SPLASH... A magnificent waterfall descended from the sky, like a Flood Dragon plunging into the lake, letting out a deafening roar!
"Hah!" Beneath the waterfall, a youth carrying a giant black ruler on his back withstood the immense impact, relentlessly throwing punches. The turbulent current was blasted into one vacuum pocket after another by the wind from his fists!
This youth was none other than Shen Haoran! Half a month of life-risking cultivation had caused Shen Haoran's strength to soar, and he was now just one step away from breaking through to the Spiritualist realm!
"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
'Just a little longer! Just a little longer!' Beneath the waterfall, Shen Haoran's legs were already trembling uncontrollably, and his entire body was flushed red from the torrent's impact! It looked like he had reached his limit. But Shen Haoran gritted his teeth, desperately holding on, refusing to let his body collapse. He squeezed out the last dregs of his power, continuously punching against the current!
BAM! After another dozen or so punches, Shen Haoran finally couldn't hold on any longer and was brutally smashed into the pool by the current!
Seeing Shen Haoran get smashed into the pool, Elder Yan nodded in satisfaction and said to Changmao, who was off to the side, "Not bad. He actually managed to last for half an hour this time!"
Changmao yawned, showing no intention of fishing Shen Haoran out of the pool. He rolled over and said, "Of course. You try nearly dying seven or eight times a day and see if your strength doesn't shoot up! It'd be weird if it didn't!" Even as the Ancient Divine Beast Taotie, he felt inferior to Shen Haoran's insane level of cultivation!
SPLOOSH... While Changmao and Elder Yan were chatting, the water in the pool churned, and Shen Haoran dragged his scar-covered body onto the bank. He then wriggled like an earthworm into a pool of water containing droplets of Bone Marrow Cleansing and Body Refining Liquid. Enduring the tearing pain all over his body, he formed a Hand Seal and began his cultivation.
Watching Shen Haoran enter a state of cultivation, Elder Yan sighed with emotion. "Half a month ago, he couldn't even walk properly with that giant ruler on his back. Now, after lasting half an hour under the waterfall, he can still remain conscious enough to crawl into the pool. His growth is truly astonishing!"
Changmao, at the side, nodded in deep agreement. In the minds of this man and beast, Shen Haoran's image had completely transformed into that of a monster!
Four hours later, Shen Haoran, who should have woken up long ago, still had his eyes closed. This puzzled both Elder Yan and Changmao.
"This doesn't make sense. Shen the kid's physique is already very strong. At most, the Bone Marrow Cleansing and Body Refining Liquid should just be helping him recover from his injuries. Besides, his injuries aren't that serious. Logically, he should have woken up a long time ago!" Changmao said, scratching his head and circling around Shen Haoran.
'Could it be...' Suddenly, he and Elder Yan seemed to have thought of the same thing.
"Is he about to break through?" Elder Yan said joyfully.
Sure enough, just as Elder Yan's voice fell, a powerful suction force erupted from Shen Haoran's body. The Bone Marrow Cleansing and Body Refining Liquid in the pool, as if answering a summons, formed a vortex centered on Shen Haoran and poured into his body. In an instant, the once iridescent water immediately became clear!
Even so, this was still not enough to satisfy Shen Haoran's needs. The suction force from his body suddenly intensified, and the Spiritual Power between heaven and earth began to boil at that moment. A Spiritual Power Vortex slowly began to form!
Meanwhile, inside Shen Haoran's body, even with such a ferocious influx of external Spiritual Power, it was just a drop in the bucket! Because of the Chaos Heaven-Dominating Technique within him, the moment the Spiritual Power poured in, it was instantly put through Refinement into the purest Chaotic Spiritual Power! However, a stream of Spiritual Power as thick as an arm could only be refined into Chaotic Spiritual Power as thick as a finger, which couldn't keep up with the condensation speed of the Spirit Pill at all!
Although Shen Haoran had already succeeded in condensing a Spirit Pill during the Spirit Tempering Stage, this step was still necessary to advance to a Spiritualist! However, if the Spirit Pill condensation failed, the existing pill embryo would become unstable and would very likely explode, shattering his Dantian. At that point, his entire cultivation would be utterly destroyed!
And now, another small, uneven, gray Spirit Pill embryo had appeared in Shen Haoran's Dantian! Due to the insufficient supply of Spiritual Power, this pill embryo had already become unstable and seemed to be in danger of exploding at any moment!
Outside, Elder Yan suddenly felt Shen Haoran's aura become extremely chaotic. He instantly understood the problem and gave a wry smile. "It seems practicing a Cultivation Technique during the Spirit Tempering Stage isn't necessarily a good thing!"
Without hesitation, Elder Yan took out all the remaining Spirit Medicine from his Storage Ring. A black flame rose up, instantly extracting their essence! Elder Yan dripped this Essence of Spiritual Medicine back into the pool, and it immediately transformed into a stream of pure energy that surged into Shen Haoran's body.
This sudden influx of pure energy immediately resolved Shen Haoran's urgent crisis. The Chaos Heaven-Dominating Technique began to operate at high speed, sending streams of pure Chaotic Spiritual Power into his Dantian. The once-uneven pill embryo slowly became smooth and round, and Shen Haoran's aura stabilized, beginning to grow steadily!
At a certain moment, Shen Haoran's body stopped absorbing external Spiritual Power, and the Chaos Heaven-Dominating Technique ceased its operation. In his Dantian, a newborn gray Spirit Pill was spinning rapidly. The next moment, the Spirit Pill erupted with a gray light, and a powerful aura burst forth from within Shen Haoran, instantly vaporizing the water in the pool!
"Awesome!" Shen Haoran let out a long cry and struck out with his palm toward a towering ancient tree in the distance. A gray bolt of Spiritual Power formed into a palm blade, instantly cleaving the massive tree in two!
"External projection of Spiritual Power! Haha, I've finally advanced to a Spiritualist!" Shen Haoran laughed heartily.
Feeling the surging, immense Spiritual Power within his body, Shen Haoran couldn't help but want to find someone to fight! If he were to fight Xiong the Second now, Shen Haoran was confident he could kill him in an instant! 'Looks like you can only be called a true Martial Artist after stepping into the Spiritualist realm!'
"Congratulations on advancing to a Spiritualist. From now on, you can be considered a true Martial Artist!" Elder Yan said with a smile, looking at Shen Haoran.
"Hehe, it's all thanks to you, Elder Yan!" Shen Haoran said. It was true; if it weren't for Elder Yan, Shen Haoran would still be enduring humiliation back in the Shen Family!
"Hmph, how sentimental!" Taotie Changmao, who was standing nearby, couldn't stand it and snorted coldly.
Shen Haoran glanced at Changmao but paid him no mind. He bent down, picked up the giant black ruler, and slung it onto his back. After half a month of death-defying cultivation, Shen Haoran had already adapted to the ruler's weight. Now that he had broken through to the Spiritualist realm, the giant ruler in his hands felt even lighter!
With the giant ruler on his back, Shen Haoran arrived beneath the waterfall in just a few leaps. This time, the rushing current didn't put the slightest pressure on him. Standing under the waterfall, Shen Haoran slowly gathered his strength and threw a punch straight at it!
BOOM! With a tremendous noise, several columns of water shot into the sky. Shen Haoran's punch had directly blasted the waterfall and stopped its flow!
Seeing his masterpiece, Shen Haoran nodded in satisfaction, leaped back to the bank, and looked at Elder Yan. "Elder Yan, I've met the conditions to practice the Heaven-Breaking Kill now, right?"
Elder Yan looked at the slowly recovering waterfall and said, "That's right. You really are a monster. You reached the standard in just half a month. I remember it took me more than two months back in the day! However, it would be even more perfect if you had a Body Tempering Pill right now!"
"Then can't you just make a Body Tempering Pill, Elder Yan? You're an Alchemist, after all!" Shen Haoran said with a cheeky grin.
Hearing this, Elder Yan replied helplessly, "Although I could refine a Body Tempering Pill in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a clever housewife can't cook without rice. The ingredients for the Body Tempering Pill were all used up for your breakthrough to Spiritualist!"
"Ah, then what should we do?" Shen Haoran grew worried. Now that he knew he could become even more perfect, he naturally didn't want to give up.
"You idiot. This is the Profound Spirit Mountain Range. There's countless Spirit Medicine in these mountains. Are you really worried you won't be able to find the ingredients for a Body Tempering Pill?" Changmao couldn't help but say when he saw Shen Haoran's gloomy expression.
"That's right!" Shen Haoran's eyes lit up after hearing what Changmao said.
"Perfect timing. Starting today, I will also pass on the Alchemist legacy I received to you. I am proficient in the Alchemy Dao, so let's start by learning that! Your first lesson is to identify Spirit Medicine. Now, go outside and search for them!" Elder Yan said.
"Oh, right. Wherever there's Spirit Medicine, there's usually a Spirit Beast guarding it, so you have to be careful!" Elder Yan added.
"No problem. I just broke through to the Spiritualist realm, so I'll use them for some practice!" Shen Haoran said, his fighting spirit soaring.
"Going out? Great! Let's go east. I sense the aura of a treasure over there!" The moment he heard they were going out to look for Spirit Medicine, Changmao immediately perked up.
"East? Changmao, you can sense the aura of treasures?" Shen Haoran asked in pleasant surprise.
"Of course! I'm the Ancient Divine Beast Taotie, I..."
"Cut the useless talk. What's to the east?" Seeing that Changmao was about to show off his identity again, Shen Haoran cut him off.
"I'm not too sure either. I just sense a fiery aura!" Changmao said. In truth, he had sensed it long ago. If he hadn't been stuck fishing Shen Haoran out of the pool every day, he would have gone by himself already!
"Are you sure?" Shen Haoran sounded a bit skeptical.
"Hmph, believe it or not!" Seeing that Shen Haoran actually dared to doubt him, Changmao snorted coldly.
"Alright then, I'll trust you this once. We'll head east! But if you're trying to trick me, heh heh..." Shen Haoran chuckled menacingly.
Seeing Shen Haoran's expression, Changmao turned tail and ran. He was truly scared of this freak of a master!