35: Chapter 34 Departure to the Far North

Early in the morning, wisps of thin mist gently shrouded the entire Sea God Lake, and specks of morning light pierced through the fog, falling down tenderly.

Lin Yan stood on the secluded grass by the lake, slowly raising his arms to begin his stance, practicing version 2.3 of the Body Refining technique—the Twelve Xingyi Forms.

The core essence of this boxing technique lay in polishing the Physical Body and nourishing the tendons and bones.

Using twelve beast forms to guide the vital energy throughout the body, refining essence, condensing Qi and blood, and tempering the physique.

The instant the first form rose and fell, the warm Qi and blood within his body were instantly stirred, surging along a specific trajectory, and a warm, feverish sensation flowed through his limbs and bones.

The twelve forms of the Dragon, Tiger, Monkey... and Bird unfolded sequentially; with every raise of the hand and fall of the stance in each form, the breathing rhythm changed accordingly, guiding the surging and rolling Qi and blood throughout the body to repeatedly scour the flesh and muscles and temper the meridians of the tendons and bones.

Accompanied by the high-speed circulation of Qi and blood, the medicinal diet he consumed in the morning rapidly dissolved and melted, entirely transforming into essence and continuously pouring into the blood paths of his entire body.

Amidst the rhythm of the boxing technique, these newly integrated, loose essences were slowly condensed and refined of impurities by the flames emerging within Lin Yan's body, ultimately merging completely into the mighty river of Qi and blood, never to be separated from each other again.

At this moment, if anyone were watching from the side, they would be able to see a bizarre spectacle.

Every time Lin Yan performed a form, a beast fire corresponding to a different Spirit Beast would ignite on the surface of his body, faintly accompanied by the vibration of deep and distant beast roars.

What was even more peculiar was that, regardless of how the twelve form Moves alternated and changed, and how the beast fires circulated alternately, a layer of lush verdant flames constantly lingered around his body, constant and unyielding.

As the final bird form lightly retracted and merged into one, the emerald spirit fire that had originally lain dormant on the surface of his body suddenly surged, and faintly, a clear and distant phoenix cry echoed.

Lin Yan opened his mouth and spat out a three-foot-long white silk-like breath, which condensed for a long time without dissipating.

His glowing, red, and piping-hot skin slowly calmed down, and the surging river of Qi and blood within his body dispersed into his limbs and bones, beginning to circulate on its own along a gentle trajectory.

By the time his Qi and blood had completely calmed down, the medicinal diet Lin Yan ate in the morning had already been completely digested, and a sense of hunger came from his belly once more.

Ever since he returned from Elder Mu En's place seven days ago, his daily Cultivate had entered the right track once again over the past few days.

In the early morning he practiced Body Refining, most of the morning was spent soaking in the Library, the afternoon schedule depended on the circumstances, in the evening he tempered his Physical Body once more, and then at night he returned to his dormitory to Cultivate Soul Power.

On the way back to the dormitory, Lin Yan was also sorting through and reviewing some minor problems that had been exposed while practicing the boxing technique just then, such as where the circulation of Qi and blood experienced stagnation, and what kind of effect a slight adjustment in that Move produced...

This was a habit that had never been interrupted for years, day in and day out, ever since he created the first version of the Body Refining technique and started to Cultivate.

And the version 1.0 Body Refining Cultivation Technique he originally created was named by him—the Hundred Arts Boxing.

Hundred Arts Boxing could actually be considered Xingyi Boxing, except that its "form" was taken from humans; compared to taking forms from beasts, taking forms from humans was undoubtedly much easier.

Therefore, in the beginning, Lin Yan started with "modeling humans," observing and imitating the movements and force-applying methods of ordinary folk like farmers, porters, blacksmiths, carpenters, and masons during their daily labor.

Relying on the Comprehension Ability blessing of the Prajna Heart Lamp, he accurately captured the changes in Qi and blood circulation corresponding to every single movement.

Step by step, he adjusted the order of the Moves and optimized the force-applying details; through thousands of refinements, he finally deduced the initial version of the Body Refining technique that intermingled the hundred arts of the common market.

Later on, Lin Yan went deep into the Spirit Beast Forest to observe hundreds of types of Spirit Beasts.

Ultimately, he selected twelve of the most representative beast forms, using the Life Spirit Fire corresponding to the bird form as the Foundation, and blending it with the beast fires of the other 11 types corresponding to their respective beast forms to build the framework of the version 2.0 Xingyi Body Refining technique.

With the framework established, what remained was to fill out the system, optimize the details, polish away flaws, and improve it step by step through day-after-day practice using persistent, grinding effort.

Coming out of the cafeteria once again, Lin Yan did not go soak in the Library like he usually did.

Because today was the day he and Jiang Nannan would set off for the Extreme North.

Seeing that there was still plenty of time before the agreed departure time, Lin Yan was not in a rush, walking leisurely toward the Shrek East Gate.

As he walked over, Lin Yan was also pondering in his heart who the accompanying powerhouse arranged by Principal Yan Shaozhe for him this time might be.

Lin Yan had specifically asked before, but that old scoundrel Principal Yan Shaozhe had been all mysterious and only said, "You'll know when the time comes."

Walking to Shrek Square, Lin Yan spotted Jiang Nannan, who had arrived here ahead of time, at a glance.

At the same time, beside her was another woman of equally extremely beautiful appearance, who was chatting with her in low voices.

That woman had an exquisite and refined face, skin like congealed lard and jade ointment, a straight and slender figure, and curves in all the right places—neither frail nor plump, standing quietly there, just like a blooming, dignified peony, poised and majestic.

Seeing the woman's face clearly, Lin Yan instantly recognized the other party; it was none other than the Grand Elder Senior Sister of the Shrek Inner Court—Zhang Lexuan.

At the same time, if nothing unexpected happened, Zhang Lexuan should be the accompanying person Principal Yan Shaozhe found for them.

However, whoever it was, as long as it wasn't Elder Xuan, the Grand Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, the Chicken Leg Douluo, it would be fine.

If Lin Yan had come over just now and seen Elder Xuan holding a chicken leg, no matter what, he would have found a way to change people.

He had previously specially asked Principal Yan Shaozhe to arrange a powerhouse to accompany them precisely to prevent any accidents from happening.

But if this "powerhouse" was Elder Xuan, then forget it...

Otherwise, given the temperament of the Holy Spirit Cult Grand Elder, even if the trip was originally safe and sound, with him around, unpredictable variables might arise out of thin air.

Walking briskly toward the two of them, Lin Yan nodded slightly at Jiang Nannan, who wore a faint smile, and then looked at Zhang Lexuan, saying in a clear voice, "Senior Sister, long time no see. I didn't expect the person coming today to be you."

Lin Yan had been staying in the Inner Court during this period of time, so naturally he knew Zhang Lexuan.

Hearing this, Zhang Lexuan's eyebrows curved into a gentle smile, and she responded softly, "I heard from Principal Yan that you two are heading to the Extreme North to hunt a spirit; I happen to have nothing much to do recently, so I proactively took on this errand. Junior Brother shouldn't mind that it's me, right?"

Actually, the reason she took on this mission this time was mainly because she had previously heard Elder Mu En's evaluation of Lin Yan, and was somewhat curious about Lin Yan, a Genius who caused a sensation right upon enrollment.

"I couldn't ask for more. Then this trip will trouble Senior Sister."

As Lin Yan's voice fell, Zhang Lexuan shook her head gently, the smile in the depths of her eyes soft, "It's just a small effort, no need to be polite."

A moment later, since the supplies needed for this trip had already been prepared in advance by Lin Yan, the three of them did not delay any further.

Stepping out of Shrek, heading all the way north, the scenery along the way quietly changed, and the temperature became lower and lower.

Before officially entering the Extreme North, the three of them passed through a border city of the Heavenly Soul Empire, and after a brief rest, they continued northward.

Another day later, Lin Yan and the others finally stepped into the outer periphery of the Extreme North.

Raising his gaze to look into the distance, heaven and earth were completely covered by white snow, a vast expanse of pure white all around; thousands of li were ice-bound, arrayed in silver, and the chill rushed straight toward them!