Cultivation methods of the same rank were divided into three grades: lower, middle, and upper. Above those were supreme-grade and Innate methods.
Supreme-grade methods were not only above the three ordinary grades; they could even suppress others of the same rank.
"The Celestial Body's divine powers go far beyond this."
Seeing the Angry Bear Mental Method reforged by the Heavenly Mound into a supreme-grade method filled Liu Chengfeng with joy.
He immediately took out the black stone and began examining it closely.
His master had spent a lifetime studying this black stone without understanding it. Perhaps only after obtaining a Celestial Body could one glimpse its mysteries.
Liu Chengfeng examined the black stone closely, but still couldn't make anything of it.
The stone was covered in countless intricate patterns, but not a single cultivation-method rune.
Unwilling to give up, Liu Chengfeng used his mental power to activate the Sky Eye and inspect it carefully.
The Sky Eye could see through things and was wondrous beyond compare. Yet no matter how hard Liu Chengfeng tried, he couldn't see through the black stone.
"What is this thing? Where exactly is the cultivation method hidden?"
He gave it everything he had, but still couldn't see through the black stone with the Sky Eye.
Liu Chengfeng felt helpless. The Sky Eye could see the heavens and earth and pierce illusions, but it was completely useless against this stone.
"What makes this thing so different?"
Just as Liu Chengfeng was puzzling over it, a pleasant voice rang out, and a fragrant scent, like orchids and irises, wafted over.
Liu Chengfeng jumped in fright. When he recovered, his cheap aunt-master was already right in front of him, so close they were nearly touching.
Not only was her fragrance overwhelming, but her ample bosom was practically pressing against Liu Chengfeng's chest.
His cheap aunt-master appeared and disappeared like a ghost.
"Let me have a look."
While Liu Chengfeng was distracted, Ye Huijian snatched the black stone from his hand.
After examining it for a while, Ye Huijian furrowed her brows, then opened her beautiful eyes wide.
In an instant, the sun, moon, and stars seemed to pour from her eyes as they encompassed the ten directions of heaven and earth.
The sudden blaze in her eyes made Liu Chengfeng's heart jolt.
"Little fellow, this isn't a cultivation manual."
Ye Huijian withdrew her gaze and tossed the black stone back to Liu Chengfeng.
"Then what is it?"
"I don't know." Ye Huijian shook her head and glanced at Liu Chengfeng.
"You could try smashing it."
"That won't work. It can't be broken."
Liu Chengfeng shook his head. In fact, his master had already tried every method he could think of.
"I'm afraid there's nothing in the world that can break it."
His master had used all sorts of methods, but none of them had managed to break the black stone.
As soon as Liu Chengfeng finished speaking, the Celestial Body in his mind wobbled, as if protesting.
"Don't be so absolute. You've seen so little of the world. There are still things out there that can break it."
The Celestial Body seemed to nod, fully agreeing with Ye Huijian.
"If you're so capable, then you do it."
Seeing the Celestial Body react like that, Liu Chengfeng couldn't help but snap.
The next moment, with a whoosh, the black stone in Liu Chengfeng's hand was suddenly sucked away and moved into his mind.
Liu Chengfeng jumped in fright. He hadn't even seen how the stone had entered his mind.
In an instant, the Celestial Body rose high, then slammed down hard onto the black stone.
It was as if two planets had collided inside Liu Chengfeng's mind. A boom exploded through his head.
Oh, mother—
Liu Chengfeng spat out a mouthful of blood, his head feeling as if it were about to burst apart.
The black stone, which had seemed impossible to break, had a grain-of-rice-sized chip forcibly knocked off it by the Celestial Body.
At that moment, the Celestial Body didn't care whether Liu Chengfeng lived or died.
It grabbed the Angry Bear Mental Method, swept up the grain-sized chip knocked from the black stone, and merged it into the method.
The Heavenly Mound was like a red-hot brand pressed against the cultivation method, completely melting the chip and reforging it together with the method.
At last, when the newly reforged method appeared, a note beside it read: Human Scroll, Innate.
Only after the deed was done did the Celestial Body stop. It seemed to glance at Liu Chengfeng triumphantly.
The Celestial Body had tossed him around so violently that Liu Chengfeng spat out another mouthful of blood. His whole body was weak, and he collapsed onto the bed.
Liu Chengfeng was dumbfounded. A moment ago, the Angry Bear Mental Method had been middle-grade, but in such a short time it had become an Innate method.
"Innate as the bone."
Ye Huijian bent down to look at Liu Chengfeng, visibly astonished.
"What happens when Innate becomes the bone?"
The Heavenly Mound had drained a great deal of Liu Chengfeng's essence, leaving him extremely weak.
Ye Huijian fed him a mouthful of Blood Medicine. Only then could Liu Chengfeng catch his breath and regain some vitality.
"Little fellow, the thing in your head is extraordinary."
Liu Chengfeng looked at Ye Huijian warily.
"What, afraid I'll steal it? If I wanted to steal it, I'd have cut your head off already."
"Besides, cutting off your head wouldn't help. It's already become one with you."
Ye Huijian casually revealed that secret, leaving Liu Chengfeng astonished.
"Got a secret you don't want to tell your aunt?"
"Then tell me your secret first."
"Little fellow, trying to bargain with me? Dream on."
"I'm not little at all. I'm big."
Liu Chengfeng glared at Ye Huijian in annoyance, then couldn't help glancing at her ample bosom.
"Oh? My silly boy has a naughty streak after all."
Ye Huijian's teasing made Liu Chengfeng blush, but he wasn't about to back down. He calmly kept looking at her ample bosom.
"Focus on your cultivation."
Ye Huijian glared at him in annoyance and turned to leave.
Liu Chengfeng couldn't help wondering about his cheap aunt-master's origins.
She was mysterious, and the old man had never mentioned having a junior sister.
Even stranger, this aunt-master didn't stay at the Wu Dao Sect. She would suddenly appear out of nowhere.
Liu Chengfeng had no time to dwell on it. He sat cross-legged, looked within, and circulated the Angry Bear Mental Method, now transformed into an Innate method.
As the Angry Bear Mental Method circulated, Liu Chengfeng's blood surged like rivers, racing toward his dantian.
His dantian was where the Blood Sea Divine Treasury was located.
Open the dantian, enter the divine treasury, strengthen the Blood Sea.
As the method circulated, the thin spiritual energy permeating heaven and earth was drawn into Liu Chengfeng's body and fused with his blood energy before surging into his dantian.
As the blood energy and spiritual energy fused, they grew more powerful in his dantian, roaring like ocean waves.
The faster the method circulated, the more spiritual energy Liu Chengfeng absorbed.
At that moment, spiritual energy poured endlessly into Liu Chengfeng's body. At first, he didn't notice.
Before long, he sensed something was wrong. The Innate Heart Method was indeed heaven-defying; it could surpass others of the same rank.
But now, he didn't even need his method to absorb spiritual energy. It flowed straight into his body, as if a pipe had been shoved into a Spirit Vein.
A Spirit Vein? Liu Chengfeng's heart stirred. He used the Sky Eye to look, and saw the Spirit Vein beneath Little Meng Mountain pouring spiritual energy into him.
The thumb-sized Spirit Vein seemed to have shoved itself right into Liu Chengfeng's body, eager for him to absorb as much spiritual energy as possible.
"What's it trying to do?"
Liu Chengfeng was baffled to see spiritual energy delivering itself right to his doorstep.
How many cultivators longed to draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth but couldn't? And here he was, with a Spirit Vein spoon-feeding him.
The thumb-sized Spirit Vein was like a puppy currying favor with Liu Chengfeng, offering up its spiritual energy to help him cultivate.
"You want a taste of the Origin's benefits?"
Seeing the Spirit Vein offer up its spiritual energy, Liu Chengfeng understood.
With spiritual energy surging his way, Liu Chengfeng accepted it without ceremony. His method revolved furiously, battering his dantian again and again.
Every impact sent stabbing pain through his body, as if he were being pierced through. Liu Chengfeng still gritted his teeth and struck again and again.
Finally, as his blood energy grew stronger under the relentless assault, a rumble sounded, and he broke through his dantian.
Breaking through his dantian opened the gateway to the Blood Sea Divine Treasury.
His cultivation method formed a divine bridge, guiding spiritual energy into the Blood Sea Divine Treasury.
Upon entering the Blood Sea Divine Treasury, he found himself surrounded by an immense expanse.
The entire Blood Sea Divine Treasury had yet to be opened up, but he could already sense the blood energy stored within.
The Blood Sea Divine Treasury contained an inexhaustible ocean of blood energy, an endless supply he could use without ever running dry.
That was the wonder of the Blood Sea Divine Treasury: it strengthened one's blood energy and extended one's lifespan.
By opening the divine treasury and drawing in spiritual energy, Liu Chengfeng had now fully entered the first stage of the Blood Sea Divine Treasury.
The Blood Sea Divine Treasury had four stages in total.
Next came expanding the divine treasury, merging with the Blood Sea, and finally drawing in True Blood to reach complete mastery of the Blood Sea Divine Treasury.
Liu Chengfeng pressed on, training without pause.
In the days that followed, Liu Chengfeng not only cultivated the Angry Bear Mental Method, but also began practicing the Three Husbands Sword Technique.
The Three Husbands Sword Technique was also a beginner method, middle-grade Human Scroll.
Liu Chengfeng used the Celestial Body to melt it down and reforge it into a supreme-grade method.
Then he used the Celestial Body again to knock a grain-sized chip off the black stone and merge it with the method, making it Innate.
Using the Celestial Body to smash the black stone nearly cost Liu Chengfeng his life. The impact had made him spit blood.
But the price was worth it to refine a middle-grade method into an Innate one.
Over the short span of half a year, Liu Chengfeng pressed on with furious cultivation.
With his Innate Heart Method and the Spirit Vein delivering spiritual energy, he cultivated the Blood Sea Divine Treasury to its third stage.
He had caught up to Zhou Yinfeng's strength.
Reaching the third stage of the Blood Sea Divine Treasury in half a year made Liu Chengfeng one of the top geniuses anywhere in the Green Meng Realm.
Even the peerless prodigies of the Divine Dynasty would probably have to admit defeat.
One day, Liu Chengfeng practiced the Three Husbands Sword Technique in the courtyard. Every sword strike carried surging blood energy.
The iron sword in Liu Chengfeng's hand was a Red Iron Sword, forged from middle-grade red iron.
It wasn't some priceless treasure, but even this Red Iron Sword would cost ten or twenty thousand spirit stones on the market.
The Three Husbands Sword Technique had only three moves. Each time Liu Chengfeng brought his sword down, the air burst with a sharp crack.
Liu Chengfeng focused on the force behind every strike, practicing again and again.
He kept at it until every strike was perfect in strength, angle, and execution.
Innate methods were already heaven-defying, and Liu Chengfeng had mastered his to perfection. Zhou Yinfeng watched from the side, utterly dumbstruck.
In just half a year, Zhou Yinfeng was no longer a match for Liu Chengfeng. Now Liu Chengfeng could defeat Zhao Jinnian without a problem.
"Take my sword!"
Caught up in the thrill of practice, Liu Chengfeng swung his sword at Zhou Yinfeng.
Zhou Yinfeng roared as well, surging with blood energy. He charged in with his hammer, every swing fierce and powerful, with no thought of retreat.
But he still wasn't Liu Chengfeng's match.
With a thunderous clang, the great hammer in Zhou Yinfeng's hand was sent flying by a single sword strike. His palm split open, and blood gushed out.
"Young Master truly is a genius. Half a year's work for you is worth more than my decade of hard cultivation."
"It's still not enough."
Liu Chengfeng knew he still wasn't strong enough. In the future, he would forge a new path.
The man who had defeated his master, Crown Prince Li, was probably a deity-sealing powerhouse.
So he had to train even harder and make himself stronger.
"If you want to become stronger, you'll have to face life-and-death trials and be baptized in blood."
No one knew where Ye Huijian had appeared from.
"There are plenty of strange beasts on Little Meng Mountain, including thousand-year-old beasts. Go there and give yourself a proper baptism."
"I was just thinking the same thing."
Liu Chengfeng agreed. He planned not only to go to Little Meng Mountain for a trial, but also to find Ye Xiaozhou and the remains.
He had promised to pay his respects and help the dead find peace.
Liu Chengfeng acted as soon as he'd made up his mind. He packed his things, took the Water Caltrop Zongzi, Yellow Rice Wine, and Sandalwood Incense that he'd asked Zhou Yinfeng to prepare, and set off.
"Strange beasts, I'm coming!"
Liu Chengfeng entered Little Meng Mountain like a fish returning to the river.
I had the flu yesterday and a mild fever, and I was so dazed that I forgot to thank our alliance leaders for their support. I'm truly sorry. Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your tremendous support. I bow in gratitude.
Thanks to the following alliance leaders, in no particular order:
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Min Yizhi
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