The Lu Family's Invitation

Iron Armor Technique was an unexpected bonus. To complement his Body Tempering Technique, he had initially chosen the most basic external training method, which was essentially a technique for enduring beatings. It involved standing in a stance, striking, and carrying wooden stakes. At its peak, it only resulted in slightly harder skin and thicker bones, which wasn't considered anything special in the world of supernatural beings.

However, Liu Jin discovered that this seemingly tedious skill could just make up for a minor shortcoming of the Reverse Life Triple Stage. The Reverse Life Qi transformation is of the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones, but the accumulation of "essence" is another matter entirely. The Horizontal Training Technique does not cultivate Qi, but only essence, training the original strength of the physical body.

Zuo Ruotong also noticed this line of thought. He had tried a similar approach when he was young, but he didn't pursue it. Because the Triple Rebirth was already difficult enough, adding a horizontal training technique would take too much time and energy. But Zuo Ruotong had his own wisdom; he didn't learn the horizontal training technique, he used his essence fire.

His method of igniting the essence fire was far more ingenious than Liu Jin's. He didn't rely on accumulating external strength through rigorous training, but instead utilized the inherent characteristics of the Reverse Rebirth Triple Stage. The essence of the Reverse Rebirth Triple Stage is reversing one's innate nature; each breakthrough involves the breaking down and rebuilding of the physical body. Zuo Ruotong used igniting the essence fire to break through the Reverse Rebirth, then used rebuilding to devour the essence fire, thus reversing his origin. Burning, breaking down, rebuilding—a cycle many times more sophisticated than Liu Jin's Iron Armor Skill.

In recent years, Zuo Ruotong's cultivation level has steadily improved. Although the third level is still far away, the foundation of the peak of the second level has become increasingly pure through the tempering of the essence fire. Liu Jin once watched Zuo Ruotong practice his cultivation. After his Qi was transformed, almost no impurities could be seen. It was not white, but nearly transparent, like a piece of crystal that had been repeatedly burned countless times.

That evening, Liu Jin was practicing standing meditation in front of the stone wall on the back mountain, performing the final set of the Iron Armor Kung Fu stance. His feet felt like they were rooted to the ground, and his muscles trembled slightly in stillness.

Suddenly someone patted him on the shoulder from behind.

Liu Jin finished his stance and turned around, seeing Zuo Ruotong standing with his hands behind his back in the sunset, his moon-white Daoist robe tinged with pale gold by the evening glow. Standing beside him was Li Muxuan, whose forehead was still covered with beads of sweat, clearly having just been summoned.

"Come on, play a few rounds with me," Zuo Ruotong said.

Liu Jin was taken aback. In the past few years, he had been dragged to spar with Lu Jin and Li Muxuan every now and then, but Zuo Ruotong had personally sparred with him only a handful of times. He didn't ask any more questions and walked to the center of the open space in front of the stone wall.

Li Muxuan retreated to the stone wall, crossed his arms, and leaned against it, his eyes burning with rage. Watching his master and senior brother fight was a far rarer opportunity than being beaten by his senior brother himself.

Zuo Ruotong took off his outer robe and casually draped it over a nearby bamboo branch. He wore a plain white short jacket, his figure slender as bamboo, standing in the sunset like a traditional Chinese ink painting. Then he made his move.

It wasn't really a friendly sparring match, but more of a training session. Liu Jin's cultivation had been exceptionally smooth, and few people could actually fight him, resulting in his fighting style being rather ordinary, mostly relying on his higher cultivation level to overwhelm opponents. Therefore, Zuo Ruotong's guidance was invaluable; there were only two or three people in the Sanyi Sect who could make him go all out and still see through his weaknesses to offer guidance.

Each of Zuo Ruotong's palm strikes carried the power of a peak second-level Reverse Life Realm cultivator. They were fast, but each strike precisely hit the edge of Liu Jin's defense. He didn't break through, but merely grazed past him, forcing him to constantly adjust and adapt.

Liu Jin activated the second level of Reverse Life, his skin glowing a translucent pale white in the sunset. He didn't retreat, but took half a step forward to meet Zuo Ruotong's palm strike. Their palms met silently. The clash between Reverse Life forms was never a head-on collision, but rather a fusion, penetration, and mutual neutralization of Qi.

Later in the fight, Zuo Ruotong suddenly changed her move, striking Liu Jin's chest at the Tanzhong acupoint. Liu Jin neither dodged nor blocked, but instead actively channeled the Qi in his chest to its maximum. The palm struck the Qi-transformed skin, producing a very slight muffled sound.

"Alright." Zuo Ruotong withdrew her palm and took two steps back.

Liu Jin glanced down at his chest. A faint handprint was left on his clothes. Zuo Ruotong shook her hand: "Your reverse growth technique is thicker than the last checkup. Your external strength training hasn't been in vain; it's added another layer to your foundation."

Liu Jin smiled.

Zuo Ruotong turned around and looked at Li Muxuan, who was leaning against the stone wall, engrossed in watching: "Muxuan, how long have you been watching?"

"From beginning to end." Li Muxuan straightened up, his tone unusually serious. "Master, you withdrew your palm strike so quickly just now. How did you manage to leave absolutely no room for maneuver?"

"When you stop asking 'How did you do it?' and start asking 'Why do it this way?', then I'll teach you." Zuo Ruotong reached out and ruffled his head, turning his sweat-dampened hair into a bird's nest.

"Alright, I called you here for more than just to spar. Lu Jin has already gone down the mountain. His grandfather is celebrating his birthday, and the Lu family sent people to pick him up. He went down the mountain early this morning. He left in a hurry and asked me to tell you."

Li Muxuan exclaimed "Ah!" and slapped his thigh. "He mentioned it! I forgot! He even asked me to help him pack before he left, but I forgot." Then he realized, "Wait, Master, do you mean we can go too?"

"Those who want to go can go. Old Master Lu is eighty this year, which is a big birthday, and the Lu family is holding a grand celebration for him. Lu Jin has been on the mountain for many years and he is closest to the two of you. He will be happy if you go."

"I'll go!" Li Muxuan agreed immediately, his eyes already shining. It wasn't that he was interested in the birthday banquet, but in going down the mountain. It had been several years since his last visit home, and he hadn't traveled far since then, he was really itching to go.

Liu Jin instinctively wanted to refuse. The Lu family's birthday banquet had little to do with him; if he went, he would just stand in a corner eating snacks. It would be better to stay on the mountain and continue to ponder the essence fire and qi fire. But as the words were about to come out, he suddenly thought of something.

A name flashed through his mind, as quickly as a needle dropping into water, leaving no ripple. Zhang Zhiwei. He had read about it in a comic book before his transmigration; Lu Jin and Zhang Zhiwei's first encounter seemed to be at a banquet held by the Lu family. He couldn't recall the exact year or banquet, but the elements of the Lu family, the banquet, Zuo Ruotong, and Zhang Zhiwei, when pieced together, gently plucked a chord in his heart.

"I will go as well," Liu Jin said.

Zuo Ruotong glanced at him, as if confirming something. But he didn't ask, only nodded: "Then let's go down the mountain together. We'll set off tomorrow."

......

"Zhang Zhiwei!!!"

"Why are they shouting so loudly upstairs? Everyone knows Zhang Zhiwei is about to appear."

"This is the young Celestial Master! The pinnacle of combat power in Under One Person. What did he look like when he was young?"

"More than that, I'm curious how Li Muxuan and Liu Jin will handle the scene where Lu Jin is beaten to tears."

"What should we do? Let's have a grand celebration! Li Muxuan will be laughing for the rest of his life! Hahaha."

"But Liu Jin agreed so readily, he definitely wasn't after the birthday banquet."

"Nonsense, he wants to see for himself just how strong Zhang Zhiwei really is. Who wouldn't want to know how strong a top-tier expert is?"

......