NOVEL NEXT Ch. 107
Chapter 107: Beginning the Bone Tempering
On Overlord Peak.
Gu Fan had been arranged early this morning to enter a medicinal bath pool. It was said that Fang Xue had already prepared all the materials.
Today was the day she would use the ancient method to officially begin the bone tempering.
Originally, Gu Fan thought that since he had the Resurrection Armor, he wouldn’t be too worried.
But the truth was, he was still a bit flustered.
During this period, he asked around, and it seemed that no one in the entire Zongmen knew about this so-called ancient method. In the end, it was Nanyun who recalled and guessed that this thing might have been something Fang Xue obtained in the past while exploring a certain grand tomb.
However, at this point, he no longer planned to refuse. At least before his strength had fully developed, having Fang Xue's protection was not a bad thing.
Gu Fan sat cross-legged in the center of the medicinal pool, while someone kept adding spiritual flames below.
At that moment, Fang Xue gracefully arrived. With a flip of her hand, she revealed all kinds of dazzling Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
“Senior Sister, is there anything I need to do next?”
“For now, no. You just need to calm your mind and spirit. I’ll handle the rest in a bit.”
You’ll handle it? There was such a good thing?
Gu Fan grumbled in his heart, then closed his eyes and began breathing cultivation.
Fang Xue continued adding the spiritual items in her hand into the medicinal pool.
At this moment, the entire interior of the pool had turned into a dark green liquid. Gu Fan also felt all the pores and acupuncture points in his body constantly stinging.
Streams of life essence surged into his body without end.
“Gu Fan, now the life force within the medicinal solution can ensure your vitality. Next, I will extract your root bone!”
As she finished speaking, Fang Xue didn’t wait for Gu Fan to respond and directly pulled out a blade as thin as a cicada’s wing.
Gu Fan felt as if a thousand grass mud horses were galloping in his heart. This passive situation made him extremely uncomfortable. The feeling of not being in control was something he utterly despised.
As his thoughts raced, Fang Xue lightly sliced Gu Fan’s lower abdomen, and then a terrifying wound appeared before him.
Fang Xue raised her hand and said to Gu Fan,
“Gu Fan, I’m going in now. Trust me, it won’t hurt!”
Gu Fan: "……"
What kind of lousy line was that!
Shouldn’t that line be said by a man?
If this world had the internet, he would have suspected that Fang Xue was teasing him.
Seeing that Gu Fan didn’t respond, Fang Xue simply reached into Gu Fan’s abdominal cavity, heading straight for his root bone!
“I’ve found your root bone. I’m about to pull it out!”
Gu Fan twitched the corner of his mouth, unable to hold back his complaint:
“Senior Sister, can you not keep giving a running commentary… it feels weird!”
“Mm… I’ll keep that in mind…”
Just as she finished speaking, Fang Xue gave a fierce tug with the hand inside Gu Fan’s body.
Then, the two of them saw a pure white bone being yanked out!
Gu Fan followed with a muffled cry of pain. An indescribable agony spread through every nerve in his body.
He had a strange illusion, feeling that his body and current cultivation realm had lost their foundation, becoming a rootless drifting duckweed!
A sense of impending collapse kept spreading in his perception.
At the same time, the life essence within the medicinal solution began to take effect. Streams of vitality continuously repaired Gu Fan’s physical injuries to ensure he wouldn’t die.
Fang Xue, on the other hand, looked at the pure white root bone in her hand with a fascinated expression.
“This is the one-in-ten-thousand trash root bone!”
Gu Fan was speechless again upon hearing that.
How could the terms ‘one-in-ten-thousand’ and ‘trash’ be put together so absurdly?
“Senior Sister, better hurry up and get on with the bone tempering. I feel so empty inside right now…”
“Don’t worry, Junior Brother. I’ll go crush the bone right away. You stay here and recover. I’ll be back soon.”
After speaking, Fang Xue’s figure flashed and she arrived at the adjacent pill room. With practiced ease, she opened the pill-refining cauldron and tossed the root bone in her hand directly into it.
Swoosh!
With the injection of spiritual power, a spiritual flame rose up, and the temperature inside the entire pill room instantly surged.
Fang Xue held a piece of beast hide and reviewed the procedure written on it, confirming that not a single step was wrong.
"After burning and refining the impurities in the root bone, begin the refinement, turning the various materials into liquid for easier absorption..."
With a wave of her hand, Fang Xue suspended all the spiritual plants in the air, excluding the main ingredient.
Very quickly, the spiritual plants were melted into liquid. She then uncovered the materials that had been prepared in a wooden box beside her.
"These are top-grade materials I stole from the Zongmen’s treasury. Just adding a wisp during artifact refinement can change the entire material composition. Now I’m putting all of them into the root bone. The effect should skyrocket!"
Fang Xue muttered a few words and then threw everything into the cauldron.
As time passed, the cauldron was no longer quiet. Instead, it turned somewhat violent, as if something extraordinary inside was constantly colliding.
Finally, after strictly following the process and timing, Fang Xue opened her eyes, revealing a golden gleam.
"It’s time. Open!"
Boom! A loud explosion echoed.
The entire cauldron shattered directly. The spiritual flame extinguished, leaving only Gu Fan’s root bone revealed!
Fang Xue excitedly stepped forward and picked it up in one hand, carefully observing it.
The color didn’t seem to change much; it was still white. However, this time, the white carried a jade-like texture.
"It should have succeeded. The texture is much denser now. This strength… it’s not inferior to the so-called green-grade quality!"
Fang Xue’s expression was filled with joy, and she immediately returned to Gu Fan’s medicinal bath pool.
"Senior Sister? Was it a success?"
Gu Fan appeared a bit anxious when he saw her arrive. The strange feeling was making him extremely uncomfortable; he wished it could be put back immediately.
"It should have succeeded. Let me try!"
As she spoke, she stimulated the white jade root bone with a special energy right in front of Gu Fan.
In the next moment, streams of seven-colored radiance appeared on the scene.
"It’s not white! It really succeeded!"
Gu Fan’s voice trembled with excitement.
"Senior Sister, hurry and put it back. I’m feeling so empty right now!"
"Alright, I’ll put it back in right away."
She was equally excited. Although she didn’t know what the seven-colored radiance represented, she was certain—this was definitely not the white trash bone anymore!
Gu Fan cooperatively revealed the wound on his lower abdomen, eagerly waiting for Fang Xue to reinstall it quickly.
But after a moment, Fang Xue stood there dumbfounded.
Gu Fan sensed something was off too.
"What’s wrong, Senior Sister?"
Fang Xue’s tone was somewhat strange and puzzled.
"Gu Fan, there’s something else growing inside your belly. The root bone doesn’t seem to fit back in!"
Gu Fan’s eyes widened, as if suspecting he had misheard.
"No… Senior Sister, what did you just say?"
"There’s something growing inside your wound. It’s occupying the space where the root bone should be..."
"……"
The two stared at each other for a full ten seconds.
At that moment, Gu Fan suddenly rose from the medicinal pool and directed his inner sight toward his lower abdomen.
He saw that the originally empty space where the root bone should have been was now occupied by a black entity.
This thing was firmly entrenched. At its top, a pitch-black flower was in full bloom, and surrounding it, several tendrils swayed continuously.
Gu Fan’s pupils shrank sharply!
It was actually a miniature version of the Annihilation Evil Lotus!