Chapter 11: Marrow Refining
Chapter 11: Marrow Refining
After parting with Zhao Shan, Chen Yuan returned to the courtyard.
Two years ago, after Chen Yuan broke through the Leather Refining Realm, Zhao Shan moved out of the courtyard.
He failed to break through the marrow refining stage for a long time and became somewhat discouraged. He married a wife and bought a house near Xingyefang.
From then on, Chen Yuan lived alone in the small courtyard and moved to the main house, and it became much easier for him to be infused with starlight.
He changed into linen clothes and went out again. He picked up a prescription from a pharmacy along the way, and came to a dilapidated house in the east of the county town and knocked on the door.
Tuk-tuk-tuk.
After waiting for a while, the gate of the courtyard was gently pushed open, and an old man with a hunched back and gray hair came out. It was the old scholar.
Chen Yuan went up to support him, and the old scholar said:
"Erniu is here, come in quickly, cough cough, my health is getting worse day by day, cough cough..."
Chen Yuan supported the old scholar and came to the main room. He placed the medicine on the table and helped the old scholar sit down gently.
"This is what students should do. Doctor Li said that after taking five more doses of medicine, you should be able to recover. But you must keep warm, eat well, and rest well."
The old scholar waved his hand and chuckled:
"Haha, birth, aging, sickness and death are all determined by fate... Which book should I talk about today?"
"The Lingxu Sutra."
"Let me look for it. The Lingxu Sutra... um, it should be here..."
The old scholar turned around and searched the bookshelf. At the same time, Chen Yuan picked up the herbs and soaked them in a wooden basin for decoction.
After a while, the old scholar also took out a book, opened it and read:
"The five elements are mutually generated and restrained. The principle is obvious. The five movements and six qi, the years, days and hours, are all established from this. They are used in conjunction with each other. Gold, wood, water, fire and earth, the shapes and qi interact with each other and give rise to all things. This is the great era of creation..."
The old scholar had an old voice. He read a sentence and explained it. Chen Yuan asked a few questions from time to time, and the old scholar explained again.
An hour later, halfway through explaining a volume of the Lingxu Sutra, the old scholar's forehead was covered with sweat and his voice became even weaker.
Chen Yuan brought the boiled herbs over and placed them in front of the old scholar, saying:
"Thank you for your hard work, sir. Please drink the medicine first."
The old scholar smiled and said:
"It's not that hard. When you are old, you are lucky to have someone to take care of you until the end of your life. Otherwise, you will inevitably end up in a miserable old age."
Chen Yuan smiled and said nothing.
For the past three years, he has been learning from the old Confucian scholar, but he is not just learning how to read and write.
After reaching a deal with the old scholar, Chen Yuan, relying on his photographic memory, learned all the commonly used characters in just three months, and then spent another half a year to master ancient characters.
After learning to read and write, Chen Yuan did not stop there, but continued to learn various classics from the old Confucian scholars.
Although the old scholar failed repeatedly in the imperial examinations, he was well-read, knowledgeable, and proficient in ancient books, especially Taoist classics.
Martial arts techniques are often derived from Taoist classics and often use Taoist terminology.
In order to go further in martial arts, Chen Yuan, under the guidance of an old Confucian scholar, studied Taoist classics diligently, and also made extensive studies in Confucianism and Buddhism, and his knowledge increased day by day.
He became more and more respectful to the old scholar and treated him as a student. He gave him four hundred coins every month, which was enough for his food and clothing, so that he no longer had to set up a stall in Wenchang Street and write letters for others.
After Chen Yuan broke through the skin refining stage, his monthly salary increased to two taels of silver a month. In addition to the four hundred coins, he also sent one tael of silver back home every month. From then on, his family no longer had to worry about food and clothing.
This year, the old scholar's health became increasingly weak. Last month, he caught a cold. Chen Yuan invited a doctor to treat him and prescribe medicine, which made the old scholar even more grateful.
If it weren't for Chen Yuan, he would have died of hunger and cold long ago.
The old scholar had no children, and he said that after his death, he would leave the courtyard and all his books to Chen Yuan.
Naturally, Chen Yuan would not covet this shabby courtyard, but he was very interested in the ancient books collected by the old scholar, so he agreed and took good care of the old scholar.
……
Chen Yuan watched the old scholar drink the herbal medicine, told him that he would not come to study Taoist scriptures for the next half month, and then said goodbye and left.
He returned to the courtyard and practiced the Subduing Tiger Fist for another half an hour, but when he finished, his expression was somewhat gloomy and his brows were slightly furrowed, as if he had encountered some bottleneck.
He lowered his head in deep thought, walked into the main room, changed into a yellow cloth short coat, picked up three food boxes, and went to the kitchen to get some food.
The servant was not surprised at all. He filled the three food boxes with food and handed them back to Chen Yuan respectfully.
When Chen Yuan entered Baibing Hall, he was famous for his big appetite.
After he broke through the skin and bone refining stages, his appetite continued to increase. His reputation spread far and wide, and the servants in the kitchen had become accustomed to it.
After dinner, Chen Yuan continued to practice boxing.
But after practicing for only a quarter of an hour, he stopped, drew out his long sword, and started practicing swordsmanship.
This set of sword techniques is called Five Tigers Breaking Door Sword, and like the Tiger Subduing Fist, it is the most popular set of sword techniques in the Tiger Subduing Gang.
After Chen Yuan broke through the Leather Refining Realm, Zhao Shan taught him this set of swordsmanship.
The Five Tigers Breaking Gate Knife could not be called exquisite, but its power was quite good, and it was completely sufficient for warriors below the level of marrow refining. However, Chen Yuan was not satisfied with the power of the Five Tigers Breaking Gate Knife, so he changed the ring-headed knife weighing more than ten kilograms, which was commonly used by people in the martial arts world, into a long knife weighing thirty kilograms.
Manager Li scolded Chen Yuan for being too ambitious, but Chen Yuan used the Five Tigers Breaking Gate Sword Technique twice in front of him, and Manager Li no longer had any objections.
Since then, Chen Yuan's reputation for great strength has become even more famous, but many people also mocked him in private.
No matter how strong you are, that's still a 30-jin sword. If you can't defeat the enemy, you can just use the sword skills twice. What's the point?
It was not until Chen Yuan charged into the Chimang Mountains while escorting a convoy, bravely charging into battle and killing two leather-refining bandits with his long sword, that no one dared to ridicule him behind his back.
Although Chen Yuan killed the two bandits, he was exhausted and could hardly hold on.
But the long sword is ferocious and extremely powerful in the fights in the martial arts world. It can chop and kill fiercely, and warriors below the marrow refining level find it difficult to resist.
Moreover, in the eyes of everyone, Chen Yuan has a simple and honest character and a simple mind. He once beat someone up over a disagreement, leaving him with a black eye and a swollen face. No one wants to mess with such a young man.
However, no one takes a martial artist like Chen Yuan, who only knows three tricks, seriously.
Even if he breaks through to the Bone Refining Stage, he is still a young man with a simple mind and acts recklessly, posing no threat at all.
But Chen Yuan, who was practicing sword alone in the courtyard at this time, was far from the image of a young man that people had in mind.
He held a thirty-pound long sword in his hand and wielded it with ease. When he danced, it seemed as light as a sword. Moreover, he practiced for an hour at a time without showing any signs of exhaustion.
Even for Manager Li, who is a martial artist at the peak of the marrow refining realm, it is impossible for him to practice swordplay for an hour without stopping.
Only martial artists with internal strength, whose true energy follows every move, can have such long-lasting endurance.
Chen Yuan is certainly not an internal force warrior, but he is not far off.
Outsiders all thought that he had just broken through the Bone Refining Realm, but in fact, he was already a warrior at the peak of the Marrow Refining Realm.
With the jade pendant in his body and the constant infusion of starlight into his body, Chen Yuan's martial arts training progressed rapidly.
After three months of martial arts training, he broke through to the Leather Refining Stage.
After another half a year, he broke through to the Bone Refining Realm.
After another year, he broke through to the Marrow Refining Realm.
After another half a year, he reached the peak of marrow refining, and his dantian was filled with true energy, making it difficult to make any progress.
At the same time, Chen Yuan practiced diligently every day and mastered the Five Tigers Breaking Door Sword technique to perfection. He knew every move and every style by heart and could perform them at will, such as splitting fallen leaves and chopping mosquitoes and flies with his sword.
However, he had never revealed his true strength in front of outsiders. Before the one-year deadline came, he "broke through" to the Skin Refining Realm. After his Dantian was filled with true Qi, he "broke through" to the Bone Refining Realm.
After three years of bone refining, he was considered quite talented in Baibing Hall, but he could not be called a martial arts genius and was not eye-catching.
According to Chen Yuan's inquiries, there are many warriors in the county city who have practiced bone training for two years. They are the real martial arts geniuses.
His "breakthrough" to the Bone Refining Realm would attract the attention of Manager Li and allow him to gain more benefits from him without attracting the attention of others.
A month ago, after he reported the news of his breakthrough to the Bone Refining Realm to Manager Li, although he did not become the commander of the guard team, his monthly salary increased to four taels of silver, the same level as the commander of the guard team.
The other guard commanders had no objection to this.
Over the past three years, Chen Yuan has been pretending to be an honest person and has never revealed any flaws. Whenever he encountered bandits, he always rushed to the front and was extremely brave, making many contributions.
Of course, he would not joke with his own life. He would always hide his strength and be confident before charging into battle. He would never be greedy for merit or linger in battle.
As the saying goes, great people hide themselves in the court. Chen Yuan's conspicuous performance made people ignore this young man.
He also deliberately made friends with the gray-robed apprentices in the hall and obtained a lot of useful information from them, which was more conducive to his disguise.
But now, his elaborate disguise has become an obstacle to his further advancement in martial arts.
When the Dantian is filled with true Qi and the peak of marrow refining is reached, the Tiger Subduing Power is also practiced to its limit.
During these seven months, Chen Yuan tried various methods, but was still unable to break through to the internal strength and almost went insane several times.
Fortunately, his body was strong and his meridians were tough, so he only suffered minor injuries and recovered on his own.
Now it seems that the only way for him to break through to the internal strength is to change his martial arts method.
But it is impossible for a bone-refining warrior to come into contact with internal energy techniques.
Only by entering the county town and joining the main gang can one obtain more advanced skills.
This requires Chen Yuan to demonstrate even greater strength, otherwise, as a mere bone refining warrior, it would be impossible for him to enter the main gang, and Manager Li would not let him leave.
But after thinking about it, Chen Yuan gave up the idea.
After three years of marrow refining, he is an extremely rare genius in the entire Yuzhou world, and is bound to attract the attention of various forces.
As long as there is a possibility of exposing Yu Jue's existence, he will not take the risk.
(End of this chapter)