Chapter 63: How the Bones Are Tempered

"Row boat." Shen Tang's voice came from not far away. The master and disciple turned their heads and saw Shen Tang alone, struggling to row her wheelchair up the mountain, braving the snow.

Lu Xingzhou was slightly startled. His first reaction was, "Is Xiao Baitou not pushing you anymore?"

Shen Tang's smile immediately vanished. "Do you want me to help you two lock yourselves in the secret room and look at each other all the time, every day!"

Lu Xingzhou hugged A Nuo, looking small, pitiful, and helpless. "I'm clearly concerned about you. On such a snowy day, you're rowing your wheelchair up the mountain alone..."

Shen Tang knew full well that his pitiful appearance was fake, but for some reason, she couldn't genuinely get angry. She just put on a straight face and said, "I'm a Fourth Grade martial cultivator. You're telling me it's snowy."

"But that doesn't change the fact that you're coming through the snow."

Shen Tang didn't speak. After a moment, she said, "I don't know how Qing Li and you fought, but I feel she's benefited greatly and is currently in seclusion breaking through. She was already at the threshold of Fourth Grade, so when she comes out, she should also be Fourth Grade."

Lu Xingzhou nodded.

On the surface, it seemed almost all the gains were his. Others exerted a lot of effort, but none of them got anything. In reality, the explored area here can be considered Tianxing Sword Sect's land, and the entire secret realm, including the spirit stone mine, belongs to Shen Tang. Although he has the property rights to this back mountain, theoretically, half of the secret realm belongs to him as well. But obviously, he wouldn't argue with Shen Tang about this.

As for A Nuo, his own daughter never differentiated.

So, only Xiao Baitou truly gained nothing. Since she could gain benefits and break through from the fight, it wasn't a wasted trip.

As for materials, he would think of a way to return some later...

Speaking of which, her breakthrough is mostly related to divine soul impact... just hope the more she breaks through, the less indifferent she becomes.

Shen Tang spoke again, "So how exactly did you fight? I didn't see any enemies at the scene... Is her breakthrough from harmonizing Yin and Yang?"

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

Facing A Nuo's dark, slippery, watching-the-show eyes, Shen Tang finally felt that her strange Yin Yang performance seemed unreasonable. Ultimately, everyone's relationship is just tenant and landlord, guest elder and sect master.

She finally took a deep breath, trying hard to maintain a light tone. "You truly like Qing Li. You must seize the opportunity. Because Qing Li came out of Han Jiang, her original purpose was to gain experience and seek the path to the Upper Three Grades. The so-called protecting me was just a task within her experience. Now that Tianxing Sword Sect is stable, she probably doesn't have much reason to stay. Now that she has broken through to Fourth Grade, she might leave at any time."

Lu Xingzhou said, "It's not necessarily stable. Cangxiang Lou has already become a mortal enemy, and we've lost Jin Mingxiu. Our strength is much weaker in comparison. If the other party is ruthless, we may not have a guaranteed victory..."

Shen Tang ground her teeth.

He doesn't deny liking Qing Li... Yes, knowing he likes Qing Li is an open secret.

Lu Xingzhou added, "Furthermore, where Xu Bingkun's demon came from and who injured it, this matter is still unresolved. I feel uneasy and always feel there are unknown risks hidden. And there's a certain possibility that this risk is related to our secret realm. After all, Xia State's special places are mainly concentrated here... You should also pay more attention."

"Understood." Shen Tang was well aware of these things. She asked again, "So your combat power is quite crucial... How is your Yin Yang Extreme Intent now?"

"Feasible. Practicing this skill here is truly blessed by heaven. I've practiced for most of the day today and have already reached Ninth Grade."

Shen Tang was startled. "So fast!"

"For a martial cultivator with experience, re-entering the sect is very simple. The follow-up may not be so easy..." Lu Xingzhou had a bit of a headache. "A completely new skill. It will take me a while to fully grasp everything. There are some parts that I don't even fully understand, and as I delve deeper into practice, the obstacles will be greater."

Shen Tang nodded. "This is inevitable... If you have problems, you can find me and Qing Li to discuss. Since you've already entered Ninth Grade and your Yin Yang intent has taken shape, now is the time to truly try refining the leg bone, right?"

"Yes." Lu Xingzhou's eyes flickered. "Are the things ready?"

"I came here, of course, to bring you things."

Lu Xingzhou took a deep breath. "Then... let's go again."

...

A Nuo was once again left to be the bystander.

Sacrificial refining bones is somewhat similar to refining pills, but it's not truly refining pills. Its essence is closer to refining artifacts. A Nuo, who is an auxiliary plugin for refining pills, is useless in this matter. Lu Xingzhou used "you just overexerted yourself and haven't recovered, you need a good rest" as an excuse and left A Nuo at home to look after the house. He and Shen Tang went into the pool water.

A Nuo hugged her knees and squatted by the pool edge, looking resentfully at the ripples spreading in the pool. She always felt that Master just wanted to soak in the bath privately with Sister Shen Tang and didn't want a big light bulb beside them.

A Nuo guessed correctly.

Shen Tang's appearance when she got into the pool and got her whole body wet was particularly attractive. When there were many people, it wasn't appropriate to look too much, but now she could look openly.

Shen Tang got out of the pool wet. When she saw Lu Xingzhou sitting in his wheelchair, looking clean and refreshed, she couldn't help but laugh, "Your wheelchair is very interesting, it can even navigate underwater."

Lu Xingzhou measured her wet figure, whose curves were even more beautiful because she was soaked through, and her inner bellyband was vaguely visible. She was truly beautiful beyond words.

He answered in a proper manner, "After all, I've been sitting in a wheelchair my whole life. It was forged according to the specifications of a magic treasure. It has to be able to cope with going up Knife Mountain and down Fire Sea..."

Shen Tang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She silently operated her skill to dry her clothes with steam.

Seeing Lu Xingzhou's eyes staring without turning, she couldn't help but give him a side glance. "Pervert."

This glance was truly charming. Lu Xingzhou felt a bit electrified and coughed dryly, "Don't talk nonsense. This is called everyone has a heart for beauty. What's wrong with looking a few times?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Stealing so many touches when curing your legs is also having a heart for beauty."

This direct hit caught Lu Xingzhou off guard.

Are you just going to say it like this now?

Seeing Lu Xingzhou's stunned look, Shen Tang acted as if nothing had happened and very naturally pushed his wheelchair towards the passage.

Lu Xingzhou also fell silent. The atmosphere was quiet for a while, with only the sound of the wheelchair rolling in the passage, which was particularly clear in the empty cave mansion.

Both of them had the same feeling in their hearts... They clearly felt that there were many things they wanted to say to the other person, but they didn't know why when the words reached their lips, they felt a strange sense of having nothing to say. It was as if they had wanted to say something, but just as they were about to break through the window paper, the desire to speak was suppressed. Eventually, they remained silent.

It was better to quietly push the wheelchair and accompany her walk... It felt like a pair of elderly people with gray hair many years later, pushing their old companion's wheelchair, strolling in the streets and alleys of the county town after dinner at dusk, with the moon hanging at the tip of the willow branches. The rhythmic clicking sound of the wheelchair rolling on the bluestone slabs, and the hearts of both people gradually became peaceful along with this sound.

Lu Xingzhou's face was originally calm, but in his heart, he was even more anxious than A Nuo earlier. His heartstrings were tightened with nervousness, but in this peace, he slowly calmed down.

He turned his head and thought, what was he nervous about earlier?

He couldn't remember... There was no enemy at all. It was only refining a treasure. What was there to be nervous about?

Unbeknownst to them, the two people arrived at the place where the dragon and tiger intersected.

A Nuo's well cover was collected by Lu Xingzhou earlier. Any magic treasure would be burned by the long-term burning here. Lu Xingzhou would not want A Nuo to wake up crying and chirping.

Now, what entered their eyes was a cluster of flames rising from the cave entrance. Between the swallowing and spitting of the fire tongues, the high temperature covered the entire secret realm.

"I knew there must be earth fire here, but I didn't think there was something in the fire... A Nuo, that child..." Lu Xingzhou sighed, finally breaking the silence with his voice.

Shen Tang said softly, "You treat her as your own life, and she will naturally have the same heart."

As soon as these words came out, her face suddenly felt a bit hot again. She always felt a bit of a double meaning hint.

Lu Xingzhou also didn't know if he heard it. His thoughts seemed not to be on these matters. Soon, he took out a pill furnace from his ring and pressed it down with a "thud" at the place where the earth fire surged.

Different pill furnaces have quite a lot of differences in their roles in refining pills. Lu Xingzhou carried several types. The one he had now belonged to the type that could gather more high temperature, specially used to refine some heaven and earth treasures that were difficult to melt, but had no value in extracting and blending medicinal effects. It was just right to use it here.

"First refine the fire-type. Although it's harder to melt, at least there won't be mutual exclusion, and it's not easy to explode." Lu Xingzhou took a deep breath, first threw the flame fire essence into the furnace, and then took over several pieces of auxiliary melting materials from Shen Tang and put them in together.

The furnace cover was closed.

The pill furnace has a specially made window to observe the situation inside the pill. Lu Xingzhou stared intently, watching the auxiliary melting materials slowly soften the flame fire essence little by little.

Shen Tang, an outsider in refining pills, leaned over and looked together with some curiosity.

It's hard for outsiders to imagine how a pile of medicinal herbs or minerals thrown into the furnace could become round and smooth. Now, watching from the side, she gained some knowledge.

Inside the pill furnace, it was a bit like a vortex, constantly rotating with the heat. Everything put in was stirred into a mass, and after a thousand turns, it naturally became a round and rolling appearance.

In fact, in the hands of pill masters like Lu Xingzhou who have powerful control, the rotation inside is controllable. For example, it can be divided into several areas to turn simultaneously, and refining multiple pills in one furnace comes out like this. And if there is no need to blend the medicinal properties like this, the pill master can also completely control the rotation angle and choose to refine the pills into other shapes.

A Nuo just tried to refine a pill in the shape of a small rabbit, but the medicinal effect was not even, so it was a waste pill.

With the earth fire, Lu Xingzhou completely didn't need to consider the problem of pill fire. All his spiritual energy was put into controlling the inside.

Shen Tang's eyes widened as she watched the flame fire essence soften, like a red, soft candy. Lu Xingzhou then threw in several points of sacrificial refining bone imitators and flesh fusion auxiliary medicines into the furnace, broke them apart, and rubbed them into the soft candy. Then, he pressed and rotated it from various angles, forcefully pressing the flame fire essence into a slender column shape.

Then, after grinding it left and right, the outer shape of a bone gradually appeared, red like red jade, and faintly flowing with light.

The temperature here was high, and Lu Xingzhou put his whole heart into it. Unconsciously, sweat flowed into his eyes.

Lu Xingzhou subconsciously wanted to wipe it, but Shen Tang had already taken out a piece of silk cloth and gently wiped it. "No need to be distracted, I'm here."