Chapter 265: Chapter 265: The Yijing Marrow Cleansing Method
Xu Yunfan stood alone amidst a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Demon Blood dripped from his hammer, and after devouring the Blood Qi, his Dragon Scale Armor glowed with dark golden patterns, a clear sign of another advancement.
Xu Yunfan didn’t even frown at the thick, foul stench of the Demon Blood.
After so many days of hunting Demon Fiends for food, he had long grown accustomed to the smell. It was just that the stench here was so overwhelming it still made breathing a little difficult.
After picking out a few Demon Fiend carcasses with especially abundant Blood Qi, Xu Yunfan quickly left the area.
「Two hours later.」
Xu Yunfan was seated cross-legged deep within a mountain cave, the flickering campfire illuminating his stern face.
The mountain winds howled outside the cave, but inside, Spiritual Qi was as thick as mist. It flowed slowly from a point of convergence in the mountain’s terrain, making this an excellent place for Cultivation.
Xu Yunfan glanced up at the wisps of Spiritual Mist drifting above and sighed to himself. ’It seems that as time passes, the Spiritual Qi in this Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm is becoming depleted.’
’A cage...’
Several Demon Fiend carcasses, rich with Blood Qi, were laid out before him. One had already been skinned and deboned, its flesh now roasting on a spit over the campfire. Dripping fat made the flames SIZZLE.
Although Demon Flesh and Blood was foul-smelling, it didn’t taste bad when prepared properly. Furthermore, the Essence Blood and Qi it contained was a great restorative for a Martial Artist.
He slowly turned the roasting meat, his gaze distant.
According to Yuu Congling, this world was a cage where the Immortal Dao couldn’t be found. Only by breaking free would one have a chance to touch the path of an Immortal’s Cultivation.
This was what Yuu Congling called a ’plane.’
He took out the ’Primordial Order’ from a hidden compartment in his Mechanical Box and caressed the palm-sized Token with his thumb.
Its texture was not quite metal, yet not quite wood.
He recalled handling many different kinds of metallic ores in the Celestial Craft Cave, but he had never encountered a texture quite like this.
’Primordial... Primordial Demon...’
After a long moment, he carefully placed the Primordial Order back in its hidden compartment. Xu Yunfan tore off a piece of charred, fragrant meat. As he chewed and swallowed, he felt the Blood Qi surge within him. He opened the Mechanical Box again, revealing the Ginseng Child. Ignoring its frantic squeaks, Xu Yunfan expressionlessly plucked a Ginseng Root from its wrist and put it in his mouth.
After pushing the Ginseng Child back in, he closed his eyes and focused, beginning to meditate on the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill he had obtained from Jingming.
This Cultivation Technique was one of Mituo Temple’s signature Ultimate Skills. Although it couldn’t lead directly to the Nine Realms Qi Cultivation, it was an Ultimate Skill nonetheless, crafted specifically for Marrow Cleansing Realm Martial Artists. It focused on "Bone and Muscle Transformation" and "Washing Marrow and Shaving Hair." It could not only thoroughly temper one’s bone marrow but also completely transform a Martial Artist’s physical body, allowing them to reach the state of "Golden Marrow and Jade Bone." It had the power to enhance one’s aptitude and reshape their innate constitution.
As he felt the searing Qi of Ginseng from his stomach rapidly spread through his entire body, Xu Yunfan recalled the mantra Jingming had recited.
"Marrow is the essence of blood; bone, the house of marrow. Washing Marrow is like alchemy; Bone Strengthening, like forging a sword..."
He took a deep breath. The Blood Qi in his body surged like a mighty river as he circulated his Blood Qi Strength along the pathways of the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill.
An ordinary Martial Artist performing Marrow Cleansing must first use their Strength to permeate the bones, then flush the marrow with Blood Qi. The process is slow and excruciating.
But the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill was different. It followed the principle of "using qi to guide blood, and blood to temper marrow." It used Inner Breath to guide Blood Qi directly into the depths of the bone marrow, making it far more efficient than any ordinary Marrow Cleansing Method.
This was where the Pure Yang Inner Breath he’d cultivated through the Pure Yang Qi Skill proved its worth.
To practice this Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill, one either needed the Pure Yang Inner Breath refined by the Pure Yang Qi Skill, or they had to cultivate its prerequisite Martial Arts to master the Vajra Qi.
Xu Yunfan activated the Cultivation Technique. With every breath, he greedily devoured the Spiritual Qi of the Secret Realm, converting it into pure Inner Breath. This energy surged up the great dragon of his spine, finally converging within his bone marrow.
HISS...
A wave of excruciating pain washed over him!
It felt as if his very marrow was being scorched by fire and pierced by a million steel needles. Veins bulged on Xu Yunfan’s forehead as cold sweat poured down his face.
But he was long accustomed to pain. Instead of stopping, he accelerated the circulation of his Blood Qi, forcing the impurities out of his marrow bit by bit.
After the marrow throughout his entire skeleton had been ’washed’ once over, the next step was the "Bone Strengthening" training method.
The two were complementary. Missing any crucial step would break his body’s internal balance and, just as Jingming had warned, cause a baleful aura to spontaneously arise within him.
Many Buddhist Sect Martial Arts followed an unyieldingly fierce path. Over time, this practice would cause a baleful aura to accumulate in the practitioner’s chest, making them susceptible to demonic corruption. This was why various Buddhist scriptures existed to cleanse the mind and neutralize that aura.
The "Bone Strengthening" method of the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill was incredibly potent. It used Strength to forcibly stretch and compress the body’s tendons, dramatically increasing their resilience until they could withstand even more violent eruptions of power.
With a tremor in his arms, Xu Yunfan sent his Strength slithering through his body like dragons and snakes. His tendons emitted a series of sharp CRACKLES, as though they were being stretched and reshaped by invisible hands.
Faint golden patterns emerged on the surface of his skin, a sign of his tendons and bones being tempered to their absolute limit.
A full three hours had passed by the time the tempering of his marrow, tendons, and bones was complete, yet Xu Yunfan showed no signs of stopping.
The immense medicinal power from the Ginseng Root he’d taken from the Ginseng Child had yet to fade. It continued to circulate within him, and if he didn’t find a way to expend it, most of it would go to waste.
With a low cry, Xu Yunfan’s Blood Qi began to boil. Strength seeped into his bones along with it, and a faint golden luster appeared deep within his marrow. His bones, flushed by Spiritual Qi, became as translucent as jade.
’You are cultivating the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill. Aided by the Ginseng Root and Demon and Monster Essence Energy, you seem to be achieving some success.’
’You are...’
Notifications with cultivation information flashed continuously on the Attribute Panel in his vision.
An unknown amount of time passed.
"Success!"
He snapped his eyes open, a spark of lightning in their depths. His aura surged. The marrow in his body now flowed like liquid mercury, his bones were as hard as Divine Iron, and the resilience of his tendons was far greater than before.
’You have reached the Initiate level in the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill.’
’Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill 0/500 (Initiate)
Effects: Golden Marrow Mercury Paste (Stage One), Jade Bone Chime, Bone Strengthening Dragon Coil.’
’...’
Looking at the information for the Yijing Marrow Cleansing Skill on his Attribute Panel, Xu Yunfan slowly stretched. With every movement, he could hear a series of crisp chimes from his bones.
The sound wasn’t the dull grinding of a mortal’s bones, but rather the clear, resonant chime of two pieces of Warm Jade striking one another, echoing melodiously through the silent cave.
Great, warm currents like Flood Dragons still roiled within him, continuously fortifying his body.
He curled his fingers into a fist, his knuckles glowing with a lustrous, jade-like light.
As he tensed his muscles, his Great Tendons coiled like Flood Dragons, their shifting forms visible beneath his skin.
Xu Yunfan opened his hand, then clenched it into a tight fist!
BANG!
A muffled bang echoed as a visible shockwave of turbid white air erupted from his fist.
An air burst.
And he hadn’t even used his full strength. By reaching the Initiate level of this Martial Art, his power had taken a massive leap forward.
The most astonishing change was deep within his bone marrow.
Xu Yunfan could clearly sense something like liquid metal flowing through the great dragon of his spine. Every heartbeat pushed the golden marrow mercury paste to circulate through his bones.
He casually cut his arm. The Blood Beads that seeped from the wound carried a faint golden glint, and within three breaths, the skin had already healed completely.
