Baptism

True cultivation was not just about tempering the body. One also had to grasp the original Runes and touch the source of heaven and earth. Otherwise, no matter how powerful one's body became, one could never reach the peak.

True cultivators made no distinction between the body and Bone Texts. When they tempered their bodies, mysterious patterns could emerge, turn into fragments of the Great Dao, and fuse with their flesh and blood until they became one.

When cultivating Bone Texts, they turned into Divine Radiance, nourishing the flesh and blood and refining them together in one crucible.

The Blood-Moving Realm was the first stage of the true path of cultivation. Generally speaking, in this Great Wilderness, a tribe of tens of thousands would be lucky to produce even one person at this level. The requirements were simply too harsh, and the path was difficult to tread.

At this stage, one had to mobilize the vital essence throughout the body until it roared like thunder, refine Bone Texts, and draw forth Divine Radiance within the blood to temper the creation of heaven and earth and nourish the body.

In simple terms, the Blood-Moving Realm was where blood and Runes coalesced to give birth to Divine Radiance, which then nourished the spirit and body, seized the creation of heaven and earth, and strengthened oneself. That was the purpose of cultivation.

This did not conflict with the path of immortal cultivation Bai Yixin followed, so naturally, he chose to cultivate both.

Of course, cultivating both would slow the progress of Qi Refining. But the slowdown would only last for a while at the beginning. Once he was on the right track, the two paths would instead spur each other on.

Qi Refining meant refining essence into qi and opening the Twelve-Story Tower within the body, which amounted to twelve minor realms. In the early stages of Blood Moving, one had to nourish the Bone Texts with one's own vital essence. Fortunately, the Spiritual Energy circulated through the body during Qi Refining could make up for the loss, so Bai Yixin's immortal-cultivation progress probably wouldn't advance much during this period.

But with the help of the immortal-cultivation energy within his body, Bai Yixin could enter the Blood-Moving Realm smoothly and quickly, catching up with Little One's progress.

In just a few days, Bai Yixin had already achieved extraordinary results.

When Bai Yixin performed the Silver Moon Precious Technique he had gotten from Little One, every inch of his flesh glowed. Mysterious Runes flickered within it, like countless precious furnaces ceaselessly supplying him with vital essence, leaving him feeling refreshed and comfortable from head to toe.

Shi Yunfeng stared at the result, dumbfounded. He had known the little fellow was astonishingly gifted, but he was still shocked all over again.

He truly lived up to his name as an Immortal Reincarnation!

Shi Yunfeng was now even more convinced that Bai Yixin was an Immortal Reincarnation.

It had only been a few days, yet Bai Yixin had made earth-shattering progress and caught up with Little One. An ordinary person would need at least several years, while even a genius would need several months.

Bai Yixin was a freak of nature!

Bai Yixin's performance was so dazzling that the elders laughed with the delight of children. Shi Linhu, Shi Feijiao, and the other young men grinned broadly, their white teeth flashing as they laughed without end.

"An infant comparable to a Primordial Fierce Beast! Perhaps our Stone Village will one day have two Supremes who can fight the Primordial True Hou and pure-blooded Pixiu!"

"This child was sent to our Stone Village by heaven itself. Naturally, he's far beyond the ordinary."

Everyone was overjoyed. That evening, Stone Village held a lavish banquet. All kinds of beast meat were steamed or roasted until golden and glistening with oil. Fragrance wafted through the village, making everyone's mouths water. (Bai Yixin would like to say: Sorry, I'm using cheats. How could I not speed things up with experience points?)

In the days that followed, Bai Yixin made rapid progress. Every inch of his flesh glimmered like crystal, as though one ancient god after another sat within him. The Runes transformed and recombined, completely changing the state of his body.

As the days passed, Bai Yixin and Little Shi Hao needed only half a month to complete the initial stage of cultivation. They fused the Bone Texts into their flesh and blood, leaving their bodies translucent and immaculate. Using their Precious Techniques no longer drained them; instead, they began tempering the creation of heaven and earth and drawing divine essence into their bodies, making them light and strong, with their spirits refreshed.

At this point, while practicing their Precious Techniques to improve their proficiency, Bai Yixin could also circulate his immortal-cultivation method and refine the essence of heaven and earth drawn into his body into his own Spiritual Energy. This boosted his cultivation and increased his training speed even further.

Shi Yunfeng immediately decided to use the Suanni Precious Body, the precious horns of the Blazing Fire Bull Demon, and the Demon Ape's arm to give the two boys a baptism. He would seal them in a cauldron along with the true blood of the Primordial Remnant and the Treasure Bones, then boil them together.

"A baptism? Another great chance to power up." Bai Yixin's eyes gleamed as he eagerly awaited the baptism that was about to begin.

An open clearing in Stone Village.

The Suanni, golden all over and shining brilliantly, with fur as lustrous as golden silk, was carried over. Bathed in the morning glow, it looked dazzling and radiant.

A pair of scarlet horns several meters long lay beside it. They were translucent as red agate and shimmered with crimson light. As a Primordial Remnant, the Blazing Fire Bull contained the most precious spirit-imbued true blood.

The Demon Ape's arm was about as long as an adult's. It was not especially huge, but it radiated a fearsome aura and contained true blood from the Primordial Era. It was exceedingly rare and precious.

A massive black cauldron exuded an ancient aura. The sun, moon, mountains, rivers, birds, beasts, fish, and insects were carved upon it, along with scenes of ancient people making sacrifices. It looked mysterious and unfathomable. By then, plenty of water had been poured into it, and Black Flood Dragon Wood blazed beneath it, quickly bringing the water to a boil. They were using the fiercest fire to stew the most potent Treasure Medicine.

Shi Yunfeng stood solemnly before the cauldron and personally tossed in one ancient herb after another. They were all precious plants that had grown for many years. With the Great Wilderness at their doorstep, medicinal herbs were hardly in short supply.

It wasn't long before the boiling water gave off the fragrance of countless herbs, refreshing to the spirit, and changed color.

That wasn't all. Shi Yunfeng tossed all kinds of poisonous insects into the boiling water one after another. The water in the cauldron turned a riot of colors, and all sorts of strange odors wafted through the air.

Bai Yixin swallowed. This was truly terrifying. The poisonous insects were packed together, and there were so many ancient herbs as well. Mixed together, they gave him an ominous feeling no matter how he looked at it.

As the water boiled, its level in the cauldron gradually fell. In the end, it nearly boiled dry, and the herbs and strange insects had all been stewed into a paste. These were supplementary ingredients, meant to lessen Bai Yixin and Little One's pain and help them refine the true blood.

"Dismember the Suanni! Prepare to pour its precious blood into the cauldron!" Shi Yunfeng shouted.

Shi Yunfeng placed the Suanni's heart into the Black Cauldron, added precious blood for the liquid, and filled the medicine cauldron. The precious blood mixed with the herbal paste.

The flames from the Black Flood Dragon Wood blazed beneath the cauldron. On its walls, the images of all kinds of primordial beasts seemed about to come to life, as though their roars were echoing out.

Inside the cauldron, pale golden liquid boiled. The precious heart blazed so brightly it was almost blinding, spraying golden rain and illuminating the entire cauldron. The liquid turned to golden light, and an intensely rich fragrance wafted out.

The blazing fire stewed the potent medicine. The flames roared, and the fragrance grew rich. The cauldron filled with pale golden liquid, from which the snarls of Primordial Remnants rang out now and then, shaking the soul.

Faintly, one could almost see a golden Suanni appear, terrifying beyond measure, swallowing the sun and moon until even the stars trembled!

"Bring it to a boil and stew it into potent medicine. Little Bai, Little One, get ready. It's almost time to enter the cauldron," the clan chief, Shi Yunfeng, said solemnly.

"Understood!" Shi Hao called out loudly.

"I'm ready!" Bai Yixin said, steadying himself and looking serious.

After bathing, the two leaped straight into the boiling medicine cauldron. The brilliant golden liquid engulfed them at once.

"Seal the cauldron!" Shi Yunfeng called out. The villagers brought over the enormous, soot-blackened lid. Several of them worked together to set it in place, sealing it tight without a single gap.