Sunlight spilled down from the sky, and the world took on a new look.
As the yang energy grew stronger, Yuan Tianzong opened his eyes and sat up, fully refreshed. He was pleased with how his powerful body had healed itself. If he kept training with the breathing method, perhaps one day he really could become a Great Sage of the Body.
Yuan Tianzong took out his phone to check the time. He had actually slept for three days.
Crackle.
As he awoke, the spirit around his body stirred from its peaceful slumber and grew active. Strands of lightning flickered into view.
He still hadn't fully mastered the spiritual power that had surged after he refined the divine incense, so Yuan Tianzong immediately sat cross-legged and entered a meditative state.
He hadn't yet learned any method of spiritual cultivation. His only option was to rely on the simplest training to master his suddenly increased spiritual power.
As it happened, he was already training in the fine control of true qi, trying to imitate the white marks in the Nameless Scripture. Controlling true qi centered on the mind: drawing a circle with the left hand and a square with the right required dividing one's focus. The two had something in common, so he could train them together.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
At a thought, over a thousand pebbles rose into the air inside the wooden cabin.
Compared to when he had first imitated the white marks and divided his focus to wrap true qi around more than four hundred pebbles, the number had now grown to over a thousand.
After a brief adjustment, Yuan Tianzong found his control had improved tremendously. He handled more than a thousand pebbles with ease, thanks to his increased spiritual power.
His spirit expanded beyond the wooden cabin.
Bone looked up from the yard. Within a radius of three hundred meters, countless pebbles rose into the air, making a spectacular sight.
A smile tugged at Yuan Tianzong's lips. Fifteen thousand pebbles—not bad!
Under his control, the fifteen thousand pebbles flew along all sorts of paths within the area.
A sharp crack rang out, and his smile faded.
More pebbles collided with one another and burst into dust.
With a soft sigh, he let every pebble fall to the ground. His control still wasn't good enough. He couldn't direct more than ten thousand pebbles along separate paths with perfect precision.
"Not good enough."
If anyone else had heard him, they would have been at a loss for words.
He called that not good enough?
After stretching, Yuan Tianzong walked out of the cabin.
Bone immediately hurried over, holding the Jade box and looking excited.
Seeing that, Yuan Tianzong guessed what had happened and asked tentatively, "The seed reacted?"
Bone nodded.
"Ha, let me see!" Yuan Tianzong hadn't expected the incense ash to revive a dead, exotic seed. Its origins were mysterious; if it truly came back to life, sprouted, and bloomed, who knew what it might bear?
He lifted the lid and peered into the incense ash.
The Dao seed was buried deep inside.
He gathered true qi at his fingertips and gently brushed aside the ash covering it, revealing the Dao seed.
His eyes lit up.
Sure enough, the Dao seed had changed. Bone hadn't been mistaken.
Before, the Dao seed had been entirely withered and shrouded in deathly energy, its surface covered with cracked seed skin. It had been shriveled and ugly.
Now, after only three days buried in the incense ash, it had changed. A faint trace of vitality was taking shape, the shriveled areas were growing plumper, and fresh skin had begun to grow beneath the cracked outer layer.
Looking closely, he saw unusual patterns forming on the surface near the embryo. They were so tiny and short, only millimeters long, that he couldn't tell what the complete pattern would look like.
"Excellent, excellent!"
Yuan Tianzong covered it with incense ash again.
"Bone, you've done well this time. I'll look around Wangwu Mountain for some powerful Molting Beasts and hunt down a few for you to refine into a pelvis."
"Click, click!" Bone was overjoyed, expressing its gratitude.
"Senior Yuan."
A voice came from beyond the courtyard wall. It was Xue Ding.
"Come in."
Xue Ding walked in carrying a box. The aroma of meat wafted from inside. He hadn't forgotten his promise to cook.
Yuan Tianzong hadn't said how long he should keep doing it, but Xue Ding felt that Yuan Tianzong had helped him immensely. Even cooking for him every day wouldn't repay the debt. He had come by each of the past few days, and whenever he learned Yuan Tianzong was asleep, he had left on his own.
"Senior Yuan, these are steamed buns from the Celestial Master Temple's cafeteria. They taste great. Please try some."
The vegetable buns were indeed delicious. Yuan Tianzong ate several in a row.
Over the meal, he realized Xue Ding had obtained divine incense too. His spirit had awakened, and his whole bearing had changed.
"How many strands of divine incense did you endure?" Yuan Tianzong asked.
"Twelve."
"Only twelve?"
Xue Ding smiled wryly. "Naturally, I can't compare with you, Senior Yuan."
No one knew exactly how many strands of divine incense Yuan Tianzong had obtained. Some incense ash and foreign soil containing divine incense had been taken by him before anyone else even discovered it, and no one knew how much he had collected.
However, according to information released by certain people, Yuan Tianzong had obtained at least forty strands of divine incense.
That was an astonishing amount. Compared with the prodigies and old monsters across the country who had been discussed online, he was among the leaders—a truly terrifying figure.
"Twelve strands is already a lot. You condensed an incense cauldron."
On that subject, Yuan Tianzong asked what had been puzzling him. The divine incense had given rise to four divine platforms in his spiritual realm. Such an unusual situation surely had some deeper meaning.
"What does the incense cauldron do?"
Xue Ding looked surprised. "You don't know, Senior Yuan?"
"I don't."
Xue Ding nodded. He had assumed that since Yuan Tianzong had worked so hard to collect divine incense, he must know what it was for.
"Senior Yuan, not long ago, one of the Great Sects with an ancient lineage announced that these secret objects, condensed from divine incense, have the power to reveal immortal traces. That's why factions, prodigies, and old monsters everywhere are fighting so hard for divine incense, enduring as many strands as they can."
"Immortal traces?" Yuan Tianzong looked up, surprise flashing in his eyes.
He had seen the term in an ancient book.
According to legend, immortal traces were the undying marks left behind by powerful living beings in a distant age. The beings died, but their traces never faded.
It was like the everlasting achievements left by certain emperors. Though the emperors had passed away, their legacy endured, honored by future generations.
"I heard a prodigy from one of the Noble Families comprehended a mysterious trace through his condensed incense cauldron. Phantom beasts often appear outside the courtyard where he's meditating, their presence incredibly imposing!"
"Is that really true?"
"Of course. There's no proof, but a rumor like that can't come from nowhere."
"Divine incense, divine fragrance, divine cauldrons, divine platforms. I've heard that the more divine incense you have, the more powerful the immortal traces you can perceive."
Yuan Tianzong was delighted, but his expression remained calm.
He had four divine platforms in his spiritual realm. Perhaps he could perceive immortal traces too?
"That monster has to be in that courtyard!"
"We've searched day and night for days, and we've finally found a clue!"
"I've studied torture methods from every dynasty for days. Today, I'll show that monster what's what!"
"I'm so excited! I'll finally get my revenge!"
"The lump on my head still hurts. I want to see what weapon he used to hit people so hard!"
The commotion came from beyond the wooden wall.
Yuan Tianzong and Xue Ding both turned to look.
Just then, someone kicked open the gate.
"Bone demon, I've been searching high and low for you! Today, I'm going to tear your bones apart—"
The man's voice, loud and excited, quickly dwindled to a feeble murmur.
The people crowding the gate fell silent as if their tongues had been poisoned, staring at Yuan Tianzong in shock.
A refiner?!
Why was he here?!
They were done for. They'd caused a huge disaster!
Sweat beaded on everyone's foreheads, ran together, and streamed down their faces. Someone was so scared he wet himself. His legs trembled violently, and his vision went black as he nearly fainted.
Yuan Tianzong's brows slowly furrowed. He was about to speak.
Thump!
Someone dropped to his knees with a thump, pulled out a square jade box, and stammered, "Lord White Bone, I saw you've been digging up incense ash these past few days, so you must love it. I brought you some specially. I hope you like it!"
The others, who had already seen the road to the underworld, brightened. Though it pained them, they hurriedly took out their own incense ash and respectfully offered it up.
Yuan Tianzong glanced at Bone, amusement in his eyes. Bone, you're quite popular. So many people are bringing you such valuable things.
Bone tilted its head, not quite understanding, but still hurried over and collected all the incense ash. Seeing the lumps on everyone's heads, which had yet to go down, it thought they were very kind. They were repaying evil with good, and Bone regretted hitting them earlier.
"Lord White Bone, Lord Refiner, if there's nothing else, we won't bother you. Goodbye! Goodbye!"
Seeing that Yuan Tianzong said nothing, everyone felt as if they'd been pardoned. They hurried around and fled in a panic.
Once they were far from this "land of death," everyone gasped for breath like survivors of a catastrophe. They felt as if they had just walked past King Yama himself.
"Damn it! Who could've guessed that the bone demon and the refiner were in cahoots? We basically walked in and delivered our heads. What idiots!"
Someone spread his arms, dropped onto the ground, and wailed, "We didn't get our incense ash back, and we even gave away the little we had left! Aah!"
"Enough, enough. Just being alive is a blessing. Chen Liang, we owe you one. If you hadn't thought fast and knelt down to offer up the incense ash, the refiner might've refined all of us!"
"Exactly, thanks to Chen Liang!"
"I never knew you could think so fast on your feet, kid. You've got a bright future!"
"Yeah, yeah. Good thing you reacted quickly!"
Chen Liang could only smile wryly as everyone praised him.
It wasn't quick thinking. His legs had simply stopped listening to him, and he'd gone weak at the knees. Ahem.
Someone said optimistically, "Come to think of it, we survived an encounter with the refiner. That's quite a story to brag about, right?"
"Brag about what? Don't tell anyone. It's too embarrassing—we looked like a bunch of morons."
"Right, right. Don't tell a soul. Too embarrassing."
"That lump on my head really hurts. Sigh."
"Maybe yin energy got into it. I'll ask my master to get rid of the evil when I get back."
Before you continue