Chương 37: Blood, Bone, and Breakthrough

Zhang Hanren wore a simple blue robe. His face was unremarkable, and he spoke little. His younger brother, Zhang Huaijin, was fifteen years his junior. Hanren was a cultivator with Four Spiritual Roots,. a modest talent at best. As the eldest of the Zhang family's third generation, he shouldered responsibility early. Back then, the Zhang family had only recently established itself. Resources were scarce, and every spirit stone counted.

Hanren had begun working for the family when he was still only at the first level of the Qi Refining Realm. By the age of thirty, he had barely clawed his way to the fifth level. Among the third generation, no one had sacrificed more than Zhang Hanren. It was only in the last eight years that the family had managed to turn things around, through strict budgeting and careful management, they'd finally increased their finances enough to purchase proper cultivation resources.

Now, at thirty six, Hanren stood at the seventh level of the Qi Refining Realm. And as the family's resources continued to grow, the future looked brighter. Soon, even Zhang family cultivators with Five Spiritual Roots, the lowest talent, would be able to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining Realm before the age of fifty five. That would grant them the qualification to attempt Foundation Establishment.

"Big Brother." Zhang Huaijin looked at the man before him, unsure what else to say. Fifteen years separated them. By the time Huaijin was old enough to form lasting memories, Hanren had already left Green Bamboo Mountain to work for the family. Their relationship was complicated, more duty than warmth, more respect than familiarity.

"Your talent..." Hanren said, his voice quiet but firm.

"I've already heard about it from Father. The future of this family rests on your shoulders now." He paused, then a faint smile tugged at his lips.

"Your sister in law is pregnant. Remember to prepare a gift for your nephew or niece." He patted Huaijin's shoulder, breaking the lingering silence. Huaijin's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Good." Huaijin nodded, a genuine smile breaking through. Hanren's wife was from the Miao family. Her name was Miao Linhui, a Five Spiritual Root cultivator currently at the fourth level of the Qi Refining Realm. The couple managed the Zhang family's spirit wine shop in Langya County Town. Just then, Miao Linhui appeared. She wore a pink robe, and her waist had begun to swell, her pregnancy now visible.

Her figure had changed with the months, her face softer, rounder, and her eyes carried a gentle, maternal glow that hadn't been there before.

"Huaijin, you're here," she said, her voice warm and tender.

"Sister in law." Huaijin smiled and gave a small bow of his head. The three of them stood in brief silence. Hanren wasn't one for idle chatter. Instead, he simply instructed the shop assistants to prepare a feast. They ate together, quietly, but not coldly, and afterward, Huaijin returned to the Spirit Artifact Forging shop. On the third floor of the shop were several private rooms. Huaijin chose one at random and immediately began his cultivation. This book's true home is on another platform.

Check it out there for the real experience. Earlier, after three years of secluded training, he had already reached the peak of the seventh level of the Qi Refining Realm. The bottleneck into the late stage had posed no obstacle for him. During those three years, he had consumed a vial of Snow Spirit Pills, honing his cultivation to the very peak of the seventh level. Now, he felt it in his bones. In just a few more months, he would break through to the eighth level.

Before leaving the family compound, Huaijin had used his own forging materials to craft three tier 1, low grade spirit artifacts. He'd sent them directly to the family treasury, exchanged them for merit points, and used those points to obtain spirit stones. Now that he was back at the Spirit Artifact Refining shop, he swept up all the spirit beast flesh and blood and spirit beast blood essence the shop had acquired. Then, he announced his intention to enter secluded cultivation.

The shop's current stock of spirit artifacts was sufficient to last several months. Every day, after completing his core cultivation, Huaijin began absorbing spirit beast blood essence to practice the Blood Demon Bone Tempering Art. This ancient art allowed the cultivator to absorb the blood essence of spirit beasts, tempering their own bones and, in turn, strengthening their physical body.

More importantly, as the Blood Demon Bone Tempering Art continuously devoured spirit beast blood essence, there was a chance, however slim, to comprehend the innate skills of the spirit beasts themselves. The Qi Refining Realm chapter of the art contained three techniques: · Blood Demon Claw · Blood Bone Spear · Hundred Demon Roar All three were attacks unleashed by the cultivator's condensed, explosive blood energy, the hallmark of a true body refiner.

The Hundred Demon Roar, in particular, was a rare sonic attack. Laced with chaotic bloodlust and baleful energy, it was potent enough to shatter an enemy's focus and send their mind reeling. Though bloody and savage on the surface, the Blood Demon Bone Tempering Art was an orthodox body refining technique. It granted explosive combat power, but with a price.

The cultivator had to maintain absolute control over their own mind, resisting the corrupting influence of the bloodlust and baleful energy within the spirit beast blood essence. Fail, and they would be reduced to a mindless puppet of slaughter. Time slipped by. The blood energy within Zhang Huaijin's body grew more terrifying by the day. His physical strength had already reached the peak of the first tier. The Earth Fiend Spirit Body itself was a physique that enhanced the flesh.

In combination with the Blood Demon Bone Tempering Art, the two forces fully ignited the blood energy within Huaijin's body, pushing it to heights most cultivators his age could never dream of. The Earth Fiend Spirit Body, as the name suggested, allowed its bearer to absorb the world's fiendish energies, using them to temper the body into something stronger, harder, more resilient. And spirit beast blood essence was rich in one of the most powerful of those energies: the power of bloodlust.

It could be said that among all the myriad fiendish energies, bloodlust was both one of the easiest to find and one of the most formidable. Over the next three months, Huaijin completely mastered the Qi Refining Realm chapter of the Blood Demon Bone Tempering Art, bringing all three techniques to a minor level of proficiency.

During this period, because most of the spirit beast blood essence he absorbed came from ape type spirit beasts, and thanks to his unusually powerful soul, Huaijin managed to comprehend one of the ape clan's own body refining skills: the Diamond Palm. The Blood Demon Bone Tempering Art had fully ignited his blood energy, continuously deepening his foundation. Meanwhile, the Realm-Breaking Pearl constantly devoured spirit beast flesh, further enhancing his physique. Now, Huaijin was absolutely certain.

The Realm-Breaking Pearl had indeed tempered his physique into an Earth Fiend Spirit Body. It had only recently awakened, however, revealing just a fraction of its true potential. Three days later. A violent aura erupted from within Zhang Huaijin's body. A surge of blood energy swept outward like a tidal wave, and for a moment, he seemed less like a man and more like a great dragon overlooking its domain.

That overwhelming force propelled the spiritual energy in his meridians forward, slamming it against the cultivation bottleneck like a battering ram. In an instant, the barrier shattered. Zhang Huaijin had officially stepped into the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm. Thanks to the Earth Fiend Spirit Body and the Blood Demon Bone Tempering Art, he had now become a true body refiner. And he had already reached the peak of the first tier.

A Qi Refining Realm cultivator at the Perfection of Qi Refining Realm, the peak of the entire stage, would be sent reeling, coughing up blood, with a single blow from Huaijin in close combat. His soul had also reached the Perfection of Qi Refining Realm and seemed poised on the very edge of breaking through to Foundation Establishment. After advancing to the late stage of the Qi Refining Realm, Huaijin condensed three more Yin Yang Divine Needles. Adding these to the previous three, he now had a total of six.

Furthermore, because he cultivated the Blood Demon Bone Tempering Art, threads of bloodlust energy coiled around the needles, making their power even more devastating. At the Qi Refining Realm, one could condense a total of nine Yin Yang Divine Needles. Huaijin was now a true trinity of cultivation: Body Refinement, Qi Refining, and Soul Refinement. He walked all three paths simultaneously, forging an unparalleled foundation.

Even without using the energy stored in the Realm-Breaking Pearl, relying solely on his own hard earned foundation, Zhang Huaijin could now directly attempt Foundation Establishment.