I was told I'd be a late bloomer, but I was born with the potential to achieve great things!

Half a month later, at Yunxia's residence, on the summit of the back mountain.

The chilly mountain winds swirled the sea of ​​clouds, sweeping in amidst the golden dawn.

Zhou An stood facing the wind, his fists at his waist and abdomen, his feet firmly planted on the ground as if rooted to the ground.

His abdomen bulged, and with each breath he exhaled, his entire body was moved, and his exposed skin trembled slowly in the wind.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou An's ears twitched slightly, and the blood and qi that had been surging rapidly in his body gradually calmed down.

As the internal energy gradually receded, the iron-like color on Zhou An's skin began to fade rapidly.

[Iron Pole Skill Perfected (1000/1000): 100 practices daily, can be achieved in ten years]

"This place is indeed a good place to practice martial arts."

Almost at the same time that Zhou An withdrew his internal energy, a voice with a hint of sigh came from behind him.

"Disciple Zhou An greets Elder Huang."

Seeing Huang Huayuan, dressed in a blue robe, walking down the mountain, Zhou An bowed respectfully.

While bowing, Zhou An's gaze inadvertently swept over the other person's expression.

"Elder Huang was indeed injured that day. No wonder Elder Gong started taking on all the responsibilities as soon as he returned to Yunxia Station."

Thinking of this, Zhou An couldn't help but sigh.

When he was giving his report that day, he heard Huang Huayuan coughing.

Looking at the other person's obviously waxy face now confirmed his guess.

However, this might only embolden Elder Gong Jiang.

"Sun Heng told me you've reached the threshold of internal strength?"

In the mountain breeze, Huang Huayuan squinted, his voice slightly muffled.

"Yes, I've made some progress these past few days."

"Show me your Iron Pole Stance."

Seeing Zhou An nod, Huang Huayuan also became interested.

"If there is anything incorrect, I hope Elder Huang will point it out."

Zhou An took a deep breath, took half a step to the left and right, and clenched his fists tightly.

Seeing this, Huang Huayuan stepped forward and placed his right hand on Zhou An's right arm.

"exert oneself."

Zhou An remained silent, but took a deep breath. With a clench and unclench of his right fist, his internal energy and strength surged toward his right arm.

He had a good grasp of the situation; a hidden force quietly arose, surging across his right fist like needles.

Yes, but not many.

The impression given is that he has only recently grasped the essence of internal strength and has not yet achieved full mastery of it.

"good."

Huang Huayuan nodded in satisfaction and withdrew his right hand.

"To have mastered the Iron Pole Technique in just one month and even grasped the basics of internal strength, your talent surpasses that of ordinary people."

Zhou An's eyes flickered.

It seems that in addition to dealing with Cai Jun and Elder Gong Jiang, Sun Heng has also put in a good word for him with Elder Huang these past few days.

"If I hadn't faced life and death, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to do this in such a short time."

Zhou Anxin was moved and said sincerely.

"Martial arts are inherently a matter of life and death; you don't need to be modest."

Huang Huayuan waved his hand.

"The elder is right."

Zhou An stopped pretending and simply changed the subject.

"These past few days, I've learned a lot about martial arts cultivation from Senior Brother Sun. I've learned that once a martial artist at the Skin Polishing Realm cultivates to the Golden Skin level..."

Not only are they unafraid of ordinary swords and spears, but they can also withstand attacks of powerful force.

But it seems that the disciples of the Seven Mysteries Sect nowadays prefer iron skin to gold skin. What could be the reason for this?

"Your ambitions are quite grand; you actually want to train a gold-tier skin?"

Huang Huayuan glanced at Zhou An with considerable surprise.

"I only want to have more power to protect myself."

Faced with Huang Huayuan's scrutiny, Zhou An did not back down.

"With golden skin and jade bones, and unobstructed meridians, this talent can be achieved innately."

Huang Huayuan smiled, turned around and looked at the vast sea of ​​clouds in the distance, a hint of longing in his eyes.

"This is the realm that countless martial artists want to pursue, because only by reaching this level can one hope to reach the Innate Realm and step into the realm of immortality."

However, achieving this is very difficult, so difficult that it can sometimes lead to despair.

After all, the lives of us mortals are too short. If we want to cultivate golden skin and jade bones, we must do so before the age of twenty-three.

Once you pass this age, your muscles and bones will be fully developed, requiring more effort and time.

But if we spend too much time on these two realms, what will happen to the later realms?

At this point, Huang Huayuan sighed leisurely.

"Instead of being fixated on this point, it's better to focus on cultivating inner strength as early as possible."

Internal strength is formed by the condensation of essence, blood, and energy, and it can nourish the physical body.

Golden skin and jade bones can block physical force, but they cannot block internal energy.

Moreover, once one returns to one's innate state after acquiring acquired knowledge, one can undergo a complete transformation, making it much easier to cultivate again at that time.

"Then isn't the current stage of cultivation useless?"

Zhou An frowned.

"Of course it is useful. If one can achieve the Golden Skin and Jade Bones at this stage and then change one's blood to be like nectar, the internal energy condensed will be more profound and pure than that of others."

Under the same conditions, both cultivation and combat power will be stronger.

When I was young, I traveled to the capital and heard a rumor.

Legend has it that if one enters the Internal Organs Realm with golden skin and jade bones, one can undergo nine blood transfusions. After nine transfusions, the blood plasma becomes as clear and translucent as glass, like the body of an immortal.

"A celestial being?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou An's eyes lit up, and his tone became excited.

"That's right, he has the body of an immortal."

Huang Huayuan smiled.

"No one has ever seen what it looks like when an immortal is truly cultivating, but as soon as this rumor came out, it was immediately confirmed to be true."

"Simply because someone achieved this a hundred years ago, and when he entered the Innate Realm, his aura was like that of an immortal, giving people a sense of ethereal transcendence."

"And now, is there anyone who has cultivated to this level?"

"I've heard of it, but I've never seen it. However, the more times you have blood transfusions, the better, but this requires an extremely large and abundant amount of blood and qi."

However, blood and qi are the foundation of us martial artists. If the blood transfusion fails even once, it will lead to physical deterioration and a major damage to the foundation.

Most people can only manage it once or twice, let alone nine times.

Huang Huayuan looked at Zhou Andao with a meaningful expression as he finished speaking.

"After saying all that, do you still want to develop golden skin and jade bones?"

"I am eighteen years old this year, and if conditions permit, I would like to give it a try."

As Zhou An spoke, his gaze fell upon the immortal sword that had cleaved through the mountain peaks above the sea of ​​clouds.

"Let's try to reach the sea of ​​clouds and see the scenery through the eyes of the immortals."

"What a beautiful description of the scenery seen through the eyes of an immortal."

Upon hearing this, Huang Huayuan laughed heartily.

"I will go into the mountains to gather herbs again in a month. If you dare to come with me then, I will accept you as my disciple."

......