Mornings in Fenlai City always carried the damp breath of spring. Tender green shoots poked through the gaps between paving stones, swallows carried mud to build nests beneath the eaves, and the morning bells of the distant Church of Light rang through the thin mist-but to Loa, none of this had anything to do with the changes taking place inside his body.
Three days had passed since he first used the earth vein spinal marrow fluid and Century-Old Stone Milk.
Over those three days, Loa had established his body's limit for absorbing their medicinal power: twice a day at most. Any more would be wasted. On the day he experimented, he took one extra drop of spinal marrow fluid. The dense life energy rampaged through his body for nearly an hour, and more than thirty percent of it ultimately dissipated. Loa still winced at the waste.
He sat cross-legged on a bluestone slab in the middle of his courtyard, eyes closed in concentration. Three small bottles stood before him: twenty-three drops remained in the jade bottle of earth vein spinal marrow fluid, while more than half the Century-Old Stone Milk remained in its flask.
Four days, ten drops of spinal marrow fluid.
His body had already begun showing signs of tolerance. Loa could feel that when he took the seventh and eighth drops that morning, the burning sensation washing through his meridians had noticeably weakened. This was normal-any natural treasure would produce diminishing effects with continuous use. He needed to stop for a while to let his body "digest" and "adapt."
"Good timing. The sacrococcygeal region is almost finished tempering."
Loa turned his attention inward.
At the base of his spine, the fourth coccygeal vertebra and the first four sacral vertebrae had been completely tempered and opened. They now gave