After saying that, Long Yiran hesitated for a while.
"Give me half a month to digest, then I'll proceed with Core Formation."
In her words, the Dragon Vein Baptism had accumulated a mass of golden qi within her energy sea. As long as it existed, she had confidence in successfully condensing a core.
Wang Yu's body, however, had nothing.
This opportunity seemed to vary by person. Wang Yu's gains were mostly in the Netherworld Demonic Dragon Art and physical benefits; other aspects were minimal.
Xue Yu's gains were entirely concentrated on bloodline potential.
If Long Yiran could achieve Core Formation, her array mastery would advance further, greatly aiding the subsequent exploration.
Due to lacking inscribed bonded supernatural abilities and missing bonded magic treasure, etc., her frontal combat power improvement wouldn't be too dramatic.
While she prepared,
Wang Yu studied the **[Netherworld Demonic Dragon Art]**!
This art had always only had cultivation methods; matching secret arts, pill formulas, Bloodline True Artifact diagrams... none existed.
Wait, not exactly; there was a Dragon Blood Secret Pill formula.
Better than nothing.
After the Dragon Vein Baptism, as if heaven and earth completed it, many new things worthy of Wang Yu's study appeared.
The most worth learning for him
Was the body refiner's combat method—**[Demonic Dragon Fist]**! The fist art most compatible with the Netherworld Demonic Dragon Art, perfectly unleashing this body's formidable strength.
Compared to arts like *Minor Asura Slaughter Fist* and *Netherworld Spring Great Palm Seal*, its most typical characteristic, Wang Yu felt, resembled martial skills.
Fist techniques!
How to exert force, utilize joints, leverage the physique tempered by the Netherworld Demonic Dragon Art. Its most powerful ultimate move was a bodily supernatural ability!
It was a true fist art, not a mental school like the Minor Asura Slaughter Fist.
The most powerful move in the Demonic Dragon Fist was called **[Dragon's Tail Sweep]**. Seemingly just a spinning kick, it could actually stimulate the qi-and-blood manifestation, the Netherworld Demonic Dragon, to its extreme.
Shattering mountains and splitting earth was ordinary. If cultivated to perfection, not only would Wang Yu's combat proficiency soar, but his close-quarters killing ability would also firmly suppress others.
Crucial for life-or-death moments, its effect was profound.
Before his Core Formation breakthrough, this *Demonic Dragon Fist* would be his most powerful trump card, surpassing even the Netherworld Spring Great Palm Seal supernatural ability.
After all, the latter required magic power, while the Demonic Dragon Fist, after he broke through to body refinement third-tier, could perfectly demonstrate its mysteries, truly establishing him among the ranks of the strong.
Time immersed in cultivation passed quickly.
Another ten days passed.
When Long Yiran was almost ready, notifying Wang Yu, she sat cross-legged at the previous Lightning Corpse tribulation site, preparing for Core Formation.
She felt she could catch some luck; after all, the Lightning Corpse succeeded, and her only reliance was the Scattering Thunder Treasure Array Flags.
Normally, condensing a Golden Core took years. Transforming the sea of true essence into a solid Golden Core required significant change.
From gaseous to liquid, then liquid to solid.
Quality transforming twice, sublimating, before condensing the Golden Core. Yet magic power returned to the initial gaseous state.
A Core Formation cultivator's cultivation involved absorbing heaven-earth spiritual energy, refining it, then injecting it into the Golden Core to obtain more magic power.
Once magic power accumulated sufficiently, it needed to nourish the Golden Core, increasing its volume, making it more perfectly round. Similarly, there were three thresholds.
But that mass of dragon vein qi within Long Yiran's energy sea
Was equivalent to a top-grade Core Formation spiritual material, pulling her essence, energy, and spirit to her bearable limit. Thus, the three barriers—divine sense, true essence, qi and blood—posed no difficulty.
And the speed was astonishingly fast. The most crucial yet slowest accumulation stage, she surged through in one go, taking merely a month.
Given her wandering cultivator foundation, this was almost a miracle.
The Dragon Vein Baptism's value rose again.
But at the stage of compressing the true essence sea, her pace inevitably slowed, grinding for half a year to barely achieve it.
This made Wang Yu realize Long Yiran's spiritual root aptitude wasn't outstanding; even her comprehension talent wasn't exceptional. Her current array mastery was entirely ground out through time.
She was nearly two hundred years older than Wang Yu—a great-grandmother-level figure.
After initial condensation success,
Divine sense and qi and blood began infusing the Golden Core, helping stabilize its form. Another half year passed.
The Heaven Soul Sect secret realm's sky was again shrouded by dark clouds.
Tribulation descended!
The first tribulation, Long Yiran passed smoothly using array master methods, filling her with confidence.
The second tribulation delivered a harsh blow.
Layers of arrays were shattered by the heavenly lightning in an instant. The remaining power blasted her, nearly killing her!
Fortunately, she had several defensive magical instruments. Sacrificing them, she barely withstood the aftermath. Apart from some charred flesh, her condition remained acceptable.
The ensuing third tribulation, she didn't stubbornly resist, honestly using the **[Heaven's Heart Scattering Thunder Treasure Array Flags]** Wang Yu lent her!
This time, exceedingly smooth. After the tribulation dispersed, her aura quickly stabilized. After injury recovery and stabilizing her realm, it would count as success.
Seeing this, Wang Yu didn't wait for her to awaken.
Retrieving the twelve treasure flags, he moved far from Long Yiran's sitting spot, proceeding with his own breakthrough.
For a body refiner breaking through to the third-tier, the key was whether **[Divine Marrow]** could successfully condense. Described as nine deaths for one life, the pressure of failure equaling death easily bred fear.
Yet he was brimming with confidence. He was certain the foundation cultivated through the Placement Slot was immensely deep and solid, and the resources invested in the body refinement path were never lacking.
From the initial Dragon Blood Secret Pill, Dragon Blood Essence, Myriad Poison Spirit Marrow, Blood Thorn Tiger Cane... etc., finally the crucial Dragon Vein Baptism.
If he couldn't succeed, others had even less chance.
Sitting calmly for three days, Wang Yu took out the boundary-breaking **[Glazed Lotus Heart Liquid]**.
Last time breaking through to body refinement second-tier, he used Vajra Liquid. Both treasures were body refinement spiritual materials produced after Buddhism's influence on this world.
Adding the Prajna Heart Sutra, his connection to Buddhism wasn't shallow at all.
Surrounding himself with ice walls, Wang Yu removed his clothes, applying the treasure liquid to every inch of skin, not sparing sensitive areas like the perineum.
The Glazed Lotus Heart Liquid's effect was startling. Even before starting, he felt his entire body's qi and blood boiling. Yin-cold energy began spreading.
Within his Dragon Spine, 9,999 droplets of essence blood began fusing as he continuously circulated the art. The final "Three Condensations and Three Dispersals" completed with lightning speed.
When the third droplet of fused true blood dispersed into his limbs and skeleton,
The true blood dispersed in the previous two times resonated with the third. Flesh, muscles, bones, sinews, meridians, internal organs... every part of his body was stimulated, erupting with unprecedented surging qi and blood.
Continuously converging into the Dragon Spine. Simultaneously, the Glazed Lotus Heart Liquid provided vast pure power. Permeating his body, it restored those squeezed-dry parts.
Immediately, more Netherworld qi and blood were squeezed out. This was its effect on body refinement breakthrough.
**[Divine Marrow]**'s condensation relied on qi and blood.
The more abundant the qi and blood, the higher the success chance. The Glazed Lotus Heart Liquid continuously restored his squeezed-dry body.
Restore → Squeeze Dry → Restore → Squeeze Dry!
Cycling repeatedly, tirelessly.
After three cycles, the treasure liquid's restorative effect reached its limit.
"*Dong—*"
In a trance, Wang Yu seemed to hear an ancient temple bell's toll, carrying a strong sense of Zen.
Within the Dragon Spine, indescribably vast qi and blood completely filled the space. Wang Yu exerted all effort using divine sense to control them, compressing with the art's "Marrow Condensation Technique."
Effect remarkable. Progress, originally one-third, after hearing the bell toll, suddenly accelerated by several dimensions.
His thinking seemed faster, quickly grasping key points, condensing the Divine Marrow to sixty percent completion in one go. At this stage,
Divine Marrow preliminarily formed; failure probability approached zero.
Wang Yu's pace inevitably slowed, refining every detail meticulously, striving to become stronger after breakthrough.
That bell toll undoubtedly was also the Glazed Lotus Heart Liquid's effect. Its additional qi and blood tripled Wang Yu's total qi and blood.
The Zen-like bell sound enabled him to swiftly comprehend marrow condensation's essence. This was the powerful effect of a top-grade boundary-breaking spiritual material. With his foundation, failure was almost impossible!
Next was the lengthy process of convergence.
Wang Yu's internal core vitality grew increasingly dense, but his body, due to the suddenly drained qi and blood, became withered and lifeless.
As if having passed away, the mysteries of withering and flourishing were fully present.
Break then establish, one withers one flourishes!
Another half year passed.
On this day, Long Yiran had just awakened from realm stabilization when she saw a naked man floating mid-air, his robust muscles causing blushes.
Apart from slightly pale skin, it was the most perfect form.
In the sky above, within the secret realm,
The third tribulation gathered power. The floating figure was Wang Yu. After half a year of condensation,
Once Divine Marrow was born within the spine, black-gold-blue blood immediately flowed from the Dragon Spine, reaching every part of the body through blood vessels.
Wherever it passed, everything became full of vitality and divine power.
A network distinct from blood vessels and meridians spread throughout his body alongside the Divine Marrow blood.
At this moment, Wang Yu had officially reached body refinement third-tier initial stage. Only the final tribulation remained for completion.
**[Divine Marrow]** granted him two abilities.
—Mountain-Hurling Divine Strength!
—Vajra Body!
The former self-explanatory, granting him exaggerated levels of strength.
The latter equaled the Core Formation "Indestructible Golden Core" mystical trait, bestowing Wang Yu's body with powerful defense while granting a trace of indestructible characteristic.
The fleshly body would become extremely difficult to annihilate. Colloquially, resilience greatly increased, resistance to various forces significantly enhanced.
Moreover, Wang Yu's soul could reside within body fragments, achieving the peculiar effect of hiding the soul within bones. If cultivating a Soul-Seizing Art,
He could use a body fragment to seize another's shell, achieving the goal of rebirth. Vitality and recovery power greatly increased.
At that moment.
The tribulation began descending. Experiencing the Vajra Body's Divine Marrow talent, Wang Yu opened his arms to welcome the lightning baptism—the pure body refiner's forte!
Bathing in the tribulation was like taking a bath, even further tempering the physique.
In an instant,
Three tribulations passed. Dark clouds dispersed. He didn't need any tribulation-avoiding treasure at all. As long as his physique could keep up, it was the strongest defensive instrument.
**(End of Chapter)**