Chapter 34: A Solitary Path of Cultivation, A Spirit Unyielding

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Lu Xiao knew that, in truth, his elder brother supported his desire to take the chance and fight for a better future.

If he did not, he would never have given Lu Xiao the Astral Wind Steps cultivation art.

It was simply that, in Lu Zheng’s eyes, the likelihood of passing the Martial Sect Academy’s examination was far too small.

That was why he wanted Lu Xiao to think about what he would do afterward.

As an elder brother, Lu Zheng had already considered Lu Xiao’s future on his behalf.

After Lu Xiao’s legs had been crippled, he had wanted to purchase a property for him somewhere outside the estate.

He would spend a little more money to find him a wife, then have him run some small business.

For Lu Xiao, that might have been the best and most ideal future possible.

In reality, however, Lu Zheng’s plan would be difficult to carry out.

The matter of Lu Xiao offering up his spiritual bone was not something the Lu family could take pride in.

Lu Xiao had not offered it willingly, nor had he given it to anyone from the Lu family.

If he were allowed to leave and speak of what had happened, both the Marquis of Lu’s Estate and the Duke of Meng’s Estate would be affected.

In the expectations of the old madam of the Lu family and the others, once Lu Xiao’s legs had been crippled, he would have to remain in the marquis’s estate and eke out a miserable existence for the rest of his life.

Seeing that there were not many miscellaneous tasks to do that afternoon, Lu Xiao did not refuse.

He handed them over to Er Niu and found a quiet place to cultivate.

During this period, his qi and blood had improved greatly through tempering with the Dragonblood Body-Bathing Art.

After being refined to the third tier, the Dragonblood Body-Bathing Art no longer possessed its original flaw.

When the disciples of Dragon King Mountain cultivated the Dragonblood Body-Bathing Art, they would usually cultivate for one day and rest for three.

The original version of the Dragonblood Body-Bathing Art injured the body.

That remained true even after the body had been tempered through Dragon King Mountain’s methods.

That was the flaw in the original cultivation art. No one could change it.

But after refinement, the Dragonblood Body-Bathing Art no longer had this problem.

The third-tier Dragonblood Body-Bathing Art could be cultivated and used for tempering continuously.

There was only one minor imperfection: cultivating it caused the body to emit the smell of blood.

The scent was extremely strong.

Lu Xiao had found secluded places to cultivate several times, only to be discovered by the city lord’s guards the very next day.

Worried that a bloody murder had occurred, they investigated with unusual thoroughness.

The city had been somewhat tense lately, so Lu Xiao could only set the Dragonblood Body-Bathing Art aside for the time being.

His qi and blood had already improved enough. He could now devote his attention to his martial cultivation.

Some days ago, his cultivation had advanced once more, reaching the minor-accomplishment stage of the Stone-Lifting Realm.

After this period of arduous cultivation, entering the thorough-penetration stage of the Stone-Lifting Realm should not be difficult.

With that thought, Lu Xiao found a quiet corner of the marquis’s estate and began practicing the Astral Qi Heart Formula.

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The greatest improvement brought by the Stone-Lifting Realm was an increase in physical strength.

Even an ordinary person with tremendous power would be utterly insignificant before someone in the Stone-Lifting Realm.

Every major realm was divided into four stages:

Initiation, minor accomplishment, thorough penetration, and perfection.

To truly master a realm, one usually had to reach the stage of thorough penetration.

Take Lu Zhi, the legitimate eldest son of the Marquis of Lu’s Estate, for example. Although he had reached the fourth realm, the Sea-Transforming Realm, he was only at its initiation stage.

He had merely touched the threshold of the Sea-Transforming Realm.

He was still a considerable distance from fully grasping its essence.

Lu Xiao felt that what he had gained recently should be enough to advance once more.

He had a chance of reaching thorough penetration in the Stone-Lifting Realm.

The path of martial cultivation was easy at first and difficult later.

From the first realm, Body Opening, to the second realm, Stone Lifting, and then to the third realm, Qi Condensation, each step was more difficult than the last. With every step, there was more to comprehend and more to take into consideration.

Although his progress was rapid at present, Lu Xiao constantly warned himself not to become arrogant.

The main reason he had advanced so quickly was that the earlier stages of martial cultivation were simple.

The assistance of the refinement method had also allowed him to improve at astonishing speed.

But beginning with the thorough-penetration stage of the Stone-Lifting Realm, the difficulty might rise sharply.

It would no longer be enough merely to temper the body in order to gain an improvement.

To advance from thorough penetration to perfection in the Stone-Lifting Realm, a cultivator had to attempt to master the flow of qi.

This was preparation for the Qi-Congealing Realm.

Of course, the difficulty of cultivating the basic martial path was still lower than that of literary cultivation.

The first step in literary cultivation was Opening the Apertures.

Opening the apertures was far more difficult than opening the body.

Moreover, Body Opening could use pills as a catalyst to aid one’s advancement.

Opening the apertures through literary cultivation, however, relied entirely on one’s own ability. The cultivator had to achieve insight personally.

Only after attaining that insight could one formally embark upon literary cultivation.

Of course, although entering literary cultivation was difficult, it was not as impossible as ascending to the heavens.

It was simply more difficult in comparison with the foundations of martial cultivation.

After the apertures had been opened, the foundational advancements in literary cultivation became relatively simple.

The first realm was Aperture Opening, the second Enlightenment, the third Touching the Mist, and the fourth Clear Spring.

Lu Zheng was currently a literary cultivator of the fourth realm, Clear Spring.

At that moment, Lu Xiao was cultivating the Astral Qi Heart Formula in the southwestern part of the marquis’s estate.

As long as the servants of the estate did not come looking for trouble, he only needed to avoid the elders.

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The wind of his fists howled, and the force behind them was fierce.

The Astral Fist Lu Xiao used still retained the form of the Astral Qi Heart Formula.

Its spirit, however, was entirely different.

With every punch he threw, a thread of astral qi could faintly be seen condensing over his fist.

The core of the Stone-Lifting Realm lay in tempering the body and its qi and blood, bringing the body into the state most suited for battle.

Every part of the body was coordinated through cultivation in the Stone-Lifting Realm.

The ability to lift enormous boulders barehanded, as the realm’s name suggested, was merely the outward manifestation of this strengthened coordination.

It was not simply a matter of pounding the body to increase one’s strength.

The household servants no longer came to disturb him, and the room had been stocked with plenty of baked flatbreads.

Whenever he grew hungry during cultivation, he would eat a few to replenish his strength.

After several hours of cultivation that afternoon, Lu Xiao felt that he had gained quite a lot.

He felt more confident about passing the Martial Sect Academy’s examination.

At present, Lu Xiao still knew very little about the examination.

The last time his elder brother had returned, they had discussed it only briefly.

Although Lu Xiao had asked about it, his brother had not explained the details.

Perhaps he had been afraid that Lu Xiao would lose heart, and so he had brushed the matter aside.

However, when Lu Xiao had spoken with Xue Shiwei earlier, she had mentioned a few things.

From her words, Lu Xiao had faintly learned something.

The Martial Sect Academy’s examination consisted of more than a few tests. It seemed that there were martial contests as well.

Xue Shiwei had also mentioned that, at his age, he might need the strength of the Qi-Congealing Realm to pass.

In other words, the requirements of the examination changed according to the cultivator’s age.

Lu Xiao found nothing strange about that.

There was naturally a difference between a seventeen-year-old in the Stone-Lifting Realm and a twenty-year-old in the same realm.

It was perfectly normal for a twenty-year-old martial artist to face higher requirements.

Whether in martial cultivation or literary cultivation, the fifteen years between the ages of fifteen and thirty were the period in which one’s talent and comprehension were at their peak.

If one was a year older than others yet only matched them in strength, one had already fallen behind.

When he took the Martial Sect Academy’s examination in the middle of next year, he would be twenty years old.

Compared with those who entered the Martial Sect Academy at fifteen, he would already be five years late.

Without a higher realm, the Martial Sect Academy would simply conclude that his talent was insufficient and impose stricter requirements upon him.

After resting and thinking it over, Lu Xiao did not dwell on the matter any further.

For now, he would devote himself fully to cultivation. As for the examination, he would deal with it when the time came.

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