Gathering his thoughts, Wang Wu first opened the attribute bar and calculated that his powerful strike this time consumed a total of 500 points of Physical Strength, directly consuming 100 points of Satiety and 50 points of Vitality.

The Physical Strength would recover in a few seconds, but the latter two were indeed consumed completely.

Wang Wu even vaguely perceived that if he didn't have enough Satiety and Vitality, the powerful strike could still be released, but it would require consuming his own Qi Blood.

Then he would end up like Old Niu, all skin and bones.

However, no matter what, this powerful strike was akin to a big move and extremely valuable in actual combat.

Next, Wang Wu once again operated the Inner Breathing Technique, mobilizing the Qi Blood Vitality within his body, concentrating it on the right Bear Claw to form a charging state, but without releasing it.

In this state, he placed the Bear Claw on the Profound Iron Jar, beginning to rub with all his might.

Yes, this was the proper way to refine Profound Iron.

Through the condensation of Qi Blood, rubbing the Profound Iron, grinding away some of the Profound Iron particles, synchronously absorbing and merging them into the Bear Claw, gradually increasing the hardness of the Bear Claw—this was the first step in crafting Lifebound Demon Soldiers.

And this process required an endless stream of Qi Blood Vitality and a continuous supply of Vitality.

In short, Wang Wu felt that this was essentially no different from training in Iron Sand Palm like Earthlings.

It equally fit the concept of the wealthy scholar and the rich warrior.

Old Niu's requirement for Wang Wu was to strive for three thousand rubs a day, and after a hundred days, he should make some small achievement.

At first, Wang Wu thought it would be easy.

But in reality, when he actually tried to do it, he realized it was not that easy.

When concentrating Qi Blood, it also required mobilizing Physical Strength. This was not something you could do half-heartedly; every rub had to ensure an extreme state, rub, and calculate each time.

So after continuously grinding fifty times, Wang Wu's 900 points of Physical Strength were actually exhausted.

And that was just the beginning, as he started feeling intense pain in his Bear Claw, as if it were about to break.

Without immense willpower, completing three thousand rubs a day was extremely hard, too hard.

After resting a bit and recovering his strength, Wang Wu gritted his teeth and continued rubbing, at the same time unable to help feeling a deep sense of admiration for Old Niu, and even for the Little Wild Boar.

Honestly, the two goofs, though foolish and unruly, were genuinely diligent when it came to cultivation. He could imagine the Little Wild Boar howling while staring with its little eyes, rubbing its four tusks.

More effort is needed!

The fact was, the refining process of Profound Iron was a self-torturous purgatorial activity.

After completing five hundred rubs, Wang Wu was already exhausted, directly entering a state of mild weakness, having consumed too much Physical Strength.

His Satiety was also depleted to zero, and he could only rely on Vitality to sustain himself.

It was hard to imagine how Old Niu and the Little Wild Boar managed to sustain themselves.

"I can't be outdone by them, can I?"

Encouraging himself inwardly, Wang Wu continued rubbing, but this time, after every three to five rubs, he was exhausted again and had to rest for a few minutes before he could continue.

Fatigue and weakness was one thing, but the bear claw he was refining was aching terribly, making him cry out from the severe pain, truly unable to control it.

"Damn, I hope I wasn't tricked by Old Niu? I mean, it doesn't hurt when he buffs his horn, three thousand times a day, what a joke!"

Wang Wu lay on the ground, thinking viciously, cursing, and suspecting.

But after resting for a while, he got back up and continued grinding and refining, thanks to his Level 12 Self-Healing. Even without a drop in Life Value, it could still activate, so as long as he rested for more than half an hour, the pain in the Bear Claw would begin to subside.

It's worth noting that after he obtained a free attribute point, he added it to Basic Defense, causing his Rapid Self-Healing activations to drop from 12 times to 10 times.

In the future, if he can't maintain a quality food intake every day, this number will continue to decrease.

Similarly, if he can binge eat like before, he might again achieve the effect of being full of energy, forming a new free attribute point.

Moreover, his current Level 12 Self-Healing was unquestionably more effective.

Firstly, in rapid self-healing mode, he could recover 600 points of Life Value within 6 seconds by consuming 800 points of Satiety or 80 points of Vitality, and it could be activated continuously 10 times. After 10 times, he would undoubtedly fall into deep weakness, lasting 20 to 24 hours.

Next is medium-speed self-healing mode, which could recover 600 points of Life Value within 10 minutes by consuming 800 points of Satiety or 80 points of Vitality, also can be activated continuously 10 times, then entering moderate weakness.

Lastly, the low-speed self-healing mode, which takes six hours to recover 600 points of Life Value by consuming 800 points of Satiety or 80 points of Vitality, can be activated indefinitely, without limits, and never enters weakness.

What Wang Wu is adapting to now is the low-speed self-healing mode, which almost doesn't feel like anything but is indeed effective.

"This shouldn't count as cheating, right!"

Wang Wu was apprehensive, truly, he thought his willpower was strong enough. Before, he excelled at building poison resistance, also a formidable guy, but this time in refining Profound Iron, it almost shattered his Dao heart.

Because passive experience of pain versus active experience of pain are entirely different matters.

The former is unavoidable and inescapable, while the latter can be stopped any time.

This was an immense challenge to his willpower.

"I may not compare to Old Niu, but I can't possibly lose to that pig head!"

Wang Wu kept finding excuses to cheer himself on, starting again and again, being defeated again and again, and eventually becoming numb, but the number of grinding and refinement gradually increased steadily.

He didn't know how many times he broke down, how many times he cursed out loud, or even how many times he wanted to give up. Ultimately, he persisted and fixed the number of refinements at 3000 times.

Then, he lay exhausted in the Profound Iron Jar, not wanting to move at all. It was more tiring than finishing a life-or-death battle, more exhausting. Damn Old Niu, ah ah ah!

After lying there for several hours, Wang Wu finally struggled to get up. At this moment, his entire right forepaw was swollen, hurting intensely at the slightest touch, and it seemed that even Level 12 Self-Healing couldn't quickly alleviate the pain.

In this state, he even couldn't return normally, and like this, he would probably be mocked by Old Niu and the Little Wild Boar. Damn it!

The pain was getting worse, so Wang Wu had to think of a way himself, running the Inner Breathing Technique and trying to mobilize his Qi Blood and Vitality to relieve the pain, or else, with Level 12 Self-Healing not working, what else could he do?

"Hiss!"

He was gasping for cold air mouthful after mouthful, and cold sweat was pouring out like it was free. Damn it, at times like this, the entire right forepaw seemed to be getting more sensitive.

However, did this seem to have some effect?

Wang Wu continued to try circulating and mobilizing his Qi Blood. At first, mobilizing the Qi Blood was very painful, but gradually it became bearable. In the end, the symptoms of the blood swelling disappeared visibly.

Meanwhile, he clearly sensed for the first time a unique aura of power. It was an aura with a cold, sharp, killing texture. It was this aura of power causing the terrible damage to his Bear Claw. But now, after the damage, this aura of power could slightly remain. No, not remain, but perfectly integrate with his flesh, his bones, his Bear Claw.

Yes, just like this.

An epiphany flashed through Wang Wu's mind, thoroughly understanding the true meaning of this so-called refining and polishing.

What Old Niu taught him was to hope to integrate the refined Profound Iron powder with the Bear Claw, which was indeed feasible. But a more advanced technique was not to integrate Profound Iron powder, but to discover, absorb, and integrate the Essence of Gold Qi within the Profound Iron.

So that's it!

"You have perfectly integrated a bit of Essence of Gold Qi. You are training Ninth-Grade Lifebound Demon Soldiers, current progress (1/1000)."

A line of information silently floated up, leaving Wang Wu dumbfounded. So fast, I've already entered the basic stage?

Didn't Old Niu say it would take a hundred days to reach a small success?

Wait, maybe Old Niu was referring to filling up the entire 1000 points of progress?

However, that was too difficult. Asking himself, Wang Wu couldn't achieve acquiring 1000 points of Essence of Gold Qi in 100 days.

"Old Niu is still deeply hidden and never revealed, it seems I was reckless before and underestimated it!"

Wang Wu sighed. At this time, the blood swelling on his Bear Claw had disappeared, and the pain was almost negligible. When circulating the Inner Breathing Technique, mobilizing the Qi Blood to form a Powerful Strike state, it was clearly visible that in the few inches of blood glow formed by his Bear Claw, there was a faint outline of a bear claw, like a Sword Aura.

If this continues, might these Lifebound Demon Soldiers in the future form claw shadows and blade edges, attacking targets from a distance?

"Gugu!"

He was hungry. Yes, this time the refining didn't just empty the Satiety bar, it also drained 1700 points of Vitality.

A rich man in literature, a powerful man in martial arts, the ancients weren't lying to me.

Wang Wu sighed again, in great spirits, dispersed the Powerful Strike state, and jumped out of the Profound Iron Jar. As he returned underground along the root tunnel, during the process, he also noticed that his Bear Claw, even without using a Powerful Strike, could casually create a one-centimeter-deep mark on the tree bark. The effect was truly immediate.

All the way down, when he reached the vertical tunnel, Wang Wu directly leaped down. However, almost simultaneously, he sensed the Little Wild Boar's big head from over a hundred meters below looking up.

Damn it!

Do you want to die?

Wang Wu hurriedly tried to grasp the tree wall, but even with his newly refined, slightly accomplished right paw, it was hard to grip. His over 800-kilogram weight was rapidly falling, and he lost control, shit!

"Get out of the way!"

Wang Wu shouted. If he crushed it to death, damn, it would be such an injustice!

Yet, not only did the Little Wild Boar not dodge, but it also squealed and shouted something.

The next moment, Old Niu actually rushed over, both of them running below. What were they doing?

Did they want to catch him?

Wang Wu almost cried from anger!

Damn it, with this mere hundred meters of height, couldn't his 61 points of Defense handle it? Those two dopey creatures!

"Boom!"

Wang Wu crashed heavily down!

Damn,

Old Niu your horns! Little Pig your tusks!

Well, the three-injury achievement unlocked!

Wang Wu was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, at that moment, he had six bloody holes on his body.

Old Niu and Little Pig were directly knocked unconscious.

Damn it, from now on don't call yourselves the West Mountain Three Heroes, just call yourselves the West Mountain Three Fools!

Yes, he was apparently kidnapped by these two dopes, yet he was willingly not trying to escape. If he's not a big fool, then what is he!

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