「Linjiang City, Qiao Mansion.」

In a quiet study, Qiao Zhiyao stood silently, her gaze fixed on the middle-aged man seated at the desk.

That was her father, Qiao Tongyu, one of the current leaders of the Qiao Clan.

Qiao Tongyu held a letter made of special paper, his brow slightly furrowed before slowly relaxing. He looked up at his daughter, whose eyes held a faint, almost imperceptible trace of nervousness and anticipation, and handed the letter to her.

"Grandmaster Yue... has replied." Qiao Tongyu’s voice was steady, betraying little emotion. "See for yourself."

Qiao Zhiyao took a deep breath, stepped forward, and accepted the letter with both hands.

The moment her fingertips touched the paper, she could feel a lingering aura—exceedingly faint, yet rich and searing.

It was the unique signature of Grandmaster Yue Lianshan; it could not be faked.

According to the family elders, Qiao Zhiyao’s constitution was best suited for practicing the Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace.

However, this Body Refining Technique had since been improved by Grandmaster Yue Lianshan. His high-level modifications made it more profound, but also raised the difficulty of reaching the Entry Level.

Qiao Zhiyao had been unable to reach the Entry Level, so her best recourse was to consult Yue Lianshan himself.

She quickly unfolded the letter, her gaze sweeping over the calligraphy. The strokes were wild and flamboyant, yet so powerful they seemed to press through the very paper.

The letter was brief and to the point. It directly addressed her cultivation bottleneck, specifically the issue of her Qi and Blood circulation, which she could never get to flow in perfect harmony.

However, when she read Grandmaster Yue’s specific advice, Qiao Zhiyao froze, an expression of utter disbelief on her face.

The letter read: "Practice the Basic Body Refining Technique two hundred times daily. Concentrate your spirit, calm your breath, and feel the most subtle circulation of your Qi and Blood. Persevere for one to two months, and the bottleneck will resolve itself."

’The Basic Body Refining Technique? Two hundred times?’

Qiao Zhiyao almost thought she had misread it.

The two Grandmasters in her own family had examined her problem and concluded only that her Qi and Blood lacked agility and that she needed more practice. But she hadn’t been able to make an inch of progress, which was why she had sought out Grandmaster Yue Lianshan, the foremost expert on the Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace.

’But the answer I get is to go back to practicing the Basic Body Refining Technique?’

’And two hundred times a day? That’s simply... absurd!’

The answer wasn’t just absurd on its own. It was absurd because... over two months ago, Qiao Zhiyao had already received the exact same advice.

That senior from the year above her, Xu Wuyi, had given her the exact same advice!

’So he was right?!’

’Then what have I been doing for the past few months?!’

"Father, this..." Qiao Zhiyao looked up, her eyes filled with confusion and a sense of being wronged. "Grandmaster Yue... will this really work?"

Qiao Tongyu saw his daughter’s reaction but didn’t grow angry. He simply tapped his fingers lightly on the desk and said in a heavy tone, "Zhiyao, watch your words. What kind of man is Grandmaster Yue? If he was willing to reply at all, he would never speak irresponsibly or just give a cursory answer."

He paused, a thoughtful glint in his eyes. "The Qiao Family paid a considerable price for this consultation. The solution Grandmaster Yue provided must be what he believes is the most effective."

"Perhaps the Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace has its own unique requirements, demanding an extremely high sensitivity to one’s Qi and Blood. Practicing the Basic Body Refining Technique might be the simplest way to train that sensitivity."

Qiao Tongyu agreed with Grandmaster Yue’s advice. What he didn’t know was that his daughter had already received the exact same answer two months prior.

Qiao Zhiyao had sought out many solutions before, all of which had proven ineffective. Qiao Tongyu wouldn’t have reviewed each one personally; that was Qiao Yongwen’s job to screen the results.

"Basic Body Refining Technique..." Qiao Zhiyao murmured under her breath.

’Could my problem really be a lack of control over my own Qi and Blood?’

The same advice coming from a student who had only recently become a Martial Artist carried a different weight than it did coming from Yue Lianshan.

Qiao Zhiyao was starting to believe it. She realized she had advanced too quickly in her early years, never looking back to re-examine the very foundation she started from.

Two hundred repetitions a day wasn’t a punishment. It was a method of using brute-force quantity to compel a qualitative change, forcing her to re-familiarize herself with and master the power of her own body.

Once she understood this, the wronged expression on Qiao Zhiyao’s face gradually faded, replaced by dawning comprehension and resolve. She carefully folded the letter and tucked it into her clothes as if it were a priceless treasure.

"Father, I understand." Qiao Zhiyao’s voice regained its usual cheerfulness, but her eyes were brighter than ever. "Starting tomorrow—no, starting this afternoon—I will practice according to Grandmaster Yue’s instructions."

Seeing his daughter adjust her mindset so quickly, a flicker of gratification passed through Qiao Tongyu’s eyes.

’To be able to think things through and immediately take action... that’s the kind of disposition worthy of a daughter of the Qiao Family.’

...

Meanwhile, Xu Wuyi returned to Villa #7 in the Hidden Dragon Garden, carrying the dark red wooden box.

He went straight to the underground Cultivation Room, locked the door from the inside, and activated the soundproofing array.

The room was instantly plunged into absolute silence, leaving only the sound of his own breathing and heartbeat.

He sat down cross-legged. Instead of rushing to open the wooden box, he first closed his eyes to regulate his breathing and bring his body and mind to their optimal state.

Teacher Han Mo’s words echoed in his mind: "Use the power of your Heart and Spirit to repeatedly refine these grains of sand, removing all impurities until you’ve polished them into diamond-like crystals."

Only when he felt his Spirit was full and his Qi and Blood were calm did Xu Wuyi slowly open his eyes. His gaze fell upon the wooden box resting on his lap.

He took a deep breath. With the reverence and anticipation befitting a gift from a Grandmaster, he gently lifted the lid.

There was no flash of brilliant light as he’d expected. Inside the box, an object lay quietly.

It was a wooden carving, roughly the size of a fist.

The wood was a dark red with a fine grain. It was warm and smooth to the touch, as if it still held the residual warmth of life.

It was a carving of a mountain. The range was majestic and imposing, its peak not a sharp point but a wide, slightly concave opening, like the mouth of a bowl.

Within that open caldera, one could faintly make out winding, twisting lines, like lava about to erupt. A suppressed yet immense and burgeoning intent naturally emanated from it.

’A volcano?’ Xu Wuyi paused for a moment, then reached out and picked up the wooden carving.

The instant his fingertips made contact with the carving, a violent tremor ran through his entire body!

BUZZ!

It wasn’t a real sound, but an invisible vibration that struck his spiritual consciousness directly.

The scene before him blurred. The wooden carving in his hand seemed to come alive, rapidly expanding in his mind’s eye.

He was no longer looking at a wooden carving. Instead, it was as if he were suspended in a vast void, looking down upon an impossibly real, massive volcano on the verge of eruption!

The mountain was pitch-black and covered in jagged, grotesque rocks. Within the massive caldera at its summit, crimson lava churned and roiled like the blood of some colossal beast.

A searing heat washed over him—not physical heat, but a kind of "potential," a vast will built to its absolute limit, on the verge of exploding in an overwhelming torrent of intertwined destruction and rebirth!

He could even "see" inside the lava itself, where countless tiny bubbles formed and burst. Energy, under extreme Compression, collided endlessly, all of it waiting for that one, earth-shattering moment.

The perception was impossibly clear and intense, branded directly onto the depths of his soul.

In that instant, Xu Wuyi understood the true nature of the wooden carving—it was imbued with a Grandmaster’s True Intention!