Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation

The smile on Li Ji'an's face deepened when the name "Li Jichang" was mentioned.

The name he registered today was his real name, "Li Ji'an," and the other seven instructors had seen his roster.

But none of them reacted.

However, Wu Cheng almost instantly thought of his past self.

"Li Jichang? Who is that? Sounds a bit familiar," one instructor said, piqued by Wu Cheng's words.

"I don't have any impression."

"Little Wu, could he be a descendant of your old friend?"

...

Wu Cheng glanced at his colleagues, and seeing that they really didn't seem to remember, he said faintly, "It's Li Laoguai, as you call him!"

In his previous life in the Martial Academy, besides the gatekeeper Grandpa Huang, Instructor Xiao Wu, and that little fellow who mocked him relentlessly, almost everyone called him Li Laoguai.

This was because in his previous life, he had been mutilated by those beasts, resulting in a deformed, crooked arm.

"What?"

"Li Laoguai's descendant?"

"This..."

"Hiss~ He really does look a bit like him between the eyebrows."

"Could he be Li Laoguai's son?"

"Speaking of which, hasn't Li Laoguai been missing for five years?"

...

In any case, Li Ji'an was considered a celebrity in the Martial Academy in his previous life.

This immediately sparked a heated discussion.

"That old codger actually managed to cultivate a genius?" Lao Wan was also momentarily stunned.

He remembered once asking Li Laoguai: You're in such a state, what's the point of practicing martial arts?

Li Laoguai didn't care at all: There is a point. With my talent, I'm bound to be unsuccessful, but perhaps I can improve the bloodline for my descendants through martial arts. Generation after generation, there might be a generation with superior talent.

"How could Li Laoguai give birth to such a handsome son?" Soon, some Martial Academy students were attracted.

They surrounded Li Ji'an and sized him up carefully.

"Are you really Li Laoguai's son?"

"Why didn't Li Laoguai come to the Martial Academy later? Did he give up?"

...

Faced with everyone's inquiries, Li Ji'an just smiled and remained silent.

"Well, alright, it doesn't matter if there's a connection or not, come with me." Wu Cheng realized that his unintentional words seemed to have caused trouble for Li Ji'an, so he stopped questioning him and hurriedly led him away.

Li Ji'an nodded and followed closely behind.

"Hehe, Li Laoguai practiced for most of his life but only touched the surface of martial arts, and now he's sending his son here?"

"Tsk tsk, he's actually the same as his old man, unwanted and only able to join Instructor Wu's tutelage."

"My dad always said, 'Like father, like son; if he sells scallions, his son sells garlic.' Li Laoguai is a failure, how can his son be any better?"

A group of students behind them whispered.

After taking Li Ji'an to his teaching area, Wu Cheng looked at Li Ji'an and forced an awkward smile: "Don't listen to those people's nonsense. Old Li was very powerful back then, completely exceeding my expectations. Before him, who would have dared to imagine that someone who started practicing martial arts at the age of thirty could achieve perfect skin refinement?"

"So, it's never too late to start on the path of martial arts."

"Moreover, talent only determines your upper limit, but it cannot determine your lower limit. Even if there is no hope of winning the martial arts examination, practicing martial arts can still strengthen your body."

"Also, when it comes to practicing martial arts, don't compare yourself to others, just do your best."

Li Ji'an solemnly bowed: "I respectfully obey your teachings!"

The martial arts of this world consist of external martial arts and internal cultivation. External martial arts involve techniques and skills for fighting and killing.

Internal cultivation involves refining qi and blood, tempering the body, refining the skin, strengthening the flesh, forging bones, exchanging blood, marrow washing, and refining internal organs, thereby undergoing a transformation and having qi and blood like a dragon.

However, external martial arts require internal cultivation as a foundation, otherwise they are difficult to perform, or even if they are performed, the strength is insufficient, the speed is not fast, and they are no different from flowery fists and embroidered legs.

Moreover, it is said that the martial arts here were bestowed by immortals. Before that, there was no extraordinary power, and wielding weapons was just a simple matter of applying force and mastering routines. There was no such thing as fighting against many opponents alone.

The immortals only bestowed internal cultivation methods for tempering qi and blood and forging extraordinary bodies, namely the 'Golden Strengthening Skill' that everyone practices, but no external martial arts were bestowed.

Practicing internal cultivation can make one strong, create extraordinary qi and blood power, transform the body, create golden muscles and jade marrow, and become invulnerable to swords and spears.

The external martial arts are only a few techniques for stimulating and utilizing the qi and blood in the body, which have been explored by some martial arts masters with extraordinary comprehension over the past century. Most of them are cherished and not passed on to outsiders.

The imperial court has the most.

Ordinary low-level martial artists have little opportunity to practice them.

Li Ji'an had experience in practicing martial arts in both of his previous lives, and he only practiced the internal cultivation method 'Golden Strengthening Skill'.

As for external martial arts, in his first life, the owner of the martial arts gym in his town created a set of boxing techniques that couldn't even be considered a martial art.

Considering Li Ji'an's internal cultivation realm of perfect skin refinement in his second life, that set of boxing techniques was essentially the same as having nothing, essentially just the strength and speed brought about by the transformation of the body through skin refinement and flesh strengthening.

A month later, Li Ji'an's stance work was fully mastered, and he officially began to practice the 'Golden Strengthening Skill'.

Internal cultivation focuses on refining qi and blood, using the movement of tendons and bones in conjunction with breathing techniques to temper the tendons and forge the bones. It is impossible to do so before the tendons and bones are fully developed, otherwise it may damage the tendons and break the bones, resulting in physical disability and injury. Therefore, before the age of thirteen, Li Ji'an only practiced its movements and postures.

Before practicing the 'Golden Strengthening Skill', it is also necessary to perform stance work to strengthen the foundation and cultivate the vitality. This also requires the tendons and bones to be fully developed before it can be done.

In his previous life, when he entered the Martial Academy at the age of thirty, it took him half a year to barely achieve success in the stance work alone.

Li Ji'an reflected on the differences and finally determined that, in addition to his previous experience in stance work, the main reasons were his strong bones and long tendons in this life, as well as the increased comprehension brought about by the improvement of his mental strength.

After all, stance work is not static, nor is it just about movements and postures. It needs to be matched with one's own tendons and bones. The subtle differences vary from person to person and can only be understood by oneself.

If the understanding is correct, the stance work will strengthen the foundation faster; otherwise, it will not be possible to fully master it for a long time, and it will not be possible to truly practice internal cultivation.

"His comprehension is so good?" Many people showed surprise when they learned that Li Ji'an had mastered the stance work so quickly.

Ma Yuan's eyelids twitched slightly as he looked at the "genius" he had snatched.

Qingyun hadn't even completed the seventy-two forms of stance work in the past month.

Qingyun's petty cleverness, which he had used to fool his father since he was a child, made it impossible to tell whether he was really not putting in the effort or whether his comprehension was really poor.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if the comprehension is a little poor. The most important thing is the natural endowment. As long as the natural endowment is good, even if the comprehension is a little poor, he can still succeed in a month. When he starts practicing internal cultivation, he will be incomparable to those with poor natural endowment." Ma Yuan comforted himself in this way.

At the same time, he resolutely extinguished the idea of providing Li Ji'an with the Martial Academy's exclusive medicinal bath materials, which he had initially promised.

If the disciple taught by Instructor Wu was more outstanding than the disciple he taught, especially if the disciple he chose had better talent, it would have too much impact on his reputation as an instructor.

Moreover, it was obvious that many people in the academy had already begun to compare Li Ji'an with Qingyun, and many people wanted to see him make a fool of himself.

"How could I let that old codger's son slap my face?"

That night, Ma Yuan didn't hesitate to spend his own money to move Qingyun from the student's dormitory to the small courtyard next to his own, and he was determined to teach Qingyun well.