Chapter Ninety-Eight: Tempering the Bones

“Have you finished speaking?” Fang Ling showed no sign of being moved at all; the frost in her eyes grew only deeper, and as a faint murderous aura stirred around her, she said in a chilling voice.

By now, she had long understood what kind of man Lin Hao was. With Fang Ling’s own mind, though not as monstrously gifted as Lin Hao, she was by no means someone who could be swayed so easily. As for the person before her, he spoke with lofty righteousness, yet looked in every way like a foul creature.

“Miss, I would never speak rashly. I have a jade slip as proof. Please examine it carefully before deciding whether I am telling the truth.” Fang Zhan looked at Fang Ling and shook his head helplessly. With a flick of his hand, he produced a jade slip and tossed it toward her.

“Hah…” Fang Ling took the jade slip he had thrown, but without sending her divine sense into it, she gave a cold laugh and crushed it outright. “Are all your Fang family nothing but such despicable, shameless rabble?”

Fang Ling was also an intelligent woman. This man’s power and backing were immense, and the means at his disposal were certainly beyond her understanding. Falsifying a memory, or secretly tampering with matters, would be easy as breathing. If she truly let him lead her by the nose, she would surely come to a disgraceful end.

“If we are to fight, then fight. Why waste words?” Killing intent flashed in Fang Ling’s eyes. The slender blade behind her suddenly left its sheath, and a ferocious streak of saber qi, carrying the force to cleave heaven and earth, burst out of thin air and slashed straight at Fang Zhan!

“Tch… obstinate to the end…” Fang Zhan looked at the terrifying saber qi with a flash of coldness in his eyes. A massive wind blade surged from his hand and crashed violently to meet it.

BOOM!

With a thunderous detonation, Fang Ling’s expression turned grave. Killing intent flashed in her eyes as she stepped forward, drawing vast amounts of heaven and earth spiritual energy into her body. On her second step, her aura erupted violently, and she brought her saber down in a single strike. It was precisely the Seven-Step Spirit Immortal Art that Lin Hao had taught her!

As the ferocious saber qi burst forth, Fang Zhan had already grown deeply impatient. He truly could not understand why, in this barren land of Chuling, there were still such so-called righteous fools willing to die for glory. White light flashed around him with extreme brilliance as killing intent surged in his eyes; he swept his hand toward the saber qi Fang Ling had unleashed.

Bang!

A tremendous force seemed to appear out of nowhere. The razor-sharp saber qi shattered in an instant, and Fang Ling was sent flying backward by that force, crashing deep into Windwood Ridge.

“Today, if you obey this young master, you may yet live. If you persist in resistance, I will cut you down at once!” Fang Zhan glared viciously at Fang Ling, whose aura had become faint, and a trace of hatred flashed through his eyes. He, a dignified member of the martial Fang clan, had actually been thwarted again and again by these Chuling peasants. Truly detestable!

“Cough…”

At that moment, Fang Ling’s blood roiled violently through her body. She coughed up a mouthful of blood and looked coldly at the enraged Fang Zhan. With a sneer, she mocked, “People of your Fang family are nothing special after all.”

Having said that, she rose and walked toward the depths of the windwood forest...

“Is this the genius of your Fang family?” High above Green Lake, the elderly man who looked rather languid stared mockingly at the middle-aged man beside him. The middle-aged man’s face was equally unsightly; he snorted displeasedly and said nothing.

“If we are speaking honestly, the people of my Qi family have more admirable temperaments.” After muttering this to himself, the old man with the strange aura did not speak again.

In the cultivation world, strength ruled, and the strong devoured the weak. Such an incident was only to be blamed on the fact that they were too weak. Fang Zhan’s conduct was indeed an affront to the Fang family’s dignity, but in the eyes of these three old monsters who had lived for centuries, perhaps even for over a thousand years, it was no more than commonplace. They had seen far greater villains than this—enough to stir the wrath of gods and men alike...

“Something is wrong. This place is strange!” Suddenly, the man with the eerie aura pointed at Fang Ling, his eyes tightening with gravity. The two of them looked closely and saw that the place where Fang Ling stood was actually the convergence point of a vast and violent storm of wind. Given her cultivation, if she took even one step there, she would surely be torn into a mist of blood. And yet, at that very moment, a white light rose from the spot, and as that strange force spread outward, Fang Ling abruptly vanished from the sight of the three.

“Is this not the power of a formation? Could it be that your Qi family brat made a move...” The old man stared at the place where Fang Ling had disappeared, his brows tightly knitted, his eyes flickering with the light of deduction as he muttered.

“Not someone of my Qi family. This place seems to hide some secret...” The strange man’s face was solemn as he murmured this, his mind turning rapidly.

“Do you not remember the origin of the name Chuling...” The middle-aged man also stared at the scene below with lingering fear. The sudden flash of that eerie power had already made him realize in his heart that this place was beyond anything his cultivation could fathom...

“You mean...” Upon hearing this, the strange man’s eyes also flashed with terror, as though he had recalled some horrifying matter. Even the old man looked utterly stunned as he stared downward and murmured, “The Land Where Immortals Are Buried...”

As for Fang Ling, after that flash of disappearance, she had not truly vanished. Under that strange power, she had appeared in an open clearing instead. Before her stood a table, and upon it rested a jade slip in silent stillness, while all around, limitless fierce gales howled. The jade slip emitted a gentle light, as though it were connected to the endless storms around it...

“The eye of the wind... could it be the art of controlling the wind...” Fang Ling felt the soft force surging from the jade slip ahead and showed a puzzled expression. Her rosy lips parted slightly as she murmured, “Who was it that moved just now...”

“Wind Guiding...”

After a brief pause for thought, Fang Ling looked at the jade slip before her. Once her divine sense entered it, a scripture appeared in her mind...

At the same time, deep beneath the Earth Palace below Yin Mountain of the Heaven Profound Sect, the figure of the woman in white stood quietly, as if she had been there for a very long time. In her eyes, only the brilliance of calculation remained.

After a long while, the light of deduction in the woman’s eyes slowly faded, replaced by a trace of regret. After a moment’s thought, she let out a soft sigh and murmured to herself, “This woman, according to that person, still has great use... Here, I shall spare your life.”

“Alas, she has been tainted by the fate of immortal calamity.”

And at this moment, within the Green Lake Secret Realm, in a place of terrifying black mountains, earthshaking thunderclaps roared continuously, lightning filling the mountainside.

At the peak of the black mountain was a sheer cliff. The vast drop circled the region, forming a deeply secluded shadowy valley. Within that valley, endless thunder raged, carrying wave after wave of overwhelming destructive power as it struck savagely into the ravine below...

If one looked closely, one would find that at the very bottom of the valley lay a battered figure, lying silently in place. The aura within this body was extremely strange, as if its vitality had dwindled to the extreme. Only a single undying breath remained to keep the last spark of life from fading...

Whenever endless arcs of lightning swept over this body, they seemed to regard it as one of their own, no longer trying to blast it apart as before. Instead, wisps of thunder power flowed into it, as though nourishing it...

This person was none other than Lin Hao. Three days earlier, he should have been blasted to pieces and died beneath the endless thunder. But within his body, the Dao Seed had actually released an immensely strange force, preserving his shattered flesh and constantly keeping a thread of life hanging in place. Even with ten thousand bolts of lightning striking him, that life force could not be extinguished!

It was precisely in this place that Lin Hao’s flesh, under the endless bombardment of thunder, gradually developed a resistance. That resistance seemed to have stirred the power of the Thunder Condensing Mushroom he had swallowed earlier, instantly transforming the thunder into boundless nourishment that fused into Lin Hao’s bones!

Time passed slowly. Although Lin Hao’s body was still broken, under the life force released by the Dao Seed within him, it was steadily recovering... flesh regrew, and the aura within him grew stronger and stronger...

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed...

...

“Am I... dead...”

In a dazed state, a warm sensation suddenly rose within Lin Hao’s body. Faint rumbling sounds drifted into his ears, and his consciousness gradually returned...

“The thunder... is still here...”

As he slowly opened his eyes, all he could see through his blurry vision was a field of hazy blue light, while the thunderous rumbling beside his ears grew ever more violent...

“This...” When Lin Hao finally made out the scene before him, the bewilderment in his eyes quickly vanished, replaced by a brilliance brighter than ever before.

As his divine sense spread outward, Lin Hao’s breathing grew slightly rapid. He discovered that his injuries had actually healed completely, and his physical strength had grown even more formidable!

“This is...”

When Lin Hao looked down at his own hands, shock flashed in his eyes. He discovered that lightning was flickering all around him, crackling and snapping, as though containing some tremendously powerful force!

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the source of the thunder power within him was actually his own bones. Sweeping his divine sense through his body, he found that his bones had become radiant and multicolored, wondrous and extraordinary. They were by no means inferior to some high-grade Qi-condensing treasures. More importantly, they seemed to contain an extremely powerful thunder force within!

BOOM!

When Lin Hao tried to stir the thunder power in his bones, a bolt of lightning far stronger than the thunder in this place suddenly shot out from his hand and struck a stone not far away. With a thunderous explosion, the stone shattered into pieces!

“It was this Dao Seed...” Feeling the blood-colored Dao Seed in his dantian, Lin Hao’s eyes faintly revealed a glimmer of understanding. He murmured to himself, “My physical strength must already have reached the ninth level of Qi Condensation... The scriptures do record that the flesh can indeed be strengthened through repeated damage and healing... This must be the case this time...”

“The thunder power born in my bones must be related to the Thunder Condensing Mushroom I took earlier... No wonder Fang Zhan coveted it so much.”

“With my current strength, I should be able to fight him to a draw at least... but it is still not enough...” Lin Hao stared blankly at the center of the thunder valley in the distance. After a moment’s thought, determination appeared in his eyes. “Improvement through damage and restoration... Since it has come to this, I wonder whether I can take the final step and forge my flesh into a foundation all at once.”

Having made up his mind, Lin Hao slowly rose and walked toward the central region of the thunder valley, toward the place where thunder gathered in power rivaling that of a half-step Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Gulp...

“It should... be fine...” Feeling the endless majesty of the thunder ahead, Lin Hao’s throat rolled almost imperceptibly. After hesitating for a while, he recalled Fang Zhan’s ugly face, and hatred flashed in his eyes. Clenching his teeth, he stepped into it!

BOOM! RUMBLE! BOOM BOOM!!!

If the thunder here before had been like boiling water, then the moment Lin Hao entered, the thunder in the entire central region exploded violently. Lin Hao was like a vent for that terrifying thunder, and as endless destructive force surged into his body, the previously radiant flesh that had seemed so brilliant was instantly reduced to a miserable state!

Wherever the thunder fell, blood splashed everywhere. In Lin Hao’s heart, a fierce sense of life-and-death crisis surged as well. Agonizing pain tore through him continuously, and he felt as though his whole body were about to be annihilated in this sea of lightning. Yet at this moment, escaping was harder than climbing to the heavens!

“I overdid it...” Lin Hao’s eyes were bloodshot, deep regret flooding his face. He madly urged the Dao Seed within him, and powerful restorative force kept pouring out from it. Even though his flesh was visibly healing under the nourishment of the Dao Seed’s life force, the moment thunder struck again, the portion that had not yet healed was blasted apart once more.

“Could it be that I, Lin, am really going to die here...” Lin Hao looked as though he were in great anguish and grief. His eyes had grown somewhat dark, and just as a bolt of thunder suddenly struck his dantian, he had no way to stop it.

Bang!

With a muffled crash, the thunder fell squarely upon his dantian. As endless destructive force spread outward, Lin Hao suddenly remembered the earlier strangeness of that Dao Seed. Just as he felt a little relieved, the destructive power drew near, and the Dao Seed within his body shattered in an instant...

“This... is... gone... just like that...” Lin Hao stared blankly at his dantian, his mouth twitching constantly, his face full of disbelief, as though he had encountered something utterly unacceptable...

All this sounded slow, yet it happened in a flash. From the Dao Seed shattering to the endless thunder striking him, it was only the span of a breath.

“I hate this!” The instant a most miserable scream rang out, Lin Hao’s figure was swallowed by endless lightning. Yet from the place where the Dao Seed had exploded within his dantian, an incomparably powerful life force suddenly erupted!

The moment this life force appeared, it seemed to possess a mind of its own. In an instant, it merged into Lin Hao’s flesh and blood, and his physical strength abruptly began to climb!

“This...” Feeling his physical power rise once more, Lin Hao’s breathing quickened. As though he had not yet reacted, there was still a trace of bewilderment in his eyes...

But that was not the end. When Lin Hao’s physical strength reached a certain critical point, it did not stop. Instead, a heaven-rending aura suddenly burst toward the sky. The fierce thunderpower around him instantly poured into the thunder bones within Lin Hao’s body!

As excruciating pain erupted, the aura of the thunder bones within Lin Hao also began to climb! Qi Condensation level eight, Qi Condensation level nine... half-step Foundation Establishment... until, at last, a terrifying thunder power burst forth, and the thunder bones within Lin Hao’s body released a might of astonishing ferocity!

That aura was none other than Foundation Establishment!

“Now then, let Lin see... how I shall cut you down!” Feeling the incomparably formidable strength within his body, Lin Hao gave a wry, lingering laugh of fear and relief. Murderous intent gradually surfaced in his eyes, and with a flicker of his figure, he charged toward the distance!

At the same time, outside the Green Lake Secret Realm, Zhong Ming, who was seated in meditation, suddenly felt a chill of foreboding rise in his heart. After furrowing his brows and thinking for a moment, he seemed to find no answer.