Chapter 68: Late-Stage Bone Training
The first session of the "two-person study group" yielded delightful results. Yang Shen had finally grown strong enough to go all out against Xu Bamboo.
He had a much clearer understanding of his own strength.
In terms of actual combat, he was still the stronger one.
But when it came to their potential college entrance exam scores, he was actually quite a bit behind Xu Bamboo.
After all, purely numerical categories made up the bulk of the five major Martial Arts sections, and even Xu Bamboo’s entire cultivation technique build had a clear "high-scoring intent," all geared toward the college entrance exam.
Zhuzi said her mother had put it all together for her.
As dusk fell, Yang Shen and Xu Bamboo stopped studying and sat together on the edge of the Celestial Platform.
Their feet dangled over the edge as they watched the last rays of sunset gradually fade below the horizon.
They sat very close, so close that when the wind stirred strands of Xu Bamboo’s hair, they would tickle Yang Shen’s cheek.
It tickled.
As for Xu Bamboo, she was focused on the feeling of his arm touching hers.
Even though the area of contact was only a single square centimeter...
...Xu Bamboo felt as if all 100 billion of her neurons were focused on that tiny square centimeter.
The young woman didn’t dare turn her head, as if any movement would shatter their silent understanding.
’Maybe Shenzi will think we’re too close, or that it’s too warm... and pull his arm away?’
Xu Bamboo’s toes curled slightly as she secretly savored... the warmth of that single square centimeter.
’I wish I could just sit here on the edge like this, dangling my feet, watching sunset turn to sunrise, and night turn to day...’
"Zhuzi, have you still been having headaches these past few days?"
Xu Bamboo shook her head. "Not anymore. I’ve been using a new medicine that helps replenish my mental state, so I’ve been fine lately."
Yang Shen said, "That’s good... but I want to ask you something..."
"Go ahead."
Yang Shen chose his words carefully. "If—and I’m just saying if—you were to run into some danger in the next few months, or get sick... or have enemies come seeking revenge, do you think that’s possible?"
The question was probably too absurd. Xu Bamboo’s dangling feet paused for a moment, and she laughed.
"What’s this? The Great Prophecy Skill?"
Incapable of lying, Yang said, "I had a very realistic dream. In it, you didn’t live to see your eighteenth birthday. I’m very worried..."
"But you just had an advanced check-up at a major hospital, they didn’t find any issues during your Body Forging, and now even your headaches are gone..."
Xu Bamboo grinned. "This is getting more and more out there. How would I know what’s going to happen in the future? Besides, it was just a dream. I once dreamed I became the Valkyrie of Yanhua Country!"
Yang Shen pressed, "You’re the only one who truly knows your own situation. Does your family have any enemies? Or are any of your cultivation techniques in conflict with each other?"
Xu Bamboo stretched lazily, showing off her graceful figure and letting out a sound like a kitten.
"Mmm~ Not at all. I’m not interested in unpredictable things. I only know that you have to live in the present... and strive in the present."
Xu Bamboo stole a glance at Yang Shen. Her deskmate seemed genuinely troubled by the question. She smiled and said, "What? Afraid something will happen to me?"
Yang Shen didn’t hesitate. "Of course."
"It’s just a dream. You’re taking it so seriously."
"The dream isn’t worth taking seriously, but you are."
The young woman froze. Pressing her lips together, she turned her head away, letting the distant city lights fill her vision again, afraid that in the next moment, she would reveal how moved she was.
This moment.
This quiet evening breeze.
It was more than enough...
Xu Bamboo didn’t stay for long. She politely declined Yang Shen’s invitation to come over to his house, as she wasn’t ready yet.
No matter how much time they spent together at school, teenagers always felt a little nervous about going to someone else’s house, because it meant stepping into another person’s life.
Meanwhile, dinner at the Yang Family’s home had a slightly strange atmosphere. Yang Mo and Yang Man kept looking at their older brother, seeming like they wanted to say something but holding back, until their aunt shot them a silencing glare.
That night, Yang Shen performed his usual All-Night Cultivation, but he was a little vexed in the morning. It was a heavily overcast day with no sun to be seen.
The thick clouds were like a curtain. He could vaguely sense that day had broken, but the sun was completely invisible. This meant he could only perform regular Body Forging and rely on the Buddha Sound Body Refining Technique to consolidate his gains from the previous night.
However, once he consolidated his progress, he would officially enter the late stage of Bone Training.
His Qi and Blood Value broke past the late-stage threshold of 240, reaching 243!
As one progressed deeper into the Bone Training realm, the strengthening of the skeleton would gradually spread from the limbs to the torso, finally converging on the Spinal Dragon before advancing into the Marrow Refining stage.
But Yang Shen was an Immortal Martial Dual Cultivator, so his situation was slightly different.
Compared to the specialized training of the Martial Arts Side, the effects of the Cultivation Side were more comprehensive. A more sensitive perception was one obvious difference.
It also improved his dynamic vision, night vision, and hearing.
In terms of stats, one path focused on specialization while the other focused on balance. It wasn’t a matter of better or worse, just a different philosophy.
For example, a pure Cultivator at the second level of Qi Cultivation would likely have less physical strength than a Martial Arts Practitioner in the mid-stage of Bone Training. Without considering weapons, their head-on combat ability would be significantly weaker.
Of course, if that Qi Cultivator were to pull out a talisman or a Magical Artifact gifted by their sect elders... well, that would be another story entirely.
The ecosystem of the Cultivation Side was far more than just "physical strength"; its Xuanqi aspects were its techniques and Magic.
But for Yang Shen, his Cultivation, which allowed his entire body to be evenly nurtured by Spiritual Qi, had also led to a new development.
Compared to a Pure Martial Artist of the same realm, other parts of his body also had the potential to be transformed by the "Source."
Besides his muscles, bones, and flesh, Yang Shen could faintly sense that his Inner Viscera were also being strengthened, albeit to a lesser degree.
’Hmm... even my kidneys are a bit more durable. I’ll be able to withstand more damage to my vital organs than others at my level.’
In his understanding, this was a change that only began for high-level Martial Artists in the Jade Viscera Realm.
The Inner Viscera of Martial Artists below the Jade Viscera Realm, such as those at the Innate realm, were naturally far stronger than an ordinary person’s, but that was a natural change based on their life-level, not the result of specialized cultivation.
From the three passages of the initial realm to Innate, from Innate Perfection to True Gang, and at Great Success in the True Gang Realm, one could begin to forge the Inner Viscera until they became like jade.
At that point, one would awaken a peculiar thing called a "Biological Force Field," which was known in ancient times as a "Qi Realm." Some charlatans also called it a "Spirit Realm."
Yang Shen wasn’t sure of its exact effects, but it seemed to allow a Martial Artist to perceive things with minute detail.
That was a very distant level, even more distant than Huo Jun’s True Gang Realm.
As the sun rose in the east, Yang Shen clenched his fists, feeling the vast and steady power within him.
’It might be a bit of a boast, but once I get close to the Marrow Refining threshold of 300 Qi and Blood Value, even Zhuzi with her 460 Qi and Blood Value... probably, possibly, maybe... wouldn’t be able to beat me.’
’Unless... Zhuzi has a cheat of her own?’
’No, that’s not right. 460 was Xu Bamboo’s level half a month ago. Everyone is grinding like mad for the college entrance exam, and Xu Bamboo is the queen of the grind. She might even be over 500 by now and into the mid-stage of Marrow Refining.’
Yang Shen formed a Technique seal with his hands. A moment later, a golden beetle flew in from the courtyard of the residential complex and landed in his palm.
He took a peanut-sized pill from his pocket and fed it to the Sun Worm.
He had six of them in total. These insects were lazy by nature. He was raising five of them like pigs, keeping them under an overturned flowerpot on the Celestial Platform and occasionally feeding them some rotten vegetable leaves. At most, he would use the Bee Control Technique daily to raise their affinity for him.
This one alone was being consistently fed the small pills from Liu Yuankui’s legacy.
His thinking was simple. ’If it dies from the feeding, so be it. The next one in line will be more obedient.’
This particular Sun Worm had already grown from the size of a walnut to the size of a plum. Its color had also gradually shifted from bright yellow to gold, making it look much more impressive. Its speed and power had also increased.
However, it hadn’t developed any miraculous abilities.
He couldn’t rule out the possibility that "durability" was their only special trait.
’I’ll keep feeding it for a while longer. If there are no problems, I’ll start the other five on the same regimen. Speaking of which, I have no idea what season these insects reproduce in. I haven’t seen them lay any eggs.’
Yang Shen checked his phone. It was Sunday, a rare day off after the monthly exam.
He planned to take a trip to the medicinal materials market to sell some things and see how much his harvest from the Window Spirit Field was worth.
If the harvest was substantial, he wouldn’t mind making another trip to the mountains to use the Sun Worms to search for more of nature’s gifts.