novelraw Chapter 244
Chapter 244
Several days later, the remaining poison of the third-rank spiritual item Myriad Spirits Venom Marrow was completely devoured by the Immaculate Jade Toad. Wang Yu emerged as though he had crawled out from water, his entire body drenched.
The torment of venom corroding his body was a pain no ordinary man should endure. Fortunately, it had finally ended, and the results perfectly met his expectations.
The essence blood accumulated within his dragon spine had reached over eight thousand six hundred drops. With a bit more effort, he would soon reach the peak.
In his hand, he held a spiritual item obtained from the Heaven Treasure Pavilion by exchanging a Molten Core Fruit via Glazed Lotus Heart Liquid, used to break through to the third rank of body refining.
During the past two years, his true essence had only increased to 2,822 drops. Even after refining five stalks of Black Sky Cordyceps, it only rose by four hundred drops, still some distance from breaking through to the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment.
It would be better to focus all his energy on body refining for now. Once he reached the third rank, combined with his divine sense power, he would absolutely be able to confront Core Formation cultivators head-on.
Speaking of which, it was his divine sense secret technique that was holding him back. Otherwise, with his current spiritual capacity, his combat power would be even greater.
“When I complete the inheritance of the Ancient Soul Art, everything will fall into place.”
Turning his head, he glanced at Long Yiran beneath the ancient carvings on the stone wall. A mysterious spiritual aura surrounded her. Rather than merely meditating, she seemed to be merging with some spiritual object.
Her soul aura was strengthening. Perhaps she would reach the third rank before him.“The inheritance of an Earth Formation Master… does it involve the Soul Path as well? No wonder she’s interested in the Heavenly Soul Sect’s inheritance. Looks like she found something.”
He observed quietly for a while, then secretly extended his divine sense toward the stone wall. Finding that without the 'Scripture Guidance' he could detect nothing, he could only leave in disappointment.
He decided to explore the underground medicinal garden nearby. Since there were Black Sky Cordyceps here, perhaps there were also spiritual herbs suitable for body refining. He had just used poison for tempering his body, so he knew it worked.
“In the Demonic Bone Forest, the poisonous plants beneficial for body refining are… the Bone Barrier Poison Flower, Blood Thorn Cane, and Corpse Poison Earth Fruit.”
These were the three most famous types for Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Wang Yu had seen the first type before — during the first Fragrance Gathering Assembly, the Blood Blade Cultivator had offered a Bone Barrier Poison Flower, which was later traded away by Daoist Rainflower.
Walking through the shadowy medicinal garden, he actually found some of them: one Blood Thorn Cane and three Corpse Poison Earth Fruits. Both only grew where corpses were buried and the Demonic Bone Forest had corpses beyond counting.
The spiritual essence of the remains near this garden had likely been completely absorbed by these two plants.
He found even more Bone Barrier Poison Flowers six in total.
“This place truly is a treasure ground.”
Wang Yu inspected the entire garden. Aside from what he harvested, there were tens of thousands of first-rank herbs, a hundred second-rank herbs, and twelve third-rank herbs.
Many had withered. Among them, Wang Yu recognized ninety percent, while the remaining ten percent were mutated poisonous variants affected by the unique environment.
These required custom pill formulas based on their properties to be perfectly utilized, though they could also be used directly.
After exploring, Wang Yu burned the Blood Thorn Cane into a pool of blood essence with his Ice Flood Pill Flame and applied it over his body. Then he swallowed all three Corpse Poison Earth Fruits.
The six Bone Barrier Poison Flowers circled around him, releasing granular pollen that seeped into his body through the meridian acupoints.
Having endured the baptism of Myriad Spirits Venom Marrow, his body’s resistance to poison had greatly increased. Ordinary toxins were now useless to him. Such an extreme refining method could only be carried out by someone like him.
The Ice Chi Pill Flame burned from within, tempering his body and fusing the medicinal essence of the poisons into his blood and bones.
After several days, Wang Yu still felt it was not enough.
He took out the Starfall Cold Furnace, sealed himself inside using a furnace-sealing technique, recreating the same act he performed years ago in the Thunderfall Abyss—only this time, the Ice Chi Pill Flame burned even fiercer.
As he circulated the Yin Nether Demonic Flood Dragon Technique, his blood essence surged violently out of his body, forming the shape of a demonic flood dragon, beginning a new round of body tempering.
Within his dragon spine, blood essence increased at a speed far beyond before.
One year and two months later, his blood essence reached exactly 9,999 drops.
He had achieved the peak of second-rank body refining.
“Hu—”
Exhaling deeply, Wang Yu released a stream of white breath that struck the pill furnace with a loud bang, as if it had been smashed by a boulder. The vibration echoed throughout, proof of the immense strength of his internal organs.
As the saying goes, breath like an arrow, exhale like thunder.
So it was.
Once he broke through to the third rank of Body Refining, he would gain the power to lift and throw mountains. Moving a million catties with one arm would be trivial. The mountain-throwing power was literal, he could uproot a mountain and hurl it at an enemy.
At this point, however, breakthroughs became exceedingly difficult.
The final condensation of the three essences and their dispersion was immensely challenging. Moreover, this final drop of fused true blood not only had to be diffused throughout his body but also condensed within his spine into the foundation of a Third-rank Body Refiner—Divine Marrow.
Just as breaking through Foundation Establishment granted “Protective True Qi” and “Flesh Flight”, or Core Formation granted “Tricolor True Fire” and “Undying Golden Core”, each realm came with accompanying supernatural transformations.
These were postnatal divine endowments, transformations of life itself deeply imprinted into one’s bloodline. It was also one of the reasons why high-rank cultivators found it difficult to bear children.
Such traits could be inherited, but their expression took the form of different spiritual root qualities, or even innate spiritual constitutions.
When yin and yang combined, if one side was too strong or too weak, the resulting offspring could vary drastically, from Heavenly Spiritual Roots to Wasted Spiritual Roots, entirely a matter of fortune.
When two strong beings united, they either bore no child at all, or produced a genius without exception.
However, not everyone could pass down such realm-endowed traits. Even Nascent Soul cultivators could not. Only Spirit Transformation Venerable possessed the ability to do so.
Only a Spirit Transformation cultivator is recognized by Heaven and Earth as a true powerhouse. One could say that combining two beings of such strength is nearly impossible, for a Spirit Transformation Venerable is already the apex of this world.
The Divine Marrow is the root of a Body Refiner’s blood and qi, the very foundation of divine strength. In nature, it also belongs to a transcendent realm, but it is on par with the Core Formation stage.
Pure Body Refiners were eliminated by the flow of time not only because cultivation was difficult, but also because the Divine Marrow, which could only be condensed upon reaching the third rank, was utterly fatal. Once a breakthrough failed, life itself would begin to count down toward its end.
Items such as the Glazed Lotus Heart Liquid, which are used to break through realms, could only increase the chance of success. If one still failed, the result was inevitable: the withering of blood and qi.
At that time, the body would be like a sieve that could no longer retain blood and qi. Even the essence of life could not be locked in, leading to rapid aging and death within a decade or two.
Even though Wang Yu had used many Body-refining spiritual materials and possessed deep foundations with a fair success rate, he still needed to think carefully at this point.
Moreover, breaking through to the third rank as a Body Refiner required a third-rank spiritual vein environment and involved the issue of heavenly tribulation. This was not the right place to attempt a breakthrough.
After condensing the Divine Marrow, a Body Refiner would undergo a complete rebirth, truly unleashing the essence of divine power. At that stage, it was best to refine a Bloodline True Artifact.
This item, much like a life-bound artifact, could grow alongside one’s cultivation realm. It required no forging techniques to make, and by continuously merging heavenly materials and earthly treasures, it could evolve to higher grades.
This was the reason he had been collecting various third-rank materials so desperately. His resources were truly running low, but once he reached the third rank, his combat power would soar.
As Wang Yu’s thoughts flowed, envisioning his future, he suddenly looked toward an ancient carving on the distant stone wall.
Long Yiran had finished her comprehension.
In the next moment, their eyes met across the air.
“You’re awake. How was your harvest?”
“Not bad. You’ll understand it yourself soon enough.”
“Hm?”
While Wang Yu was puzzled, Long Yiran took out a blank jade slip, pressed it to her forehead, and infused it with a vast amount of divine sense and time. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she threw it into his arms.
“This is the Feng Shui secret art you wanted. Previously, I only learned the basic section. After completing the inheritance, I now know the full picture.
“It contains various Feng Shui secret techniques, as well as records and analyses of all kinds of strange formations in Heaven and Earth. Although it lacks array-crafting inheritance, it is otherwise extremely complete.”
She was fulfilling their contract. Wang Yu gave her a deep look.
Over the past year, he had never left, and it was clear her trust in him had grown significantly.
As his divine sense read through the jade slip, Wang Yu’s eyes filled with astonishment.
“The Scripture of Earth Mother records so much content.”
“Of course. According to legend, the Earth Mother was a descendant of the progenitor of geomancers. It’s unclear how much true inheritance she obtained, but this Feng Shui scripture is a treasure. Do not pass it to others.”
“Naturally.”
After speaking, Long Yiran happily went to inspect the spiritual materials, while Wang Yu stood still, absorbed in the contents.
The scripture was divided into four main sections.
The first, ‘Secret Chapters on the Configurations of Heaven and Earth,’ recorded countless Feng Shui formations—both seen and unseen—and even ranked them, followed by detailed explanations.
The top heavenly configuration was the ‘Star Yin-Yang Reversal Formation.’ No one in this realm had ever witnessed it. It required a special celestial phenomenon to appear, and even then, the chance was extremely low.
Its effect was simple yet terrifying: reversing yin and yang, overturning life and death.
Regardless of how long someone had been dead or whether their soul remained, this formation could achieve perfect resurrection. It did not involve time but rather… creation itself.
The second heavenly configuration was the ‘Starlight Furnace Divine Pill Formation.’ It too had never been seen. Legend said that when it formed, a divine pill would appear, and consuming it would allow one to ascend to immortality and enjoy the lifespan of nature itself.
The heavenly formations were distant and illusory, so Wang Yu continued reading.
At the end of the heavenly list was the ‘Nine-Star Convergence Void Formation,’ the only one that the progenitor of geomancers had personally encountered.
When this formation appeared, it would open a ‘Realm Gate.’ Cultivators who passed through it would enter another world, and nothing could stop it.
Legend said that the progenitor of geomancers vanished within such a Realm Gate. Before entering, he was said to be so overjoyed that he danced wildly. The scripture described it vividly, brimming with admiration.
Wang Yu could not help feeling a surge of curiosity.
The heavenly formations were uncertain, but the earthly formations had all been witnessed by past masters.
‘Nine Dragons Revering Formation,’ ‘Earth Mother Life-Nurturing Formation,’ and ‘Nine-Nine Mountain Cauldron Formation’ were among them. Many of these formations aided cultivation, though they were nearly impossible to construct by human means and could only be found naturally.
Among them, the ones that moved Wang Yu’s heart most were the ‘Heaven-Formed Golden Core Formation’ and the ‘Infant Transformation Divine Aspiration Formation.’ The former could eliminate heavenly tribulation and assist Core Formation, equivalent to a supreme-grade Core Formation treasure.
According to the scripture, it had appeared three times.
The latter was even more extraordinary, beyond words.
Just the first section alone satisfied Wang Yu greatly, and the later ones—‘Mysterious Chapters of Feng Shui Secrets,’ ‘Treatise on the Gaze of Qi-Golden Eyes,’ and ‘Detailed Explanation on Dragon Confinement and Vein Stabilization’—were equally remarkable.
The knowledge within them was unparalleled. Because the Scripture of Earth Mother was not a cultivation technique but a comprehensive treatise, it could not be placed into a single Idle Slot.
Only the first section, the ‘Secret Chapters on the Configurations of Heaven and Earth,’ contained pure knowledge. The other three held mystical techniques and must be stored separately.
Overall, the harvest this time was far beyond expectation.
It was something that could not be exchanged even for a million spirit stones.