The Future is Beautiful

In total, from all the books stolen in the city, the collection comprised:

3 innate-level manuals, plus 1 damaged.

15 bone refinement manuals, with some damaged.

70 blood refinement manuals, along with several damaged ones.

Over 200 skin refinement manuals. The damaged ones at this level were left behind.

On the day of the theft, Aotian discarded the damaged skin refinement manuals. With so many families and martial arts halls storing the manuals on separate shelves, he knew there was a risk of having left behind a rare manual mistakenly classified as skin refinement by those families.

But there was nothing he could do about it. Time was limited, and the amount of damaged manuals was simply too large.

Zhenxia City was immense, and its wealth and heritage were deeply tied to the fact that, for generations, it had thrived under the shadow of the giant Tianzhen Sect.

In fact, Aotian found two Qi refinement inheritances in major martial arts families, totaling three inheritances when including the one found in the city lord's mansion.

'According to these inheritances and the innate-level manuals, sparse spiritual roots are merely prototypes of true spiritual roots. Low-quality ones allow cultivation up to the 1st level of Qi refinement, but attempting to break through to the 2nd level causes them to collapse under the excess energy... ultimately killing the cultivator due to the backlash,' Aotian recalled the information.

'These roots with a ceiling limit and the possibility of collapse are called pseudo-roots. Unlike them, the worst true spiritual root, the low-level five-element spiritual root, has the potential to lead a cultivator to the mid-level of Qi refinement. With luck and opportunities, they can even reach foundation establishment or even higher realms without the roots collapsing,' he analyzed, his eyes shining with determination.

'I must generate at least one real spiritual root... Even if it's the worst one. With a sparse spiritual root, my fate will be sealed.'

His gaze then fixed on the panel of the Sect Leader, Tian Zhu.

[Name: Tiān Zhǔ (Meaning: Heavenly Leader)

Position: Sect Leader

Cultivation: 1st level of Foundation Establishment (2 great realms above the host)

Position Ability: Exercise Derivation

Position Bonus: Fight beyond the border (Power increased by 2x)]

'With the exercise derivation ability, as long as I have enough materials and experience as a foundation, I can derive an almost perfect exercise. I refuse to believe that I can't generate a real root with this ability.' Aotian solidified his determination as he lay on the hard, worn-out bed, his eyes fixed on the old wooden ceiling full of spiders.

Then, in the ruins of the Tianzhen Sect, the sect leader uncrossed his legs and stood up.

He picked up the Luo Mountain Swordsman Manual and carefully separated its pages. He divided them into four piles: Skin Refinement, Blood Refinement, Bone Refinement, Essence Refinement.

Yes, it wasn't innate, but essence refinement.

Old Huang Bo hadn't lied; he had merely repeated common knowledge. As a civilian, he never had access to true martial arts.

To better understand, martial arts are divided into stages:

Skin Refinement: Initial → Middle → Final → Perfect

Blood Refinement: Initial → Middle → Final → Perfect

Bone Refinement: Initial → Middle → Final → Perfect

Essence Refinement: Initial → Middle → Final → Innate

Each realm has the states of initial, middle, final, and perfect, except for essence refinement. When it reaches perfection, it leads to the innate.

And this is the meaning of innate: recovering what should have been born with you. Spiritual roots that should be innate.

'Using the Luo Mountain Swordsman Manual as a foundation, I will perfect each realm. I refuse to believe that I can't generate a real spiritual root,' Aotian encouraged himself, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of determination and ambition.

'First step: Skin Refinement!'

…

..

.

25 days passed like a breeze. And with that breeze, almost all of Aotian's money was gone as well.

Inside the dimly lit room, a disheveled Aotian with deep dark circles under his eyes grinned wildly.

"Finally! I was going crazy!" He celebrated, his voice echoing off the empty walls.

With the help of the avatars, Aotian read more than 200 skin refinement manuals and exhaustively practiced each one. The more he read and trained, the faster he absorbed the manuals' content. It was also thanks to the avatars, who were already in a realm above the innate level, that he was able to explore the manuals so quickly.

However, despite improving control over his own body, the exercises did not increase the avatars' strength at all. But there was a benefit to the avatars being powerful enough not to have their strength affected by the exercises: they could practice different techniques without any limitations.

If Aotian tried to do the same with his weak physical body, he would not only waste time but probably cripple himself in the process.

That's why he needed to refine a unique manual just for himself.

'Finally, I can compile the manual for the first realm, skin refinement. With so many skin refinement books, I've built a solid foundation for blood refinement. Along with the more than 70 manuals on the subject, I have enough material to compile the blood refinement exercises. But I'll still need bone refinement manuals before creating my own manual for that realm,' Aotian reflected, his eyes shining with determination.

He then manipulated Elder Bao to combine the skin refinement manual he had compiled with the rest of the Luo Mountain Swordsman Manual and evaluated it:

[Luo Mountain Swordsman Manual: Innate-Level Exercise Book.

Status: Damaged by an arrow.

Description: Manual of the famous swordsman from Luo Mountain, lost by one of his descendants, killed by an arrow that pierced his chest.

Note: The skin refinement realm has been modified and elevated to near perfection. If restored and adapted for realm connection, it could generate high-level sparse five-element roots.]

'Good! Good! Good! Although it says "almost perfect" and not "perfect," my instincts and studies tell me that I wouldn't reach perfection even with a thousand manuals and years of practice. Besides, perfection shouldn't bring about such a huge qualitative change. It's not worth delaying,' Aotian pondered, still uncertain but soon firming his decision.

'In the books I read, pursuing perfection seems easy and brings great changes. But most of the time, in higher realms, that perfection becomes increasingly irrelevant. It only causes problems and unnecessarily slows down cultivation.' He convinced himself with practical arguments, though he still hesitated.

'No matter! Every day without power is another day my life is at risk. Red Tiger City is getting busier, and I have a bad feeling about it. I can't wait years chasing perfection for this manual,' Aotian decided, his expression turning resolute.

He moved to the center of the room, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

With smooth and fluid movements, his arms and body began to move with grace and power. He dragged his toe along the ground as if drawing circles on water, and his arms danced like the wings of a peacock, only to suddenly transform into a powerful fist, which then flowed into a gentle palm.

In just a few minutes, he completed a round of complex and subtle exercises. Sweat poured from his body like a waterfall, and his trembling legs gave out, making him collapse to the ground, exhausted.

"Haah… Haah… Haah…" Aotian panted, his chest rising and falling uncontrollably.

'Damn, this is hard… The avatars didn't even sweat doing this for hours. I guess I completely forgot that I'm just a weak chicken in my real body,' Aotian thought helplessly.

Several minutes later, he barely managed to stand, staring at his sweat-soaked clothes.

"Damn… Good thing I bought another set of old clothes… But if I keep this up, I'll run out of clean clothes in two training sessions. Looks like I'll have to train naked in my room from now on," he muttered with a bitter smile as he removed the dirty clothes.

Looking at his skinny body with no visible changes, he let out an ironic laugh.

'In the stories I used to read, results showed up right after the first training session. I was fooled! Give me back my money!' Aotian joked in his thoughts.

In the corner of the room, a bucket of water and a cloth awaited him. He wet the cloth and wiped his body, improvising a rudimentary bath.

'I miss my shower… brushing my teeth… my phone… and not having to crap in a stinky latrine or pee in a chamber pot and throw it out afterward,' he grumbled mentally while cleaning himself.

'But when I become a powerful practitioner, everything will get better. I won't need to poop, bathe, or brush my teeth, and I'll always be clean and refreshed. And as for the phone… well, I can easily replace it with a fairy on each arm,' Aotian began to smile more foolishly, deluded by the promises of the future.

'Yeah… Looks like the future isn't going to be bad at all.'