Another month had passed.
On this day, Fang Xi looked at the calligraphy she had copied and found that each character was well-rounded and flawless, as if emitting a brilliant light.
"The fusion of spirit and strength... achieved!"
At this moment, Fang Xi felt that the true energy in her body was running smoothly, even to the point of wanting to burst out from under her skin... but it was just a fleeting impulse.
"It is said that the true energy of a True Martial Saint can be released externally, it's probably true..."
The fusion of spirit and strength was the pinnacle of the operation of true energy!
And a Grandmaster was the transformation of true energy into true essence!
True essence not only increased destructive and defensive power, but could even move independently from the body!
After completing this step, Fang Xi had reached the peak of a Four-Step Martial Master.
Next, she would need to comprehend the unity of heaven and earth, the unity of man and nature, in order to advance to become a Grandmaster!
"Unfortunately... Grandmaster Yuan Heshan has some experience as a Four-Step Martial Master, but how to break through to become a Grandmaster... Lenghu Mountain also does not have relevant secret techniques... otherwise, he wouldn't have been trapped for twenty years!"
After finishing writing, Fang Xi was in a good mood and went to the training ground.
At this moment, there was only Sun Hongdie in the training ground.
During this month, a few disciples came sporadically to pay respects, but they quickly left...
"Master... when will I be able to control my qi and blood, and enter the stage of Qi and Blood Transformation?"
Seeing Fang Xi arrive, Sun Hongdie's eyes were filled with resentment.
Every time her master said she had extraordinary talent and could enter the stage of Qi and Blood Transformation in an instant, but now... it had been several months, and she still hadn't made any progress.
"It's coming soon, just be patient..."
In reality, Sun Hongdie's poor martial arts aptitude exceeded Fang Xi's expectations.
Moreover, this disciple was constantly distracted by many family matters every day, making it impossible for her to focus on martial arts. What achievements could she possibly have? It was all just empty praise from before.
Looking at Sun Hongdie's frustrated face, Fang Xi couldn't help but smile without much grace.
"Sigh, only now do I feel like a young man..."
Thinking back to his recent eighteenth birthday, Fang Xi couldn't help but feel a little sentimental.
After arriving in the Great Liang world, he was busy with breakthroughs in cultivation, and he didn't even have time to celebrate such an important day.
Perhaps it was because of the changes he had gone through.
"I wonder how the situation at Qingzhu Mountain is going? Has the Sītú family fallen?"
Another thought crossed his mind, but Fang Xi had no interest in the life or death of the Sītú family.
Surely it was a time of great chaos now, and mere Second-Rank Body Refining methods were not secure at all.
He had managed to avoid this dangerous period, at least for a year or two, before going back to see how things were going...
What made Fang Xi somewhat melancholic was that after finishing the bottle of Wooden Elemental Pill, his progress in mana had almost come to a standstill.
After all, the spiritual energy in the Great Liang world was extremely thin.
To make progress, he would have to absorb the spiritual energy inside the spiritual stones while cultivating.
But this was too extravagant, as spiritual stones were mostly emergency items used by cultivators to break through or restore mana during battles.
Therefore, Fang Xi resisted the urge and only practiced his techniques once a day before moving on to other tasks.
"The pinnacle of the Fourth Layer of the Changchun Technique is just like that..."
"The key now is to break through to become a True Essence Martial Saint!"
"Furthermore, the flesh of demonic beasts is prone to decay and spoilage, but their skin, fur, and bones do not... If I collect more of them, I can transport them to the Southern Wilderness Immortal Realm in the future, it will definitely be a great fortune!"
After all, the Yue Kingdom was a well-developed cultivation country, with a dense population and scarce primeval forests, making demonic beasts even rarer.
Sometimes, a demonic beast would suddenly appear, and it might be surrounded and killed by cultivators from all directions!
As the number of demonic beasts decreased, the price of demonic beast resources continued to rise.
This was an opportunity to earn spiritual stones!
"The Demon Hunting Association, as well as Yuan Heshan... that old man, Lenghu Mountain, must have some good stuff!"
Fang Xi immediately made up his mind to visit Lenghu in the future and have a chat with him to gain some insights.
...
"Master, those beggars are here again!"
Half an hour later, Sun Hongdie, who had been called back home for dinner, looked at the small string of copper coins placed at the door, picked them up, and ran back to hand them to Fang Xi.
She was referring to Qing Sang and Ah Dai.
Since ten days ago, these two little ones had occasionally appeared near the martial arts hall, leaving behind some things before leaving.
"It seems they are doing well."
Fang Xi sat on the grandmaster's chair, took a sip of tea from the purple sand pot, and instructed Sun Hongdie, "Bring them in!"
Sun Hongdie happily went out.
Not long after, the two little beggars walked in.
Although their clothes were still tattered, they looked much better, and upon seeing Fang Xi, they immediately knelt down and kowtowed, "Qing Sang (Ah Dai) pays respects to the hall master!"
"You two seem to understand gratitude and repaying kindness, not bad..."
Fang Xi was quite satisfied. They were able to quickly obtain food and silver coins, indicating that they had probably learned the 'Moon Stealing Technique.'
This technique, even if performed by a child, could not be easily countered by a Qi and Blood Transformation martial artist, making it sufficient to deal with ordinary people.
Unexpectedly, after saving the two children and teaching them a little, he found that their talents were indeed not bad.
"Now... take off your upper garments!"
Qing Sang was stunned for a moment, then quickly took off his ragged upper garment.
On their bodies, there were a lot of filth, sores, and scars...
Fang Xi glanced over the rest and focused on their arms, shoulders, and palms.
It could be seen that Qing Sang's shoulders had a large area of injury, most likely caused by practicing the 'Moon Stealing Technique.'
On the other hand, Ah Dai had no injuries on his shoulders, but he caught Fang Xi's attention.
"Not bad, not bad..."
Fang Xi looked at Ah Dai, "Not only have you mastered the Moon Stealing Technique, but you have also added your own touch, not rigidly practicing like this fool next to you..."
Ah Dai looked confused, not knowing if he understood.
Qing Sang, on the other hand, was half-open-mouthed, somewhat incredulous.
But he quickly thought that he had learned the 'martial arts,' practiced hard every day, and had not succeeded in his first attempt. If Ah Dai hadn't helped him, he might have been beaten to death by the angry old beggar!
Now it seemed that Ah Dai's talent was even better than his?
Fang Xi had some thoughts.
He indeed needed to cultivate some people to serve as guinea pigs to refine his own Universal True Technique.
After all, this technique was his own creation, and there might be some issues within it.
Identifying and rectifying these issues in the technique might also help him become a Grandmaster!
"Very good, from today onwards, you two are apprentices of the martial arts hall. The things you brought earlier will be considered as tuition fees. Starting today, come to practice martial arts for two hours every day... maybe one day, you will become experts."
Fang Xi chuckled and suddenly appeared in the center of the training ground.
Sun Hongdie was startled. She had been watching Fang Xi the whole time and hadn't noticed how he had moved.
"I didn't expect Master to be such a master?"
She widened her eyes, finding it hard to believe.
Fang Xi ignored her and began to demonstrate the Universal Fist Technique.
This was the introductory part of the 'Universal True Technique' that he had modified, which could accelerate the condensation of Qi and Blood, and then break through to True Power!
"My Universal Fist Technique has a mantra - Body like a bow, legs like pine, fists like the wind, mind like emptiness!"
Fang Xi demonstrated each move of the fist and footwork, "To practice martial arts, one must endure hardship! Don't be fooled by my youth, I have been cultivating for over twenty years!"
A young man who had just turned eighteen spoke in such a manner.
Bang!
As he spoke, Fang Xi had already arrived in front of a wooden stake and struck it with a punch.
Crash!
The wooden stake shattered into flying wood chips in an instant.
"Wow! Ptooey..."
Sun Hongdie was about to say something, but found her mouth full of wood chips and dust, and couldn't help but spit them out ungracefully.
On the other hand, Qing Sang and Ah Dai's eyes sparkled.
"Alright, I have demonstrated the four main stances of the Universal Fist Technique. Now, show me what you've learned."
Fang Xi sat back on the grandmaster's chair and spoke in a deep voice.
"Please guide us, Master!"
Qing Sang immediately stood up, clasped his fists, and then swiftly assumed a stance.
"This person..."
Sun Hongdie was surprised. Although she could see many flaws and mistakes in Qing Sang's movements, he managed to complete the entire set somewhat clumsily.
She remembered that she had to break down and teach each movement to her master, and it took her several days to learn the entire set. Was it ten days? Or half a month?
After Qing Sang stepped down, he said a few words to Ah Dai, who looked silly, before Ah Dai came to the center and assumed a stance.
This time, Sun Hongdie didn't want to say anything.
Although Ah Dai looked dull, he performed the fist technique flawlessly, to the point where she couldn't find any mistakes, even though she tried!
"A genius... a true martial arts genius!"
Sun Hongdie murmured to herself.
Then, she looked at Fang Xi with resentment.
Clearly, Fang Xi's previous flattering words had finally been exposed...
"Very good, Ah Dai, you have performed all four stances well. Qing Sang, from now on, you will learn martial arts from Ah Dai, and then practice strength training with your senior sister Sun Hongdie!"
Fang Xi wasn't particularly surprised.
Even if Ah Dai had great talent, he was probably on par with Lenghu Yang. Perhaps Lenghu Mountain would be overjoyed to see him, but for Fang Xi, it was just the same...
Even if the other party had spiritual roots, or even Earth-grade or Heaven-grade spiritual roots, so what?
He wouldn't teach them cultivation, let alone take them to the Southern Wilderness Immortal Realm.
So... they were all the same, just guinea pigs for his cultivation.
"Master..."
At this moment, Sun Hongdie's eyes were red, and her voice was tinged with a crying tone, "Tell me the truth... am I really so untalented?"
She had been practicing for so long, and even ordinary people should have controlled their qi and blood by now.
"Um..."
Fang Xi thought for a moment and said, "Your mother is calling you for dinner..."
He had just called Sun Hongdie back for dinner, and now it had been delayed for quite some time.
"Master, don't avoid the question!" Sun Hongdie said indignantly.
"Sigh, silly disciple..."
Fang Xi sighed, his eyes filled with pity, and finally told the truth, "Why don't you go home and get married?"
(End of Chapter)