Additionally, it was time to prioritize the Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art. Wang Hao took out the formula for the required medicinal liquid and carefully looked over the ingredients. There weren’t many, and their properties were relatively mild—after all, this was just the introductory stage. A cultivator’s body wouldn’t be able to withstand potent medicine right from the start.

However, the decoction process was extremely complex. Some ingredients needed steaming, others boiling; the times varied, and the heat control required for each was different. If he made a mistake, the efficacy would be greatly reduced, or worse, produce toxins. Therefore, he had to be careful, and then careful again.

But this wasn’t difficult for Wang Hao. Having refined pills year-round, he found it easy to get the hang of, except that it wasted a bit of time.

Looking at the large barrel of black-brown medicinal liquid, he nodded with satisfaction. He dipped his hand in to test the water temperature; it was extremely hot. According to the technique’s description, it needed to be hot to be effective, allowing the medicinal efficacy to enter the cultivator’s body while taking advantage of the heat.

He removed his robe and slowly tried to immerse himself into the bath barrel.

“Ah, hot!” He couldn’t help but cry out.

The medicinal power, aided by the temperature, seeped continuously into his body through his skin pores. In an instant, his skin turned bright red. The skin refining process had begun!

He also began to circulate the Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art. Instantly, as if drawn by a force, the medicinal power surged frantically into his body, beginning to circulate along the set routes and constantly stimulating his skin.

Body refinement also proceeded in steps: first the skin, then the bones, followed by the internal organs, and finally the cultivator’s brain. Once fully tempered, the cultivator’s constitution would be greatly enhanced; even ordinary spiritual weapons would struggle to pierce their skin.

A full shichen passed before he felt he could bear no more and rose from the bath barrel. Looking at the medicinal liquid, which was now quite clear, he estimated he could soak in it at most two more times. A fourth time might still have a little effect, but being wealthy, he obviously couldn’t tolerate such inefficient cultivation.

While the medicinal power was still active on his body, he continued to circulate his technique until all of it was absorbed and the stinging sensation on his skin disappeared. He stopped, reached out, and rubbed his skin. It was smoother and more tender—pah!—its toughness and strength had increased significantly. He was quite satisfied with the effect!

In this manner, he spent a month completing the skin tempering process and began refining his bones. For ordinary body refinement cultivators, this process would take up to two years. But their conditions obviously couldn’t compare to Wang Hao’s. They might not be able to afford three barrels of medicinal liquid in a year. The rest of their time would be spent like mortal martial artists, grinding their strength or enduring whippings to enhance skin resistance. The effect was poor, the time long, and the process far more painful. Wang Hao, on the other hand, had soaked in ten barrels of medicinal liquid in just one month!

Now, his skin was comparable to steel. Ordinary swords could no longer pierce it; only magical instruments would leave marks. His recovery ability was also stronger than before!

The time required for bone refining was much longer than skin refining; it took him over a year.

The upgraded medicinal bath was far more violent in potency than the Novice bath. Sitting cross-legged within it, Wang Hao frowned slightly, seemingly in considerable pain.

But he gritted his teeth and persisted in circulating the technique to absorb the medicinal power. His Spiritual Sense looked inward, observing his bones and meridians slowly refining the medicine. The reason the Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art could increase the chance of Foundation Establishment was that once bone refining began, it simultaneously strengthened the cultivator’s Dantian and meridians. With each subsequent layer refined, the strengthening effect on the Dantian and meridians became stronger. This process was very slow.

However, having cultivated immortality for many years, he had this bit of patience. Moreover, since stepping into the second layer, his Dantian and meridians’ capacity to bear pressure had increased, significantly enhancing his ability to refine pills. His cultivation speed naturally accelerated as well.

As the medicinal power penetrated deeper, he discovered that all the meridians and bones in his body were wrapped in it, faintly emitting a white glow. Under the flickering light, even his Dantian vaguely transmitted a tingling sensation.

Sweeping over it with his Spiritual Sense, he immediately discovered that the outer wall of his Dantian was slowly strengthening under the stimulation of the light.

Overjoyed, he immediately circulated his technique to transport more medicinal power to his Dantian. It gradually spread out to cover the entire surface of the Dantian’s outer wall. When this change was complete, the pressure on his Dantian immediately dropped sharply. The swelling sensation previously caused by cultivation expansion also disappeared.

“Heh, success.” It was his first time completing Dantian tempering, and he was exceptionally delighted. But he also knew that too much was as bad as too little, so he hurriedly gathered the medicinal power to hammer and refine his bones. He saw the bones in his lower leg begin to turn transparent under the tempering.

“Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art—the name is true to its meaning!” he exclaimed.

He cultivated for a while longer until the medicinal power was exhausted, then slowly stopped the technique. He jumped out of the bath barrel, cast a Cleansing Spell, and changed into a new robe before pushing the door open and stepping out.

He saw the moon still hanging high in the sky; it was deep into the night!

He shook his head with a bitter smile. “Hmm, I got confused from practicing. But I’m not sleepy now, so let’s continue cultivating!” He was not far from the seventh layer of Qi Refining. After strengthening his Dantian and meridians, he seemed to sense an opportunity for a breakthrough, so he decided to go into a short seclusion and push through in one go!

Returning to his room, he circulated the Red Lotus Illusory Wood True Scripture. As the technique operated, he slowly absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy. After tempering, he found that the pressure his Dantian and meridians could withstand had greatly increased. Previously, after absorbing spiritual energy, he would always feel a swelling sensation in his Dantian. But this time, although he clearly absorbed more spiritual power than before, no pressure came from his Dantian.

He took out a Yellow Dragon Pill. This was a pill taken in the late stage of Qi Refining. He hadn’t dared to eat it before, but now he planned to try.

The pill entered his mouth, and abundant medicinal power exploded. He felt his Dantian become full and bulging again. Guided by the technique, the energy constantly washed through the meridians everywhere in his Dantian. Some previously unopened meridians also had spiritual power flowing into them due to the pressure. The spiritual power network in his body was expanded.

Boom!

His body suddenly trembled. He opened his eyes, and a powerful pressure uncontrollably overflowed.

“Qi Refining Level 7… It’s been more than seven years since I came to this world, and I’ve finally reached the late stage of Qi Refining!” A look of joy appeared on his face.

He meditated for another two days to stabilize his cultivation before stopping and standing up.

“Open panel!”

Name: Wang Hao

Age: 26

Cultivation: Qi Refining Layer 7 (381 / 569)

Cultivation Technique: Red Lotus Illusory Wood True Scripture (Layer 3)

Qi: 379 / 381

Skills:

Alchemy: Tier 1 Top-Grade

Talisman Crafting: Tier 1 Low-Grade

Spells: Fireball Technique, Entangling Vine Technique, Wood Shield Technique, Earth Escape Technique, Object Control Technique, Light Body Technique, Perspective Technique

Body Refinement: Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art (Layer 2)

Divine Abilities: You have not mastered any divine abilities.

The farm had been developed to twenty plots, and there were nine plots of Red Soil. His financial power had also greatly increased.

Unfortunately, there was still no news of the Condensing Essence Fruit!

Over this year or so, the Wang family’s Miao Dan Pavilion business had been booming. Every day before opening, customers were waiting. The main hall of Miao Dan Pavilion had even become a gathering place for rogue cultivators, many of whom made a living accepting spirit herb commissions.

This made Wang Hao realize it was necessary to separate the commission business from the pill shop. Moreover, he shouldn’t limit it to just spirit herbs; as long as the price could be paid, other commissions could also be posted. Thus, he opened a new shop for these rogue cultivators to discuss business or rest.

But with more people, how could he not provide some services? Some commissions were too difficult for one person, so they wanted to form a team. Sometimes the wait lasted for days! Just sit and wait? Do you want tea? Do you want wine? Once the team is formed, shouldn’t the leader treat everyone to a meal?

Thus, the Wang Family Restaurant was born! It didn’t require exquisite dishes or expensive spiritual ingredients—rogue cultivators couldn’t afford those anyway. The main feature was large portions, fullness, and affordability!