Chương 56: A Hundred Thousand Years of Blood

Under Zhang Lixian's control, the cultivators of the Zhang family continuously fed spirit stones into their spirit vein. Before they realized it, ten thousand low grade spirit stones had vanished without a trace. The spirit vein beneath Green Bamboo Mountain was like the gaping maw, greedily devouring everything in its path. It wasn't until it had swallowed eleven thousand spirit stones that the vein's active consumption finally ceased. Deep within the vein, the spiritual energy began to transform.

Strands of nascent power started to gestate, and the ambient spiritual density over the entire mountain slowly began to rise. Zhang Lixian breathed a long sigh of relief. The resources required to elevate a spirit vein were simply staggering. To nurture a tier 2, low grade spirit vein up to mid grade required no less than thirty thousand low grade spirit stones.

"In about three months, the spirit vein will officially advance to tier 2, low grade," Zhang Lixian said softly.

"Sigh... When it comes down to it, our family owes its current situation entirely to that child, Renan." Zhang Chongwen's back had grown somewhat stooped with age.

"I know. But there's nothing else we can do. All we can do is treat him well. To develop our family. So that one day, if Renan needs us, we can lend him a hand." Zhang Lixian's tone was utterly calm. He had only been able to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm himself because of the Foundation Establishment Pill granted by the Heavenly Crane Sect.

"It's a pity... I won't live to see that day. Lixian... I'm leaving the future of the family to you." Zhang Chongwen's voice carried a raw, hoarse edge.

"After Huaijin comes out of seclusion, come find me with him. There are some things I need to tell you both." With that, Zhang Chongwen clasped his hands behind his back, his body slightly bent, and walked away. He returned to the spirit herb garden to watch over the Azure Peach Spirit Tree. Unbeknownst to him, in just another six months, the Azure Peach Spirit Tree would bear fruit once more. Zhang Chongwen lay back in his reclining chair, his heart filled with immense joy.

The Zhang family had finally found solid footing, enough to ensure the family's continuation for another two hundred years. He had no regrets in this life.

"What matters could the old man possibly have left to pass on?" Zhang Lixian murmured, a flicker of confusion crossing his eyes. —— At that very moment, Zhang Huaijin remained deep in secluded cultivation. After his breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm, the Realm-Breaking Pearl had undergone two changes beyond simply devouring spirit herbs. From now on, each time Zhang Huaijin broke through a major realm, he could condense a Blood Qi Weapon.

This weapon would grow stronger automatically as his own power increased. As a first level Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, the Blood Qi Weapon Huaijin could condense now would be tier 2, low grade. When his realm advanced to the mid stage of Foundation Establishment Realm, the weapon would automatically upgrade to tier 2, mid grade. And when he became a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator, it would directly transform into a tier 3 spirit artifact. This book was originally published on Royal Road.

Check it out there for the real experience. Such was the formidable nature of the Blood Qi Weapon. Most importantly, he could also integrate various materials into it to enhance its foundational strength. The most crucial point was that activating this weapon consumed only one tenth of the spiritual energy required by other spirit artifacts. Some might also call it a Blood Spirit Weapon. This was incredibly important for Zhang Huaijin.

His combat strength was constantly increasing, and with the Blood Qi Weapon, he would become even more formidable. Within his body, the process of condensing his own Blood Qi Weapon had already begun. The blood qi within him flowed ceaselessly, all of it rushing toward his spine. Traces of marvelous fluctuations began to emanate from his core. But the second piece of information from the Realm-Breaking Pearl made Zhang Huaijin's very soul tremble.

Every time he broke through a major realm, the Realm-Breaking Pearl would split off a secondary pearl. Now, resting within Zhang Huaijin's sea of consciousness was a walnut sized pearl, black and white. Strands of light swirled around it, shimmering with a mysterious, profound luster. This sub pearl possessed one tenth of the main pearl's abilities. Zhang Huaijin could choose any living being to consume it. A bond, woven from countless subtle threads, would form between them.

Over time, the consumer would become utterly loyal to Zhang Huaijin, incapable of betrayal. Even more importantly, the secondary pearl could enhance a being's innate cultivation talent. Over time, the consumer's aptitude would grow stronger and stronger. Combined with the sub pearl's own function of breaking through bottlenecks... in other words, any being who consumed this pearl would also face no further bottlenecks on their cultivation path.

The only catch was that they would require ten times the resources that Zhang Huaijin himself needed. But for certain heavenly spirits and treasures, this was not a problem at all. What they possessed most was time. They could grow stronger step by step simply by absorbing spiritual energy. This ability was terrifyingly powerful. And the most crucial point: Zhang Huaijin could easily take back this sub pearl at any time. The consumer's cultivation realm would not regress.

However, their innate talent would fall back to its original state, making future breakthroughs extremely difficult. This sub pearl was immensely important to Zhang Huaijin. Whoosh. Zhang Huaijin opened his eyes. He slowly exhaled a long breath of turbid air. A feeling arose in his heart, the origins of the Realm-Breaking Pearl were far too great. It was very likely... not something from this world. Could it be that the Realm-Breaking Pearl came from the Immortal Realm itself?

The cultivation world Zhang Huaijin currently inhabited was called the Nine Peaks Realm. It was just an ordinary cultivation world among thousands upon thousands of worlds. This was a fact clear to all cultivators in the Nine Peaks Realm. The cultivators here, from lowest to highest, were ranked as, Qi Refining Realm, Foundation Establishment Realm, Purple Mansion Realm, Golden Core Realm, Nascent Soul Realm, and Primordial Spirit Realm. Each realm had nine levels. Level one through three were the early stage.

Level four through six were the middle stage. Levek seven through nine were the late stage. And the late Primordial Spirit Realm was the highest realm attainable within the Nine Peaks Realm. Every cultivator who reached this level was an ancient monster who had lived for tens of thousands of years. They were reclusive, hidden from the world. What they sought was not conquest, but immortality and ascension to a higher world.

But the path from the Nine Peaks Realm to the upper realm had been severed a hundred thousand years ago. In the hundred thousand years since, no cultivator had successfully ascended. Some who painstakingly reached the late Primordial Spirit Realm, finding their path forward severed, could only watch helplessly as their lifespan ran out, sitting dejectedly to perish. The path of immortality cultivates the immortal... but it hones the human. The line between immortal and demon lies in a single thought.

Ten thousand years ago, demonic cultivators in the Nine Peaks Realm were hunted by all and posed no real threat. But ever since the ascension passage was cut off, the situation in the Nine Peaks Realm had become chaotic. Heroes contended for hegemony; demons and spirit beasts rose side by side. Some ancient spirit beasts whose lifespans were nearly exhausted, invaded by heart demons and transforming from the righteous path to the demonic, unleashed monstrous slaughters.

They sought to use the blood of billions of living beings as a blood sacrifice to heavens, hoping to cleave open a new path to the upper realm. In the hundred thousand years since, demonic cultivators had risen. The three races of humans, demons, and spirit beasts now stood opposed, locked in chaotic, ceaseless war, stirring up immense slaughter. The blood feuds accumulated between them over the millennia were countless and nearly impossible to reconcile. That was the current situation of the Nine Peaks Realm.