Chương 161: War God — Chapter 161 - Stellar Bones — Initial Completion!

"Because at the bottom of this Heavenly Pool burns a special 'ice flame.'" Principal Luo said.

"This ice flame is extremely unique. Surrounded by these cold crystals, it has never been extinguished."

"Unfortunately, martial artists cannot even break through the cold crystals, let alone come into contact with the flame itself."

"Over 10 years ago, several Eighth Realm experts of our Dragon Nation joined forces to break open the inner layer of cold crystals at the bottom of the Heavenly Pool. Only then did a corner of the ice flame reveal itself." Principal Luo's voice carried a note of regret.

"But after breaking through, that wisp of ice flame seeped into bone marrow and burned one expert's hand bones into cold slag."

"According to that expert's recollection, it felt as if even his soul had been scorched."

"Fortunately, being an Eighth Realm expert, he didn't try to forcefully extract the flame. The injury wasn't too severe, and he returned the way he came."

"Later, after years of analysis by many martial experts of our Dragon Nation, we concluded that strength is only a small factor. What matters is talent. Without outstanding talent, one cannot extract it, cannot obtain it."

"This ice flame is peculiar, as if possessing a trace of sentience. If it could be obtained, it would be of great significance to our nation's smelting studies, especially..." Principal Luo fell silent.

"Without outstanding talent..." Ye Miyue muttered.

"Master, does this mean the ice flame requires a special martial talent to harvest?"

"More or less." Principal Luo thought for a moment.

"Don't overthink it. Your talent might be strong enough that you'd be completely unaffected by the ice flame's power. But your current strength is too weak. If you stay submerged at the bottom of the Heavenly Pool for too long, the cold pressure will severely damage your sword body."

"Your Eternal Silence Sword Body was formed as a single seamless whole."

"Any injury will greatly affect the quality of your sword body, causing your talent potential to decrease. Recovery would be extremely difficult."

"Furthermore, if your body is injured, controlling the Eternal Silence Sword Qi will become harder." This was extremely serious. Talent injury had virtually no treatment method in the modern era. Destruction was easier than repair. But repair? Who knew how difficult that would be? Principal Luo's expression grew solemn:"Your talent is also a Taboo Talent. Once damaged, we have no method in the modern era to repair it."

"I'm afraid only certain 'Divine Artifacts' could accomplish that."

"Therefore, you only need to focus on peacefully cultivating in the Heavenly Pool."

"Mm..." Ye Miyue's gaze flickered. She looked at the Eternal Silence Sword Case on her back, her palm gently brushing over it... — Western Shu, Rong City. After Wang Xian returned to Rong City, the first thing he did was check his Battle Merit at the Military Department.

"100, 000 points..." An enormous amount. The Dragon Calamity Bone Tomb was a proper B-rank Relic, after all. Although he'd killed many alien beasts inside, the relic's collapse meant he hadn't been able to obtain those beast materials immediately to exchange for Battle Merit. Yet simply by eliminating the relic, he'd obtained a large batch of Battle Merit. Yan Zhaoxue had obtained even more than he did. Of course, 100, 000 was already completely sufficient for him.

This time, Wang Xian didn't exchange for any Secret Skills or martial arts. Instead, he exchanged for materials. Next came the cultivation of 'Stellar Bones'. The Nine Nether Dark Worm and the Cloud Demon Dragon skull bone fragment were sufficient as the two main cultivation materials. But Stellar Bones cultivation still required a large quantity of alien beast materials as support. With 100, 000 Battle Merit points, Wang Xian spent 80, 000 in one go on D-rank materials and some C-rank materials.

F-rank materials were priced within 10 Battle Merit points. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. And so on upwards. There were four or five types of D-rank materials, each numbering around 20 to 30. There were four key types of C-rank materials, each quite rare.

"The hurricane tail feather of the C-rank alien beast Hurricane Falcon. The tail feather can sense subtle energy changes in the air and accelerate the body's energy circulation."

"Earth Vein Mystic Gold, an ore produced in some underground C-rank relics. Its original form is created by the gnawing of Void-Shattering Worms. It has excellent load-bearing capacity and extensibility."

"The vine sap of the Thunder Pattern Demon Vine. The sap contains special lightning power that can activate bone marrow and sinews, allowing better energy absorption while rapidly repairing."

"Phantom Phosphorus Powder, powder shed by Phantom Light Demon Butterflies. It can refract light to form illusions, making one impossible to capture."

"The materials are all complete."

"Next, once I finish smelting these materials, I can begin cultivating Stellar Bones." If he had to collect these materials himself, it would still take quite a few days. They were C-rank, after all. Who knew how many relics he'd have to visit? The remaining D-rank materials were for adding fault tolerance to the C-rank materials. Of course, these all belonged to collectible materials.

Materials like the Nine Nether Dark Worm and the Cloud Demon Dragon bone fragment belonged to uncollectible materials, because normally they couldn't be found. That was why these two materials were the most crucial. Three days later. All materials, except for the bone fragment which he still couldn't smelt, had been completely smelted by Wang Xian. As for the bone fragment, Wang Xian didn't smelt it.

He planned to attempt smelting it with spirit sha during the Stellar Bones cultivation itself, to conduct a certain experiment.

"Then we can begin." In the cultivation chamber. Wang Xian took a deep breath, wearing only a large pair of shorts, and looked at his two feet. Stellar Bones were the second step of the Stellar Body Refinement Art. The core of the Stellar Body Refinement Art was to take the body as the universe, transform the meridians into stars, and absorb the energy of myriad realms to forge an indestructible martial body. After the Divine Meridians. The body's energy channels had been completely opened.

At this point, it was necessary to refine and forge the entire body's bones and sinews, as well as the organs beneath them. This realm used infinite alien beast materials as the foundation, and the spirit sha of the Heavenly Cycle Divine Meridians as the flame. All 206 bones of the body, the five viscera and six bowels, the sinews, channels, skin, and membranes would be refined one by one, fused with infinite materials, so the physical body could bear the mighty power of the stars.

In his previous life, Wang Xian had taken a very long time to complete this step. Back then on the alien star battlefield, although materials were infinite, he wasn't a smelter. Many materials, unrefined, easily lost their properties. Even if he sometimes found many suitable materials and planned to rest a bit before cultivating, not long after, the materials would either spoil, lose their activity, or mutate and become unusable.

His choice of smelting as his university major was itself to make the cultivation of the Stellar Body Refinement Art smoother.

"This time, it's indeed smoother than I imagined..." Wang Xian's lips curved into a smile. After all preparations were complete. The spirit sha within the Heavenly Cycle Divine Meridians circulated madly. He looked at the bones of his two feet. Two feet, totaling 52 bones. In his previous life, limited by materials, he'd trained one foot first, then found an opportunity to train the second. Now, materials weren't lacking. There was even a surplus.

It was far easier than when he was at the Third Realm in his previous life. As for why he had to train the foot bones first. The reason was simple: after training the foot bones, speed became faster. When going to many places, even if he couldn't win, at least he could run. On the alien star battlefield, as long as you survived, everything else could be discussed. Similarly, as the saying goes, among all martial arts, speed is invincible.

Many martial artists with leg-based martial talents, even if they couldn't beat you, once their talent gene locks opened, could wear you down to death through speed. This time, he still chose to refine both feet first. There was also an additional reason: he wanted to learn Senior Yang Tianchan's 'Star Trace Step'. This movement technique martial art was also a basic requirement for his Void Wandering Divine Spear Art, after all.

Coupled with the two special materials, the Cloud Demon Dragon and the Nine Nether Dark Worm.

"The foot Stellar Bones cultivated in this life will also possess a certain amount of spatial power."

"Compared to my previous life, they should be stronger." Thinking of this. Wang Xian's lips curved into a smile. The spirit sha within the Divine Meridians condensed at his feet. The next second. He formed fists with both hands and hammered them onto his two feet. In an instant, the bones and fascia inside his feet shattered. Directly breaking them to recast would make the cultivation speed faster and more efficient. Wang Xian didn't even grunt. He directly took out the vine sap and applied it to his two feet.

As the spirit sha circulated, it overflowed from the Divine Meridians of his feet, rapidly absorbing the vine sap completely and fusing it into the shattered foot bones. Afterwards, he silently recited the mantra of the Stellar Body Refinement Art. He continued to take out the next material, applying it in sequence to his feet, then absorbing the material through the foot Divine Meridians, slowly allowing the shattered bones and fascia to recast. As each material was absorbed, his feet underwent slight mutations.

The combination of multiple materials could also form special energy linkages, making the recasting process faster. This experience from his previous life, Wang Xian already had clearly in mind. Several days later... The materials beside him decreased one by one. After leaving the Divine Meridians, the spirit sha, which originally could destroy the physical body, slowly recast the bones and the complex fascia within his two feet while absorbing the energy of numerous materials. The vine sap seeped into the joints.

The Earth Vein Mystic Gold forged into bone membranes. The phosphorus powder and Nine Nether Dark Worm materials fused into the bone seams. Finally. Wang Xian's palm grasped the Cloud Demon Dragon bone fragment. A massive amount of spirit sha seeped into it. Then he rapidly began outlining the energy circuits of smelting studies within the bone fragment. The bone fragment emitted a buzzing tremor, flickering in and out of visibility. Until... CRACK!

The bone fragment shattered, transforming into a model suspended in the void, then entirely wrapped around Wang Xian's two feet. As if a dragon's roar came from within the bone fragment. Amidst the endless spirit sha, the fragments slowly fused into his feet. Wang Xian's body shook. He felt streams of powerful and strange power continuously surging from his two feet. He didn't know how much time had passed. When he looked again, he saw his two feet glowing brightly, like stars, as if containing some unknown power.

Especially the sinews on the surface of the foot bones, which emitted a faint starlight, as if they were energy circuits connecting to the stars in the sky. Seeing this scene. Wang Xian smiled faintly.

"Stellar Bones complete." ➤ Next: Secret Skill, Flying Star Piercing the Void