Chapter 47: Body Tempering

As Jun felt the fragmented pathways of his meridians beginning to realign and knit together under Yinling's focused energy, he offered guidance with increasing urgency. A visible steam began to rise from his skin, a telltale sign of the healing process at work.

"Keep pressing forward; this steam signals you're on the right path," Jun encouraged, his voice bolstering Yinling's resolve.

In less than a minute, a sense of wholeness returned to him as the once-broken meridians were seamlessly restored, signaling a successful healing.

"There... that's enough," Jun gently indicated, signaling the completion of the healing process.

Yinling, upon hearing Jun's words, relaxed, her concentration fading as she eased the tension from her shoulders—a small sigh of relief escaping her lips.

"Look at that, Yinling, you've just mastered my healing technique. But, remember, this is our secret; it's not to be shared with others, not even your famil— oh wait your sister..."

Jun was about to chuckle a little at his remark but he caught the sharp look Yinling shot his way, causing him to swallow his amusement abruptly.

"Cough... Anyway, let's focus on setting up the array, shall we?" he swiftly changed the subject, hoping to avoid any further glares.

A flicker of doubt danced across Yinling's face, her eyebrows knitting together 

"Right here? Are you sure that's a wise idea? This place isn't exactly closed off" she expressed her doubts, clearly concerned about their safety.

"Don't worry about it, all these arrays have a camouflage feature that prevents anyone from sensing the concentrated spiritual energy here, It is almost as if it weren't here, and besides, unless a high-level cultivator is zeroing in on this exact location, we're invisible to them."

Yinling's tension eased slightly at Jun's reassurance, yet a hint of unease lingered in her gaze. She leaned forward slightly, curiosity and concern mingling in her voice.

"Are we using the same formation as before?"

Jun previously had thought of setting up the same array as before but when both he and Yinling tried it, the array could only produce a limited amount of this new energy. So this time, he was going to try and build a rank 5 array.

The reason for only a rank 3 array was that he was limited on materials, right now it's nothing short of a miracle being able to build a rank 3 array thanks to the ring he acquired from a certain young master. This array requires 25 middle-grade spiritual stones which is already a monumental task for the average cultivator.

On top of that, he needs an extra 5 middle-grade spiritual stones which are going to be used on the array that is actively converting the spiritual energy into this new energy.

If Jun wanted to build a higher rank array, he would need special materials like ink, paint, or chalk infused with spiritual energy which he has none of. Herbs or blood from beasts are also another material he needs which he has none of.

"The struggles of the broke..." Jun sighed inwardly.

"Maybe in the future, I can just use my spiritual energy instead of ink or such, in the end, it's the spiritual energy that affects everything," Jun thought.

Jun while instructing Yinling quickly positioned every spiritual stone in place according to the rank 3 formation he learned from the array book.

"All that's left is for you to inject some spiritual energy into it Yinling" Jun said, stepping back to admire their handiwork.

Yinling cast a gaze filled with pride and anticipation over the array they had assembled together. It had been too long since she last felt the rush of that unique energy flowing through her veins. Eager to rekindle that sensation, she stepped forward, her hands hovering over the core of the formation.

With a deep breath, she channeled a stream of her spiritual energy towards the array. Instantly, a symphony of light erupted as each stone began to pulse with a vibrant blue hue, casting a serene glow throughout the dimly lit space, painting their faces in shades of azure anticipation.

Within seconds, unlike the previous array Jun had built, the rate at which it threw out the spiritual energy in it was much faster. Not even a minute later, every single bit of spiritual energy within the array was gone.

As the last of the energy dissipated, the secondary formation sprang to life, seamlessly executing Jun's healing technique, producing the new energy inside.

Turning to look at Yinling, he eyes were solely focused on the array and the energy inside. Seeing this as his chance, he rushed to her side and quickly picked her up from her wide hips and ran towards the inside of the array.

"Ju-Jun!" Yinling's voice rang out, laced with a playful rebuke yet tinged with a laugh that hadn't quite made its way out.

"Just making sure we're both in the right spot," Jun quipped back, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards in a mischievous smile.

Stepping into the array's embrace, Jun immediately felt a surge of energy flood his system. It was as if his body, which had felt so drained and empty, was suddenly being filled to the brim with a vibrant, pulsing life force, causing him to almost moan... almost.

Jun gently lowered Yinling to the ground, her laughter a light melody in the charged air. He then settled himself beside her, the playfulness in his eyes giving way to a look of deep concentration

Jun hasn't exactly named his new technique, right now it is in its early stages, and only later on could he truly give it a name. 

Turning on his epiphany phase, Jun closed his eyes and ran his technique, quickly the energy around him started to pour into him at a monstrous rate, unlike previously seen by Jun thanks to his new Emperor-level talent.

Feeling this new energy pour into his hungry cells was unlike any experience Jun had felt, previously his body already had spiritual energy from before when he first absorbed it, but now, he was like a blank canvas ready to be molded by this new energy. 

Quickly, his cells greedily absorbed this new spiritual energy, constantly tempering themselves every second. With his epiphany system on, Jun was quickly figuring out faster and more efficient ways to work his technique to fit his body.

Every millisecond, Jun was analyzing his body and the ways this new energy affected him. Thousands of different theories were constantly being analyzed and thrown away by Jun, each aiming to minimize the length at which he absorbed this new energy. 

Body tempering 1st layer...

Body tempering 2nd layer...

Only 3 minutes had passed and Jun had already ascended 2 realms, but Jun could tell these were different.

"It feels as if I were at the body tempering layer 4 from before..."

Jun of course could the absurdity of this, this wasn't as simple as leapfrogging strength, even simple geniuses could do that. This was on a completely different level, almost like compressing his strength from before into one small realm.

Grinning from ear to ear, Jun continued his greedy pace, With Yinling on the side also absorbing the new energy.

Body tempering 3rd layer...

Body tempering 4th layer...

Body tempering 5th layer...

...

30 minutes passed and Jun slowly opened his eyes, in it was the reflection of pure joy and disbelief.

"I had to have broken some record, who would believe that I broke through 9 layers in only 30 minutes" mused Jun. 

Jun felt the power radiating from his body, if compared to his previous self when he was in the body tempering realm, which included his excellent energy manipulation, Jun with confidence could say he was 10 times stronger than before.

Plus, this was only the beginning, when a normal cultivator reaches the 9th layer, they are unable to continue to go further, limited by their own bodies and energy, but this wasn't a problem for Jun at all.

Now, all Jun needed to do was continue to go further and further and see just how much his body and this new energy could take him.