"

"I hope his mind isn't malfunctioning."

So he spoke, "It's late at night. It's time to go back to sleep!"

Xu Yan snapped back to reality and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Yes, Master!"

Li Xuan nodded. Although his foolish disciple was a bit strange, he still listened to his master's words, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

If they really walked into a dead end, it would just take a little effort to enlighten him. That should be enough.

With this in mind, Li Xuan went back to his room to sleep.

Xu Yan took a deep breath and thought to himself, "Enlightenment depends on timing and inspiration. Forcing it will only push it further away, almost trapping oneself and losing control of one's mind."

"Thanks to Master for waking me up!"

"Rest, gather energy, recover your mind, and continue tomorrow."

"The cultivation technique is so profound, not something that can be comprehended overnight. It should take about three to five days for me, Xu Yan, with my talent, to understand it."

After understanding this, Xu Yan went to rest.

...

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Xu Yan continued with his usual routine of practicing, tending to the crops, weeding, feeding the chickens, raising rabbits, cooking, and so on. There were no changes in his daily schedule.

The only change was the posture of his horse stance.

And the fact that he was stuck at the level of copper bones and couldn't progress any further.

During his daily practice, he pondered over the two phrases of the cultivation technique, but he couldn't comprehend their profundity.

Three days had passed, and he had gained nothing.

"If I can't even comprehend these two phrases, how can I temper my golden bones? How can I progress?"

"These are just the basic level of the cultivation technique. The techniques at the advanced level must be even more profound and unpredictable. How can I continue to cultivate?"

"Calm down, don't be impatient! Master often says not to be impatient, not to aim too high, and to be down-to-earth... There must be something I've overlooked."

Xu Yan calmed himself down and let his mind settle.

"Master said that having no women in one's heart and practicing as if there were gods is a state of mind, a way to eliminate the biggest distractions in one's mind... Young men with strong vitality are always easily attracted and disturbed by women."

"Master used women as a metaphor for the biggest distraction in cultivation, so there must be a deeper meaning. This means that Master was trying to wake me up and prevent me from being obsessed with distractions."

"What are my distractions?"

Xu Yan imagined the phrase "having no women in one's heart and practicing as if there were gods" and extended it to a series of profound meanings, then fell into contemplation.

If Li Xuan knew that Xu Yan was so good at imagination, he would definitely exclaim that it wasn't that his brain wasn't working, but that his imagination was too damn big!

"My distraction... is cultivation. I'm obsessed with cultivation in my heart. But is this considered a distraction?"

"I've got it!"

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration appeared in Xu Yan's mind, and he understood it once again.

"Cultivation is a kind of seeking, a belief, a will. But I'm just stuck in the attachment to cultivation, which has become a distraction."

"I should abandon the attachment to cultivation itself and focus on the present, forgetting external things and unnecessary observations... There is no self, devoting my whole being to the cultivation technique and deeply understanding it..."

At this moment, Xu Yan, as if opening a skylight in his mind, had a sudden flash of inspiration and endless insights emerged.

The true meaning of the two phrases of the cultivation technique seemed to be covered by a thin veil at this moment. With just a gentle poke, the veil could be torn apart, revealing the true meaning hidden behind it.

"Observing my clear mind and nurturing the true meaning. 'Observing my clear mind' means seeing oneself clearly, having a clear and transparent mind. 'Nurturing the true meaning' means nourishing the qi and blood in the bones, nourishing the bone marrow, causing the transformation of qi and blood, and the sublimation of bone marrow..."

"I've understood it!"

Xu Yan's eyes sparkled with excitement.

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(End of this chapter)