[Quest Level: F]
– Objective: [Refine a perfect-grade Bone Refining Potion]
– Reward: [3,000 gold coins, 300 experience points]
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"What?! A perfect-grade Bone Refining Potion? System-sama, are you trying to scam me?" Li Yun groaned, feeling his heart sink.
On the Martial Dragon Continent, potions were classified into four grades: Ordinary, Intermediate, Excellent, and Perfect. But perfect-grade potions were practically legends in Azure Wind City. Even a senior pharmacist, on their very best day, might only manage to produce an excellent-grade Bone Refining Potion, and that was considered a stroke of incredible luck.
"Damn it, System. Your very first quest for me is already sky-high difficulty, and I haven't even successfully refined an intermediate-grade Bone Refining Potion yet," Li Yun muttered, exhaling a long, frustrated sigh.
Taking a deep breath, he decided to set the quest aside for the moment and focus on more immediate concerns.
"Right now, I'm only at the early stage of the Bone Refining Realm. Before attempting to refine any potions, I should improve my cultivation first," Li Yun reasoned quietly.
From the memories he inherited, it was clear that one major reason the previous Li Yun had failed at refining even intermediate-grade Bone Refining Potions was his utter lack of cultivation. That was a problem Li Yun was determined to fix as his first step.
Li Yun pulled out one of the ordinary-grade Bone Refining Potions from the stash he'd personally refined and set aside for sale. Without hesitation, he uncorked the bottle and swallowed its contents.
Almost immediately, a fierce heat roared through his veins, flooding into his bones like molten metal poured into a mold. A wave of agony followed, a deep, splintering pain, as though countless invisible chisels were striking every inch of his skeleton, shaving it down and reshaping it from within.
A strangled breath escaped him. Sweat burst across his brow. But Li Yun refused to falter.
He inhaled sharply, shoulders squared, and took a solid stance. His legs rooted into the ground. Fingers curled into fists so tight that veins popped across his knuckles.
Then, with a focused glare, he raised his right arm and slammed it forward in a straight, explosive punch.
Whoosh!
Air split around his knuckles. That was the Hammer Pulse Strike of the Iron Pulse Fist Art he just obtained.
He retracted his fist, twisted his hips, and lashed out with the other arm.
Whoosh!
Another sharp gust blasted outward.
He moved faster. Left. Right. Left. Right. Each punch seemed to carry a shuddering pulse that vibrated through his arms and into his chest. It wasn't merely physical force, it was the unique rhythm of the Iron Pulse Fist Art, sending shockwaves into his meridians and coaxing the raging medicinal power deeper into his bones.
The pain intensified. His skeleton creaked as if protesting the violent forging process. But amid the torment, Li Yun could feel it: the Bone Refining Potion's essence was being churned faster, ground into the very marrow of his bones with each concussive strike.
He staggered slightly, chest heaving. His skin glistened with sweat. Still, his eyes burned with stubborn light.
"Not enough." His voice was hoarse, breath ragged.
He reached into his robes and pulled out another bottle, uncorked it with trembling fingers, and swallowed it all in one gulp.
Instantly, the scorching heat surged anew.
Before the fresh wave of agony could overpower him, Li Yun roared and launched back into the Hammer Pulse Strike. His fists blurred now, slicing through the air in relentless arcs.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The invisible shockwaves pounded outward, and faint cracking sounds echoed from within his body as the potion's power was forced deeper into the microscopic cracks in his bones.
He could feel the impurities being expelled, searing away under the fiery medicinal onslaught. His bones seemed to buzz as though alive, hardening, condensing, growing denser with each cycle.
The faster he punched, the more violently the Bone Refining Potion was stirred within him, circulating in frenzied currents through his marrow. Every blow forced the essence into stubborn crevices that ordinary refining could never reach.
An hour passed. Then another.
Li Yun's fists never stopped. His arms screamed with fatigue, but he moved like a man possessed. The air around him rippled with the continuous force of his strikes, dust swirling from the ground under the shockwaves.
By the time the sun sank toward the horizon, Li Yun was a trembling figure drenched in sweat. His fists hung at his sides, steaming faintly in the cooling evening air.
Yet in the depths of his bones, he could feel it, a newfound solidity, a steely resilience radiating outward. The Hammer Pulse Strike hadn't just refined the Bone Refining Potion's power. It had transformed his bones into weapons of their own, tempered in pain and honed by relentless strikes.
And in Li Yun's eyes burned a fierce, unyielding light.
"Again…" he murmured, lifting another bottle.
He kept swallowing potions and hammering out strikes, his body soaked with sweat, muscles straining as the day slipped away. He trained without pause, driven by determination and the burning energy flooding his veins.
By the time he finally stopped, the sun had vanished below the horizon, leaving the sky cloaked in twilight.
"I've used up all my ordinary-grade Bone Refining Potions, but I've reached the peak stage of the Bone Refining Realm," Li Yun said, his eyes gleaming with exhilaration. "And this Iron Pulse Fist Art… it's incredible. It feels like it was designed specifically to enhance bone refining, especially the Hammer Pulse Strike."
Initially, he'd only started practicing the Hammer Pulse Strike on instinct, remembering that certain martial movements could help circulate and refine medicinal energy. But he'd never imagined the effect would be this potent.
"There are three moves in the Iron Pulse Fist Art," Li Yun murmured thoughtfully, wiping sweat from his brow. "I've got a strong feeling that each move corresponds to a specific cultivation stage: the Bone Refining Realm, the Marrow Cleansing Realm, and finally, the Body Tempering Realm."
Lost in thought, Li Yun stared into the darkening sky, his heart pounding with newfound hope for the path ahead.
…
The following day, on the way to the Li Family's treasure house.
"Huh? Isn't that Li Yun?" A sharp, mocking voice rang out from ahead.
Li Yun's eyes narrowed as he looked toward the source of the voice.
Standing there in a crisp white robe was a young man named Li Nian, the grandson of the Great Elder. Unlike Li Yun, Li Nian held a prominent position in the Li Family. Though he was the same age as Li Yun, sixteen, Li Nian had already reached the late stage of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, earning him a reputation as a prodigy throughout Azure Wind City.
At sixteen and already in the late stage of Marrow Cleansing Realm, Li Nian was recognized as a top-tier talent, with a bright future as a potential Xiantian Realm expert. The Li Family naturally poured resources into nurturing someone so gifted, especially since Li Nian was the grandson of a family elder.
In the world of martial cultivation, the path progressed in strict order: first refining the bones, then washing the marrow, followed by tempering the overall body. Only after body tempering did one become a formidable Xiantian Realm cultivator, a true powerhouse in the Martial Dragon Continent.
Within Azure Wind City, Xiantian Realm cultivators were considered genuine masters. Even in the influential Li Family, one of the city's three great clans, there were only a handful of such experts.
"Li Yun, what are you doing here in the Treasure Hall?" Li Nian demanded, his voice dripping with scorn.
"Hah! As if the Treasure Hall is a place for a worthless nobody like you," sneered one of the two Li Family disciples standing beside him.
"A loser who can't even step into the Bone Refining Realm dares to come here?" added the other, their voices thick with ridicule.
At the sight of Li Nian, memories flashed through Li Yun's mind, memories of how the body's previous owner had met his tragic end. It had been Li Nian who'd challenged him under the guise of offering 'pointers,' leaving him grievously injured. Those injuries had ultimately led to the previous Li Yun's death.
Tension between Li Nian and Li Yun had always simmered beneath the surface. Years earlier, Li Nian's father had been defeated and humiliated by Li Yun's father, Li Tian, a humiliation that Li Nian had never forgiven.
"My reasons for being here have nothing to do with you," Li Yun said coolly, frowning as he faced the trio blocking his path.
Li Nian scoffed. "Don't blame me for speaking bluntly. The truth is, you're a useless piece of trash. You'll never set foot on the path of cultivation in your entire life. You'll never even make it to the Bone Refining Realm. Still unconvinced?"
His lips curled into a taunting smile. "Go ahead. Try circulating your internal energy right here. If you've really entered the Bone Refining Realm, I'll personally let you into the Treasure Hall without another word."
"Are you sure about that?" Li Yun asked, a cold sneer tugging at his lips.
Li Nian snorted dismissively. "What's there to be smug about? You're incapable of cultivating, and everyone knows it."
But Li Yun only smiled faintly. Then, before their disbelieving eyes, he began to circulate his internal energy. A pure white mist of energy seeped out from his robes, rippling the air around him in subtle waves that radiated outward, with Li Yun at the center.
"In… internal energy?! How… how can that be possible?!" Li Nian gasped, his face pale with shock. Everyone in the Li Family knew that Li Yun had been born with a physique devoid of attributes, a body thought completely useless for cultivation.
Ignoring Li Nian's stunned expression, Li Yun calmly strode past him. Li Nian felt a bitter sting of humiliation at being overshadowed by someone he'd always regarded as trash.
"I'll see how long you can keep acting smug when the Coming of Age Ceremony arrives," Li Nian muttered under his breath, his eyes glinting with cold resolve as he stepped aside to let Li Yun enter the treasure house.