Chapter 90 Refined Essence Blood

Hearing the old steward’s words, this time it was Liu Junhuai whose jaw dropped in astonishment. He asked urgently, “Doesn’t that mean the Chengde Tribute Cauldron is practically a divine artifact? Using it as a mere magical tool would be sheer waste! And you said it can be upgraded—who would be willing to melt it down and reforge it? Only a fool would do that!”

The old steward chuckled. “Master, you’re only seeing half the truth. The upgrading and repairing of the Chengde Tribute Cauldron are entirely different from traditional refining techniques. Let’s start with the name itself—‘Chengde’ means to inherit the blessings of the ancestors, and ‘Tribute’ signifies reverence and faith. Put together, it means veneration and worship of one’s forebears. The character for ‘Tribute’ also stands for rules and laws. Look at the base of this little cauldron—the words ‘Regarded as the Standard’ inscribed there represent this very principle.”

Liu Junhuai and Mo Sitong took the cauldron, turned it over, and indeed found the four small characters, “Regarded as the Standard,” engraved on the base.

“But you haven’t explained how it upgrades!” Mo Sitong said, perplexed.

The old steward patiently continued, “The four characters together mean honoring the standards and laws set by the ancestors. This cauldron itself is the standard—all other cauldrons take it as their model, so why would anyone want to destroy it? It can upgrade and repair itself simply by revolving within your body. Without such a powerful function, how could it be considered the standard? All that’s needed is to add the required materials during the upgrading or repairing process.”

Mo Sitong covered her mouth in surprise. “So it already has some intelligence?”

The old steward smiled. “You could say that. It’s a spiritual tool at present, because its material isn’t the highest, so it can still be upgraded. But its remarkable capabilities are already like those of a divine artifact. Perhaps, once it is upgraded, it will truly become one.”

Liu Junhuai paid the two no further heed. He entered his training space, retrieved the first page of the Iron Black Gold Codex, and studied it intently for a long while. Then, circulating his true energy to protect his heart meridian, he activated the Nine Transformations Heart Method, guiding his golden spiritual orb within his sea of consciousness.

He drew out a thread of celestial sense and began unraveling the dense restrictions on the codex’s page, carefully enveloping a glimmer of restriction power with another wisp of celestial sense and pulling it back into his golden orb.

The orb whirled faster and faster; threads of golden light seized the restriction’s radiance, slowly devouring it and merging it back into the orb.

With the successful refining of the first trace of restriction power, a faint line of red blood essence appeared. Seeing that it was working, Liu Junhuai calmed his mind and continued with unwavering focus.

Time flew by—a full hour passed, and more and more restriction power was refined. The blood essence formed a dense network, undulating slightly as if struggling toward the center of the page.

Worried, Liu Junhuai sped up the refining process. After another half hour, all the restriction power was finally refined. By now, the blood essence had gathered at the center of the page, and Liu Junhuai began to attempt refining the first thread of blood essence.

As the blood essence touched the golden orb, Liu Junhuai felt a sudden jolt throughout his body—a massive force surged through him, the wild power of the blood essence rampaging inside.

Fortunately, Liu Junhuai’s meridians were broad and tough. The violent impact dazed him for a moment but then stabilized. He began to absorb and refine the wild energy.

Wave after wave of potent force battered his body, drenching him in sweat and drawing beads of blood to his skin.

When the first thread of blood essence was refined, his meridians were eroded by its power. The golden light in his sea of consciousness rushed over to fuse with that thread of essence, but the moment they touched, an intense, wild heat burst from the essence, breaking through the golden light’s containment and spreading throughout his body.

Liu Junhuai’s mind and emotions were overtaken by the savage nature of the blood, his eyes turning a terrifying crimson in an instant.

“This blood from a mighty cultivator is truly terrifying! I refuse to believe I can’t master it!” Liu Junhuai gritted his teeth, his face contorted in determination as he plunged his consciousness inward.

The golden light could barely suppress the blood’s backlash. More golden light joined in, slowly engulfing the first thread of blood essence until it was completely devoured and became part of Liu Junhuai’s own power.

This ordeal lasted several hours. At times, Liu Junhuai felt his true energy approaching exhaustion, but he was prepared—one drop of spiritual liquid restored his reserves each time.

When all the blood essence had vanished from the page, an overwhelming sense of strength filled Liu Junhuai’s mind. With the Nine Transformations Heart Method running rapidly, this formidable power gradually merged into his true energy, circulating through all his meridians. Wherever it passed, the meridians instantly doubled in size—a searing pain ripping through him as the force crashed and tore inside.

The wild energy continued to rampage through Liu Junhuai’s body, every meridian battered countless times, but he felt his body’s toughness and the breadth of his channels increasing steadily.

Feeling the terrifying power within, Liu Junhuai’s face lit up with ecstatic joy.

After a long while, the rampaging force diminished and finally vanished, and the agonizing pain within him faded away.

Then, the Nine Transformations Heart Method suddenly accelerated. True energy circulated through his meridians several times, then began to converge from all directions toward the golden core in his dantian.

A great tide rose in the core’s sea of energy, a massive vortex of true energy swirling through it. Countless currents of power collided with the sea’s edge, causing it to expand, and expand again!

Only when the sea filled the entirety of the enlarged core did the great vortex gradually subside, and the energy resumed its flow through Liu Junhuai’s meridians.

At that moment, a faint golden radiance shone from Liu Junhuai’s body, and his true energy surged tremendously—his Golden Core stage cultivation rising markedly.

With a howl that pierced the heavens, Liu Junhuai unleashed his first transformation blade technique. The massive boulder before him was pulverized in an instant—already, without any added spiritual sense, the power of this strike was several times greater than before. The strength of that drop of blood essence was simply extraordinary.

He followed with the second transformation—Condensed Unity—slicing another boulder clean in half. The force didn’t abate, leveling six more giant rocks before it finally dissipated. The second transformation’s power had increased more than tenfold.

Liu Junhuai entered a towering forest, unleashing these two techniques again and again. Half a day later, the once-dense woods were devastated, but in his mind, the embryonic form of the third transformation—Heaven Shatter—had begun to take shape.

He sat cross-legged to recover his true energy. As it neared fullness, he focused on the emerging technique, and soon, clarity dawned.

He rose abruptly. With a single breath, he executed Heaven Shatter, channeling boundless true energy toward a boulder several stories tall.

But as the force struck the rock, it vanished without a sound—as if a stone had fallen into the sea. Liu Junhuai’s heart sank. He was certain he’d performed it correctly, so where had he gone wrong?

In the next instant, before his thoughts could settle, a thunderous explosion erupted from within the boulder, shattering it from the inside out, reducing it to powder in a blink.

For a moment, Liu Junhuai was stunned. Then realization dawned: he had fully comprehended Heaven Shatter. Joy flooded him, and he threw his head back in wild laughter.

So this was the secret—the third transformation had evolved from outwardly explosive force to an inward, contained detonation. The destructive power had increased by more than tenfold, and the utter silence before the eruption made it all the more unstoppable.

However, with such tremendous power, half of Liu Junhuai’s true energy was consumed in a single strike—even with his expanded meridians and core. No wonder he’d failed to grasp this transformation before; only now, with sufficient energy, could he truly master it.

Excited, Liu Junhuai barely paused to recover. He quickly sought out an even larger boulder and unleashed Heaven Shatter once more. With a deafening roar, a terrifying wave of destruction swept the air, and even the massive stone was reduced to dust, lingering in the air for a long time.

Utterly spent, Liu Junhuai collapsed to the ground, his true energy depleted—he could hardly even sit cross-legged. Forcing himself to activate the Nine Transformations Heart Method, he took a drop of spiritual liquid. The pure energy, needing no refinement, was immediately circulated through his meridians, forming the first complete cycle.

Two hours later, fully refreshed, Liu Junhuai returned to the library.

Mo Sitong had gone to the alchemy room. The old steward, as if anticipating his arrival, was standing at the door, smiling warmly, his gaze full of respect and affection.

“It seems, Master, you have yet another weapon you haven’t shown this old man. I’ve been waiting here quite a while!” the old steward joked—a rare show of humor.

Liu Junhuai produced the Suppressing Stone and set it on the ground. The multicolored, rectangular stone was just over a foot long, but weighed over a hundred pounds—no easy lift for the old steward.

After examining it, the steward nodded. “This is exactly the sort of item one should find on a first visit to the treasure vault. This magical tool is only a replica, but it’s a superb imitation and should still be quite powerful. Just don’t try to refine it inside your body. And, I forgot to mention before—the Blood-eye Ghost Blade must never be used together with the Godslayer Spear. The two are natural enemies—both instruments of slaughter. Together, they will inevitably clash!”

Liu Junhuai nodded, sighing in frustration. “How could the Suppressing Stone be a replica? I thought I’d found a true treasure. What a disappointment.”

The old steward laughed. “Aren’t you already in possession of enough treasures? Must every treasure under heaven fall into your hands for things to be fair? Don’t underestimate this imitation. It can be upgraded, while the real Suppressing Stone is already perfect. What it lacks for divinity is merely the tempering of time. A divine artifact is called such because it has weathered the ages, steeped in history and legend.”

With a helpless shake of his head, Liu Junhuai took out the Pure Flame Arrow.

The old steward’s expression changed dramatically; he cried out in shock, his body stiffening upright!