Chương 318: Body tempering

Long Feng flew out of the dark tunnel and looked around cautiously. He only relaxed when he recognized this place as the mining cave he was in previously. He noticed several people staring at him blankly. There were twelves disciples donning the robes of outer peak disciples, showing their status. But Long Feng didn't recognize any of them. As for the miners, he only recognized a few of them, including Yu Zihao, the only miner he spoke to.

The others had most probably most their lives and were replaced by new miners. Sighing softly, Long Feng approached them while the disciples stared at him cautiously. There was even a rank eight Imperial realm youth among them.

"Who are you? How did you come out of that place?" The rank eight Imperial asked while circulating his energy. Long Feng stared at him and didn't bother to reply.

"Where are the previous disciples guarding the miners?" He asked instead.. The youth frowned.

"Why are you asking? Who the hell are you?" He observed Long Feng and noticed the tattered robes he wore, but the youth could still recognize the symbol of the Supreme Heaven Sect's outer peak. His eyes widened.

"You're a disciple as well?" Long Feng didn't want to waste time so he walked past the youth and approached Yu Zihao, who was staring at Long Feng in shock and disbelief. When Long Feng stood before him, he staggered backwards slightly.

"Y-you're actually still alive?" He asked. The other miners who recognized Long Feng also expressed extreme disbelief. Having watched hundreds of earth dwellers entering his body while he was already on the verge of death and also thrown into the dark tunnel, they couldn't possibly imagine how he was still alive. Was this his ghost? Returning to take revenge? This sudden though frightened Yu Zihao.

"Of course I'm alive. I'm not easy to kill." Long Feng responded with a smile. Yu Zihao swallowed and stared blankly.

"But…"

"But It's not possible right? I know. I was lucky once again." Long Feng interrupted. Then his smile faded away.

"I suppose the others completed the mission and left?" He asked in a low but deep voice.

"T-that's right. They left just two days ago." Yu Zihao nodded restlessly.

"So they've left… tell me what exactly happened after I fell unconscious." He narrowed his eyes and said. Yu Zihao immediately felt a great pressure from Long Feng's gaze. Before Long Feng, he had the same terror he felt whenever he was facing a powerful Imperial realm warrior!

"I-i don't know what happened…" Long Feng stared at him deeply and interrupted.

"You're not very good at lying. Try to control your expression more. Tell me what happened." He repeated in a more cold tone that frightened Yu Zihao. He lowered his head and hurriedly explained all that happened to Long Feng, including everything he had seen and heard. Long Feng's eyes turned increasingly cold when he learned that they had actually allowed the earth dwellers to enter his body, using him to survive. After listening to everything, he nodded.

"Bai Lixi and Gong Yangyu right? Very well. Such a coincidence that I haven't been able to test out my full strength yet. There's also Xu Kui. I hope you held my essence stones well." A chill flashed through his eyes. Long Feng had never been one to forget grudges. Since both Bai Lixi and Gong Yangyu tried to kill him, then they should wait for his revenge. While he was on it, he might as well find Xu Kui and collect his essence stones back.

He turned around and left the cave without saying a word, causing Yu Zihao to gently sigh in relief.

"How is he so strong? He is just a…" he froze when he realized Long Feng's cultivation. He hadn't noticed for to his fear before.

"Rank nine spirit realm? Impossible! He was merely rank six when he came here! How did he make three breakthroughs in a month?!" Yu Zihao couldn't believe his eyes. At the same time, some fear and anticipation began to fill his heart. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The other disciples didn't stop him as he left.

Long Feng walked through the cave in silence till he exited it and found himself in the first cave they entered, the one which had dozens of tunnels leading to different mines. He also found the same old man who they met when they arrived. He approached the old man and clasped his fists.

"Senior, this disciple met with some trouble and could only leave now. Please forgive me." He didn't know what else to say so he simply decided to say this. The Old Man didn't even lift his head.

"Your reward is in the missions hall. Leave." Came the indifferent reply. Long Feng nodded and left without taking offense. The old man had acted similarly to a warden. What did Long Feng count for? He took hours to return to the actual tunnel entrance which was hidden by a concealment formation. The formation was extremely powerful and complex, far beyond anything Long Feng could create. If he had some time, he wouldn't mind seeking some insights from this formation.

Entry was impossible without the required seal, but exiting was easy. He simply walked through the formation and he was out. Looking behind him, there was nothing but an ordinary mountain rock where the cave entrance stood.

"Time to collect my rewards!" Long Feng sped away, running along the familiar path till he returned to the outer peak. Without returning to his pavilion, he headed for the missions hall and met the warden behind the counter. He handed the man his identity token and the mission jade he had taken. The warden accepted both and nodded.

"Disciple Long Feng. For completing the one star mine mission, your reward is ten heaven runes and ten low grade essence stones." The warden announced and handed Long Feng his rewards, ten essence stones. As for the heaven runes, they were transferred into his identity token. When he received it back, he could sense ten golden runes floating in the space within the token.

"So these are the heaven runes… they're so mysterious. I can't tell if they're a formation or something else." Long Feng sighed. Everything in the Supreme Heaven Sect was currently beyond his understanding. He still had a long way to go.

"I'll purchase some body tempering treasures from the shop. Soul refining treasures can wait for now. After that, I'll head to the ancient sword legacy remnant once more. I suppose it's about time to see if I can really comprehend a rudimentary sword intent at the Spirit realm. That would be quite a feat." After planning his next moves, Long Feng followed the map and located the shop. The shop was a large and grand building at the upper parts of the peak. Many disciples went in and out of it.

Hiding his aura as much as he could, Long Feng walked in. He was nearly blinded by countless objects, treasures, resources, everything. He could sense powerful Imperial armaments, mortal grade armaments and treasures, resources, pills, everything could be found here. As he stood, a smiling young woman approached him.

"Greetings. What brings you to our humble shop?" She asked in a melodious voice that snapped him out of his daze.

"Oh. Yeah. Um, I'm looking for body tempering resources specifically." He replied.

"No problem. Please come this way." The lady led him to a counter.

"What are your requirements?" She asked.

"They must have extremely good effects for spirit realm body to Imperial realm body, they should be effective, um, I think that's all." The lady nodded.

"Understood. Please give me a minute." She left Long Feng for a few minutes and returned with different bottles.

"These are some of our best body tempering treasures." The lady slowly explained each of the different things she brought. Long Feng's heart skipped as he heard their effects and he fell in love with them instantly.

"How much are they? And what payment type do you accept?" He asked.

"We accept heaven runes for most things, but we also exchange for essence stones and Imperial crystals for some items. These body tempering resources are good. The crimson jelly liquid costs five heaven runes. Anywhere else, it would be sold for over twenty essence stones. The blood essence pill costs three heaven runes or five low grade essence stones. The freezing spirit powder costs two low grade essence stones. The two hundred years old blood ginseng costs five heaven runes.

And the mud dragon root pill costs five heaven runes or seven essence stones." Long Feng stared at the lady blankly for a few seconds before he found his tongue.

"These are your best?" He asked. The lady laughed softly.

"Of course not. Our best body tempering resources can cost up to thousands of heaven runes and they have great effects. With customer's cultivation, you wouldn't be able to withstand them. But if you want them, I can get them for you." She replied. Long Feng immediately shook his head.

"It's alright." He sadly looked at the resources. He wanted them all but didn't have enough heaven runes and low grade essence stones. He could only buy some of them for now.

"Um, I'll take a bottle of blood essence pill and freezing spirit powder. I'll pay for these two using essence stones. Then I'll take the crimson jelly liquid and mud dragon root pill. I'll pay for them using heaven runes. That's all." His heart ached as he said this. Everything amounted to all ten heaven runes and seven of his nine low grade essence stones, leaving him with just two. The lady beamed.

"Sure. I'll package them immediately." She quickly packed them up for him in a void ring and handed it to him after he paid.

"Thank you for doing business with us. Feel free to return." The lady added. Long Feng took the ring and left sadly. He couldn't see himself returning anytime soon. This shop was really expensive. He left the shop and returned to his pavilion. Upon entering, he first took a long bath and relaxed for the rest of the day before he entered his seclusion room to use the treasures he bought. After almost losing his life due to an imperial crystal in the mining cave, he realized how important a strong body was.

He was planning to temper his body as he cultivated, keeping the two close together. The advantages would be great. His combat power would grow and his body would become tough. Absorbing an Imperial crystal wouldn't be hard and even an essence stone at the early Imperial realm wouldn't be impossible. He took out the four things he bought and organized them. The blood essence pill was a pill that increased the blood in the body. It made the vitality stronger and strengthened the body from within.

The freezing spirit powder was a powder that was poured into a tub of water and soaked in it till it was absorbed completely. As it's name stated, it tempered the body using extreme cold, pushing the body past it's limits. The crimson jelly liquid was the exact opposite. It was a bright red liquid that emanated slight heat even from a distance. It could be used in two ways. Either diluting it in a tub to decrease it's tyranny or swallowing it directly, which was more dangerous but also much more rewarding.

Finally, the mud dragon root pill was a pill made from the spirit root of an earth dragon, a beast with a tiny blood of the legendary earth dragon. The Earth dragon was a specie of the flood dragon, descendants of true mythical dragons. Of course, they were myths. No one had ever seen an earth dragon, much less a flood dragon. There was no need to mention a true dragon. The mud dragon root pill was a pill which had the essence of a mud dragon.

It would literally rebuild the body, strengthening the bones, the blood, the flesh and everything else. It was the best resource among the four. Long Feng stared at them and took a deep breath.

"I'll begin with the blood essence pill." He took the crimson colored pill and swallowed it.