Discovering the box felt good to Lin Mu, and he got the same feeling as if he had found treasure during the treasure hunts he did when he was a child. It was a common game that the children played and the treasures they would hunt were just some common things like unique looking rocks, candies, and the like.
But the excitement and joy of finding one were still enough to entertain them for a long time. Lin Mu smiled, feeling this and couldn't wait to open the box.
"There is no lock or hinge on it. Guess it is just a normal lid." Lin Mu said before lifting the lid and opening it.
The sound of wood rubbing against wood could be heard before the box was finally opened. Lin Mu's smile and curved eyes soon turned into a frown and narrowed eyes as he observed the item kept in the box.
"This… not more trash." Lin Mu said as he looked at what looked like a ruined book inside it.
The book was made out of an unknown material that had degraded enough to be indistinguishable.
"Ugh…" Lin Mu shook his head and tried to take out the book.
But just as he expected, the book turned to dirt in his hand fell through his fingers. Though in the next second, he touched something hard.
"What?" Lin Mu raised his brows.
~huu~
He blew on the remnants of the book and they flew away like dust, leaving behind a metal sheet. The sheet was slightly smaller in size than the book, but was very dense considering its weight.
"Interesting…" Lin Mu picked up the metal sheet and put the box down on the pedestal.
~Clang~
He lightly tapped the sheet with his finger and it let out a sonorous hum. But at the same time, he felt something on the other side of the metal sheet. Lin Mu flipped it over and saw fine words carved into it.
"Dao script? There's actually Dao Script here!" Lin Mu was surprised.
Dao script was something that was incredibly rare in the Xiaofan world. By now Lin Mu had understood that if there was anything that had Dao Script, it would have to be either very ancient or must have come from a different world.
It was a mystery that would only be solved once Lin Mu learned what was written on the metal sheet.
After reading the first few lines, Lin Mu's eyes lit up.
"A Technique! It's actually a technique!" Lin Mu exclaimed.
He continued reading it and learned more about it. And by the time he reached the end of it, his expression had become a bit still.
"What's the matter?" Xukong questioned.
"You take a look as well, senior." Lin Mu replied and let his memories enter the common mind space.
Xukong took a quick look and was surprised, too.
"A Body cultivation technique?" Xukong understood.
"Indeed. But its requirements and method of practicing it are very strange if not downright deadly." Lin Mu spoke.
Xukong finished reading it by the time Lin Mu spoke and was in agreement too.
"This looks like one of the more primitive body cultivation techniques, but at the same time not." Xukong said.
"Maybe it is an inferior version derived from some top tier technique?" Lin Mu guessed.
"That could certainly be possible. Though you can still use it. You are in need of elemental ones, aren't you?" Xukong said.
Lin Mu nodded his head and thought that it was at least another step towards progress.
"True Gold Body Forging Arts: Refine the gold, Refine the body, Quench the flesh, Coat the bones; Become Impenetrable!" Lin Mu recited the title and the intro of the technique.
At first, it sounded simple, but the latter explanation of the technique showed him just how dangerous and complex it was. The technique involved the use of gold, to temper one's body.
One would have to melt gold that was twice as heavy as their weight and refine it till it was half the volume of what it initially was. They would then have to apply the liquid gold over their skin and let it be burned away.
Once that was done and the gold hardened after cooling, they would have to use their own strength to bend the gold without using any other body part or other forms of assistance.
For example, if they applied it on their right arm, they would curl it to bend the goal. If they were successful in doing this, it meant that they had succeeded in the first stage. And if they couldn't do it at start, they would keep the gold as it is and cultivate while focusing on that part of the body.
They had to do this until it was strong enough to bend the gold. Only if they succeeded, could they repeat it for the second time. They would have to do it over and over again, until their entire body had gone through the gruesome process.
Once that was done, they could move on to the next stage, which was to cut open their flesh and coat their own bones with the gold. But this time the gold would have to be four times their weight and had to be refined till it was just a quarter of its starting volume.
By that time, it would become extremely dense and even a finger nail size piece would be as heavy as a kilogram. Not to mention the process of pouring liquid gold onto one's bones, just cutting open one's flesh was a horrifying thing that most would not want to do.
The same process would be repeated till all the bones had gained a coat of gold. Once this was done, they would wait till all their wounds healed. This was where the process relied greatly on luck.
If they healed, they could proceed. But if it didn't, they would fail and nothing could be done at that point. The gold in their body would either become a crippling hindrance to them, or they would just die from despair.
