Chapter Six: Advancing to First Rank, Bloodline Emerges

Chapter Six: Advancing to First Rank, Bloodline Emerges

"Ah—!" One after another, horrifying screams pierced the thunderous roar of the waterfall, rippling through the lush forest like waves and instantly stirring up a commotion.

Some ordinary animals, such as the elk by the pool and the rabbit-like creatures, scrambled away in panic. The vicious beasts, however, let out furious roars. Their eyes, brimming with ferocity, sharpened as they slowly followed the sound to its source, throwing the nearby forest into chaos.

At that moment, Chen Yun had no idea what he had wrought. He was enduring inhuman torment, wave after wave of tearing pain surging through his body. Unable to bear it, he knelt on the ground and savagely hammered it with his fists. Cracks spread across the earth from the points of impact.

Chen Yun felt every cell in his body splitting madly—not the simple kind of cell division spoken of today, but a complete disintegration. Yet immediately afterward, a warm current passed through them, gathering the scattered cells back together. They were now much smaller than before. Countless cells throughout his body were undergoing the same cycle of disintegration and condensation at once.

Moreover, it felt as though countless ants were biting every bone in his body. Crackling sounds rang out, driving Chen Yun to the brink of death. His once delicate, youthful face twisted into a savage grimace. Sweat lingered across his features, mixing with the dirt until his entire face was filthy.

Chen Yun felt that he was truly about to collapse. His soul trembled again and again, like a flame on the verge of being extinguished. A searing heat rose within his body, as though he had been thrown into magma. His entire body was burning red-hot, and even wisps of black smoke began rising from his clothes.

Am I about to die? Chen Yun murmured sorrowfully in his heart. He clearly sensed his condition. At any moment, he might breathe his last.

Although his physical body was transforming at astonishing speed, the fruits of such transformation were beyond many people's ability to enjoy, because the inhuman torment often overwhelmed cultivators.

The War God Continent was saturated with battle energy, and cultivating battle energy had become the mainstream path.

It was not that no one had ever cultivated the physical body. For reasons unknown, however, physical cultivation was simply far too difficult. The risks it carried were hundreds or thousands of times greater than cultivating battle energy. Before reaching the first rank, there was not even a cultivation method to follow. One could only rely on all sorts of abnormal tortures to force the human body to transform and break through its first limit.

Yet this first step was exceptionally perilous. It was not merely that the pain was more intense and terrifying than the suffering of later cultivation. Before becoming a warrior, the physical body was mortal and unable to withstand such a sudden transformation. Throughout history, many people who cultivated their bodies had failed at this step, with the result that their bodies exploded and they died.

Of course, a rare few peerless geniuses of astonishing talent had succeeded. They had even cultivated to extremely high levels, their formidable physical strength making them invincible among those of the same rank and allowing them to shine brilliantly in their era.

But physical cultivation was simply too difficult, and its risks were extremely high. Only peerless geniuses with extraordinary perseverance and courage could accomplish it. By comparison, cultivating battle energy seemed much easier, and its speed was far faster than physical cultivation. Of course, Chen Yun's cultivation speed was an exception. The reason would be explained later.

As time passed, fewer and fewer people were willing to undertake such a thankless task as physical cultivation. By the present day, one could hardly see anyone cultivating it anymore.

"Ah! Roar—!" Suddenly, a scream mixed with a trace of dragon's cry burst from Chen Yun's mouth.

A faint pressure radiated from his body. That kingly aura was like that of a divine dragon from the highest heavens. The several vicious beasts slowly approaching Chen Yun were instantly terrified out of their wits. Under that pressure, which struck directly at their souls, they had no time to concern themselves with Chen Yun, who lay dying on the ground. They fled madly into the forest, and another burst of chaos soon echoed through the woods.

Old Ent was on his way back when he suddenly heard the dragon's cry mixed into that scream. His expression changed drastically.

How could a Giant Dragon have appeared there? He had carefully investigated the place earlier. There had been no Giant Dragon, nor even a vicious beast above the fifth rank. How was this possible? The scream he had just heard was unmistakably Chen Yun's voice. Old Ent could hardly imagine what had happened. Chen Yun had probably met with disaster.

At that thought, regret filled his heart. Why had he chosen to leave at this exact moment? He had never imagined that Chen Yun would break through so quickly, leaving him no time to prepare.

He had gone into the depths of the forest to gather medicinal herbs for Chen Yun. If Chen Yun had relied on himself, he feared that... On the way, Old Ent had encountered several powerful vicious beasts, including one that had reached the seventh rank. If his physical body had not been powerful and his speed fast, the outcome would likely have been grim.

Old Ent clutched two exceptional medicinal herbs in his hand. One was purple and called Nine Nether Grass. Its name alone revealed that it was a substance of extreme coldness. When the physical body broke through, it released tremendous heat, making such a herb of yin-cold nature exactly what was needed.

The other was lush green and looked like an ordinary weed, but no one should be fooled by its appearance. It was the rare life-saving holy medicine of the continent—Undying Divine Grass. Legend said that as long as a person still had a breath left, consuming this grass could bring them back from the dead. No one knew whether that was true, of course, because the grass was far too rare, and no one had ever been heard to use it. Old Ent had simply been lucky enough to encounter it this time. He had once had the fortune to see such a herb; otherwise, even if it had been placed before him, he would not have recognized it.

"Little Chen! Little Chen!" Old Ent raced back frantically, urgently shouting Chen Yun's name.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. On a stretch of ground reduced to utter ruin lay a small figure covered in blood and grime. Old Ent hurriedly leaped down and came to Chen Yun's side.

Seeing Chen Yun in that state, Old Ent's heart spasmed. He pressed a hand to Chen Yun's chest and felt the faint, intermittent beating of his heart. His expression sank further as he slowly sent a warm current into Chen Yun's body, probing his condition.

To Old Ent's astonishment, however, Chen Yun's body had suffered no damage at all. On the contrary, it could not have been in better condition. Powerful currents of heat coursed through him—clear proof that he had successfully advanced to the first rank!

Moreover, that dense energy was almost comparable to warrior-level energy. Within it was also a mysterious force that even Old Ent could not detect, and it fiercely repelled the energy Old Ent sent inside. Old Ent had no choice but to withdraw his power. He immediately crushed the Undying Divine Grass, mixed it with a little water from the pool, and poured it into Chen Yun's mouth. But Chen Yun was unconscious and unable to swallow, so Old Ent had to force it into his body with his energy.

Crouching beside Chen Yun, Old Ent gazed at him with eyes full of worry. Although Chen Yun had consumed the legendary Undying Divine Grass, no one knew whether it could truly bring the dead back to life as the legends claimed. Besides, by the time Old Ent had returned, Chen Yun's breathing had already become intermittent.

"Alas!" Old Ent let out a deep sigh. Then, as though he had suddenly remembered something, he sprang to his feet and looked around. After a long while, he found nothing. Frowning, Old Ent pondered for a long time before murmuring in confusion, "What was that dragon's cry just now? What exactly happened here?"