Stainless Body

Night deepened.

In the Practice Room's pool,

the Blood-Strengthening Soup was visibly growing thinner, yet it continued to send up waves of steam.

Chen Zhuo's qi and blood poured from all forty-eight thousand pores across his body, gathering around him until he seemed to be sitting inside a furnace.

Under the furnace's "scorching," he breathed in and out like a bellows.

The skin covering his body tightened, then gradually expanded.

With each contraction and expansion, his skin's resilience was repeatedly hammered and tempered, growing ever stronger.

His sinews were like bowstrings, his bones like iron.

They, too, were undergoing an astonishing transformation.

The changes continued for a full night.

It was not until the following day, when the sun had climbed high in the sky,

that a blazing sun tore through the darkness and stood alone above the firmament.

Rays of scorching sunlight fell upon the small courtyard beside the Yamen's rear kitchen. Passing through the window lattice, they thrust forcefully into the Practice Room where Chen Zhuo was.

Yet at that moment, the great furnace formed from Chen Zhuo's qi and blood was burning fiercely, like a raging blaze.

In terms of heat, it was hardly inferior to those rays of sunlight.

About an hour later, the Blood-Strengthening Soup had turned completely thin and watery. Only then did Chen Zhuo slowly open his eyes.

A flash of white light seemed to glimmer in his eyes, blooming inside the room and brightening the entire space.

Chen Zhuo blinked. The white light before him shattered inch by inch like a dream or a bubble, until it vanished.

"White Light in an Empty Room."

This was no product of the material world, but an unusual sight perceived after one's spirit had risen to a higher level.

"White" meant Stainless.

After the blood exchange, not only had his body transformed, his spirit had also received nourishment beyond imagining.

Everything was different now.

Chen Zhuo raised one hand before his eyes. His five fingers, originally long and slender, looked unchanged, but his nails had become as hard and sharp as steel.

At a thought, he curled his fingers slightly downward. A string of explosive cracks suddenly rang out in the air, like firecrackers going off. Crackling sounds mingled with faint rumbles of thunder.

"After the blood exchange, I really am no longer human. But it seems... this transformation is nowhere near over."

Feeling every subtle change in his body, Chen Zhuo was overjoyed.

Still, he realized that the transformation was not complete.

After thinking it over briefly, he understood.

The second realm, Aperture Opening, opened the body's apertures—and connected one to Heaven and Earth.

Perhaps every martial artist in the world believed that human strength must eventually reach its limit.

Once Body Refining reached its peak, one could only seek new ways to transform, drawing the vital energy of Heaven and Earth into the body, turning it into flames to temper the body without end.

[Realm: Body Refining (Blood Exchange)]

[Training Method: Iron Cloth Shirt: 98/250 (Great Mastery)]

[Training Method: Minor Heavenly Cycle Qi Circulation Method: 0/80 (Not Yet Initiated) (Gray)]

[Combat Method: Zhengyang Blade Technique: 13/20 (Not Yet Initiated)]

[Technique: Dissection Technique: 3/40 (Initiated)]

Iron Cloth Shirt had yet to reach perfection, so it was no wonder Chen Zhuo could not yet discern the secret behind it.

Even so, this transformation alone was enough to make him one of the handful of top fighters in Baiyun County.

He was second only to the few Aperture Opening martial artists like Old Blind Man.

"I wonder whether Wang Mingyuan has opened his apertures."

Before, his cultivation realm had been too low for Chen Zhuo to see through the depths of the three bigwigs at the Yamen.

Thinking back on it now, Chief Clerk Sun, Registrar Wang, and County Magistrate Liu had to be at least at the Aperture Opening realm. Otherwise, their official positions alone would not have been enough to manage the whole sprawling mess of Baiyun County.

"Why is the Aperture Opening method still gray?"

Chen Zhuo glanced at the panel again, his brows drawing together slightly.

He had clearly completed the blood exchange. The Aperture Opening method on the panel should have been available for practice by now.

As he pondered, Old Blind Man's words suddenly came to mind.

"You'll definitely come back and ask this old man to teach you martial arts."

Could there be some other crucial step between Body Refining and Aperture Opening?

"I'll go ask Senior Brother Yan."

Just thinking of Old Blind Man's crafty, merchant-like grin made Chen Zhuo's back teeth itch.

If he went to Old Blind Man to learn martial arts, who knew how much the old man would fleece him for?

He was already in debt. He couldn't let it snowball any further.

With that in mind, Chen Zhuo quickly got dressed, packed away the remaining Demon Blood, then turned and opened the door.

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Yan Ming sitting leisurely in a reclining chair with his eyes closed. A large bowl sat beside him.

Before Chen Zhuo could get very close, a pungent medicinal smell burrowed forcefully into his nose.

"Medicine?"

Chen Zhuo walked over to Yan Ming and lifted the large bowl toward his nose. The smell nearly knocked him out.

"Senior Brother, why have you suddenly started drinking medicine?"

Chen Zhuo asked.

"What medicine? It's sweet as can be. This is clearly fine wine."

Yan Ming replied expressionlessly.

Chen Zhuo tentatively tried a sip and immediately spat it out. With a bitter look, he said:

"Do you have some misunderstanding about what 'sweet' means?"

Yan Ming snapped, "You don't know a damn thing."

Chen Zhuo examined Yan Ming closely and noticed nothing unusual, but the wrinkles at the corners of Yan Ming's eyes made him feel that something was off.

He was still young, and a martial artist. How had he suddenly developed wrinkles?

"Enough about that."

Yan Ming snatched back the bowl and drained it in one go.

After drinking, he wiped his mouth, opened his eyes, and glanced at Chen Zhuo indifferently.

"Hm?"

Yan Ming had already turned his gaze away, but then he looked back at Chen Zhuo.

After the blood exchange, the sharply sculpted lines of Chen Zhuo's muscles had gradually disappeared.

To draw everything inward and unify it was to become "Stainless."

To the naked eye, Chen Zhuo now looked like a martial artist just starting out, as if he had yet to even enter the martial path.

"Junior Brother, you..."

Yan Ming's pupils shook violently. He shot to his feet, swayed, and nearly crumpled to the ground when his legs went weak.

"No, no..."

Yan Ming looked Chen Zhuo over again, then shook his head firmly and muttered to himself:

"It's impossible. How could this be a Stainless Body? Just one night—even with a few bottles of First-Tier Demon Beast False Blood to help, it should still be impossible."

"If it isn't that... does that mean his martial cultivation has regressed?"

As if struck by a thought, Yan Ming whipped around and asked, "Did something go wrong while you were practicing last night?"

Chen Zhuo spread his hands. "I'm perfectly fine."

Hearing that answer, Yan Ming said nothing, but he did feel somewhat relieved.

He knew Chen Zhuo wouldn't lie to him about something like this.

But... what exactly had happened to the kid last night?

Watching Yan Ming fall into thought, Chen Zhuo secretly stole a glance at him.

It was true that he wouldn't lie to Yan Ming.

But his astonishing progress was still something he had better not let Yan Ming know about.

He couldn't tell whether it was a blessing or a disaster.

Better for Yan Ming not to know.

"Senior Brother, aren't we going to help out in the kitchen today?"

Chen Zhuo deliberately changed the subject.

"What do you mean, 'we'?"

Yan Ming rolled his eyes at him. "I'm not going. You still have to go."

"Lunch is simple anyway. It's just food for the Yamen Runners and White-Uniform Runners. Make whatever you like, just go with your instincts."

"I..."

Chen Zhuo thought it over and ultimately didn't refuse, but he made one condition: "I want the ingredients for Blood-Strengthening Soup. A lot of them."

Yan Ming lay back in the chair and pursed his lips. "Take as much as you like."

Chen Zhuo opened his mouth, wanting to ask about the medicine Yan Ming was drinking, but Yan Ming saw through him and immediately barked:

"Get your ass to the kitchen!"

Chen Zhuo sighed helplessly. With his doubts and worries, he turned and left the courtyard.

After watching Chen Zhuo disappear into the distance, Yan Ming's face suddenly flushed red. He could no longer hold back, and a mouthful of blood sprayed across the ground.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Yan Ming coughed loudly for a good while before finally beginning to recover.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and staggered to his feet, making his way to his master's portrait. His gaze gradually grew hazy.

"Master, it's time..."