Chapter 38: Body Refining Bottleneck
For the next few days, Zhao Zuo remained in secluded cultivation, completely unaffected by the events outside. He occasionally heard that some lucky soul had found the corpse of a One Tier Upper Grade Demon Beast with a precious bloodline and sold it at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion for two thousand Spirit Stones.
They had moved into the core district, instantly making a leap in social class.
But Zhao Zuo sensed a conspiracy afoot. From that day on, the number of Loose Cultivators heading to the valley entrance had multiplied several times over. As the temperature continued to drop... the number of invading Demon Beasts also grew with each passing day.
"You’re saying that yesterday, Chen Xiaorong was seriously injured, yet she still killed five One Tier Upper Grade Demon Beasts?"
In the market stall area, Zhao Zuo was gathering information from Shen Yunjiao as usual. For some reason... he was very curious about Chen Xiaorong. They had never really interacted, but in a world where profit was king and human life was worthless, Chen Xiaorong was like a radiant beacon of light.
Every year, the Guardian Envoy would oppress the Loose Cultivators, and no one cared whether they lived or died. But Chen Xiaorong, all by herself with just her sword, had blocked the Demon Beast invasion, giving her all to protect the four major districts without asking for anything in return.
’Someone like that doesn’t belong in this world,’ yet Zhao Zuo couldn’t help but admire her.
"She’s injured, and badly." Shen Yunjiao paused for a few seconds before continuing, her voice a little lower. "Someone’s taking bets on whether Chen Xiaorong will show up at the valley entrance tonight. I put down thirty Spirit Stones that she will."
"That’s not a smart bet, but I have a feeling she will too."
Zhao Zuo didn’t know why he had such confidence in Chen Xiaorong. Perhaps it was because she made choices no ordinary person would, yet refused to use the power everyone else would to hoard resources for herself. Perhaps it was simply because she was different from most people in this world.
"You should place a bet too. It’s a sure win," Shen Yunjiao said to Zhao Zuo with a smile.
"No way. I want nothing to do with vices like gambling!" Zhao Zuo refused vehemently. It might have been a chance to get something for nothing, but having witnessed Yan Fang’s fall—from an ambitious man vowing to reach Foundation Establishment to a ruin brought on by gambling—had filled Zhao Zuo with a deep-seated loathing for it.
That night, dressed in a plain-colored gown, Chen Xiaorong once again cut a path through the Demon Beast horde, alone with her sword. She never retreated a single step, not even when her gown was soaked in the beasts’ blood.
And so, Chen Xiaorong had held back the Demon Beast invasion all on her own for a full twenty days.
Shen Yunjiao collected her hundred Spirit Stones and immediately placed a new bet on whether Chen Xiaorong could last until dawn. Almost everyone bet that she could.
Shen Yunjiao was no exception, even though she had initially planned to stop after just one bet.
Meanwhile, with the help of the Clear Heart Jade, Zhao Zuo had used two more Purifying Spirit Pills. His Cultivation was drawing ever closer to the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer. Aided by his Creation Points, his soul had also grown far stronger than that of other Cultivators at his level. He had mastered the Controlling Objects Spirit Pattern, reducing his inscription time to seven seconds.
The Controlling Objects Spirit Pattern consisted of fifty-eight strokes. In theory, inscribing it in under five seconds wasn’t hard. The real difficulty lay in making the Spiritual Power flow evenly and smoothly through each stroke, without any breaks in the current. Only by achieving this could the inscription be considered a success.
When it came to inscribing Spirit Patterns, there was no such thing as partial credit; only a perfect inscription counted as a success.
There were no realms of proficiency like Entry Level, Minor Success, or Great Success.
You had either mastered it, or you hadn’t.
After finishing his daily work, Zhao Zuo earned a full day’s access to an Earth Fire Chamber.
As usual, he exchanged a Black Iron Coin for two and a half jin of cooked Spirit Rice, which he devoured in large mouthfuls.
His body had changed tremendously during this period. Initially, two and a half jin of cooked Spirit Rice could sustain him for four hours of cultivation. Now, the same amount barely lasted one hour. Although Zhao Zuo’s knowledge of Body Refining Techniques was limited, he knew this meant cooked Spirit Rice was no longer enough to sustain his training.
He had to switch to more potent Pill Medicine, like the Qi and Blood Pill.
Since his last breakthrough in the Body Refining Technique, Zhao Zuo’s physical fortitude had increased by about forty percent. His physical strength was now close to six thousand jin, whereas the Golden Body Technique at Great Perfection could grant a staggering fifty thousand jin of force.
His improved comprehension was also beneficial for mastering the Golden Body Technique. With the help of Pill Medicine, Zhao Zuo was confident he could break through his bottleneck again within two months. By then, his physical strength should surpass ten thousand jin.
He had saved thirty Spirit Stones during this time, and with three Lower Grade Magical Artifacts to sell, a quick calculation told him he had a total of seventy-eight Spirit Stones. His original plan was to upgrade the Hundred-Change Mask, but doing so would inevitably delay his Body Refining.
’I can buy Demon Beast meat!’
「The next day.」
Zhao Zuo first purchased four liang of Hundred-Year Spiritual Silkworm Silk, then spent two Spirit Stones on twenty jin of One Tier Middle Grade Demon Beast meat. The standard price for One Tier Demon Beast meat was one Spirit Stone per ten jin. The difference lay in the beast’s size; a Lower Grade Demon Beast weighed around five to six hundred jin, while a Middle Grade one was about a thousand jin.
A One Tier Upper Grade Demon Beast, the closest in power to the Foundation Establishment realm, could weigh over two thousand jin. Furthermore, its bones and blood could be used as materials for Artifact Refining, easily fetching several hundred more Spirit Stones.
Because of Chen Xiaorong, the price of One Tier Lower Grade Demon Beast meat in Moyun Market had dropped to one Spirit Stone for twenty jin, with further discounts for bulk purchases, yet there were still no takers.
After all, when it came to energy concentration, Middle Grade Demon Beast meat completely outclassed the Lower Grade meat. As for Upper Grade Demon Beast meat, it was snapped up in a frenzy whenever it appeared.
Chen Xiaorong had slain five One Tier Upper Grade Demon Beasts but hadn’t taken their corpses. This was something Zhao Zuo found hard to understand. Nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones should have been a huge sum even for her, yet she had simply abandoned the wealth she was owed.
Zhao Zuo bought some seasonings and returned to the Earth Fire Forging Hall. He purchased a plate made of Spirit Iron from the exchange hall, along with four iron rods. Using high heat, he fused them together, creating a simple griddle.
Zhao Zuo cleaned the griddle with fresh water, then took out a small knife and sliced the Demon Beast meat into thick pieces. The cross-section of the meat revealed a dense, fine, and clear muscle grain, like an intricate pattern. It gave off a natural, meaty aroma—not the smell of blood, but a unique fragrance.
He placed a slice on the griddle, which had already been heated red-hot by the Earth Fire Furnace. As it cooked, the fat began to sputter, and a powerful, rich scent diffused, filling the air with its potent aroma.
As he sprinkled seasonings over the surface of the meat, the aroma exploded with intensity.
It was a perfect harmony of all five flavors.
Zhao Zuo’s mouth began to water. He immediately used bamboo chopsticks to stuff a piece of meat into his mouth. A wonderful, complex flavor instantly flooded his taste buds, and he subconsciously began to chew faster.
Immediately, Zhao Zuo continued slicing, grilling, and seasoning, occasionally taking a few gulps of cool water.
’A pity there’s no wine. I can’t drink to my heart’s content!’
After eating two and a half jin of the Demon Beast meat, Zhao Zuo immediately felt a warmth spreading outward from his abdomen. Unlike Spirit Rice, the Demon Beast meat contained a much more scorching power, something like Qi and Blood. As his stomach digested and absorbed it, this power transformed into a scalding hot current.
Zhao Zuo stood up and assumed the stances of the Golden Technique, moving through positions one through nine as sweat poured from him like rain.
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