The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror-Chapter 32 - 28 Bone Training

Xu Qing was immersed in the cultivation of "Crane Call"; after a long time, he exhaled a straight breath of white air that dissipated only after reaching three feet away. Upon "observing" the bronze mirror, not only had Crane Form become its complete form, but the Martial Arts Level evaluation had also changed from "Muscle Training" to "Bone Training".

"So that's how it is." After practicing "Crane Call," Xu Qing gained a kind of enlightenment.

Even though he had previously achieved Great Success in Crane Form and strengthened his limbs through Muscle Training, his Kung Fu would not truly be considered as having entered the gateway of Martial Arts because it had not been applied to the spinal bones.

The "Breathing Skill" gleaned from the Old Wutong Tree just happened to compensate for this deficiency.

For the Old Wutong Tree, "Breathing Skill" could help it absorb and refine moonlight, promoting its cultivational progress. For Xu Qing, it represented an important step in "Refining Essence into Qi."

The "Qi" in Refining Essence into Qi was actually the heat generated by his practice of Crane Form.

However, this "Qi" needed to be driven and refined by the Divine Soul.

Xu Qing, with a Divine Soul much stronger than ordinary people, could drive this heat, but his usage was not sufficient. The Breathing Skill could precisely mobilize the power of the Divine Soul to harness this "Qi," making Xu Qing truly step into the cultivation process of Refining Essence into Qi.

This was also the so-called life-nourishing practice of Taoism.

"This breath is orchestrated by the Divine Soul; no wonder I needed to outwardly project my soul to hear the 'Breath of the Old Wutong Tree.'"

"The 'Breath' the Old Wutong Tree had unwittingly learned wasn't innate to it. This method, obviously a derivative of Crane Form, is more suitable for humans. And since the Old Wutong Tree absorbs moonlight day and night, without the Breathing Skill to guide and refine the essence, the moonlight would actually be harmful. It weakens the Divine Soul, making one susceptible to sickness," Xu Qing finally understood why the previous two owners of the courtyard had died young; they had unintentionally been affected by the moonlight attracted by the Old Wutong Tree, which laid the foundation for their illnesses.

"Why couldn't I hear this sound when I first moved in?" Xu Qing still had unresolved questions.

"Could it be because my practising Crane Form triggered the Old Wutong Tree? And previously, due to some reason, it had fallen silent and did not display the 'Breath'?"

For now, these were only speculations and couldn't be confirmed.

But the benefits were tangible.

With "Crane Call," Xu Qing had officially stepped into the threshold of "Bone Training."

Muscle Training was just the level of strengthening the body in common people; when it came to Bone Training, it was somewhat departing from the mundane.

"Crane Call."

Xu Qing got out of bed and performed "Crane Call." He felt a tingling sensation in his spine, as if stimulated by a weak current.

The origin of the sound in "Crane Call" was in the Divine Soul, while on the physical body, it was the breathing sound becoming sharp and concentrated, hardly making any noise.

Under the stimulation of "Crane Call," Xu Qing could distinctly feel his spine, starting from the back of his head, inching downwards, as if his spine was stretching out like a great dragon soaring through the clouds during this process.

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"Control Cranes and Capture Dragons."

A Martial Arts term surfaced in Xu Qing's mind.

No wonder such a term existed in Martial Arts Training.

Practicing Crane Form was to control the crane; controlling the crane was to capture this great dragon in the spine!

During the movement of the spine, the entire skeletal structure moved, with the muscles stretching accordingly. And the Cultivation practice prior to this in Crane Form was mainly the process of Muscle Training.

With strong muscles, whether it was bone movement or muscle stretching, both had good support and extension, preventing injuries during the Bone Training process.

During this process, Xu Qing even became acutely aware of the existence of all the pores in his body.

As his spine stretched to the region of the tailbone, Xu Qing shivered all over, his pores tightened all at once, generating a large amount of heat within his body, which spread into his limbs creating an indescribable comfort as if soaking in hot water.

After a long while, Xu Qing finally regained his composure.

"If there had been no 'Crane Call' guiding the spine, under the previous circumstances, the pores would not have closed and the heat would have dispersed, resulting in the leakage of Essence Qi. Over time, this naturally causes harm to the body."

Xu Qing, having nothing else to do, continued to practice 'Crane Call' until he felt a slight warmth in his temples and his stomach growled with hunger before stopping.

"No wonder uncle said, a true Kung Fu master can be recognized by their temples; people with bulging temples should not be provoked. If provoked, one should run as far as possible." Xu Qing clearly felt that if he continued his practice, his temples would eventually bulge.

In fact, this is because of 'Refining Essence into Qi', a symbol of abundant vital fluids.

Moreover, the bone marrow in the spine is responsible for blood formation, thus cultivating the spinal bones naturally benefits the bone marrow and nourishes the Qi-Blood.

"The mundane world is like a bitter sea, and the physical body is a boat. The Divine Soul is protected by the boat to avoid the torment of the bitter sea. Previously, when I practiced Crane Form, it was like strengthening the boat's body, but lacking practice in the spinal bones was like having a faulty keel. If a boat's keel is faulty, it risks capsizing at the slightest wind or wave."

The sun rose as usual.

Xu Qing resolved his recent confusions and felt greatly uplifted.

"Brother Tree, thank you for enlightening me. From now on, let's progress together, sharing life and death!" Xu Qing now felt great gratitude towards the Old Wutong Tree, nearly wanting to swear brotherhood with it.

And he also understood why the tree could withstand his punches and kicks.

It too had its own 'Cultivation'.

He wondered how many years of Dao the Old Wutong Tree had.

But he clearly felt that the tree had little 'consciousness', its breathing still lingering at nearly instinctual stages.

"Could it be that Gu Feng practiced 'Crane Call', causing the old tree to learn it inadvertently, but if Gu Feng knew it, why didn't he teach his descendants?"

On the other hand, Xu Qing suspected that the Xu Family's annihilation might be related to 'Crane Call'.

In his view, Crane Form, a health-preserving Kung Fu, was not a rarity for aristocratic families. 'Crane Call' was clearly different.

It is a Breathing Skill directly driven by the Divine Soul, even a tree learning it can absorb a significant amount of Moonlight for 'Cultivation'.

To the interested, it certainly must be extremely precious.

"They annihilated my family but left my physical body intact. Could it be because they couldn't find 'Crane Call', and kept 'me' as a clue? Perhaps they will reappear in a couple of years to find me?"

In an instant, Xu Qing harbored a strong sense of persecution.

This was not undue worry, as the lifespan assessment from the bronze mirror still hadn't changed.

There was no black Qi in his Qi Fortune, so he was temporarily safe.

Xu Qing didn't get alarmed; he still had more than two years to grow stronger. Whatever he faced after more than two years, enhancing his own power was undoubtedly the right approach.

'Crane Call', driven by the Divine Soul, naturally performs better with a stronger Divine Soul. On the contrary, the Divine Soul of an ordinary person may not meet the threshold to cultivate 'Crane Call'.

Perhaps, the Old Wutong Tree met the cultivation threshold because it barely counted as a 'spirit creature'.

Xu Qing guessed at the 'truth'.

"Regardless, strengthening the Divine Soul is the only way to improve the effects of 'Crane Call', hence reading and nurturing the soul constantly play a crucial role in Martial Arts Training and Cultivation."

As for now, filling his stomach was more imperative.

After heading to the west courtyard and gulping down food ravenously, Xu Qing was finally full. However, his digestive ability also increased, and soon he felt the urge to use the restroom.

"This won't do. Without the corresponding nourishing medicine recipe, Martial Arts Training requires a large amount of food. After eating, it inevitably leads to extensive excretion. Already this way now, if in the future I need to consume as much as a sheep daily, not to mention the considerable financial cost, I fear it would waste a lot of time in the restroom each day." Xu Qing harbored a slight worry.

Being someone who liked to plan ahead, it seemed urgent to start looking for new nourishing medicine recipes soon.