Chapter 6: Never Give Up

It took half the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn for Mu Xian to completely clear away all the weeds around the Ironwood Forest Leaf. By now, fine sweat was beading on his forehead.

However, there was not a trace of fatigue on Mu Xian’s face. Instead, he showed an expression of barely contained excitement.

After clearing the weeds, the task of harvesting became much simpler.

In just a few breaths’ time, Mu Xian had already plucked all seven Ironwood Forest Leaves from the tree trunk.

After gathering the Ironwood Forest Leaves, Mu Xian pondered for a moment. Then, he took the Black Iron Sword from his back, which originally belonged to Mu Guitu. He deftly cut a section of branch from a nearby dead tree. With his hands moving swiftly, he soon crafted a brand new wooden bowl.

Once that was done, Mu Xian finally let out a soft sigh of relief. He popped a Tiger Blood Pill into his mouth and began to sit cross-legged on the spot to regulate his breathing.

Not long after, with a spreading and closing motion of his hands, the seven Ironwood Forest Leaves had already been reduced to a powder. Mu Xian dropped the powder into the wooden bowl before him.

The next moment, Mu Xian gritted his teeth. His hand rose, and the sword fell, cutting a long line across his own wrist. Immediately, blood with a medicinal fragrance welled up from the cut and dripped into the wooden bowl.

“Hiss…”

The moment the bright red blood made contact with the grayish-brown powder, a plume of pink smoke abruptly fumed up from the wooden bowl. The grayish-brown powder, formed from the Ironwood Forest Leaves, dissolved instantly into the bright red blood. Immediately, a very faint, fishy stench filled Mu Xian’s nostrils. This was precisely the smell of the Ironwood Forest Leaf.

Mu Xian smiled slightly and pulled out another herb from his sleeve. It was Star Blue, one of the herbs he had casually picked before entering the forest for preparing the Yuan-Dispelling Potion.

Mu Xian circulated a trace of Spiritual Power within his body. The Star Blue in his palm also turned into a fine powder, falling from his fingertips into the wooden bowl like tiny stars.

The blue powder, upon touching the pink medicinal liquid in the bowl, scattered into the pink solution. Like lavender in the spring mountains, it released a dazzling purple glow.

Immediately after, Mu Xian took out another Tiger Blood Pill from his sleeve, crushed it, and tossed it into the wooden bowl.

The next moment, Mu Xian’s Spiritual Sense had already immersed itself into the reaction occurring within the bowl’s liquid. With a turn of his hand, the bowl was now in his grasp. Instantly, under the vibration of his wrist, the wooden bowl transformed into a series of illusory afterimages.

A series of sizzling sounds came from the bowl. Bubble after bubble rose from the solution. At the same time, a wave of rich, strange fragrance wafted out from the bowl, quickly dispersing into the air.

The intense Spiritual Power reaction came as a slight surprise to Mu Xian, whose cultivation was only at the Soul-Settling Realm. He could only grit his teeth and use his Spiritual Sense to tightly lock onto every tiny change of Spiritual Power within the bowl. Simultaneously, his hands shook continuously, catalyzing the fusion of the various medicinal efficacies inside the bowl.

Slowly, the image of a Blazing Flame Demon Tiger leaped out from the wooden bowl in Mu Xian’s hands. It struggled and roared constantly, trying to break free from the bowl. However, each time it almost jumped out, numerous red blood threads would shoot out from the bowl, tightly entangling its body.

Every time the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger was wrapped by the red blood threads, its body shrank by a size.

When the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger finally let out a faint cry of sorrow and completely disappeared into the wooden bowl, Mu Xian finally stopped the motion of his hands. He placed the wooden bowl on a flat stone slab on the ground.

By now, Mu Xian was drenched in sweat and his face was extremely pale. Bending over, he gasped heavily for air. Both of his hands trembled and twitched uncontrollably from the intense movement moments before. The sore, aching sensation made Mu Xian grimace.

Afraid he might faint, Mu Xian immediately tossed another Tiger Blood Pill into his mouth without hesitation. Only then did he sit cross-legged to regulate his breathing again.

A few minutes later, Mu Xian opened his eyes once more. Sensing that his arms were still throbbing with pain, he couldn’t help but shake his head with a bitter smile. The physical strength of this body was still far too weak.

However, when Mu Xian’s gaze fell upon the wooden bowl, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

By now, the liquid in the wooden bowl had turned vermilion. The surface of the liquid shimmered with a dazzling light like a gemstone.

“Whether my physical condition can improve or not hinges on this one move.” Mu Xian’s lips moved slightly as Spiritual Power began to gather between his hands.

Following the motion of Mu Xian’s hands, the vermilion solution in the wooden bowl solidified into something about the size of a goose egg, which directly fell into Mu Xian’s mouth.

Instantly, several terrifying streams of energy, like runaway wild horses, galloped wildly inside Mu Xian’s body, tearing at his meridians. Mu Xian’s mouth opened, about to let out a scream. At the same time, the muscles on his face twitched violently, and veins bulged on his forehead, as if ready to burst at any moment.

At the critical moment, Mu Xian took a deep breath, suppressing his scream. Then, he controlled his breathing and began frantically absorbing the sudden surge of energy within his body, refining it.

As the medicinal efficacy was refined, the meridians within Mu Xian’s body were torn to shreds again and again, only to be reconstructed over and over. Trickles of crimson blood seeped out from all over his body, making Mu Xian look like a man of blood.

Several times Mu Xian nearly fainted. But he dared not faint, because he knew what he lacked most right now was time. If he couldn’t even endure this pain, then hoping to gain the strength for self-protection in a short amount of time was nothing but a fool’s dream.

Not only did Mu Xian dare not let himself faint, he also used his Spiritual Sense to carefully control the medicinal power within his body, ensuring the effective parts of the medicine fully acted upon his meridians.

“Why is it this painful? Perhaps even being flayed alive or cut in half at the waist wouldn’t be worse than this?”

“Is there anything more frightening than death? Having already died once, what does a bit of suffering matter?”

“No, I can’t bear it. This pain is completely beyond what a human can endure. Perhaps I’ll die from the pain before I even finish reconstructing my meridians.”

“No, I can’t give up on myself. As long as I persist, I have hope of success. If I give up, all hope is lost. I absolutely must not abandon myself!”

“…”

Two completely different voices echoed in Mu Xian’s mind. The expression on his face changed erratically.

Meridians could be said to be the most fragile part of the human body. They spread throughout the whole body, from head to toe, from the inside out. The reconstruction of each meridian meant Mu Xian had to endure a form of extreme torture.

Mu Xian had only thought about solving his problem of Inherently Blocked Veins before. He hadn’t imagined that solving this issue would be so agonizing, completely indistinguishable from being boiled in a vat of oil.

With a thump, Mu Xian’s body fell directly to the ground. Then, he curled up into a ball. Crimson blood threads continued to seep out from all over his body. The meridians inside him were destroyed and reconstructed over and over. These meridians formed an iron net throughout his entire body, constantly stimulating his nerves, making him wish for death.

Suppressing the agony that made him want to roar, Mu Xian rolled desperately on the ground, using the pain in his flesh to numb the pain in his nerves.

With a loud boom, Mu Xian’s body heavily collided with a towering ancient tree. From the massive impact, Mu Xian felt as if his bones had shattered.

Mu Xian’s mind cleared for less than a moment before it was engulfed by an even more violent wave of pain. Then, his body leaped and slammed into a huge rock behind him.

With a dull thud, Mu Xian felt as if all the bones in his back had shattered too. However, this also made him a bit more alert.

Pain.

Excruciating pain.

Extreme pain.

Pain beyond endurance.

Yet, Mu Xian could feel a radical change was happening inside his body. His meridians were constantly widening and strengthening amidst the repeated destruction and reconstruction. The pores and sweat glands all over his body also opened and closed repeatedly, expelling stagnant blood. Filthy, black, sludge-like liquid was forcibly squeezed out from within his body.

Through his Spiritual Sense, Mu Xian could even detect that impurities within his flesh, blood, and bones were being slowly expelled. His muscles became extremely supple, his bones grew sturdier, and even his internal Yuan Power had unknowingly more than doubled in amount.

One incense-stick time.

Two incense-stick times.

Three incense-stick times.

The pain continued. Mu Xian lay tightly on the ground like a lump of mud. All ten fingers of his hands were dug into the earth. He gasped heavily, his body shaking and twitching rapidly, occasionally mixed with a pained cough.

His body felt as if countless knives were scraping at his flesh, or as if countless ants were tearing and biting him.

Gradually, Mu Xian forgot about time and even the source of the pain. He only knew to use his Spiritual Sense to control the medicinal power inside him, washing over his meridians again and again.

Until a muffled sound rang out within Mu Xian’s body. All the pores on his body opened completely. A feeling of indescribable comfort filled every corner of his being. Only then did Mu Xian slowly open his tightly shut eyes. His pitch-black pupils now held a sharpness like the glint of a sword.

“The high stage of the Flesh Body Realm. My martial cultivation actually advanced from the initial stage to the high stage of the Flesh Body Realm. It seems my meridian problem should be resolved.” Sensing the surging, abundant Yuan Power within him, joy appeared on Mu Xian’s face. He immediately began using his Spiritual Sense to examine his internal condition.

With this observation, Mu Xian nearly couldn’t control himself from laughing out loud.

The medicinal efficacies of the more than seventy types of Spiritual Medicine originally accumulated in his body had all been digested and absorbed. They could no longer cause any harm.

The previously atrophied or blocked meridians were now completely cleared. They had widened more than tenfold and were almost two to three times the size of an average person’s meridians. As for toughness, they were far beyond what an ordinary person could hope to achieve.

The muscles and bones throughout his body had also undergone a complete transformation. It felt as if they had been tempered a thousand times over. Both explosive power and endurance had multiplied.

Mu Xian’s original body was exceptionally weak, surrounded by an aura of death, as if he could die at any moment. Now, he was strong and healthy, his blood and energy vibrant and flourishing like a rainbow, his Essence Blood more robust than imaginable.

“The issue of medicinal conflict was perfectly resolved. The plight of the Inherently Blocked Veins was completely eradicated. Even my cultivation realm advanced by two levels. The suffering I endured this time was absolutely worth it a thousandfold, no, ten thousandfold.” Feeling the vigorous vitality now nurtured within his body, a satisfied smile spread across Mu Xian’s face.

“Roar!”

A sound that seemed to shake the heavens suddenly echoed through the ancient forest, startling Mu Xian from his state of extreme joy.

Mu Xian’s entire body tensed up sharply. A cold, sinister feeling of being watched by a poisonous snake abruptly swept over him.