So one could imagine how precious the Dragon's Bone Tempering Pill was. But there was also another effect: anyone from the Foundation Establishment realm could take this pill.
Even though it contained violent energy due to the presence of Flood Dragon blood, it would still not cause any damage to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
This was yet another reason why the Dragon's Bone Tempering Pill was so precious.
If anyone discovered that he possessed one hundred of these pills, it would cause a bloodbath.
With one hundred pills, he wouldn't need to worry about his physical cultivation for a long time. These alone were enough to elevate his body to the Golden Core realm or above. Not only that combined with the Nine-Cycle Body Art, but he could also raise his strength to unimaginable levels.
Stiles swallowed another two Dragon's Bone Tempering Pills and began practising the second cycle, which was Blood Refining.
As he began diverting the energy toward his blood vessels, he could feel his entire bloodstream boiling, with streams of fiery energy rushing through his body.
You must know, the human body is as complex as the universe.
One had to divert energy to the correct vessels; even a single mistake could result in death. Passing energy through the blood vessels was far more dangerous than tempering the skin.
So he opened the Blood-thread Vein and the Vital Pulse Meridian.
Opening these meridians helped Stiles channel the intense energy smoothly throughout his entire bloodstream.
You must understand that the blood vessels inside the human body are extremely fragile, thin, and delicate in structure.
According to the cultivation technique, opening the Vital Pulse Meridian and Blood-thread Vein not only smoothed the energy flow but also strengthened the blood vessels themselves.
Since Blood Tempering was about refining the blood and increasing its intensity, the container that the blood vessels, also needed to be strengthened. This process allowed both the tempering of the blood vessels and the blood itself.
Stiles immersed himself completely in cultivation. He could no longer perceive the outside world; it felt as though time itself didn't exist.
Soon, another three days passed…
He had reached the middle stage of Blood Tempering.
This was an exponential growth compared to the previous cycle of tempering the skin.
Stiles thought it must be because he had reformed and restructured his Spiritual Root earlier.
He felt blessed because this not only shortened the time needed to cultivate the technique, but it also gave him hope of achieving even greater progress in this body art.
Now Stiles could feel he was much stronger than before.
He didn't stop cultivating. He pushed himself even harder. As he advanced further, the fire element around him surged wildly, almost making Stiles look like a man bathing in the sun.
Soon, another fifteen days passed, making it a total of 25 days inside the Crimson Flame Cave.
The amount of fire elemental energy surrounding Stiles was enormous, like a scorching sun.
Even disciples far away were astonished by the intensity of the energy surrounding him.
But he was not distracted. He could feel the bundles of his muscle fibres strengthening to their peak. Now, along with skin, blood, sinew, and muscle, Stiles had reached the mid-stage of the Nine-Cycle Body Art, having refined all three aspects.
Today, Stiles planned to stop his cultivation. Even though he had five days left, he didn't intend to stay.
During his cultivation, he had felt someone observing him for the past ten days, and he was sure it was the one who had previously hurt him or someone related to that person.
The other party must have been alerted since he broke through to Foundation Establishment.
Even though Stiles had cultivated the Nine-Cycle Body Art to the mid-level, he needed to keep it secret because he didn't know when the enemy would strike again.
Now he felt that if he were attacked next time, the opponent would be much stronger than before.
So he had to keep his strength hidden. During this time, he had also cultivated the Muted Meridian Scripture, which he took from the Martial Manual Hall. This scripture helped conceal one's cultivation level.
As soon as he sensed someone observing him, he began cultivating this technique, and to his surprise, he managed to master it within just ten days.
Now, even if the person was above Golden Core, they wouldn't be able to sense his true cultivation realm. He could adjust his cultivation aura to anything he wished.
Soon, he got up and walked toward the guarding elder, reporting that he had finished cultivating.
To his surprise, after cultivating, he was able to perceive the other party's cultivation realm despite being at a lower level.
He was relieved that the other party was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm. If they were at the Nascent Stage, it would have been a completely different story.
Then he walked toward the Martial Manual Hall. When he arrived, he didn't see the old elder who had been there previously.
Instead, he found a disciple who seemed to have taken over the task of collecting manuals. He guessed this disciple was a substitute for the previous elder.
Soon, he handed over the manual and walked toward the Sect Management Hall to collect his monthly resources.
After receiving them, he informed the receptionist again that he would be going into seclusion.
Hearing this, the receptionist sitting inside the cabin was speechless.
You know, it had been almost five or six months since Stiles transmigrated, and he had spent most of that time in seclusion.
It was common to go into seclusion, but doing it constantly was another matter entirely…
Stiles didn't pay attention to the receptionist's expression. Instead, he walked out and rushed toward his cave.
At the same time, somewhere inside the sect…
A shadow suddenly emerged out of nowhere.
"Reporting to Young Miss: that young man Stiles seems to be fine despite his spiritual root being damaged.
Not only that, but he also broke through to Foundation Establishment. One of our subordinates saw him inside the Crimson Flame Cave."
Hearing this, a young woman walked toward a lake where many swans were floating. She grabbed some grains and sprinkled them into the pond. As the swans drifted toward the food, she turned around.
She was extremely beautiful, with bright blue eyes, an elegant face, and long, feather-like hair.
"Make sure to kill him before the Inner Sect Competition," she said coldly. "Don't take any action for the next three months.
"If it weren't for Damon being chosen by that mysterious elder, I would have killed Stiles already.
"But because of Damon's sudden growth, the Sect Master ordered an investigation on all disciples with potential, including those from the outer sect.
Taking action now would put us at a disadvantage."
"Let him live for another three months."
With a cold smile, the young lady turned back and continued feeding the swans.
The shadow disappeared without a trace.
On the other side, Stiles reached the cave and began examining the fortune he had received over the past month.
Since he had been inside the Crimson Flame Cave, he hadn't been able to claim his rewards.
Soon, he opened the interface and saw many notifications:
Host, please claim the Yellow Earth Core-Gathering Pill ×20
Host, please claim the Life-Replenishing Pill ×10
Host, please claim the Pillow ×20
Host, please claim the Red Sea Salt ×100
Host, please claim the Soul Sense Enhancement Pill ×5
Host, please claim the Earth-Pulse Heavy Hammer ×1
Host, please claim the Stonewall Tortoise Shield ×1
Host, please claim the Canvas Shoes ×20
Host, please claim the Cursed Coffin Nail ×1
Host, please claim the Beast-Taming Soul Flute ×1
Looking at the rewards, Stiles was satisfied.
Even though none of the pills or artefacts reached Heaven-grade like his previous rewards, Stiles didn't complain.
He also saw many useless rewards, and the most speechless one was Red Sea Salt.
Reading the description, he felt helpless:
Red Sea Salt -Salt extracted from the Red Sea. It can be used for cooking purposes.
As for the Yellow Earth Core-Gathering Pill, it was a pill used by those with earth-element spiritual roots. It helped temper their spiritual root and assisted them in cultivating earth-related techniques.
Life-Replenishing Pill -used during battle; it healed wounds and replenished a cultivator's life force.
Apart from that, there was the Soul Sense Enhancement Pill, which increased soul perception, a necessary pill during the peak of the Golden Core stage. It would be useful for him in the future.
The Earth-Pulse Heavy Hammer and Stonewall Tortoise Shield were artefacts: one offensive, which he wasn't skilled with, and one defensive, which could protect him even from a Golden Core cultivator.
But out of all the rewards, Stiles was most interested in the Cursed Coffin Nail and the Beast-Taming Soul Flute.
He took out the Cursed Coffin Nail, which looked like a long black nail with faint crimson veins pulsing across its surface. It released a faint aura of death and decay.
The most terrifying part was its ability; it could pierce the opponent's soul, lock their spirituality, and erode their life force.
It could be considered a perfect torture weapon.