Jiang Tang was once celebrated as a genius, but his remarkable abilities eventually turned him into a resource that powerful organizations wanted to control. After escaping that role, he enters a world filled with cultivators, factions, and larger-than-life figures who all seem determined to define him before he can define himself. Some see a future ruler, others a dangerous rival, and still others simply a useful worker. Jiang, however, insists that he wants an ordinary life. The problem is that every new encounter makes that ordinary future harder to reach—and reveals more about why his abilities matter.
Chapter 9: The Flames of the Underworld
He didn’t know how much time had passed, but when Jiang Tang awoke, he saw Dongfang crouching in the corner, barely clothed. Where had the little monk’s robe Jiang Tang had made for him gone? At that moment, Dongfang was cradling a large pearl, three inches in diameter, in his hands—it had been extracted from the chest of the Bone Spider Chieftain. As he watched the soft, frost-like glow on the pearl shift, undulate, and coil around its surface, gathering and dispersing, Jiang Tang knew immediately what it was: the Bone Spider Chieftain’s demon core. “Jiang Tang, how do humans cultivate?” Hearing Dongfang’s question, Jiang Tang lay back down and replied lazily, with a touch of exasperation, “In the Yuanwu Realm, one absorbs primordial energy into the dantian, refines it into primordial power, and circulates it throughout the body to nourish the blood, bones, tendons, meridians, internal organs, and flesh. There are distinctions between the Greater and Lesser Celestial Circuits. From the early to the late stages, the process remains largely unchanged—the more concentrated the primordial power,the body becomes stronger. Using your measurement system, the early stage ranges from 1,000 to 3,000 at its maximum, the middle stage from 4 to 6, and the late stage from 7 to 9. By the time one reaches the peak, it should be around 10,000—which is roughly the Yuan Power value of a single crystal stone…” Just as he finished explaining this, Dongfang interrupted: “What would happen if a cultivator at the Yuanwu Realm absorbed all the Primordial Energy from a crystal stone at once? Would it explode?” “In the early stage, yes. In the middle stage, it depends on the cultivation method—if one focuses on the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones, the worst that happens is bleeding from seven orifices; if one focuses on the five viscera and spiritual awareness, it will still explode. In the late stage, every part of the physical body has reached the peak of the Yuanwu Realm, so the Yuanli from a single crystal stone will only cause them extreme pain; as long as it’s released in time, it won’t be fatal.” Dongfang asked again, “How long does it take to cultivate?” “The Yuanwu Realm isn’t difficult. For the average person, it takes eight to ten years; most can master it before the age of eighteen. Those with slightly better aptitude can do it in five to seven years, while geniuses usually take about four or five years. Finally, there are people like me—we can master it in two or three years.” “And after that?” Dongfang asked, even more curious. “At the peak of the Yuanwu Realm, you begin to concentrate the Yuan Energy scattered throughout your body into the Dantian and start refining it. Once successful, a vortex of Yuan Energy will form, which will autonomously absorb Yuan Qi. Even if you aren’t meditating, it will absorb and refine Yuan Qi through the nine orifices and pores. By the time you reach the peak of the Qiwu Realm, you can attempt ‘Spirit Transformation.’ There are many methods for Spirit Transformation, and depending on the cultivation technique,the vortex transforms into all manner of Qi Spirits—beasts, birds, plants, insects, and even weapons. However, there is another cultivation method that does not involve Spirit Transformation; instead, the vortex is further refined into a solid entity resembling a demon core, known as the Golden Core. It is said that this method relies on tempering the Golden Core to advance one’s cultivation. Typically, after tempering it ten times, one can attempt to break through to the Intent Martial Realm. though some exceptional practitioners have refined it thirteen, fifteen, or even more times. The highest record currently documented on The Continent belongs to the Immortal of the Clouds, who refined it twenty-one times—he was also the founding patriarch of Xian Zong. However, he lived fifty thousand years ago, and no one knows where he ended up.” After speaking, Jiang Tang let out a deep, reflective sigh and continued, “Pill cultivators are extremely powerful. After refining a pill more than eleven times, their Yuan Power can completely surpass that of all Spirit-Martial Realm cultivators. However, the drawbacks are too great. Their method of breakthrough involves putting themselves in a life-or-death situation: they directly shatter the pill and then condense a Spirit Infant. There’s no turning back—failure means certain death. For every additional refinement beyond ten, the difficulty of the breakthrough doubles. That’s why very few pill cultivators dare to attempt it.” Dongfang’s interest grew even more, and he asked, “So, does that mean the difficulty of the Immortal of the Clouds’ breakthrough is eleven times that of an ordinary Pill Cultivator? How exactly is this difficulty measured?” “I don’t know. Perhaps it’s across the board. After such a person breaks through, their strength becomes extraordinary—they can wipe out opponents of the same rank as if mowing down grass, and defeating enemies of higher ranks is a breeze.” Dongfang glanced at the spider venom splattered across the floor and said, “You’re like that now, too.” “Me? I’m practically willing to risk my life. If I were to value my life, I’d still have to rely on this armor; otherwise, I really couldn’t hold my own against a second-tier Bone Spider, let alone the leader. My ability to fight multiple enemies at once relies mainly on my Spiritual Perception, which is still at the Spiritual Martial Realm—equivalent to a third-tier demon beast. That’s why I’m aware of every single attack these Bone Spiders make.” “What exactly are Spiritual Perception and Divine Consciousness?” Dongfang’s curiosity grew even more. “How to explain it… When Spiritual Perception is weak, you can only sense imminent danger. But once it’s powerful enough, even if someone is plotting against you from ten thousand li away—as long as their cultivation is inferior to yours—you’ll be able to sense it. If you combine that with divination abilities or predictive divine arts, you can even know who is coveting you from ten thousand li away. However, there are very few such powerful beings left in the world today. As for divine perception, to me it’s somewhat like telekinesis—things like retrieving objects from a distance, controlling puppets, flying swords, and magical treasures, or even cultivators and demon beasts with weak divine perception. Anyway, you’ll understand once you become a ghost cultivator; their divine perception far surpasses that of martial cultivators at the same level.” “How does it compare to alchemists?” “Will you ever stop? They’re stronger. Alchemists aren’t invincible either—it mainly depends on their cultivation techniques and secret arts. A martial cultivator with a powerful technique can temper their physical body to the point of being immortal and indestructible. There’s no such thing as the ‘strongest’; there are only mutual counters.” Dongfang, sensing the hint, stopped asking. Instead, he pulled back the carapace covering his chest, revealing the intricate runes and dense network of threads beneath. At the center of the runes, a demon core glowed with a faint jade-red light. Dongfang suddenly reached inside and retrieved the demon core. Instantly, a ring of shards embedded around the core began to emit a white light, which was slowly absorbed by the runes. Without a moment’s hesitation, Dongfang embedded the Bone Spider Chieftain’s demon core into the empty groove in the center. “You’re crazy—it’ll explode!” Jiang Tang had clearly sensed something; he jerked upright only to see a blinding white light bursting from Dongfang’s chest. Not only was the demon core inside Dongfang’s chest blindingly bright, but the runes all over his body also glowed, forming silver threads resembling human meridians that illuminated the entire ant chamber as bright as day. But soon, the radiance faded. Dongfang closed the carapace over his chest and said flatly, “That was close. This demon core’s energy value is as high as 85,000!” “No kidding—it didn’t even go all out before I…” Jiang Tang stopped mid-sentence, then exclaimed in shock as if suddenly waking from a daze, “Holy crap, how did you not explode?” “The Bone Spider Chieftain’s webs are incredibly strong. Combined with the runes, they increased the flow of Yuan Power tenfold. Plus, I used the eyes of a first-tier Bone Spider to create buffer transformers—each can handle 1,000 units of Yuan Power. Now that all seventy-eight of my joint array points are equipped with them, that means my maximum capacity is 88,000.” Jiang Tang rolled his eyes and said, “I killed it!” “We should share resources.” “You didn’t even ask—and you have the nerve to talk about sharing?” Jiang Tang was genuinely annoyed. “Jiang Tang, you need to be rational. Your strength will only decline from here on out, but I’m different. As long as I have the materials, I can grow infinitely stronger and go much further in the future—unless you want to become a ghost too.” “I’m not interested.” Jiang Tang shook his head and sighed. Dongfang was absolutely right—he couldn’t argue with that. But the guy’s complete disregard for others’ feelings really annoyed Jiang Tang. Just as he’d lain down to rest for a bit, Dongfang spoke up again: ““The Bone Spider Chieftain’s eight legs are incredibly strong—as hard as an Earth Dragon’s feet—but the joints are its weak point. If you can sever them, so can anyone else. I’m currently figuring out how to reinforce them. Later, you’ll help me attach them to my body. I’ll also need to install a container.” “You’re crazy!” Jiang Tang shook his head and said, “Even if you used materials from a 10th-tier demon beast, it wouldn’t work. Your spiritual sense is too weak—they could use their spiritual sense to restrain you, or even wipe you out outright.” “My divine sense is weak, but yours is strong,” Dongfang said, his eyes burning with intensity. “Do you want me to replace your eyeballs too?” Jiang Tang snorted coldly. “No need. I have other uses for the Bone Spider’s eyes.” Jiang Tang was at a loss for words, but in the end, he had no choice but to help. The two of them worked nonstop for an entire day, undisturbed the whole time. “It looks like this ant nest really is abandoned.” Jiang Tang wasn’t sure whether to be happy or worried—he was truly afraid they’d go down there and come up empty-handed! But they couldn’t just not go! As they ventured deeper, the two passed through an ant chamber littered with spider eggs and saw no more spider webs after that. Dongfang examined the spider egg in his hand and muttered, “If it hatches, do you think we could tame it?” “No, neither of us has essence-blood,” Jiang Tang shook his head. “What is ‘essence blood’? Essence and blood?” Dongfang asked curiously. “What nonsense. It’s the essence of blood nurtured within a cultivator’s heart—the purest and most unadulterated form, containing powerful life force and Yuan Power. Not only does it have miraculous effects on strengthening the physical body during breakthroughs, but it can also…” As he explained, Jiang Tang continued deeper into the ant nest. Before he knew it, he had already passed through twenty-nine ant chambers. During that time, he’d hit dead ends more than a dozen times without finding a single thing, which was starting to make Jiang Tang a bit anxious. But when Jiang Tang entered the fortieth ant chamber, goosebumps broke out all over his body. Noticing that Jiang Tang had suddenly frozen in place, Dongfang asked curiously, “What’s wrong?” Jiang Tang didn’t say a word. Instead, he stared intently at a particular ant hole, swallowed hard, and said, “Underworld Fire—it’s definitely Underworld Fire. No one has ever come down here before!” “Then let’s go,” Dongfang said, his eyes burning with intensity. “Going over there now would be suicide. I need to rest a bit.” Jiang Tang sat down cross-legged and rested for a full hour before getting up. He took a crystal out of his storage pouch. With a shift in his cultivation technique, the crystal instantly turned white and began to crack at a speed visible to the naked eye; in the blink of an eye, it crumbled like glass shards and drifted through the gaps between his fingers. Without a moment’s pause, Jiang Tang took out another crystal and repeated the process. Although his Yuan Power was only 2,500, his physical body could withstand tens of thousands; however, after absorption, it dissipated rapidly, so time was of the essence, and there was no time to catch his breath. In the blink of an eye, the five crystals had turned into a floor covered in crystal dust. To Dongfang, Jiang Tang appeared more powerful than ever before—his aura surged around him, billowing and rising like steam, as if he had stepped into a distorted illusion, making it impossible to see him clearly. It was the sight of powerful Yuan Energy being released from every pore of his body. “Secure the entrance!” Jiang Tang said. His body twisted briefly, and then he vanished, as fast as a flash of lightning. “Boom!” The entire ant nest suddenly trembled, followed immediately by an even more violent collision erupting within it, giving Dongfang the sensation that the heavens were collapsing and the earth was splitting apart. “Boom… rumble… rumble…” The sound of impact from the ant burrow in front of Dongfang grew louder and louder. In the next instant, a stone figure engulfed in black flames suddenly flew out of the burrow’s entrance, slamming violently into the ant chamber and embedding itself three feet deep into the stone wall! Immediately afterward, Jiang Tang—his dark, lean frame surging with Yuan Power—also shot out of the ant burrow. No sooner had he landed on the ground than, before Dongfang could make out the black, scale-like spots that had suddenly appeared on his body, Jiang Tang’s figure vanished once more. “Boom!” By the time Jiang Tang reappeared, he had already shattered the stone figure’s skull with a single punch. In the blink of an eye, the stone figure delivered a lightning-fast kick that sent Jiang Tang flying. It then shook its shoulders—the stone fragments scattered on the ground flew back to its headless neck, instantly reassembling into a head. It let out a roar and swung its massive arms to sweep at Jiang Tang as he charged once more.
