Advancing to Jade Bone

Qin Jue swept his gaze around and locked onto a spot on a cliff face not far away. There was a hidden crevice there, just wide enough for one person to pass through, positioned high up, easy to defend and hard to attack, sheltered from the wind and dry—perfect for seclusion.

"That's the place."

Enduring the sharp pain in his right arm, Qin Jue hooked his left hand into the rock crevice, activated his movement technique, and in a few leaps, slipped into the crack.

He blocked most of the opening with rubble, leaving only a few concealed ventilation holes, and scattered some powder to repel snakes and insects around the entrance before leaning back against the rock wall and letting out a long breath.

Right now, Qin Jue was in terrible shape.

His right arm hung limp, swollen and purple from elbow to hand, the flesh at his tiger's mouth split open, faintly revealing the white bone beneath. This was the aftermath of forcibly executing the second form of Cicada Wing, [Thousand Threads].

"At least the bone isn't broken."

Looking at his mangled right arm, Qin Jue gave a bitter laugh, then pulled out the Snake Saliva Grass from his bosom, still carrying the scent of soil.

Snake Saliva Grass was entirely purplish-red, its leaves forked like a snake's tongue, with a faint sweet-and-fishy odor drifting into his nose. This herb was excellent for setting bones and healing wounds, with remarkable effects on muscle strains and fractures.

He directly plucked a few leaves and stuffed them into his mouth to chew.

"Mm..."

The bitter and spicy juice exploded in his mouth. Qin Jue forced down the discomfort, carefully spread the chewed herbal paste over the wound on his right arm, then tore off a strip of his clothes to bind and secure the arm tightly.

As the medicinal power seeped in, a cool sensation penetrated to the bone, the burning pain eased considerably, and a tingling numbness spread through the injured meridians and bones, smoothing the furrow between his brows.

"The injury is stabilized. Next, I rebuild my foundation and break through to the Fourth Layer!"

Qin Jue's gaze fell on the jade bottle containing the Earth Vein Stone Marrow in front of him, his eyes resolute.

Though he currently had the cultivation of the Hundred Refinements Third Layer, the Azure Pine Qi Drawing Art he had practiced before was merely a common technique. His five viscera and six bowels had never undergone specialized tempering, leaving his foundation weak.

The Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record, on the other hand, emphasized training the viscera first, working from the inside out.

"Perfect timing—I'll use the vast energy of the Earth Vein Stone Marrow to start cultivating the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record from scratch and completely overhaul this body!"

Qin Jue pulled out the stopper and carefully poured a small mouthful of the milky white marrow liquid into his mouth.

"Boom—!"

The stone marrow entered his gut, not gentle like other spiritual liquids, but a scalding hot stream that flowed down his throat.

Instantly, a wildly violent torrent of heat exploded in Qin Jue's stomach, transforming into countless scorching currents that madly drilled into his limbs, bones, and every organ!

"Hmph!"

Qin Jue grunted, his face flushing crimson in an instant, veins bulging on his forehead, beads of sweat dripping from his chin onto the rock.

The energy contained in the Earth Vein Stone Marrow was too ferocious. Wherever it passed, his meridians felt like they were being burned by fire, and his bones seemed about to crack. This pain wasn't external injury—it erupted from the deepest part of his body, as if it wanted to tear him apart and rebuild him.

"Such domineering power! Truly the essence of the earth!"

Face flushed red, Qin Jue immediately assumed a five-hearts-facing-heaven posture, sank his mind into his body, and began to regulate his breathing according to the methods of the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record.

"Inhale—exhale—"

A heavy breathing sound echoed in the crevice.

As his breaths grew deeper, the rise and fall of his chest and abdomen became more pronounced, and a rumbling like thunder began to emanate from within his body!

[Five Viscera Thunder Sound]!

"First Revolution, rise!"

Qin Jue shouted inwardly, guiding the stone marrow's energy toward his five viscera and six bowels.

If an ordinary person at the Hundred Refinements Third Layer's Forged Skin stage directly cultivated a viscera-refining technique, their organs would likely be injured immediately. But the Earth Vein Stone Marrow, though violent, carried boundless vitality, finding a balance between destruction and repair.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Muffled vibrations rang out continuously.

Under the tempering of this power, Qin Jue's original five viscera and six bowels began to rapidly grow tougher.

At the same time, streams of refined blood and qi started to nourish his body in reverse, working from the inside out to affect his skin membrane.

Though he had already completed Forged Skin, it had only been a simple tempering with the Azure Pine Qi Drawing Art. His skin was hard, but lacked resilience.

Now, under the nourishment of visceral blood and qi, his skin began to redden and heat up, and a layer of black, greasy impurities oozed from his pores.

This was a deep-level refinement.

One day later.

Layers of dead skin peeled off Qin Jue's body. The new skin looked pale but was tough, with a cold, faint luster flowing slowly across its surface.

"So this is the First Revolution mastery of Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining... Truly domineering!"

Qin Jue clenched his fist, feeling the rebound force beneath his skin membrane, several times denser than before, and his eyes lit up.

He didn't stop. He took another mouthful of stone marrow and pressed on toward the Second and Third Revolutions.

With the foundation of the Hundred Refinements Third Layer and the aid of the stone marrow, this process of rebuilding advanced like splitting bamboo!

Late on the third night.

With a roar inside his body, Qin Jue shuddered all over and spat out a mouthful of turbid qi.

Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining, Third Revolution complete!

At this moment, though his cultivation remained at the peak of Hundred Refinements Third Layer, the thickness of his blood and qi and the toughness of his skin and membranes had already multiplied several times over. If he were to encounter that Stone-skinned Lizard again, he could rely solely on his physical defense to withstand its claws.

"With the foundation complete, next..."

Qin Jue stared at the remaining Stone Marrow in the jade bottle, his gaze burning.

"In one go, break through the Fourth Layer, condense Jade Bone!"

He tilted his head back and downed the rest of the Stone Marrow in a single gulp!

A more overwhelming force exploded within his body, its momentum far surpassing before!

Qin Jue no longer guided his blood and qi to temper his skin and membranes. Instead, with a single thought, he controlled this terrifying energy, driving it downward with force, straight into his kidneys.

Nine Revolutions Organ Tempering, Fourth Revolution—Marrow Birth!

To cultivate Jade Bone, one must first strengthen the kidneys.

As the energy poured in, two blazing fires ignited in his waist, burning fiercely, then transforming into rolling heat currents that surged along the spine's great dragon into every bone in his body!

"Ugh!"

Qin Jue clenched his teeth, his body trembling violently. Cold sweat instantly soaked through his clothes.

From deep within his marrow came a searing, itching, agonizing pain, as if it were scraping away the old marrow entirely, replacing it with new blood!

Amid this torment, the bones inside him began to transform.

What was once a dull gray-white, nourished by the vast kidney qi, gradually turned crystalline, emitting a layer of jade-like luster.

Crack! Crack!

In the silent stone crevice, a series of bone pops rang out, dense and rapid.

It was the bones growing and restructuring, undergoing a qualitative change!

After who knows how long.

Humm—!

Qin Jue's eyes snapped open. As they opened and closed, a sharp light shot forth.

His entire skeleton shook violently, and a crisp sound like gold and jade colliding rang out, clear and bright.

Golden Jade Sound! Jade Bone initially formed!

Ordinary martial artists, to cultivate Jade Bone, had to polish themselves at the Hundred Refinements Third Layer for several years, warming their bones daily with their own blood and qi, just to achieve a sliver of success. But now, relying on this century-grade Earth Vein Stone Marrow, he had directly skipped that process and begun forging the foundation of Jade Bone.

Unlike the Forged Skin realm, which only strengthened the surface, the Jade Bone realm tempered every bone in the body to be like gold and jade, drastically increasing density. Once fully activated, the joints within his body would vibrate, emitting that same buzzing hum of metal clashing. With a single arm's swing, his strength could easily break the thousand-jin mark!

If he could later reach Hundred Refinements Fifth Layer, his force would penetrate the bone—this was Bone Penetrating Force. At the Sixth Layer, Muscle and Bone Unity, he could instantly unleash terrifying power beyond his limits.

"Hoo—"

He opened his mouth and exhaled a white stream of qi. This white qi gathered without dispersing, forming an arrow of breath that flew over three feet before striking the opposite rock wall with a soft "puff," leaving a shallow white mark.

Spit Qi into Arrow!

This was a sign that his organs had grown strong to a certain degree!

Qin Jue lowered his head and clenched his fist.

"Crack!"

The air in his palm was crushed, producing a sharp sound. Though his injuries were not fully healed, the tight, solid feeling between his bones made him believe he could shatter rock with one punch.

"Hundred Refinements Fourth Layer, Jade Bone initially formed. Both physical strength and blood qi intensity are far beyond what they were before."

In his earlier battle with Wang Tie, though he had barely won, he paid the price of nearly crippling his right arm—a lucky victory. But now, if that Wang Tie were to come back to life, Qin Jue was confident he could cut him down with ease within ten moves.

"And this is only the Fourth Revolution of Nine Revolutions Organ Tempering. If I cultivate to the complete Ninth Revolution, just how strong would I become?"

Feeling the surging power within him, Qin Jue couldn't help but smile.

Rebuilding the foundation, breaking through after destruction!

In three days, not only had most of his injuries healed, but he had also filled in his previous shortcomings and stepped into an entirely new realm!

"Now, if I were to use [Thousand Threads], this Jade Bone body of mine can withstand that backlash force!"

At this thought, battle intent surged within Qin Jue. His right hand gripped the Cold Iron Sword beside him and yanked it out.

"Clang!"

Amid a dragon-like sword cry, the Cold Iron Sword left its sheath, and a sharp sword light flashed through the cave.

Qin Jue's wrist trembled slightly. The Cold Iron Sword instantly emitted a "buzzing" cicada chirp, the sword tip flickering unsteadily like a viper's tongue.

Cicada Wing—[Flap Wings]!

The blade vibrated at high speed, twisting the surrounding air instantly. The oscillating force was more than double what it had been before.

Then, Qin Jue's gaze hardened. His wrist jerked sharply, and the sword's momentum suddenly shifted.

"Humm—!"

The Cold Iron Sword, which had only been trembling at the tip, now had its entire blade blurring into an indistinct, phantom white shadow.

He stepped forward, the muscles in his arm bulging as his entire limb tensed like a drawn bow. With a low shout, he thrust his sword into the air!

Cicada Wing—[Thousand Threads]!

Sssssss!

Dozens of silk-thin white Sword Qi exploded out of nowhere, shredding the air ahead in an instant with a piercing shriek.

This time, Qin Jue's arm remained perfectly still. The immense recoil force, enough to shatter bones, was fully absorbed and neutralized by his jade-like skeleton, no longer able to harm him in the slightest.

"Much easier indeed."

Qin Jue grinned, but his sword momentum didn't stop—instead, it grew even more continuous.

The blade turned, and the cicada's chirp vanished instantly, replaced by a clear, flowing sword hum like running water.

Tide Rising Sword Technique!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

First stance, Tide Rising Stance—three strikes in quick succession, movements smooth and fluid. The sword momentum began gently, like a babbling brook, endless and unbroken.

Then, the sword momentum abruptly quickened.

Second stance, Tide Surging Stance—retreat to gather power, advance to shatter clouds!

Qin Jue's figure moved within the narrow stone crevice, sword light surging, wave after wave building higher. The oppressive pressure of pent-up force made the surrounding air feel thick and viscous.

If it had been him before, reaching this point would have been his limit.

But now, Qin Jue felt his blood energy surging like a great river, with no sign of exhaustion. Instead, guided by the sword momentum, it grew even more turbulent!

"Not enough yet..."

Qin Jue narrowed his eyes, activating the Void Clarity Sword Heart at full capacity.

In his perception, the wave upon wave of sword momentum, though immensely powerful, still felt lacking in "completeness." For every rising tide, there must be an ebbing one; for every fierce, crashing assault, there must be a soft, boneless retreat.

Yin and Yang interchanging—that is the true essence of the tide!

"Tide rises, tide falls, cycling endlessly... Is this the true meaning of the third stance?"

A glimmer of insight dawned in Qin Jue's mind.

For an ordinary person, limited by their realm and lacking the boiling blood energy of the Blood Melting Realm, they couldn't possibly handle the immense burden of switching between offense and defense.

But he was different.

The foundation rebuilt by Nine Cycles Organ Refining gave him blood energy far denser than his peers, combined with this newly forged jade-bone body...

"Break—open!"

Qin Jue let out a long roar, and the blood energy surging like a river within him finally found an outlet!

The Cold Iron Sword's body was instantly wrapped in a faint, bloody mist, the surrounding air slightly distorted by the scorching heat of this blood energy.

He swept his longsword in a perfect arc.

With the boost of this pure blood energy, at that moment, the originally fierce and violent sword momentum suddenly turned soft and sticky, like the ebbing tide, drawing back all its sharpness.

Yet this was not the end, but a new beginning!

Just as the sword momentum reached its peak of contraction, a more terrifying force erupted from the depths of the blade!

A shockwave spread outward from Qin Jue, slamming into the rock walls on either side, shaking countless fragments of stone loose.

Tide Rising Sword Technique Third Stance—Tidal Stance!

Borrowing force to strike, offense and defense as one!

Qin Jue's figure darted through the rain of rubble, his sword now fast, now slow, now hard, now soft. At times, it was like raging waves crashing against the shore, unstoppable; at others, like an undercurrent flowing in the dark, insidious and venomous.

The transitions were so smooth and natural that the sword in his hand was no longer a blade, but a tamed water dragon!

After a long while.

"Hoo—"

The countless sword shadows vanished in an instant.

Qin Jue flicked his wrist, and the Cold Iron Sword traced a perfect arc.

"Clang!"

Sword returning to sheath.

Within the stone crevice, that violent sword momentum dissipated along with it.

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