Taking Whale Rubber, Tempering the Body with Red Lotus

"Using hidden weapons too?"

Jiang Chen shook his head. With a grab of his right hand through the air, the three silver needles abruptly changed direction as if pulled by invisible threads. With three whooshes, they embedded themselves in the nearby tree trunk, arranged in a perfectly straight line.

This was the technique returned from Tang San's Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon—Universe Dragon Control!

Not only could it manipulate and seize objects from afar, it was also extremely effective at countering hidden weapons.

"So fast!" Tang San's pupils constricted.

He had not seen how Jiang Chen made his move at all!

Jiang Chen yawned.

"Little San, your skills are a little lacking."

Tang San's face flushed red. With a low shout, he charged again.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track were pushed to their limits. In an instant, he arrived behind Jiang Chen and brought down a hand chop—only for it to pass straight through Jiang Chen's body.

"No, an afterimage!"

Tang San realized it abruptly, but he was already too late.

Jiang Chen's figure flashed, appearing at Tang San's side. He lightly chopped the back of Tang San's neck with a hand strike of his own.

Bang.

Tang San's vision went dark, and he fell face-first to the ground, getting a mouthful of dirt.

Jiang Chen crouched down and patted Tang San's shoulder with a smile.

"Next time, come when I'm sleepy. Maybe you'll last a few seconds longer."

Tang San rolled over and lay on the ground, filthy and disheveled, his chest rising and falling slightly with his rapid breaths.

He turned his head and looked at Jiang Chen's ever-composed face, his eyes full of frustration.

Why did it feel like the gap between Brother Chen and me was only getting wider?

Jiang Chen did not tease him further. He casually pulled him up from the ground. "Stop playing dead. There's something important."

"What is it?" Tang San froze.

"You're almost level thirty, right?"

Jiang Chen took out the dark-red Whale Rubber from the Green Lotus Pendant and handed it over. "Eat this."

Tang San took it. It felt warm in his hand, with Soul Power faintly flowing within it. "This is..."

"Whale Rubber. It can strengthen your body."

Jiang Chen explained concisely, "With your current physical strength, absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring is barely manageable. But if you want to take on rings with higher cultivation, like four or five thousand years, you're still far from ready."

To maximize the effects of Whale Rubber, it was best consumed when the user's physical strength had reached a bottleneck yet could not break through it.

After all these days of training, Jiang Chen vaguely sensed that Tang San had reached just such a bottleneck. This was the best time for him to consume the Whale Rubber.

"Four... five thousand years?"

Tang San's hand trembled, and he nearly lost his grip.

His second Soul Ring, at nineteen hundred years, had already tortured him half to death. A third Soul Ring of four or five thousand years? Wouldn't that make him explode on the spot?

"Look at how little ambition you have." Jiang Chen rolled his eyes at him.

However, according to the original course of events, Tang San would obtain an External Soul Bone after absorbing his third Soul Ring.

If he forcibly changed Tang San's Soul Ring, he might cause him to miss this opportunity.

That was a treasure as rare as a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring.

Forget it. He would let nature take its course. No matter how high a Soul Ring's cultivation was, it could not compare to an External Soul Bone.

Tang San swallowed as he looked at the palm-sized gelatinous lump in his hand. "Just... eat it?"

"What else? Do you want me to cook it medium for you?" Jiang Chen said irritably. "Hurry up. Once you finish, I'll help temper your body."

Out of trust in Jiang Chen, Tang San asked no further questions. He sat cross-legged and stuffed the Whale Rubber into his mouth.

He had expected it to be difficult to swallow, but it melted the instant it entered his mouth. A warm current slid down his throat and swiftly spread through his limbs and bones.

Then, that warm current began to turn scorching hot, as though a ball of fire had ignited inside his body.

"Circulate your cultivation. Don't stop." Jiang Chen's voice sounded at just the right moment.

Tang San gritted his teeth and activated the Mysterious Heaven Skill, guiding that burning energy through his meridians.

His skin began to redden. The sweat that had just seeped out instantly evaporated into white vapor.

Just as he felt his body becoming unbearably hot, an even more scorching yet extraordinarily gentle force flowed into him from behind.

At some point, Jiang Chen had already moved behind him. The Glazed Green Lotus in his palm turned crimson, and his second Soul Ring lit up silently.

Second Soul Skill: Green Lotus: Red Lotus Karma Fire.

In an instant, crimson flames flowed over Tang San's entire body like water.

The crimson flames did not burn him in the slightest. Instead, they were like a pair of invisible hands, gradually kneading apart and purifying the violent Whale Rubber energy within him before integrating it into his flesh, blood, and bones.

"Hiss!"

Tang San sucked in a cold breath.

That feeling... was like being thrown into a furnace and forged over and over again, every inch of his muscles and bones groaning under the unbearable strain.

Yet what followed was an indescribable sense of comfort and strengthening.

He could clearly feel his meridians widening, his bones becoming tougher, and the power contained in his muscles steadily climbing.

"Focus. Don't get distracted."

Jiang Chen's voice remained calm. "Karma Fire can temper the body and remove impurities. Paired with Whale Rubber, the effect doubles. Bear with it. This is only the beginning."

Tang San clenched his teeth, veins bulging across his forehead, but he did not utter a sound.

For the sake of becoming stronger, he could endure any pain!

The crimson flames continued to burn, scorching his skin red. Black impurities were faintly forced out through his pores, only to turn to nothingness within the Karma Fire.

Time passed little by little.

Half an hour later, the flames gradually died down.

Bang!

Tang San instantly collapsed onto the ground. His clothes had long been soaked through with sweat, then dried by the Red Lotus Karma Fire, leaving blotchy white stains behind.

His skin glowed a healthy red, as though he had just stepped out of a furnace, while crisp sounds echoed from within his bones.

"Whew..."

He exhaled a breath of foul air. The moment he opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashed through them.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill circulated on its own, more than a level faster than before. His Soul Power surged like a river, and the barrier to the third level shattered in response!

Mysterious Heaven Skill, fourth level!

An even more vast and pure internal force surged from his dantian and flowed through his entire body.

Not only was the pain from the earlier body tempering completely gone, his Soul Power Level had directly broken through to level thirty!

"Brother Chen, I..."

Tang San looked up in delight. Just as he was about to share the joy of his breakthrough, he discovered that Jiang Chen had retreated several steps away. His eyes were slightly closed, and strange energy fluctuations rippled around him.

Just as Tang San completed his body tempering and the Mysterious Heaven Skill broke through to the fourth level, Jiang Chen also received the Triple Return.

[ Ding! Detected that the bonded target's physique has improved tremendously, and the Mysterious Heaven Skill has broken through to the fourth level! ]

[ Triple Return is taking effect... ]

A scorching yet gentle force exploded from his dantian, instantly washing through his limbs and bones.

Jiang Chen could clearly feel that his meridians had widened another degree atop their previous foundation. His bones crackled softly, as though they had been repeatedly hammered by an invisible force and become even tougher.

The Creation Green Lotus Art had also risen to the peak of the second level. He could distinctly feel that the total amount of Soul Power in his body had nearly doubled, and his recovery speed had improved considerably as well.

Not bad. This investment wasn't a loss.

Jiang Chen opened his eyes and met Tang San's shining gaze.

"Brother Chen, just now, you..."

Tang San keenly sensed the change in Jiang Chen's aura. It seemed to have become much deeper and more powerful, making him instinctively feel pressure.

Even Teacher Li Yusong, a Soul Emperor, had never made him feel such immense pressure.

"Nothing much. I just got some inspiration and made a simple breakthrough."