Chapter 422: Breakthrough to the Extreme Terrain Realm!
This year, you saw another news report.
It was also a second-tier star, called Tiandou Star.
On this planet, humans made up more than half the population.
A few years ago, the entire Tiandou Star was unified by a man who called himself "Zhen."
After this "Zhen" unified Tiandou Star, his first imperial decree was called the "Exterminate Aliens Order."
That is, all non-human races were to be slaughtered, and each alien head could be exchanged for reward silver at the local government office.
For a time, Tiandou Star was swept by a tide of blood and gore, and the alien races, fighting for survival, battled humans until both sides were battered and bleeding.
But the above is only the background summary of today’s news article.
The main story reported that the Celestial River Holy Dragon Society’s Peace Bureau had judged "Zhen"'s actions to be criminal.
Moreover, the Peace Bureau had led one hundred thousand peace troops to Tiandou Star, claiming they would eliminate the illegal regime established by "Zhen" in the name of "safeguarding peaceful coexistence among ten thousand races."
"This 'Zhen' is probably Li Wentian."
You could only silently note the time and place mentioned in the news, and hope you could help these old acquaintances in your next life if you had the chance.
At this moment, the scale of the universe left you powerless.
It was possible that Shen Yang had also appeared in the news.
That report mentioned a human proficient in many paths who shone brilliantly at a path competition held on a first-tier star, attracting recruitment attempts from various factions.
As for the Sword Lord, you had also seen similar reports.
On the first-tier star famous for its thriving performing arts, Opera Star, a "big star" had appeared.
This person was a human swordsman, not an actor.
He acted chivalrously, made many friends, and enjoyed considerable local prestige.
His personal charisma was irresistible, and Opera Star residents stopped chasing actor celebrities and began chasing this swordsman.
Very likely the Sword Lord.
"All within the Celestial River local galaxy?"
If these suspect reports truly pointed to your former acquaintances,
you guessed that although the Path to Immortality’s random combinations of "birth" and "death" produced different destinations, those endpoints were very likely all within the Celestial River local galaxy.
"Although one galaxy is still huge, at least it doesn’t span multiple galaxies, so there’s still a chance to gather together."
Year one hundred sixty-eight, age one hundred ninety-two.
Ji Family Ancestral Land.
You told Ji Wuqing the truth.
"You’re only at Core Formation? That’s strange, how can you use Divine Abilities?"
"Wuqing, I trust you, so I’m telling you everything. I want to use the Blood Exchange Secret Art to break through to the Extreme Terrain Realm now. I hope you can help me this time."
"Of course I’ll help you, but is it necessary? You are already the Grand General of the Ji family. Why rush to raise your cultivation? Wouldn’t slow, steady cultivation be better?
I don’t think this Blood Exchange Secret Art is reliable. One slip and it could kill you."
"There are risks, of course, but the chance of success is greater.
Also, I don’t want my sense of security to depend on outside forces.
The Ji family is strong, but humanity is ultimately weak. No one knows what surprises tomorrow will bring."
There was one more thing you hadn’t said: in recent years Ji Baiming had been pushing marriage hard, and you were no longer allowed into Ancient Cloud Mountain unless you agreed to marry Ji Wuqing.
Ji Wuqing understood your difficulties and nodded.
"Okay, I’ll help you!"
The Blood Exchange Secret Art began!
Ji Wuqing prepared a secluded retreat where no one could interrupt you, a secret chamber beneath Wan'an City.
Both inside and outside the secret chamber were reinforced with sturdy protective formations, so outsiders could not easily enter.
Inside the chamber, there were only the two of you.
You sat cross-legged on the Blood Exchange Grand Array, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.
Before starting, you had already taken the pills required by the Blood Exchange Secret Art, the Blood-Building Pill and the Blood-Protecting Pill.
One to quickly generate blood, the other to allow brief survival after massive blood extraction.
This process could not use trait tag effects to self-heal, so you did not bring trait tags like Wolverine.
Thin, needlelike magical instruments, like silver needles, were embedded into your major acupoints across your body.
You slapped the ground with one palm to activate the Blood Exchange Grand Array.
"Wuqing, begin."
Ji Wuqing looked at you, spiked all over like a hedgehog, and gently nodded.
"Don’t worry, I’m here."
The process was agonizing.
The blood-extraction needles drew out your blood, spraying it onto the array to infuse it with power.
That power then fed back into your body, helping you strike at the boundary of your realm.
At first, you gritted your teeth and endured in silence.
But as your blood was drawn away completely, the pain and fear hovering at death’s brink forced an instinctive, rasping roar from you.
"Ah!!!!"
Ji Wuqing’s brows knitted tightly as she watched.
She couldn’t remain idle either, continuously releasing divine power to stimulate your body to generate divine power.
You, who had lost so much blood, looked like a dried corpse, horribly grotesque.
However, as the array operated and the pills took effect, your blood gradually returned, and your body reinflated like a balloon and recovered.
Then the blood was drawn out again, and another agonized howl.
The entire process required repeating at least ten times.
Watching you torment yourself until you were unrecognizable, Ji Wuqing could hardly bear it and turned her face away.
"Chen Yi, cultivation, must it come to this?"
Your mental state had already blurred.
You answered instinctively.
"I want to become stronger!"
"Among the masses, Core Formation is already an unattainable height, and you are still so young. Why push yourself to this?”
"Unattainable? Then why do the strong bully me, seize my artifacts, the alien races enslave and bodily punish my people, even kill children without mercy?"
Ji Wuqing’s face turned toward you, and her gaze gradually hardened.
Divine power surged within her, and she began invoking Divine Art energy, paving the way for you at any cost.
During this, you smelled the metallic tang of blood, not your own.
When everything finally calmed, you fainted for a while.
When you woke again, Ji Wuqing was guarding by your side.
Her long hair flowed, and she smiled as radiantly as ever.
"Congratulations, you succeeded."
Internal observation revealed the Divine Ability imprints on your yuan core were exceptionally clear.
At the same time, flame-shaped streams of light appeared around the yuan core; these were the origins of divine power.
When a cultivator steps into the Extreme Terrain Realm, primordial energy transforms into divine power, and the divine power origins swirl around the yuan core.
Raising the strength and quantity of divine power origins through Qi Refining Arts is the cultivation method of the Extreme Terrain Realm.
"I'm at the Extreme Terrain Realm!"
At this moment, the number of trait tags you could equip reached thirty-three!
Tags that previously had to be chosen carefully and carried selectively could now all be brought along!
You were ecstatic and gave Ji Wuqing a bear hug, patting her back vigorously.
"Thank you! Wuqing! If not for your full support, I definitely couldn’t have broken through!"