"Sister... You should focus on cultivation next. I have matters to attend to."
Tianmo stood up, the sandalwood chair and table dissolving into motes of spiritual light, absorbed back into his storage ring. Without another glance at Yufei, who was still trembling under the weight of his words, he turned and walked away, his figure fading into the morning mist.
He made his way to the Hot Springs, a secluded structure built directly over a geothermal vent deep within the valley. The air here was thick with white steam, smelling of sulfur and medicinal minerals. The water was said to be infused with 'Fire Yang' energy—perfect for tempering the body and soothing fatigue—due to the presence of a natural volcano underneath.
"System... Buy me condensed blood pill of half-breed dragon, body tempering elixirs, and muscles forging liquid."
[Ding!]
[Items purchased successfully. Deducted 3,000,000 High-grade Spirit Stones.]
Tianmo stepped into the steaming waters of the Hot Springs, naked, the heat immediate and penetrating. It wasn't the scalding burn of a mortal bath, but a dense, heavy pressure that felt like being submerged in warm liquid gold. The Fire Yang energy of the volcano surged against his skin, trying to force its way in, only to be repelled by the cold, unyielding barrier of his bones forged by Ice void marrow.
Woosh!
He grabbed the deep glowing red condensed blood pill of half-dragon. It was warm to the touch, pulsating with a heartbeat that seemed to synchronize with the rhythm of the earth below.
He didn't hesitate; he swallowed it whole.
The moment the pill dissolved in his stomach, it was as if he had swallowed a volcano.
Boom!
His blood began to roar, turning from a gentle stream into a raging torrent of magma. The heat was unbearable, scorching his veins from the inside out. Steam rose from his skin, not just from the hot spring, but from the evaporation of his own bodily fluids under the intense thermal pressure.
"Ghhnnn..."
Tianmo gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching so hard that a cracking sound echoed in the silent chamber. He grabbed the vial of Body Tempering Elixir and the Muscle Forging Liquid, downing them in rapid succession.
The effects were instantaneous.
The Body Tempering Elixir coated his internal organs in a protective layer of spiritual mucus, while the Muscle Forging Liquid seeped into his muscle fibers, acting as a fuel for the fire. It was a volatile mix—fire, fuel, and a vessel designed to withstand the pressure of the heavens.
His muscles began to twitch violently. Under the surface of his skin, fibers were tearing and knitting back together, stronger and denser than before. The sound of snapping tendons and grinding bones was muffled by the bubbling water, a grotesque symphony of rebirth.
The Primordial Void Dragon blood in his veins awoke, sensing the challenge. It roared, a silent, spiritual roar that shook the confines of his soul. The dragon energy surged, colliding with the Fire Yang energy of the volcano and the condensed blood of the half-breed dragon.
It was a chaotic storm within his body.
Tianmo closed his eyes, focusing inward. He visualized his body not as flesh and blood, but as a block of divine iron being struck by the hammer of the heavens.
Every spasm of pain was a hammer blow.
Every tear of a muscle was the removal of impurity.
Snap!
With a snap of his hand, the primordial green lotus materialized and enveloped him before closing, forming a cocoon of spiritual energy.
Inside the cocoon, the chaos intensified. The heat from the Fire Yang energy of the volcano, the violent surge of the dragon blood, and the regenerative properties of the Muscle Forging Liquid were all compressed into a singular, dense point of pressure.
Tianmo's body was no longer just flesh; it was a crucible. His skin turned a deep, angry red, then slowly shifted to a translucent jade-like hue as the impurities were forced out through his pores, turning the water around him into a thick, black sludge.
He could feel his bones groaning under the stress, the marrow inside them boiling and reforming, becoming denser, harder—capable of channeling the terrifying power of the Supreme Dao Bones.
The process was excruciating, a level of pain that would have driven a lesser cultivator insane or caused their soul to flee from the body. But Tianmo embraced it. He treated the pain as data, as feedback from the system of his body telling him exactly where the weaknesses lay.
Time lost its meaning inside the green cocoon. It could have been minutes; it could have been days.
Finally, the storm began to settle.
The raging fire in his veins was absorbed, tamed by the overwhelming might of the Primordial Void Dragon bloodline. The Muscle Forging Liquid had done its work, weaving layers of spiritual density into his muscle fibers, making them compact and explosive.
Crack.
A sound like a shattering eggshell echoed within the cocoon.
The Primordial Green Lotus slowly dissolved, its petals turning into pure energy that merged with Tianmo's Dantian, replenishing the depleted spiritual reserves.
Tianmo opened his eyes.
The water in the hot spring was now pitch black, a foul-smelling soup of expelled even the smallest impurities. He stood up, the water cascading off his newly refined physique.
He looked down at his hands. The skin was smooth, pale, and flawless, glowing with a faint, pearlescent sheen. Beneath the skin, muscles were clearly defined, not bulky like a mortal bodybuilder, but streamlined and compact, like coiled steel cables waiting to snap.
He clenched his fist.
Boom!
The air around his fist distorted, a small shockwave rippling outward from the sheer density of his physical power. He hadn't even used any Qi; it was pure bodily strength.
"System," he thought, his mental voice calm but laced with satisfaction. "status..."
[Muscle cultivation: Body tempering ]
[Bone cultivation: Bone tempering—Golden bones ( excluding dao bones) ]
[Blood Cultivation: Blood purification. (There are still impurities within the blood ) ]
[Bloodline: Primordial dragon bloodline ( 20% ) ]
"Hmm... 20% bloodline unsealed?!" Tianmo felt he had become a lot powerful and maybe this time he won't be satisfied with just two times. Pity, women have to suffer more from the thrust of his dragon.
The petals of the primordial green lotus opened up, revealing Tianmo in his full glory. He stepped out of the pitch-black water, the foul sludge sliding off his pearlescent skin like oil off Teflon. With a casual wave of his hand, a whirlwind of spiritual energy swept through the chamber, scouring his body clean and banishing the grime into the void.
He donned a fresh set of robes—black, interwoven with threads of void-silver that seemed to shift and ripple when not looked at directly. The fabric clung to his newly refined physique, accentuating the streamlined, dangerous musculature beneath.
He looked like a celestial warrior fresh from a battle in the higher realms, untouched by the filth of the mortal world.
Stepping out of the hot springs, Tianmo walked along a narrow path carved into the living rock of the valley, leading him to a secluded clearing. The air here was cool and crisp, carrying the scent of rare medicinal herbs and the faint, metallic tang of spiritual ore. At the center of the clearing stood an ancient tree, its trunk twisted and gnarled with age, its branches reaching toward the sky like withered fingers.
The tree was a Spirit Nourishing Tree, a rare species that thrived in the dense spiritual energy of the valley. Its bark shimmered with a faint, ethereal light, and its leaves seemed to drink the sunlight, growing plump and heavy with spiritual nectar.
Tianmo reached out, his hand touching the ancient bark. The wood was warm, vibrating with a gentle, pulsing energy that seemed to synchronize with his own heartbeat.
Bang!
Without any spiritual energy, he punched the trunk of the Spirit Nourishing Tree. The sound was dull, heavy, like a war drum beating in the distance. The impact didn't shake the tree; the tree itself seemed to groan, the spiritual energy within its trunk rippling like water disturbed by a stone.
Having stood for thousands of years, not even a hole was left in the tree. It's truly a treasure of the heavens. Tianmo retracted his hand, his knuckles unblemished, not even a hint of redness marking the skin.
"Quite interesting..." That punch clearly had the strength of ten thousand Kung, without any spiritual energy, capable enough even to kill a newly promoted foundation stage cultivator. However, it didn't leave a mark on the tree.
(Note: Kung / Kung Force (功 - Gōng) = 10-15 Jin )
( 1 Jin = .5 kg, or 11 Ibs. Jin is a standard Chinese unit, Kung/Gōng is fictional, mostly used on Xianxia, Xiuxian, xuanhuan, Wuxia)
Walking out... It seems more than 2 hours have passed. The time inside the lotus felt a lot faster.
He made his way back to the main estate, aside from Elder Bo and Elder Wang Yun, everyone else was busy cultivating behind closed doors.
However, just then.
"What do you mean engagement is broken?! In what way am I inferior and not worthy of your daughter?! 30 years in east of the river, 30 years in the west of the river, don't bully the fisherman's son into a corner!"
The voice was shrill, cracking with a mix of humiliation and rage. It echoed from the front gates of the Wang Estate, shattering the serene cultivation atmosphere that usually blanketed the valley.
Standing at the gates, surrounded by a dozen stern-faced guards, was a young man dressed in tattered robes soiled by dust and mud.
His face was flushed a mottled red, his chest heaving as if he had run a thousand miles without stopping. He clutched a crumpled piece of paper in a white-knuckled grip—the shattered remnants of a marriage contract.
Beside him stood an old man with a bent back, leaning heavily on a wooden staff. His eyes were downcast, filled with a weary resignation.
His father was once a well-known alchemist, allowing him to live a comfortable life. The Wang family even betrothed a daughter to him. However, now that the Wang family has risen and his own father has met his demise, the Wang family broke the engagement.
"Courting Death!!! Junior how dare you raise your voice before Wang's estate?! Look at you—a waste, unable to cultivate. In what capacity do you want to marry the daughter of the Wang family patriarch? Kneel down and slap yourself twice, this old man shall overlook this matter for once, or else, don't blame me for being cruel," spoke Elder Bo with disdain.
The young man, Chen Mo, trembled violently. His eyes, bloodshot and rimmed with exhaustion, darted from Elder Bo's sneering face to the imposing gates of the Wang Estate. The humiliation was a physical weight, crushing his chest, making it hard to breathe.
"Good! Good! Good!" Chen Mo laughed, a dry, rasping sound that scraped against his throat. He took a step forward, his spine straightening despite the overwhelming pressure radiating from Elder Bo. The crumpled engagement paper in his hand crackled as his grip tightened.
"Elder Bo speaks of the natural order, of the strong preying on the weak," Chen Mo said, his voice gaining strength, laced with a biting sarcasm.
"Yet, I recall a time when your Wang Family was nothing but a flock of sheep huddled in this valley, trembling at the shadow of the Azure Cloud Sect. My father, Alchemist Chen, was the one who provided the pills that kept your Patriarch's cultivation from stagnating. Did the nature of the world apply then? Or was it merely convenience?"
The guards at the gate shifted uneasily, their eyes flickering toward Elder Bo. The mention of the old alliance struck a nerve; history was often an inconvenient guest at the table of power.
Elder Bo's face darkened, the sneer wiped away by a flash of genuine anger. "History is written by the victors, boy. Your father is dead, and his legacy is dust. The Chen family is a sinking ship; do not think you can drag the Wangs down with you by clinging to a rope that rotted years ago."
"Ha! Wang Family?! What a joke... It's not the Wang Family that broke the engagement, but, I, Chen Mo, am breaking this engagement!"
Chen Mo's voice rang out, clear and resonant, cutting through the tension like a blade of ice. He didn't wait for Elder Bo's reaction. With a sharp, tearing sound, he ripped the crumpled marriage contract in half.
Riiip!
The sound was crisp, echoing in the sudden silence of the courtyard. He threw the pieces into the air, letting them flutter down like dead leaves.
"A daughter of the Wang Family is a treasure?!" Chen Mo scoffed, his eyes sweeping over the grand estate with a look of utter disdain. "In my eyes, she is nothing but trash! I, Chen Mo, look down on her! I would rather marry a mortal sow than touch a woman from a family that bites the hand that fed it!"
"Well said!"
Woosh!
A strong force descended, instantly causing