Bone Refinement

As Aotian's exercises and the avatars' technique synthesis progressed, time continued to pass.

Nearly a month went by in the blink of an eye, and his blood refinement had finally reached perfection.

He felt the spiritual energy penetrate his skin and flow through his blood. This time, there was no resistance.

Before, his blood reacted fiercely to contact with spiritual energy, as if trying to reject it. Now, it had adapted, growing stronger and capable of carrying much more energy than before.

The energy coursed rapidly, nourishing every corner of his body to its peak.

"Huff..."

Aotian let out a heavy, turbid breath and then smiled.

He looked at his own torso, which seemed sculpted like a blade had carved it, and felt the power pulsing through his muscles.

Now, his physical body alone possessed strength equivalent to the total power of a 3rd-level Qi Refinement cultivator. In other words, he could face cultivators of that level without needing to use spells.

And that wasn't even considering the combat experience he had gained through his avatars.

His smile widened.

'Speaking of avatars, let's see how they're doing…'

He opened his panel:

[Sect Leader – 4th Level of Foundation Establishment → 6th Level of Foundation Establishment]

[Elders Lie Zheng and Bao Hui – 4th Level of Qi Refinement → 6th Level of Qi Refinement]

Aotian nodded, satisfied.

'If I'm not mistaken, once I complete bone refinement, I will have reached the peak of what a mortal can achieve… Essence refinement will be the true dividing line, the first step toward immortality.'

His heart beat slightly faster.

He swallowed the rest of his rice and, without wasting time, began bone refinement.

Bone Refinement was considered the simplest among the realms of martial arts.

First, because by strengthening the blood and organs, the highly vascularized bones also received part of the nourishment.

In fact, if bones didn't require a more intense refinement energy, they would have already been completely strengthened in the previous phase.

Second, bones were less sensitive than organs, meaning they could withstand a much greater absorption of energy, making their refinement faster.

If it weren't for the fact that spiritual energy had to pass through the skin and blood before reaching the bones, they would have been the first part of the body to be refined.

However, the process had to follow a natural order:

The skin was the first shield against the energy of the outside world and the easiest part to both absorb and expel spiritual energy. This made training easier and reduced risks.

Then came the blood, which flowed throughout the entire body.

Only afterward could the bones be nourished.

This method followed the safest flow.

Aotian performed his first session of bone refinement exercises and, upon finishing, opened his panel.

[Host: Long Aotian

Cultivation: Mortal (Early Stage of Bone Refinement)

Physique: Mortal

Qualifications: No Spiritual Root

—-------------------------

Sect: No Name

Level: 0 (Not Qualified as a Sect)]

'This whole unqualified sect thing is starting to bother me, but I need to be patient. My avatars are busy studying essence refinement and, at the moment, can't spare time to recruit and guide disciples.' Aotian thought bitterly.

The synthesis of an essence refinement manual was proving to be an even greater challenge than he had anticipated. Since his avatars couldn't practice it directly, his only option was to rely on available manuals to perform the synthesis—with no practical experience.

This forced him to depend even more on manuals, significantly increasing the quantity he needed.

For that reason, today, he and Rihai would go out to sell the jade slip that she had imbued with the information from the book he had written himself—to acquire more techniques.

The content of the book was exactly the Ascending Flame technique—the same one Bao Hui had purchased for 600,000 low-grade spirit stones.

Aotian washed up quickly and got ready as soon as he realized it was time. He put on a black robe and took another one in hand.

Leaving his room in the third corridor, he walked to the second, stopped in front of the first door, and knocked lightly.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Rihai, are you ready?" Aotian asked, raising his voice slightly so she could hear.

Before he could call her a second time, the door opened, and a stunning Rihai, wearing a black robe over her shoulders, stepped out of the room. In her hands, she held another identical robe.

Aotian and Rihai looked at each other, surprised.

They seemed to have had the same thought.

Aotian stepped closer and kissed her lips, and she did not pull away.

They were already a couple, but they were still in the stage of getting to know each other better. They wouldn't go too far just yet.

"I thought you wouldn't mind hiding yourself. Especially after saying that selling Foundation Establishment techniques at Qianbao Pavilion wouldn't be a problem," Aotian said, amused, after pulling away from her lips.

"And it won't be," Rihai replied naturally. "The Qianbao Pavilion in Blue Cloud City is just a branch of the true Qianbao Pavilion, which belongs to the Gray Lotus Sect, a Golden Core-level sect. They wouldn't tarnish their reputation over a simple Foundation Establishment technique—especially one we're selling to them."

She smiled slightly before continuing, "But I already told you this before… What surprises me is that you still want to hide our identities."

"Better safe than sorry," Aotian replied firmly. "There's no need to lower our guard out of arrogance or overconfidence."

Rihai raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Well, if someone named Long Aotian says that… who am I to argue?"

She chuckled softly, teasing him before agreeing.

Aotian rolled his eyes and, playfully, stuck out his tongue at her, which made Rihai laugh even more at his childishness.

Storing the extra black robe in his storage pouch, he took her hand and walked toward the door.

Rihai followed in a good mood, hand in hand, as they chatted about whatever came to mind.

Ever since they had decided not to pry into each other's secrets, they both felt much lighter.

Now, Aotian could freely ask whatever he wanted without having to watch his words or hide knowledge that a mortal shouldn't have.

Likewise, he handed over the Foundation Establishment technique for Rihai to imprint onto the jade slip without needing to explain himself.

Rihai had seen Aotian's extraordinariness, just as he had seen hers.

But instead of driving them apart, they took a leap of faith—bringing them even closer.

Leaving the apartment hand in hand, they walked leisurely through the city until they blended into the bustling crowd.

Soon, their figures disappeared among the countless black-robed cultivators filling the streets.

…

Two hooded figures entered Qianbao Pavilion and went straight to an attendant.

The attendant—an elderly man with silver hair and a straight posture—saw the two and showed no surprise. Black robes were common among cultivators.

"What can I do for you?" he asked in a neutral tone—not enthusiastic, but not disrespectful either.

One of the figures simply extended their hand, pulled a jade slip from inside their robe, and handed it to the attendant.

The old man raised an eyebrow slightly, took the slip naturally, then turned his gaze to a young mortal servant cleaning the floor nearby.

"Servant, come here," he ordered—as if calling for an object.

The young girl, with black hair and a plump figure, hurried over, lowering her head and body in a gesture of respect.

"Sir," she said in a soft, submissive voice.

The attendant did not respond.

He simply pressed the jade slip against the girl's forehead.

The young woman squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trembling, expecting the worst.

But… nothing happened.

When she realized that her mind was intact, she opened her eyes, slightly surprised.

Then, she understood what the jade slip contained—but remained silent.

If she wanted to stay alive, she needed to know what she could and could not say.

The attendant, seeing that the servant wasn't bleeding from her orifices, took the slip back and tested it himself.

As soon as he absorbed the information, his eyes gleamed with surprise and satisfaction.

The jade slip contained the introduction of a Foundation Establishment technique. And it was a technique not listed in Qianbao Pavilion's records, nor in any of its branches.

If he closed this deal, his commission would be excellent.

The old man smiled slightly and, in a much more respectful tone than before, said:

"Esteemed guests, this way, please."

He led them to a private room.

What he failed to notice were Aotian's cold eyes beneath his hood.

Jade slips could hold large amounts of information, but they could also be used as weapons.

If loaded with excessively complex content and forced onto a low-level cultivator, the pressure of the information could explode their mind before they even had time to sever the connection.

That old man, without hesitation, had used the servant as a test subject.

Testing poison on mortals.

Aotian clenched his fists beneath his robe.

The scene reminded him of those two cultivators in the mortal world—the ones who were going to kill the innocent innkeeper's servant.

At the time, because of Rihai, he had completely forgotten about the case and had no idea what happened to the girl.

But one thing was certain.

After the Red Tiger's revenge, no one in that city survived anyway.

Even so, Aotian still wasn't used to how life was treated so trivially in this world.

And he doubted he ever would be.

Rihai remained indifferent.

She despised such behavior, but she had seen it so many times that it no longer affected her.

Upon entering the private room, a servant poured tea before the negotiations began.