The Ingestion Method, Mastered

Three days later.

Inside his room, Jiang Yan opened his eyes.

"To think there's a shortcut like this to getting started with the Ingestion Method. Fortunately, I've already received my register, or I couldn't take this shortcut even if I wanted to."

Over these three days, he had made use of the Stone Book's wondrous properties.

Jiang Yan had cultivated day and night without stopping and had already fathomed the Ingestion Method.

But to practice this method, he needed an exceptionally tough stomach and intestines.

If he relied on time to toughen them slowly, it would take a while.

Jiang Yan was unwilling to waste his time on this.

He planned to follow the shortcut recorded in the Ingestion Method and quickly meet its requirements.

"But I'll have to buy more spiritual materials. At this rate, it won't be long before I spend all my remaining Spirit Stones."

Despite these thoughts, Jiang Yan still put Jinbao down and set off for the market.

Before long, Jiang Yan was sitting quietly cross-legged on the floor of a dim stone chamber in the market.

He had prepared all the necessary materials, spending another twenty Spirit Stones.

This stone chamber was different from those he had used before. A stone ritual altar stood in its very center.

The altar was only a little over a foot high, like a single stair.

Its surface was smooth and clean, with just three things set upon it.

On the far left lay a ginseng root, scarlet all over and blazing hot. Waves of heat rose above it, making the view shimmer.

In the middle was a small blue grass plant. It looked no different from ordinary roadside grass, aside from its color.

On the right stood two bottles, each containing a liquid.

After regulating his breathing, Jiang Yan rose, took off his outer robe, and sat on the altar in only his underclothes.

He picked up one bottle and poured its contents onto his palm.

Splash-

Scarlet liquid flowed out, but the Law Power in his hand held it in place, preventing it from running off.

"This Azure Bear Blood is fresh. The Spiritual Qi within it hasn't dissipated yet, making it ideal for preparing the altar.

"But it's too impure. I'll have to mix in some Spirit Ink."

Smelling the bloody reek, Jiang Yan nevertheless nodded in satisfaction and picked up the other bottle. Naturally, it contained Spirit Ink.

He poured out the pitch-black Spirit Ink as well, mixing it with the Azure Bear Blood.

The scarlet gradually faded, turning dark red.

Holding the blended blood ink under control with one hand, Jiang Yan formed a sword gesture with the fingers of the other and guided it toward the altar beneath him.

Following the instructions in the Ingestion Method, Jiang Yan worked with the utmost care.

Soon, dark-red Register Script characters took shape one after another, linking together.

Though the altar was smooth and without grooves, these Register Script characters seemed carved into it and did not flow.

In the end, these Register Script characters formed a circular formation around Jiang Yan on the altar.

The only blank space was the spot where he sat.

Once this was done, Jiang Yan took another bottle from his thumb ring and placed it before him.

Then he seized the Redfire Ginseng, which was still giving off waves of heat, and poured Law Power into it, stirring it up.

Boom!

Stimulated by his Law Power, the Redfire Ginseng immediately burst into fierce flames, becoming a fireball in his hand.

Holding the fireball, Jiang Yan steeled his gaze and forcefully stuffed it into his mouth.

Gulp-

As a Fire Element spiritual object, the Redfire Ginseng was inherently volatile, and now that it was burning, it was fiercer still.

The instant he swallowed it, Jiang Yan felt his stomach churn as though knives were cutting and axes were hacking inside.

Red light even shone through his flesh and underclothes.

The flames seemed about to burn through his stomach and intestines and spread throughout his entire body!

Just then, the Ninth-Rank Altar-Guarding Daoist Attendant register appeared between Jiang Yan's brows.

The dark-red Register Script characters drawn around him began to writhe, as though awakened by an enlightening touch.

Twisting, they crawled toward the center of the altar and soon attached themselves to Jiang Yan's skin.

Covered in Register Script characters, Jiang Yan looked like a shaman from High Antiquity, exuding a primitive, bizarre quality.

Suppressed by these Register Script characters, the Redfire Ginseng's flames spread only as far as his intestines before stopping.

Jiang Yan sent his Law Power surging in, but only used it to keep the flames from damaging his foundations.

He left the rest alone, letting his stomach and intestines slowly roast.

Waves of hot air escaped his mouth and were drawn back in through his nose. Jiang Yan could even smell the aroma of meat within them.

The Register Script characters on his body, which had originally covered him entirely, gradually began moving downward.

A full four hours passed, yet the fireball formed by the Redfire Ginseng had not weakened in the slightest.

"This ginseng would make excellent firewood."

Enduring the torment of his stomach and intestines being refined by fire, Jiang Yan let his thoughts wander, hoping to lessen the pain.

At last, the Register Script characters reached his throat.

Jiang Yan bit the tip of his tongue, forcibly roused himself, and picked up the bottle he had placed before him.

Tipping his head back, he poured the pill inside into his mouth.

The pill dissolved as soon as it entered his mouth and flowed into his stomach, dripping onto the Redfire Ginseng and slightly easing its burning.

Taking this opportunity, he picked up the other plant, the small blue grass.

Without giving himself time to hesitate, he opened his mouth as wide as possible and, against the heat billowing out, hurled it inside.

This Ice Crystal Grass and Redfire Ginseng were precisely what he needed to perform the "Water-Fire Organ Refining" recorded in the Ingestion Method.

Only such a perilous method could allow him to meet the Ingestion Method's requirements in the shortest possible time.

Once the Ice Crystal Grass entered his stomach, it gave off an intense chill.

Though the Redfire Ginseng had been somewhat suppressed, water and fire were ultimately incompatible.

One cold and one hot, the two clashed in Jiang Yan's belly.

With a whoosh, Jiang Yan's underclothes caught fire. The flames had barely risen before they were frozen out, and the clothes shattered noisily across the floor.

A hole had opened in Jiang Yan's stomach. Fortunately, the Register Script characters immediately crowded over and forcibly sealed it.

The Blood-Producing Pill he had just taken was also constantly healing him.

Holes opened and were patched.

These two things happened over and over inside Jiang Yan.

The characters had now all gathered over Jiang Yan's belly, looking like a layer of dark-red hide.

With the help of these Register Script characters, the water and fire inside Jiang Yan were barely held in check. He kept his eyes tightly shut.

This "Water-Fire Organ Refining" had to continue for a full day and night to succeed.

It could not be interrupted midway, or all his previous efforts would be wasted, and he would need a good period of recuperation as well.

Having spent his Spirit Stones and endured all this torment, how could Jiang Yan accept failure?

At times, sounds of flames boiling water into steam came from his belly; at others, there was the sound of ice freezing.

Jiang Yan clenched his teeth, his mind dazed, and doggedly endured.

Gradually, the sounds in the chamber faded. Jiang Yan lowered his head as though he had passed out.

Outside, the golden crow sank in the west and the jade rabbit rose in the east, yet Jiang Yan still showed no change.

Only when the golden crow crossed the sky once more was there finally movement in the dim stone chamber.

Rumble-

A somewhat muffled rumbling woke Jinbao, who lay sprawled by the door.

Jinbao raised his toad eyes and looked toward the altar.

Jiang Yan opened his eyes and straightened his hunched body, which was bare and uncovered.

Wasn't that thunderous rumbling coming from his belly?

He lowered his head to look at the altar.

On the spacious altar lay only the scraps of his underclothes and the empty pill bottle.

Not a trace remained of the Register Script characters he had drawn yesterday.

Nodding in satisfaction, Jiang Yan stood up, his bones crackling all over.

With a smile, he took a Daoist robe from his thumb ring and put it on.

The Ingestion Method was mastered!

Next, it was time to test its effects and see whether they were worth all the suffering he had endured.