Hours upon hours passed by as Lin Mu continued his work. Due to the vastly more amount of gold than before, it took Lin Mu more time and effort. But after sixteen hours, it was finally done.
~HISS~
Hot gas escaped from the gaps of the lid as Lin Mu opened it up.
~clang~ clang~ clang~
Each of the metal clasp opened with a crisp sound, as a bright glow escaped from the cauldron. The glow was yellowish white and made it hard for most people to look at it. But for Lin Mu, who had already gotten used to it, it was nothing.
"You are going to use this?" Little Shrubby asked.
"Yes. I need it to practice the new technique I got." Lin Mu replied.
Little Shrubby nodded his head and then watched Lin Mu proceed. Removing his robes, Lin Mu used a large metal bowl to scoop out some of the liquid gold. The over all quantity of the gold was not actually that much once it was melted down, being less than twenty five liters.
'It's now or never…' Lin Mu thought as a he took a deep breath and poured the liquid gold over his hand.
~Sizzle~
With the mortal strengthening scripture's armor deactivated, the hot gold touched his skin and quickly vaporised the moisture on it. It spread over his skin as Lin Mu moved the bowl around.
If anyone were to see this, they would quite likely want to avert their eyes, but to Lin Mu, it seemed more like he was taking a warm bath. The visual appeal was far too impactful than the actual effects.
Soon he was done pouring the gold in the bowl and scooped up another bowl from the cauldron.
~HUU~
Little Shrubby on the other side controlled his fire to continue heating the cauldron. That way it would not cool and solidify. It took Lin Mu around three bowls to coat his hands entirely.
It was not a quick process since he actually needed it to harden on his hand, before he could turn it over and pour the gold on the other side.
"Hmm… I guess this is it?" Lin Mu muttered as he looked at his now rigid golden hand. It was stuck in a 'L' shape from his elbow and didn't really bend freely like it normally would.
Lin Mu recalled the details of the True Gold Body forging arts and revised its mnemonics.
'Now to use the cultivation method on my arm.' Lin Mu thought as he followed the method prescribed in the technique.
He closed his eyes and put all his focus on the arm while circulating spirit Qi in a very specific manner. At first it was normal and Lin Mu felt nothing, but about an hour later, he could feel as if there was something rough being pressed upon his arm; something like sandpaper.
But it was just pressure and not like it was being grated on his skin. It was a strange feeling to describe and unless one felt it, they would find it hard to understand. Minute by minute passed and Lin Mu could feel some changes taking place in his arm.
He tried to move it and found it to be still difficult. While Lin Mu did have the raw strength to bend it forcefully, that was not the goal of the technique. What was actually meant by bending the gold was to let the technique itself make it freely movable.
If one were to compare it to something, it was like encasing something in wax and waiting till the wax softened enough to move automatically.
It took Lin Mu nearly three hours before his arm moved automatically. It was still in the 'L' Shape, but instead of being perpendicular to his body, it was now parallel.
"It worked!" Lin Mu said.
He continued to practice the technique and felt his hand get lighter and lighter. After about ten more hours, the gold on his skin had pretty much disappeared. It was like it had evaporated into thin air, but Lin Mu knew that was just an illusion.
"Truly strange…" Lin Mu muttered as he looked at his hand, that looked no different from before.
He even used his spirit sense to check the changes, but couldn't tell the difference.
"These techniques need a lot of time to show effect. You are just starting out. Additionally, your starting base is not the same as others. You not only have a Xiantian Physique but also have two treasured organs refined already." Xukong spoke.
"I know, senior." Lin Mu nodded his head.
But this also reminded him of something else.
"Oh wait! Has my body cultivation progressed at all?" Lin Mu wondered.
His spirit sense quickly entered his body and reached his lungs. In the Five Treasures realm, the lungs were the organ that represented Metal among the five elements and needed to be fully refined so that one could reach the next stage.
Lin Mu checked his lungs as much as he could, but didn't see any change. He couldn't feel anything after using the Severing heart sutra and Calming heart sutra either.
"Does it not work?" Lin Mu felt confused.
"It was not originally a technique meant to be practiced for the Five Treasures realm. In reality, it isn't even meant for someone that already has a Xiantian physique. I think most that practiced this technique never did any body cultivation." Xukong replied.
"Hmmm… then it would make sense that they would use a bone enameling pill. I doubt either body would accept the gold easily without it." Lin Mu said.
"Exactly. The Xiantian Physique is a neutral physique overall and can accept a variety of resources with little to no problem. It also increases the absorption for them too and thus you were able to progress faster with the True Gold Body Forging Arts." Xukong agreed.
"So I'm thinking I'll need to continue this and hope that it shows the effect later." Lin Mu said in an understanding tone.
