Earth Vein Stone Marrow

"Stone-skinned Lizard..."

This Fierce Beast was covered in rock-like scales, thick-skinned and tough, enough to rival a mid-grade Savage Species. Ordinary blades slashing at it couldn't even leave a white mark! Moreover, this beast was cunning by nature, skilled at camouflage and ambush, striking suddenly from deadly terrain. Even a Hundred Refinements Fourth Layer martial artist, once entangled by it, would face a bitter struggle—one misstep and they'd fall on the spot!

Qin Jue casually flicked the blood droplets off his sword edge, expressionless. "The rock armor is indeed sturdy, but unfortunately, it can't stop my sword."

Before his words faded, he twisted his wrist, and the sword blade erupted into a frenzied tremor once more, the air filled with a series of sharp, piercing cracks!

The blade swept upward, the tip carrying an almost invisible oscillating force, striking at an extremely tricky angle like lightning onto the Stone-skinned Lizard's inverse scale beneath its jaw!

"Pfft!"

That indestructible inverse scale, the moment it touched the sword tip, couldn't offer even a shred of resistance—it was directly ground into powder!

A terrifying, unmatched oscillating force surged straight through the sword tip into the lizard's cranial cavity, instantly pulverizing its brain and skull into a bloody pulp!

The Stone-skinned Lizard's massive body stiffened abruptly, not even a single cry of pain escaping, its fierce eyes dimming in an instant as its life force was severed, leaving no trace of breath!

From the beast's sudden attack to Qin Jue's decapitating strike, the entire process happened in the blink of an eye!

Qin Jue sheathed his sword, his expression as indifferent as ever, as if he had casually crushed an ant beneath his foot—utterly insignificant!

He stepped forward, casually flicking his sword tip to slice open the Stone-skinned Lizard's tough belly skin, his gaze shifting to the beast's lair.

Behind the massive rock was a natural depression. At the very center of that hollow lay a fist-sized stone pit, holding half a bowl of milky white liquid, radiating a glowing treasure light like divine nectar!

Even from several zhang away, Qin Jue could feel a surge of vast essence rushing toward him, causing the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record within him to spin wildly on its own!

"Oh? This is..." Qin Jue's expression shifted, his eyes locking onto the stone pit, pupils suddenly contracting!

"Earth Vein Stone Marrow!"

His figure flickered as he arrived beside the pit, carefully dipping a fingertip into it and bringing it to his mouth.

A scorching torrent flowed down his throat, exploding within his body in an instant, transforming into pure, ultimate vast vitality that washed through his five viscera and six bowels!

The many hidden injuries left by his predecessor's forced cultivation due to resource scarcity were visibly repaired and healed under this torrent of vitality, and even deep within his marrow, a tingling numbness spread, as if rejoicing!

"It really is Earth Vein Stone Marrow! This is at least a century-old spiritual object!" Qin Jue's mind shook, his breathing involuntarily quickening!

This kind of spiritual object was the essence condensed by the earth's spiritual veins over a hundred years. A single drop's value could match months of bitter cultivation for an ordinary martial artist!

More importantly, it was a natural treasure. Ordinary pills, if taken excessively, could destabilize one's foundation, but Earth Vein Stone Marrow was the opposite—it could refine the marrow and reshape the organs. The more a martial artist absorbed, the more solid their foundation became! It was a sacred medicine sought after by countless martial artists!

Qin Jue stared fixedly at the half-bowl of marrow, a storm raging within his heart!

"If I can fully refine this half-bowl of Stone Marrow, I can definitely break through the first three revolutions of the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record in one go! Then my five viscera will thrive endlessly, my blood and qi will be thick and prolonged, and my physical strength and recovery ability will undergo a earth-shattering transformation—more than fifty percent stronger than an ordinary Jade Bone Realm martial artist!"

"Even... I can use the marrow's special bone-refining effect to temper my entire skeleton ahead of time, forging a 'Pseudo-Jade Bone' body far surpassing those of the same realm! By then, how terrifyingly solid will my foundation be!"

Once he achieved Jade Bone, his physical strength would skyrocket, allowing him to truly unleash the power of the second move of Cicada Wing, [Thousand Threads]!

And with that thick, prolonged blood and qi as support, he might even attempt the third move of the Tide Rising Sword Technique, [Tidal Stance]!

"Such a heaven-defying opportunity, encountered even in this outer area—looks like this trip wasn't wasted!"

If you can't find the book by its title, try searching by the author's name—maybe it just got renamed!

Qin Jue quickly pulled a jade bottle from his bosom, preparing to collect the Stone Marrow.

But just then.

"Oh?"

His brow furrowed slightly. Someone was coming.

"Brother Zhao, are you sure you didn't get the wrong place? This gloomy hellhole doesn't look like it has any treasures."

The speaker was a burly man eight feet tall, bare-chested, wielding a vicious spiked club, exuding a fierce aura—clearly a ruthless killer who wouldn't blink at murder.

The youth leading the way had a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his left arm, his face slightly pale, but hanging from his waist was a gleaming Snake Saliva Grass.

Hearing the burly man's complaint, a flicker of malice flashed in the youth's eyes, but when he turned around, his face was plastered with a fawning smile:

"Brother Wang Tie, rest assured! This little life of mine was saved by you—how could I dare speak a single false word? Ahead is the core of the Boulder Maze. My dead companion's map marked it clearly—there's definitely a treasure a hundred times more precious than this Snake Saliva Grass!"

"Hmph, I'd better believe you don't dare."

Wang Tie snorted coldly, his gaze lingering on the Snake Saliva Grass at Zhao Li's waist for a moment, a glint of greed flashing through his eyes, but he quickly looked away.

He hefted the spiked club in his hand, speaking casually: "Brother Zhao, don't blame me for being ruthless. This Boulder Forest is crawling with Fierce Beasts. You're injured—without me protecting you, you'd have been devoured long ago. When we find the treasure, you get three, I get seven. That's fair, isn't it?"

"Fair, fair! Just keeping my life is enough for me." Zhao Li nodded repeatedly, putting on a submissive act.

Yet, the moment he turned around, that humble face twisted into a vicious sneer.

A cold, sinister laugh echoed in his mind: "Idiot! You think you're getting a seventy-thirty split? If I hadn't deliberately played weak, would you, that simple-minded bear, have been willing to scout for me? Once we get there, I'll lure out that beast and let you be the cannon fodder! Then, everything you have will be mine!"

Behind him, Wang Tie watched Zhao Li's limping back, a flash of killing intent passing through his eyes. He thought to himself: "Hmph, you think I can't tell you're faking that injury? No matter. Let that Snake Saliva Grass hang at your waist for now. When we find the treasure... heh, the treasure will be mine, the Snake Saliva Grass will be mine, and your worthless life will stay here too! Dead men don't need anything!"

Both men harbored different schemes, each hiding murderous intent, advancing one after the other deeper into the gloomy stone forest.

Just then, Zhao Li, walking at the front, suddenly halted. His nostrils flared, and a wild joy surged across his face!

"Such a dense fluctuation of vitality! And this strange fragrance..."

His eyes lit up as he dashed to a crevice in the rocks, eagerly peering out. One glance, and his pupils sharply contracted! Not far away, on the open ground, lay the corpse of a Stone-skinned Lizard in a pool of blood, and... a youth in blue robes carefully pouring a stone pit's worth of milky liquid into a jade bottle.

"E-Earth Vein Stone Marrow!?"

Zhao Li's voice trembled violently from sheer shock, nearly cracking—he had never dreamed that such a heavenly earthly treasure would appear here!

Wang Tie also squeezed over, and the moment his gaze landed on that milky-white liquid, his breathing instantly turned as heavy as an ox's, his eyes blazing red in an instant, the undisguised greed nearly bursting from his sockets!

"Heavens! There's... there's this much!"

Wang Tie's eyes flushed crimson as he stared fixedly at the jade bottle in Qin Jue's hand, his Adam's apple rolling wildly as he roared in a hoarse voice: "With this thing, the Hundred Refinements Fifth Layer bottleneck that's stumped me for years will definitely break! Even... even..."

"Blood Fusion is within reach! Blood Fusion is within reach! Hahaha! Heaven truly helps me!"

Wang Tie burst into a manic laugh, bloodlight surging in his eyes, his wolf-tooth club stirring up a foul wind, his killing intent nearly solidifying into substance!

He didn't bother with idle words—one step forward, his aura exploding outward, his face twisted with savage murder, and he bellowed at Qin Jue:

"You brat! Hand over what you've got, and grandpa here will grant you a whole corpse!"