[The life-burning simulation begins...]
[Year One: By simulating the forms of savage beasts, your vitality has reached its peak, and your strength is no longer increasing.]
[Year Three: Through comprehending the cultivation technique, you understand that it proceeds from the outside inward, tempering the skin before the bones.]
[Year Five: Under the washing of surging vitality, your bones begin to transform. Ancient patterns emerge across the surface of every bone, as if engraved with the laws of heaven and earth.]
[Year Seven: Your muscle fibers reassemble into dark-golden threads, and your strength doubles.]
[Year Ten: Your skin becomes as tough as black iron. Ordinary weapons leave only white marks when they strike it.]
[Year Fifteen: Your internal organs shine with a radiant treasure light. With every breath, they can actually absorb the free-floating energy of vitality.]
[Year Twenty: Your entire body transforms into that of a humanoid fierce beast. Every breath kicks up a hurricane, while a frenzied battle instinct boils in your bloodline.]
[Year Twenty-Five: The "Ancient Desolation Body Tempering Technique" has reached complete mastery. Your entire body is like that of an Ancient Desolation Fierce Beast, your vitality like the sea, your physical body fully perfected!]
[The life-burning simulation ends. Due to the cultivation technique's level restriction, the Ancient Desolation Body Tempering Technique only supports cultivation in the Body Tempering Realm.]
As the system's notification ended,
Qin Bo opened his eyes as well.
The results of more than twenty years of cultivation surged into his mind all at once.
An immense force ceaselessly reshaped his body.
An endless current of vitality circulated through his body, slowly hardening his skin before moving on to his internal organs, and finally reaching his bones.
It tempered him all over again!
Before long, a heap of black matter began to ooze from Qin Bo's body.
Frowning, Qin Bo tore off his stained clothes. With a light swipe of his fingertip, the grime clinging to his skin turned to powder and rustled down.
When the last piece of impurity was shaken from his body,
he stared at the dark-golden patterns flowing across his palm and suddenly threw back his head with a long howl.
The howl carried his surging vitality, actually condensing into tangible sound waves in the void.
The sound waves shook the gravel outside the barrier into the air, forming a bizarre golden vortex beneath the moonlight.
"Gurgle, gurgle!"
At that moment, Qin Bo suddenly weakened.
Sure enough, after breaking through, Qin Bo's bodily energy could no longer support this physique of his.
"Damn, I forgot. Breaking through consumes energy way too quickly!"
"Hang in there!"
Qin Bo circulated all the vitality in his body, forcibly holding himself up.
"Let's see whether your barrier can still stop me!"
He raised his hand and picked up the kitchen knife.
"One Saber Severing Heaven and Earth!"
Qin Bo let out a furious shout. The kitchen knife, wrapped in his remaining vitality, hacked toward the barrier.
"Boom!"
After holding for only an instant, the originally resilient black-mist barrier was split open by a single slash.
The aura inside was like water bursting through a breach, pouring out in all directions.
The old Daoist, who had been preparing to fight for his life, wore a blank expression.
Someone had actually come. Looking up, he discovered that it was the young man he had sent back earlier!
"You really are a martial artist, kid. I was wondering why the effects of that blood were so good!"
The old Daoist was overjoyed.
Qin Bo, however, looked toward the evil spirit in the distance!
He regretted it. He had never expected the eerie pressure to be so powerful.
The evil spirit seemed to sense Qin Bo's fear. Its neck emitted a teeth-grating series of clicks.
Its head twisted around a bizarre one hundred and eighty degrees, while black pus seeped from its hollow eye sockets.
Black mist churned around its body, transforming into countless pale arms that clawed toward Qin Bo and the old Daoist.
The old Daoist abruptly flung out the gourd at his waist. Azure light burst from its mouth.
"Little friend, lend me your strength!"
Dozens of red beams shot from the gourd and formed a Eight Trigrams diagram in midair, completely scorching the ghostly hands that lunged forward first.
Qin Bo gritted his teeth and steadied himself before rushing to the old Daoist's side.
"Hey, old man, do you have anything to eat?"
"What?"
Only then did the old Daoist examine him carefully and notice that Qin Bo's vitality was weak and unstable.
"You dared to break through with insufficient physical essence?"
The old Daoist spoke irritably, then rummaged around in his trouser pocket.
He pulled out a pitch-black pill and handed it to Qin Bo.
Qin Bo looked at the filthy little pill, and his face darkened.
Moreover, since the unkempt old Daoist had pulled it from around his thigh, Qin Bo could not help thinking of something unpleasant...
"Hey, kid, this is a Vitality Pill, something money can't buy! And you still have the nerve to look down on it?!"
With no other choice, Qin Bo accepted it through gritted teeth.
He sniffed it. Sure enough, it carried a strange odor.
He shot the old Daoist an irritated look, closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and swallowed it in one gulp.
He absolutely refused to let it linger in his mouth for even a second.
The instant the pill entered his throat, Qin Bo felt a scalding current rush straight into his dantian, as if ten million ants were gnawing at his internal organs.
His face flushed bright red in an instant, and the veins on his neck bulged.
He had no choice but to hurriedly circulate his vitality.
Soon, the vitality missing from his body was completely replenished.
The old Daoist frowned as he sensed the fluctuations of Qin Bo's vitality.
"You're only in the Body Tempering Realm. What are you doing here joining in the fun?!"
Qin Bo had yet to recover from the pill's impact. Hearing this, he tugged at the corner of his mouth and retorted between breaths:
"Then aren't you, old man, trapped here too..."
Before he could finish speaking, the ground suddenly shook violently. Ghostly energy broke through the gourd's red light and enveloped the two of them.
"Forget it. We have to suppress this evil spirit here today, or I'm afraid several nearby villages will never know peace!"
The old Daoist raised his hand and summoned the gourd back, suspending it before him.
A red radiance formed a barrier in front of the two of them.
The ghostly energy crashed against the red barrier like waves, producing a teeth-grating sizzling sound.
Layers of ripples spread across the barrier's surface, as if it might shatter at any moment.
The old Daoist formed hand seals with both hands, his mouth muttering incantations.
The talismans on the gourd shone brilliantly, yet they could only barely hold the barrier together.
Qin Bo gripped the kitchen knife tightly and could clearly see black frost flowers congealed along its blade.
"Kid, use your blood! Inject it into the gourd!"
The old Daoist shouted without turning his head.
Qin Bo did not hesitate. He took the gourd, cut open his skin, and poured his blood into it.
For a moment, the entire gourd flashed with red light.
The old Daoist raised his hand and struck out a seal.
The red light within the gourd spread across Qin Bo's kitchen knife.
"Be careful. This is the only help I can give you!"
The old Daoist continued forming hand seals as the gourd shot rapidly into the sky.
One red chain after another spurted from the gourd's mouth.
They shot toward the evil spirit, covering the sky in a web of chains.
The chains, like red colossal pythons, coiled around the evil spirit's soul.
The old Daoist spat a mouthful of vital essence onto the gourd. The talismans' radiance surged, and the chains that re-formed actually grew barbs, driving deep into the evil spirit's flesh.
The evil spirit let out a heaven-shaking roar and struggled frantically.
Qin Bo's kitchen knife was wrapped in red light, yet the instant it touched the flames, it emitted an overwhelmed hum.
"Ha! Take my slash!"
"One Saber Severing Heaven and Earth!"
Qin Bo shouted.
The vitality throughout his body surged as he leaped forward.
He brought the blade straight down upon the evil spirit bound by the chains.
The blade light, carrying all of Qin Bo's vitality, struck the evil spirit's head.
"Crack!"
Before you continue