136: Chapter 136 Nine Levels of Perfection

Gu Shen's tightly closed eyes snapped open beneath the medicinal liquid.

From the depths of his eyes, two orbs of blinding, tangible electric light exploded!

"Longevity Art, reverse. Break for me!"

Gu Shen let out a low roar in his heart, like a wild lion.

Inside his Dantian.

The cyan mana, which had been stuck at the Late Stage of Qi Refining Level 7, began to expand wildly under the influx of the massive vitality from the outside, which had been extremely compressed by the heavy water beads!

The Longevity Art, a wood-attribute Cultivation Technique known in the Cultivation World for being "peaceful and neutral," had completely mutated after absorbing the mutated wood marrow and toxic light of the Wasteland.

The cyan mana gradually deepened, eventually turning into a dark cyan that was deep to the extreme, even carrying a hint of heart-palpitating deathly silence and toxic evil energy.

Boom!

The barrier of Qi Refining Level 8, like a fragile piece of window paper, was instantly shattered by this violent dark cyan mana.

But this was only the beginning!

The energy of the gu king marrow was immense; even after being distributed to reshape his Physical Body, the remaining energy was still like a raging sea.

The mana surged through his Meridians like ten thousand galloping horses, emitting a teeth-aching, rumbling roar.

With every cycle of circulation, the density of the mana doubled.

The gaseous mana began to be extremely compressed, becoming viscous and heavy.

This was the precursor to the transformation into "liquid mana."

Normal Cultivators only experience the liquefaction of mana at the moment of breaking through to Foundation Establishment. Yet for Gu Shen, during the Qi Refining Stage, the mana density had already begun to shift toward liquefaction.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three consecutive, extremely muffled, booming sounds exploded inside Gu Shen's body.

Qi Refining Level 8 Middle Stage, Qi Refining Level 8 Late Stage, Qi Refining Level 8 Great Perfection!

It was a clean sweep! Without any obstruction!

When the last trace of the gu king marrow's energy was forcibly dragged into the Dantian and merged into that vortex of dark cyan mana, which was as heavy and viscous as mercury.

Gu Shen's Realm was finally firmly nailed to that position.

Qi Refining 9th Layer, Great Perfection Peak!

Only half a step away from Foundation Establishment!

Sizzle—!

Inside the safe room.

That large refined steel vat, which had originally been filled with dark green medicinal liquid, was now completely dry.

All the medicinal power, venom, and moisture had been completely devoured, without a single drop left, by Gu Shen's black hole-like Physical Body. Only a thick layer of black Impurities and waste residue remained at the bottom of the vat.

Crack.

A tiny, extremely faint crack appeared on the inner wall of the refined steel vat.

Immediately after.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The cracks spread wildly like a spider web, instantly crawling all over this industrial-grade stainless steel vat, which was half an inch thick and capable of withstanding heavy machine gun fire.

"Beep! Alert! High-energy physical collapse reaction is occurring!"

The Crab in the corner was so frightened that it kicked its eight legs, catapulting directly onto the steel frame of the ceiling, hanging upside down and staring intently below.

Inside the large vat.

Gu Shen slowly stood up.

There was no mana leakage, nor did he use any Martial Skill.

He simply. Stood up.

Rumble—!!!

Accompanying his rising movement, the terrifying physical mass and muscle tension within his body erupted instantly.

That large refined steel vat, weighing thousands of catties, could not withstand the brute force expansion as he stood up, and it exploded with a boom!

Countless heavy fragments of refined steel shot outward like shells from a cannon, slamming fiercely into the iron walls of the safe room, leaving deep dents.

The dust from the fragments settled.

Gu Shen stood quietly in place, his muscular upper body bare.

He had grown an inch taller.

The muscles all over his body did not bulge exaggeratedly; instead, they presented an extremely smooth, streamlined, and perfect proportion.

His new skin was a bloodless, pale white, but beneath that paleness, it revealed a cold, metallic luster.

No hair. His eyes were as deep as the radiation abyss in the deepest part of the Wasteland.

He had become stronger, but also temporarily bald.

Standing there casually, he exuded a suffocating, heavy sense of oppression.

This was Gu Shen's unprecedented Extreme Dao Iron Bone, the result of fusing the extreme powers of the two worlds!

Gu Shen lowered his head slightly and clenched his right fist.

Bang!

The air was violently crushed in his palm, emitting a piercing sonic boom.

He could clearly feel that if he were to encounter Xu Yin again now.

He would not need fifteen Iron Corpse Puppets to fill the line, nor would he need to use a Core Formation Talisman Treasure.

Relying solely on his current Physical Body strength and the mutated mana of the Qi Refining 9th Layer Great Perfection, he dared to wield his blade and face that one-armed Foundation Establishment Initial Stage Cultivator head-on, splitting his sea of blood with a single slash!

"My... My Lord?"

Above his head, the Crab cautiously extended its sensor head.

"Your vital signs have stabilized. But the energy readings... my microwave radar cannot penetrate your skin! Your Physical Body density has already exceeded the theoretical limit for carbon-based organisms!"

"Come down."

Gu Shen's voice was steady, carrying a chilling sensation.

The Crab immediately released its mechanical legs and landed steadily beside Gu Shen's feet.

Gu Shen waved his large sleeve, and a brand-new set of gray robes flew out from his Storage Ring.

Gu Shen, his muscular upper body bare, put on the thousand-tough black silk armor. He then draped the brand-new gray robe over himself, and finally, he took out a bamboo hat and put it on to cover his hairless head.

Clang.

He drew the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade from his waist with a backhand motion.

He only channeled a small portion of his dark cyan mana into it.

Boom!

The thunder patterns on the gold-severing saber instantly erupted with an extremely blinding, deep blue lightning light. This top-grade Magical Artifact emitted a groan of being overwhelmed; the blade actually trembled faintly under the infusion of this violent mana.

"The Magical Artifact is almost unable to withstand my mana."

Gu Shen flicked his wrist, and the long blade returned to its sheath.

This seclusion could be called a rebirth.

His cultivation had reached the absolute Peak of the Qi Refining Stage, and there was no room for improvement in the short term. To reach Foundation Establishment, he had to find extremely rare Foundation Establishment spiritual items.

But that was the next step in the plan.

The priority now was to digest the remaining spoils of war and turn this strength into the most lethal trump card for killing.

Gu Shen walked to the corner of the safe room.

His gaze fell upon the fifty high-energy Fusion miniature batteries neatly stacked in the explosion-proof black box.

"Crab. How have you analyzed the energy conversion interfaces of these batteries?" Gu Shen asked coldly.

"Rest assured, My Lord!" The Crab waved its pincers with extreme confidence. "I haven't been idle this past month! Through the database of Shelter No. 7, I have completely analyzed it. The kinetic energy output protocol of these miniature batteries can be physically interfaced with your Thousand Mechanisms Spirit Pivot Array Diagram!"

"Good."

A cold light flashed in Gu Shen's eyes.

"Take out all the damaged Iron Corpse Puppets from the Storage Ring. Replace their shattered bones with the load-bearing steel from the Shelter."

"Install a miniature battery as an energy core in the heart position of each Iron Corpse."

"I want them to become true killing machines."

In the Cultivation World, Puppets are limited by the low efficiency of Spirit Stones and can only engage in melee combat.

But with the miniature batteries, his Iron Corpses would no longer be clumsy meat shields.

After arranging all of this, Gu Shen turned around.

Through the thick iron walls of the safe room, his gaze seemed to penetrate the endless darkness, staring intently at the underground depths of Shelter No. 7.

The third underground floor, the fifth, and even the Thirteenth Floor, where the core secret of the "Ascension Project" is rumored to be hidden.

In the past, his strength was low, and he only dared to scavenge in safe areas.

But now, he was an Extreme Dao Body Cultivator at the Peak of the Qi Refining 9th Layer.

"How many weapons capable of overturning the Cultivation World are buried in the depths of this Shelter No. 7?"

A cold arc curled up at the corner of Gu Shen's mouth.

"It is time to go down and see."