Chapter XXXII: Perfect Foundation
Author's Note: PAY ATTENTION TO TRANSITIONS. THE MC'S ACTIONS ARE STARTING TO AFFECT THE GREATER WORLD AND TWO TANGENT STORYLINES ARE TOUCHED ON IN THIS CHAPTER.
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The Bloodline Awakening Technique, Lightning Fire and Metal Technique created by Jinro Eldunari was a mix of Acupuncture and Lighting Fire using acupuncture needles as lightning rods to create an array.
It was completely mad or absolutely genius, depending on which world you came from. And If I wanted to awaken my bloodline, it would take a lot of effort.
Bloodline ranking correspondences with races of the world --Mundane, Daemon, Mythic. Each rank had levels from one to three. The weakest and highest-ranking bloodlines were known to be the absolute hardest to awaken. Although there are 12 'immortal' races, those were coined terms for the ruling clans. After all the Lunar Demons once sat in the seat of the Lunar Pythons before their uprising.
As for my physique born from my bloodline, there's no way of knowing what it will be. After all, I'm the first child of the cursed ancestor to live to this point. But thankfully, by grasping the lower concepts of Fire and Lightning thanks to the storm lands produced by the Yin Yang Cave, I was sure to boost the efficiency of the technique.
As I stood in the heart of the Yin Yang Cave, 2,000 acupuncture needles surrounded me, all aligned with their designated target. I know some are probably wondering how the average needles can pierce my skin now.
The answer is simple, the needles aren't average. Pulled from the depths of Vamoria Treasury in preparation for this exact moment, these Divine Beast Needles are middle heaven grade artifacts forged by the Star Charting Smith, an ancestor titled after his famous forging technique that's centered around forging arrays constructed by studying the heavenly constellations.
In ancient times, the Eleven Sages were thought to become heaven-defying forgers until the Star Charting Smith perished and his technique was unable to be passed on. The requirements were just too daunting for any sane person. The minimum requirements for a Forger are to achieve the peak of Dao Attachment in Body Cultivation, cultivate a Fire Spirit, and stepped into Martial Soul of Soul Cultivation.
With a flourish of my arms and the activation of the Lightning Fire and Metal Technique, 100 Divine Beast Needles were coated in lightning and fire before penetrating my body.
Lightning Fire crackled and hissed as the elements linked together and intensified by way of the acupuncture needles acting as nodes. In a single breath, the first array formed and the pain was slightly bearable.
Holding out my arms, I completely opened myself up to the onslaught of needless qued by my mutterings.
"Large intestine"
"Bladder"
"Kidney"
"Small Intestine"
"Pericardium"
"Gallbladder"
"Tripple Burner"
"Liver"
"Conception Vessel"
"Governing Vessel"
"Forty-Nine Stars"
"Five Pavillions"
"Spleen"
"Stomach! Gahh!" a liter of pungent tar-like impurities spewed from my mouth, most likely from well-hidden places since the condensing of my meridians and my time in the mortal world despite my many purifications during Body Refinement.
In the Yin Yang Cave, I now looked like a statue of the venerable ancestor of the Hundred Porkeypin Deamomen beast, my body laden with 1967 needless.
"Thirty-three temples of the Infernal Plane. Heart of the Empryean's way encapsulated in the chthonic vessel. Pierce the core of humanity and extract the divine. Drain the body. Condense the blood. Forsake the Cosmos. Chart my will. By Lightning Fire and Metal, Rebirth!"
My decree spoke from every once of will, essence, soul, and bodily power that I could muster echoed through the tunnels of the Yin Yang Cave, penetrating the Cataclysmic Storms and reverberated across the Lunar Temple.
'What is this?!' The temple spirit became anxious as she watched me and felt the slight sliver of True Cosmic Resonance--The pinnacle of energy in existence. Naturally, the temple spirit had no clue how to identify the energy but felt its domineering force.
At the time, I was also oblivious to how soul-shocking the Lightning Fire and Metal Technique was, but I would soon learn.
At the same time, Thirty-three Divine Beast Needles pierced my heart while only nine acupoints were ever recorded in that location. However, I trained diligently to strike the points that Jinro Eldunari wrote about in the training manual he left behind.
The last array was constructed. Needles then hummed as a great formation arranged from the smaller arrays. In three breaths everything within the Lunar Temple stopped including the temple spirit who was now horrified and desperately attempting to strike me dead in fear of the energy that hid within my technique.
In six breathes, all of the fluids in my body spilled from the 2000 insertion points, forming a blood pool at my feet. Mt body then levitated as my blood shimmered and True Cosmic Resonance swallowed my body.
In nine breaths, the great formation broke through the Lunar Temple, and a beam of True Cosmic Resonance fired into the sky like a massive beacon.
In twelve breaths, the Southern Continent witnessed a phenomenon that hasn't occurred since the creation of the Chaos Serpent Planet. The Empreayn Realm and Infernal Realm became visible to mortal eyes once the True Cosmic Resonance beam shattered the barrier.
Of Course, I wasn't cable of such a feat with just a sliver of True Cosmic Resonance. Something grand was at play and was just a simple piece being moved within a Heavenly game of Weiqi.
In fifteen breaths, an old man in chains locked away deep in the Empyrean Realm as an Infernal Prisoner opened his eyes and connected with the formation. His True Cosmic Resonance that flowed endlessly within his body surged like a stormy sea. Looking towards the Choas Serpent Planet, his gaze saw all and he laughed maniacally.
His shackles shattered and he broke free of his prison. By the eighteenth breath, the entire Chaos Serpent planet was frozen stiff. Even the Great Dragon Grand Elder was scared witless as his body was drenched in fearful sweat for the first time since he was a child.
On the same eighteenth breath, the Infernal Cultivators and Empryeean Cultivators turned their attention to the great phenomenon, each of them recognizing the Third Great Chthonic Bloodline Technique. And the only reason it ranked third is that it can only be used by one man and his descendants.
In the Halls of the Empreayen Palace, a woman was enraged.
"Fucking Jinro!" She shouted as the old man locked in the depths of her prison appeared in front of the Emperyean Gates.
"Bring him back now!" She issued her decree for the entire Empyrean Realm to hear.
Only two newly promoted Empryean beings remained still once they realized the source of the commotion.
In the Great Hall of the Infernal Palace, coincidentally, Thirty-three dukes and duchesses were convened. At the head of the hall was an old man. Each of them looked at their missing Infernal Baron.
"Mmm, I guess the secrets out now." the old man hummed.
"Lord, Should we rescue Jinro?" A woman with long crimson hair and silver eyes spoke.
"No need. He's being held by the council." the old man spoke as Lord of the Infernal Realm and member of the Cosmic Council.
"You knew this entire time?" A short stocky man with long pointed ears asked.
"Hmm, it's council business. Jinro Eldunari overstepped this time. There was nothing I could do. Young, Arrogant, and Reckless. He's paying his due." The old lord spoke.
On the twenty-first breath, Jinro Eldunari formed ten thousand hand seals in an instant. His essence erupted like a bursting star and a great storm covered the Chaos Serpent Planet. Meanwhile, my body was worse than a thousand-year-old mummy and I was at a complete loss.
"Boy! Finish the damn incantation!" Jinro's mighty voice boomed
My soul trembled and my lips quivered, moving on their own.
"D-d-d. De-qi!" My hoarse voice rumbled.
The needles trembled and the great formation entered another level of intensity as the True Cosmic Resonance beam merged with Jinro and formed a protective dome around him. At the same time, the Empryeans arrived and attacked the dome but nothing could cause a ripple.
The old man in the infernal realm chuckled as he saw the might of the broken bloodline technique.
"Lord, your son-in-law is still a genius of the ages." The crimson-haired woman spoke as she licked her lips and fantasized about the only man to escape her grasps.
In the protective dom, Jinro laughed some more. "I'll be out of here soon, Old Bitch! Just you watch as my little descendent steps on that planet!" he shouted.
The Empreayn woman in the palace roared as her divine grasps were also useless. She could do nothing but watch as Jinro took my body fluid into his manifested avatar hands. A great flame was born, constructed by Source Laws -- a realm above Dao, and my fluids were refined.
On the Twenty-eighth breath, Jinro was shocked. "What the hell have you been doing, boy? Better yet, what have your forefathers and mothers been up to? Tsk tsk. Be happy that you were destined to find my scratch paper or the World Tree would have destroyed you during your bloodline awakening. On the upside, your training methods are very good. You've broken a threshold."
On the twenty-ninth breath, Jinro had finished his refining and cast one hundred trillion lines of inscription on the liquid glob.
On the thirtieth breath, the liquid penetrated my body. Jinro moved a finger and few needles twisted. The Yin Yang energy in the cave was swallowed in an instant. Jinro moved another finger. The needles trembled and the inscription he left appeared in front of my body next to a manifestation of the Nature Lord that represented my Reflection of Nature physique and The Dragon and Phoenix.
Jinro then clenched a fist and I screamed in anger as the many lines of inscriptions confined my two physiques and strangled them until they shattered into pure energy.
"From three back to one." he sang "But don't worry, you'll thank me."
A moment later, an avatar of myself with a white eastern dragon with antlers and long whiskers coiled around him like a pet snake appeared before me. My avatars' eyes were green and the Dragon's eyes were golden. A moment later an eclipse appeared in the background. As a whole, the pressure was suffocating and harrowing, causing the walls of the cave to splinter and the mountain above to shake.
Jinro's voice then spoke out, directly into my mind:
"You were perfect for the Eleven Sage's World Sage Physique. But you were also perfect for the Dragon's Void Dragon Physique. But the Reflection of Nature Physique, the Dragon and Pheonix Physique, and the Qi Fermentation Method you used to turn your body into a furnace was the perfect formula with the World Tree's blessing in your blood as a catalyst.
Fear not, you still have the attributes of the physiques you lost and the strength of one who has achieved three physiques. But now you only have the burden of nurturing one physique. Yes, I know, I'm awesome. Boy! After the refinement, You have awakened the Eleven Draconic Sage Bloodline and have the Primal Elf's Physique --Wild Blood! The physique that gave birth to them all.
Whatever your capacity was to breakthrough stages in cultivation, now multiply it by ten. On the upside, you'll be invincible within your realm and even leap above it. Those pills and herbs that you eat will no longer leave toxins. The downside, you'll become very primal and your effect on others will vary and it will be costly.
Another up, you're equivalent to a Primal Cultivator but that doesn't matter until the later stages. Oh, and the Lightning Fire and Metal book. The encryption key is 'Jinro Eldunari'. I know, I'm a genius. Use it to decode the rest of the manual. Also, congratulations, you've just achieved a perfect foundation. Now surpass the Heaven Realm as possible."
The moment Jinro stopped talking, the dome that protected him vanished. The Empyrean and Internal Realms were cloaked once more. The True Cosmic Resonance pillar was extinguished and the world resumed as if nothing happened. Only the strongest on the planet had a vague feeling that something extraordinary had happened but they couldn't remember what and after a few breaths forgot completely.
However, only one person on the planet smiled because happily as a result of the cosmic phenomenon. She sat in a courtyard playing Weiqi with a young woman on the Inner Continent within the Royal Dragon Clan.
"My lady, you're smiling." the young woman was shocked. She had been the servant to her lady for 100 years from the day she turned thirteen. And not once had she witnessed her lady smile.
"I smile because I am happy." the woman spoke to her servant. "Nessa, it's time for you to leave."
"B-but." Nessa stuttered.
"No buts. If you want your father to regain his seat as the eighteenth elder, you will do as I trained you to."
Nessa rose to her feet and bowed. "As you wish, my lady."
Once Nessa was gone, the woman looked towards the high palace with a devious smirk. "One survived, that's all I need to bury a bastard like you." she hissed.
Suddenly an inscription styled as crown across her forehead hummed. "Amara, your little servant wishes to leave the clan. Why?"
"Lord Dragon Emperor, this humble one wishes to cultivate again. Nessa is going to Bando Mountian to catch a Daemon Beast and the herb that grows in its dwelling." Amara replied.
"Haiz, I'm still your brother." the Emperor sighed due to his sister's formal speech.
"But you wield the slave key that father gave you at your convenience. Why couldn't you come and speak to me directly?" Amara asked.
Her brother Emperor was without words.
"If you behaved like the princess you are and move back to the central area, visiting you wouldn't be such an inconvenience." Said the Dragon Emperor
"Fine, I will. But I refuse to talk to father. He killed my husband and murdered my children. I want nothing to do with him." Said Amara.
The Emperor was speechless and quickly order his people to retrieve his sister and plan a grand banquet in her honor. He even let Nessa leave the clan without a second thought.
As the Dragon Clan was busying themselves, the servant Nessa was crossing the Inner Continent to the Land ruled by the Winged White Tigers.
Meanwhile, I stood in the Yin Yang Cave that was void of energy despited the Yin Yang Veins and their fruits. The situation surrounding my bloodline awakening and new physique was so beyond me that I opted to distract myself for the time being. Taking a step forward, my foot came down on a yellow crystal.
I sighed as I knew then the world-shaking events weren't finished. The only treasures in the cave were Yin Yang Veins and their fruits. The Yellow Crystal was an oddity, and my instincts told me that I shouldn't cast it aside.
The moment I picked it up, an image appeared in the form of a large hologram. It was none other than Lilian Rex and Lord Taylor with big stupid smiles. The last time I spoke to them, they told me to kill chosen reincarnates with gifts. They then said that they were ascending and couldn't meet me anymore.
"Hey, Kid! Awesome light show! I had no idea you were related to the Infamous Jinro." Said Lord Taylor.
"Don't listen to this idiot. He literally just found out who Jinro was and we decided to make this memory crystal to get a message to you before the world connection ends." Lilian interrupted. "I'll keep it short and sweet. Kill the chosen, kill them all. After the stunt your progenitor pulled by leaving that technique of his behind for you to stumble upon, the council is furious, the Infernal and Empyrean are at odds of how to punish him, and your karma is the dumps. If you want to survive the coming years. You hunt them all and it will curry the favor of the council. If it is one person that they despise more than Jinro Eldunari, it's my late husband."
"One more thing kid. The Chaos Serpent Planet isn't what it seems. Do well not to attract the wrong attention. Your clan's squabbles are nothing compared to the planet's origins and its keepers. Stay Strong little man, we're rooting for you." Lord Taylor added.
The memory crystal went dark and crumbled to pieces. I couldn't help but sigh again. I couldn't do anything about reincarnated giftedness at the moment. So pushing the message from the crystal aside for the latter was the only logical option.
Walking over to the cave walls, I snatch the Yin and Yang fruits that were smooth and the size of a honeydew melon. I stored them in jade boxes and tucked them away in my Interspatial ring.
I then extracted three feet long Yin and Yang Veins before leaving the cave. Once I stepped out of the cave, I noticed the cataclysmic storms were ending and the Yin Yang Qi was thinning as the hundreds of beasts were racing against each other to swallow the energy for their own sakes.
While the beast was busy, I decided to climb the mountain that formed the Yin Yang Cave. By the time the last storm dissipated, I was at the peak and on my way down the backside. It was better to avoid the beast and hide.
Time passed and I finally made it to the foot of the mountain and continued south until I entered the swamplands. Unlike what many believed, the starting testing area, Hunter's forest, was only one region within the Lunar Temple as you know by my journey through the tundra to the desert.
Naturally, I could have killed any Daemon Beast in any of the many regions. But I made my way back to the forest to find Varja. After my awaken and construction of the Wild Blood Physique, I was at the Peak of Martial Foundation.
No matter how much energy I consumed, In Body Cultivation, I would have to achieve a Dao and attach it to my body in order to breakthrough Dao Attachment. In Essence Cultivation, for stability, I would have to store and condense Nature Qi in my Dantian can contain the Qi on its own without relying on my meridians.
But after six years a talent like Varja was bound to have progressed.
If only I was the young master of a well-off clan with no problems on a good continent. But alas, I was born in the slums of the world with a treasury that had to be used in a profitable way if I wished for my family and me to survive the troubles that awaited us in the future.
During the two-week journey back to the Forest, I tempered myself in battle to solidify my cultivation. I quickly learned that I had a lot of raw strength that need to be refined. And thinking of Varja, I cultivated diligently up to half-step Houtian.
After reaching the forest, another week and a half passed and with the aid of Lichen Heart Pills, I successfully broke through to Stage 1 Houtian but I could fill them losing effect as 100 pills were needed to step into Houtian.