Chapter 504 – Tempering Marrow Large Success … … … Because it had been doused in scorching flames, the golden liquid was already at an extremely high temperature. After Lin Ming entered, he felt as if he had jumped into a stove and all of his skin was being roasted. However, because he had refined flames within his body for a long time, and also because of his previous experiences with searing flames, such an experience was nothing at all to him. The fragrance of the golden liquid flooded his senses like a finely aged wine. The liquid was exquisitely sweet; a single gulp was like a stream of heat that flowed down his mouth and throat, warming his stomach, spreading to his limbs and filling him with a brilliantly radiant energy. All of the muscles of his body stretched out and he emitted loud popping sounds. All of Lin Ming’s pores dilated, and pure energy flooded through them. As the heat flowed in, he felt a pin-like pain through his pores. However, this aching pain through his body actually made Lin Ming excited instead. This medicinal juice brewed with a Nirvana Dragon Root that was tens of thousands of years old held an incomparably pure energy. The energy filtered through Lin Ming’s bones, entering into his marrow where it constantly accumulated. Chi chi chi! As the pure energy entered his marrow, it was a painful experience. But at this time, Lin Ming only felt comfortable all over, and his mind was in a bright and clear state. There wasn’t even a hint of the pain that he had experienced when he used the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal for Tempering Marrow. Within the golden juice, Lin Ming stretched out, relaxing all his limbs. He took great gulps of the golden fluid, swallowing as much as he could. After this golden fluid had filled all of Lin Ming’s meridians, it began to discharge from his pores. The energy continued to accumulate. Although there was a dull ache, it was extremely wonderful, as if he were flying to the heavens and becoming an immortal. However, this peaceful feeling didn’t last too long. As Lin Ming used the law formula of the ‘Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians’ to control the energy for tempering, he felt the aching pain grow increasingly strong and vibrant. Lin Ming felt like his body was becoming a balloon that was filled to the brim with energy, about to pop open at any moment. The raging energy crashed through his meridians. Even though Lin Ming’s body had been toughened already by Tempering Marrow, he still almost couldn’t withstand it. “Boy, hurry up and seal your pores. Concentrate the excess energy into your spear and release it through your moves. It will help you complete Tempering Marrow.” As Lin Ming approached the point where he couldn’t control the energy, he heard Demonshine’s voice resound in his ears. Lin Ming’s thoughts suddenly cleared, and he flicked his right hand. The Purple Comet Spear appeared and he displayed the moves of the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’. As the Purple Comet Spear thrust through the golden juice, every swing was met with great resistance. With every spear move, Lin Ming’s bones issues out sounds like crackling thunder. Strips of his yellow bone marrow became bright red, and from that bright red they began to shift to a golden hue. More and more golden strips appeared, until all of his marrow became a deep shining gold. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞 As every spear move struck out, the rich golden juice was cut apart by the Purple Comet Spear. His true essence shot out like a sharpened blade. Lin Ming didn’t know how many spear moves he had made, or how many hours he had done so. He only felt his blood boiling and his true essence endlessly growing. Even with all this effort, he didn’t feel a bit tired. The energy that filled his body was contained within by his sealed pores. As his spear moves used up the excess energy and he absorbed the rest, his pores opened once again, wantonly absorbing energy from the golden juice. As time passed, the golden juice became increasingly pale, and over half of it had already disappeared. At this moment, Lin Ming felt a sharp pain his back, as if someone were taking a fiery needle and piercing his spine! In that moment, the pain was enough to cause Lin Ming to break into a cold sweat. But he wasn’t surprised. Pain in his spine meant one thing – that energy had entered into his spinal cord! The spinal cord and bone marrow were different. The spinal cord was a center of nerves. It was extremely fragile and fragmented. If the spinal cord could not be tempered, then the spine would become the weakness of the body, simply unable to bear the immense pressure. Tempering the spine was the final step of Tempering Marrow. And, it was also the most difficult. There were even some disciples of the Realm of the Gods that could not afford the precious and rare raw materials and medicine required, and became unable to completely and thoroughly temper their spine. This caused their foundation to be shaky, and this weakness of their body carried through. But the material that Lin Ming had used to make the medicine was a Nirvana Dragon Root that had lived for tens of thousands of years. Naturally, he wouldn’t have this problem. Lin Ming didn’t know how many times he had displayed the ‘Great Desolate Halberd Art’. He continued until the sphere of liquid became completely clear, and all of the golden juice had been absorbed. But, at the moment that the golden juice was completely absorbed, the scattered true essence in Lin Ming’s dantian began to spontaneously condense into a twisting vortex, slowly spinning around. The originally chaotic state suddenly became organized. Xiantian realm! The sign of the Pulse Condensation was true essence meridian penetration, the sign of the Houtian realm was true essence accumulating in the dantian, and the sign for the Xiantian realm was true essence forming an organized system within the dantian. Lin Ming’s true essence system was… a vortex. Lin Ming’s eyes flashed open, his eyes twinkling with arcs of thunder. Hua! The ball of water that had been bound together by true essence completely collapsed on itself. A massive amount of water splashed onto the ground, and Lin Ming fell stark naked onto the floor. At this moment, he was in extremely high spirits. In a single leap, his cultivation had broken through to the Xiantian realm, and he had also completed 100% of Tempering Marrow! After Tempering Marrow reached 100%, it could be said that Lin Ming had been reborn. His skin was more delicate, and his fine muscles were toned and symmetrical. Lin Ming was now an absurdly handsome young man, his body containing both auras of strength and a soft beauty. It was as if he were an exquisite masterpiece that had been sculpted by hand. Lin Ming’s appearance also became more mature. His original sharp aura converged together. If one didn’t pay careful attention, it would be difficult to sense this. This current Lin Ming gave a feeling like a gentle breeze; it had a hint of returning to his original state. “Xiantian?” The pug said as it lifted his doggy head up and down with great exaggeration. He sized up Lin Ming and said, “You really are a lucky bastard that stepped into dog shit with heaven defying luck. You stepped into the Xiantian realm and you probably aren’t even 18 years old yet.” ‘Lucky bastard that stepped into dog shit with heaven defying luck?’ As Lin Ming heard the pug speak, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Hearing a dog say dog shit was always quite strange. “If you depend on medicines to break through to the Xiantian realm, your foundation will not be steady. You must take time to consolidate it.” When cultivating through the Essence Gathering system, one had to pay extremely careful attention to each step and proceed in an orderly fashion. Fortunately, this Nirvana Dragon Root that had grown for tens of thousands of years had very few impurities. Refining it into his system wasn’t too difficult. Xiantian realm, and 100% Tempering Marrow! Lin Ming unconsciously gripped his fists together, his knuckles cracking. The sound was like mini thunderclaps. As he punched out, the wind whistled. At this time, he felt that his body was filled with power, and he could tear apart a Xiantian realm Thunder Lizard with his bear hands. The blood throughout his body had already become as pure and thick as golden mercury. Lin Ming took out a low-grade earth-step treasure sword from his spatial ring. He gripped its hilt in one hand and grasped the blade edge with the other. As he held the sword in both hands, he suddenly twisted his arms! With an echoing ‘kacha’, the low-grade earth-step treasure sword was folded in half by the pure brute strength of Lin Ming’s body! “After I reached 100% of Tempering Marrow, my strength might have reached 200,000 jins!” When Lin Ming had first obtained the memories of that Realm of the Gods Supreme Elder, he knew that Body Transformation powerhouses in the Realm of the Gods had a body strength as high as hundreds of thousands of jins, to even a million jins and more. Lin Ming had thought that this was simply inconceivable. But now, without knowing it, he had achieved that incredible strength! “Demonshine, how long did my Tempering Marrow take?” “Mm… probably a bit more than 40 hours.” The pug said after some thought. “Over 40 hours… that’s two days… two days, that’s already a bit early for those Life Destruction powerhouses to have left the Demon God Imperial Palace. I’ll have plenty of time to finish what I have to do!” When Lin Ming had taken the Cosmic Melting Furnace, he realized that he could not stay within the South Horizon Region. The only way to do so was to conceal his identity, and live in seclusion in far off mountains while remaining completely anonymous. Since he didn’t have the strength to resist a third stage Life Destruction martial artist, he would never be able to go out, otherwise he would draw a calamity unto himself. And, it wouldn’t be just him, but Divine Phoenix Island would also be caught up in his troubles. However, if he stayed in seclusion to cultivate and didn’t go out to journey and adventure, the chances of him breaking through to the next stage were simply too low. Thus, Lin Ming could only choose to temporarily leave the South Horizon Region, and go to far off lands. But before he left, there were some matters that he had to finish… …… …... …… The dark crimson wilderness was vast and endless. The bare and desolate ground was covered with gray stone monuments, and the stone tablets were covered in shining crimson charms. They were no different from graves that had been destroyed. Between the stone monuments, there were countless bones that were buried deep in the ground. Whether they were humans or beasts, they were all left underneath this limitless bloody sky. They had been buried here alone for tens of thousands of years, and they would continue to be alone through the passage of time. This land was a cemetery… But at this time, atop this barren cemetery, there was a slight and delicate figure. This figure stood alone in the cold wind, wrapped in dreary solitude. A red dress, a perfectly beautiful appearance… this figure was completely out of place within this dark world. This woman was Mu Qianyu. At this time, her complexion was filled with an utter sadness… It had already been six days… Mu Qianyu looked out at the hazy sky in a dazed and confused state. These past days, thick clouds had gathered in the bloody wilderness. The clouds were red to the point that they seemed to drip blood; it was extremely suffocating. Mu Qianyu stared at the gloomy skies, her figure motionless for a long time. She was just like a beautiful sculpture that existed in the wild. Wait for me there… These words echoed within Mu Qianyu’s mind. It was as if she had lost her very soul. In her entire life, she had never felt like this before. Emptiness… Sorrow… Grief… Loneliness… Helplessness… The dark clouds in the sky grew increasingly thick and heavy. Finally, a quarter of an hour later, a crimson bolt of lightning lanced through the heavens, and a torrential downpour of rain came crashing down in an overwhelming deluge. Large drops of water hit her body. And, there was actually some pain… Rain… this world also had rain? Mu Qianyu was lost in her thoughts, her eyes in a trance. This storm of rain was terrifying. The rainwater was incomparably salty, and the thick curtain of rain suppressed vision to only several dozen feet. It was like the skies had split asunder, and the entire South Sea’s water had flooded into this world. The entire bloody wilderness was enveloped in this endless shower of rain. Mu Qianyu remained still, despite the water flowing down her body. No matter what happened, she seemed unaware. At this moment, her thoughts of Lin Ming were at the point that they almost became tangible.