Chapter 134 – Multi-stage Exertion, Minor Achievement in Bone Training

“Pop!”

Accompanied by a sound resembling a light tap on a drum, Lu Yuan’s previously emaciated figure returned to its normal state.

“This can be used to change my physique and conceal my identity when necessary…”

In his usual state, Lu Yuan was robust and muscular. If he suddenly became gaunt and skeletal, even those who knew him well might not recognize him without covering his face.

“Advanced muscle control techniques are just a side benefit. The main improvement of lv3 [special exertion] is still in the enhancement and control of strength…”

Lu Yuan extended his right hand flatly, letting the water from the showerhead fall onto it.

His five fingers slightly closed together, and his palm formed a small water basin.

Suddenly.

Lu Yuan’s fingers moved, and his palm exerted force.

“Bang!”

The water accumulated in his palm immediately burst, turning into a misty spray.

But it wasn’t over yet.

One burst of mist was followed by a second, then a third…

It exploded four or five times before finally subsiding.

Lu Yuan lowered his hand, calmly slicking his wet, stringy hair back, and then began applying body wash to himself.

“Multi-stage Exertion!”

After upgrading [special exertion] to lv3, Lu Yuan unlocked more advanced techniques based on the changed phases, allowing the exerted force to explode in multiple stages.

More elusive and unpredictable.

In addition, his strength points attribute also increased.

However, Lu Yuan still didn’t know the upper limit of this boost.

After raising his strength points to 16, his boxing power reached one and a half tons.

But the limit of what his 17 constitution points could endure was roughly just over three times that, around five tons of punching power.

“There is still room for improvement. The Spirit Crane Body is about to break through. Once that happens, my constitution points will increase, and I should be able to measure the upper limit…”

Lu Yuan thought as he finished applying the body wash and started rinsing off the foam bit by bit.

Five minutes later, the sound of water stopped.

Standing at the shower door, Lu Yuan’s body trembled slightly.

The remaining water droplets on his body immediately fell off, completely drying him and saving the trouble of using a towel.

“Martial arts change lives.”

But it couldn’t quite dry his hair.

Lu Yuan grabbed a towel and haphazardly wiped his hair. When he pulled down a strand, he realized it had grown past his eyes. He considered asking Liu Si to arrange a haircut for him tomorrow.

Without using a hairdryer, he walked out of the bathroom with his hair still half-dry.

He casually picked up his mobile phone to check for messages.

There was nothing important, just a message from his Mom asking why he hadn’t posted anything about his trip to Weishan. She wondered why he hadn’t shared any photos on Moments.

Even if he didn’t like posting on Moments, he could at least send a few pictures to her.

Feeling a bit of a headache, Lu Yuan casually scrolled through Moments and saw that his classmates had returned from their group trip. His feed was flooded with their vacation photos.

Helplessly, Lu Yuan thought for a moment and replied: “Been here for ten days, spent eight of them in an Internet Cafe with friends. Tomorrow, I’ll go out and explore properly.”

His Mom replied with several hammer emojis, indicating her mild exasperation.

He managed to placate her, albeit barely.

“Swish—”

“Swish—”

He heard the sound of water being scooped repeatedly.

A cool breeze blew by, and he felt strands of hair tickling his cheeks, carrying a faint, mysterious fragrance.

Lu Yuan slowly opened his eyes to see the familiar sight of scarlet and a bright, full moon.

A hint of helplessness appeared in his eyes.

“Here we go again…”

He calmly sat up from amidst the large clusters of Red Spider Lilies.

The enormous, water-reflecting full moon seemed just a short distance in front of him.

The dark Styx flowed silently beside him.

The sound of water being scooped came from his side.

There, a woman in a black lace dress with graceful curves was washing her hair in the river, her back turned to him.

“Still not clean, huh…”

Lu Yuan greeted the woman as if seeing an old friend, then couldn’t resist adding, “How long has it been since you last washed your hair? Is it that dirty?”

The woman’s scooping motion froze silently.

Lu Yuan suddenly felt a pang of unease, wondering if he had said something wrong.

This had never happened before.

Just as he was unsure how to handle the situation…

Suddenly.

The Styx in front of him started to tremble, and with a splash, a dark shadow burst out of the water.

It was a crow!

Then came a second, a third, a fourth… countless more.

In the blink of an eye, the vast Styx was enveloped in darkness.

Like boiling water, tens of thousands of crows emerged from the inky depths.

They obscured the full moon, shrouding the night sky.

The Red Spider Lilies swayed, and Lu Yuan stared dumbfounded at the scene before him.

Abruptly, he turned his head.

The Woman in Black Dress, who had been by the water’s edge, had vanished without a trace…

“Whoosh.”

Lu Yuan woke up with a start on his large, five-square-meter bed, a fine layer of sweat covering his forehead.

Calming himself down, he got out of bed, poured himself a glass of warm water, and sipped it slowly.

“That dream again.”

Lu Yuan brought up his professional panel.

On the [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] panel, a glowing dot was still flashing intermittently.

Ever since he increased his intelligence points to 17 a few days ago, he had been repeatedly having the Crow Dreamscape.

Each time, it was the Red Spider Lilies, the Styx, the full moon, the Woman in Black Dress, and the crows.

He had tried several sleep remedies found online and even had Liu Si switch to calming incense known for aiding sleep, but nothing could prevent the dream from recurring nightly.

He wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.

All he could say was… for now, it didn’t significantly affect him.

“Maybe it’s a necessary process for comprehending a new skill. Once this skill is fully understood, the strange dreams will disappear…”

Lu Yuan consoled himself.

After a brief adjustment, Lu Yuan took a Bone-Tempering Pill from his bedside table and swallowed it with warm water.

Then, he formally began his day’s cultivation.

He practiced several rounds of the Spirit Crane Body, fully utilizing the effects of the Bone-Tempering Pill.

Covered in a fine layer of sweat, Lu Yuan didn’t rush to shower. Instead, he took the cushion he used for training and moved it to the window.

Opening the window, he was greeted by a bright summer landscape.

The room’s design was exquisite, with a layout that ensured it stayed warm in winter and cool in summer.

In the morning, a refreshing breeze constantly blew in from the distant bamboo grove, providing a sense of tranquility and delight.

Lu Yuan sat down on the cushion and glanced at his professional panel.

[Spirit Crane Body lv3 (394/400)]

He was only six experience points away from breaking through.

By absorbing the residual medicinal power of the Bone-Tempering Pill he had just taken, he could make up for the shortfall.

With this thought, Lu Yuan closed his eyes and naturally entered the lv3 [Absolute Concentration] state.

Unlike the previous sensation of falling into water and being forcibly pulled into an isolated underwater world, the feeling had changed slightly since his intelligence points had increased to 17.

It felt as if he was entering the Styx from the Crow Dreamscape.

Most of his body was submerged in the water.

His mind was incredibly clear.

In this state, thinking about anything was like moving black beans across a spread-out sheet of white paper.

Lu Yuan extended his Mental Power inward.

This was a small technique he had recently figured out on his own.

It was very helpful for deep body training.

For Bone Training, as well as secondary Tempering of skin, muscles, and bones, aside from using secret ointments, the main method was to rely on inner strength.

Using inner strength to stimulate the skin, muscles, bones, and Five Viscera for deep transformation.

But this process had to be done very carefully.

Because the internal organs of the human body are too fragile, inner strength is difficult to control, and a slight mistake could cause harm.

Lu Yuan had discussed this with Zhuang Xiujie and learned that typical Organ Training Level cultivation was mostly based on “feeling.”

If it felt wrong or if the body was uncomfortable, one should stop immediately and take healing medicine.

When it felt right, one could continue.

Of course, the crane style was not an ordinary sect. With top-notch Legacy and deep foundations, the crane style had long ordered many internal visualization devices from Xiabang.

These devices could simultaneously display the state of one’s internal organs, significantly reducing the risks of Organ Training Level cultivation.

What high-tech martial arts practice!

Despite his complaints, Lu Yuan was still very cautious.

He had Mental Power, which allowed him to “visualize” his internal state like the descriptions in Xuanhuan Novels, without needing devices.

Coupled with his high constitution points and strong recovery ability, he was far superior to ordinary people in every aspect.

Therefore, Lu Yuan’s progress in Organ Training had always been smooth.

The process of using inner strength to stimulate the Five Viscera was not comfortable. It felt like countless needles were piercing his internal organs.

There was soreness, numbness, itching, and swelling.

And he couldn’t reach in to scratch or relieve it.

It was extremely exasperating.

After training for a while, Lu Yuan shifted his inner strength outward to alternately stimulate his skin, muscles, and bones.

This was another benefit of having high constitution points.

His inner strength was much stronger than that of ordinary people.

Even though he had just started Organ Training, he was already on par with the most useless direct disciple of the crane style, Tang Yaozong—the slicked-back haired man he met at Linghexuan who was with Wang Xu.

The quality and quantity of inner strength directly determined the strength of a martial artist master level.

In terms of quality, everyone in the crane style practiced the same body training techniques and developed Crane Power, so the differences were minimal.

The main difference was in quantity.

“Constitution strength can increase the production of inner strength. If this trend continues, in the future, even at the same martial artist master level, my inner strength could be several times, or even more than ten times, that of others…”

Lu Yuan thought casually.

Suddenly.

“Crack, crack.”

A series of crisp sounds came from within his body.

Immediately, his bones thickened, hardened, and lengthened, while his overall physique became more “slim.”

Gray sweat was expelled from all his pores…

Lu Yuan brought up his professional panel.

[Spirit Crane Body lv4 (0/800)]

[Crane Power lv3 (110/400)]

Both skills had broken through.

Crane Power had even surged by over a hundred experience points after the breakthrough.

Lu Yuan didn’t find this surprising.

Crane Power always experienced a significant surge whenever there was a major breakthrough in body training.

Lu Yuan tested it and found that the Crane Power, which previously could only envelop an entire fist, could now extend past his elbow—more than doubling.

This put him close to the level of the ninth-ranked direct disciple of the crane style, Qin Feng.

“Finally broke through…”

Lu Yuan exhaled a breath of stale air and stood up. Seeing the grime all over his body, he prepared to take a shower.

The moment he moved…

“Crash!”

Standing amidst a pile of shattered glass, Lu Yuan looked stunned.

The semi-transparent glass door of the shower had been completely shattered by him.

“This…”

Lu Yuan glanced back at where he had been standing.

It was almost twenty meters away.

Just one step…

He brought up his professional panel and stared at his constitution points and agility points, both now at 18, feeling a bit dazed.

“How much has my speed increased all of a sudden…”

…

“Snip, snip.”

Lu Yuan sat in a chair, his hands naturally resting on his knees, looking calm.

A tall, thin man in his thirties with an ordinary appearance was busy with a pair of scissors around Lu Yuan’s head.

As the cut hair fell to the ground, a servant immediately swept it away quickly.

In front of Lu Yuan was a large round table, cluttered with dishes and cups.

Liu Si was leading a group of people, cleaning up.

“Is the teacher back yet?”

“Not yet, but he should be back soon. After all, the Young Sect Master’s apprenticeship banquet is scheduled for tomorrow night.”

“The clothes ordered for the Young Sect Master by the Sect Master are ready. When you have time, we need you to try them on.”

“Hmm… By the way, any news from Junior Brother Lin?”

“Sixth Master went to Xiabang, probably to take his daughter for surgery.”

“…”

Lu Yuan chatted casually with Liu Si while getting his hair cut.

Soon, his haircut was finished. After a quick wash, Lu Yuan stood up from his seat.

Servants from Linghexuan immediately brought over a full-length mirror.

Lu Yuan looked at himself in the mirror.

The haircut was excellent—clean, fresh, and stylish—perfectly highlighting the advantages of his facial features.

During his recent secluded martial arts practice at Linghexuan, Lu Yuan seemed to have gotten even fairer.

His skin was especially delicate and smooth, yet without any hint of frailty.

His previously robust physique had returned to its perfect state after his agility points increased by two.

Perhaps due to the small success in Bone Training, Lu Yuan’s height had also shot up by a few centimeters, now reaching about 1.88 meters.

Tall, well-proportioned, slender, and handsome.

Although he was only wearing a simple white T-shirt and khaki casual pants, Lu Yuan’s appearance had reached an unprecedented peak.

He was very pleased with himself.

“I’m planning to go out for a bit later. I won’t be back for lunch.”

Lu Yuan shifted his gaze from the mirror and spoke to Liu Si, who was standing by.

Liu Si respectfully responded, “Yes.”

With Liu Daoyuan not at home, Lu Yuan was the clear leader in the vast Linghexuan.