Undying Pearl

In the quiet room, Zhang Tie took a deep breath and slowly opened the porcelain bottle of Grade 1 mid-grade spirit beast blood.

A trace of resolve flashed through his eyes. He opened his mouth and poured in two drops.

By Zhang Tie's calculations, he could absorb five drops of Grade 1 low-grade spirit beast blood at once. Moreover, his body had been strengthened by the previous two bottles of Grade 1 low-grade spirit beast blood. Absorbing two drops of Grade 1 mid-grade spirit beast blood at once should not have been a problem.

However, the moment the blood entered his stomach, a violent energy surged and expanded like a raging tide. It was more than ten times fiercer than the low-grade spirit beast blood from before.

Excruciating pain instantly spread through Zhang Tie's entire body. He hurriedly endured the agony and circulated the first revolution technique of the Nine Revolutions Undying Body with all his strength.

But the results were extremely poor. That violent energy rampaged through his body completely out of control. If this continued, he would surely suffer the miserable fate of exploding to death.

The veins across Zhang Tie's body bulged as his body began to swell uncontrollably, growing larger and larger.

Then threadlike cracks began appearing across his body. They slowly spread, as though they were about to tear him apart.

It's over... Zhang Tie thought bitterly. He was only ten years old. His life had only just begun, and his path of Immortal Cultivation had only started to show promise. Yet now, everything was about to vanish like a bubble.

Zhang Tie's consciousness gradually blurred. At the edge of life and death, he seemed to see a hunched figure. It was indistinct, and he could not tell whether it was his long-deceased great-grandmother.

Despair washed over Zhang Tie like a tide. His eyes remained open as he felt the tearing agony throughout his body.

The pain was so intense that he could not make a sound. All he could do was quietly await death's arrival amid endless despair.

But at that critical moment between life and death, an unexpected change occurred.

The green bead that had been quietly resting in his mind suddenly began to rotate slowly.

Strands of pure green energy flowed from Zhang Tie's head and rapidly spread throughout his body like clear spring water.

Under the effects of that green energy, his wildly swelling body gradually stopped expanding. The horrifying cracks across his body also slowly healed and disappeared.

Zhang Tie snapped out of his shock and immediately seized this sliver of hope, circulating the first revolution technique of the Nine Revolutions Undying Body with all his strength.

Nourished by the green energy from the little green bead, his absorption speed for the spirit beast blood was more than two or three times faster!

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Zhang Tie had completely absorbed the two drops of Grade 1 mid-grade spirit beast blood.

Zhang Tie was now covered in blood. It had seeped out when his body swelled earlier, and from a distance, he looked like a man made entirely of blood.

Zhang Tie slowly stepped off the bed and into a wooden tub filled with water.

"This is truly unbelievable," Zhang Tie muttered. He had actually survived by some miracle.

What exactly was this little green bead? He focused his consciousness on it in his mind and discovered that its color had become a little lighter than before.

It must have been because it had expended energy to repair his body earlier.

Zhang Tie began carefully sensing his current body. He could clearly feel that both his defensive power and physical strength had increased by a great deal.

This little green bead had such miraculous effects. He absolutely could not let anyone else learn of it.

"Let's give it a name," Zhang Tie mused. "It is a green bead, and it can repair my body and help me temper it. I'll call it the 'Undying Pearl' from now on.

"I hope it can help me cultivate the Nine Revolutions Undying Body to the third revolution and make me a body cultivator comparable to a Golden Core powerhouse."

Zhang Tie climbed out of the wooden tub. Since he now had the Undying Pearl's help, he needed to strike while the iron was hot and refine the remaining spirit beast blood as well.

This time, Zhang Tie still did not hesitate to swallow two drops of Grade 1 mid-grade spirit beast blood directly.

Although his body still felt as if it were swelling, it did not spiral out of control as it had last time. Zhang Tie quickly circulated the first revolution technique, accelerating his absorption of the Grade 1 mid-grade spirit beast blood.

After a little over two hours, Zhang Tie stopped cultivating because the two drops of spirit beast blood had been completely absorbed.

This time, instead of carefully sensing the changes in his body as usual, he directly took out the porcelain bottle and swallowed the remaining five drops of spirit beast blood in one gulp.

Zhang Tie was gambling with his life. He wanted to see just how powerful and effective this Undying Pearl truly was.

Just as expected, that explosive sensation returned to his body. But this time, Zhang Tie was far calmer than before. He continued circulating the first revolution technique with all his strength, as if the swollen body wracked with agony did not belong to him.

Just as fine cracks began appearing across his body again, the Undying Pearl, just as he had hoped, once more released strands of pure green energy and began repairing Zhang Tie's body.

About half an hour later, Zhang Tie slowly stopped cultivating. He remained motionless, his eyes tightly shut as he carefully sensed the changes in his body.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide, raised a hand, and clenched his fist hard. In that instant, his entire fist seemed filled with endless savage strength.

But that was not what excited Zhang Tie the most. To his astonishment, he discovered that he had actually entered the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage.

What was going on? He could understand his physical strength increasing. After all, he had absorbed Grade 1 mid-grade spirit beast blood. Spirit beasts possessed massive bodies and contained an extremely high amount of energy.

But he could not understand the increase in his Qi Refining cultivation for the moment. In the end, Zhang Tie could only attribute it to the Undying Pearl's miraculous effects.

However, the Undying Pearl had changed as well. It had transformed from a small green bead into a mass of green light.

It was extremely similar to how it had looked when it first entered Zhang Tie's mind, except this light mass was much larger than before.

Zhang Tie hurriedly sensed the Spiritual Qi within his body. Sure enough, his spiritual power had disappeared again. Zhang Tie seemed to understand something, and his heart immediately relaxed considerably.

It seemed that the Undying Pearl charged itself through spiritual power, then converted it into energy that repaired the body.

Night had deepened. After washing himself clean, Zhang Tie quietly made his way into the forest behind the mountain.

Many Spirit Beasts were kept there in the open, usually for Inner Sect disciples to practice actual combat. Zhang Tie had come here to test exactly how strong he was now and quickly master the power that had suddenly increased.

After all, for cultivators, the best form of practice was actual combat.

The outer area of the forest was relatively safe. Most of the Spirit Beasts were Grade 1 low-grade, with Grade 1 mid-grade Spirit Beasts being the strongest. It should not pose much of a problem for Zhang Tie now.

Zhang Tie walked carefully when he suddenly spotted a pair of red eyes.

The instant he saw those eyes, Zhang Tie violently kicked off the ground and shot backward, barely evading the attack of a Spirit Beast that resembled a wild boar.

It was a Red-eyed wild boar, an extremely savage creature. After missing its first strike, it turned and charged again.

This time, Zhang Tie did not choose to evade. He planted his feet firmly and threw a punch directly at the charging Red-eyed wild boar without hesitation.

Two deafening booms rang out, accompanied by the sound of bones cracking.

Zhang Tie focused his eyes and saw that the nearly three-meter-long Red-eyed wild boar had been struck in the head by his punch. Its entire body flew away like a cannonball and slammed heavily into the rocks behind it. The rocks instantly exploded, sending broken stones flying everywhere.

"Am I really this strong?!" Zhang Tie muttered in disbelief as he stared at the scene before him.

Because he did not know his true strength, Zhang Tie had used his full power from the start. After waiting a moment and seeing that the Red-eyed wild boar remained motionless, he walked straight over.

Upon getting closer, he saw that the Red-eyed wild boar's skull had burst apart. It was dead beyond doubt.

"A Grade 1 low-grade Spirit Beast could not withstand even one strike from me. Grade 1 low-grade Spirit Beasts are equivalent to the middle stages of Qi Refining. It seems I should have more than enough strength to fight opponents in the middle stages of Qi Refining now," Zhang Tie thought to himself.

Just as Zhang Tie was still considering his level of strength, rushing wind suddenly sounded around his ears.

Relying on instinct, Zhang Tie twisted backward to dodge. A massive figure flashed past right in front of him.

Zhang Tie took a closer look and saw that it was an enormous demonic wolf. Its gray fur stood upright like steel needles, gleaming with a cold light. Every strand of fur seemed to contain endless strength.

Its taut muscles were as hard as rock and filled with explosive power.

Its green eyes resembled burning green flames, flashing with cruelty, cunning, and endless bloodlust.

Its sharp fangs were like unsheathed blades, glinting with a chilling light beneath the deep night.

Zhang Tie's gaze sharpened, and his pupils abruptly contracted. Every muscle in his body instantly tensed like a fully drawn bowstring. Power surged through him like a rushing river, rapidly flowing into his limbs as he prepared for a desperate battle.

The demonic wolf attacked again. Its hind legs kicked off fiercely, and it transformed into a ghostly afterimage as it pounced toward Zhang Tie with the force of Myriad Thunderbolts.

Zhang Tie shifted aside, but the demonic wolf's claws swept past his clothes like sharp sickles, stirring up a fierce gust of wind.

Seeing that its attack had missed, the demonic wolf swiftly turned after landing. Its limbs exerted force once more, and it pounced again like a cannonball. Zhang Tie's eyes widened in fury as he shouted and met it with a punch.

His fist collided fiercely with the demonic wolf's claws, producing a dull, thunderous boom. A powerful force rebounded toward him like surging waves.

Zhang Tie's arm went slightly numb, while the demonic wolf was knocked back by the tremendous force and slid several steps across the ground.

The demonic wolf steadied itself, rage blazing in its eyes like roaring flames.

It opened its bloody maw and spewed forth a dense black mist as thick as ink. Zhang Tie had already been prepared. He retreated swiftly like the wind, narrowly avoiding the black mist.

While Zhang Tie was focused on evading the mist, the demonic wolf pounced again like lightning, moving so fast that the eye could barely follow it.

Zhang Tie could not dodge in time. The demonic wolf's claw slashed fiercely across his shoulder like a blade, and blood immediately poured out like a spring, staining half his robe red.

Zhang Tie roared in pain and kicked fiercely at the demonic wolf's abdomen with tremendous force. The demonic wolf was sent tumbling through the air before crashing heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

But the demonic wolf instantly sprang back up. Its fur stood on end like a porcupine's spines, and its eyes turned blood-red as it charged at Zhang Tie again with overwhelming force.

Zhang Tie did not retreat. He rushed forward and engaged the demonic wolf in close-quarters combat.

The demonic wolf leaped at him again. Zhang Tie seized both of its front claws tightly with both hands, and they began a contest of strength, neither able to overpower the other.

At that moment, the demonic wolf suddenly raised its head and opened its mouth, seemingly preparing some kind of attack. Zhang Tie knew something was wrong and immediately exerted all his strength, kicking the demonic wolf's abdomen with mountain-splitting force.

The demonic wolf cried out in pain and released its claws. The attack it had been about to spew from its mouth was interrupted as well. Zhang Tie used the opening to roll away, widening the distance between them.

The two faced each other, both gasping heavily like bellows being worked at full force. Their bodies were covered in wounds and bloodstains.

Zhang Tie had gained a basic understanding of his strength. This demonic wolf was a Grade 1 high-grade spirit beast.

In other words, at his current level in the Qi Refining stage, he already possessed the basic ability to protect himself.

Tonight's goal had mostly been achieved, and he had been injured as well.

With that in mind, Zhang Tie no longer wished to fight. He turned and ran toward the edge of the forest. After a few flashes, his figure disappeared into the night.