Chương 68: Blood-Refining the Treasures

"Since even you have no solution, Fellow Daoist, we shall set that matter aside for now. Instead, tell me—what exactly is this 'Heavenly Dao Reward' you mentioned?" Reyn's voice was low, echoing slightly in the secluded mountain interior. Yu Meiren paused, her silence stretching as if she were sifting through the dusty, fragmented archives of a memory suppressed by eons of sealing.

"The Heavenly Dao Reward... it is a legend whispered since the Primordial Era," she began, her voice carrying a weight of ancient sorrow.

"Common cultivators believe that reaching the eighth level of Qi Condensation is sufficient to consume a Foundation Establishment Pill and ascend. However, the ancient texts speak of a 'Double Nine'—the ultimate limit of eighteen levels. To reach this peak is to touch the very ceiling of the mortal coil and trigger a reward from the Heavens themselves. What that reward entails remains a mystery lost to time.

While one might reach the fifteenth level through the sheer force of pills and resources, the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth levels are different. Each breakthrough demands a baptism between life and death. Only those with an iron will and monstrous providence can hope to succeed. It is said some achieved this in the Primordial Era, but in this withered age, few would dare such a suicidal path." Reyn nodded slowly. A mortal's lifespan before Foundation Establishment rarely exceeded a century.

No sane man would gamble those precious years on a nebulous legend. Had his own spiritual roots been merely average, he likely would have sought a breakthrough long ago rather than lingering in the Qi Condensation stage.

"However, little brother, you might actually have a chance," Yu Meiren added, a hint of playfulness returning to her tone.

"Legend says that those who reach the limit before establishing their foundation will instantly vault to the Late Foundation Establishment stage upon breakthrough. Furthermore, it grants a thirty percent increase in the success rate of condensing a Golden Core. That is no small boon." Reyn's heart skipped a beat. He had barely survived the pursuit of Xuan Liao to reach the sixteenth level; the seventeenth and eighteenth would undoubtedly be exponentially more grueling. Yet, Yu Meiren's words held merit.

Since he currently lacked a reliable method for Foundation Establishment, striving for the ultimate limit was his best—and perhaps only—path forward.

"Very well, little brother. I have spoken quite enough for one day. I feel the weight of sleep pulling at me again. We shall talk later." With that, Yu Meiren's voice faded into the depths of his consciousness, leaving him in the silence of the cavern. Reyn sat cross-legged, his expression contemplative. He retrieved several Peiyuan Pills and swallowed them, feeling the medicinal heat bloom in his chest.

He began to temper his internal True Essence; though it wouldn't trigger a breakthrough, it would refine his power to a sharper edge. Half a day passed in meditative stillness. When Reyn opened his eyes, his Divine Sense and spiritual energy had returned to their peak. After a moment's thought, he produced a jade pendant—the gift from Elder Yan of the Myriad Extinction Demon Sect. This treasure was capable of withstanding a full-strength strike from a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.

Such a life-saving artifact needed to be bound to him immediately. Circulating his spiritual energy, Reyn forced a drop of essence blood from his fingertip onto the jade. The stone hungrily drank the crimson offering. Suddenly, a network of blood-red filaments erupted across the surface, weaving together into a grotesque, cackling ghostly face. The phantom shrieked twice in a grating, ethereal voice before dissolving back into the jade.

A flash of sanguine light pulsed once, and the pendant returned to its unassuming form.

"A demonic treasure indeed," Reyn muttered, unsettled by the macabre refinement process. He felt the powerful restrictive arrays hidden within the stone and nodded with satisfaction, tying the pendant firmly to his waist. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Next, he withdrew a small jade box. Inside lay a nondescript, pale-yellow talisman. A few simple strokes depicted a lifelike miniature sword—a Dan Treasure. Reyn's eyes burned with anticipation.

With a mere needle-type Dan Treasure, he had obliterated Xuan Liao, whose power had rivaled the False Core Realm. This sword-type Dan Treasure promised even greater devastation. With two such trump cards, Foundation Establishment cultivators would be trivial, and even a Golden Core expert might be caught off guard. The method of blood-refining required more than just surface blood; it demanded essence blood.

Even for a cultivator, the loss of too much essence blood could lead to a regressed cultivation or even instant death. Reyn bit the tip of his tongue and spat a fine mist of blood onto the talisman. His face instantly drained of color, his breath becoming shallow and ragged. He dared not lose focus. Though the blood-refining technique was structurally simple, the slightest tremor in his control could trigger a backlash, potentially destroying the treasure and himself.

As the essence blood soaked into the sword-sigil, Reyn's hands blurred in a series of esoteric mudras. Each seal struck the talisman with a soft thrum. A massive spiritual pressure began to radiate from the paper. Fortunately, Reyn had already laid down concealment arrays within the mountain interior, or the entire valley would have felt the surge. His movements grew faster, sweat beading on his brow. Yet, the sword-talisman remained stubbornly unchanged. Anxiety gnawed at him.

This technique drained spiritual energy and Divine Sense at an alarming rate; any pause would result in total failure. Suddenly, Yu Meiren's voice jolted him.

"A High-grade Dan Treasure!" Her voice was sharp with shock. Realizing the gravity of the moment, she spoke rapidly.

"The essence blood is insufficient! Give it more—now!" Reyn didn't hesitate. He coughed up a second, larger spray of essence blood. The world tilted as his vision blurred; his aura withered to a flickering flame. However, the sacrifice worked. The Dan Treasure greedily absorbed the blood, and its wild pressure began to turn inward, becoming dense and lethal. Reyn poured the last of his True Essence—less than twenty percent remained—into the final seals.

With a final, resounding incantation, the talisman erupted in a blinding radiance. The paper incinerated, leaving a tiny, translucent sword hovering in the air. It let out a spirited hum, circling Reyn several times like a loyal pet before diving into his chest and vanishing into his dantian. The refinement was complete. Reyn immediately swallowed several blood-replenishing pills, leaning back as the medicinal power slowly stabilized his trembling frame.

"Fellow Daoist, what makes a High-grade Dan Treasure so different?" Reyn asked, his voice raspy.

"If not for your warning, the backlash would have crippled me." Cold sweat slicked his back at the thought.

"Heh, little brother, your luck is truly monstrous," Yu Meiren chuckled.

"That thing is a rarity." She began to explain the history of these 'Void Treasures.' In the Primordial Era, the world was flush with spiritual resources. Cultivators ascended with a speed unimaginable today. It was an age of titans where top-tier techniques and artifacts were commonplace. But a great calamity had wiped out millions, burying those legacies and leaving the current world a withered husk of its former glory. Dan Treasures were a remnant of that era.

Also known as 'Void Treasures,' they were created by Golden Core cultivators nearing the end of their lifespan. These masters would take their soul-bound artifacts and, through a forbidden secret art, seal a portion of the weapon's power into a talisman for their descendants. While only a fraction of the original power, it was enough to reign supreme below the Golden Core stage. The needle Reyn had used before was a standard Dan Treasure. A High-grade Dan Treasure, however, was in a league of its own.

Though limited to only three uses, each activation unleashed the full, terrifying might of the original magic treasure. To create one, a Golden Core cultivator had to sacrifice their 'Golden Core Essence'—the very distillation of their life's cultivation. Creating such a treasure often caused the creator to drop an entire realm or lose a century of lifespan. Only those with a death wish or an absolute devotion to their kin would ever perform such a self-destructive act.

"A High-grade Dan Treasure..." Reyn's eyes shone. A weapon that could rival a true Golden Core artifact, even if only thrice, was a godsend.

"It seems a mid-stage Golden Core fellow made this one," Yu Meiren added.

"He wasn't particularly strong, but he poured every drop of his essence into it. It will serve you well as a shield. Now, what about that Buddhist bead you found? I sensed something peculiar about it. Rest for a while, then blood-refine that as well. Let us see its true face." Reyn was eager, but his body was a hollow shell. Despite the pills, his essence blood would take time to recover. He closed his eyes, sinking into a deep, restorative meditation.