Refining Bones, the Refiner (Two Chapters in One)

Xiao Tianjin and Chen Quanhe were dead!

The Brotherhood Alliance members stared at one another, watching the figure stride toward the radiant green vine. A chill ran through them.

From the moment Yuan Tianzong appeared and landed to the deaths of the two alliance leaders, the whole thing had happened so quickly that many people still hadn't figured out what had happened.

Farther away, cultivators and Otherworlders who had hurried over after hearing the commotion saw the crater left by a meteor-like impact and the two dead leaders. Shocked, they began asking around.

"What happened?"

"That man killed Xiao Tianjin and Chen Quanhe!"

"Not just those two. Fang Yan, who left earlier, also died at his hands. That's what started the conflict between them. Xiao Tianjin was threatening him over the phone not long ago. He never expected to provoke someone so powerful. The man rushed over and refined the two brothers in an instant."

After hearing what had happened, many people wore astonished expressions, shaken to their core.

"What a shame! Something this huge happened, and I wasn't there!"

The Brotherhood Alliance had thrown its weight around Wangwu Mountain, especially bullying Otherworlders, and had a terrible reputation. Some people applauded the three brothers' deaths, regretting that they hadn't witnessed it and missed out on the spectacle.

"I was nearby. I heard the commotion and got here in just a minute or two, but I still missed it. He really refined them in an instant. He's so strong!"

"He's heading toward where the True Ape is!"

"Come on, let's hurry over and see. We can't miss the chance to witness him in action this time!"

The crowd rushed noisily toward the great tree bearing exotic fruit, eager to see the man who had slain three scourges.

Roar!!

Before they reached the place, they heard the True Ape's roar.

The pain in its roar was unmistakable.

"They're fighting! Hurry, hurry!"

The crowd grew even more excited. Compared with the three brothers of the Brotherhood Alliance, the True Ape was no better. For days, it had swallowed people alive, treating humans like snacks and always looking for another bite.

The crowd was already moving quickly.

But by the time they arrived, the battle was long over. The ferocious, savage True Ape lay in a pool of blood, its life gone.

The True Ape had been refined in an instant, too!

That was incredible. It hadn't even taken a minute!

The crowd didn't stop. They quickened their pace, eager to catch a glimpse of the formidable man. The jostling crowd resembled fans chasing a celebrity through an airport, almost frantic.

When they arrived, they happened to see Yuan Tianzong standing on a branch.

The exotic fruit on the green vine was almost ripe, brimming with vitality.

Its light was so dazzling that no one could make out Yuan Tianzong's face.

Before long, the green glow suddenly began to fade.

It was ripe!

Many people had seen exotic fruit ripen before and knew the signs. The fruit had finally matured.

No one dared risk their life by rushing over to fight for it. When the green glow faded and they could see Yuan Tianzong's face, they were astonished.

So young!

He truly was a peerless young prodigy!

Yuan Tianzong jumped down from the tree and strode toward the True Ape.

This ape was far stronger than ordinary Molting Beasts. Its body was tough, its blood and qi abundant, and its flesh contained a considerable amount of life essence. Yuan Tianzong naturally wasn't going to leave it behind.

He lifted the thousand-pound corpse with one hand, leaped, and slid down the grassy slope on the other side of the peak. In moments, he vanished from the crowd's sight.

"If he keeps growing steadily, he'll surely become a renowned figure in China's cultivation world one day!"

"That's right. I hope he'll be careful in how he acts. The Brotherhood Alliance may be domineering in front of us, but they're nothing compared to other forces."

The wooden cabin by the pond.

Yuan Tianzong set the True Ape's corpse down by the water's edge.

"Bone, have you finished cleaning up?"

Bone poked his head out above the waterfall.

Because Yuan Tianzong had suddenly left, Bone had properly disposed of the several corpses in the pond, then climbed back up the stream to clean up the last few remnants.

"Da-da!!!"

Bone took one look and sprang up excitedly. He leaped straight down from above the waterfall, scattering into a pile of bones when he landed. A moment later, the trembling bones swiftly snapped back together.

Bone hopped back and forth around the True Ape's corpse, his jaw clacking rapidly with excitement.

Yuan Tianzong asked, "What's wrong?"

Only then did the excited Bone remember that Yuan Tianzong couldn't understand his wooden-fish clacks. He pulled a smooth little stick from the "pen tube" between his ribs and quickly wrote a few words on the ground.

"Master, can I have its bones?"

Yuan Tianzong shrugged. "Of course. I don't want them anyway."

Bone leaped several meters into the air and bowed his thanks again and again.

Before the sky had fully darkened, a roaring fire was burning outside the cabin.

The True Ape had been dismembered, and its pieces were roasting over the flames.

By the fire, Yuan Tianzong watched Bone drag the True Ape's bones aside and clack away in some unintelligible language.

Then two strange ghost flames appeared in his hollow eye sockets. A transparent force, black as ink, surged out and slowly covered the True Ape's entire skeleton.

A flicker of surprise passed through Yuan Tianzong's eyes. How does this guy keep coming up with new tricks?

He grew more and more curious about Bone's origins.

Once the ink-like force enveloped the True Ape's bones, Bone fell into a quiet, motionless state.

Seeing that, Yuan Tianzong looked away and focused on preparing his dinner.

Mouthful after mouthful of ape meat entered his stomach. He used his breathing technique, quickly refining the nutrients in the meat along with its most precious life essence.

The life essence spread through his limbs and organs, quickly absorbed by every part of his body.

As his body refined the meat, streaks of rosy light appeared across it once more. More inner energy surged from within his increasingly flawless body. It felt as if an ocean of inner energy lay hidden in the deepest part of him, inexhaustible and boundless.

The growing abundance of inner energy quickly nourished his body, helping to strengthen his physique. It was a first-rate treasure for nourishing the flesh.

The transformation within his body continued.

Yuan Tianzong vaguely sensed that he was about to cross from quantitative change to qualitative change.

The night passed uneventfully.

In the morning, Yuan Tianzong emerged from his breathing technique and looked at Bone. He still hadn't finished.

Over the next few days, Yuan Tianzong stayed close to the cabin. He worried that if he went too far away, he wouldn't be able to look after Bone right away if anything happened. After all, in his view, being interrupted while cultivating was a terrible thing.

After three days, Bone finally woke up.

As the force faded, the True Ape's bones before them had turned a pale gray.

A mountain breeze blew past, and the whole skeleton immediately crumbled into countless bone fragments that drifted away on the wind.

Among the bone dust, a gleaming vertebra stood out.

Bone happily picked it up, snapped off his own spine, and replaced it with the vertebra.

A replacement?

Yuan Tianzong thought of the word.

"Bone, how do you feel?"

Not long after he got his new spine, the aura around Bone changed somewhat.

Before, he had seemed fragile and unsteady, as if he'd topple over if he ran too fast.

Now, his skeleton had become much sturdier. He stepped firmly, and a hint of the ferocity of a wild beast radiated from him.

"Da-da-da~~"

Bone was delighted. He hopped around in front of Yuan Tianzong, then clenched his bony fist and punched the ground.

The punch had some force behind it, leaving a hole in the ground.

"Not bad. That's a big improvement," Yuan Tianzong praised.

Bone grew even happier. He danced around, signaling that he'd be able to fight for his master someday, too.

"Haha, you can refine bones? You should've told me sooner. Tomorrow, I'll take you out to hunt for bones."

"Da-da~"

The next day.

Yuan Tianzong had never been one to make empty promises. If he said he would find Bone some materials for refining bones, he would see to it, without delay.

The very next day, he took Bone out of the valley. To be safe, he still carried the Dao seed in case anyone tried to "raid his home."

Bone was thrilled. He truly felt lucky to have met such a good master as Yuan Tianzong. He didn't realize that if he hadn't treated Yuan Tianzong sincerely and given generously, he would never have earned such genuine affection in return.

Everyone who had dealt with Yuan Tianzong knew one thing: those who gave to him often received even more in return.

Yuan Tianzong had already made inquiries. There were only a few Molting Beasts among Wangwu Mountain's top predators at present:

The True Ape he had slain, the Stone Scorpion, the Tree Python, and a newly risen Mountain Bear.

Yuan Tianzong didn't travel at full speed. Instead, he made his way through Wangwu Mountain's increasingly lush forests. Heaven and Earth Origin Energy was growing denser, filling the entire region with vibrant life.

If this transformation continued, the region might soon rise into a true spirit mountain, giving birth to wonders. The legendary grotto-heavens and blessed lands might reappear in the process.

Grotto-heavens and blessed lands were sacred cultivation grounds. Throughout Daoist Sect history, most famous cultivators had possessed one.

So Yuan Tianzong was already considering whether he should settle in a place within Wangwu Mountain that might one day become a grotto-heaven and blessed land.

Water burbled through the cool forest. Ahead lay a wooded wetland. Tall trees grew in the flowing water, and fallen leaves covered the surface. If you didn't look carefully, you could easily step onto them and fall into the water.

One of the strongest Molting Beasts currently active in Wangwu Mountain, the Tree Python, lurked in this wetland forest.

Compared with the True Ape, the Tree Python was not only more cunning but also knew when to retreat.

On the few occasions it had been seen, it had always been fighting over exotic fruit, and it had never failed to get one.

It was skilled at lying in wait. Whenever Otherworlders and Molting Beasts fought over exotic fruit, it would hide nearby without making a sound. Once the fruit ripened and the victor of the battle thought its prize was secure and let its guard down, the Tree Python would suddenly strike. After landing a hit, it would flee in the blink of an eye.

It didn't eat all the exotic fruit it stole. Instead, it stashed them somewhere in the wetland forest as bait, luring warriors and Otherworlders into the water. Then it used the terrain to kill countless people.

The beast seemed to love eating people, even going so far as to use exotic fruit as bait.

The Tree Python had killed many people, including the friends and family of several victims who now hated it deeply. Rumors also claimed that exotic fruit were hidden in the forest, so many people had gathered nearby and repeatedly organized groups to enter the woods and slay the python.

Unfortunately, every attempt had ended in defeat, with heavy losses.

The terrain in the wetland gave it an enormous advantage.

Some people who had lost loved ones were already trying to buy firearms through unofficial channels—weapons strictly prohibited by the authorities and Noble Families. They were willing to risk severe punishment if it meant killing the beast.

"Who's that? He's going into the wetland forest alone. Is he new here? Doesn't he know how dangerous it is inside?"

Someone immediately recognized Yuan Tianzong. "You're the one who's new! He's the 'Refiner' from yesterday—the expert who refined the three brothers of the Brotherhood Alliance and the True Ape in an instant!"

The term "Refiner" had recently become popular on China's internet. It described powerful people who could instantly kill their opponents. The term had first come from the readers of certain online novels. Now that the world was changing and fantasy had become reality, terms like it had spread, too, becoming a familiar meme to everyone.

The Brotherhood Alliance's remaining members had reviewed what happened the previous day and posted it online. Chen Quanhe's location had been exposed, and within the time it took to make a phone call—less than ten minutes—Yuan Tianzong had crossed over a hundred kilometers and killed him on the spot.

His subsequent killing of the True Ape had been even more dreamlike in its speed. The crowd had cemented the title "Refiner," earning him a host of admirers.

"The Refiner? He's the Refiner? He's my idol!"

"He's gone into the wetland forest. Hurry after him! We might learn something about cultivation by watching!"

The people who had been organizing outside the forest, too afraid to enter, suddenly found their courage when Yuan Tianzong arrived. They streamed into the wetland forest after him.

Inside the wetland forest, Yuan Tianzong leaped easily from tree to tree, heading straight for the exotic fruit he knew was being used as bait.

It was a trap set by the Tree Python, which should be hiding somewhere nearby.

Before long, Yuan Tianzong stood on a thick branch barely a meter above the leaf-covered water. The stone-like exotic fruit lay beneath him.

He glanced at the water, casually plucked the fruit, and tossed it into his mouth.

He finished eating the fruit, but the Tree Python still didn't appear.

On a distant treetop, the onlookers clicked their tongues in admiration. "The Tree Python is clever. It knows when to advance and retreat. It must have sensed how strong the Refiner is and decided not to show itself. It would rather give up the fruit than fight him. That beast is more rational than a person. Terrifying."

"My father was swallowed by it, and I've never been able to avenge him. Now it just hides whenever it meets someone strong. It's so frustrating!"

"Tell me about it. It's too hard to get revenge on our own."

Yuan Tianzong stared at the water for a long while. He knew his opponent was determined not to come up and fight him head-on.

He smiled slightly. It won't come up, but it won't leave the wetland, either... Does it want me to go down there?

With that thought, he leaped into the water as the crowd cried out in alarm.

"What's he doing? He actually dares to go underwater and fight it?"

"Even Sun Wukong, despite all his divine powers, was hampered underwater. Doesn't he understand that?"

"He's being far too reckless. He'd better be careful, or he'll end up getting himself killed!"

"We're creatures of the land, after all. He's being way too rash!"

Splash—!

The still water suddenly erupted into towering waves!

A battle broke out beneath the water, hidden from everyone's sight.

Some people who disliked Yuan Tianzong secretly hoped, Die down there... This world doesn't need so many prodigies.

Boom!!!

A thunderous crash rang out. In the center of the most violent waves, an explosion opened up a vast patch of dry water, revealing the muddy riverbed several meters below.

There, Yuan Tianzong had the head of a gigantic, ferocious python in his grasp. Its body thrashed in agony.

Before the water could rush back in, Yuan Tianzong shot skyward with the giant python in his grip. After a few leaps, he was out of the wetland forest. The python dangling from his hand still writhed, but it was like a length of rope pulled from the water, all its menace gone.

Only after the stench had completely faded did the crowd finally come back to their senses.

"...It's over? That vicious beast?" someone murmured.

"What else did you expect? That's why they call him the 'Refiner.' He refines them instantly. Get it?"

"In less than a minute, he dragged off the monster that's tormented us for so long... Seeing it with my own eyes finally showed me how terrifying he is."

"I can't even imagine how he cultivated... With him around, people like us are destined to be supporting characters in this era."

"My Dao heart is shattered... I'm going home to sleep."

The Refiner.

The Dao Heart Breaker.

Yuan Tianzong had gained yet another title.