Demonic Body Cultivator

Time flew by, and three months had passed.

In the mountains and forests.

Su Nanxing and Gu Chaoyang, whose auras had become increasingly profound, drew their swords from their scabbards, their gazes fixed on their surroundings with vigilance.

At the center of their attention, Gu Jinlai, fully armed, decapitated a high-ranking demonic beast resembling a pterosaur with a single sword strike.

In the next moment, a radiant, blazing Great Sun phantom materialized behind him, emanating infinite light and heat that illuminated the surroundings. It was so intense that it almost annihilated others' spiritual senses.

However, when people opened their eyes to look at him, they saw nothing.

It was as if that blazing Great Sun was merely an illusory phantom.

Under the Great Sun's tempering, a black mist emerged from the pterosaur demonic beast's body. This mist seemed alive, struggling violently and emitting piercing, mournful howls. Gu Chaoyang, whose cultivation was weaker and who had not yet condensed his Qi into a core, felt his chest tighten, his breathing become short, and his vision blur.

After a moment, the blazing Great Sun burned away the black mist, leaving behind a white spiritual light. Gu Jinlai guided it and channeled it into his battle armor.

Instantly, the battle armor seemed to emit a "joyful" emotion, and its weight felt lighter.

This was Spirit Tempering.

It involved extracting the spiritual essence of Demon Spirits and infusing it into Treasure Artifacts, thereby increasing their spirituality until the Treasure Artifacts gained sentience and transformed into Spirit Artifacts.

Gu Jinlai did not stop after completing the Spirit Tempering. He placed one hand on the demonic beast's corpse and, using a special method, collected all its blood, refining it into less than a bottle of essence blood.

He smeared the essence blood onto his body, forming a special pattern.

Then, he closed his eyes and fully activated the Great Sun Nine Refinements Visualization Method.

The already blazing Great Sun burned even more brilliantly and resplendently. Its intense spiritual radiance almost materialized from nothingness, interfering with reality, and even the light around Gu Jinlai became somewhat distorted.

Gu Chaoyang, not yet having condensed his Qi into a core to nourish his spirit, had to lower his head, daring not to look directly.

The Great Sun's tempering continued for half an hour.

Suddenly, Gu Jinlai opened his eyes.

A surge of powerful Bloodline Power churned within his body, rapidly transforming into True Qi and then settling into his physique, strengthening his physical body.

If he were to take off his battle armor at this moment, anyone would see his well-defined, almost golden-ratio physique.

Even with clothes on, the bulging muscles on his upper body were enough to make over ninety percent of women feel inadequate.

"Hoo!"

Gu Jinlai exhaled a long breath tinged with the smell of blood.

He straightened his body.

His height, originally less than 1.8 meters, had grown to 1.86 meters during the three months of cultivating the Great Sun Demonic God Body Refining Method.

Coupled with the continuous hunting of demonic beasts and cultivating with their blood over the past three months, when he stood upright, a cold-blooded, ferocious aura emanated from him, enough to make some timid individuals tremble.

"Demonic beasts are truly good things. When they die, their Demon Spirits dissipate, allowing the extraction of pure white spiritual essence to enhance the power of Treasure Armor, saving time for their transformation into Spirit Artifacts. Their blood can also be used to cultivate the Great Sun Demonic God Body Refining Method, increasing Blood Essence and strengthening the physique."

Gu Jinlai picked up the battle sword he had stuck into the ground.

He had not formed a symbiotic bond.

He swung the battle sword as he held it, executing the routines of the Red Lotus Sword Technique. The entire process appeared quite effortless.

It was as if the heavy sword in his hand was merely a standard-issue sword.

"Mid-ranking Demonic Beast!"

Gu Jinlai stated.

Relying on the power of the Great Sun Demonic God Body Refining Method, he had, in just three months, tempered his physical strength to a level comparable to that of a mid-ranking demonic beast.

Mid-ranking demonic beasts were equivalent to Gang Condensation.

But just as high-ranking demonic beasts required several Core Condensation cultivators to contend with, mid-ranking demonic beasts could also fight one or two Core Condensation cultivators.

"As expected of a body refining method created with the combined efforts of all the elders of the Tianyuan Dao over twenty-two years when the sect was at its most desperate! Of course, my ability to reach the mid-ranking demonic beast level in three months is also related to the solid foundation I laid through previous Body Tempering, Viscera Refining, and Blood Changing."

Gu Jinlai felt the tempering effect of the residual essence blood of this demonic beast on his physical body.

Compared to a few days ago...

It was much slower.

"From now on, if I don't want to spend three to five years to temper my physique to the level of a high-ranking demonic beast, I can only choose the essence blood of Great Demonic Beasts."

"Great Demonic Beasts!?"

Gu Chaoyang's heart trembled.

Great Demonic Beasts were ferocious beings comparable to Spirit Refining Titans.

The combat power of Spirit Refining cultivators varied from beginner, minor accomplishment, major accomplishment, to peak, depending on the cultivation techniques and sword arts they mastered. Even the weakest Great Demonic Beasts could fight against peak Spirit Refining cultivators.

Some Great Demonic Beasts with special bloodlines could even kill peak Spirit Refining cultivators.

"Ancestor."

Gu Chaoyang carefully chose his words: "With our current abilities, to fight Great Demonic Beasts, is it perhaps..."

"Far from it."

Gu Jinlai stated frankly, "Even if I were wearing heavy armor and wielding a weapon, my chances of winning against a high-ranking Demonic Beast wouldn't be high."

"Then what do you mean..."

"Numbers."

Gu Jinlai stated frankly, "If there were eight or ten Core Condensation experts forming a battle formation, then encircling and killing a high-ranking Demonic Beast would become possible."

"Eight or ten Core Condensation experts..."

Gu Chaoyang was somewhat helpless.

One Core Condensation expert was equivalent to a thousand regular soldiers or three hundred elites.

Eight or ten Core Condensation experts could even surround and kill a Spirit Refining True Person.

But unfortunately...

The Gu Family had none.

"I refined a mid-ranking Demonic Beast physique in three months. Even with the foundation I laid by condensing my Qi into a core, it would take about half a year for other members who completed Body Tempering, Viscera Refining, and Blood Changing foundations. If I were to train a squad with mid-ranking Demonic Beast physiques, equip them with high-grade heavy swords and high-grade heavy armor, their combat power would surpass that of Core Condensation experts," Gu Jinlai said.

Gu Chaoyang's expression changed.

Was he going to select ten people from the Gu Family disciples for the Demonic Body Cultivator path!?

After all, Demonic Body Cultivators...

The more Blood Essence they refined, the greater the risk of losing control.

For cultivators like Gu Jinlai who killed six Demonic Beasts, five mid-ranking Demonic Beasts, and two high-ranking Demonic Beasts in three months, those people might not even survive for three years.

However, thinking that Gu Jinlai, as an ancestor, had taken the path of a Demonic Body Cultivator for his own self-preservation and for the sake of the family, what sacrifices could the Gu Family disciples make?

With this thought, Gu Chaoyang said solemnly, "I understand! Ancestor, I am willing to switch to cultivating as a Demonic Body Cultivator! And I will go persuade Nian Buwang and the others to refine Demonic Beast Blood Essence for cultivation."

Gu Jinlai glanced at him, guessing his thoughts.

But he didn't explain immediately.

He would use this determination for the first round of selection.

"You don't need to. If your Qi Refining is accomplished, continue on that path. Demonic Body Cultivators are ultimately considered heretical and cannot see the light of day," Gu Jinlai said, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "Let's go, back to the city."

He circulated the Void Great Method for a moment.

He hadn't spent much time practicing this technique, but all its methods were quite useful.

Like now, he could use the Void Great Method to conceal his fierce aura, which was akin to that of a Demonic Beast.

"The sword feels a bit light," Gu Jinlai said, lifting the sword in his hand.

Potential energy and kinetic energy depended on speed and mass.

The higher both were, the greater the power.

A thousand-jin sword swung at the speed of sound would, according to the calculation formula, unleash kinetic energy of 28 million joules, equivalent to the power of an explosion of over six kilograms of dynamite.

If the sword's material were changed to osmium, making its weight reach four thousand jin, and his swordsmanship were further refined to achieve twice the speed of sound upon impact, the contained power would soar to 460 million joules.

If he went a step further, a ten-thousand-jin greatsword swung at ten times the speed of sound would have power comparable to an atomic bomb, with each strike being a nuclear explosion.

"Interaction forces, atmospheric resistance, and the structural integrity of the object are all constraints for achieving a strike at ten times the speed of sound. However, martial cultivation involves not only accumulating true Qi and learning swordsmanship but also the concept of martial realms. These are things that those who have reached their limit often spend their efforts researching. There's no harm in me exploring them in advance."

Gu Jinlai glanced at the Qiankun Talisman in his hand again. "Also, having killed thirteen Demonic Beasts, it's time to go to the Demon Refining Hall to exchange for a suitable 'movement technique'."