Realm Breakthrough! Sixth Rank Mortal Shedding!

Alchemy Room.

A massive bronze furnace stood in the center of the room.

The furnace was filled with pale red liquid, giving off waves of rich medicinal fragrance. Merely smelling it made one's entire body burn hot.

"Uncle Fu, once I enter the furnace, you will control the earthfire and refine the medicinal power, ensuring that I can absorb it completely."

"This is of utmost importance to me. There can be no mistakes."

Chen Mo said solemnly.

In terms of strength, Chen Fu, the butler, might not even be a match for Cen Long.

But when it came to attainments in alchemy and the art of controlling fire, no one in the entire Chen Estate could surpass him. Even He Yuzhi fell somewhat short!

Chen Fu heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

"So that was it. This old servant thought..."

"Thought what?"

"Ahem, nothing."

Seeing Chen Fu's awkward expression, Chen Mo felt that something was off.

Still, he did not dwell on it. He removed his clothes and leaped into the furnace.

"Young Master, are you ready?"

"Begin."

Chen Fu formed hand seals with both hands and activated the earthfire. Crimson flames blazed fiercely within the furnace chamber.

In less than half a breath, the medicinal liquid began to churn and boil.

He controlled the heat perfectly. It could refine the medicinal power to the greatest extent without causing Chen Mo the slightest harm.

"Dragon Sun Boiling Blood Soup is brewed from more than ten kinds of extremely yang materials. It can greatly increase the vitality of the blood and unleash the body's potential."

"This time, not only will I raise my cultivation technique to mastery,

I will also use this opportunity to charge ahead in one go and break through to the sixth rank!"

Chen Mo opened his palm. An amber crystal floated in the air, while several ribbons formed from golden dust spiraled around it. The echoes of the Great Dao seemed to ring in his ears.

An attribute panel unfolded before his eyes.

There was now a "+" sign after both the cultivation techniques and martial skills.

Without hesitation, Chen Mo selected the Primordial Origin Body-Forging Technique.

The crystal shattered with a bang, turning into countless motes of light that surged into his brow like a tidal wave.

Chen Mo's vision abruptly went dark. All sounds vanished, as though he had been cast into an endless, desolate universe.

A tiny golden figure sat cross-legged in the void.

Its body was as crystal-clear as amber. Through its skin, streams of light could be seen circulating within.

Guided by the tiny figure, Chen Mo involuntarily began circulating his cultivation technique. The blocked passages that had troubled him before suddenly opened up, and the speed at which his true qi flowed increased severalfold!

Stars lit up one after another in the void, corresponding precisely to the acupoints he had opened!

"All-encompassing, containing all things; so vast that nothing lies beyond it, so minute that nothing lies within it..."

"Take heaven and earth as the furnace, True Essence as the fuel, refine oneself, forge the body, and reach Spirit Communion. This is Primordial Body Forging!"

"A tiny error can lead to a thousand miles of deviation. My previous cultivation method was wrong!"

Chen Mo felt as though enlightenment had been poured into his head, as if clouds had parted to reveal the sun. He immersed himself in the profound realization.

At the same time, the medicinal liquid formed a vortex around him, and surging medicinal power poured into his body through his pores!

Pain!

Bone-piercing, heart-wrenching pain!

Under the stimulation of the medicine, Chen Mo's blood and qi roiled violently, clashing with his true qi. His body felt as though it were about to be torn apart!

Ignoring everything else, he continued to circulate his cultivation technique.

Bolstered by an endless supply of medicinal power, his blood and qi gradually gained the upper hand. It continuously battered his qi sea, compressing his true qi bit by bit.

Until it reached a certain threshold—

A drop of liquid fell into his dantian.

Two drops, five drops, ten drops... His true qi was rapidly refined, impurities stripped away, condensing into pure True Essence.

But it was still not enough.

In the unseen depths, Chen Mo "saw" countless motes of light around him. Drawn by the Primordial Origin Body-Forging Technique, they surged toward him.

Refine them—unceasingly refine them.

He devoured them hungrily, like a black hole swallowing without end.

Only when a swelling sensation rose within him did Chen Mo stop circulating his cultivation technique. Looking inward, he found that his vast, sea-like True Essence had nearly filled his entire dantian!

When he opened his eyes, lightning seemed to flash within them.

He slowly extended his right hand. The medicinal liquid inside the furnace rose in reverse, gathering in his palm to form a transparent long blade!

With a casual swing, he cleaved the bronze furnace in half!

It was as sharp as a genuine weapon!

"True Essence leaving the body, controlling objects from afar... This is the hallmark of the Origin Return Realm!"

"Young Master, you broke through to the sixth rank?"

Chen Fu stood frozen, unable to believe his own eyes.

He had thought that the Young Master merely intended to use the medicinal power to forge his body. Who could have expected him to break through an entire major realm?!

At barely twenty, he had already reached sixth-rank Mortal Shedding!

Even the favored geniuses on the Azure Cloud Ranking were no more than this, were they?

"My Chen Family has produced a dragon!"

After finally sending off the ecstatic Chen Fu, Chen Mo opened the attribute panel.

Name: Chen Mo

Title: None

Realm: Sixth-Rank Mortal Shedding · Origin Return Realm

Cultivation Technique: Primordial Body Forging Art · Mastery

Martial Skills:

Blazing Flame Eight Slashes · Mastery

Wind-Thunder Leap · Proficient (73/100)

Divine Abilities: None

True Spirit: 1

The nine ranks of martial cultivation.

Ninth rank Tempering the Body, eighth rank Forging Bones, seventh rank Altering Tendons—these were the Mortal Realm.

Sixth rank Origin Return, fifth rank Pure Yang, fourth rank Divine Sea—these were Mortal Shedding.

At the sixth-rank Origin Return Realm, true qi transformed into True Essence. This was the first great dividing line on the path of martial cultivation.

Only after entering this realm could one be said to have truly begun cultivating the "Martial Dao"!

"Normally, an Origin Return Realm martial artist's True Essence only fills one-tenth of their dantian. Mine is nearly full already. Isn't that a little too outrageous?"

"What exactly are those motes of light?"

"They feel far purer than true qi..."

Chen Mo was somewhat puzzled.

Suddenly, his expression changed as he sensed something was wrong.

Though his realm breakthrough had succeeded, medicinal power still remained in his body with nowhere to be released!

To stimulate his blood and qi to the utmost, he had used nothing but extremely yang and rigid spiritual medicines. With the effects of more than a dozen medicines stacked together, let alone an ordinary man—even a eunuch would probably sprout one!

"I forgot about that..."

Chen Mo's entire body burned hot, and he felt as though he were about to catch fire.

He noticed a large water vat nearby, filled with cool water freshly drawn from the well, and plunged headfirst into it.

A carriage stopped before the gates of the Chen Estate.

Shen Zhixia stepped down from the carriage. She wore a long apricot-yellow dress, her oval face fair and smooth, her brows and eyes delicate as a painting. Like tender shoots newly sprouting in spring, she radiated a youthful, sweet charm.

Qing'er stood behind her, her chubby little face carrying a trace of baby fat.

"Miss, didn't you say just a few days ago that you never wanted to see Chen Mo again?"

"I... only came to return something to him."

Shen Zhixia held a jade pendant in her hand.

It was the very one Chen Mo had casually tossed to her outside the Music Bureau that day to prove his identity.

"For such a small matter, you could have simply let a servant handle it. Why did you have to make the trip yourself?"

"Besides, you started dressing up early this morning and changed more than a dozen outfits. You never used to wear dresses..."

"Shut up."

"..."

Qing'er shook her head, looking helpless.

Shen Zhixia possessed the Innate True Martial Body and was the sixth-ranked supreme genius on the Azure Cloud Ranking!

In her eyes, anyone worthy of her young lady had to at least be someone on the level of the Ten Prodigies.

But Chen Mo was merely a dissolute young master. Other than having a handsome face, what other merits did he possess?

"I wonder what Miss sees in him..."

"Miss? Miss?"

When Qing'er came back to her senses, she discovered that Shen Zhixia had already entered the gates of the Chen Estate. She hurriedly scampered after her.