11: Chapter 11 Physical Body Breakthrough to the Second Realm

The sounds of footsteps and climbing rapidly approached.

They're here!

The head of a man in black had just peeked over the edge of the nest!

Ye Tian's long-prepared strike was without any trickery, stabbing straight at his throat!

The man in black reacted extremely quickly; in his terror, he jerked backward while swinging his shuttle to parry!

Clang!

Sparks flew in all directions!

The short blade was parried away, but the tip still grazed the opponent's jaw, drawing a trail of blood droplets!

The man in black grunted in pain, his balance unsteady. He slid down several feet before barely managing to grab onto the rock wall.

Another man in black took the opportunity to leap into the nest from the other side, his short shuttle stabbing directly toward Ye Tian's heart!

The Move was ruthless, clearly the work of someone accustomed to slaughter.

The nest was narrow, with nowhere to hide!

A ruthless glint flashed in Ye Tian's eyes. Instead of dodging, he reached out with his left hand, actually grabbing the incoming short shuttle!

At the same time, the short blade in his right hand slashed horizontally across the opponent's neck!

Trading an injury for a life!

The man in black hadn't expected him to be so desperate. His eyes filled with horror, and his stabbing momentum slowed slightly as he tried to change Moves to parry.

But in that split second—

The stone bead in Ye Tian's bosom suddenly jolted!

A current of air, far hotter than usual and even carrying a hint of violence, erupted forth, instantly flooding into the Meridians of his right arm!

Under the crude pushing of this external current, the Overlapping Wave Fist force-exertion technique—which had always been difficult to master perfectly—actually began to operate on its own!

The muscles in his right arm suddenly bulged, and the sound of the short blade cutting through the air abruptly became low and heavy!

The edge of the blade even carried a faint overlapping shadow that slightly distorted the air!

Blood splattered!

The man in black's parrying motion froze in mid-air. His eyes bulged as he looked down at his own neck in disbelief.

A smooth cut appeared, and blood sprayed out wildly.

He made a strange sound in his throat, his body slumped to the ground, and after a couple of twitches, he stopped moving.

The nest fell into an instant, deathly silence.

Only the howling of the yin wind remained.

The other man in black, who had just stabilized himself, saw his companion killed in an instant. His pupils shrank, and for the first time, a look of terror appeared on his face. He didn't dare step forward again; finally, he shot Ye Tian a glare, turned abruptly, and used both hands and feet to climb away with exceptional speed, quickly disappearing into the gray mist.

Ye Tian stood in place, panting heavily, his right hand trembling as it held the dripping short blade.

The burst of power just now had drained more than half of his strength, and a needle-like stinging pain radiated from the Meridians in his right arm.

The heat from the stone bead was slowly receding.

He looked down at his left hand.

The palm had been sliced open by the short shuttle, leaving a deep, bloody gash. The edges of the wound were faintly turning black, and a sensation of numbness was spreading.

It's poisoned!

He immediately tore off a strip of cloth and tied it around his wrist to stop the poisoned blood from moving upward.

He then pulled the half-stalk of red sun grass from his bosom, tore off a bit of the fruit, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it up, and applied it to the wound mixed with saliva.

The medicinal properties of the red sun grass were scorching hot, clashing with the cold poison and bringing waves of pain that felt like a mixture of ice and fire, but the spreading trend of the blackness seemed to be slightly checked.

Only after doing all this did he lean back against the rock wall and look at the yin sha grass just a few inches away.

A faint blue light flickered.

He then looked at the dead man in black.

Searching the body, he only found a few pieces of dry rations, a water skin, some loose silver, and several similar poison shuttles, but nothing to indicate the man's identity.

He rested for a moment. Once his strength had recovered slightly, he carefully dug out the entire yin sha grass and placed it in a pre-prepared jade box.

He had bought this with his last bit of money at the market; it could preserve the medicinal properties to the maximum extent.

After putting away the jade box, he didn't dare linger.

The man in black who escaped could return with more companions at any time.

Enduring the numbness and sharp pain in his left hand, he gripped the rope and laboriously climbed back to the top of the cliff.

He quickly retrieved the rope and plunged into the dense forest without looking back, heading toward the Ye Family's direction at high speed.

He remained highly alert the entire way, specifically choosing the most difficult routes to track.

It wasn't until he saw the outline of the Ye Family settlement from a distance that he breathed a slight sigh of relief, found a hidden thicket, and slumped down.

Fatigue washed over him like a tide.

The wound on his left hand was still numb. The medicinal power of the red sun grass was fading, and the black aura showed signs of slowly spreading.

He had to neutralize the poison as soon as possible.

But looking at the cold jade box in his bosom and feeling the heart-palpitating, eerie cold energy radiating from the yin sha grass inside...

It was worth it.

He rested for a while and was just about to get up.

Suddenly—

Deep inside his bosom, the ring wrapped in thick cloth vibrated violently!

At the same time, an extremely muffled boom echoed from deep within the pitch-black Yin Wind Ravine below?

The ground trembled slightly.

Ye Tian jumped up and looked toward the Yin Wind Ravine in shock and uncertainty.

The boom only sounded once, and then there was no more movement.

But the ring in his bosom continued to emit an unprecedented, icy heat?

Two completely opposite sensations were intertwined, incredibly bizarre.

His expression shifted, but in the end, he didn't look back. He quickened his pace and ran toward home.

Ye Tian ran all the way home and bolted the door behind him.

Lighting the oil lamp, he immediately checked the wound on his left hand.

The black aura had already spread past his wrist, encroaching onto his forearm, and the numbness was heavier.

The scorching medicinal power of the red sun grass was almost completely exhausted.

He no longer hesitated and took out the yin sha grass.

The ghostly blue leaves were bone-chilling to the touch.

According to the records in that miscellaneous book, one needed to use a special method to extract the yin sha energy from the yin sha grass, or combine it with yang-type medicinal ingredients to neutralize it before it could be consumed.

Swallowing it directly would allow the cold energy to enter the body; at best, the Meridians would be damaged, and at worst, one would freeze to death.

But he didn't have a Pill Furnace, didn't know how to refine it, and had no more yang-type medicinal ingredients—the last of the red sun grass was gone.

Only one way remained.

He glanced at the stone bead in his bosom, which still retained some warmth.

Time to gamble!

He tore off a small piece of the yin sha grass's ghostly blue leaf, hesitated for a second, and stuffed it into his mouth.

The leaf melted the moment it entered his mouth, and an indescribable extreme cold instantly erupted!

It was as if he had swallowed ten-thousand-year profound ice. Everywhere it passed, his blood almost froze, and his Meridians twitched in agonizing pain!

He grunted, his face turning deathly pale instantly, and a faint frost even condensed on the surface of his body!

Just as the extreme cold was about to destroy his Meridians—

The stone bead in his bosom vibrated violently, and a torrent of scorching heat surged out frantically, slamming into the rampaging extreme cold!

Two completely opposite forces collided violently within his body!

"Pfft!"

Ye Tian spat out a mouthful of blood containing ice shards. He curled up on the ground, trembling violently.

One moment it was like falling into an ice cellar, the next like entering a furnace. The mixture of ice and fire brought pain far exceeding any previous Cultivate session!

Gritting his teeth, he used his last shred of conscious will to frantically operate that Nameless Body Refining Art, guiding this violent energy of ice and fire to impact his Physical Body!

Crack... faint sounds of splintering constantly came from inside his body, whether from Meridians or bones.

On the surface of his skin, frost would condense one moment, and then it would become red-hot the next. Fine droplets of blood even seeped from his pores, only to be instantly frozen or evaporated!

He struggled frantically on the line between life and death.

He didn't know how much time had passed before the momentum of the ice and fire collision finally began to weaken.

The heat emitted by the stone bead seemed to have the upper hand, gradually enveloping the extreme cold. It wasn't devouring it, but rather forcing it into a blend in a domineering way!

A gentle yet incredibly heavy energy slowly emerged, flowing through his nearly shattered Meridians. Everywhere it went, it brought an indescribable sense of comfort.

The black aura on his left hand wound quickly receded, and the numbness faded.

He slumped on the ground, gasping for air, soaked through and covered in a mixture of blood and ice water.

He had survived.

And...

He slowly clenched his fist. The new strength in his body surged, far more abundant and condensed than before!

His Physical Body strength had clearly risen by a level!

That Nameless Body Refining Art had actually broken through to the second realm in one go, thanks to this tempering of ice and fire!

The extreme cold of the yin sha grass and the scorching heat of the stone bead had reached a dangerous balance between life and death, becoming the best aid for Body Refining instead!

He struggled to sit up, looking at the remaining yin sha grass in the jade box with burning eyes.

This thing, combined with the stone bead, was simply a treasure for Body Refining!

But that sensation just now was truly something no ordinary person could endure.

He carefully put away the jade box.

This bit of yin sha grass had to be used at the most critical moment.

In the following days, he kept a low profile.

The injury on his left hand quickly healed under the nourishment of the stone bead and the Body Refining Breakthrough.

He spent most of his time hiding in the Ancestral Hall.

The aura here could nourish the stone bead and also allowed him to focus more on tempering his newly broken-through Body Refining cultivation and Overlapping Wave Fist.

His cultivation still lingered at the peak of the second level of Qi Gathering, progressing slowly.

But he could feel that his Physical Body, this 'vessel,' had been widened and reinforced significantly, allowing it to hold more and more condensed strength.

Once he broke through, his strength would surely far exceed those of the same rank.

This day, as he was silently throwing punches in a corner of the Ancestral Hall, experiencing the sense of power control brought by the second realm of Body Refining, the sound of footsteps echoed from behind him.

He retracted his punch and turned around.

It was the Second Elder.

The old man stood at the entrance of the hall with his hands behind his back, his gaze falling on the arm Ye Tian had just used to punch; the muscle lines there were smooth, concealing explosive power.

"You've recovered well," the Second Elder said calmly.

Ye Tian bowed in silence.

"A few people from Black Cloud Stronghold died recently," the Second Elder mentioned as if in passing, but his gaze was as sharp as a blade. "They died over by the Yin Wind Ravine. The methods were clean and efficient."

Ye Tian's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained impassive. "This Disciple does not know."

The Second Elder looked at him for a moment before suddenly changing the subject. "The Family Grand Competition has been moved up. It's in one month."

Ye Tian looked up abruptly.

"Prepare well," the Second Elder left those words and turned to leave.

Ye Tian stood in place, watching the Second Elder's back disappear.

The competition had been moved up.

He slowly clenched his fist, his knuckles making a slight popping sound.

Then he turned around and continued throwing punches.