125. Reincarnation of an Immortal Venerable?

"Night-walking technique, night-vision capability."

"I wonder if the 'Day and Night Indistinguishable' effect can still function in the low-visibility environment underwater." Chen Jue felt a touch of nostalgia for his days of training by the sea.

Back then, he had practiced Tai Chi on the seabed with methodical persistence, and his proficiency had skyrocketed.

He never expected that his path would take such a sharp turn, leading him to form a Golden Elixir through the Daoist hard-qigong practice of the "Interweaving of Dragon and Tiger."

It was much like the clichéd tropes in martial arts novels, where masters who originally practiced internal energy would suddenly pivot to external hard-qigong to break through to the innate realm. This was an alternative path to the innate state, and his combat power would be exceptionally superior compared to those who achieved the breakthrough through internal energy alone.

...

After wandering in his thoughts for a moment, Chen Jue returned to the old house in Wazhai.

He had no intention of heading into the mountains today. Having formed the elixir and embraced the sacred embryo, Chen Jue needed to cultivate and nurture his progress in a stable environment.

He chatted with Sister Yun on WeChat, sharing all the data he had downloaded in one go.

With such a wealth of boxing techniques and martial arts, it should be enough to keep Sister Yun busy for a long time.

Sister Yun's foundation was higher than anyone else's from the start—she possessed the natural countenance of a sage. If she could truly cultivate something from these teachings, becoming a master or a legend would be well within reach.

Yet, even Chen Jue could not guess whether this natural-born mountain spirit, who modeled herself after nature, could use these techniques created by predecessors to carve out a different path that breaks the limits of the human body.

After all, as far as the world was concerned, he was the only one who could surpass the limits of human attributes with the help of his interface.

"Perhaps a miracle will happen?" Chen Jue thought to himself. He began to practice the Tiger Roar Golden Bell Cover and the Dragon Chant Iron Shirt in the courtyard.

The [Tiger Roar, Dragon Chant] status indicated that Chen Jue was currently in a growth phase for his attributes, and he could use the combined training of these two perfected hard-qigong arts to continue fostering the state of the "Interweaving of Dragon and Tiger."

As mentioned earlier, forming the elixir and embracing the embryo was a process that required gradual, step-by-step progress.

Furthermore, because Chen Jue had grasped the true essence of the Tiger and Dragon forms, practicing these two Daoist hard-qigong arts together made him feel entirely at ease. His muscles, bones, and internal organs resonated in harmony, and under the stimulation of this "Interweaving of Dragon and Tiger," his skeletal structure and viscera were constantly transforming and strengthening.

As the saying goes: "The Azure Dragon rides the fire into the lotus pond, the White Tiger stirs the waves to exit the bridal chamber."

This was actually a piece of terminology from the Daoist internal alchemy arts. It refers to the blood of the kidneys (the Azure Dragon), which governs the body's water circulation, moving to the Shangqu acupoint (the lotus pond) in the lower Dantian. Then, the blood of the heart (the White Tiger) flows out from the Jiang Palace beneath the heart (the bridal chamber). By having these two streams of blood converge and fuse within the Shangqu acupoint, a specific internal circulation of the human body is formed, continuously nourishing the kidneys (Yin) and the heart (Yang). This achieves a succession of water and fire, a harmony of Yin and Yang, and a subtle, transformative improvement in physical constitution.

Those who had not studied Daoist classics or practiced advanced martial arts would generally find this description of the [Tiger Roar, Dragon Chant] incomprehensible. However, Chen Jue had spent some time diligently reading through a vast collection of documents.

Combined with his personal practice and the integration of this art into his own body, he naturally grasped the mystery of why this "Interweaving of Dragon and Tiger" could result in the formation of a Golden Elixir.

...

Over the next five days, Chen Jue kept his doors closed, focusing entirely on his training and nurturing the elixir.

It was not until every attribute—excluding intelligence—had increased by another 0.20, and his health index had climbed to 199%, that the upward arrows behind his attributes disappeared. Even the combo buff [Tiger Roar, Dragon Chant] vanished, and only then did Chen Jue cease his training.

During this period, owing to his marrow-cleansing and blood-renewing process, along with the growth of new teeth, Chen Jue consumed all the nutritional supplements, calcium pills, and cod liver oil he had brought from Wenzhou.

When he finally emerged after five days, his teeth had fully grown in, and the old blood in his body had been completely replaced during those five days of elixir-nurturing practice, marking the culmination of his marrow-cleansing efforts.

Looking at himself in the mirror, his forty teeth were as flat and white as snow, his eyes were bright and spirited, and his thick, black hair was lustrous and smooth. A faint, baby-like fragrance emanated from his body, and his complexion was more than twice as radiant as when he had first left Wenzhou.

However, because he had formed the Golden Elixir through Daoist arts, his aura no longer stood out with the stark, crane-among-chickens quality it once had; instead, he seemed rounded, transparent, and began to appear more reserved and introspective.

"I didn't expect that my physique would strengthen to the point where I could skip the 'Hundred Days of Foundation Building' altogether."

"It was shortened to just five days to build the foundation and nurture the sacred embryo." Chen Jue marveled at the power of the attribute interface, which had allowed his physical foundation to far exceed that of the ancestors and predecessors.

He checked the time on his phone and realized that the day of the grand competition mentioned by Commissioner Yao was only two days away. He abandoned his plan to remain in the vicinity of Gongshan for further secluded training.

He left a message for Sister Yun, providing her with the address of his old family home in Chen Village, and instructed her to send the remaining nine bottles of Golden Dew there once they were ready.

During his days of seclusion, Chen Jue had frequently communicated with Sister Yun. Having received Chen Jue’s training materials, she had become obsessed with them. It was as if she had been working in isolation for a long time and had suddenly received guidance from an expert far superior to herself. Under this sudden enlightenment, many of the Xingyi Quan techniques she had created herself began to merge and flow together.

Whenever she encountered doubts regarding training or terminology, Sister Yun would send inquiries via WeChat, and Chen Jue would answer everything he knew, patiently guiding her.

After all, Chen Jue was now an expert who had formed a "Golden Elixir." His cultivation and state of mind, when viewed across human history, were already comparable to the heights achieved by those ancient predecessors. Guiding a "beginner" like Sister Yun was naturally effortless for him.

...

After packing his luggage and waiting in Wazhai for two hours, Wang Biao, who had been at home with his wife and children, drove over in a hurry.

When he had messaged Wang Biao earlier saying he was leaving, his college roommate didn't hesitate; he drove over a hundred kilometers to Wazhai, intending to see Chen Jue off.

"Holy crap!"

"Old Cat, how come you look like a different person again?"

"I’ve only been at work for a week, how did you transform so much? Your complexion looks even better than it did before!" Wang Biao rolled down the car window, staring at Chen Jue from head to toe.

...

When he first picked up Chen Jue at the Bao Shan High-Speed Railway Station, he had been deeply impressed by the changes in him.

After not seeing him for a few years, Chen Jue had grown taller, his skin had become fairer, and he no longer wore his prescription glasses. His appearance was so striking that he was like a celebrity, leaving a deep impression at first glance.

Coupled with the incident involving the wild tiger and the night they spent together, along with their shared experiences while traveling through Gongshan, Wang Biao always felt that his roommate was becoming increasingly inscrutable.

Now, after only a week of separation, Chen Jue had undergone another rebirth due to the successful formation of his elixir. His aura had become introspective and rounded, no longer standing out so sharply.

The contrast and changes were so significant that even Wang Biao, who had been trying hard to avoid prying into Chen Jue's secrets, couldn't help but feel curious.

"I've made some progress in my training during this time, and the results have been very rewarding!"

"I have to thank you for letting me stay in your old family house!" Chen Jue smiled slightly, stowed his backpack, and sat in the passenger seat.

"Training?"

"Holy crap!"

"Old Cat! You aren't one of those 'Immortal Venerables Reincarnated' from the novels, are you? You suddenly regained your past memories, started traveling the world, picking up girls, crushing powerful clans, kicking down martial arts sects, and showing off everywhere?" Wang Biao often browsed his phone at work; due to the pressures of life, he relied on these hobbies to relieve his stress.

"Haha!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I just practiced some Wudang qigong. You can find it all online; it’s not as exaggerated as you think. I'll send you a copy of the Eight Brocades later. You should practice it at home—I see you smoke and stay up late often, and your face looks greasy and dull. You can practice the Eight Brocades to detox." Chen Jue found it inexplicably funny. He chatted with Wang Biao for a while and observed his complexion.

He noticed that Wang Biao had heavy dark circles under his eyes, his eyes were bloodshot, and the crust in the corners of his eyes was dry—clearly a sign of staying up late and excess internal heat.

"I have been staying up a bit late lately. Now that the money is in place, I'm preparing to open a shop! I'm currently contacting suppliers. If things go quickly, I can get the shop running next month."

"But what’s this about practicing qigong?"

"Can practicing qigong really make you look as healthy as you do?" Wang Biao was curious as he drove and chatted with Chen Jue.

During the drive, Wang Biao caught a whiff of a very pleasant scent in the car—it was the baby-like fragrance emanating from Chen Jue’s body, which was incredibly refreshing and invigorating.