Chapter 9: Divine Blood Jade Marrow

Mu Xian was simply too exhausted, so much so that he had to fall to the ground and rest.

Preparing Spiritual Medicine was an especially mentally draining task. Yet, in just three hours, Mu Xian had prepared three different Spiritual Medicines in succession. Moreover, all three Spiritual Medicines he prepared were second tier, and of Supreme Grade.

Even if it were another Spiritual Master with Nourishing Soul Realm or Spirit Nurturing Realm cultivation who prepared three second-tier Spiritual Medicines in such a short time, they might have collapsed from exhaustion. This was even more true for Mu Xian, who only had settled soul realm cultivation. After preparing the medicine, he had also fought fiercely for nearly an hour against a third-tier demonic beast like the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger.

Although Mu Xian had a large number of Tiger Blood Pills with him, and Tiger Blood Pills could promptly restore his vitality and Spiritual Power, that mental fatigue was simply impossible to eliminate.

After continuously preparing three Supreme Grade medicines, Mu Xian’s spirit was truly overdrawn to a severe degree. He wished he could sleep for several days and nights.

Ultimately, it was still due to Mu Xian’s Spiritual Power cultivation being too low, forcing him to rely on sleep to recover his energy.

Seeing Mu Xian suddenly collapse to the ground, the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger was stunned for a moment. Then, it opened its mouth, gently took hold of Mu Xian’s clothes, and carefully carried him deeper into the dense forest.

After the time of a dozen or so breaths passed, the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger carried Mu Xian into a stone cave. It then gently placed Mu Xian onto a jade bed that emitted a crystalline glow. Only then did it slowly retreat to the cave entrance, its eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Mu Xian did not know he had been moved by the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger while he was in deep sleep. At this moment, he was having an exceptionally long dream.

In the dream, he had Inherently Blocked Veins. Not only could he not cultivate, but even living like a normal person was extremely difficult. He lived every day in endless fear, afraid that if he fell asleep, he would never wake up again.

In the dream, his head bore many nicknames like “good-for-nothing,” “parasite,” and “coward.” He endured scornful looks and mockery not only within his family but also suffered all kinds of insults among his fellow students. He had not a single close friend. The only thing he could do was hide himself in the shadows, trying his best not to let anyone notice his existence.

In the dream, thoughts of suicide flashed through his mind countless times.

However, in the dream, he also had parents who were like an immortal couple. His parents spoiled him to the extreme, treating him as the ultimate treasure in their lives, caring for him tenderly. Their soft words were enough to soothe all the wounds on his body and mind.

In the dream, he also had a senior schoolmate who was as beautiful as a fairy from a painting. Her every smile and frown gave him boundless courage and hope.

It was only when, one day, he dreamed of his parents meeting a tragic end and that senior schoolmate being abducted by powerful foes that he abruptly woke up.

“Father! Mother! No…”

An extremely mournful cry escaped Mu Xian’s lips as he suddenly sat bolt upright on the jade bed.

After opening his eyes, Mu Xian found himself in a completely unfamiliar space. The things within this space were extremely simple, yet what met his eyes was also incredibly luxurious.

While Mu Xian was still puzzling over where he was, a shadow suddenly covered his body, startling him. He instinctively poised himself to launch an attack with a Sword Step.

It was only upon smelling the familiar scent of the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger that Mu Xian completely relaxed his posture and understood where he was now.

Then, the various scenes from his dream flashed through Mu Xian’s mind once more.

“Was that merely a dream, or something that truly happened?”

“Why did I have such a dream? Why do I feel such a strong, clinging attachment, such longing for the parents of this life?”

Mu Xian clenched his fist slightly. His star-like eyes narrowed a bit, and his brows knit tightly together.

“Huh? What’s this?” Mu Xian instinctively used his Spiritual Sense to examine his own soul, and then his mouth fell open in surprise.

Because Mu Xian was shocked to discover that after waking from his unconscious state, his Spiritual Power cultivation had already reached the Nourishing Soul Realm.

Cultivating Spiritual Power first involved cultivating the soul. The soul was divided into three hun (cloud souls) and seven po (white souls). The three hun were the heavenly hun, earthly hun, and human hun, controlling vitality, the seven emotions and six desires, and consciousness respectively. The seven po were the blood associated with the five sense organs—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body—and the blood of the internal organs.

The three hun existed within the spirit. After the original owner of the body passed away, these three hun dissipated like smoke, which allowed the Divine Soul from twenty thousand years later to successfully occupy the body. This enabled him to cultivate Spiritual Power and reach the settled soul realm.

However, the seven po existed within the material world. Although the original owner of the body had died, his physical flesh had not perished. This meant the seven po of the original owner still existed. For Mu Xian to reach the Nourishing Soul Realm in cultivation was not easy, yet now it was a fact that his cultivation had reached Nourishing Soul Realm.

“Could it be related to that dream I had while I was asleep? If my Spiritual Power cultivation has truly reached Nourishing Soul Realm, then it means my Divine Soul has begun to merge with the seven po of the body’s former owner. The former owner and I are no longer separate; we have combined into one. My feelings of affection and even dependence towards the parents of this life would then be very easy to understand.” After pondering repeatedly, Mu Xian ultimately could only attribute the changes within himself to the fusion of the souls.

After Mu Xian’s Spiritual Power cultivation reached Nourishing Soul Realm, his physical body was correspondingly cleansed and nourished by the Spiritual Power. It unexpectedly advanced another level, reaching the Great Perfection stage of the Flesh Body Realm. He was only a step away from the Condensed Essence Realm.

“Since my Spiritual Power cultivation has reached Nourishing Soul Realm, I should quickly advance my martial cultivation to the Condensed Essence Realm. Otherwise, it won’t be conducive to further progress.” Instead of being happy about the improvement in his martial cultivation, Mu Xian frowned slightly and began pondering methods to rapidly increase his martial cultivation.

“To achieve results in the Flesh Body Realm, one must continuously test the limits of the physical body. Only then can the body gradually grow stronger.”

“This kind of limit-testing is a form of squeezing out the body’s potential. If this squeezing isn’t compensated for afterward, the body can sustain damage from overexertion. Not only would this hinder cultivation, but one could also end up covered in wounds, a loss that outweighs the gain.”

“Therefore, during the process of tempering the flesh body, various nourishing and restorative, highly tonic Spiritual Medicines are needed to continue cultivating. However, most of these medicinal ingredients are extremely expensive. If one’s family isn’t wealthy, they truly cannot afford it.”

Thinking about how his family had already been dragged down by him to the point of teetering on the brink, and how his father, in particular, had gone off to search for medicine for him and was now missing and likely dead, Mu Xian’s mood suddenly turned very sour. His family circumstances were clearly far from wealthy now. Furthermore, the residual medicinal power that had lingered in his body for over a decade had been completely digested and absorbed by him. To continue advancing his Flesh Body Realm cultivation, he would have to find a way to procure Spiritual Medicines himself.

“It seems I need to resolve the internal strife within the family as soon as possible, then use the family’s resources to accumulate wealth and collect Spiritual Medicines for myself.” Very quickly, Mu Xian had formulated the next step of his plan in his mind.

“Oh no… I’ve been delayed in the mountains for so long. Uncle Ling must be extremely worried.” When Mu Xian’s gaze inadvertently swept towards the cave entrance and he saw that it was pitch black outside, so dark he couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face, his heart skipped a beat. His expression also turned extremely unpleasant.

Mu Xian had originally planned to resolve the conflict of medicinal properties within his body and then return. That way, he could definitely make it back to the carriage before Ling Tian.

However, Mu Xian hadn’t expected the accumulated medicinal power within his body to be so potent. Not only did it restructure his meridians, but it also forcefully helped him complete the processes of refining his tendons and refining his bones, allowing him to leap to becoming a high-level Flesh Body Realm cultivator.

He also hadn’t expected the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger to suddenly show up and attack. Then, excited by the challenge, he ended up fighting with the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger. Finally, unable to resist the itch to make it, he even prepared the Demonic Medicine Five-Colored Blood Spirit Powder, subdued the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger, and then collapsed into a deep sleep due to mental and physical exhaustion.

Thinking about the scene of Ling Tian returning to the carriage and being unable to find him anywhere, Mu Xian felt an overwhelming urge to return immediately.

“Little Flame, your wings have just grown out. They still need some time before they can be transformed into true combat power. During this time, don’t try to show off or prove yourself. Stay obediently in this cave for secluded cultivation. When you can fully utilize the power of your wings, I’ll come back for you.”

His gaze sweeping over the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger, which was looking at him with great attachment, Mu Xian reached out and stroked the tiger’s ear, giving it a gentle instruction.

The Blazing Flame Demon Tiger seemed to sense Mu Xian’s intention to leave. It reluctantly nuzzled its head against Mu Xian’s chest and let out a low roar of reluctance.

Mu Xian was nudged off his feet by the tiger’s head and fell to the ground. A wry, amused expression appeared on his face. Just as he was about to scold the Blazing Flame Demon Tiger, he saw its massive paw swing down. With a single slap, it completely shattered the crystalline, translucent jade bed. Mu Xian felt a pang of heartache watching it and cursed inwardly at this wasteful creature.

The next moment, however, Mu Xian’s mouth fell agape.

Because after the entire jade bed shattered, a surge of incredibly dense Spiritual Power rushed towards him. That supremely pure Spiritual Power made Mu Xian unconsciously take a deep breath. Even the pores and sweat pores on his body involuntarily opened, happily absorbing the Spiritual Power that was as dense as liquid. It felt like drinking the finest nectar, leaving a wonderful aftertaste.

A good dozen breaths of time passed before Mu Xian came back to his senses. He focused his gaze and saw an oval piece of jade, about the size of an infant’s palm, lying quietly there.

The entire jade body was exquisitely transparent, yet right in the middle was embedded a tiny, teardrop-like, rounded red granule. The red granule emitted an extremely dazzling crimson light. However, after being filtered layer by layer through the jade body, the red light became pure white and soft, illuminating the entire cave brightly.

That supremely pure Spiritual Power was emanating precisely from that blood-red granule.

“Divine Blood Jade Marrow! I actually have the fortune to see Divine Blood Jade Marrow, and such a large piece at that! Am I dreaming?” After clearly seeing the specific characteristics of the jade, Mu Xian couldn’t help but exclaim in astonishment.

No wonder Mu Xian lost his composure. Regarding the appearance of Divine Blood Jade Marrow, many ancient manuscripts and classic texts stated that it was formed when the shed blood of ancient deities was absorbed by crystalline jade, then nurtured by the world’s primal energy over millions of years.

Divine Blood Jade Marrow was also called the Stone of Power and the Stone of Life. It could rapidly replenish the depleted qi and blood in a human body, nourish and strengthen every part of the body. Whether for Spiritual Cultivation or Martial Cultivation, cultivating while wearing Divine Blood Jade Marrow would yield twice the result with half the effort.

Mu Xian once read in a manuscript about an elderly Spiritual Master, over seventy years old and with extremely poor aptitude. After he accidentally obtained Divine Blood Jade Marrow, his Spiritual Power cultivation broke through levels one after another like a hot knife through butter. Within a short twenty years, he stepped into the Divine Rank. His appearance even reverted to that of a youth, making countless other Spiritual Masters burn with envy.