Marrow Cleansing

The setting sun bathed Little Scarlet Cloud Mountain in a deep rose hue, living up to its name.

Dong, dong, dong...

The deep toll of a bell reverberated through the air.

Halfway up the mountain, Chu Zhichuan stood listlessly on a rock, scanning his surroundings with wary vigilance.

The weathered stone was smooth and flat, the size of a bed, offering a clear view of the area to prevent ambushes.

His handsome face was pale. His left hand clutched his blood-soaked right shoulder, while his injured right hand weakly gripped a longsword, his whole body taut, ready to strike at any moment.

"Heir Apparent, let's go."

A middle-aged man appeared silently beside him, placed a hand on his left shoulder, and whisked him away like a gust of wind.

Moments later, the two swept through the trees and landed before Chu Qingfeng.

Chu Qingfeng still stood on the great boulder at the mountain's foot, bathed in the glow of the evening clouds.

Chu Zhichuan turned to look around. Only four Heirs Apparent and one Prince were present; he saw no sign of Chu Zhiyuan or Chu Zhiting.

Two dark figures whistled through the air and stopped beside him. A middle-aged man and Chu Mingxuan appeared.

A slanting, finger-long gash on Chu Mingxuan's chest was still bleeding, nearly having split him open from chest to belly. He grinned. "Tenth Son, you've been out a while?"

"Eighteenth Uncle, I just came out."

"What did you get?"

"One Seven-Colored Chicken."

"Lucky you!" Chu Mingxuan said enviously. "I was hoping to run into one!"

"And Eighteenth Uncle's catch?"

"I killed a Scarlet Cloud Snake." Chu Mingxuan puffed up with pride.

That Scarlet Cloud Snake had been stupid enough to hide in a crevice between two rocks, its color blending perfectly with the surroundings, invisible to the eye.

But his nose was sharp, and he caught the scent of blood.

So he played along, pretending not to notice as he approached the two rocks, then struck without warning and killed it in one blow.

If it hadn't been in that crevice, with the snake's speed and agility, hitting it would have been nearly impossible.

Luck was something no one could stop when it came.

"Ninth Son still isn't out? He might have gotten something this time."

Chu Zhichuan nodded.

Just then, a dark figure shot over, and Chu Zhiting was brought in by a middle-aged man.

His clothes were torn in several places, revealing bronze-like muscles. His shoulders, chest, lower abdomen, and thighs all bore wounds. A piercing wound on his shoulder still oozed fresh blood.

Chu Zhiting spotted Chu Zhichuan and laughed. "Tenth Son, you didn't come out early, did you?"

"Sorry to disappoint Ninth Brother. I just came out." Chu Zhichuan's tone was flat.

Chu Mingxuan said, "Tenth Son killed a Seven-Colored Chicken, enough for military merit. What about you, Ninth Son?"

Chu Zhiting's grin widened. "One Green Wolf, and one Bronze Pig."

"Bronze Pig?" Chu Zhichuan was skeptical.

A lone Green Wolf wasn't that hard to kill, but a Bronze Pig was another matter.

The name Bronze Pig didn't come from the yellowish color of its bristles, but from its bronze tendons and iron bones—impervious to blades and spears. Anyone they knew would only flee for their lives upon meeting one.

Chu Zhiting had killed a Bronze Pig?

That was too absurd.

Chu Zhiting smirked smugly. "A small Bronze Pig. It was still quite a struggle to kill."

"A piglet?" Chu Zhichuan grew even more doubtful. "The big one didn't come after you?"

Once a piglet was killed, the adult would immediately sense it and seek revenge with a vengeance.

Bronze Pigs were incredibly fast, immensely strong, and impervious to weapons. If you ran into one and weren't fast enough, you couldn't even escape—you'd be crushed into pulp by the adult.

Chu Zhichuan looked thoughtful, then said slowly, "Ninth Brother, you've started using your head... You killed the piglet right at the end, then used the guards to escape the adult's pursuit, didn't you?"

"Who says I don't use my head?" Chu Zhiting said indignantly. "I didn't take that shortcut. I killed the piglet long before!"

"In any case, I'm impressed." Chu Zhichuan curled his lip and clasped his fist in a perfunctory salute.

"Ninth Brother, you don't believe me?!" Chu Zhiting grew even more annoyed.

He had been ready to call in the Imperial Forbidden Palace Masters. After all, killing the piglet was enough for Ninth Grade Merit, so retreating wouldn't have mattered.

But to his surprise, no adult Bronze Pig had come after him.

"I didn't say I don't believe you." Chu Zhichuan brushed it off.

"You're just jealous!" Chu Zhiting shot him a smug sidelong glance.

"Enough, you two both got something. Why isn't Fourth Son out yet?" Chu Mingxuan cut off their bickering.

Chu Zhiting frowned toward Little Scarlet Cloud Mountain, then looked up at Chu Qingfeng.

Chu Qingfeng was staring intently at the distant Little Scarlet Cloud Mountain, as if he could see what was happening inside.

Chu Zhiting asked, "Paternal Granduncle, is Fourth Brother all right?"

Chu Qingfeng shook his head.

"The first time entering is very dangerous. I just hope Fourth Brother isn't too badly hurt."

"The first time always brings a heavy loss."

"He still hasn't come out... As expected, that's Fourth Son for you," Chu Mingxuan said.

The first time entering Little Scarlet Cloud Mountain, one was often struck down almost immediately. A sturdy fellow like Chu Zhiting could hold out a bit longer, but most people collapsed in the blink of an eye.

Twelve people had come out, leaving only Chu Zhiyuan missing, which stirred low murmurs among the crowd: Had something gone wrong? Could he have lost his life?

Though no one had died since the last Golden Plume Falcon killing, who could say there wouldn't be an accident? Maybe another Golden Plume Falcon hadn't been cleared out.

Amid the crowd's murmurs, Chu Zhiyuan strolled slowly out of the woods.

"Is that Fourth Brother?"

"Fourth Son, he..."

The crowd immediately rushed forward in surprise, surrounding him in the center.

He was spotless from head to toe, a stark contrast to the disheveled state of everyone around him, making him seem even more elegant and striking, like jade in the wind.

Chu Mingxuan looked him up and down: "Fourth Son, are you hurt?"

Chu Zhiyuan was as calm and composed as if he'd been on a spring outing: "I'm fine."

Everyone's eyes showed curiosity and confusion.

Some even suspected he hadn't gone in at all.

Four black-robed middle-aged men drifted over lightly, landed before Chu Qingfeng, and presented the small booklets in both hands to him.

"Thirteenth Uncle, how did everyone do?" Chu Mingxuan quickly asked. "Pretty good this time, right?"

He felt his luck had been excellent—Ninth Son and Tenth Son had both gotten something, so surely no one else had come up empty.

That was how the Winter Hunt worked: if luck was good, everyone's luck was good; if luck was bad, everyone's luck was bad.

Chu Qingfeng nodded. "Seven people got something."

"Then who got the most?" Chu Mingxuan asked.

"Chu Zhiyuan, twenty of them," Chu Qingfeng said.

The moment those words fell, the surroundings went silent.

"Thirteenth Uncle, how... how many?" Chu Mingxuan hurriedly asked.

"He killed twenty in total," Chu Qingfeng said, looking at Chu Zhiyuan with a slight smile. "He should still have some strength left."

Chu Zhiyuan smiled sheepishly. "Paternal Granduncle, I've reached my limit."

The key point was that the Demon Beasts had all fled.

Within a hundred-meter range of the woods at the mountain's base, killing twenty was already the limit; the rest had all vanished.

These Demon Beasts, sensing trouble, would flee without a trace—they wouldn't stay put waiting to die.

He found it harder and harder to kill them, and eventually even had to move uphill.

But it seemed the Demon Beasts had some unique way of communicating among themselves; as he went higher, he barely encountered any more—each one gave him a wide berth and fled far away.

He even suspected that next time he came, he might not be able to kill any Demon Beasts at all.

He hadn't expected these Demon Beasts to be so troublesome—they had an incredibly sharp intuition for danger and a formidable survival instinct.

"Hiss..."

Gasps sounded one after another, and astonished stares seemed to pierce right through Chu Zhiyuan.

"Truly, comparing people only drives you mad." Chu Mingxuan shook his head with a sigh, then turned to look at Chu Zhiting and Chu Zhichuan. "Ninth Son, Tenth Son, how do you feel?"

Chu Zhiting clasped his hands toward Chu Zhiyuan in admiration.

Chu Zhichuan snorted. "How does Eighteenth Uncle feel!"

Chu Mingxuan chuckled. "I'm completely convinced!... You're still not willing to admit defeat, are you?"

"..." Chu Zhichuan looked at Chu Zhiyuan.

He would never concede defeat. He would surely strive to catch up, and one day he would.

Chu Qingfeng said, "All right, let's head back to the city. Go home early—your families are all worried sick."

"Right, right, let's go home quickly."

Everyone nodded and hurried back using their lightness skills.

Chu Qingfeng came up beside Chu Zhiyuan. "Don't get carried away. Tomorrow you can go to the Heavenly Treasure Department to exchange for pills and such. Remember, don't take anything that boosts cultivation!"

"Yes, Paternal Granduncle." Chu Zhiyuan clasped his hands.

Chu Qingfeng gave him a long look, then flickered and vanished without a trace.

The midday sun made the lake water exceptionally clear.

Chu Zhiyuan sat cross-legged on an Arhat Bed inside a waterside pavilion, his left palm holding a crimson pill—the Minor Marrow Cleansing Pill.

Two Ninth Grade Merits could be exchanged for two Minor Marrow Cleansing Pills, yet he had only used one Ninth Grade Merit to obtain this single pill.

Outside the pavilion, Feng Xi guarded the front door, Guo Chi the back, and Zou Fang pressed close to the window.

Chu Zhiyuan swallowed the Minor Marrow Cleansing Pill in one gulp.

The pill entered his stomach and instantly transformed into a ball of scorching flame. A burning sensation rapidly spread through every part of his body, and in the blink of an eye, sweat poured from him like a torrent.

"Chi chi chi chi..."

The longsword at his waist leaped from its sheath, turning into specks of cold light.

Those specks formed a dozen plum blossoms in the air, all appearing almost simultaneously. When they vanished, the sword had already returned to its sheath, and he had stepped off the bed into the Dragon Subduing Stance.

Chu Zhiyuan opened his eyes, a look of deep emotion on his face.

No wonder people pursued spirit pills so fervently—once you experienced their effects, who could still settle down to cultivate bit by bit?

It was like someone who had tasted getting rich quick—how could they ever go back to earning a meager salary at a job?

One Minor Marrow Cleansing Pill was worth a full month of bitter cultivation.

The first layer of the Dragon Transformation Technique was already mastered.

With the first layer of the Dragon Transformation Technique complete, mastering the Qi Washing Art and the Dragon Binding Rope would be easy—a day or two would suffice to become proficient, and then he could break through into the Xiantian realm.