“Uh, I don’t think I really need to go so far in pursuing body refinement techniques. I’m fine the way I am,” Lu Yang muttered. He trembled like a quail in the cold, not daring to meet the eyes of either Yun Zhi or the Everlasting Immortal Fairy.

This wasn’t a matter of whether he dared to offend them. Regardless of who he chose, his life would be in danger.

But it was clear that neither the Everlasting Immortal Fairy nor Yun Zhi intended to let him off.

“How can that do? Body refinement is pivotal for cultivators. Look at this immortal—oh, I don’t have a physical body right now—but when I did, why do you think I could dominate the ancient era? It was because I had no weaknesses in my cultivation, be it divine abilities, spells, or physical training. This immortal had it all.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy spoke from personal experience.

“What Senior Immortal Fairy said makes sense.” Yun Zhi nodded in agreement.

Lu Yang’s scalp tingled. Looks like there’s no way past this ordeal. In that case, I’ll have to find another solution.

“Immortal Fairy, Big Senior Sister, your body refinement methods are definitely top-tier. What I meant is, is there a way to combine the two methods?

“For example, Big Senior Sister, your orthodox body refinement method tempers the bones and sinews to break through the limits of the physical body. And Immortal Fairy, your method uses the pill furnace to train me, helping me absorb the essence of medicinal ingredients.

“So we could have me absorb the medicinal essence through medicinal baths, leverage that essence to break through my physical limits, then complement it with appropriate training to improve absorption efficiency.”

Lu Yang remembered that when Yun Zhi had first taught him to cultivate, they had trained during the day and taken medicinal baths at night.

With two methods combined, there’ll be no need to temper the bones and sinews or refine the body in the pill furnace. Just soaking in medicinal baths would do!

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s eyes lit up as she exclaimed softly, “Combine the two methods? That’s a new angle I haven’t considered. We can try it.”

Yun Zhi also appeared pensive, swayed by Lu Yang’s proposal. “Taking the strengths of each to compensate for the weaknesses, huh? It sounds like an effective approach.”

~~~

A beautiful day began...

Lu Yang woke up and went to the Great Snow Mountain behind Heaven’s Gate Peak. With a “heave-ho,” he hoisted the mountain onto his shoulders and began running laps around Heaven’s Gate Peak. Before long, he was panting heavily.

The Moonchaser True Person, who resided in the Great Snow Mountain, bounced up and down as Lu Yang ran.

After finishing his laps, Lu Yang returned the Great Snow Mountain to its original position and continued with squats, still carrying the mountain.

“One, two, three... one thousand.” Lu Yang silently counted. After completing a standard set of one thousand weighted squats, his warm-up was done.

He then ripped open a Teleportation Talisman. The scenery shifted before his eyes, and he found himself before a stretch of black seawater, so dark that he couldn’t see his own hands.

This was the deepest part of the East Sea. The water pressure here was terrifying. Ordinary magical treasures brought here would be instantly compressed into thin sheets of metal, which was why one must possess a Water-Repelling Bead to come here.

But Lu Yang hadn’t brought any Water-Repelling Beads.

Standing here, he felt as if tens of thousands of copies of himself were strapped to him. Every movement met with enormous resistance, requiring him to summon strength from every muscle. Each step was a struggle.

“Xiao Yangzi, jiayou! I believe you can do it!” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy cheered him on. She could move freely here, completely unaffected.

Lu Yang immersed himself completely in his training. He assumed his stance and began performing the Lu-Style Arhat Fist, each movement seeming to be in slow motion.

After a full set, he panted heavily, his arms trembling. He didn’t even have the strength to stand on the seabed. Relaxing his muscles, he floated upward.

He floated from the deepest part of the East Sea all the way to the surface. The changes in water pressure along the way were similarly unbearable. He felt as if his organs were being squeezed into a lump, indistinguishable from one another.

Drifting on the surface and carried by the waves, he watched the sea eagles circling above him. He shivered as he retrieved a Teleportation Talisman from his robes and teleported back to Heaven’s Gate Peak.

A puppet had long been waiting at Heaven’s Gate Peak for Lu Yang’s return. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Seeing Lu Yang teleport back, the puppet stuffed a top-grade Great Rejuvenation Pill prepared beforehand into Lu Yang’s mouth, restoring his strength.

To aid Lu Yang in body refinement, Yun Zhi had cleared an area on Heaven’s Gate Peak and set up a gravity array. Once his strength was restored, Lu Yang stepped into the array. He felt his limbs as heavy as if they were filled with lead, barely able to lift them.

Despite such conditions, he needed to swing his Qingfeng Sword to practice his sword techniques.

When Lu Yang could no longer swing the sword, the puppet would appear and feed him another Great Rejuvenation Pill.

This repeated so many times that Lu Yang lost count. At last, even after consuming a Great Rejuvenation Pill, he showed no response. His eyes closed weakly, and with a thud, he collapsed.

His eyelids drooped. He was simply too exhausted to open them.

Seeing this, the puppet followed protocol and carried Lu Yang to the Immortal Fairy Kitchen.

By now, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy had already finished the preparations. The immortal fire blazed fiercely, its searing heat detectable even from afar.

The puppet opened the furnace door. A wave of hot air rushed out.

The puppet lifted Lu Yang by the legs and shoved him inside. Throughout the process, Lu Yang didn’t even have the strength to struggle.

Under the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s control, various aged medicinal herbs flew into the pill furnace. They were refined into spirit liquid and dripped onto Lu Yang.

“Settled. Now it’s up to Xiao Yangzi’s absorption.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy clapped her hands gleefully. Mission accomplished for today. All that remains is to wait for Xiao Yangzi to come out of the pot.

“In the morning, he tempers his body to break through his physical limits. In the afternoon, he’s put into the pill furnace to absorb medicinal properties. This way, he not only absorbs the essence of the herbs but also makes up for the body’s deficiencies.

“Xiao Yangzi is really clever to think of combining my method with Lass Yun’s. Why didn’t I think of this before?"

Building on Lu Yang’s proposed idea, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy refined it further, integrating her method with Yun Zhi’s more effectively for more noticeable results.

“It seems Xiao Yangzi is adapting well to this method. When he first went into the pill furnace, he’d cry out a few times. Now he doesn’t even shout.”

Lu Yang lay face down at the bottom of the pill furnace, the spot closest to the immortal fire. Excruciating pain shot through him, and he could smell the scent of cooked meat. He wanted to cry out in agony, but he was so exhausted that he lacked even the strength to shout. He could only let the pill furnace roast him.

“Immortal Fairy, this isn’t the combined method I had in mind...”

It was unclear how much time had passed. The puppet decided Lu Yang was sufficiently roasted and opened the furnace door, pulling him out.

Unlike the last time, when Yun Zhi had interrupted the process midway, this afternoon’s roasting had allowed Lu Yang’s body to undergo a complete transformation—from charred flesh to newly grown skin. He was now fair and clean and even emanated the fragrance of medicinal herbs.

The puppet heaved Lu Yang back to his cave abode, letting him rest well for the night.

Nightmares plagued him. The Tofu Heavenly Sovereign appeared once again, cheering Lu Yang on, hoping he would persevere.

~~~

A beautiful day began...

Lu Yang woke up, his eyes devoid of any light.