Chapter 416: The Final Step of Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm
Chapter 416: The Final Step of Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm
Chen Mu was unaware of Yan Hong and Jiang Han's situation.
After conquering a large settlement, Chen Mu, accompanied by Fang Yuan, continued their rampage, searching for Spirit People settlements. In the blink of an eye, nearly half a month had passed. Although they hadn't encountered another large settlement, the number of small and medium-sized settlements they had plundered was countless, and the amount of Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid they had gathered finally exceeded two hundred and ten jin!
Additionally, they had also found many Earthly Spirit Fruits and other unique products of the Seekwood Heavenly Realm, making their harvest extremely bountiful.
Along the way, they hadn't encountered Spirit Huan or Ling Ji, the two Spirit Ancestors, nor had they run into other Grandmaster teams raiding the Seekwood Heavenly Realm. It seemed that all the other Grandmaster teams had converged in one place and were no longer scattered throughout the realm.
In a certain Spirit People settlement—
Countless Spirit People were fleeing in disarray.
Hiss!
An invisible finger strike spread out, piercing the head of a robust Spirit Person.
The Spirit Person's forehead bore a clear hole, and his eyes revealed a mix of fear and reluctance. He then fell into a pool of blood with a loud thud, and a not-too-small wooden bottle tumbled out of his embrace.
Chen Mu's figure strolled in from behind, and with a casual wave of his hand, the wooden bottle flew into his grasp. Without opening it, he simply weighed it, roughly estimating the amount of Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid inside, nodded slightly, and then put it away.
Fang Yuan followed from the side.
Watching Chen Mu collect the Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid, a hint of envy flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes. In the past half a month of following Chen Mu, they had scavenged nearly a hundred jin of Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid. This extremely precious liquid was now as common as dirt in Chen Mu's hands.
However, only Chen Mu could harvest such a large amount of Spirit Liquid with ease.
If it were anyone else, they wouldn't have the qualifications to act alone in the Seekwood Heavenly Realm. At the very least, they would need two or three dozen Grandmasters to move together, as no one else possessed Chen Mu's agility and freedom of movement. Even without interference from the Spirit People Ancestor, it would be difficult to harvest over a hundred jin of Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid in just half a month, and when divided among the group, it would often be difficult to even get two or three jin each.
Not to mention that if they encountered interference and attacks from the Spirit People Ancestor, there was a chance of losing their lives. In a state of constant vigilance and alertness, their expected harvest would be even lower.
Chen Mu didn't pursue the fleeing Spirit People.
After collecting the Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid, he briefly pondered and then took out the Heaven and Earth Vessel, holding it in his hand to weigh it slightly. He calculated the accumulated harvest of Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid inside, which amounted to approximately two hundred and thirteen jin.
Chen Mu didn't deliberately hide the act of taking out the Heaven and Earth Vessel from Fang Yuan. After all, it was common knowledge that he had obtained a Void Crystal during his journey to the Earth Abyss in Bingzhou, and most people guessed that he had already refined it into a Void Treasure.
Previously, Fang Yuan had witnessed Chen Mu collecting resources, but this was the first time he had seen the Heaven and Earth Vessel, and it sparked a glimmer of envy in his eyes. However, no greedy thoughts arose.
Although the Void Treasure was incredibly valuable, far surpassing superior Spirit Armaments and rivaling those listed in the Great Xuan Spirit Armament Catalog's top hundred, or even top ten, such a precious item was not something he was qualified to possess.
Not to mention that this Void Treasure belonged to Chen Mu; even if Chen Mu gave it to him, he wouldn't dare to take it. He was well aware of the principle that a commoner with a jade disc would be guilty. Only after entering the Blood Replacement Realm would he be qualified to possess a Void Treasure.
"..."
After calculating the amount of Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid, Chen Mu nodded slightly. After a brief moment of contemplation, he asked Fang Yuan, "I've collected quite a bit of Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid, and there's no point in gathering more. I plan to find a place to refine some of it. What are your plans, Elder Fang? Will you join the others or temporarily retreat with me for a while?"
Chen Mu didn't hide his intention to refine the Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid; at this point, there was no need to conceal anything. His body tempering cultivation was not aimed at breaking through to the Blood Replacement Realm, and he wasn't afraid of any unforeseen circumstances.
As for Fang Yuan, upon hearing Chen Mu's words, he was slightly surprised.
By now, nearly a month and a half had passed since everyone entered the Seekwood Heavenly Realm. In at most another month and a half, they would have to leave the realm or risk being trapped and unable to return.
With Chen Mu's abilities, he could continue his rampage and plunder more resources. Even if he had already taken most of the accumulated wealth from the Spirit People settlements, in the next month and a half, he could still manage to obtain several dozen to a hundred jin of Wood Seeking Spirit Liquid.
However, Chen Mu didn't plan to continue plundering; instead, he wanted to seclude himself for cultivation, which seemed like a waste of opportunity to Fang Yuan.
After all, in just a month and a half, even with the aid of over a hundred jin of Seekwood Spirit Liquid, how much could one improve in such a short time? Besides, in his view, Chen Mu’s Heaven-Earth Body was likely already refined to its peak. Although he didn’t know how Chen Mu managed to refine his body to this level in such a short time, reaching this point made further improvement almost impossible.
Not to mention a hundred jin of Seekwood Spirit Liquid and a month’s worth of effort.
Even with a thousand jin of Seekwood Spirit Liquid and three to five years of gradual refinement, it wouldn’t significantly strengthen the body. At best, it would only offer a negligible improvement.
But then again, if he had harvested over a hundred jin of Seekwood Spirit Liquid, he might also consider stopping. After all, this amount was basically sufficient. Right now, he hadn’t encountered any of the Spirit Ancestors like Spirit Huan and Ling Ji, so finding a place to settle down and wait for the month and a half to pass, allowing for a smooth exit from the Seekwood Heavenly Realm, was a viable plan.
"Since Elder Chen plans to digest his harvest, I’ll gladly guard for him."
Fang Yuan, after thinking it through, quickly made up his mind.
He had already gathered enough Seekwood Spirit Liquid. Joining up with the other forces in the Seekwood Heavenly Realm would also be risky. It was better to continue following Chen Mu all the way. After all, once the forces gathered and clashed with the Spirit People, he and Chen Mu would face no further threats or disturbances. This way, they could safely spend the next month and a half.
"Very well."
Chen Mu nodded slightly at Fang Yuan.
He had also been assessing the timing. Refining the Heaven-Earth Body from its peak to the ultimate level was a significant leap compared to the smaller steps before. It would likely take a considerable amount of time, possibly around a month. To avoid missing the Void Tide and the time to leave the Seekwood Heavenly Realm, it was best to start as soon as possible.
Although being trapped in the Seekwood Heavenly Realm wasn’t a dead end for him, as once his body was refined to the ultimate level, no one in the Seekwood Heavenly Realm could harm him. Even if the entire Spirit People tribe came, he wouldn’t fear them. Being trapped for a hundred years until the next Void Tide and the opening of the Heavenly Realm wouldn’t be much of an issue, given his lifespan far exceeded that of an ordinary person.
However, the problem was that his lifespan was long, but others couldn’t say the same.
Xu Hongyu, Chen Yue…
These close companions, even if they could eventually reach the Bone Marrow Purification Master realm, would still approach their lifespan limits after a hundred years. If they couldn’t reach the Bone Marrow Cleansing realm, by the time he emerged, everything would have changed.
Therefore, the option of being trapped in the Seekwood Heavenly Realm for a hundred years was not viable for him.
After making his decision, Chen Mu didn’t hesitate. He quickly withdrew, moving towards the periphery of the Seekwood Heavenly Realm, with Fang Yuan following closely behind.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
A vast expanse of towering Seekwood branches stretched for about twenty to thirty miles, dotted with buildings.
This was a large settlement, one of the largest outside the core area of the Seekwood Heavenly Realm. Emerald light shone brightly, like a canopy covering the entire settlement, blocking out the sky.
Outside the Seekwood Grand Array, dozens of Grandmasters gathered in groups, their auras intertwining and forming a suffocating pressure, making the surrounding Heaven and Earth Power seem to stagnate.
Among them were figures like Yan Hong, Jiang Han, and Hong Shida, along with many other Grandmasters.
On the other side, inside the grand array, hundreds of elite Spirit People gathered, including seven or eight at the Grandmaster level. At the back of the group stood two figures, old and young, Spirit Huan and Ling Ji, the two Spirit Ancestors.
At that moment, Spirit Huan had his eyes closed, seemingly sensing something. After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of confusion flashing in his aged gaze.
"Strange."
"Ancestor, what’s wrong?"
Ling Ji, noticing Spirit Huan’s unusual demeanor, asked immediately.
Spirit Huan mused, "That person has retreated, and it’s precisely at this moment…"
He was at the Heaven Person Realm, capable of merging both mind and body with the Seekwood. Although the amount of Seekwood Power he could command had limits, his perception range was extremely broad, allowing him to sense events happening nearly a thousand miles away, including the direction where Chen Mu was.
He could sense that after plundering another settlement, Chen Mu had not chosen to press further but instead retreated. This was undoubtedly a peculiar situation.
This was because most of the other Grandmaster teams were now gathered, forcing him to remain here to manage the situation. Under these constraints, Chen Mu could act freely within the Seekwood Heavenly Realm and had no reason to retreat.
Even so.
He was concerned that Chen Mu might suddenly invade the core area, so he always kept a portion of his mind focused on Chen Mu's movements, ready to recall Ling Ji back to the core area at any time, manipulate the core ancestral formation to block Chen Mu, and prevent any mishaps in the core area.
However, Chen Mu did not take advantage of the situation to harass the core area. Instead, he unexpectedly retreated, allowing them to focus all their energy on dealing with the numerous Grandmasters gathered at the front. This was undoubtedly strange.
When things deviate from the norm, there must be a reason.
But...
Ling Huan glanced at the outer side of the formation array, his brows furrowing slightly.
Although he had a vague feeling that Chen Mu was up to no good, he couldn't spare any attention to deal with Chen Mu at this moment. Chen Mu's strength was not something he could handle alone; he had to bring Ling Ji with him. But if he and Ling Ji went to deal with Chen Mu, the situation here would be completely out of control, and their forces would undoubtedly be unable to hold off so many Grandmasters' attacks.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Ling Huan still shook his head.
Since Chen Mu had retreated, regardless of any plots he might have, they would temporarily ignore it and focus all their efforts on dealing with the front.
With him here, even if Chen Mu had some plan and wanted to attack the core area, it wouldn't escape his notice. He could recall Ling Ji to guard the core area at any time. In this situation, it was better to remain unmoved and adapt to any changes.
"Since he's retreated, let him be. We'll deal with this side first," Ling Huan said calmly.
Chen Mu possessed such a high level of strength that it would be difficult to threaten him. Killing him wouldn't be meaningful; it was better to focus on dealing with the frontal assault and causing more casualties among the Grandmaster's forces.
After hearing Ling Huan's words, Ling Ji also nodded and turned his attention back to the battlefield ahead.
...
On the other side.
Chen Mu led Fang Yuan in a long retreat, stopping only when they reached the edge of the Seekwood Heavenly Realm.
He wasn't aware of Ling Huan, a Heaven-Human existence, but he knew that Heaven-Human Realm cultivators had an immense perception range. To be safer, he needed to stay as far away as possible.
Buzz!
With a casual move, Chen Mu created a slanted downward passage in the wilderness, then continued deep underground, reaching a depth of nearly four hundred zhang before stopping.
Fang Yuan didn't descend to such a depth; four hundred zhang was still somewhat pressuring for a Grandmaster like him. Knowing that Chen Mu was probably going into seclusion for cultivation, Fang Yuan didn't want to get too close, so he stayed in an area two hundred zhang deep.
Underground Cave.
Chen Mu created a three-zhang-wide cave, sat cross-legged in the center, took out the Heaven-Earth Vessel and placed it aside, then summoned the system panel.
[Martial Body: Heaven-Earth (Perfect)]
[Experience: 112 points]
"Finally, I've reached this step."
He calmed his emotions and slowly exhaled.
In his martial arts journey, he had relied on his extraordinary perseverance and abilities to temper his skin, train his muscles, strengthen his sinews, and forge his bones, even refining his five viscera and six bowels to the extreme, reaching the limits of the human body. Now, he had finally arrived at the seventh realm, the threshold of the Marrow Washing Realm's extreme!
In the current world, it was already extremely difficult to refine the five viscera and six bowels to their limits.
Without the extreme refinement of the five viscera and six bowels, it was impossible to bear the burden of the Marrow Washing Realm's extreme tempering. The extreme refinement of the previous six realms was a prerequisite for breaking through the Marrow Washing Realm's limits.
Although martial arts had been developing and improving, it was unlikely that anyone in the next few thousand or even tens of thousands of years would meet the conditions for extreme Marrow Washing, let alone complete this step. It was too difficult.
In Chen Mu's opinion, if the density of Heaven and Earth's Primordial Qi increased by three to five times, and various Heaven-Earth Spirit Artifacts became twice as abundant, then there might be a chance for a martial artist to refine their five viscera and six bowels to the extreme.
Based on this, if Heaven and Earth's Primordial Qi and various resources doubled again, there might be a chance for someone to reach the Marrow Washing extreme.
When he had temporarily enhanced his cultivation using the system panel and briefly experienced the Heaven-Human Unity realm, he had indeed felt that the Primordial Qi in this world was slowly increasing, albeit at an extremely minute rate.
It was unlikely that even after tens of thousands of years, it would be one or two times stronger than it is now.
Moreover, this increase probably had its limits, and it might never reach several times its current strength. In other words, if he were to temper his Marrow Washing to the extreme, not only would he be unprecedented in the Great Xuan world, but he might also remain unsurpassed by future cultivators.
(End of Chapter)
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