"After soaking in the medicinal soup, one must use the breathing technique to activate the medicinal power."

 

After adapting to the temperature of the medicinal soup, Xu Taiping began to use the breathing technique taught by the "Fading Sunset Scripture". After a while, he felt a burning sensation in his lower abdomen.

 

The steps of breathing and exhaling were taught by the Purple Yang True Immortal during his lectures. Xu Taiping had tried many times in the past few days. Although he couldn't refine the spiritual energy into his body, he was already familiar with the steps.

 

"Hiss…"

 

Just as Xu Taiping was wondering why the medicinal power had not taken effect, he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his back, as if a nail was being hammered into it.

 

"If this kind of pain, it seems like I can still… Ah!"

 

Xu Taiping was about to say that he could still endure, but unexpectedly, the same pain appeared in his chest, rendering him unable to speak.

 

What was even more terrifying was that this was just the beginning.

 

After the pain in those two areas, various acupoints in his body began to ache intensely, leaving him no chance to catch his breath.

 

Normally, under this kind of pain, a person would faint, but for some reason, Xu Taiping, who was soaking in the medicinal soup, would not faint no matter how much pain he felt. He could only endure it.

 

The pain lasted for a whole hour.

 

During this time, Xu Taiping wanted to climb out of the bathtub countless times. Every time he had this thought, the image of his grandfather before his death would appear in his mind, with his eyes wide open, looking at him and saying:

 

"Endure, Taiping, you must endure for yourself, for all the mortal bones in this world!"

 

"Hoo, hoo, hoo…"

 

Gasping for breath, Xu Taiping leaned tiredly against the bathtub. After his breath calmed down, he slightly raised the corners of his mouth and asked proudly:

 

"Grandfather, did I not embarrass you?"

 

However, even though the intense pain was gone, there was still a lingering pain.

 

This body now felt as if it had countless cracks, and even a slight movement could tear these wounds apart, causing excruciating pain.

 

"Once every seven days, this Bone-Washing and Marrow-Cutting Soup needs to be soaked six more times, and there can be no interruption in the middle, otherwise all previous efforts will be in vain."

 

Thinking about having to endure this level of pain six more times in a row, even someone as determined as him couldn't help but doubt whether he could hold on in the end.

 

***

 

Six days later.

 

"The last time."

 

Looking at the steaming medicinal soup in front of him, Xu Taiping suddenly felt a sense of being separated from the world.

 

The past six days felt longer than ten years.

 

After soaking in the Bone-Washing and Marrow-Cutting Soup for six consecutive days, both his mind and body had reached their limits.

 

On the first day, he didn't make a sound while soaking in the medicinal soup. He certainly didn't expect that in the following days, he would scream in pain, cry loudly, and keep calling for his parents and grandfather.

 

Xu Taiping had never thought that he could be so fragile.

 

It was evident how strong the pain caused by the Bone-Washing and Marrow-Cutting Soup was.

 

But even so, even while crying and screaming, Xu Taiping finally managed to hold on until the seventh day.

 

During these seven days, he even turned the three-acre medicinal field upside down and planted all the seeds of the Nine-Leaf White Perilla.

 

"Endure, Xu Taiping, you must endure."

 

Xu Taiping, who had been hesitating in front of the bathtub for a long time, kept admonishing himself.

 

At this moment, his face was pale, devoid of any color, and his body was as thin as a skeleton. In just six days, he had lost at least twenty catties, and he was on the verge of collapse.

 

"Poof!"

 

In the end, Xu Taiping stepped into the bathtub, and his body was quickly engulfed by the white liquid.

 

"Ah!"

 

Although he wanted to endure, the intense pain made him scream. If it weren't for the fact that there was no one within a hundred miles, it would have attracted attention.

 

Of course, this scream did not go unheard.

 

For example, the Lingyue Fairy, who had turned into a wisp of green smoke, was floating outside Xu Taiping's window.

 

"Little Taiping, it's the last day. Hold on. It's up to you whether you embark on the path to immortality or live the rest of your life like a drifting duckweed."

 

Listening to the painful groans from inside the house, Lingyue Fairy couldn't help but mutter to herself.

 

"You say it so easily. The pain of washing the essence and cutting the marrow is seven times stronger on the seventh day than on the first day. Without another prescription, who can endure it?"

 

But as soon as these words came out, she couldn't help but smile bitterly and blame herself for giving the prescription to Xu Taiping so hastily.

 

***

 

One hour later.

 

"Actually… made it through?"

 

When Lingyue Fairy saw strands of pure spiritual energy converging towards the courtyard like tides, she couldn't help but wear an expression of disbelief.

 

This was the sign of a successful Bone-Washing and Marrow-Cutting.

 

She, who had been afraid to look into the room before, couldn't help but glance through the crack in the window at this moment.

 

In the bedroom, Xu Taiping, who had already passed out, was half-lying in the bathtub. The medicinal soup he was soaking in had turned from white to pitch black, and the impurities that had seeped out of his body had stained it black.

 

At the same time, the spiritual energy that only Lingyue could see seemed to be gently brushing against Xu Taiping's body, then entering his body.

 

Lingyue Fairy looked at Xu Taiping in the room, then looked at the newly renovated medicinal garden in the backyard, and a smile appeared on her lips."I originally thought I was running out of time and took a gamble, but it seems that I have not misjudged."

 

With these words, her figure dissipated on the spot, leaving only a faint echo in the courtyard:

 

"Little guy, I need to peacefully refine the Spirit Crystal to extend my life for a few more years. We'll meet again after some time."

 

***

 

The next morning.

 

As the first ray of morning sunlight shone through the window, Xu Taiping, who was still soaking in the bathtub, just opened his eyes.

 

He had the most restful sleep of his life.

 

"Did I… succeed?"

 

Noticing the thick, foul-smelling black sludge in the bathtub, Xu Taiping was not frightened. Instead, a look of joy appeared on his face.

 

Because according to the instructions of the marrow cleansing soup, this was the sign of successful marrow cleansing, indicating that the impurities in the cultivator's body had been expelled, and he truly possessed the qualifications for cultivation.

 

"Splash…"

 

In his excitement, Xu Taiping stood up from the bathtub, and without putting on any clothes, he ran naked to the well in the backyard.

 

He first drew a bucket of water to wash off the filth from his body, then sat down cross-legged on the spot, and began to operate the Qi Refining Heart Technique of the "Fading Sunset Scripture".