Li Xing finished bowing, returned to the bed, sat cross-legged, and first took the abnormal fire out of the spiritual pendant. The abnormal fire suddenly changed environment, found everything curious, and flew around the room for a long time before returning in front of Li Xing. Li Xing asked, "Do you have a name?"
"What is a name?"
"It's what others call you when they see you."
The abnormal fire got excited, "I have a name, I do! I'm called 'Ahhhhhh— Abnormal Fire is here, run quickly!'"
Li Xing: ... Damn! How many people did you consume to get such a nickname!
"That doesn't count! How about I give you a name?"
"Okay, okay!"
Li Xing propped her chin, "You look like a budding lotus flower, why not call you— Little Fatty!"
Abnormal Fire: ...
"This name doesn't sound very powerful, I don't want it, change it!"
"You'll be called Little Fatty! Chubby head!"
The abnormal fire rolled in refusal, and the heat wave instantly surged in the room. Li Xing was afraid it would set the ward on fire, so she quickly soothed, "Then tell me, what should it be called?"
"I-I don't know either..."
"See, you don't like being called Little Fatty, but you can't come up with a name either, am I to blame? How about this, Little Fatty will be my nickname for you for now, call you that until you come up with a name, okay?"
This time, the abnormal fire happily agreed. Li Xing chuckled inwardly, thinking how easy it was to trick it, then stored it into her dantian. But soon Little Fatty's scream echoed in her Divine Sense, "Ahhhhhhh—! Your dantian is so broken!"
Li Xing felt a bit embarrassed, thinking this dumb fire might regret contracting with her.
"Uh, Fatty, I know the conditions are a bit rough, but it will be fixed in the future, for now, just make do."
"Sigh... alright then!" Little Fatty shrunk to the size of a bean and quietly settled in the dantian.
Li Xing settled Little Fatty, her Divine Sense flickered, and she took out the ancestral body refining technique—Eternal Green Technique.
Among the Five Elements, Yi Wood is the weakest; Xin Metal can cut it, Bing Fire can burn it, and both Ren Shui and Ji Earth can destroy it. Yet, within Yi Wood's weakness lies an innate resilience, like a sprout breaking through the earth, capable of lifting a weighty boulder, flames igniting a prairie, and spring winds causing regrowth.
As long as Yi Wood has a vine left, it can send out roots, one becoming two, two into three, spreading thousands of miles endlessly. The creator of the Eternal Green Technique was inspired by the life energy of Yi Wood; once cultivated, the body embodies the vitality of wood, constantly renewing, eternally evergreen.
The Eternal Green Technique has four realms: the first is the Bone Refining Realm, which refines the cultivator's tendons, veins, and bones. Upon completion, the entire skeleton appears jade-like, as hard as refined metal, and the veins broaden more than double.
The second is the Flesh Refining Realm, refining the skin and muscles. Upon completion, the skin is like coagulated fat and the flesh like jade, the physical body robust, impervious to weapons below the level of magical treasure.
The third is the Organ Refinement Realm, refining the internal organs. Upon completion, the organs are pristine without dust or filth; no matter how severe the injury, as long as there's a trace of flesh, it can regenerate. If one can cultivate to this level, the dantian can be restored.
The last layer is the Soul Refining Realm, strengthening the Divine Sense and soul; if one achieves this realm fully, the Divine Sense rivals a Heavenly Immortal's, even if they fail in the tribulation crossing, they possess a lifespan of ten thousand years.
The Eternal Green Technique has strict age requirements; if one chooses this technique, they must complete the Bone Refining Realm before age ten, the Flesh Refining Realm by eighteen, the Organ Refinement before twenty-five, and the Soul Refining by thirty-five. If unable to reach the required realm by the specified age, the cultivator will suffer backlash from the technique, possibly halting cultivation progress permanently or, at worst, destroying the veins, ending in death.
In ancient times, the Eternal Green Technique was a god-level technique sought by all body refining cultivators. With almost no bottlenecks, as long as there was an endless supply of Chaos Qi, advancement was smooth. But as the Chaos Qi dwindled, cultivation became increasingly difficult, and Li Zhan might be the last cultivator to achieve it.
Despite the harsh conditions of the Eternal Green Technique, the ancestor left only this body refining technique. Cultivate to survive temporarily in this world; without cultivating, the Chaos Qi would erode her to death, leaving Li Xing no choice. She gritted her teeth, encouraged herself, for she carried the blood of the ancestor; if the ancestor succeeded, so could she!
Li Xing put down the jade scroll, assumed the five hearts facing the sky position, and calmly focused, sensing the essence of this world. Countless firefly-like light dots appeared in Li Xing's Divine Sense; this was Spiritual Energy. Unlike her previous world, the Spiritual Energy here has attributes: white for metal, green for wood, red for fire, black for water, and yellow for earth.
Li Xing drew all five attribute Spiritual Energies into her body, feeling them. Of the Metal, Water, Fire, and Earth types, they behaved the same as ordinary Spiritual Energy, quickly circulating through her body, then dispersing out of the dantian, except for the wood attribute Spiritual Energy, which lingered longest in her veins, making her feel most comfortable. Li Xing speculated that while all attribute Spiritual Energy could be used, using Spiritual Energy matching one's spirit root attribute would yield twice the result with half the effort.
Surrounding the five colored light dots was a layer of bright golden aura, this was Chaos Qi, which was all Li Xing currently required for cultivation.
Li Xing circulated her cultivation technique, and the nearest green light dot, instantly attracted, quickly entered her body. Li Xing used her Divine Sense to separate the surrounding Chaos Qi from the light dot, guiding this strand of Chaos Qi according to the technique's directives through her meridians. Unfortunately, the amount of Chaos Qi was too little to show any effect, and separating it consumed much Divine Sense, making the cultivation speed worrying.
Was there a way to quickly separate Spiritual Energy from Chaos Qi? Suddenly a flash of inspiration struck Li Xing, and she had a bold idea. The next moment, she purposefully guided another green light dot into her dantian.
Something miraculous happened: as soon as the light dot entered the dantian, it automatically split into two parts. The green wood attribute Spiritual Energy ball circled the dantian once, then dispersed out through the web-like cracks, while the outer Chaos Qi stayed, circulating according to the cultivation technique. This discovery delighted Li Xing, her broken dantian turned out to be an automatic separator? With this cheat, she wouldn't need to exert herself extracting Chaos Qi, greatly speeding up cultivation!
Li Xing hurried to draw more light dots into her body, disregarding their attributes, letting everything come in, fully opening her eight extraordinary meridians and twelve principal meridians, operating the cultivation technique with all her might. Chaos Qi followed her veins, acting on each joint according to the technique's guidance.
Crack! Crack crack crack!
Her joints emitted explosive sounds.
As the technique operated, Spiritual Energy within a three-meter radius all spontaneously gathered into her body. Because of the rapid disappearance of Spiritual Energy, the outer layer quickly replenished, causing a whirlwind to rise in the room, with fresh Spiritual Energy rushing in through the open windows, making the curtains flap noisily. Her dantian was suddenly filled with Spiritual Energy, Little Fatty was overjoyed and swallowed them all before they could escape.
The Chaos Qi was transforming Li Xing's physique, her veins were in pain, her bones felt like they were being pricked by countless needles, even the secret technique to sacrifice flesh and reshape the body wasn't this painful.
Sweat beaded on Li Xing's forehead, clenching her teeth without uttering a sound. She knew she couldn't stop; choosing to refine her body meant accepting the pain, as bones and veins were forged and polished. The ancestor's notes stated that the Bone Refining Realm was the foundation of the Eternal Green Technique—the more pain endured, the stronger the foundation, the better the body refining effect.
Wave after wave of needle-like pain, following the operation of the Eternal Green Technique, circulated through her entire body, muscles, and joints. The sweat on Li Xing dried and then wet again, until it faintly exuded a bloody hue, with a layer of gray-black impurities seeping out.
The bone joint explosions finally ceased, and after a night tormented by pain, Li Xing finally completed her first body refinement before the sun rose.
Opening her eyes, Li Xing felt the world looked different; the sky was bluer, the grass greener, she could see farther and clearer without using her Divine Sense. And the Chaos Qi that felt prickly yesterday now completely lacked pressure.
With the Eternal Green Technique essence ingrained, there would be no more fear of the corrosive power of Chaos Qi, but Li Xing still remained vigilant. The reminders in the ancestor's notes lingered; if her cultivation speed couldn't meet the demands, she still faced an uncertain fate.
The curtains fluttered, and the morning breeze brushed her face. Li Xing set aside her worries and took a deep breath.
"...Ugh!"
((유∀유|||))
The fresh air she anticipated failed to come; instead, the stench of impurities exuding from her body nearly made her retch. Who said Golden Core cultivators are immaculate? Look at this mess!
Li Xing dashed into the bathroom like the wind for a bath.