Slaughter Tempered the Body, Radiance Was Born of Flesh and Blood!

[I've seen the readers' comments. Every new book has a new-book period, so the Clan Chief is posting two updates a day and will try to add more, but that will have to wait a few days. There aren't many chapters in reserve right now, and I'm still building up a stockpile! Please recommend the book. A new book needs nourishment-recommendation votes!]

Radiance Born of Flesh and Blood, the ultimate manifestation of the second step of the Five Body-Forging Realms, was a rosy light that suffused the depths of the flesh.

To reach this realm of radiance, Qingyang Huan sat cross-legged on the stone bed, compressing the blood Qi within him with all his might. His abundant blood Qi had even stirred the Slaughter Bone Rune hidden deep within his body.

Perhaps because of the Slaughter Bone Rune, throughout his recent killings, he had increasingly felt a delight at the prospect of slaughter, as though it were about to become an instinct.

He saw nothing wrong with hunting in the Great Wilderness or fighting other races to the death. But if this slaughter became a bloodthirst he could no longer control, then he would no longer be comprehending slaughter-slaughter would be leading him astray!

For now, however, the most important thing was to increase his strength. No matter how mild the Wood Race's blood Qi was, once enough accumulated, it still made his body hum.

Pure blood Qi essence continually scoured his flesh, like dragons roaring and tigers howling, making the flesh beneath his skin tremble.

"My body's accumulated blood power has already reached a bottleneck, but it's still far from enough to stir the Slaughter Bone Rune and nurture rosy radiance within my flesh in one stroke. I need to borrow an outside force!"

On the bluestone, Qingyang Huan opened his eyes. A faint, bloody glow floated over his face, while blood Qi raged inside him. He had already absorbed ten streams of pure blood Qi essence in succession.

As that blood Qi surged within him, bloody light even flickered beneath his beastskin robe. Faintly foul-smelling grime seeped from his pores-the impurities squeezed from his flesh by the blood Qi's ceaseless scouring.

Whoosh!

The next moment, he rose from the bluestone and sprinted into the depths of the mountains, plunging into the night.

Splash!

Deep in the mountains lay a ravine, where a waterfall a hundred zhang high poured down like a bolt of white silk. Qingyang Huan leaped straight beneath it, but, caught unprepared, was swept into the pool by the current.

In that instant of relaxation, the blood Qi within him became like a river pouring forth. No longer under his control, it surged through all the flesh of his body.

Boom!

He struggled to his feet and plunged beneath the waterfall again. Circulating his cultivation formula, he soon halted the outpouring of blood Qi once more. He stood beneath the waterfall, letting the torrents scour him, using their force to suppress the raging blood Qi within.

At that moment, several figures behind him also arrived at the pool, carrying the Wood Race's blood and bones, allowing him to begin absorbing pure blood Qi again.

The blood Qi he absorbed flowed in torrents through his flesh, swiftly merging with it and becoming his own blood Qi power. Otherwise, where would the human race's soaring strength during Body Casting have come from?

He continually drew blood Qi into his body, then used the force of the waterfall's current to counter its impact within him. In this way, another ten streams of pure blood Qi essence entered his body.

Compared with ordinary warriors of the Great Wilderness, he had already absorbed three or four times as much blood Qi essence as warriors of the same realm. Yet Qingyang Huan still did not stop.

Beneath the waterfall, his entire body seemed to become a sealed furnace, taking in but letting nothing out. He remained nailed fast in the pool, letting the waterfall scour him.

By the time night receded and faint purple Qi came from the east to suffuse the sky, a large mass of blood Qi had accumulated in his chest. Smaller masses also clung throughout his limbs and bones, the crystalline, immense blood Qi pulsing with the blood vessels within him!

By now, his beastskin robe could no longer conceal the bloody light floating over his body. Throughout the night, he had absorbed thirty-three streams of blood-colored essence in succession.

Hum!

When the rosy light in the sky reached the waterfall, Qingyang Huan abruptly opened his eyes. A rumbling followed throughout his body as those masses of blood Qi, concentrated to the utmost, exploded directly within his flesh!

Rumble!

In that instant, the rumbling from within him actually drowned out the plunging waterfall, like dragons roaring and seas surging. Almost simultaneously, a faint presence of slaughter spilled from his body.

Boom!

The accumulated essence of more than thirty streams of blood Qi exploded, driving through every part of his body like a blade splitting bamboo. Yet deep within his flesh, the Slaughter Bone Rune became blades and swords, clashing with the surging blood Qi.

The Slaughter Bone Rune's power directly shattered the blood Qi essence pouring down through him. As slaughter spread, it naturally cut into his blood and bones with incomparable, piercing pain.

Along those cuts in his flesh, the scattered blood Qi naturally merged into it.

So-called refinement was nothing more than using cultivation formulas to absorb blood Qi and repeatedly temper and pound the flesh, making blood Qi and flesh inseparable and giving rise to one's own strength.

Though piercing pain coursed throughout him, he could feel the tingling numbness of blood Qi pouring deep into his flesh. Wherever the Slaughter Bone Rune ravaged, the rolling blood Qi flowed, swiftly fusing with his flesh and giving rise to strength.

Eight thousand jin!

A gleam flickered in Qingyang Huan's eyes. The mere spreading of pure blood Qi had increased his strength by two thousand jin, though he had only just entered the second step of Body Casting. This already equaled an ordinary warrior's fourth step!

Of course, he had absorbed several times as much blood Qi as an ordinary warrior. To gain something, he had to pay a price. With the Slaughter Bone Rune that ordinary warriors lacked continually pushing the limits of his flesh, this was improvement through agonizing pain.

"I haven't reached the limit yet. The blood Qi essence has merged with my blood and bones, but its potential hasn't been fully developed."

Hum!

An intent of slaughter pierced straight through his entire body. The prickling pain suddenly intensified, and flesh that had stopped absorbing blood Qi was torn open again, allowing pure blood Qi to merge into it.

Faced with this bone-piercing pain, he chose to let the plunging waterfall pour over him to suppress it, diverting his sense of pain in this way.

The presence of slaughter was like the sharpest spear, entering every pore and every gap, even piercing directly through his flesh. Under these conditions, blood Qi surged throughout his body, continually seeping into his flesh, and his strength gradually began to grow again.

Under such ravaging, his flesh was riddled with holes. The crystalline blood Qi naturally rushed like great dragons into every part of his body. This was a sensation he had never experienced during his first Body Casting.

Not only that, under the dual scouring of slaughter and blood Qi, some impurities were also refined out.

At that moment, Qingyang Huan felt nothing but boiling blood Qi throughout his entire body, rolling like a tide, with no possibility of interruption.

As blood power scoured him, Qingyang Huan began throwing punches beneath the waterfall, blasting apart the falling water. It was as though his body held limitless strength for him to command.

Nine thousand jin.

The flesh ravaged by the Slaughter Bone Rune was continually soothed by an endless supply of blood Qi. Now his fists punched through, reaching a peak he had never attained before under the blood Qi's scouring. As his fists whistled, the bloody glow surged like a tide, directly stirring the entire pool into turmoil.

Whoosh!

At that moment, he reached again for the pure blood Qi outside the pool. Dense blood Qi turned into bloody light and burrowed into his body, stirring the blood radiance within him into a roaring surge.

Yet Qingyang Huan was not satisfied. He drew in the remaining five streams of blood Qi essence as well. The dense blood Qi far exceeded what his body held, and his entire body trembled violently. Blood Qi surged and swelled within him like a tide, driving with all its might into every corner of his body!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The blood-colored tide swept through his limbs and bones, exploding again and again. Yet amid that bloody frenzy, deep within his crimson flesh, pinpoints of rosy light flashed and vanished, like stars in the night sky, crystalline and dazzling!