Nine Transformations of the True Spirit

After parting ways with Zhao Shan, Chen Yuan returned to the courtyard.

Two years ago, after Chen Yuan broke through to the Skin Refining Realm, Zhao Shan moved out of the courtyard.

He failed to break through the marrow refining realm for a long time, and became a little frustrated. He married a daughter-in-law and bought a house near Xingyefang.

From then on, Chen Yuan lived alone in the small courtyard and moved to the main house, and the Starlight Infusion became much easier.

He changed into linen clothes and went out again. He picked up a pair of medicines from a pharmacy along the way. He came to a dilapidated house in the east of the county and knocked on the door.

Tuk-tuk-tuk.

After waiting for a while, the courtyard door was gently pushed open, and an old man with a stooped figure and gray hair came out. It was the old Confucian scholar.

Chen Yuan went up to help him, and the old Confucian scholar said:

"Er Niu is here, come into the house quickly, cough cough, my bones are getting worse day by day, cough cough..."

Chen Yuan helped the old Confucian scholar to the main room, put the medicine on the table, and then helped the old Confucian scholar sit down gently:

"This is what students should do. Doctor Li said that if you take five more medicines, your husband's illness should be cured, but you must pay attention to keeping warm, eat well, and take a good rest."

The old Confucian scholar waved his hand and chuckled:

"Haha, birth, old age, illness and death are all determined by destiny... Which book should we talk about today?"

""Lingxu Sutra"."

"I'm looking for the "Lingxu Sutra"...well, it should be here..."

The old Confucian scholar turned around and rummaged around on the bookshelf. At the same time, Chen Yuan picked up the herbs and soaked them in a wooden basin to prepare for decoction.

After a while, the old Confucian scholar also took out a book, opened it and read:

"The five elements are mutually reinforcing and restraining each other, and the reason is obvious. The five movements and six qi, time, day, and hour, are all established and used in each other. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, shape and qi interact with each other and transform into all things. This is the great era of creation..."

The old Confucian scholar's voice was old. After reading one sentence and explaining one sentence, Chen Yuan asked two questions from time to time, and the old Confucian scholar explained again.

An hour later, halfway through the "Lingxu Sutra", the old Confucian scholar showed sweat on his forehead and his voice became weaker.

Chen Yuan brought the fried herbs, placed them in front of the old Confucian scholar, and said:

"Thank you for your hard work, sir. Please drink the medicine first."

The old Confucian scholar smiled and said:

"No matter how hard it is, it is a blessing to have someone to take care of you in your old age, otherwise you will inevitably end up with a miserable life."

Chen Yuan smiled and said nothing.

In the past three years, he has been studying with the old Confucian scholars, but it is not just about learning how to read and digit.

After making a deal with the old Confucian scholar, Chen Yuan relied on his photographic memory to learn all the commonly used characters in just three months, and then took another half a year to master the ancient characters.

After learning how to write, Chen Yuan did not stop there, but continued to learn various classics from old Confucian scholars.

Although the old Confucian scholars repeatedly failed in the imperial examinations, they were well-read, knowledgeable, and proficient in classical classics, especially Taoist classics.

Martial arts techniques are often derived from Taoist classics and often use Taoist terminology.

In order to go further in martial arts, Chen Yuan studied Taoist classics diligently under the guidance of old Confucian scholars. He also extensively dabbled in Confucianism and Buddhism, and his knowledge increased day by day.

He also respected the old Confucian scholar more and more, and treated him with the courtesy of a student. He gave the old Confucian scholar four hundred coins a month, which was enough for him to eat and clothe himself. He no longer had to go to Wenchang Street to set up a stall or write letters for others.

After Chen Yuan broke through the skin refining process, his monthly income increased to two taels of silver a month. In addition to these four hundred coins, he also sent one tael of silver back home every month, and his family had no worries about food and clothing.

This year, the old Confucian scholar became increasingly weak and contracted cold again last month. Chen Yuan invited a doctor to treat him and prescribe medicine, which made the old Confucian scholar even more grateful.

If it weren't for Chen Yuan, he would have died of cold and hunger.

The old Confucian scholar had no heirs, so he promised to give the small courtyard and all the books to Chen Yuan after his death.

Naturally, Chen Yuan would not covet this dilapidated courtyard, but he was very interested in the ancient books collected by the old Confucian scholar, so he agreed and took good care of the old Confucian scholar.

…

Chen Yuan watched the old Confucian scholar drink the herbal medicine and told him that he would not come to study Taoism in the next half month before saying goodbye and leaving.

He returned to the small courtyard and practiced Fuhu Fist for another half an hour, but when he finished, his face was a little gloomy and his brows were slightly furrowed, as if he had encountered some bottleneck.

He lowered his head in thought, walked into the main room, put on a yellow cloth jacket, picked up three food boxes, and went to the kitchen to prepare food.

The handyman was not surprised. He filled three food boxes with food and respectfully handed them back to Chen Yuan.

When Chen Yuan entered Baibingtang, he was famous for his large appetite.

After he successively broke through skin refining and bone refining, his appetite continued to increase, and he became famous, and the servants in the kitchen became accustomed to it.

After dinner, Chen Yuan continued to practice boxing.

But after only practicing for a quarter of an hour, he stopped, drew out his long sword, and practiced sword skills instead.

This set of swordsmanship is called Wuhu Duanmen Dao. Like Fuhu Fist, it is the most widely circulated set of swordsmanship among the Fuhu Gang.

After Chen Yuan broke through the Skin Refining Realm, Zhao Shan taught him this set of sword techniques.

The Five Tigers Cutting Sword is not exquisite, but its power is quite good. It is completely sufficient for warriors below the level of marrow refining.

But Chen Yuan was dissatisfied with the power of the Wuhu Door-breaking Knife, so he changed the ring-shou knife commonly used by people in the world, which weighed more than ten kilograms, into a long knife weighing thirty kilograms.

Manager Li scolded Chen Yuan for being too ambitious, but Chen Yuan used the Five Tigers' Door-Breaking Sword Technique twice in front of him, and Manager Li no longer had any objections.

Since then, Chen Yuan's reputation for being extremely powerful has become even louder, but many people also ridicule him in private.

No matter how strong you are, it's still a thirty-pound long sword. If you can't defeat an enemy, you can use the sword technique twice. What's the use?

It was not until Chen Yuan charged into the Chimang Mountains with great bravery and killed two leather-refining bandits with a long sword that no one dared to ridicule him behind his back.

Although Chen Yuan was exhausted after killing the two bandits, it was difficult to maintain his strength.

But the long sword was fierce and extremely powerful in the battles between rivers and lakes. It was difficult for warriors below the level of marrow refining to resist it.

In addition, in the eyes of everyone, Chen Yuan had a simple personality and a simple mind. He once beat someone up because of a disagreement. No one wanted to provoke such a young man.

However, no one took a warrior like Chen Yuan, who only knew three tricks, seriously.

Even if he broke through to the bone refining realm, he was still a young man with a simple mind and reckless behavior, without any threat.

But Chen Yuan, who was practicing sword alone in the courtyard at this time, was far from the image of a young man in people's impression.

He held a thirty-jin long sword in his hand, swinging it freely and gracefully, and it even felt like a sword was light and agile. Moreover, he practiced for an hour without any signs of exhaustion.

Even Li Guanshi, who was a peak marrow refining warrior, could not practice sword for an hour without stopping.

Only internal force warriors, who could have such long endurance with true qi in every move, could have such long endurance.

Chen Yuan was certainly not an internal force warrior, but he was not far off.

Outsiders thought that he had just broken through the bone refining realm, but in fact, he was already a peak marrow refining warrior.

With the jade pendant in his body and the constant experience of starlight infusion, Chen Yuan's martial arts training progressed very quickly.

After three months of martial arts training, he broke through to the skin refining realm.

After another half a year, he broke through to the bone refining realm.

After another half a year, he broke through to the marrow refining realm.

After another half a year, he reached the peak of marrow refining, and his dantian was filled with true qi, making it difficult to make any progress.

At the same time, Chen Yuan practiced diligently every day, and practiced this set of Five Tigers Cutting Door Knife to perfection. He knew every move and every style by heart, and could split fallen leaves and kill mosquitoes and flies with his knife.

However, he never showed his true strength in front of outsiders. He "broke through" to the Skin Refining Realm before the one-year deadline, and waited until the Dantian was full of true energy before "breaking through" to the Bone Refining Realm.

Three years of bone refining is considered quite talented in the Hundred Weapons Hall, but it is not a martial arts prodigy and is not eye-catching.

According to Chen Yuan's inquiries, there are many warriors in the county city who have been refining bones for two years, and they are the real martial arts geniuses.

His "breakthrough" to the Bone Refining Realm can attract the attention of Manager Li, and get more benefits from him without attracting the attention of others.

A month ago, after he reported the news of his breakthrough to Manager Li, although he did not become the leader of the guard team, his monthly salary increased to four taels of silver, the same level as the leader of the guard team.

The other guard leaders had no objection to this.

In the past three years, Chen Yuan has been pretending to be a simple and honest person, and has never revealed any flaws. When encountering bandits, he always rushed to the front and was extremely brave, and made many contributions.

Of course, he would not joke with his own life. He always hid his strength and had a bottom line in his heart before he dared to charge into battle, and he never coveted merit and fought.

As the saying goes, great people hide in the court. Chen Yuan's conspicuous performance made people ignore him, a young man.

He also deliberately made friends with a group of gray-clothed apprentices in the hall, and obtained a lot of useful information from them, which was more conducive to his disguise.

But now, his careful disguise has become an obstacle to further advancement in martial arts.

After the Dantian is full of true qi and reaches the peak of marrow refining, the tiger-subduing force has also been practiced to the end.

In these seven months, Chen Yuan tried various methods, but he could not break through to the inner strength, and he almost went crazy several times.

Fortunately, his body is strong and his meridians are tough. He only suffered a little injury and recovered on his own.

Now it seems that he can only break through to the inner strength by changing his skills.

But a bone refining warrior cannot be exposed to the inner strength skills.

Only by entering the county city and joining the general gang can he obtain more advanced skills.

This requires Chen Yuan to show stronger strength, otherwise a mere bone refining warrior will never be able to enter the general gang, and Manager Li will not let him leave.

But after thinking about it, Chen Yuan gave up this idea.

Three years of marrow refining is an extremely rare genius in the entire Yuzhou world, which is bound to attract the prying of various forces.

As long as there is a possibility of exposing Yu Jue's existence, he will not take risks.