Having settled the matters regarding the Merit Beads, Lin Haoming retrieved the jade slip containing the Divine Bone Art. He scanned it thoroughly before beginning to meticulously contemplate its more critical chapters.
The Divine Bone Art was a body-refining technique—something Lin had never encountered before. Despite his time spent as a shopkeeper, where he had seen many things, the sect strictly forbade the private distribution of cultivation methods above the Qi Refining stage. This was truly his first time laying eyes on such a manual.
---
The Cost of Power
Lin quickly realized that fully grasping the technique with his current foundation would be difficult. This made him curious: how had Qian Yuanshu managed to practice it?
He then checked the second jade slip, which turned out to be a detailed commentary. It provided explanations and techniques, including the method of using Marrow-Eating Bugs to consume spiritual marrow. It also noted that practicing the Divine Bone Art required sufficient Demonic Qi, as the art was, in fact, a demonic cultivation method.
Lin felt a brief pang of regret for unsealing the Spirit Accumulation Bead so quickly, but he still had one Small Merit left—just enough to unseal the second layer of the Demon Accumulation Bead.
The commentary was written by a Golden Core ancestor known as the Divine Bone Old Man. According to his notes, even he had only reached the seventh layer before finding it impossible to continue. This wasn't just due to the rare materials required; more importantly, the cultivation process inflicted extraordinary agony. While success allowed one to fight opponents an entire minor realm higher, Lin could sense the old man's lingering fear of the pain between the lines.
Lin took a deep breath. The path was open, but the prospect of such suffering made him hesitate.
Should I practice this or not?
The hesitation lasted only a moment before his gaze hardened. He had the manual and the Demon Accumulation Bead. If the Divine Bone Old Man couldn't handle it, it didn't mean he couldn't. Compared to physical pain, being a puppet at the mercy of others was far more unacceptable. Besides, without a powerful technique, how could he ever hope to suppress Xie Ruolan? Was he to be bullied by her forever?
Amusingly, it was the thought of that woman that finally pushed him to commit.
---
The Extraction
Three days later, Lin felt he had mastered the theory of the first layer. Instead of starting immediately, he brought out Qian Yuanshu's corpse.
Using a flying dagger as a surgical scalpel—a skill he had honed as a medical graduate in his previous life—Lin deboned the remains with expert precision. He observed that Qian's bones were not only incredibly resilient but could also shift in ways that defied human anatomy. Even in death, Qian's ribs were locked tightly together like a solid shield.
This is why my son sword couldn't penetrate his chest, Lin realized, his excitement growing.
He cast several incantations onto the jade-like skeleton. The bones began to vibrate, the frequency increasing as he infused his mana. He held out a small bottle as shimmering, milky-white droplets of light emerged from the bones and drifted into the vial. After half an hour, the once-sturdy skeleton was riddled with holes and crumbled into dust.
Lin incinerated the remains and then tapped his spirit beast bag. He forced the Marrow-Eating Bugs to spit out the points of light they had gathered from the children, collecting those in a separate bottle.
---
The First Tempering
Satisfied, Lin used his final Small Merit to unseal the second layer of the Demon Accumulation Bead. It now provided a steady flow of Demonic Qi. After three days of acclimating to this new energy, he officially began his training.
He poured a drop of the milky essence into his mouth. Holding the Demon Accumulation Bead in one hand and supporting himself on the ground with the other, Lin performed a one-handed handstand and began to circulate the art.
He guided the marrow essence into his Dantian, mixing it with vast amounts of Demonic Qi before circulating the mixture through his meridians and into his bones. Initially, it felt warm and comfortable. But as the marrow entered his bones, it felt as if thousands of shards were growing inside him. It was sharp, piercing agony.
It wasn't unbearable yet, but Lin now understood the Old Man's fear. If the pain intensified with every step, every session would eventually become a journey into hell.
However, Lin did not stop. He continued to draw in Demonic Qi, pushing through the pain to complete his first tempering.