Chapter 17: Five Transformations, Golden Bone in Sight i

In the secret room, Xu Yan assumed a horse stance and began refining his bones. As he circulated the formula, his blood and qi surged, his body warmed, and his blood and qi began to grow stronger. The dragon of qi and blood wrapped around his bones appeared larger, and its refining power, while traversing his skeletal system, became even stronger. "As expected, the Red-eyed Tiger is the king among tigers, harboring immense qi and blood!” Xu Yan channeled his qi and blood and started to temper them. "The tempering speed has vastly increased!” With the circulation of qi and blood and continuous refinement, the copper bones started to show a faint glimmer of gold. This was a sign of the transformation towards gold bones! "Once the supplement made from simmering Red-eyed Tiger is ready, my bone-refining speed will increase even more!” "At this rate, I can complete the first transformation in five days at the latest!” Tempering gold bones requires nine transformations to be perfect. "It can be even faster; the enlightened formula I currently understand may not be all; I should continue to understand it!” "Only in this way can one temper the golden bones faster!” With resolute determination, Xu Yan entered the stage of forgetting both self and object; he continued to contemplate the formula while tempering his bones. The next day, Xu Yan received the supplement that Pharmacist Pan had simmered and the processed tiger skin, then returned to the secret room to cultivate. "Indeed, the tempering speed is even faster now!” "I must purchase more precious medicines, more supplements that robustly boost qi and blood!” Xu Yan was extremely excited; judging by his current tempering speed, he might be able to complete the first gold bone transformation in another day and a half. After completing his cultivation, he found the person in charge of the Xu family’s business and asked him to purchase more precious medicines. "Money doesn’t grow on trees. Why are you buying so many precious medicines?” At lunchtime, Xu Junhe seized the opportunity to reprimand Xu Yan. "You’ve almost used up all the medicine in the family’s store. Where did the Nine-leaf Lingzhi go? What about the thousand-year-old ginseng?” "You squanderer, do you want to kill me with anger? "Where in the world can you find so many precious medicines? If the news of your purchase gets out, wouldn’t others mark up the prices? If they know it’s you — a naive lad purchasing all—won’t they substantially increase the prices?” Having been rebuked not once or twice, Xu Yan understood that his actions would cause some loss to the family, but even at great cost, he must advance his martial arts. Just a mere loss of some wealth. As long as he could make the entrance to martial arts and truly become his master’s disciple, what would a little loss of wealth matter? In desperation, Xu Yan glanced at his mother for help. "Mother!” Xu Junhe’s face turned green with rage. He commanded, “Don’t involve your mother in everything; I have the final say in this matter!” "Why are you so loud? You scared Yan’er!” Mother Xu saw her beloved son’s plea for help and immediately softened. She glared at her husband disdainfully. Xu Junhe almost spat out a mouthful of old blood. "My dear, you can’t…” Mother Xu frowned and said, “My husband, it’s just a bit of money. If Yan’er likes it, then it’s fine. Can’t our family afford this little amount?” "Of course we can! This little bit of wealth is nothing.” "Well then, aren’t you always looking at money? He is our son after all!” Xu Junhe felt defeated. "Mother is the best!” Xu Yan grinned. Xu Junhe could only tacitly approve of Xu Yan’s purchase of the high-priced medicines. "The first golden bone transformation is about to be completed!” Xu Yan felt like a massive dragon of qi and blood was coiling around his bones, and the qi and blood seeping into his bones had already nourished its way into the marrow. A tingling sensation hit him, and in a flash, the dragon of qi and blood surged into his bones and marrow. In an instant, Xu Yan felt an overwhelming surge of qi and blood; his body seemed to be reborn, and he felt as if he was in a state of sublimation. New qi and blood were born, and the old blood was expelled. The first golden bone transformation! As his life energy became more potent, his whole body seemed to sweat, covered in a slimy layer of dark purple old blood. At one moment, his body suddenly felt at ease, and he looked as if his bones were turning a pale gold color. Xu Yan could feel that he was growing stronger. If he were to fight a red-eyed tiger with his newfound strength, he could crush its skull with a single punch! "Is this the golden bone?” Xu Yan clenched his fist, filled with power as his life force grew even more abundant. Moreover, he felt that his life energy seemed purer and more potent than before! "How powerful would I be after nine transformations, when I fully grasp the golden bone’s capabilities!” Xu Yan was full of anticipation. "I’m filthy. Should I wash off? Is this some kind of blood replacement? By expelling the impurities from my life energy, it becomes purer. The foundation of martial arts is thus more solid and purer.” "Perhaps the prodigies of antiquity mentioned by my master were incredible because of this purity!” A flash of enlightenment dawned on Xu Yan. "Not only the purity of life energy, but also the purity of the heart of martial arts: a clear mind, pure and flawless!” "I’m not far from becoming a prodigy of antiquity now!” Xu Yan came out of the secret room, changed into fresh clothes, and washed away the old bloodstains from his body. On the twelfth day since he returned to the Xu family. In the secret room, Xu Yan was covered in light red bloodstains like beads of sweat. "This is the fifth transformation!” Xu Yan’s eyes flickered with excitement. Over the past couple of days, he had made refined medicines from the ingredients of the red-eyed tiger and improved the efficiency of his cultivation through a deeper comprehension of the martial arts. His bones had already turned to gold through five transformations. He wasn’t far away from nine transformations and truly refining his body into golden bones. And with the fifth transformation, no more impurities flowed out from his body. His life energy was almost completely pure! "With my current strength, even the top martial experts are no match for my punch!” Xu Yan was stirred with excitement. As far as he knew, all the famous martial artists were weak in his opinion. A single punch would be enough to end them! Even those renowned powerhouses were no different! "I can’t be arrogant. There must be other martial arts experts in this world, but they might be hiding their strength.” Xu Yan reminded himself. "I should leave tomorrow.” This time, I still have some treasured medicines and medicines refined from red-eyed tiger, which I haven’t finished. If I can comprehend the profound essence of my technique on a deeper level, I should be able to speed up my cultivation even further.” Xu Yan left the secret room, preparing to return to the small mountain village tomorrow. "It’s been almost half a month; my stupid disciple should be coming back, right?” Li Xuan stood on the hillside, sighing mournfully. With his foolish disciple gone, he had to do all the work himself, which wasn’t very relaxing. "I wonder if he has killed the ferocious tiger in the Evil Forest yet?” "Of course, assuming my stupid disciple made it out alive and wasn’t killed in the Evil Forest.” Li Xuan couldn’t help but worry a bit. "I don’t know why, but my body seems to have grown stronger.” "Are the effects of the treasured medicine really that strong?” In the past half month, Li Xuan felt as though his body had bulked up a bit, and his strength had increased. He even suspected that he had some hidden cheat activated. However, he concluded that it was just his imagination. In the end, he attributed it all to the treasured medicine that Xu Yan had brought. He marveled at the extraordinary nourishing power of these medicines in their world.