Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chapter 181 – 155 Jade Bone

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Leaving the Inspectorate.

Chen Mu made his way back to the Yu Family residence and soon returned to his own courtyard.

The situation was becoming increasingly clear now, as a battle between the Four Sects and the Heavenly Corpse Sect was imminent. The best-case scenario would be to contain it within the Purple Mist Mountains, but if things turned out poorly, the entire Yu County might be affected.

Before that, he still needed to enhance his strength as much as possible. Although the current him had some confidence against ordinary martial artists of the Five Viscera Realm, not having reached that realm, he was still somewhat lacking.

Silent Chamber.

He brewed medicinal concoctions, applied them, and practiced the Tiger Demon Bone Tempering Fist.

By now, Chen Mu had become quite adept at the process of Bone Tempering. This set of Tiger Demon Bone Tempering Fist was also well-ingrained in his memory, and he planned to increase his training volume of the Body Tempering Method over the next two days.

Normally, a martial artist’s practice of the Bone Tempering Method was fixed, since the body and bones have a limited capacity to endure. But now, with his skin, muscles, and tendons at their limit, and his Bone Tempering only a step away from its limit, even an increased load should still be bearable.

Previously, he had allocated his training time evenly between Body Refining and pondering over the Artistic Conception.

“Ha!”

Chen Mu struck a pose and threw a punch, a thick white mist exhaling from his mouth and nose as he suddenly lunged forward. For a moment, a tiger’s roar seemed to echo in the Silent Chamber.

This was not a sound he made with his mouth, but rather a deep, muffled roar produced by the interaction of his tendons, muscles, and skin under the influence of the Tiger Demon Bone Tempering Fist—a level of mastery to which very few could aspire.

And so it went.

Chen Mu practiced deep into the night.

After resting, he did not return to the Demon-Slaying Office to study the Artistic Conception Map; he only visited the Inspectorate to sort out some affairs before heading back to his courtyard to continue refining his Bone Tempering Method.

Thus, for two straight days, he finally accumulated enough experience to fill what was lacking!

In the Silent Chamber.

Chen Mu calmed his agitated Qi-Blood, took a deep breath, called out the system panel, and with a thought, added the last bit of experience to the Tiger Demon Bone Tempering Method.

[Tiger Demon Bone Tempering Technique (100%)]

[Experience: 3 points]

Following the completion of this last deficiency, an almost violent Medicinal Power suddenly exploded deep within Chen Mu’s body. As it enveloped each bone, a great surge of Medicinal Power rushed toward his skull.

From what Chen Mu had learned from Meng Danyun, to cultivate the Bone Tempering Realm to its limit and achieve ’Jade Bone,’ the most challenging part was the refinement of the skull!

The skull involves the brain, which is both the body’s most vulnerable and most critical part.

Most people who practice Bone Tempering strain from applying too much power to the skull, maintaining only a delicate level, so even if Bone Tempering is perfected, there will still be a small shortfall in the skull. Although this does not prevent a martial artist from advancing to the Five Viscera Realm, this very shortfall is key to achieving ’Jade Bone.’

Meng Danyun once mentioned that from the Skin Toughening Realm and Body Refinement Realm to the Tendon Changing Realm, each ’limit’ represents a specific advantage: Copper Skin for Skin Toughening, Iron Flesh for Body Refinement, Jiao Tendons for Tendon Changing, and Jade Bones for Bone Tempering.

For each additional limit mastered before entering the Five Viscera Realm, one holds an advantage over peers at the same level. This advantage does not diminish with increases in realm but becomes more pronounced the higher one climbs.

For a true disciple of a Great Sect, it is easy to reach two limits within the three realms of Skin Toughening, Body Refinement, and Tendon Changing, and not difficult to achieve all three. However, few can cultivate ’Jade Bone’ in the Bone Tempering Realm.

It’s not that it cannot be done, but many are unwilling to take the risk; there have been cases where one went mad from the Medicinal Power seeping into the brain while attempting to cultivate ’Jade Bone.’

Even Meng Danyun herself had not achieved Jade Bone.

She even advised Chen Mu not to aspire to the realm of Jade Bone and to be content entering the Five Viscera Realm with a normal, perfected Bone Tempering.

If Chen Mu did not have the system panel, he might have given serious consideration to this risky endeavor. But with the system panel, he only superficially agreed with Meng Danyun’s advice.

Regardless,

he believed in the power of the system panel!

“Hoo…”

The sound that came from his skull seemed like the striking and pounding of metal on metal, causing Chen Mu’s head to buzz, his consciousness shaken to the point of being unclear. Despite the dizziness, he could still barely feel the focused effort of bestowing Medicinal Power on the skull, with not a single hint of it dissipating inwardly, all concentrating on the surface of the skull.

Time passed without his knowledge, and Chen Mu felt a warm current rising from the soles of his feet, ascending along his leg bones, up the spine, along both arms, and finally reaching the neck, connecting with the skull.

At that moment,

if one were to cut open the surface of his body, they would plainly see that his originally silver-white bones, already perfected in refinement, were slowly losing their imperfections under magnification, linking together throughout his body. The color gradually faded from silver-white, slowly giving way to a clear, crystalline jade hue.

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The bones are flawless, crystal clear like jade, this is the Flawless Jade Bone!

Chen Mu, with his eyes tightly closed, suddenly opened them and abruptly raised his right hand, swinging out a punch forward with great force.

This punch, although not reinforced with the power of Artistic Conception, possessed such pure strength that it visibly distorted the air around the fist before it suddenly exploded.

Boom!!!

In front of him, an iron pillar usually used for testing strength emitted a deep, gong-like hum, and on its surface, an indented fist seal suddenly appeared.

If it were just the fist itself that created such a sound and fist seal, it wouldn’t be anything special, as any martial artist in the Bone Tempering Realm could do it. However, Chen Mu’s strike did not make any direct contact with the iron pillar from beginning to end!

His fist stopped about half a finger’s width away from the iron pillar!

After cultivating the Flawless Jade Bone, combined with the limits of the tendons, muscles, and skin from the Three Realms, the bursting strength was far beyond what it had been before. The sheer force of the air compressed by the punch left a trace of indentation in the steel at an extremely close distance!

“No wonder it is said that once Jade Bone is achieved, with this physique alone, one can shake the Yuan Gang True Essence of the Five Viscera Realm.”

“Yuan Gang is nothing but the solidifying refinement of Qi-Blood, combined with a trace of nature’s power to strike from a distance. After Jade Bone is cultivated, even the sheer physical force can achieve a nearly ’distance striking’ effect. Naturally, the power of such a punch is no less than a strike infused with Yuan Gang True Essence.”

Chen Mu slowly lowered his fist, looking at the mark left on the iron pillar and muttered to himself.

He didn’t ponder for too long.

He quickly walked to the side, took out a piece of demon meat to replenish Qi-Blood, swallowed it in a few bites, then sat down cross-legged, carefully regulating the restless Qi-Blood within his body. Once his Qi-Blood had returned to a full state, a Dharma Decree emerged in his mind.

It was precisely the Inner Breathing Method required for assaulting the Five Viscera Realm, which he had long memorized by heart!

The human body has five viscera,

Heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

Da Xuan’s Martial Canon states: Among the five viscera, each harbors a Divine Spirit, the deity of man. By breaking through the Mysterious Pass, one connects with the self’s deity, thus keeping the viscera’s circulation unceasing. Only then can one cultivate a complete inner Circulation and be able to inhale and exhale the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to refine Yuan Gang.

For a martial artist in the Bone Tempering Realm, the most difficult part of assaulting the Five Viscera Realm is that all the Mysterious Passes of the five viscera must be broken through all at once. If only two or three are broken through at a time, they can’t form a circulation, and they will soon begin to close again slowly.

Although breaking through a Mysterious Pass once makes it easier the next time, even if it has closed, the problem is that most martial artists in the Bone Tempering Realm have reached Perfection around the age of thirty-five.

At that age, although Qi-Blood is not yet declining, vitality is also not as strong as before thirty. Often, a single assault can only break one or two Mysterious Passes, and the Qi-Blood expended needs about half a month to recover.

Despite each assault being somewhat easier than the last, as one ages, Qi-Blood also gradually decreases. In the long run, entering the Five Viscera Realm becomes almost impossible.

If one reaches Bone Tempering Perfection before the age of thirty, the hope of stepping into the Five Viscera Realm is greatly increased.

At twenty-five, it goes without saying that one will certainly step into the Five Viscera Realm.

As for Jade Bone…

Da Xuan’s Martial Canon has a record of this—whether to break through or not, it all follows one’s desire.

In plain language, you break through the Five Viscera Realm whenever you want to!

Jade Bone, which represents the limit of the Bone Tempering Realm, is a completely different level compared to ordinary Bone Tempering Perfection. Those who can cultivate Jade Bone inevitably have reached the limit in the first three realms as well, and their Qi-Blood is almost at a point where it can’t be increased further, reaching the limit of human potential.

Therefore, assaulting the Mysterious Passes of the Five Viscera should encounter no obstruction at all.

To cultivate Jade Bone is to have already achieved the Five Viscera Realm.

Along with the movement of Chen Mu’s thoughts, the Inner Breathing Method slowly began to operate, and soon the Qi-Blood in his body was mobilized by the Inner Breathing Method, heading towards the heart in the center of his chest.

While it’s described as breaking through, in reality, there’s isn’t actually a substantial barrier to break through within the heart. The essence of breaking through is to nourish the five viscera with Qi-Blood, awakening the sleeping Divine Spirits within them.

Limits of the four realms, Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound, Flawless Jade Bone.

With such a foundation, the accumulated Qi-Blood surged down. To say it awakened them seems somewhat inappropriate; it was more like wielding a large sledgehammer, forcefully waking them one by one, naturally with a clear path ahead!

All true forms arise from the heart.

After awakening the Heart Spirit, the Qi-Blood continued downwards, reaching the spleen and waking ’The Root of Post-Birth,’ then upwards, rushing to both lungs, piercing through the canopy and waking ’The Root of One Breath,’ then returning downward to reach the kidneys and waking ’The Essence of Pre-Birth,’ finally returning to the chest to reach the liver and waking ’The Source of Stored Blood.’

In an instant, the five viscera within his chest and abdomen seemed to truly have five divine beings awakening within them. Chen Mu felt as if the whole world before his eyes had been renewed, suddenly becoming completely different, as if he had acquired another sense.

Although this was an illusion, it was indeed the awakening of the five viscera that immediately started operating on their own, forming a Circulation within the body. It connected with the seven apertures of the human body, causing the sensitivity of all five senses to rise sharply.

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