Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 8: Winning the Martial Arts Examination
Reality is always cruel.

Three months later, Li Ji'an started practicing the "Golden Zhuang Gong" and a strand of Qi and blood was born, and he began to refine his skin membrane.

However, Qingyun had just barely mastered the seventy-two stances of standing meditation, and it was unknown when he would be able to master them.

"Four months! Four months! Are you...are you serious or not?" Ma Yuan's attitude towards Qingyun gradually became less friendly.

Qingyun's face was filled with grievance: "I'm sorry, Instructor Ma, I'm stupid. I... I really tried my best. Maybe... I really don't have the talent. I really don't have the face to stay under your tutelage. Why don't you let my father come and take me away?"

"Hu~Hu~" Ma Yuan took a deep breath and forced himself to suppress his inner anger.

"Not really, not really! Well, but knowing shame leads to courage. I still believe in you. Work hard. You have excellent physique. As soon as you start practicing the 'Golden Strength Technique', your advantages will explode. By then, your junior brother will be unable to catch up with you even if he tries his best."

Seeing that he had not given up yet, Qingyun was a little disappointed and had to find a way to make him give up completely.

At the same time, Wu Cheng kept an eye on Li Ji'an, and inadvertently reminded him not to be proud and complacent, and to have a better understanding and to practice standing meditation faster, including getting started with the "Golden Zhuang Gong" faster. However, the difference in bones will be reflected in the quality and quantity of the qi and blood in the subsequent training, as well as the speed at which the qi and blood refine the membrane.

So be humble and keep working hard.

Li Ji'an agreed on the surface, but he couldn't suppress his excitement deep down.

The ten years of skin resurfacing experience in his previous life made him realize the advantages of his own understanding and bone structure differences in this life.

Now that he had just begun practicing the "Golden Strength Skill", the amount of Qi and blood cultivated in his body had already reached the level of what he had achieved in his previous life. He could clearly sense that the efficiency of the Qi and blood in flushing the membrane was more than 30% faster than the same period in his previous life.

"If I continue like this, as my Qi and blood are tempered more and more, I'll probably be able to complete my skin resurfacing within a year!"

At this moment, he finally understood the difference between genius and mediocrity.

Another half a year later,

It’s been a full ten months since they were admitted to the hospital!
"What? The skin resurfacing is complete!"

"How is this possible? That kid...what kind of physique is he? He can't be of the highest quality, right?"

"Ten months, and the skin is polished to perfection? Even someone with a superior physique might not be able to do that, right?"

"Hiss~ Old Wan kept saying Qing Yun had superior physique, but he didn't mention Li Ji'an. Could it be that two geniuses really came at once, and Li Ji'an's physique was even better?"

"Is that really Li Laoguai's son? I remember Li Laoguai had very weak bones."

……

The news that came out from Instructor Wu's disciples today instantly set off the entire martial arts academy.

Then someone found out that Qingyun, who had started receiving private instruction from Ma Yuan half a year ago, had not yet cultivated a single bit of qi and blood.

For a time, rumors and gossip with ulterior motives were flying everywhere.

"Master Ma has ruined the genius!"

"Teacher Wu is a true mentor!"

"Qingyun worked so hard, but the result...ah."

……

Ma Yuan, who had been holding back, finally exploded completely after being stimulated by these rumors.

"You are truly as stupid as a pig! No! Even a pig is better than you! You have such a superior physique, but you are not even as good as that old crook's son. You are simply wasting God's gift. How can you still have the face to live in this world? Get out! Get out of my villa!"

That day, Qingyun finally got his wish of seeing his father, Master Houde.

Others who don’t understand Qingyun would be fooled by him, but his father knew him too well. He just asked a few simple questions and then suddenly looked at Qingyun.

Just when he showed a ferocious expression as if he wanted to kill his own relatives for the sake of justice, Li Jian stood up at the right time.

“Master, everyone has their own aspirations. Senior Brother has no interest in martial arts, so forcing him won’t lead to anything.

Besides, it might be a good thing if he could take over your position and run Qingxin Hall in the future. At least the incense will continue to be worshipped." As the second generation of the Taoist temple, Qingyun is actually not bad. He can stay in the temple peacefully, enjoy life steadily, and not be too ambitious or think about proving himself. He is already a qualified successor.

With his contented attitude and the foundation laid by Liu Deshan, if nothing unexpected happens in his life, he will be happier than 99% of the people in the world.

What is the meaning of life?
Live according to your own heart until you die, within your ability.

Of course, this is not entirely applicable to Li Ji'an, who has "rejuvenation". There is still some difference. After all, he can avoid "death" in the true sense.

This also became one of his original intentions, to do his best to avoid "being killed".

The second is to never let yourself fall into the desperate suffering of your childhood in your previous life.

Liu Deshan's personality of listening to advice remained the same as always. It's not that he didn't have his own opinions, but he was just too lazy to think about many things.

In the end, Qingyun got what she wanted, bid farewell to Li Ji'an with tears of joy, and left with Liu Deshan.

One year later,

Li Ji'an is fifteen years old and has grown into a mature man!
There are still two months left until the biennial martial arts examination.

In previous martial arts examinations, the threshold was basically to get started with "Hanrou". A small success in "Hanrou" was a sure thing. As for those who achieved a great success in the initial examination, there were only three such people in the entire Shangyi County in the past hundred years.

Li Ji'an's reputation as a genius spread almost throughout Shangyi County.

There are even some enthusiasts who have compiled countless stories about his life.

The most widely circulated story is that his father was disabled but determined to work for the development of future generations and cultivate a genius. Even some details that Li Ji'an had not thought of before were compiled in a very coherent manner.

This dispelled Li Ji'an's worries that some details could not be done perfectly before he "rejuvenated" in his previous life.

"The ancients were not deceiving me. After I enter the Pass, there will be great scholars who will debate the classics for me!"

At the same time, the reputation of Instructor Ma in the martial arts academy collapsed rapidly, while Instructor Wu was thriving and received many praises.

Two months later, Li Ji'an completed his training and unsurprisingly won first place in the Shangyi County martial arts exam, and second place among the three cities and eighteen counties in Chong'an Prefecture, and was successfully selected into the Xunxian Academy in Chong'an Prefecture.

The fireworks display in the entire Shangyi County lasted for three days.

The martial arts examination in this world does not involve physical combat, nor does it have any categorized examination items. The only evaluation criterion is the degree of physical training, which is linked to bone age. The younger the bone age, the higher the degree of physical training and the higher the ranking.

At the age of fifteen, Li Ji'an had a full body and set a new record in Shangyi County.

I also have great expectations for Shangyi County Martial Arts Academy.

Once Li Ji'an is taken away by the Immortal Master during the next Immortal Master selection of Immortal Seedlings, the President of Shangyi County Martial Arts Academy and the instructor will be directly promoted three levels.

And even if he fails to become an immortal seedling in the end, it is almost certain that he will become a master of Qi and blood.

Therefore, before he went to the city to seek immortals, the martial arts academy rewarded him with a thousand taels of silver, and the dean gave him another thousand taels in his personal name, and all the instructors raised another thousand taels as a gift.

Before rushing to the city to seek the Immortal Temple, Li Ji'an returned to Zixiao Temple to bid farewell to his old friends and pay homage to his master.

The city is three hundred miles away from Shangyi County. Given the convenient transportation here, for ordinary people, this trip may be a farewell forever.

In this life, Li Ji'an is fifteen years old and full of vitality. As the sun rises, he can't help but feel a little sad when he sees his senior brother who has passed the age of knowing his fate and has gray hair and is beginning to lose his vitality. For his age, this farewell may really be a farewell forever.

The abbot presented Li Ji'an with three thousand taels of silver on behalf of Zixiao Temple and asked him to write more letters, expressing his hope that Li Ji'an would take care of him in the future.

When he left Zixiao Temple again, Li Ji'an felt much more at ease. The seven years from eight to fifteen, the most precarious period of "rejuvenation" in this life, had been safely passed. He also felt a little more confident. In addition to the six thousand taels of silver in his arms, the most important thing was his own strength that was now in great shape.

His skin has been polished to perfection, and his membrane is as tough as cowhide. It is difficult to be damaged by ordinary swords and knives. He has a strength of three hundred pounds, and his reaction and speed are beyond ordinary people. Even if he throws a bunch of punches, three or five ordinary strong men are no match for him, and he can barely survive on his own.

He has a full body, thick skin and tough flesh, and a strength of 500 kilograms. Even if he encounters a small group of bandits, he can still protect himself. He has begun to have the strength to travel the world.

(End of this chapter)