At the center of the great hall, a silver cauldron thirty feet tall bubbled and steamed. This precious Medicine Furnace had been refined from part of the Xiao Clan's Sacrificial Spirit's body. Their Sacrificial Spirit was a Silver Mountain that had awakened to sentience, worshipped and offered sacrifices by generation after generation of the Xiao Clan. Honored as their spirit of sacrifice, he was an existence whose strength had undoubtedly reached the King-Sealing realm, and he had always sheltered the Xiao Clan's population of over a hundred million.
Everyone in the Xiao Clan revered silver. The main family favored silver clothes and armor, and even preferred their weapons to be silver.
This was also why, in the original plot, Xiao Tian had left behind the legendary tale of a silver-robed youth with an extraordinary bearing and an innate manifestation-after Shi Hao clubbed him from behind in Heaven Mending Pavilion's second trial ground.
Marquis Ling Tian personally tossed precious medicinal herbs into the silver cauldron, including silver ginseng, golden reishi, and crimson fleeceflower root. From time to time, he also added three-foot-long centipedes, spiders the size of washbasins, and Treasure Blood blazing with crimson radiance. In no time, the once-clear water turned a frightening array of colors.
But Xiao Tian was already used to it. He had been boiled more than once or twice, and by now he knew the road well enough to travel it with ease.
Every increase in his physical strength, even by a thousand jin, was an enormous step forward. This time, however, he intended to break through to ninety thousand jin.
After witnessing his talent, Marquis Ling Tian was naturally willing to support his beloved grandson with everything he had.
To ensure Xiao Tian's breakthrough succeeded, he brought out some of his treasured reserves, whether Treasure Blood, Treasure Bone, or supplementary medicinal ingredients.
For instance, he used nine jars of Treasure Blood. Xiao Tian clearly saw a golden Suanni roaring, a silver Bian bellowing in fury, a purple Pixiu shrieking, and a crimson-black Heavenly Dog howling wildly-
A differently colored ray of light burst from each jar, condensing into the imprint of a different Fierce Beast. Each was palm-sized, majestic and ferocious, as though ready to tear heaven and earth apart. They were so lifelike that they even tried to escape.
But Marquis Ling Tian was immensely powerful. Glowing silver characters appeared in his palm, and bone text lit up as his hand seemed to become pure silver. With one slap, he scattered those Fierce Beast imprints, turning them back into blood that fell into the cauldron.
Xiao Tian did not actually expect too much. Stone Village possessed an ancient inheritance, with foundations far deeper than the Xiao Clan could match. Fortunately, he understood exactly what made his constitution different. To improve, he only needed sufficient resources. His other innate advantages-the Calabash Brothers' Da Wa panel he had been born with-would naturally make his body grow stronger and stronger.
After all, among the seven Calabash Brothers, Da Wa had the finest constitution. Only San Wa's indestructible vajra physique could rival his.
Once Marquis Ling Tian finished carefully preparing the medicinal liquid for tempering the body and building its foundation, he personally opened the cauldron. Without hesitation, Xiao Tian leaped inside.
As soon as he entered, his body began glowing on its own. A crimson-gold halo flowed around him, and mysterious patterns of the Dao seemed to emerge. Meanwhile, the medicinal power in the cauldron seemed to transform into tiny pieces of bone text, scrambling to burrow into his body.
Xiao Tian activated his Innate Bone Text Divine Ability, sank straight into the cauldron, and entered a state of embryonic breathing. He had chosen to make his breakthrough today because of a vague, instinctive sensation. He felt that he had integrated another portion of the talents belonging to the Da Wa Panel today, and needed abundant cultivation resources to replenish himself and aid his transformation.
Silver divine light shot from Marquis Ling Tian's eyes. After staring at the cauldron for a while, he rubbed his hands excitedly and circled it over and over, first one way, then the other, like someone pushing a millstone.
Back when he was in the blood moving realm, he had only broken through to eighty thousand jin of strength. He had been hailed as a genius seen once in a century, with every chance of reaching the array formation realm in the future.
And he remembered that he had been eleven when his physical strength broke through to eighty thousand jin.
His grandson Xiao Tian was only four, yet he was already challenging the threshold of ninety thousand jin of fleshly body power.
At that thought, Marquis Ling Tian danced with excitement, displaying none of the dignity expected of a Marquis-Sealing expert. Fortunately, there was no one else here. He felt that his grandson might well be able to challenge the legendary ultimate limit of one hundred thousand jin.
According to legend, anyone who attained one hundred thousand jin in the blood moving realm had the aptitude to surpass the venerable realm and aspire to the divine realm. Becoming a god-nowadays, that was already a realm of legend in the Desolate Region.
He had met two Venerables in this Great Wilderness, but he had not heard of any divine beings for a long time. They had existed, certainly, but only in legends; he had never seen one with his own eyes.
After Xiao Tian spent an hour in the cauldron, its contents turned into clear water. He had devoured every last trace of medicinal power. With a light leap, he pushed up the cauldron's lid, shrank his body to the size of a flea, and jumped straight through the gap he had opened.
"How did it go? Did you succeed?"
Marquis Ling Tian immediately asked in excitement.
Xiao Tian said nothing. He walked straight over to a nearby cauldron marked ninety thousand jin, wrapped his arms around one of its legs, and lifted it off the ground. The entire movement flowed in one smooth breath and looked effortless.
There were twenty cauldrons in all, ranging from the lightest at one thousand jin to the heaviest at one hundred thousand jin.
The clan had specially refined them to make it easier to test the children's progress.
Marquis Ling Tian had long believed his grandson would succeed, but actually seeing it still left him staring, tongue-tied. That cauldron had stood there for over eight hundred years without anyone lifting it.
As for the hundred-thousand-jin cauldron, it had originally been made merely to encourage the children. From old to young, through generation after generation, no one in the Xiao Clan had ever budged it even a fraction while in the blood moving realm.
"All right, all right, put it down and rest a while. Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?
"Xiao Feng, get in here and bring Tian'er's milk jug."
Before Xiao Tian, Marquis Ling Tian expertly demonstrated what preferential treatment looked like. One moment his expression was fawning; the next, he looked as fierce as a wild bull.
"Coming!"
Xiao Feng answered in a deep, muffled voice. He had been watching over the milk jug and guarding the great hall.
He, too, understood how earth-shattering it would be if word spread that a four-year-old child was breaking through to ninety thousand jin of physical strength. They had to ensure nothing went wrong and not the slightest whisper leaked out. All along, only he and the old man had handled Xiao Tian's body tempering and foundation building.
Seeing his father enter and noticing his eager gaze, Xiao Tian lifted the cauldron he had just set down once more, then gently returned it to its original position, as though it had never moved.
He had accomplished this through fleshly body power alone, without using any bone text for assistance, let alone his innate divine ability.
Having finished, Xiao Tian ran over, asked for his milk jug, and drank fifty jin in one go before letting out a thoroughly satisfied burp.
Marquis Ling Tian and Xiao Feng looked at the clear water left in the cauldron after Xiao Tian had absorbed all its medicinal power, then exchanged a glance. Marquis Ling Tian wore a solemn expression, dignified as a sacred statue, while Xiao Feng could not help breaking into a broad grin and laughing. Then he saw his father's bull-like eyes glaring at him and hurriedly shut his mouth.
After drinking the Hundred-Beast Milk, Xiao Tian stood naked where he was. First his palms glowed, then silver bone text spread upward over his little forearms and shoulders. Finally, silver runes enveloped his entire body, flickering mysteriously.
This was a precious Treasure Art taught by the Xiao Clan's Sacrificial Spirit, and only members of the main clan could cultivate it. Enveloped in the gauzy robe formed by those silver runes, the body gained even greater strength and immense weight, along with a mysterious vibrating power.
Xiao Tian had begun learning this bone text at the age of one. By now, his mastery was so deep that many teenagers could not compare to him.
That was not all. With a thought, he dismissed this Treasure Art and activated another. His arms seemed to transform into a pair of blue-green wings, with bone text arranging itself into individual feathers.
This was the Luan Bird's bone text, a flight-enabling Treasure Art in the Xiao Clan's collection. It allowed those in the blood moving realm to glide at low altitudes, and with profound mastery, even to fly.
Moreover, it was also a powerful offensive Treasure Art, one of the Xiao Clan's clan-protecting Treasure Arts.
It was an inherited Treasure Art from a Fierce Beast descendant bearing Phoenix blood, and was extraordinarily powerful.
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(End of chapter)
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