Chapter 225

Chapter 225: The Fourth Refinement

The solution Lou Yun thought of was to use the two heavenly fires he had already devoured to scorch all the muscles inside his body!

The reason Lou Yun thought of this method was still because of the character “refine” in the Ten Refinements of the Body!

Fire was essential when forging weapons, as it was essentially the process of crafting weaponry. Since Lou Yun was now regarding his own body as a weapon, he naturally reasoned that fire could also be used for refinement. Moreover, the speed of refining with fire should be far faster than the insignificant stimulation achieved purely by spiritual energy!

After all, the one aspect where Lou Yun surpassed anyone else was his speed in forging weapons!

But just as Chang Xiang had said, this method of refining the body truly was playing with fire. Although Lou Yun had devoured and thus gained full control over the heavenly fires, they were still heavenly fires. No matter how sentient they might be, their temperature was extremely high. Currently, only because they recognized Lou Yun as their master, they kept their temperature within the range Lou Yun could endure.

But now, what Lou Yun intended to do was to use the heavenly fire to scorch his internal organs, achieving the purpose of refinement. This temperature was entirely under Lou Yun’s own control. The heavenly fires couldn’t possibly be sentient enough to recognize these as Lou Yun’s internal organs and know they absolutely must not emit excessive heat. Therefore, if Lou Yun’s control slipped even slightly, the temperature of the heavenly fire would instantly reduce his organs to nothing!

Lou Yun knew his method was somewhat risky. Therefore, he didn’t use the heavenly fire storm but opted for the Fusang Fire. Moreover, he didn’t start by refining the internal organs first, but with the skin on his body.

Lou Yun chose to refine from the inside out. So, he produced only a small cluster of Fusang Fire, starting from his feet and slowly moving it upwards along his body.

The temperature of the Fusang Fire required extremely precise control. He had to find just the right temperature — one high enough to effectively refine the muscles, enhancing their toughness and strength, yet not so high as to reduce them to ashes.

To find this perfect balance point between the two, Lou Yun truly increased the temperature of the Fusang Fire incrementally, strand by strand. His mental state was one of extreme concentration and intense tension. Especially when approaching the critical point, he nearly overshot the temperature several times. He could even smell the lightly cooked scent of meat emanating from within his body…

In any case, after countless attempts, his persistence paid off. Lou Yun actually found that balance point!

Watching the muscles on his body gradually become tougher under the scorching heat of the Fusang Fire, Lou Yun’s heart swelled with a sense of accomplishment!

The facts proved that Lou Yun’s seemingly unprecedented and wildly imaginative method was indeed highly effective. Within just a few days, he had completed the refinement of all the external muscles on his body!

However, refining the muscles in the internal organs next proved exceptionally challenging. This truly was a life-or-death matter. Therefore, Lou Yun focused with even greater intensity and concentration, carefully and cautiously experimenting with the Fusang Fire’s temperature.

After half a month, Lou Yun successfully completed the refinement of his body’s muscles. Amidst the waves of pain radiating from his muscles, he officially reached the level of the fourth refinement in the Ten Refinements of the Body!

As the muscles throughout his body, both internal and external, had already withstood the trial of the Fusang Fire, during the process of the fourth refinement, even though Lou Yun still had to forcefully expand the surface area and toughness of these muscles, the pain he experienced was insignificant compared to the various trials he had endured before!

Watching Lou Yun, who wore a faint smile as he cultivated for the fourth refinement, Chang Xiang shook his head vigorously and muttered to himself, "No wonder you’ve achieved such great success in just four short years. Kid, you’re practically gambling with your life during cultivation!"

Then, a smile also appeared on Chang Xiang’s face: "But you truly are blessed by immense luck. Every time you stumble around by accident, you somehow always manage to achieve unforeseen results. This time, you’ve conquered yourself again. If you continue cultivating at this pace, it shouldn’t be long before you achieve your wish, I think!"

Considering his official cultivation start at fifteen, Lou Yun was only nineteen now. Yet, he had leapt from being a despised waste to becoming a profound-level magical weapons master. Of course, because the techniques he cultivated were completely different from others, although his magical weapon realm was profound-level, his actual strength far surpassed magical weapons masters of the same level. Even in Chang Xiang’s estimation, if Lou Yun truly unleashed all the skills he possessed, he might even be able to compete with an earth-level magical weapons master!

…

When Lou Yun opened his eyes, stretched forcefully, and heard the slight creaking of his muscles stretching, a smile couldn’t help but appear on his face. The successful completion of the fourth refinement had made his muscles more explosive and significantly enhanced their resistance to blows!

Most importantly, Lou Yun had discovered an excellent method for body refinement: scorching with heavenly fire. Furthermore, as his muscles became increasingly tougher, they could withstand higher and higher temperatures. Lou Yun even found himself looking forward to it: if he continued scorching himself like this, he wondered if his body could eventually become strong enough to endure the true temperature of heavenly fire!

For now, this was just an idea in Lou Yun’s mind. Even if that day ever came, it would be a long, long time from now.

Stretching once more, Lou Yun recalled that he had been secluded in bitter cultivation for well over a month. He had no idea where the ship was currently headed nor how far they were from Biko Island. So, he stood up, left the cabin, and stepped onto the deck.

On the deck, Feng Yang was observing the sky, as he did every day. Judging the weather accurately was crucial for sea travel.

Hearing Lou Yun’s footsteps, Feng Yang turned around. Seeing it was Lou Yun, he smiled slightly. "Big Brother Lou, you’ve finished your seclusion?"

"Mn, I’m out." Lou Yun asked with a smile, "Has everything been alright lately? How far are we from Biko Island?"

"Everything’s fine. I just checked the sky. The weather should be good for the next couple of days. If this holds, we should be able to reach Biko Island in ten days’ time, half a month at the latest!"

"Good!"

Lou Yun nodded in satisfaction. Even if it took a full half month, that would still be two days before the three-month deadline stated on the Black Invitation of the Nine Families.

In Lou Yun’s view, although he hadn’t intended to attend this invitation deep down, since he was already here, he wouldn’t be late no matter how they planned to deal with him. This was simply a matter of principle.

Lou Yun casually sat down on the deck, gazing at the distant scenery, and asked offhandedly, "What about the others? Haven’t they come out these past few days?"

"The two elder brothers came out, but that elder sister never did," Feng Yang answered honestly.

"Is that so!" Lou Yun raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn’t expected Shui Lingluo’s seclusion to be longer than his, Wen Hou’s, or the other two. It seemed she was determined, perhaps desperately, to increase her cultivation base.

Shui Lingluo had always felt her cultivation level was too low, believing that Lou Yun excluded her from everything, considering her a burden. Now that she finally had a chance for secluded cultivation, and with Biko Island approaching, she seized every moment to train, hoping to narrow the gap between herself and Lou Yun.

Lou Yun had merely asked casually and didn’t ponder it much. After nodding, he fell silent. Feng Yang hesitated for a moment beside him, then stepped closer to Lou Yun, lowering his voice. "Big Brother Lou, could I ask you a few questions?"

"Ask away!" Lou Yun nodded, patting the empty spot beside him. "Come, sit down and talk."

Lou Yun regarded Feng Yang, who was three years his junior, as a younger brother. He was quite willing to answer the young man’s questions.

Feng Yang sat down next to Lou Yun. He opened his mouth, then closed it, opened it again, and closed it once more. After repeating this several times, his face flushed bright red. "Big Brother Lou, I… I have many questions I want to ask, but I don’t know where to start!"

This statement made Lou Yun chuckle. Turning to look at Feng Yang, his spiritual sense swept through the young man’s body again. Smiling slightly, he asked, "Are you encountering many problems in your cultivation?"

"Yes! I only just formed my magical weapon; it hasn’t been long. Uncle Mei gave me a technique manual to cultivate, but I’m trying to follow it and there are many things I don’t understand. I wanted to ask Uncle Mei, but he’s always too busy…"

Lou Yun smiled. "Let me see your technique manual."

Feng Yang hurriedly pulled a book from inside his robes and respectfully handed it to Lou Yun. "This is the book Uncle Mei gave me."

Lou Yun took it and flipped through it casually. He discovered it was a mid-tier moon-grade technique. Honestly, for someone like Feng Yang who had no background, no connections, and not even a family lineage, this wasn’t bad at all. This also showed how highly Mei Yuanmu regarded Feng Yang.

While Lou Yun was leafing through the book, Feng Yang watched him with eager expectation, clearly hoping for some guidance.

Lou Yun quickly finished skimming the entire manual. He then raised his eyes to look at Feng Yang. Suddenly, a flame appeared in his hand, reducing the technique manual in his grasp to nothing in an instant.

"Ah! Big Brother Lou, you…" Feng Yang panicked, exclaiming in surprise.

But Lou Yun smiled reassuringly. "Don’t worry. I burned your manual, but I’ll naturally give you a different one in return. And as compensation, I’ll also bestow upon you a sword."

"Send me a sword?" With Feng Yang’s current experience and knowledge, he naturally couldn’t grasp that Lou Yun intended to teach him genuine cultivation methods.

"Mn. I’ll give you a common weapon, and a new cultivation technique to match it."

As he spoke, a seemingly ordinary sword appeared in Lou Yun’s hand. Simultaneously, Chang Xiang’s astonished voice rang out: "You’re giving him this sword engraved with a Weapon Contract?!"