Chapter 32: Marrow Refinement
"It will tear you down to your very foundations and rebuild you from the inside out. It will give you a new body altogether."
The old man let the weight of his words hang in the air. Lin Yuan, still submerged in the water of the giant cauldron, listened intently.
"Now," the old man continued, leaning casually on his walking stick, "you can either cook the marrow down into a thick paste, or you can eat it completely raw. But between you and me, young dragon? I advise you to eat the marrow raw!"
Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, "Raw?"
"Absolutely!" the old man chuckled, slapping his knee in amusement. "For one, the marrow refinement technique I am speaking of simply works better when the primal essence hasn’t been cooked. Cooking it degrades the chaotic vitality. But more importantly..."
The old man leaned in, lowering his raspy voice as if sharing the ultimate secret of the universe. "...the raw marrow is quite delicious. In fact, if prepared correctly, it is if not the most delicious thing a man can ever taste!"
Lin Yuan stared at the old man, then glanced over at the massive carcass of the giant elephant. To say that consuming the raw marrow insides of a behemoth’s bones would be ’delicious’ sounded insane.
Sensing Lin Yuan’s skepticism, the old man laughed, a wheezing sound that echoed through the clearing. "You do not believe this old bag of bones? Fair enough! Words are wind. Let us rely on demonstration. Little one, if you please?"
The old man turned his head and looked at the small, brown-furred sable resting like a scarf across his shoulders.
The tiny creature let out a squeak, acknowledging the old man’s request. It leaped from his shoulders, soaring gracefully through the air toward the massive corpse of the elephant.
What happened next caught Lin yuan by surprise.
As the sable flew through the air, its tiny body underwent a terrifying expansion. The brown fur bristled and darkened, muscles bulging with explosive mass. In the span of a single heartbeat, the cute little creature grew to the size of a mighty tiger. Its aura completely shifted from playful curiosity to an overwhelming dominance.
Thud!
The tiger-sized sable landed heavily upon the elephant’s carcass. With efficiency, it raised a massive paw and struck the giant elephant’s colossal femur.
CRACK!
The bone, which was thick enough to serve as a pillar for a grand pavilion and tough enough to withstand low-tier flying swords, snapped like a dry twig. The giant sable deftly hooked its claws into the shattered bone, extracted a massive, dripping chunk of the femur, and leaped back toward the old man.
Mid-leap, the terrifying beast rapidly compressed. The bulging muscles vanished, the massive frame shrank, and by the time it landed flawlessly on the old man’s extended arm, it was once again a cute, harmless-looking little sable. It offered the bone to the old man with a polite squeak.
Lin Yuan, still sitting in the cauldron, watched the entire sequence with wide eyes.
He wasn’t shocked by the display of strength, but his mind, due to his high comprehension, had understood how the sable was able to expand himself, without Lin yuan ever sensing spiritual Qi emanating from it.
"Ordinary beasts enlarge their bodies by flooding their flesh with spiritual qi, inflating themselves like a balloon. But that creature... it wasn’t relying on spiritual qi at all. It was manipulating spatial compression and the primordial laws of mass through Origin Qi. That beast is an Origin Beast."
Only after comprehending the Ten Thousand Ways Return to One Heart Sutra had Lin Yuan come to understand the true nature of beasts that existed throughout. The scripture had unveiled countless secrets hidden from ordinary cultivators, including the existence of beings that had long transcended spiritual qi.
It also explained why he had failed to sense even the slightest trace of cultivation from the beast earlier.
It wasn’t because the creature lacked strength.
It was because it manipulated Origin Energy, a power that existed beyond the perception of lower-realm cultivators. At his current cultivation level, Origin Energy was simply too profound for his spiritual senses to detect.
Lin Yuan’s gaze subtly shifted toward the old man.
’To have an Origin Beast as a companion... this man is certainly not ordinary.’
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
’Perhaps he wasn’t exaggerating. Consuming the marrow raw may truly grant me a new physique.’
Even so, Lin Yuan quickly suppressed any hint of surprise from appearing on his face.
’Still, I can’t let him realize I know anything about his nature. Whether he is friend or foe remains uncertain. Until I learn his intentions, it’s best to pretend I know nothing at all.’
"Thank you, little one," the old man said warmly, patting the sable’s head before taking the massive, cracked femur.
The old man turned back to Lin Yuan, holding the bone up. The inside was filled with a thick marrow that radiated a wild, chaotic energy. To any normal cultivator, it looked like highly concentrated poison.
"Observe," the old man said playfully.
Without a single ounce of hesitation, the old man tilted the bone back and took a massive, slurping bite of the raw marrow.
Lin Yuan watched closely, as the old man chewed with absolute delight. He didn’t flinch a bit. In fact, his eyes rolled back into his head in pure ecstasy.
"Mmm! Exquisite!" the old man cheered, wiping a bit of marrow from his white beard. "The vintage of a cedar-fed Beast! Sweet, rich, with just a hint of earthy undertones. Go on, young dragon! The rest is yours!"
The old man tossed the remaining half of the cracked femur toward the cauldron.
Lin Yuan caught the massive bone effortlessly with one hand. He looked down at the marrow inside.
"Body forging," Lin Yuan muttered to himself, resolving his Dao Heart. If he could endure the fiery crucible of boiling blood tearing his muscles apart, he could stomach a mouthful of raw marrow.
Lin Yuan raised the bone, opened his mouth, and took a bite.
The moment the marrow touched his tongue, Lin Yuan’s eyes went wide.
He had fully prepared himself to taste the foul flavor of raw marrow. He had prepared to forcibly swallow it like bitter medicine.
But the old man wasn’t lying. He wasn’t even exaggerating.
It was incredibly sweet.
The raw marrow possessed a texture similar to the finest, most delicate jelly. It melted instantly upon his tongue, releasing a burst of rich, buttery flavor that completely overwhelmed his senses. It was utterly devoid of any foulness; the chaotic vitality within it translated directly into a burst of refreshing sweetness.
As he swallowed, the marrow slid down his throat like a warm river of liquid gold. The moment it hit his stomach, it detonated.
But it wasn’t the agonizing, tearing pain of the blood bath. This was a deep, soothing warmth. The essence of the marrow seeped directly into Lin Yuan’s own skeletal structure, instantly merging with his bone marrow. He could feel his newly forged bones vibrating, growing exponentially denser, heavier, and practically indestructible.
"Well?" the old man asked, a knowing grin on his face. "How is it?"
Lin Yuan didn’t answer immediately. He looked at the old man, then looked down at the bone in his hand.
Without a single word, Lin Yuan took another sip from the bone. He slurped every last ounce of the marrow from it, tossing the empty bone aside into the cauldron water.
Then, with a single leap, Lin Yuan launched himself out of the cauldron. He landed on the edge of the crater, completely ignoring the fact that he was soaking wet. He marched directly over to the carcass of the giant elephant.
Crack! Snap! Boom!
Using his newly tempered physical strength, Lin Yuan began manually ripping the giant elephant’s skeleton apart. He snapped its ribs like breadsticks, cracked its spine over his knee, and extracted massive chunks of the sweet marrow.
The old man and the sable stood to the side, watching the scene with amusement.
"Pace yourself, young dragon!" the old man laughed, leaning on his walking stick as Lin Yuan aggressively devoured another massive handful of marrow. "Save some for this old bag of bones."