Chapter 118 Special External Soul Bone, Xue Qinghe's Hope
Clouds surged at the horizon, interweaving into magnificent patterns above the firmament.
The great sun slowly leaped out of the sea of clouds, golden light piercing through the clouds, pouring down and shining over the entire Douluo Continent.
A soft halo sprinkled onto his body, bringing a trace of warmth, and consciousness gradually recovered like a tide.
Tang Shan awakened from a deep sleep. Before even opening his eyes, what he first felt was a patch of softness coming from beneath him.
That was the unique touch of Blue Silver Grass. They seemed to possess life, actively supporting his body, and every single blade of grass gently swayed with the breeze, counteracting the hardness of the ground.
Even lying on the ground for an entire night did not bring him any discomfort.
Exerting a slight force with his arms to prop himself up, his Spiritual and physical state had already recovered to Peak.
Gazing blankly at the red sun for a moment, Tang Shan finally stood up, casually patted away the grass roots stuck to his clothes, and turned to walk into the room to wash up.
While washing up, he looked at himself in the bronze mirror and kept thinking about a question: Why not live in a proper room, and instead insist on making the sky his quilt and the earth his bed?
After washing up, Tang Shan did not start morning exercises.
Compared to previous workouts, it was best to have a continuous birth of Qi and blood in the body before cultivating the Resonance Method, so Tang Shan decided to temporarily cancel morning exercises and instead practice after eating.
Bang, bang, bang!
A gentle knock sounded. Evidently, Xue Qinghe had not forgotten about the daily morning exercise.
Opening the door, Xue Qinghe, dressed in a loose robe, stood calmly at the doorway with a gentle smile on his face.
"Your Highness, please come in."
Tang Shan proactively yielded space, welcoming the other party in.
"Tang Shan, an old Senior I know might also want to learn Internal Martial Arts. I wonder if that's possible?"
Xue Qinghe was not in a hurry to start cultivating, deciding instead to resolve the matter of Gold Crocodile Douluo first.
"No problem. Is that Senior here? Why not have him come over to Cultivate together?"
Tang Shan did not think much of it, answering very casually.
In his view, it was just Internal Martial Arts; as long as someone was willing to learn, he was willing to teach, and there was nothing to hide.
The smile on Xue Qinghe's face became even brighter. Just as he expected, Tang Shan agreed readily.
However, to avoid abruptness, coupled with the fact that Tang Shan still needed to try absorbing the Soul Bone, he delayed it for a short period.
"That Senior might not come so fast. It will be a while longer, mainly to consult your opinion first."
"Your Highness, as long as it doesn't spread on a large scale, just let me know when you hand it over to trusted aides."
Tang Shan had also gradually figured it out now. Unless one was inherently gifted in cultivating Internal Martial Arts, the difference between a Soul Master cultivating Internal Martial Arts and an ordinary person cultivating it wouldn't be particularly huge.
After all, no matter how abundant your Qi and blood were, at most it would skip the accumulation stage of Qi and blood. Ming Jin - A stage, An Jin, Hua Jin, and even the subsequent levels—Qi and blood would only be incidental products.
The essence of Internal Martial Arts was to master the human body and master strength; if you couldn't, you couldn't.
If you wanted to achieve results in a short time, unless you could possess an effect similar to Tang Shan's First Soul Skill "Self-Control", rapid progress would only be possible.
But how large was this probability? And what was the probability that someone with a Soul Skill of this similar effect could come into contact with Internal Martial Arts?
"Your Highness, let's begin. Because I have reached Hua Jin, I probably won't do morning exercises from now on, but instead start cultivating after meals when Qi and blood have accumulated in my body. However, Your Highness can still come over as usual in the morning. Guiding you is also a review of my own cultivation."
Xue Qinghe, who initially learned that Tang Shan would no longer do morning exercises, turned from worry to joy upon hearing the other party's subsequent words: "If it doesn't affect you, then I'll leave it to you from now on."
"It's no trouble. After all, I've taken so many resources from Your Highness; this little contribution is nothing."
Next, Tang Shan began to guide Xue Qinghe's cultivation.
"Your legs should be rooted in the ground, or rather sunken into the earth. The power must be transmitted downward, not staying in the soles of your feet."
"Drawing the sword is not simply about exerting force with the arms; the waist and even the entire body must exert force. Previously, Your Highness, your basic posture was correct. Now, if you want to make your cultivation faster, you must let the muscles of your whole body work synergistically and adjust to the stance method most suitable for you."
"Your whole body must be empty, while the sword in your hand must be solid. The so-called emptiness is not relaxation, but trying to let the power flow and gather at the sword; the so-called solidity is to let all the power gather on the sword, with the body being false and the sword being real."
As time passed, half an hour quietly elapsed in the blink of an eye.
"Alright, today's cultivation ends here."
As Tang Shan's voice fell, Xue Qinghe, maintaining the sword-drawing posture, did not relax immediately. Instead, he slowly placed both hands at his sides, took a long, deep breath, and only then slowly moved his body.
Over a period of time previously, Xue Qinghe had learned a lot from Tang Shan: after standing in a stance, one must slowly adjust one's state and try to calm the active Qi and blood, rather than suddenly relaxing into activity or sitting down on the spot.
Doing so would not only cause slight damage to the body, but also cause great depletion to the fruits of one's hard-earned cultivation.
Bang, bang, bang!
The knocking on the door sounded again: "Breakfast has arrived."
Xue Qinghe took the initiative to step forward and pull open the heavy doors. Outside the door, a row of graceful maids bowed and saluted simultaneously: "Greetings, Your Highness."
"Alright, you guys put the breakfast on the table and withdraw."
"As you command, Your Highness."
The well-trained maids answered in unison once again.
Tang Shan leaned against the table, his eyes casually sizing up the opened plates of fragrant and expensive breakfast items.
Any single portion of them combined both nutrition and deliciousness. He couldn't help but rejoice once again: thanks to hugging a great thigh at the beginning, otherwise where would he get the Qi and blood replenishment for cultivating the Resonance Method now?
As the maids left, Tang Shan's gaze inadvertently caught the small movement of the last maid.
At the instant she turned around to close the door, her fingers extremely stealthily scratched the palm of Xue Qinghe's hand, her gaze carrying a hint of ambiguity and flirtation that only women could understand.
Xue Qinghe's entire body suddenly stiffened, standing frozen in place. The expression on his face was colorful and varied, obviously rendered at a loss by this sudden move.
Seeing this, the corners of Tang Shan's mouth twitched slightly. Suppressing his laughter, he picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then spoke leisurely: "Your Highness's reputation for being 'approachable' seems to have deeply won the hearts of the maids. Even palace maids who serve you intimately dare to make such jokes with you. This charm really makes people envious."
Xue Qinghe wore a benign smile on his face, but his gaze swept over coolly: "Tang Shan, seeing me make a fool of myself, you seem very happy?"
"That's naturally the case," Tang Shan put down the teacup and teased with a serious face, "After all, being able to see the esteemed Crown Prince being taken advantage of, this kind of scene isn't something you can see every day. I am doing this to be happy for Your Highness, showing that you have no airs and deeply win the hearts of the people."
Seeing Xue Qinghe's complexion darken at a speed visible to the naked eye, Tang Shan decisively raised his chopsticks and chuckled: "Just kidding, Your Highness don't take it seriously. Breakfast won't taste good if it gets cold; I'll dig in first."
Finished speaking, he decisively ignored Xue Qinghe's gaze that looked as if it wanted to devour someone, wielding his chopsticks like flying, and began to gorge himself.
The food that greatly replenished Qi and blood was quickly chewed and then digested by him.
Hundred-year and thousand-year Soul Beast meat, various ginsengs, ganoderma lucidum, and fleeceflower roots—these ultimate nourishing items that were fatal poison to ordinary people had at this moment become Tang Shan's best fuel.
Entering his belly, a domineering and pure wave of heat suddenly exploded within his stomach pouch.
That wave of heat rushed wildly along the Meridians like a swimming dragon towards his limbs and bones. Wherever it passed, the originally calm Qi and blood were instantly ignited, emitting a rumbling surging sound.
A faint layer of red light vaguely rippled across the surface of his skin, and his pores relaxed.
The dining plates were cleared away. Xue Qinghe took out a small cloth bag from his bosom and placed it on the table.
"Your Highness, this is——?"
Breaking free from the emotion of shame and annoyance, Xue Qinghe did not give Tang Shan a good look, only rolling his eyes: "The External Soul Bone you wanted."
Ignoring how jarring it was for a "man" to roll his eyes, Tang Shan was truly quite startled.
No, did you really get it, Senior? I was purely speaking casually at the time.
Even though he had a vague premonition yesterday when Xue Qinghe said he wanted to give him a surprise, when the External Soul Bone was truly placed in front of him, Tang Shan still found it somewhat hard to believe.
This was an External Soul Bone, not some ordinary thing; it was an External Soul Bone second only to a ten thousand year spirit bone!
Such a heavy gift, such an investment—involuntarily, a trace of shame arose in Tang Shan for teasing Miss Angel just now.
"I found this Soul Bone in a corner of the national treasury, but it has never been absorbed by anyone until now. I brought it over just to let you try and see if you can absorb it. After all, it is an External Soul Bone, and you know its particularity; it is truly difficult to retain. If you cannot absorb it, I can still help you get two pieces of ten thousand year spirit bone."
Hearing Xue Qinghe's introduction, Tang Shan suddenly came to an understanding. No wonder this External Soul Bone could be preserved; it turned out that no one had successfully obtained it to this day.
"I wonder what is special about this Soul Bone? Could it be that the energy contained within it is overly majestic and domineering?"
Tang Shan couldn't help guessing.
"No, on the contrary, it is just the opposite. The Soul Power contained within it is not very abundant; it is mainly because the absorption conditions are harsh, and to this day we still haven't figured out what the conditions for this absorption actually are."
Xue Qinghe pushed the cloth bag in front of Tang Shan, his expression solemn.
"Take this Soul Bone and try it, but if you cannot absorb it, absolutely do not extract it by force. As to what will happen if you absorb it by force, I cannot predict either."
"Your Highness, rest assured. If it is truly unfeasible, naturally I won't force it. After all, I still haven't finished repaying Your Highness for so many favors."
Tang Shan smiled as he put away the cloth bag, and Xue Qinghe's solemn expression also eased a bit.
"I will go into the secret room to absorb it, and perhaps I will have to trouble Your Highness for two Seniors to act as Protectors."
"Go ahead, I have my own arrangements."
Watching Tang Shan walk into the secret room specially used for secluded cultivation, the heavy doors slowly closed. Xue Qinghe's hands subconsciously clenched tightly, his knuckles turning slightly pale. His gaze stared closely at that tightly closed stone door, and a few ripples surged in his heart.
The courtyard door quietly opened, and Gold Crocodile Douluo, with his hands behind his back, walked to Xue Qinghe's side.
"Rest assured, as long as he doesn't mess around, nothing will go wrong. Even if he absorbs it by force, it will at most damage some Meridians on his palms, and I have plenty of ways to restore them."
Hearing the soothing voice of Gold Crocodile Douluo, Xue Qinghe took a deep breath, but did not respond as usual.
Tang Shan's figure continuously flashed through his mind. Xue Qinghe knew Tang Shan very well, knowing that he was a person who would never seek instant success and quick profits.
But this time, he hoped he could succeed more than anyone else.
If he could even absorb this External Soul Bone that a Titled Douluo had failed to successfully absorb, it would mean that he truly possessed the Heaven-Defying Luck and miracles to defy the heavens and change fate.
On this path to godhood covered in thorns, he might truly become the sole person capable of walking side-by-side with him, jointly breaking through that final barrier, standing tall above the Nine Heavens, and looking down upon all living beings.
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