Innate Perfection

As soon as the Marrow Cleansing Pill entered his stomach, Ye Jing felt a warm current flow through his heart.

Then his body gradually grew hot, and before long, he was flushed red all over, with white steam rising from his head in billowing clouds.

Ye Jing felt as if an All-Heaven Furnace were refining his body from within, as though his entire being was about to melt.

Ye Jing steadied his breath and focused his mind, knowing the pill's medicinal power was taking effect, burning away the impurities inside him.

This was a critical moment—if he slackened, the impurities wouldn't be fully cleansed, and when he forged his Innate Physique, a flaw would remain.

Enduring the searing pain inside, Ye Jing circulated his technique, continuously refining the pill's potency, gradually sinking into cultivation.

An hour later, feeling the burning pain slowly fade until it vanished, Ye Jing finally opened his eyes.

A foul, rancid odor emanated from his body.

Seeing his filth-covered form, Ye Jing immediately jumped into a bath barrel to wash himself clean.

After finishing, he dressed and looked at his reflection in the bronze mirror, freezing in place.

Flawless as white jade, gentle and refined, handsome and spirited—unmatched in the world.

This Pure and Spotless body was indeed powerful. Though his features hadn't changed, his entire aura had undergone a striking transformation.

The original owner had already been handsome—how else could he have become the Third-place Scholar? But compared to now, it was like the difference between an ordinary man and a great star.

Before, he was roughly hewn; now, he was finely carved. If Ye Jing let it be known he was open to marriage, the threshold of Ye Manor would likely be worn down by matchmakers.

But this was merely Outer Things. What Ye Jing valued most now was the improvement in his strength.

Ye Jing circulated his technique, and a look of delight spread across his face. This Pure and Spotless body was truly formidable—his body's absorption of spiritual energy was dozens of times faster than before.

In this Age of Dharma's End, with thin spiritual energy in the world, there were only two ways to improve cultivation.

One was to increase the speed of absorbing spiritual energy; the other was to increase the speed of refining it.

In the current Great Li, those peerless prodigies all had some talent in these areas, more or less.

Why did the Heaven and Earth Cataclysm trigger chaos in Great Li? Because the spiritual energy in the world surged violently. As long as you were a cultivator, even with the worst talent, your strength would multiply several times over.

Moreover, during this cataclysm, countless heavenly treasures and rare wonders would appear. Even an ordinary person, if they obtained such a treasure, could have a chance to become the Peak of Humanity.

For resources, for power, countless cultivators fell to slaughter. Only if a figure like the first Li Emperor a thousand years ago—one who could dominate the world—appeared, could the chaos in Great Li finally be quelled.

Two days ago, Ye Jing had activated his Heaven-Defying Comprehension. In just one day, he had broken through from Qi Refining Fifth Layer to the Innate Realm. The reason was a leap in his speed of refining spiritual energy.

But the original owner's talent was mediocre, and his absorption of spiritual energy was extremely slow. Now, with this Pure and Spotless body, his absorption speed would be greatly enhanced.

Ye Jing speculated that if he'd had this Pure and Spotless body two days ago, he was certain it would have taken only an afternoon to break through from Qi Refining Fifth Layer to the Innate Realm.

After completing the second step of Innate Realm—Marrow Cleansing—the next was forging the Innate Physique.

Compared to the second step, the third step of condensing the Innate Physique was simpler: it only required tempering the body with Innate Qi converted from spiritual energy.

After Ye Jing stepped into the Innate Realm, the spiritual energy stored in his elixir had already transformed into Innate Qi.

Without any delay, Ye Jing immediately mobilized the Innate Qi in his elixir to temper his body.

Three hours passed in a flash before Ye Jing woke from his cultivation state. By then, the sky was faintly bright.

He had finally condensed the most perfect Innate Physique. Now at Innate Perfection, even across all of Great Li, he could be considered a minor expert.

Feeling the surging power and vibrant life force within him, Ye Jing could finally set aside much of the anxiety that had weighed on him these past days.

In the current Great Li, no God of Heaven and Earth had been born in centuries. The Peak of Humanity was already the highest tier of figures.

Across all of Great Li, there were no more than twenty such peak figures, and most of them were still within the Great Li Imperial Palace.

Moreover, these Peak of Humanity figures were elusive as dragons, rarely seen by ordinary people.

In the martial world today, the top figures were the Great Grandmasters. Among the sects of the Great Li Dynasty, aside from first-class sword lineages like the Sword Sect, whose Sect Master was a Peak of Humanity, the leaders of other major sects were only at this level.

Though Ye Jing was merely at Innate Perfection, he possessed two peerless ultimate techniques: the Thirteen Swords of Heavenly Annihilation and the Indestructible Golden Body.

Not just at the same rank—even among Grandmaster Realm experts, few could defeat him, unless they were famous names on the Grandmaster Ranking.

In other words, as long as Ye Jing didn't court death by provoking Great Grandmasters or those famed on the Grandmaster Ranking, he could defend himself well enough.

Even if King Zhennan raised an army and rebelled, storming the Imperial Capital, as long as he wasn't surrounded by a large force, Ye Jing was confident he could escape with Qiuyue.

After a night of hard cultivation, Ye Jing felt no fatigue at all. Instead, he was full of energy and high spirits.

Without resting in bed, he washed up briefly, ate the breakfast Qiuyue had prepared, and set off for the Hanlin Academy.

As soon as he stepped into the Hanlin Academy, Ye Jing sensed something was off.

The Hanlin Academy was a quiet, low-key office, usually quite cold and deserted, so the staff were casual, often chatting together every few days.

But the moment Ye Jing entered the academy's gate, he felt a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.

Not only were the usual familiar conversations absent, but there were also unfamiliar faces in the academy, interrogating the officials one by one.

Ye Jing didn't recognize these people, but he knew their uniforms—they were from the Law Enforcement Department.

"What's going on here, Brother Zhang?" Ye Jing asked a nearby Hanlin official.

"It's all Hu Jie's fault. He stirred up public opinion, claiming His Majesty is a tyrant, saying His Majesty framed the Medicine Manor, and in the end, he sparked a riot in the Imperial Capital."

"That Hu Jie is a real troublemaker, almost dragged our Hanlin Academy down with him. If I ever run into him, I'll make sure that bastard gets what's coming to him."

It was clear—Zhang Shilin held a deep grudge against Hu Jie.

"By the way, Ye Jing, Hu Jie usually sticks closest to you. When the officers from the Law Enforcement Department question you later, you'd better watch yourself."

"Don't you dare hide anything! If those officers catch even a hint of something off in your expression, you'll be in deep trouble."

As he was leaving, Zhang Shilin called out to Ye Jing and gave him a word of caution.

Sensing the goodwill in Zhang Shilin's words, Ye Jing nodded, then headed toward the inner hall of the Hanlin Academy.