Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Beginning of the Body of Fire (Please add to your collection, thank you)

Her beautiful eyes moved, fixed intently on the dark corner of this region. On Nangong Ya’s elegant and extraordinary face, a cold aura emanated, followed by a hint of puzzlement. From that direction, she could sense a continually surging force of powerful blood energy, growing ever stronger, its fluctuations becoming increasingly astonishing.

Suddenly, Nangong Xue’s once-confused expression froze, her delicate features tensed. A figure who had once joined her in the fierce battle against the Golden-Furred Ape King flashed through her mind. Remembering how that person had grasped her hand and fled with her as the ape king self-destructed, a faint blush, almost imperceptible, swept across her usually fair and refined face. Her lips pressed tightly together, teeth clenched.

“Could it be him?”

Nangong Xue’s guess was not wrong. The source of this blood energy was Ye Cheng. At this moment, Ye Cheng sat upright in the dark space, blood energy surging powerfully, its concentration terrifying—far beyond the peak of ordinary blood energy realms, advancing toward the legendary consummation of the blood energy stage.

She recalled Elder Mu’s words: only those with unique constitutions stand a greater chance of reaching the consummate blood energy realm—a state that, in the eyes of the common world, only the most gifted can attain. Yet, for one such as Ye Cheng, possessing a rare constitution, it seemed almost inevitable.

Indeed, viewed from another angle, those like Ye Cheng, blessed with special bodies, were just as the world described—talented in martial pursuits.

The consummate blood energy stage represents, ultimately, the extreme that a warrior can achieve in this realm—refining all their blood energy to a state of utter perfection, unleashing a force increasingly dreadful. Those with unique constitutions can condense ninety-nine strands of blood energy within themselves to such a flawless state, but ordinary people struggle to reach it.

Even Ye Family’s patriarch, a master at the peak of the Yuan stage, had only managed to condense seventy-eight strands, unable to progress further.

Yet, nothing is absolute—this world is full of opportunities that allow even commoners to break through to the consummate realm. History records many such individuals, whose presence has left indelible marks upon the river of time. Among them is the master of the stone cave, who quietly watched Ye Cheng.

In his youth, he reached the consummate blood energy stage at twenty and possessed extraordinary skill in alchemy, unrivaled throughout Nanyang Prefecture. Many sought to follow him, but he declined, retreating alone into the Demon Forest’s stone cave to pursue the way of pills.

A deep, resonant hum echoed.

When the final wave of blood energy poured forth from the spiritual vein and, under Ye Cheng’s careful control, fully merged with his flesh, his entire body trembled. Countless currents of blood energy surged, resounding together like the beating of drums, booming incessantly. Visible waves of blood energy rolled outward from Ye Cheng, expanding rapidly.

The mighty waves hammered the darkness, shaking the space violently. Cracks spread like shattered glass until the realm broke into countless black fragments, falling with a clatter.

“This blood energy is truly formidable!”

Witnessing this, the refined man’s brows knit together, then relaxed. In the faint, almost vanishing shimmer of his aura, he waved a sleeve lightly. The space fractured by Ye Cheng’s energy slowly mended, the ruptures swiftly closing. Restoration kept pace with destruction.

Only when the blood energy within Ye Cheng’s flesh settled did the growth of his blood strands cease. Upon close inspection, there were seventy-nine strands densely woven across his body, even climbing his neck, lending his once-handsome features an eerie touch.

This breakthrough had propelled him a great distance within the blood energy realm, leaping from mastery to its peak in a single step—a pace nothing short of astonishing.

Ye Cheng’s tightly shut eyes now opened. He spread his palms flat on his knees, then gently curled his fingers, feeling the blood energy surging from every part of his body into his arms. Joy appeared at the corners of his mouth. He knew well that this force could shatter the body of any master at the blood energy mastery stage with a single punch. Unable to contain his excitement, he let out a clear cry, venting the exhilaration within.

After the cry, Ye Cheng turned his gaze to the side, to the figure floating in midair, watching him with a half-smile. He gave a dry laugh.

“Are you satisfied with this blood energy?” The refined man smiled at Ye Cheng.

“Thank you for your assistance, senior,” Ye Cheng replied, his eyes filled with gratitude as he clasped his hands solemnly. “I am deeply grateful for your help.”

In his heart, he quietly marked the kindness of this senior, about to depart from this world. Without such blood energy, taming the Primordial Fire might still be impossible. Moreover, this gift spared him many days of cultivation.

“All right, let us waste no more words—begin gathering the fire element. I can sense my time is short. I wish to witness, with my own eyes, my successor achieving the postnatal fire body. I hope you will not disappoint me.”

Ye Cheng’s expression grew heavy. Though he knew this senior who had given him so much was about to fade away, he suppressed his sorrow and nodded gravely.

“I will do my utmost, and not betray your expectations.”

As soon as the words were spoken, Ye Cheng’s form remained still. He spread his arms, closed his eyes, and after a few breaths, summoned the Primordial Fire fused with his blood energy. At his call, a blue flame appeared within his dantian, noticeably calmer, no longer wild and restless.

Once the Primordial Fire emerged, Ye Cheng perceived countless tiny, fiery red points gradually appearing—fire elements existing between heaven and earth.

He felt them, but his heart remained steady. Focusing all his will, he controlled the Primordial Fire, causing it to generate a suction force.

Instantly, countless fiery red points in the surrounding air stirred restlessly, then surged toward Ye Cheng in waves.