Chapter 13: Body Refining Technique, True Blood Secret Scripture

Late at night, on the Third Layer of the Xuanzhen Temple's Scripture Pavilion.

Holding a Bright Light Lamp powered by his Magical Power, Li Yinsheng illuminated his surroundings and carefully examined the bookshelves storing Cultivation Techniques.

Half an hour ago, he had already sent Mu Xiaoyu, who had trained until she was completely exhausted, back to her room. The Quenching Essence Lock's effects were far better than he had anticipated. After Mu Xiaoyu finished her training today, he had examined her carefully. After consuming ten Nourishing Essence Pills, her Cultivation results were forty to fifty percent better than before.

Although it was still not quite enough for the Dao examination, it was already very fast. At this speed, even though his Junior Sister lacked a Root Device, her Cultivation speed in the first three layers wouldn't be much worse than someone who had one. After all, even ordinary disciples with Root Devices didn't have a Quenching Essence Lock or an unlimited supply of Nourishing Essence Pills.

After sending his Junior Sister to rest, Li Yinsheng returned to his own room, merged the Blood Refining Core with his heart, and completed its Refinement. Afterward, he Cultivated for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Although Tempering Qi Blood with C Fire Qi was indeed unbearably agonizing—feeling as if boiling water was being poured into his limbs and bones—the Tempering of his Qi Blood was quite effective.

However, he did not continue Cultivating.

Previously, he had only Cultivated the Qingxuan Scripture because he didn't want to be half-hearted and slow down his progress. But now that he had the Blood Refining Core, it would naturally be more advantageous to take a Body Cultivation Technique as a Minor. Although the Blood Refining Core allowed him to automatically Temper his Qi Blood while Cultivating even without a Body Cultivation Technique, he was guarding the entire Scripture Pavilion of the Xuanzhen Temple and was certainly not lacking in options.

Now, he was actually a bit troubled by having too many choices. Aside from the Town Guardian Technique, which had already been lost, the other Cultivation Techniques in the Scripture Pavilion were perfectly preserved. Among them were many high-grade Body Cultivation Techniques, each with its own merits.

"Five Chariots and Three Passengers' Ultimate Destiny Technique. It uses sheep, deer, and oxen pulling carts as a metaphor for circulating Qi Blood through the microcosmic orbit. It's divided into five steps: Sheep Vehicle Hinayana, Middle Vehicle of the Deer Cart, Great Vehicle of the Ox Cart, Upper Path of the Great Ox Vehicle, and Supreme White Ox Vehicle...

"It sounds interesting, but unfortunately, it explicitly states that it cannot be used as a Supporting Cultivation Technique. To Cultivate it, one must abandon their original Cultivation Technique and become a pure Body Cultivator. I'll pass!

"Golden Flesh Jade Bone Longevity Qi Cultivation Scripture? Hmm, seventy percent Body Refining, thirty percent Qi Cultivation. Its effects focus on maintaining youth and extending lifespan. It's not good for Magical Combat, though it is quite beneficial for Dual Cultivation... What use is this? I'll pass!

"Jiao Snake Muscle Changing Method? Ugh, it requires the gallbladders and tendons of so many snake Demon Beasts? That's too expensive. Plus, it mixes Body Cultivator and poison cultivation Magic Techniques. That's biting off more than one can chew.

"The Buddha's Warrior Moving Mountain Scripture... Why is there a Buddhist Sect Cultivation Technique here? Buddhist Sect Cultivation Techniques require learning complete sets; if you practice one, you have to practice them all. I'll pass!

"Demon Ghost Painted Skin Refining Art? What the hell! How did a Demonic Cultivation Technique get mixed in? Why did the temple's predecessors collect everything!

"Three Yang Bone Refining Technique... Three Yang? This sounds somewhat compatible with the Blood Refining Core's C Fire Qi. Let me take a good look... Tsk! Restricted to female Cultivators only? On what grounds!"

After searching for a long time, Li Yinsheng finally selected a satisfactory Body Cultivation Technique.

"True Blood Secret Scripture." Li Yinsheng lowered his head to gaze at the crimson book in his hands. "It uses pure Qi and Blood Power to cleanse one's essence blood, further pursuing the Refinement of essence blood into True Blood... It's actually a Body Cultivation Technique focused on Blood Refining! And it can be taken as a Minor!"

As far as he knew, there were many branches of Body Cultivators, divided into numerous schools such as major Blood Refining, major muscle refining, major Bone Refining, major skin refining, and major organ refining. Although these schools had their own merits and were generally considered equal in standing, the path of Blood Refining was widely acknowledged as the most comprehensive and the most difficult to Cultivate.

After all, at the end of the day, the foundation of a Body Cultivator was Qi Blood. Other paths mostly involved Tempering one or several specific parts of the body first, and then feeding back into and strengthening the Qi Blood. But the Blood Refining school directly strengthened the Qi Blood and fed it back into the entire body—muscles, bones, skin, organs, meridians, and so on. Every part of the body benefited, and even their hair would be thicker and tougher than others.

Although the path of Bone Refining also had a method of Tempering bone marrow to subsequently strengthen Qi Blood, it still couldn't compare to a true Blood Refining school. Of course, because of this, Blood Refining was relatively the hardest and slowest to progress among all Body Refining schools, which conversely made it non-mainstream.

Among the many Cultivation Techniques he had just browsed, only the "Five Chariots and Three Passengers' Ultimate Destiny Technique" was a Major Cultivation focused on Blood Refining. Both in its concept and its power, it was subtly a level higher than the Cultivation Techniques of other schools. Unfortunately, it could only be a Major Cultivation, not a Minor, and it explicitly stated that Cultivation would be slow, requiring perseverance from the practitioner.

"This True Blood Secret Scripture is not inferior to the Five Chariots and Three Passengers' Ultimate Destiny Technique in the slightest, though it seems even slower to Cultivate...

"However, this True Blood Secret Scripture can Refine essence blood into True Blood while Tempering Qi Blood, which can be considered making up for what it lacks.

"According to its description, the benefit of one drop of True Blood to one's Qi Blood is equal to three drops of essence blood. Moreover, when essence blood needs to be consumed, using True Blood instead not only yields better effects and less damage to the body, but it even recovers faster.

"Most importantly, when this Cultivation Technique is Cultivated to a profound level, it can even increase the upper limit of essence blood... No, it should be called the upper limit of True Blood." Li Yinsheng nodded in satisfaction.

Essence blood was the foundation of the human body's Qi Blood. Generally speaking, Cultivators who didn't practice Body Refining only had a little over a dozen drops of essence blood in their bodies. Losing even a single drop would severely damage their Primordial Energy, and losing more would reduce their lifespan. Unless they had suitable Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, it would be difficult to recover for the rest of their lives.

Body Cultivators would have quite a bit more essence blood, but generally only around a hundred drops. It was equally precious, tied to their personal strength, lifespan, and foundation. However, the True Blood cultivated from the True Blood Secret Scripture was not only more useful than essence blood, but also easier to recover, and even greater in quantity than the essence blood of ordinary Body Cultivators.

According to the Cultivation Technique's records, the True Blood Secret Scripture reaches up to the Twelfth Layer. Cultivating it to the Third Layer would yield nearly a thousand drops of True Blood, and a Cultivator at the Ninth Layer could have True Blood accounting for ten percent of their entire body's Qi Blood. For ordinary Cultivators, burning essence blood was a desperate, life-risking move. But for a Cultivator who had Cultivated the True Blood Secret Scripture to a profound level, burning it occasionally just for fun wouldn't be impossible.

However, while the advantages of this Cultivation Technique were prominent, its disadvantages were not small either. The True Blood Secret Scripture repeatedly emphasized that one must use "pure" Qi and Blood Power to cleanse their essence blood. This meant that many herbs and Elixirs commonly used by Body Cultivators to assist in Tempering Body could not be used with the True Blood Secret Scripture. Because True Blood was purer than essence blood, it allowed almost no impurities to exist.

Body Cultivators already Cultivated slowly; if they were additionally forbidden from using herbs for assistance, it would truly be adding insult to injury. Of course, it wasn't completely unusable—the Cultivation Technique specifically listed that some precious herbs and Heavenly and Earthly Treasures could be used. However, the cheapest among these permitted items cost tens of thousands of talismanic coins.

If he had to sum it up, this Cultivation Technique's rule was "either use no medicine, or use expensive medicine." Cheap goods were absolutely out of the question. Under these circumstances, Cultivating this Cultivation Technique would not be ordinarily slow.

As for being slow... let it be slow. Anyway, in that broken Grotto Heaven, the one thing he didn't lack was time. Having chosen his Cultivation Technique, Li Yinsheng simply sat cross-legged on the spot. After carefully reading through the Introduction Chapter of the True Blood Secret Scripture a few times, he began his Cultivation.

This Cultivation session was even more difficult than his earlier attempt to use the Blood Refining Core to assist in Tempering his Qi Blood. At that time, he merely had to endure the burning pain while Cultivating the Qingxuan Scripture. It couldn't even be considered multitasking; it was just a test of endurance and tranquility. But now, he had to Cultivate the Qingxuan Scripture while simultaneously guiding his Tempered Qi Blood to circulate according to the Magic Technique of the True Blood Secret Scripture. It was true multitasking. And while multitasking, he still had to endure the same burning pain.

After a short two hours, Li Yinsheng opened his somewhat tired eyes. With his current Cultivation, although he couldn't go completely without sleep forever, he could easily stay awake for days at a time and remain refreshed. But now, having only Cultivated for two hours, he felt physically and mentally exhausted. This was only possible because his tranquility had already been honed for an unknown number of years in that broken Grotto Heaven where he received rewards. Otherwise, he was certain he wouldn't have been able to endure even a single hour.

However, this ordeal was worth it. His True Blood Secret Scripture had truly stepped into the First Layer, and he had already completed the Refinement of one drop of essence blood into True Blood. Although the Blood Refining Technique was slow to Cultivate, he had the foundation laid by reaching up to the Third Layer of the Qingxuan Scripture. His Primordial Energy was abundant, and his Qi Blood was vigorous. Therefore, reaching the First Layer was just a matter of course; two hours was enough.

At the same time, however, he couldn't help but feel a bit emotional. Although the Cultivation up to the Third Layer of the Qingxuan Scripture wasn't entirely about Tempering Body and refining Qi Blood, the combined foundation accumulated up to this Third Layer was only barely enough to allow him to officially achieve the First Layer of the True Blood Secret Scripture. This True Blood Secret Scripture was indeed undeniably difficult to Cultivate.

Moreover, after this session, the foundation accumulated from the Qingxuan Scripture had all been converted to the True Blood Secret Scripture. When he Cultivated it in the future, it would be at a normal speed. Being able to reach the second layer within five years would probably be a very optimistic estimate.

Li Yinsheng scratched his head. He felt his scalp tingling and itching. He knew why. The opening of the True Blood Secret Scripture reminded Cultivators: "Hair is the surplus of blood." Upon mastering the First Layer of the True Blood Secret Scripture and obtaining the first drop of True Blood, one's Qi Blood would undergo an initial qualitative change. This reflected on the body by making the hair slightly denser, as well as darker, shinier, and tougher. That was why he felt this tingling itch on his scalp.

The True Blood Secret Scripture also stated that there was no need to panic in this situation. After a few hours to a few days, he would adapt and no longer feel it.

"Hmm... although I'm a bit tired now, I'm not very sleepy... Plus, my hair is so itchy, I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to." Li Yinsheng scratched his hair and glanced at the horizon, which was beginning to pale with the dawn.

"Whatever, it's almost dawn. Since I can't sleep anyway, I might as well go wake up my Junior Sister and guide her Cultivation!" Li Yinsheng stood up from his cross-legged position and stretched lazily. "She just started using the Quenching Essence Lock, so she needs more practice to adapt as soon as possible!"

He didn't know when his golden finger would issue the next task. If there wasn't a new Cultivation Aspiration for a while, he would have to consider how to earn talismanic coins next. The next milestone of saving thirty thousand talismanic coins corresponded to a reward of twenty years of Cultivation. With another twenty years of Cultivation, his Qingxuan Scripture would definitely break through the Ninth Layer, and his True Blood Secret Scripture could also reach the Third Layer or even the Fourth Layer.

Meanwhile, in Mu Xiaoyu's bedroom.

Fast asleep and hugging her quilt, Mu Xiaoyu shivered for no apparent reason in her dream. Then, she sneezed heavily. Still not awake, she rubbed her nose and sank back into her beautiful, warm dream—

In her dream, her Cultivation skyrocketed. She rose from her current status as a Named Disciple to a formal disciple, was taken in as a True Disciple by a reclusive expert in the temple, and then became the Senior Sister revered by all the disciples. Finally, after going through countless hardships, she became the Temple Master of the Xuanzhen Temple.

Then, as the Temple Master, she ordered that strict, mean Senior Brother to Cultivate for twelve hours every day!

Twelve hours!

HAHAHAHA!