Chapter 1012: A Beautiful Day Begins

"Um, I don't think it's really necessary for me to pursue the arts of body tempering too aggressively. I'm doing quite well as I am," Lu Yang whispered, shivering like a quail caught in the winter chill, not daring to meet the eyes of either his Eldest Senior Sister or the Fairy.

It was not a simple matter of offending them; rather, no matter which option he chose, his meager life would hang by a thread.

Yet, it was starkly apparent that neither the Immortal Fairy nor Yun Zhi had any intention of letting him off the hook.

"How could that possibly do? Body tempering is of paramount importance to a cultivator. Look at this immortal self—ah, right, this deity currently lacks a physical vessel. But look back to when I did possess one; why was I able to traverse the ancient realms unhindered? It was precisely because my cultivation harbored no weaknesses. Be it divine abilities or physical fortitude, I possessed them all in abundance."

The Immortal Fairy cited her own life as a living testament.

"Senior Fairy speaks with great reason."

Yun Zhi nodded her head in agreement.

Lu Yang felt his scalp go numb. It seemed there was absolutely no escaping this tribulation through conventional means; if that were the case, he could only seek an alternative path.

"The body tempering methods possessed by the Fairy and Eldest Senior Sister are undoubtedly the most supreme in all the world. What I mean to ask is... is there perhaps a way to combine these two approaches?"

"For instance, Eldest Senior Sister's orthodox method refines the bones and muscles to break through physical limits. And you, Fairy, utilize the refinement of the cauldron to help me absorb the essences of medicinal herbs."

"In that case, we could entirely allow me to absorb those medicinal essences by way of a medicated bath. Using those essences to shatter the body's limitations, supplemented by appropriate exercise to heighten the efficiency of absorption."

Lu Yang recalled that when his Eldest Senior Sister first taught him to cultivate, it had been training by day and a medicated bath by night.

If the two methods were integrated, there would be no need to agonizingly grind bones and sinews, nor any need for a body-refining cauldron—all that was required was to soak in a bath!

The Immortal Fairy let out a soft exclamation of surprise, her eyes lighting up. "Combining the two methods? That is indeed a train of thought I had not considered. It is well worth a trial."

The Eldest Senior Sister also fell into contemplation, visibly moved by Lu Yang's proposition. "Adopting the strengths of each to patch the flaws of the other? It sounds like an effective approach."

...

A beautiful day began.

Lu Yang awoke from his bed, made his way to the great snow mountain behind Tianmen Peak, and with a heavy grunt, hoisted the massive peak onto his shoulders, running laps around Tianmen Peak until he was breathless with exhaustion in no time at all.

Perfected Master Zhui Yue, who resided upon the snow mountain, was jolted up and down continuously by the tremors of Lu Yang's running.

Once the laps were finished, Lu Yang restored the snow mountain to its original place and proceeded to perform squats while still bearing its immense weight.

"One, two, three... one thousand."

Lu Yang counted silently in his heart. Having completed a standard thousand weighted squats, his warm-up drew to a close.

He then tore open a teleportation talisman. His vision blurred, the scenery shifted, and before him appeared a stretch of pitch-black seawater where he could not even see his own fingers.

This was the deepest trench of the Eastern Sea, where the water pressure was terrifyingly immense. Ordinary Dharma treasures brought to this depth would be instantly crushed into thin sheets of iron; this was precisely why one absolutely needed a Water-Evading Pearl to visit the Eastern Sea.

But Lu Yang had not brought a Water-Evading Pearl.

Standing there, he felt as though thousands upon thousands of his own duplicates were bound tightly to his body. Every single movement encountered monumental resistance, requiring him to summon the strength from every single inch of muscle in his entire frame; every step was an arduous struggle.

"Keep it up, Little Yang! This deity believes you can do it!" The Immortal Fairy moved completely unhindered here, utterly unaffected by the depths, waving her hands and shouting cheers of encouragement for Lu Yang.

Lu Yang immersed himself entirely in his cultivation. Spreading his stance, he unleashed the Lu Family Arhat Fist, his movements excruciatingly slow, resembling a slow-motion playback.

By the time a single set of the Arhat Fist was completed, Lu Yang was gasping for air, his arms trembling violently. He lacked even the strength to stand upright on the seabed, and the moment his body relaxed, he floated directly upward.

Lu Yang drifted all the way from the deepest abyss of the Eastern Sea to the surface. The transition of water pressure experienced during this ascent was equally agonizing, making him feel as though his internal organs were being squeezed into a single, indistinguishable mass.

He floated upon the sea, drifting with the waves, gazing at the sea eagles circling above him. Shivering, he drew a teleportation talisman from his robes and transported himself back to Tianmen Peak.

A puppet had long been waiting quietly on Tianmen Peak for Lu Yang's return.

Seeing Lu Yang teleport back, the puppet stuffed a prepared, top-tier Great Restoration Pill into his mouth, allowing him to regain his strength.

To assist Lu Yang in tempering his body, Eldest Senior Sister had cleared an area on Tianmen Peak and established a gravity formation. Lu Yang, having regained his strength, stepped into the formation and felt as though his limbs were laden with lead, too heavy to even lift.

Under such conditions, he was required to brandish the Azure Crest Sword to hone his swordsmanship.

Whenever Lu Yang found himself unable to swing the sword any longer, the puppet would appear to feed him another Great Restoration Pill.

This cycle repeated an unknown number of times until, finally, Lu Yang showed no reaction even after swallowing the pill. He closed his eyes powerlessly and collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.

Lu Yang's eyelids drooped; he was truly too exhausted to even open them.

Seeing this, the puppet followed the established procedure and carried Lu Yang on its shoulder to the Fairy's Kitchen.

By this time, the Immortal Fairy was already fully prepared, the immortal fire blazing intensely; one could feel the scorching heat emanating from the flames even from a great distance away.

The puppet opened the cauldron door, and a blast of hot air rushed out against their faces.

Holding Lu Yang by his legs, the puppet shoved him inside. Lu Yang lacked the strength to struggle or resist throughout the entire process.

Various aged herbs flew into the cauldron under the Immortal Fairy's control, melting into spiritual liquid that dripped onto Lu Yang's body.

"Done! The rest depends on how well Little Yang absorbs it," the Immortal Fairy clapped her hands with delight. Today's task was successfully accomplished, and the only thing left to do was wait for Little Yang to be thoroughly cooked.

"Exercising the body in the morning to shatter physical limits, and placing him in the cauldron in the afternoon to absorb the medicinal properties. Not only does he absorb the essence, but it also replenishes the deficits of his body."

"Little Yang is clever after all, to think of combining my method with the methods of that girl Yun Zhi. Why did I never think of this before?"

Based on the method Lu Yang had proposed, the Immortal Fairy had made improvements, integrating her approach with Yun Zhi's far more effectively, yielding remarkable results.

"It seems Little Yang adapts to this method quite well. In the past, when he entered the cauldron, he would cry out a few times, but now he doesn't shout at all."

Lu Yang lay face down at the very bottom of the cauldron, the position closest to the immortal fire.

He felt a piercing, agonizing pain, and could even smell the fragrance of roasting meat.

Lu Yang wished to cry out a few times to express his agony, but unfortunately, he was currently so exhausted that he lacked even the strength to scream, leaving him with no choice but to allow the cauldron to roast him mercilessly.

"Fairy... the kind of combination I wanted was not this sort of combination..."

An unknown amount of time passed before the puppet, seeing that the roasting was sufficient, opened the cauldron door and pulled Lu Yang out.

Unlike the previous time when the process had been interrupted halfway through by Yun Zhi, this afternoon of roasting allowed Lu Yang's body to undergo a complete metamorphosis from being scorched black to growing fresh skin. His entire being was clean and fair, exuding a fragrant medicinal aroma.

The puppet carried Lu Yang back to his cave dwelling, allowing him to rest properly for the night.

In his slumber, nightmares struck. The Tofu Heavenly Venerable reappeared, cheering Lu Yang on and hoping he would persevere.

...

A beautiful day began.

Lu Yang awoke from his bed, without a single shred of light left in his eyes.