Initiation of Body Tempering Realm

The black uniformed men surrounded the carnage in the abandoned courtyard, their voices hoarse and disconnected as they attempted to comprehend the scenery before them. In achieving the objective, Li Mo Shang's utilization of <Mountain Crushing>'s third stance was an excellent strategic move, if not a little overboard.

<Mountain Crushing> was a similar collection of sword techniques to <Eternal Spring Arts> in that both utilized sweeping sword strikes to its maximum. The differences began on the method of accumulating their devastating destructive potential displayed by these two arts. <Eternal Springs Arts> had nine distinct major sword techniques as it's primary collection of initiating, responding, and ending a fight, while the <Mountain Crushing> only relied on five.

However, <Eternal Springs Arts> relied on continuous sweeping strikes and an increasing angular momentum to accumulate devastating power, whereas the <Mountain Crushing> was formed utilizing abrupt changes in momentum to achieve its effect. By suddenly changing the direction of the blade during a high-speed swing, the airflow displaced by the blade moved in reverse, disrupting the recipient's balance, leaving them open to a fierce attack.

The advantages and disadvantages between the <Eternal Springs Arts> and <Mountain Crushing> mainly relied on the geography. <Mountain Crushing> performed best on flat terrain, whereas natural obstacles would be best for the <Eternal Springs Arts>.

Unfortunately for the black uniformed men, the <Mountain Crushing>'s third technique was far too gory in execution, as the displaced wind had ruptured organs and burst blood vessels from the opening of the wounds, as well as not properly disconnecting limbs.

Some limbs barely remained attached by strands of muscle or tendon, causing these tempered men to vomit at the cruel sight. The final blow of the technique had burst the livers of these men, further adding to the putrefaction. Faced with such a horror, the men could only think of one statement. Such carnage, even the most insane of serial murderers would blanch at.

"There's a ghost at Blue Rose University."

Currently, the 'ghost' of Blue Rose University was sitting on the rooftop of Magnolia Dormitory examining his wounds. Making sure to continue manipulating the <Cold Wind Trace> to obscure his figure from any probing sights, Li Mo Shang quickly stripped before examining his abdomen and thigh.

To his surprise, the wound had already closed and not even the slightest blemish could be seen on his skin, but he felt oddly lethargic. If not for a constant stream of spiritual qi supplementing his mind, Li Mo Shang didn't know whether he could remain conscious. Quickly dressing and reminding himself to replace the clothing as it had two suspicious bullet holes, Li Mo Shang's expression darkened when he thought of the battle just then.

He was far too weak, having not even initiated in Body Tempering. His body's constitution was still the same, for all of the spiritual qi was redirected towards the sword stored within the spiritual core in hopes of lighting up the nine suns.

Retrieving and examining the sword, Li Mo Shang noticed that three of the suns were emitting a golden splendor; the worldly qi restrained within was boundless and volatile, as if on the verge of exploding. When he thought about it, Li Mo Shang's expression darkened.

The sword had resided in the spiritual core and had received tremendous amounts of the highest purity of spiritual qi, and none had been directed towards actually tempering his body. What a waste!

With that much qi, he probably would have completed the initial stages of body tempering. Even the heaven-defying qi circulation unit was inaccessible to him since his body was still devoid of spiritual qi!

Finding a comfortable resting position on the roof, Li Mo Shang projected the <Heretic Manual> into his mind to review the method of tempering his body. He had noticed previously that spiritual qi had to be infused into his body following the qi circulation units' channels to form a major network.

Only then could the body cycle and store a limitless quantity of spiritual qi. It was only that he didn't know whether the process could begin with a single qi circulation unit, hence Li Mo Shang had abstained from actually entering the Body Tempering Realm in the secluded forest.

Gritting his teeth, Li Mo Shang decided to initiate body tempering, for he didn't know when another incident like that of a few hours prior would repeat once again. Although the manipulation of spiritual qi was extraordinary, none of it mattered if a vital organ of the body was destroyed.

Summoning the qi circulation unit inscribed with the Ancient Ming Tribe's language, the broadsword and interlocked nine suns tattoos flared into existence on Li Mo Shang's torso and back. Next, he willed his spiritual core to direct qi into the circulation channels outlined by the tattoos, flowing from one branch to another until Li Mo Shang's body was glowing with a golden network of complex circuitry.

As he continued to infuse spiritual qi, Li Mo Shang suddenly heard the roar of a dragon in his mind, full of fury and might. Not long after, a scarlet illusory dragon manifested in front of Li Mo Shang, writhing as several chains wrapped around its body, preventing any movement. The dragon could only roar with rage as it struggled to get free, to no avail.

Suddenly, it faced Li Mo Shang as it released an earsplitting roar, causing him to startle and stop the infusion of spiritual qi. As soon as Li Mo Shang had stopped providing spiritual qi into the qi circulation unit, the dragon began to wither, and could no longer resist against the black chains.

The roaring lessened in intensity, and soon, the dragon had merged with the nine interlocked suns on Li Mo Shang's back. With the disappearance of the dragon, Li Mo Shang tepidly began to infuse spiritual qi once more, until he sensed that the qi circulation unit was completely full.

Li Mo Shang could only stare in astonishment towards the spiritual core. A qi circulation unit served as a capacitator for a cultivator, doubling the capacity of spiritual qi he or she could store and utilize. Unlike the constant growth of a cultivator's capacity, qi circulation units expanded every breakthrough into a major realm, of which they would expand to double the capacity of a cultivator at the realm's peak.

Li Mo Shang's first qi circulation was completely filled by merely four and a half thin strands of spiritual qi, just how much spiritual qi did the spiritual core contain!? Did that imply that all of his spiritual weapons that he had practiced swordsmanship with counted as treasures?

Once the qi circulation had reached maximum capacity, it was as if a road had opened before Li Mo Shang. To his delight, spiritual qi could now circulate throughout his entire body, although he was unsure on where to begin depositing the qi.

Out of curiosity, he viewed the <Heretic Manual> once more, hoping to get more details on the Body Tempering Realm. Minutes later, he relaxed his position, eyes glowing with determination as he immersed his mind into a state of tranquility.

Without disappointing him, the <Heretic Manual> had provided new details regarding the Body Tempering Realm. Throughout history, humans had divided the Body Tempering Realm into multiple stages of completion, of which they were categorized and ranked on the increase in ability.

The commonly used ranking for the Body Tempering Realm divided the realm into Flesh Tempering, Marrow Refinement, Energizing of Blood, and Consolidation. Although ancient cultivators were recorded to perform Flesh Tempering as the first objective of Body Tempering, the <Heretic Manual> suggested otherwise, beginning with the marrow, blood, then the flesh.

Thinking about his spiritual core, Li Mo Shang couldn't help but wonder just how many strands of purified spiritual qi would be sufficient to complete the Body Tempering Realm.

Taking a deep breath, Li Mo Shang directed his attention towards the spiritual core, checking that his soul resided safely within the core. Glancing at the additional engraving of a sword on the surface of the core, he quickly gazed at his own body structure, staring at the tensed muscles, lethargic flowing of his blood, and the pure white bones.

Observing his skeletal structure, Li Mo Shang pondered on which bone to start infusing spiritual qi, before deciding on his limbs. Directing a strand of spiritual qi towards his right arm, Li Mo Shang began to infuse it into the humerus, watching the strand assimilate into the bone.

Immediately after, his arm began to spasm uncontrollably, and with a flash of insight, he quickly stripped off all of his clothes before setting them to the side. No sooner than had he placed the clothes down, black bubbles began to emerge from his skin.

Observing these bubbles closely, he saw that it was a substance comprised of a combination of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, boron, and some other combination of elements; he guessed that the combination of elements being expelled from his body were excess materials that distorted the physical balance within.

Oddly, the cleansing of the marrow brought no pain; rather, it brought a sensation of intoxication, bringing Li Mo Shang onto a slight euphoric high. His emotions lightening far beyond his expectations, Li Mo Shang suddenly felt worry as he willed the spiritual core to anchor his mind as he continued to observe the refinement of his right humerus.

Once his mind had stabilized, only then did a sensation of pain become pronounced, only that it was a dull ache, nothing near the mind-splitting pain he had expected. Gradually, Li Mo Shang could see dull inscriptions forming on the surface of the bone, indicating that the marrow refinement process was nearing completion.

Similar to the qi circulation units' complex circuitry, the indistinct inscriptions on his humerus resembled a network of channels not unlike from the circuit boards within processing units. When filled with spiritual qi, the inscriptions would radiate light, storing a portion of the cultivator's qi. Li Mo Shang had noticed that the <Heretic Manual> continued to trounce the concept of storing spiritual qi into the dantian, only to utilize it if in dire straits.

Within fifteen minutes, the cleansing of the marrow in the right humerus had completed, the inscriptions on the surface of the bone clear and distinct. Observing carefully, Li Mo Shang let out a light sound of surprise when he noticed that the inscriptions on the bone was far different from that of his first qi circulation unit of the Ancient Ming Tribe.

Compared to the qi circulation unit's inscriptions where the broadsword, dragons, and the suns were projections of the network of spiritual qi channels, the inscriptions on his bone were more akin to mechanical circuit boards, with the branches extending in a single direction. As Li Mo Shang ceased observing the inner structure of his body, he noticed a foul smell emanating from his skin, particularly from his arm.

Even more of the black substance had oozed out from his arm, and he quickly wrinkled his nose at the foul smell. He could only wear the somewhat torn pants of what originally was formal clothing and maintain his <Cold Wind Trace> as he rushed to the bathroom.

Fortunately, it was still well into the night, and nobody was awake to spectate Li Mo Shang fiercely scrubbing at his arm for well over an hour, until the foul smell finally disappeared. Gazing at his left arm, he wanted to refine both arms in one night, but the fatigue finally began to set in, convincing him otherwise. Walking to his room and opening the door, he could only pause mid-yawn, stupefied at the sight before him.

When did his room become this messy? And why was Su Yuan'er sleeping on his bed without a damn care in the whole world!?