Ordinary Bone

"After Soaking in the Medicinal Soup, One Must Use Breath Control to Stimulate the Medicinal Power."

After adjusting to the temperature of the medicinal soup, Xu Taiping began using the breathing method taught in the Canyang Gong technique. Soon, he felt his lower abdomen heating up.

The steps of breath control were taught by Ziyang Zhenjun during his lectures. Although Xu Taiping had been trying for several days, he had not yet managed to refine the spiritual energy into his body, but the steps were now second nature to him.

"Hiss..."

As Xu Taiping wondered why the medicinal power hadn't taken effect yet, a sharp, drilling pain suddenly erupted from his back, like a nail slowly being hammered into him.

"If this pain is like this, I think I can still... Ugh!"

Just as he was about to say he could endure it, an identical pain erupted in his chest, leaving him unable to speak.

What was even more terrifying was that this was just the beginning.

After the pain in these two areas began, other pressure points throughout his body started to ache intensely, leaving no chance to catch his breath.

Normally, under such intense pain, a person would faint, but for some unknown reason, Xu Taiping, immersed in the medicinal bath, could not faint no matter how much pain he felt. He could only endure it.

The pain lasted for a full hour.

During this time, Xu Taiping thought many times about crawling out of the bath, but whenever the thought arose, the image of his grandfather on his deathbed would appear in his mind, with his grandfather's wide-eyed face saying:

"Struggle, Taiping, struggle! Struggle for yourself, and for all the common folk of this world!"

"Ha... Ha... Ha..."

Breathing heavily, Xu Taiping rested on the edge of the bath. Once his breathing steadied, he proudly whispered to himself:

"Grandfather, did I bring you shame?"

Though the excruciating pain had eased somewhat, a dull ache remained in his body.

At that moment, he felt like his body had been torn open by countless cuts. Even the slightest movement could tear open these wounds, causing agonizing pain.

"Seven days make a week. This Washing Bone and Severing Marrow Soup requires six more immersions, and not a single day can be missed in between, or all will be in vain."

Thinking about enduring this kind of pain six more times, even with his determined will, Xu Taiping couldn't help but doubt whether he could persist.

...

Six days later.

"Just one more time."

Looking at the steaming medicinal soup, Xu Taiping felt a sense of surrealism.

The six days that had just passed felt longer than the past ten years of his life.

Soaking in the Washing Bone and Severing Marrow Soup for six consecutive days had pushed both his body and spirit to their absolute limits.

On the first day, he didn't make a single sound. Little did he know, the coming days would bring him excruciating pain, causing him to scream, cry, and call out for his parents and grandfather.

Xu Taiping never imagined that he could be so weak.

This just showed how painful the Washing Bone and Severing Marrow Soup really was.

But even in the face of such torment, even crying and screaming, Xu Taiping still made it to the seventh day.

In these seven days, he even managed to plow through the entire three-acre medicinal field, planting all the seeds of the Nine-Leaf White Purple Mint.

"Struggle, Xu Taiping, you must struggle."

Standing hesitantly before the bath, Xu Taiping kept reminding himself.

At this moment, his face was as white as a sheet, without a trace of blood. His body had become thin and frail, having lost at least twenty pounds in just six days. He was on the verge of collapse.

Smack!

Finally, Xu Taiping stepped into the bath, his body quickly submerged in the white liquid.

"Ugh!..."

Although he tried to endure, the intense pain still made him scream. Had it not been for the remote location, his cries might have attracted unwanted attention.

Of course, his screams didn't go unheard.

For instance, Lingyue Immortal, who was floating as a wisp of blue smoke outside his window, heard it.

"Little Taiping, it's the last day. Hang on, this is the moment that will decide whether you ascend to the heavens or live a life of mediocrity."

Lingyue Immortal murmured as she listened to the agonizing cries from inside the house.

"You speak so lightly of it. The pain of Washing Essence and Severing Marrow grows stronger each day. On the seventh day, it's seven times worse than the first day. Without another method, who can endure it?"

She couldn't help but smile bitterly to herself, also feeling regretful for giving Xu Taiping the medicinal formula so hastily.

...

One hour later.

"Could it be... he really made it through?"

As she saw pure spiritual energy from heaven and earth flooding into the small courtyard like a tide, Lingyue Immortal showed an expression of disbelief.

This was the sign that the Washing Bone and Severing Marrow process had succeeded.

Having previously hesitated to look into the house, she now couldn't resist peeking through the window.

Inside the room, Xu Taiping had already fainted and was half-submerged in the bath. The medicinal soup, once white, had turned black, stained by the impurities continuously seeping from his body.

At the same time, streams of spiritual energy, visible only to Lingyue, seemed like gentle hands caressing Xu Taiping's body, then entering him.

Lingyue Immortal looked at Xu Taiping, then at the freshly tended medicinal garden in the backyard. She smiled and said:

"I originally only hoped for a gamble, but now it seems, I wasn't wrong."

After saying that, her figure vanished, leaving behind one last sentence that echoed faintly in the courtyard:

"Little one, I must focus on refining spirit crystals to extend my life. We will meet again in due time."

...

The next morning.

As the first light of dawn streamed through the window, Xu Taiping, still submerged in the bath, slowly opened his eyes.

He had just had the most restful sleep of his life.

"Did I... succeed?"

Noticing the black, foul-smelling liquid in the bath, Xu Taiping, instead of being frightened, smiled with joy.

According to the instructions of the Severing Marrow Soup, this was the sign of success, meaning his body had expelled all the impurities and was now truly ready for cultivation.

"Whoosh..."

Excited, Xu Taiping stood up from the bath, not even bothering to put on clothes. He ran naked to the well in the backyard.

He drew a bucket of water to wash off the impurities from his body, then sat down cross-legged and immediately began circulating the Canyang Gong energy techniques.

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