Initial Refinement
Newly arrived, Mo Wen wanted to experience Azure Luan Immortal City's bustling nightlife.
So he closed up his cave abode and set off at a leisurely pace, soon arriving in the entertainment district.
Only at night did the entertainment district truly come alive. Lights blazed everywhere, and the closely packed pavilions looked even more magnificent and colorful in the glow of illusion spells.
After only a few steps, Mo Wen saw a crowd of cultivators gathered beneath a raised platform, cheers rising one after another. Looking closer, he saw a group of graceful female cultivators displaying various new styles of magical robes.
Not only could the styles and colors of these robes be changed at will, but their protective functions were also extremely powerful, making people feel the urge to buy them before they knew it. The female cultivators who cared about their appearance in particular wished they could pack up every robe and take them all home.
Mo Wen watched the cultivation-world fashion show for a while, then continued on his way.
Before long, he came upon a pleasure house floating in midair. Called the Jade Toad Palace, it stood three stories high, surrounded by wisps of seven-colored mist. Looking up from below, he could just make out moon palace fairies in rainbow robes dancing in the air, their immortal beauty captivating enough to steal souls.
"This is on a whole other level! I have to give it a thumbs-up!" Mo Wen was deeply impressed and felt an urge to "go inside and have a look." Only when he remembered certain rumors about "cultivation harvesting" and "human cauldrons" did he sensibly leave.
After that, he strolled through several more streets and saw many novel entertainment venues, such as the Immortal Sound Pavilion, where a single song could make one forget one's worries; the Pleasure Grove, whose fragrance drifted for ten li; and the fresh and elegant Hundred Flowers Valley. All were refreshing places that made visitors linger and forget to leave.
"The cultivators in Azure Luan Immortal City really know how to have fun. This has been a real eye-opener!"
Mo Wen marveled, feeling that he had made the right choice in coming. Red Leaf Market simply couldn't compare to Azure Luan Immortal City; it was left eighteen streets behind!
At last, satisfied, he returned to his cave abode to rest.
During the half month he had spent traveling to Azure Luan Immortal City, he hadn't had a single peaceful night's sleep. It was no exaggeration to say he was exhausted in body and mind. Now that he was in a relatively safe environment, he naturally wanted a good rest.
The next morning, Mo Wen awoke feeling that all his fatigue had vanished. Vitality filled his body, and he felt as though he had come back to life.
"Now that I've settled in, it's time to formally begin cultivating the Ten Thousand Blood True Body Instruction."
Mo Wen went to the cultivation chamber, took a jade bottle from his Storage Bag, and pulled out the stopper to look inside.
The bottle contained a dozen or so soybean-sized blood beads that gave off dense Blood Qi. The beads were dark red and contained tiny impurities.
These blood beads were Demon Beast Essence Blood, extracted from the Demon Beasts Mo Wen had slain on his way to Azure Luan Immortal City. They had not yet undergone further refinement.
The Ten Thousand Blood True Body Instruction contained a top-grade Essence Blood refinement technique that could remove impurities from Essence Blood to the greatest possible extent and purify its essence. Mo Wen had already practiced the technique to the proficient level, enough to handle this Demon Beast Essence Blood.
Using his Divine Sense, he drew out a drop of Demon Beast Essence Blood from a distance and held it above his palm.
Then, using his Divine Sense as a furnace and his True Qi as fire, he began refining the Demon Beast Essence Blood. A quarter of an hour later, every last impurity had been removed from the drop. Mo Wen continued refining it until it changed from dark red to scarlet, then brought the process to an end.
The Demon Beast Essence Blood was now clear throughout and sparkling like crystal.
Without further hesitation, Mo Wen swallowed the Essence Blood in one gulp. At once, he felt as though he had swallowed a ball of raging fire, and scorching Blood Qi flowed instantly into his limbs and bones.
How fierce! Mo Wen exclaimed inwardly. He immediately assumed an ancient, unusual stance and used a breathing method to refine the energy in the Demon Beast Essence Blood.
About half an hour later, Mo Wen finally stopped cultivating and steadied his breathing. He felt as though he had swallowed a supreme nourishing pill, surging power filling him inside and out.
He made no effort to suppress it, instead beginning to practice a fist art that complemented the Ten Thousand Blood Golden Body Instruction-the Six Paths Killing Fist.
As its name suggested, the Six Paths Killing Fist was an unparalleled fist art intended for slaughter. It pursued destructive power to the utmost, bringing physical strength to its absolute limit. Its might was unmatched!
The Six Paths Killing Fist had thirty-six forms in all, and wielding them freely required a powerful physique as a foundation. Generally speaking, one needed peak first-tier Body Refining cultivation to execute the first nine forms.
Since entering Limit Breaking, Mo Wen's physique had continued to grow stronger and was now comparable to that of a late first-tier Body Refining cultivator. He could just barely execute the first seven forms of the Six Paths Killing Fist, but he still couldn't perform the eighth and ninth forms smoothly.
He didn't rush for results, repeatedly putting the first seven forms of the Six Paths Killing Fist into practice. Whenever he grew tired, he circulated the Azure Wood Instruction to recover his strength. Once he had recovered, he resumed practicing the fist art, continuing until seven days had passed.
After seven days of refinement, he had completely integrated the power brought by the Demon Beast Essence Blood and could absorb a second drop.
Mo Wen took out another drop of Demon Beast Essence Blood, refined and purified it as before, then used the Ten Thousand Blood Golden Body Instruction to refine it into his body. This time, absorbing the Essence Blood was a little easier than the first, as though his body had developed some resistance to it. The time he needed to hone his physique and integrate the Essence Blood also fell to five days.
As time passed, Mo Wen refined the Demon Beast Essence Blood he had, drop by drop, and his physique grew rapidly stronger. By the time he refined the seventh drop, his physique had reached the Peak of Late-Stage Body Refining, and he could execute the ninth form of the Six Paths Killing Fist at will!
Now, his Body Refining strength alone was enough to defeat an ordinary cultivator at Qi Refining Great Perfection. From this point on, refining more first-tier Demon Beast Essence Blood would only deepen his physical foundation; it would no longer let his physique advance by leaps and bounds as before.
Of course, Mo Wen was currently in a state of Limit Breaking, and his physique was still growing stronger. This growth was slow, however, much slower than refining Essence Blood.
Mo Wen still had a dozen or so drops of First-Tier Superior-Grade Demon Beast Essence Blood on hand. There was no need to buy more until he had refined them all. By his reckoning, to complete the initial refinement stage of the Ten Thousand Blood True Body Instruction, he would need to refine at least another three hundred drops of Essence Blood from First-Tier Superior-Grade Demon Beasts.
If he could refine even more Essence Blood, so much the better. The stronger his physical foundation, the more powerful the primordial embryo it nurtured would be, and the more it would benefit his future cultivation.
Time slipped quietly by as he cultivated at an unhurried pace, and Mo Wen's strength steadily increased.
One day, he was practicing his killing fist art in the courtyard when he suddenly sensed someone trigger the protective formation.