Chapter 496: The Existence Below Immortals

Chapter 496: The Existence Below Immortals

In the forest.

Jiang Ning stood up.

His long hair scattered and danced in the wind.

"The toll on my body is getting heavier!" he murmured, feeling the pervasive hunger within him.

The hunger in his stomach burned like a flame, causing his stomach to cramp.

"Perhaps the Third Blood Transformation will require external assistance!" the thought flashed through his mind.

The Second Blood Transformation, which involved remaking new blood, clearly placed a greater burden on his body.

His body conveyed a sense of extreme hunger.

However, his eyes remained calm, without a ripple.

Having come this far, if he couldn’t fully control his body, he would truly be a waste.

The hunger in his body couldn’t shake his resolve.

He then took a moment to sense the changes in his body.

With a wave of his hand, a golden light flashed, and a blood-red crystal appeared in his palm.

The Crimson Flame Blood Crystal is a special mineral formed deep in the earth from the blood of powerful beings seeping into the ore veins.

Unlike Blood Jade, this mineral can be absorbed by the human body.

Some speculate that this might be due to the different types of life forms or different levels of life.

But there is no doubt.

The Crimson Flame Blood Crystal can be absorbed by martial artists, providing them with great benefits.

It can enhance life force, strengthen the physical body, and reinforce the essence.

For Jiang Ning, this is the most needed nourishment right now.

He then tossed the egg-sized Crimson Flame Blood Crystal into his mouth.

Crunch—

With a bite, the Crimson Flame Blood Crystal shattered instantly in his mouth.

Then—

Crack—

Crack—

His mouth emitted a series of crisp sounds as the Crimson Flame Blood Crystal was crushed into tiny fragments and swallowed.

For a Grandmaster, it’s long been possible to consume metal and digest stones, thanks to their powerful stomachs.

This ability isn’t exclusive to Grandmasters.

At the Bone Forging stage, ordinary martial artists can already consume iron pills and drink copper juice.

According to ancient texts, early martial artists at the Bone Breaking stage relied on swallowing iron pills to complete the Bone Forging process.

So for him now, it’s a simple task.

As the Crimson Flame Blood Crystal entered his stomach, he felt the burning sensation, like fire or sulfur, diminish.

A warm flow began to spread in his stomach, like a gentle spring rain on a dry desert.

Each cell in his body was washed by this warm flow, transmitting a desperate desire for nourishment.

It was like an extremely hungry person suddenly tasting a piece of meat; the desire to eat only grew stronger.

Feeling the changes in his body, Jiang Ning took out another Crimson Flame Blood Crystal. With a bite, the hard crystal quickly turned into fragments and was swallowed.

One by one, they entered his stomach, and his stomach secreted a highly corrosive gastric juice to dissolve the fragments.

After about half a tea cup’s time.

Five Crimson Flame Blood Crystals had been consumed, and with the continuous absorption of their energy, the burning hunger in his stomach and the desperate desire for nourishment in his body had significantly diminished.

That’s enough!

He stopped the idea of consuming more Crimson Flame Blood Crystals.

His body was severely depleted, and it would take more than a day to restore it to peak condition.

Even with nourishing drugs, the body needs time to absorb them.

Although five Crimson Flame Blood Crystals were far from fully restoring his body’s weakness, they could slightly improve his condition and ease the initial situation.

The rest of the recovery would take time.

He then headed back to his residence.

"Let’s go, I’ll take you for a feast!"

Upon returning to the residence, this was the first thing Jiang Ning said to Lvyi.

Although the burning sensation in his stomach had subsided, it was still filled with hunger, and he was eager for a big meal.

"Sure, Master!!" Lvyi’s eyes lit up at Jiang Ning’s words.

She remembered the last time Jiang Ning returned from a breakthrough, he did the same.

Now it was happening again.

She had a vague suspicion and couldn’t help but feel excited.

"Do you need to prepare?" Jiang Ning smiled at the energetic Lvyi.

"No, Master! We can leave right away!"

"Then let’s go!"

Jiang Ning smiled faintly.

Nine Heavens Tower.

The Nine Heavens Tower was not busy in the afternoon.

It wasn’t yet dinnertime.

At the entrance of the Nine Heavens Tower, Jiang Ning suddenly stopped and looked at the crowd gathering in the distance.

"Master, what’s that?" Lvyi followed Jiang Ning’s gaze and asked curiously.

"Yellow Heaven Sect is using talisman water to heal people!"

"Can talisman water really heal?" Lvyi was puzzled.

"Yes!" Jiang Ning nodded, recalling the last winter in Luoshui County when Yellow Heaven Sect distributed talismans to the poor to keep them warm.

He had taken a few to study and found them truly remarkable.

Like a heating pad from his previous life, they could release a constant warm flow to keep the body warm, and the effect lasted longer.

So he had no doubt that Yellow Heaven Sect’s talisman water could heal.

In this extraordinary world, talismans having magical powers is quite normal.

He glanced a few times and then walked into the main hall of the Nine Heavens Tower.

Yellow Heaven Sect had moved into Guangning Prefecture a few days ago.

He was somewhat aware of this.

Previously, due to the events in Bai Sha County, Yellow Heaven Sect had spoken with Shen Wenyuan and received authorization to spread their teachings and recruit followers in Bai Sha County.

Now, releasing talisman water to heal people in Guangning City was not a strange occurrence.

On the third floor.

Jiang Ning ordered a full table of dishes as usual.

As soon as the dishes arrived, he started eating in large bites.

After a few dishes, his stomach felt less empty.

At that moment, he strained his ears to listen.

"Have you heard? Because of the drought in Guangning Prefecture, Yellow Heaven Sect will have a Heavenly King come here to pray for rain in a few days."

"Pray for rain, can that work?"

"Why not! You’re really uninformed. It’s said that every Heavenly King of Yellow Heaven Sect can summon Thunder and Lightning to bring rain. Do you know Fengxian Prefecture? It didn’t rain for a whole year from last year to this year. But after a Heavenly King of Yellow Heaven Sect performed a ritual, it rained for three days straight."

"..."

Hearing the conversation between the two people at a nearby table, Jiang Ning was slightly surprised.

Yellow Heaven Sect?

Heavenly King?

From what he knew, the twelve Heavenly Kings of Yellow Heaven Sect all had a teacher-student relationship with the Yellow Heaven Daoist.

They had all condensed Yang Spirit, allowing their souls to travel during Celestial Noon without fear of the scorching sun.

In ancient times, such figures were among the strongest below immortals.

In the ancient immortal path, after condensing Yang Spirit, one only needed to pass the Lightning Tribulation to become an immortal.

Yang Spirit was already the peak of the mortal realm.

Those twelve Heavenly Kings, in ancient times, were all truly capable of becoming immortals.

But in the current era, things are different.

The changes in the world’s environment have weakened the path of immortality.

The peak of the mortal realm below immortals, those who have condensed Yang Spirit, are not as strong as the peak of First Rank martial artists.

Compared to the current martial arts, Yang Spirit-level immortal experts can only be compared to Second Rank Grandmasters.

According to the records, the weakening of the celestial environment has greatly diminished the power of the techniques and spells used in the path of immortality.

Even Yang Spirit level experts, who are below the rank of immortals, have seen a decline in their combat capabilities.

Their once formidable abilities to move mountains and reshape the earth have been reduced to a fraction of their former might.

This is the effect of the celestial environment.

It is also the root cause of the rise of martial arts.

Jiang Ning's mind raced, and he found himself intrigued by the approaching Heavenly King.

The Heavenly King of the Yellow Heaven Sect was a peak expert on the path of immortality, just below the rank of an immortal.

Immortals, whether in the records of this world or in the myths of his previous life, were always shrouded in romantic allure.

Eternal life, roaming freely through the heavens and earth.

Traveling to the Northern Sea in the morning and the Cangwu Mountains in the evening.

Such a life of freedom and ease.

He listened to the conversation of the two people for a while longer, but it was mostly trivial talk, so he stopped paying attention.

After a satisfying meal, he and Lvyi left the Nine Heavens Tower.

By now, the Nine Heavens Tower was bustling with more patrons.

The first floor had become quite noisy.

As he stepped out of the main door, he saw that the line of the Yellow Heaven Sect’s relief team had grown even longer.

He recalled the news he had heard in the tavern earlier.

The Yellow Heaven Sect was sending a Heavenly King-level expert to Guangning Prefecture in a few days to hold a ritual for rain.

"Is this their exchange condition?" Jiang Ning looked toward the place where the Yellow Heaven Sect’s followers were gathered, musing to himself.

During the drinking session with Zhao Yu Long and his old friends, he had heard someone lament the severe weather this year, fearing that the crops would fail, leading to a great famine.

Someone at the table had suggested seeking help from the Yellow Heaven Sect, as their Heavenly Kings had performed rain-summoning rituals multiple times.

At the time, he had only listened without giving it much thought.

After all, the affairs of Guangning Prefecture were not his concern.

Now, seeing the Yellow Heaven Sect’s followers administering healing talismans and hearing the two people talk about the Yellow Heaven Sect, he couldn’t help but think about it.

After a moment of reflection, he dismissed the matter from his mind.

The Yellow Heaven Sect was the foremost religious organization in the Great Xia Empire.

The Yellow Heaven Daoists were openly ranked second in the world alongside four others.

Both martial arts and the path of immortality had reached their peaks.

He did not want to provoke a force of this level.

If there were real problems, they would be handled by others.

When the sky falls, there are always taller people to hold it up.

On his way back to his residence from the Nine Heavens Tower, he saw two more groups of Yellow Heaven Sect followers.

In the early days after he arrived in the city, he had rarely seen such a sight.

The next morning,

After a night of rest and the body’s absorption and recovery, he felt much better.

He checked his status panel as soon as he woke up.

【Essence Points】: 25388

Seeing the increase in his Essence Points, he nodded in satisfaction.

Yesterday, he had used only five Crimson Flame Blood Crystals, yet his Essence Points had increased by thousands.

This indicated that the Crimson Flame Blood Crystals were very cost-effective for him.

Not only did they provide the energy needed for his body’s recovery, but they also granted a significant amount of Essence Points.

He had already decided to use these accumulated Essence Points to break through the limits of his literary skills.

Although literary skills were only auxiliary techniques, the effects of breaking through their limits were very significant for him now.

Most importantly, the icy coffin was a persistent threat.

He wanted to try and see if breaking through his literary skills could enhance his Heavenly Eye.

Only the Heavenly Eye had a chance to resolve the issue with the icy coffin.

If that didn’t work,

He had also considered finding Xia Wanjun once his strength improved.

Xia Wanjun, a mysterious woman.

His intuition told him that Xia Wanjun might be able to help him.

He also had a vague feeling that Xia Wanjun might be very special and knew many secrets he was unaware of.

But he didn’t dare approach her rashly.

After some thought,

He took out more Crimson Flame Blood Crystals, crushed them in his mouth, and swallowed them.

The five Crimson Flame Blood Crystals from yesterday had been fully absorbed by his body after the night, but his body was still not completely recovered.

Recreating new blood was a heavy burden on his body.

Especially during the Second Blood Transformation, the creation of new blood had drained most of his energy.

Recovering his body was not something that could be achieved in a short time, nor could it be done with just a few Crimson Flame Blood Crystals.

After swallowing the five Crimson Flame Blood Crystals, he opened the door and went to the courtyard to wash and practice his punches.

Rustle—

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings came from above.

He looked up and saw a flying messenger bird circling overhead.

As he raised his head, the flying messenger bird seemed to lock onto him and darted down like an arrow.

"Looking for me?" Jiang Ning narrowed his eyes.

The flying messenger bird spread its wings just before landing, slowing its descent, then flapped its wings twice and stopped three feet in front of him.

Crimson-Crested Sky Messenger!!

Seeing that the flying messenger bird was larger than its usual counterparts and had a blood-red crest on its head, Jiang Ning was momentarily stunned.

The Crimson-Crested Sky Messenger, according to legend, was used exclusively by the royal family and possessed intelligence.

Any Crimson-Crested Sky Messenger could travel thousands of miles in a day.

Its strength was enough to match a seventh-rank martial artist.

It was a formidable aerial predator, a true ruler of the skies.

"Is it her?" Jiang Ning's mind immediately conjured up the image of a young girl.

He then took the rolled-up letter from the tube on the Crimson-Crested Sky Messenger’s leg.

Upon opening it, he confirmed his guess.

It was written by Princess Seventeen, Ji Mingyue, and addressed to him.

As he read through the letter, his gaze slowly moved down.

The letter detailed the daily life of the past month.

It mentioned how the emperor’s health had worsened, his mother had been secretly crying, his eldest brother had been bullying him, and how he had laughed at the eighth prince being scolded by the grand tutor again.

At the end of the letter, she asked when he would come to the capital.

After a moment of thought,

Jiang Ning turned back into the house.

He then wrote a reply to Ji Mingyue.

In September, he would go to the capital to participate in the martial arts examination.

After writing the letter, he placed it in the tube.

"Go, deliver this letter to Princess Seventeen!"

Hearing Jiang Ning’s words, the Crimson-Crested Sky Messenger glanced at him, seemingly disapproving.

Then it flapped its wings and soared into the sky.

Seeing the last glance from the Crimson-Crested Sky Messenger, Jiang Ning couldn’t help but chuckle.

He suddenly understood why it was acting this way.

It had flown such a long distance to deliver the letter to him, and now it was being sent off again without even a drink of water or a bite to eat.

"Next time, I’ll give you something good!" Jiang Ning smiled.

Then he turned to wash up.

After washing, he began practicing his punches to aid his body in absorbing the Crimson Flame Blood Crystals.

The five Crimson Flame Blood Crystals from yesterday had already helped his body recover enough for him to practice. (End of Chapter)

Chapter end