40: Chapter 40 Body Refinement Level 1

The inscription of the seven Formation Patterns was the most complex.

Formation Plates are similar to Magical Artifacts; Magical Artifacts are inscribed with Restrictions, while Formation Plates are inscribed with Formation Patterns. Formation Patterns and Restrictions share similarities; generally, a talented Artifact Refiner can achieve twice the result with half the effort when learning Formations.

He inscribed seven Formation Patterns onto the fire copper base plate; the lines intertwined like a miniature maze.

The most complex one was the Circulation Formation Pattern—it was responsible for recovering and reusing the Qi that dissipated after the Formation Plate was activated, significantly reducing Spirit Stone consumption.

The circuit path of this Formation Pattern had to precisely calculate the flow path of the Qi; winding it an inch too much would waste a sliver of Qi, while winding it an inch too little would result in incomplete recovery.

The moment the Formation Plate was completed, the nine-grid patterns all lit up, and the fire jade at the eye of the Formation suddenly emitted a dazzling burst of light before slowly receding.

High Grade Level 1 Formation Plate.

He tested the consumption of the Formation Plate. If using only unranked Spirit Jade as an energy source, seventeen pieces could maintain the Li Fire Killing Array for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

If using Spirit Stones, five pieces could last for the same duration, and they could be replaced midway. The fire jade eye of the Formation was the core; as long as it wasn't destroyed, it could be used indefinitely.

The power of the Li Fire Killing Array was equivalent to trapping a Cultivator at the Late Stage of Qi Refining inside the Formation and repeatedly burning them; even if it couldn't burn them to death, it could trap them in place and consume a large amount of their Qi.

After finishing all this, Jiang Yan poured out a peiyuan pill from the jade bottle.

The crimson pill emitted warmth in his palm, and the pill patterns flowed with a faint light in the dim cave.

He sat cross-legged and began to consume it.

The first one entered his stomach, and the medicinal power turned into a warm torrent, surging from his stomach to his limbs and bones.

The dark golden vortex within his Dantian began to accelerate, devouring and converting the medicinal power thread by thread.

He swallowed the second one immediately, and the two streams of medicinal power combined, surging and galloping through his Meridians.

Advancing from Qi Refining Stage 3 to Qi Refining Stage 4 was the watershed between the Early Stage and Middle Stage of Qi Refining.

The Qi in his Dantian had been compressed to the extreme; every strand was like a taut bowstring.

The third, fourth, and fifth pills—the medicinal power pushed the Qi vortex to continuously expand, and that membrane became thinner and thinner under the continuous impact.

When he swallowed the seventh one, the membrane was finally broken through.

It wasn't a resounding shatter, but a silent penetration—the Qi vortex suddenly contracted at the moment of the Breakthrough, then slowly stretched out.

The dark golden vortex became deeper and richer in color; its volume didn't expand but instead slightly shrank, yet every strand of Qi was several times more solid than before.

The movement of the vortex was also more smooth and natural, no longer having that sense of sluggishness from just breaking through.

His Divine Sense coverage expanded directly from four zhang to five and a half zhang. Within five and a half zhang, even the fine traces of water seeping from the cave wall were clearly distinguishable.

Qi Refining Stage 4.

He felt the changes in his Dantian for a moment, then put away the remaining peiyuan pills.

There were three peiyuan pills left, but now was not the time to continue consuming them—a newly broken-through Realm needed to be stabilized; swallowing pills consecutively would only make his Foundation become as hollow and loose as Zhao Xuancheng's.

He turned his gaze to the eight star pills.

The silver-white pills hovered above his palm, with star-shaped halos slowly flowing inside.

The introductory formula for Star Saint Body floated up from his memory—draw the stars into the body, refine star patterns into the bones, and reshape the Foundation of the Physical Body with the power of the stars.

He swallowed the first one.

A stream of cold, sharp medicinal power exploded from his stomach.

It was completely different from the gentle Qi of the peiyuan pill—the medicinal power of the star pill was like countless tiny knives, starting from the inner walls of his Meridians and scraping outwards.

When the medicinal power permeated into his bones, every bone felt like it was being pricked by needles, and also like it was being repeatedly sanded by extremely fine sandpaper.

This was not pain; it was Body Tempering—it was the Impurities inside the bones being forced out by the power of the stars, and the bone structure being rearranged to be denser under the forging of the medicinal power.

The second, the third.

The tempering expanded from the bones to the Meridians, from the Meridians to the muscles, and from the muscles to the skin.

With every one swallowed, the scope of the Body Tempering expanded by one layer.

By the fourth one, extremely faint silver-white patterns began to appear on the surface of his bones—Star Patterns.

These patterns were invisible to the naked eye; they could only be captured when using Divine Sense to look internally, like light trails of stars orbiting, branded onto the bones.

After swallowing the seventh one, the Star Patterns on his entire skeleton connected into one piece.

From the skull to the finger bones, every bone was covered with fine and orderly silver-white patterns, emitting a very faint starlight in his Divine Sense perception.

Jiang Yan opened his eyes, and a trace of extremely faint silver light flashed deep within his pupils, vanishing in an instant.

Body Refining Stage 1.

Relying on his Physical Body to withstand a Low Grade Level 1 Spell from a Cultivator at Qi Refining Stage 1 was not a problem, and the attacks of ordinary Martial Artists were directly immune.

In the future, when he dispersed his cultivation to switch to a Righteous Path Cultivation Technique, the Qi released during the dispersion could also nourish his Physical Body, allowing his Body Refining cultivation to advance further.

He stood up and clenched his fist. His knuckles let out a crisp popping sound, and he casually punched the cave wall beside him.

Without using any Qi, relying purely on the strength of his Physical Body, the rock cracked in response, forming spiderweb-like fissures; the cracks extended from the point of impact across more than half of the wall.

Over the next two days, he sorted and categorized the remaining spoils. After everything was packed up, he squeezed out of the rock crevice and walked out of the cave.

The autumn mountain forest was nearing its end. The last few withered leaves on the treetops shivered in the wind, ready to be blown off at any moment.

The sky was high and clear, and the clouds were blown by the autumn wind into thin, silky wisps, slowly moving from west to east.

The farmland at the foot of the distant mountains had already been harvested, leaving only bare wheat stubble fields stretching one after another to the end of the horizon.

More than two months of the four months had already passed.

He needed to make a decision in the remaining time—whether to cross the Manghuang Mountains to leave the Jin Kingdom, or find a way to sneak into the Jinyang Sect's cloud ship.

The Manghuang Mountains were rampant with Yao Beasts; with his cultivation at Qi Refining Stage 4, traveling through alone, the probability of surviving the crossing was very low.

The cloud ship was relatively safe, but he must switch to a Righteous Path Cultivation Technique to cover up all traces of demonic cultivation; the risk of getting away with it under the nose of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was equally not small.

There was a third path.

General Jiang Ce guarded the border to resist the Northern Yan Kingdom.

The Northern Yan Kingdom had been trading blows with the Jin Kingdom over the years and had even held the upper hand at one point; it was only after General Jiang Ce appeared abruptly that the front line was barely stabilized.

Since Northern Yan had been able to survive under the Jin Kingdom's offensive until now, it likely had the support of Sect forces behind it.

If he couldn't stay in the Jin Kingdom, crossing the border to go to Northern Yan was also an option.

He withdrew his gaze and walked down the mountain.