Breaking Through, Fourth Tempering

"Lead the way..." Yi You said coldly.

"Creak... This way..."

The giant sword spirit skeleton did not mind his attitude. It lifted its greatsword and vanished into the darkness. Yi You raised his longbow and followed, disappearing into the darkness after it.

At the same time he entered the Soul-Spirit Burial Grounds.

At trial camps situated around the outskirts of forbidden lands across Trial Star, prodigies emerged one after another, choosing to enter the forbidden lands and begin their trials.

As prodigies of the human race, how could they willingly fall behind?

Amid the horde of withered-bone demon corpses, Su Bo strolled about as if taking a leisurely walk. His blood qi boiled as he sent demon corpses flying with every gesture.

They crashed into the gravestones of other tombs, scattering splinters everywhere.

With the force of tens of thousands of jin behind him, every punch and kick could blast a demon corpse apart. His fist intent struck out, erasing the lingering obsessions from their lives that were condensed with demon qi.

Beneath Su Bo's feet, the Wind-Treading Step seemed truly capable of commanding the winds of heaven and earth.

As he shifted, leaped, and walked, a faint breeze curled around him. Calm and unhurried, he evaded every attack from the demon corpses.

Boom...

After dodging the attacks of two more demon corpses.

Su Bo seized the opening and punched one of them into pieces. His concentrated fist intent, wrapped in blood qi, wore away at the demon corpse's lingering obsession.

Unfortunately, the lingering obsessions of fourth-tempering demon corpses were far more stubborn and could not be easily erased.

Yet under the erosion of the Bixi Divine Intent, the demon corpses' nearly immortal bodies found it increasingly difficult to heal and recover.

Most of the sinister vitality of the parasitic demon vines within their bodies had been obliterated by the Bixi Divine Intent.

The flesh buds had become listless, and their ability to restore the demon corpses' bodies was naturally greatly diminished. They would not be able to recover anytime soon.

Strike while it was down and finish the bastard...

He raised a hand and grabbed a withered-bone demon corpse that had only just healed and recovered.

A blazing blood qi suddenly flared from Su Bo's hand. The Bixi Divine Form behind him roared, its supreme dragon might violently suppressing the demon corpse's lingering obsession.

"Bang~"

Blood flames blazed fiercely.

In the blink of an eye, a withered-bone demon corpse turned to ash. A ghostly green soul flame rose up, but before it could touch the ground, Su Bo grabbed it and refined it.

The fourth-tempering soul flame entered his body, and his spiritual power surged by another huge margin.

Vast spiritual power poured forth wildly. Su Bo felt the world before him brighten, and his senses spread outward. In an instant, everything within several dozen meters appeared in his mind.

He slowly took a step back, and two demon corpses crashed into each other in front of him before rolling away.

Almost instinctively...

Su Bo stretched out both hands and pressed them onto the heads of two withered-bone demon corpses. Blood qi exploded their heads, while divine intent struck their lingering obsessions.

The tyrannical Bixi Divine Intent instantly annihilated the demon corpses' lingering obsessions.

Scorching blood flames ignited over the demon corpses, reducing them to ash in an instant.

Two soul flames condensed where the demon corpses had died. Su Bo grabbed and refined them, as though it had already become a special instinct.

His spiritual power shot up again, and the Bixi Divine Form behind him became increasingly solid.

Of the nine withered-bone demon corpses, Su Bo had killed four in the blink of an eye. The remaining five still charged at him without fear.

Slap to death!

One, two, three... five. All of them were blasted into ash.

Ghostly green soul flames swayed through the air. Su Bo reached out and grabbed them, his spiritual power surging forth to refine every last one cleanly in an instant.

Vast soul power poured into his body, tempering his soul and spiritual power.

As the five soul flames were gradually refined, the growing soul power gradually fed back into his flesh, entering his body and permeating his limbs and bones.

Within Su Bo's flesh, muscles, bones, and organs, his spiritual power drew out an enormous amount of hidden vital essence.

This vital essence came from the half-dragon's flesh and that trace of dragon-transformation blood essence, as well as the demon beast meat he had been ravenously consuming lately.

Although much of it had been refined into blood qi to strengthen him.

He had only broken through the first barrier, the flesh barrier. His tempering could only reach his flesh and could not temper his muscles, bones, or organs.

Thus, an enormous amount of vital essence lay hidden within his muscles, bones, and organs.

Now, Su Bo's spiritual power had increased by an unknown number of times compared to when he was on Red River Star. As his immense spiritual power fed back into his body, it inadvertently drew out this vital essence.

The vast vital essence erupted from the depths of his muscles, bones, and organs like a tidal wave.

"Temper the body, break through..." Sensing the vital essence surging from within, Su Bo did not hesitate in the slightest.

As for safety?

Where could be safer than here?

There were no demon beasts, no humans—only rows upon rows of silent tombs. So long as the giant sword skeleton did not revive the withered-bone demon corpses.

No one could possibly disturb his cultivation or breakthrough.

Almost instinctively, Su Bo crouched on the ground. His form seemed to transform into a Bixi, faintly merging with the Bixi Divine Form behind him.

His stance was complete. Surging blood qi violently devoured the vital essence, refining it into strands of blood qi power.

Each strand of blood qi power that was refined merged into Su Bo's blood qi, cleansing the flesh throughout his limbs and body.

In only a few breaths, Su Bo's aura broke through to the third tempering of the physical body.

Yet his aura continued to rise...

The immense vital essence seemed inexhaustible, endlessly erupting from Su Bo's muscles, bones, and organs.

The vital essence contained within the flesh and blood essence of a great demon of the Divine Ability realm was immense even in a single trace.

Not to mention the demon beast meat Su Bo had eaten over this period, or the vital essence absorbed by the Ten-Thousand-Jun Bloodstone. Any one of them had left vast reserves of vital essence within his body.

Now, all of it had been drawn out at once.

"Pop..."

Twenty-one strands of warrior blood qi... twenty-three... twenty-five, twenty-six... twenty-seven strands of warrior blood qi.

At the peak of the third tempering, his flesh had already been cleansed to its limit. Yet his blood qi continued to grow without end, gradually spreading from his flesh toward his muscles and bones.

The blood qi seeped into his muscles and bones, only to be blocked outside the muscle-and-bone barrier.

His wave-like blood qi gathered its strength and slammed fiercely against the barrier in its path, battering the muscle-and-bone barrier within Su Bo until it was on the verge of collapse.

"Break!" Su Bo forcibly withdrew the spiritual power that had seeped into his muscles, bones, and organs.

His powerful spiritual power merged with his blood qi power, transforming into a pale-gold blood qi dragon that slammed fiercely into the muscle-and-bone barrier.

Bang... Boom boom~!!

Su Bo's body trembled slightly. The great tendons within him tightened like bowstrings, ringing sharply as though they were about to snap in two.

All 206 of his bones continuously gave off cracking sounds, as if they were breaking apart.

Su Bo's foundation was simply too terrifying. The blood qi dragon formed from the fusion of pale-gold dragon blood and spiritual power instantly shattered the muscle-and-bone barrier.

Vast blood qi seeped into his countless major tendons, minor tendons, and bone marrow.

A tingling tempering of his muscles and bones began...

The muscle-and-bone barrier, broken...

Fourth tempering of the physical body, broken!~~

"Fourth tempering of a warrior, fist intent manifested..."

The darkness receded. Having followed the spirit skeleton into the Soul-Spirit Burial Grounds, Yi You stared in utter disbelief, his sharp eyes fixed on Su Bo as he cultivated.

Having comprehended arrow intent, he could naturally sense the existence of the Bixi Divine Form behind Su Bo.