22: Arrived at the destination, the ancient gods, the cauldron refining method

“Bang!” The air exploded as the Gu Shen Grievance threw a punch, like an arrow from a full bow, or a spear thrusting forward, a straight punch carrying an unstoppable momentum that seemed to obliterate everything.

“Thrusting Sword Style!” The Starfall Sword tore through the air, sparks flying from the friction between the blade and the atmosphere.

A simple thrust, without complex Sword Dao Divine Abilities or crisscrossing Sword Qi, yet possessing greater speed and more concentrated power, resulting in stronger might.

Fist and sword constantly clashed, the two combatants exchanging basic Moves in a fast-paced battle; their fighting techniques clearly showed two Great Emperors suppressing their Realm to the Blood Moving Realm for a contest.

The Gu Shen Grievance’s Realm during his life was definitely more than Great Emperor, but his remaining intellect and battle instincts were limited, still having a gap compared to a Great Emperor. Therefore, even though Ji Yi had lower power, he successfully compensated for the difference with his fighting techniques.

Draw, Lift, Lead, Block, Strike, Thrust, Point, Collapse, Stir, Press, Cleave, Intercept—the thirteen basic sword styles were wielded by Ji Yi, transforming decay into magic.

“Intercept!” Ji Yi struck first despite moving later, his Starfall Sword intercepting the Gu Shen Grievance’s wrist, forcing the Gu Shen Grievance to change his Move.

“Lifting Sword Style.” Ji Yi’s wrist twisted, his center of gravity shifting forward, and the Starfall Sword lifted upwards, attacking the Gu Shen Grievance’s upper body.

The Gu Shen Grievance changed his punch to a palm, slapping the Starfall Sword while simultaneously shifting his body, pushing the Starfall Sword aside.

“Collapsing Sword Style!” The Starfall Sword vibrated, a surge of power transferring from the hilt along the blade to the tip.

The sword tip, like a vicious snake striking, bent and struck the Gu Shen Grievance’s body with lightning speed.

“You win.” After being struck, the Gu Shen Grievance spoke and retreated to the side, signaling that Ji Yi could pass.

“Hoo!” Ji Yi wiped the sweat from his forehead. In this battle, Ji Yi had fought with utmost focus, his mind taut. Now that he had won, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

He walked past the Gu Shen Grievance and continued forward, traversing through the towering cluster of gravestones, feeling as tiny as a speck of dust.

After advancing another two and a half miles, eight colossal gravestones, soaring into the azure sky, blocked all paths forward.

Here, the intense pressure forced Ji Yi to constantly activate the power of his Supreme Sword Body just to stand normally.

The ancient god key rose from Ji Yi’s hand and flew to the gravestone in front of him.

The ancient god key seeped directly into the gravestone upon contact, and then a Void Realm vortex appeared on the gravestone.

“Sigh, everyone else’s gravestones automatically open a vortex, but I still need to cheat to do it. Life is hard,” Ji Yi said sarcastically as he walked into the vortex. This time, he was not blocked.

His vision shifted; the sunlight in the sky was scorching the earth. The sudden brightness made Ji Yi’s eyes a little unaccustomed.

He wanted to rub his eyes, but Ji Yi froze. When did my hand become like this? Wait! This isn't my hand at all!

“Ancient Battle, what are you still standing there for? Hurry to the training ground for assembly and training.” A voice pulled Ji Yi out of his daze.

Ji Yi looked at the two-meter-tall youth who ran past him, then compared himself; their heights were similar.

As he was wondering what had happened, a surge of memories flooded his mind.

“Ancient God Clan, War God Tribe? Ancient Battle? How did I become Ancient Battle of the Primordial God Race?” Ji Yi’s mind was filled with ten thousand questions.

But now was not the time to be dazed; the intensive training was about to begin, and Ji Yi dared not be late. The thought of the punishment for tardiness made Ji Yi shiver.

Ji Yi rushed to the training ground, where hundreds of Ancient God Clan youths had already gathered.

A ten-foot-tall Ancient God Clan member stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking down at the youths of the tribe. He was the Transmission Elder of the War God Tribe.

“In the Dao of Cultivation, the Physical Body is the foundation. We, the Ancient God Clan, dominate the Desolate lands with our powerful Physical Bodies. The first Realm of cultivation, Body Refining Realm, involves circulating Qi and blood, tempering the Physical Body, breaking through the limits of the Physique, condensing a battle body, limitless power…”

Since he couldn't find a way out of his thoughts, Ji Yi calmly stayed in the War God Tribe to Cultivate. Unlike the current cultivation system, the Ancient God Clan has always focused on Cultivating the Physical Body from beginning to end.

This first Realm, the Body Tempering Realm, although it also involves circulating Qi and blood for cultivation like the Blood Moving Realm, the current Human Race’s Blood Moving Realm cultivation, after developing the Physique to Perfection, begins to focus on Body Refining Divine Abilities and Qi and blood.

Physique Perfection means a Mortal Physique Cultivating to one hundred thousand jin of strength, a King Body Cultivating to three hundred thousand jin, a Divine Physique to four hundred thousand jin, and a Saint Physique to five hundred thousand jin.

However, the Ancient God Clan believes the Physical Body has no limits. In the Body Refining Realm, developing the Physique to Perfection is only the first step. Next, they will condense a battle body, breaking the Physique’s limitations on strength.

The Human Race has distinctions in Physique, and of course, the Ancient God Clan also has them; every race has Prodigies.

And Ancient Battle is a Prodigy; he has now completed the first step, his strength reaching five hundred thousand jin, just like a Saint Physique.

Next is condensing the battle body. The so-called limit is merely a limitation of understanding. The Ancient God Clan firmly believes the Physical Body has no limits, so they believe that as long as they persevere in training, the Physical Body will be able to break through the limitations of the Physique.

There are also methods for training. After so much exploration, the Ancient God Clan's cultivation system is already very mature. The Tripod Forging Method is the method they have summarized.

Using Heaven and Earth as the furnace, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi as the fuel, and the Physical Body as the cauldron.

First, cast the Physical Body into a rough blank of a cauldron, and then, through continuous hammering, this cauldron will continuously refine out Impurities. When all Impurities are refined out, that is when this cauldron will shine brightly.

Ji Yi sat cross-legged on the ground, adjusted his breathing, and quickly entered a meditative state.

Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi is very gentle in Heaven and Earth, but when it is absorbed into the body, it becomes violent. Heaven and Earth are preventing living beings from Heaven-Defyingly changing their fate.

Although the Ancient God Clan uses Spiritual Qi as fuel to forge the Physical Body, they do not blindly guide Spiritual Qi into their bodies, as that would instantly cause their Meridians to rupture.

Operating the Tripod Forging Method, Ji Yi controlled Ancient Battle’s entire body’s pores to open. Threads of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi were carefully drawn in, seeping into the Physical Body through the pores.

“Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.” The Spiritual Qi was restless. Blood seeped from all of Ancient Battle’s pores. This was thanks to his previous Physique training, which made his Physical Body tough; otherwise, his skin would have exploded.

Enduring the severe pain, he swallowed the Body Refining liquid he held in his mouth. This Body Refining liquid was mainly refined from healing Spirit Medicine and body-strengthening Spirit Medicine, a medicinal liquid used to assist in Cultivating the Tripod Forging Method.

Circulating Qi and blood, he distributed the medicinal power of the Body Refining liquid to every part of his body. The Physical Body, damaged by the Spiritual Qi, was continuously repaired.

While drawing in Spiritual Qi and drinking the medicine, the Physical Body continuously cycled between destruction and repair, breaking down to build anew. This was the early stage of cultivation for forging a battle body.

Days passed, and three months later, Ancient Battle could introduce Spiritual Qi into his body without harming his Physical Body; his Physical Body was already tough enough. Now, Ancient Battle’s strength had reached one million jin.

Next, he would proceed to the second step of battle body cultivation: tempering.

A hundred refinements make steel. The Physical Body initially forged by Spiritual Qi is just a rough blank; it still needs continuous hammering to become fine steel.

Ancient Battle fully operated the Tripod Forging Method, his entire body’s pores wide open. With each inhale and exhale, a large amount of Spiritual Qi was drawn in, continuously scouring Ancient Battle’s Physical Body according to his breathing rhythm.

Impurities within the body were continuously refined out by the Spiritual Qi, and the Physical Body was refined to become tougher and more powerful.

As Ancient Battle cultivated, a red cauldron-shaped imprint appeared on the back of Ancient Battle’s right hand. Then, the cauldron turned orange, then yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, black, and white. Finally, this cauldron turned white.

Then, a red cauldron also appeared on the back of Ancient Battle’s left hand, turning orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple. Finally, a black cauldron-shaped imprint settled on his left hand.

Each color change of the cauldron-shaped imprint represented an increase of one hundred thousand jin of strength. A white cauldron represented nine hundred thousand jin of strength. Ancient Battle’s current Physical Body strength had already reached one million seven hundred thousand jin.

Ancient Battle opened his eyes, and everything he saw was dim. “What’s going on? Why is it dark? Wasn’t it morning?” Ancient Battle exclaimed in surprise, and then Ji Yi realized something was wrong: this was his own voice, not Ancient Battle’s rough voice.