Chapter 140: Hundred Refinements Golden Body Art
Fang Hao crept along the long, dark corridor like a thief, moving forward with extreme caution. Along the way, he encountered a few waves of short-sighted Demon Beasts, like "Iron-Backed Centipedes" and "Phantom Yao Bats." They were only first or second-rank creatures, which he dealt with effortlessly, collecting quite a few Materials in the process. He also saw several corpses that had died in even more gruesome ways; it looked like they had triggered more powerful traps or Restrictions and were thoroughly dead.
The further he went, the more side paths appeared on both sides of the corridor, turning it into a labyrinth. Many of the intersections showed traces of fighting and bloodstains, suggesting that the group who had entered first had already scattered to search for treasure, clearing out the dangers along the way.
Fang Hao didn’t follow the crowd; he specifically chose to slip into small, remote side paths that looked like no one had taken. In places with many people, they would fight until they were battered and bloody without even guaranteeing a reward. It was better to work alone; he might just stumble upon something.
After winding around like this for who knows how long, he arrived at the end of an exceptionally narrow and inconspicuous dead end. There was no path ahead, just a bare stone wall. Ordinarily, he would have turned around and left. But when Fang Hao activated his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes to take a closer look, he realized the texture of the stone wall was a bit off; there was an extremely faint energy fluctuation, as if it had been concealed by some kind of Formation.
"Something is strange here!" Fang Hao’s heart stirred, and he perked up. He stepped forward, placed his hands against the stone wall, and activated his Ethereal Art, allowing his Divine Sense to permeate the wall like fine silk threads.
Indeed! The space behind the stone wall was hollow! Moreover, the energy fluctuation carried an ancient and weathered aura; it didn’t feel like a killing Formation, but rather a type of concealment and defensive Restriction.
"Let’s see if I can break it." Fang Hao was intrigued. He first set up a few small early-warning Formations around him to prevent any sneak attacks. Then, he carefully observed the patterns of energy circulation on the stone wall, searching for the nodes of the Restriction.
This Restriction had existed for too long; its energy had severely depleted, and flaws had appeared in many places. Fang Hao spent nearly half an hour before finally finding several key points of energy congestion. He didn’t dare use brute force for fear of triggering a counterattack. Instead, he used his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes in tandem with his Divine Sense, carefully guiding his own spiritual power to clear the congested nodes bit by bit, as if he were doing embroidery.
Hum... As the final node was cleared, the light of the Restriction on the stone wall flashed slightly, then rippled like water, revealing a narrow opening behind it that could only accommodate one person! A much more intense, ancient aura rushed towards him.
"It worked!" Fang Hao felt a surge of joy and slipped inside.
Behind the opening was a small stone chamber, only about the size of an ordinary room. It was empty, covered in thick dust, with spiderwebs in the corners. In the center of the stone chamber stood a stone platform about half a person’s height, and resting squarely upon it was a dull, cyan Jade Slip.
Apart from that, there was nothing else.
"Just this?" Fang Hao was a bit disappointed; he had thought some great treasure was hidden here. He walked over and picked up the Jade Slip. It felt ice-cold in his hand, and a few blurred ancient characters were carved onto it, which he could barely make out as the words "Hundred Refinements."
He sank his Divine Sense into the Jade Slip and began to read the contents. As soon as he saw it, his eyes went wide!
What was recorded in the Jade Slip was not some standard Cultivation Technique or Secret Manual, nor was it a Pill Formula or Formation diagram, but an extremely ancient and domineering Body Refining method—the "Hundred Refinements Golden Body Art"!
This "Hundred Refinements Golden Body Art" focused on using all sorts of extreme methods to temper the Physical Body through a thousand hammers and a hundred refinements, treating the body itself as if it were a Magic Treasure!
Lightning Induction Body Tempering: Drawing upon the power of lightning between heaven and earth, channeling it into the body, and using that lightning power to temper the Physical Body. It can greatly enhance the strength and resilience of the Physical Body.
Earth Fire Burning Body: Placing oneself amidst Earth Fire, allowing the Earth Fire to scorch the body, and using the power of Earth Fire to temper the Physical Body. After tempering by Earth Fire, the Physical Body will become exceptionally powerful and will also gain a certain degree of flame resistance.
Cold Ice Bone Erosion: Placing oneself in an extremely cold location, allowing the power of cold ice to erode the bones. Upon successfully breaking through this Realm, the bones will become as hard as cold ice, and one will also gain a certain degree of cold resistance.
Golden Qi Marrow Cleansing: This requires absorbing the Golden Qi from heaven and earth to cleanse the marrow. Golden Qi is an extremely rigid and Yang energy with immense destructive power. During the process of absorbing Golden Qi, the Cultivator must guide it into the bone marrow to temper the marrow with the power of Golden Qi. The bone marrow will become as hard as gold, and one will also gain immense strength and defensive power... In addition to these, there are six other Realms: Gale Blade Tempest, Blazing Soul Incineration, Poison Mist Heart Erosion, Profound Ice Soul Condensation, Thunder Soul Refining, and Buddha Light Baptism.
Among them, Gale Blade Tempest uses the power of gale winds to carry countless sharp blades, slicing and grinding the Physical Body to make it incredibly tough; Blazing Soul Incineration involves placing the body within raging flames, enduring high-temperature roasting to train the strength of the Soul; Poison Mist Heart Erosion involves cultivating within toxic mist, fighting poison with poison to enhance the Physical Body’s resistance to toxins; Profound Ice Soul Condensation involves using the power of Profound Ice in an extremely cold environment to solidify the Soul of the Physical Body, making it more stable; Thunder Soul Refining involves drawing down the thunder of the Nine Heavens to bombard the Physical Body and Soul, tempering their resilience; and Buddha Light Baptism involves bathing in the light of Buddha, utilizing the purifying power of the Buddha Light to cleanse the Impurities from the Physical Body and Soul.
These ten Realms are increasingly perilous, but as long as one can persist, the Physical Body will become incomparably powerful, comparable to a Spirit Treasure, possessing infinite strength, invulnerability to blades and spears, immunity to water and fire, and even the ability to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation!
"My god! This is truly a good thing!" Fang Hao’s hands trembled with excitement. He had been worrying that his Physical Body strength couldn’t keep up with his cultivation progress! While his current cultivation speed was fast, it placed a heavy burden on his Physical Body, and during battles, his physical weaknesses were easily targeted. With this "Hundred Refinements Golden Body Art," he could perfectly patch up his shortcomings!
Although the cultivation process sounded like self-torture and was incomparably painful, the results would absolutely be top-notch!
"This trip wasn’t in vain!" Fang Hao carefully tucked the Jade Slip into the deepest part of his storage ring; this thing was far more precious than any Magical Artifact or Medicinal Pill!
He searched the stone chamber carefully one more time, and after confirming there was nothing else, he retreated with satisfaction. He re-activated the concealment Restriction on the stone wall, covering the opening to avoid being discovered by others.
Having obtained the treasure, Fang Hao was in a great mood and continued exploring the maze-like ruins. Subsequently, he found a few abandoned Pill Houses and tool rooms, but unfortunately, anything valuable inside had long been plundered by time or predecessors, leaving only trash and scraps; he gained nothing.
As he walked, he arrived at a relatively spacious side hall. This side hall was much larger than the previous places; scattered on the ground were some broken weapons and bones, and there were intense battle marks on the walls. Evidently, a fierce fight had occurred here not long ago.
Deep within the side hall, something seemed to be glowing.
Fang Hao approached cautiously and discovered the light source came from behind a half-collapsed statue in the hall. He went around to look and saw a rusted, broken sword stuck in the ground, yet it still radiated a sharp aura! Although the blade was broken, the Evil Qi it emitted could be felt from far away; it was definitely not an ordinary item!
"Good sword!" Fang Hao’s eyes lit up, and he was just about to step forward to collect it.
Suddenly, a cold, sharp shout came from behind him: "Kid! Leave that broken sword behind! Get lost!"
Fang Hao felt a chill in his heart and spun around abruptly. At the entrance of the side hall, three Cultivators had appeared, though he didn’t know when! Leading them was a burly man with a sinister expression at the Great Perfection Foundation Establishment, holding a ghost-head blade. The other two were at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, staring at him with malicious intent, their eyes filled with greed.
It seemed like hyenas that had smelled blood had found him. Fang Hao’s gaze turned cold, and he gripped the yitian sword in his hand. In these ruins, indeed, the most dangerous things were not necessarily Demon Beasts or Restrictions, but the human heart.
