nyslfriends Chapter 111 Core Formation
Chapter 111 Core Formation
Upon returning to Xianzong, Lin Mu greeted Jiang Wang, went to the kitchen to retrieve some side dishes, and then carried the silly goose back to the back mountain of the guesthouse.
He lit a fire by the bamboo grove, cleaned the goose, chopped it into pieces, heated the iron pot, and the aroma of oil mixed with spices wafted far away on the night breeze.
Xiaoxiao squatted by the fire, her two crooked ponytails trembling in the firelight. Her eyes were fixed on the goose meat bubbling in the pot, and every now and then she would ask, "Is it ready yet?"
When the goose meat was stewed until it was tender and falling off the bone, Lin Mu served her a full bowl.
She sat on the rock, holding her bowl, her mouth glistening with oil as she ate, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel's. She mumbled that she wanted to help her older brother do bad things again next time.
Lin Mu said this wasn't a bad thing, it was punishing evil and promoting good, and she said she would punish evil and promote good again next time.
At midnight, Xiaoxiao finally fell asleep on the rock, still clutching half a goose wing in her hand.
Lin Mu escorted her back to the bamboo house, then couldn't wait to return to the guesthouse.
In Heyuan, Hua Jin can already do whatever he wants.
However, Qingzhou Prefecture had too many Core Formation Pills, and he was eager to improve his strength.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and silently recited the mantra that Zou Zhentian had chanted in the prison cell from beginning to end.
The body tempering techniques at the Core Formation stage are completely different from those before.
It's not about spreading qi and blood into a membrane, nor about attaching strength to the body surface to form a barrier. Instead, it's about drawing qi and blood from the body into extremely fine threads, like silkworms spinning silk. Using intention as a guide, these threads of qi and blood are layered and wrapped around the dantian, forming a cocoon.
After the cocoon is formed, the silk is drawn to form a second cocoon, which is slightly larger than the first one, and the smaller cocoon is placed inside it.
The two layers of cocoons were connected and fixed using the ancient hand seal method of Zou Zhentian.
Cocoon upon cocoon, like a cicada shedding its shell, like a pupa transforming into a butterfly.
Lin Mu focused his mind on his dantian, urging his qi and blood to try to extract the first strand of silk.
The first time, the blood and qi were drawn too thickly, and the silk threads scattered into a clump before they could even form a cocoon.
The second time, he divided his qi and blood into even finer and thinner portions. This time, the cocoon was formed, but the moment he fixed the cocoon layer with a hand seal, the cocoon layer collapsed.
The third time, he repeatedly recalled every angle of Zou Zhentian's fingers when he demonstrated the hand seal in the prison cell, and finally he completed the first cocoon. Then he made a large cocoon inside a small cocoon, and the two cocoons were connected by the hand seal, floating in his dantian and slowly rotating.
As soon as the two cocoons were put together, it felt like a hole had been punched in his dantian, and his qi and blood were being devoured. He poured all the remaining qi and blood pills in the porcelain bottle into his mouth, and the scalding medicinal power surged into his dantian, barely managing to stabilize the two cocoons.
Then he activated his qi and blood, continuing to draw out the silk threads.
When the silk of the third layer of the cocoon was only half drawn out, the qi and blood in the dantian were completely drained. The three layers of the cocoon collapsed at the same time, turning into extremely faint and minute golden light spots that dissipated in the meridians.
He leaned back and collapsed onto the couch, panting heavily.
His dantian felt completely empty, he couldn't even muster a trace of qi and blood, and his muscles trembled uncontrollably.
Lin Mu lay on the couch, panting for a while. Once he could finally move his hands and feet, he propped himself up on the couch and sat up.
He activated his Qi and blood again, continuing to draw the thread. This time it was even finer and thinner. When the thread was drawn out of his dantian, even he himself could not see it clearly. Only his mind could perceive that extremely fine and soft thread of Qi and blood slowly winding around in his dantian.
The cocoon is formed.
But before he could even rejoice, he took out the porcelain bottle, poured out the Qi and Blood Pill, swallowed it, and then began to spin a second cocoon.
When the two cocoons were intertwined, the hand seal almost broke. He gritted his teeth and used his will to hold it down tightly, constantly adjusting the angle of his ten fingers in the ancient hand seal method of Zou Zhentian, and stabilized it at the last moment before the cocoon layer was about to collapse.
Then came the third and fourth layers. With each layer, the blood and qi in his dantian were drained. He would take a blood and qi pill to replenish it and then continue layering.
Countless times it collapsed, countless times it started anew. One Qi and Blood Pill after another was consumed in the porcelain bottle, and the cocoon layer in the dantian also expanded outward layer by layer in the process of collapse and reconstruction.
The innermost cocoon is only the size of a morning dew, the second layer is a size larger, and the third layer is slightly thicker than the second. The cocoon layers are connected by a seal, and each cocoon wall has extremely faint and dark golden patterns that flow slowly.
That was the Qi and blood of the Body Tempering Technique circulating on its own within the cocoon wall, like a seed wrapped in layers.
As the first faint, bluish-white light of dawn appeared outside the window, the cocoon in his dantian had already grown to the size of a fist.
Large cocoons contain medium cocoons, medium cocoons contain small cocoons, and small cocoons contain even smaller cocoons, layer upon layer. The golden patterns on the cocoon walls flicker and swirl slowly in the dantian.
He drew the last wisp of vital energy from his dantian, gently wrapped it around the outermost layer of the cocoon, and then exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
The fist-sized cocoon trembled slightly in the dantian, then stabilized and slowly rotated. The golden patterns on the cocoon wall brightened and dimmed with the rhythm of the rotation, as if it had its own heartbeat.
Does this count as condensing a pill?
Lin Mu didn't bother to sleep and arrived at the waterfall early. When he found Jiang Wang on the bluestone platform, the sunlight had just dyed the water mist into a very faint and thin golden color.
Jiang Wang was still wearing that faded blue robe, looking tired as if he hadn't slept enough, and was leaning against a stone pillar watching his junior brothers practice.
Lin Mu approached Jiang Wang's side, his gaze falling on several junior brothers practicing the Azure Light Wall technique by the waterfall. After watching for a while, he sighed:
"This martial art is indeed powerful."
Jiang Wang raised his right eyebrow and glanced at him.
"The martial arts technique of condensing the elixir involves drawing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body and condensing it into a elixir core in the dantian. This allows for rapid movement, great power, and quick attainment of minor mastery."
"However, the martial arts condensation of the core is not bad."
"It compresses the body's essence, energy, and spirit to the extreme, with the body embracing the dantian and sitting on the hips, the power rising from the ground."
"There is no outward release of energy, no fancy techniques, just the purest and most brute force."
"A single pounce can exert the force of a thousand pounds, and can cover ten zhang in an instant."
"However, if one fails to reach a high level of mastery, ten years of hard work may not be as effective as a single volume of classical texts, which can be very disheartening."
"This is the most important reason for the decline of martial arts."
Jiang Wang leaned against the stone pillar, still looking tired as if he hadn't slept enough.
How can one concentrate their essence, energy, and spirit within the elixir?
"You'll know when the time comes."
"However, a senior disciple of the Xian Sect once stood under a waterfall to refine his martial arts and condense his elixir."
"Practicing under a waterfall helps to refine and unify one's essence, energy, and spirit."
"Are you preparing to condense your martial arts core?"
"I'm still considering it." Lin Mu didn't tell the truth.
If Lin Mu hadn't delivered that punch in Heyuan that killed the middle-aged scholar and five three-tailed foxes, he might have been conflicted, but now he's very certain he wants to pursue the path of martial arts.
He simply couldn't understand the concept of essence, energy, and spirit condensing within the elixir.
At Chen Shi (7-9 AM), the sun peeks over the mountain ridge.
Lin Mu took off his outer garment, revealing his bare upper body, and walked barefoot into the waterfall.
The torrent of water crashed onto my head and shoulders, splashing everywhere, and the chill penetrated to the bone.
He stood with his feet in a stance resembling a stance exercise, knees slightly bent, center of gravity lowered, and the cocoon in his dantian trembled slightly under the impact of the waterfall, the golden patterns on the cocoon wall flickering in and out of focus due to the water mist.