"Clang!!"

Once the Riot-Quelling Sword was refined, it emitted a clear ringing sound. Its initially wild and fierce killing intent was now restrained and became very calm.

Mu Jinyu reached out to grasp the Demon Sword, feeling a wonderful sense of bloodline fusion with it.

"Strange, why hasn't the rust disappeared after the Riot-Quelling Sword was successfully refined?"

Mu Jinyu mumbled to himself, puzzled as he looked at the mottled rust on the sword.

Many magic treasures discovered from relics often have various rust and grime on them that are hard to remove. However, as these treasures are successfully refined, the rust and grime accumulated over time usually falls off, revealing their true appearance.

Mu Jinyu originally saw the mottled rust on the Riot-Quelling Sword and guessed it was such a case, so he didn't mind and simply bought the Demon Sword.

But now that the Riot-Quelling Sword had been refined and became his magic treasure, the rust on the blade hadn't peeled off at all, which felt strange to Mu Jinyu.

Could it be that the Riot-Quelling Sword was forged to be like this from the start?

Was the bladesmith intentional in forging it this way?

Perhaps to add a tetanus effect on the Riot-Quelling Sword?

One slash, and even if it doesn't kill, it would infect with tetanus from the rust!

Mu Jinyu speculated oddly in his heart.

Then he shook his head, too lazy to think about it anymore.

After all, he wasn't particular about appearances. Even though the Riot-Quelling Sword was entirely covered in rust and a bit ugly, a holy weapon is a holy weapon after all, so there's nothing to complain about.

He even used an unknown Corpse-Wrapping Cloth as a magic treasure, so why fear a rusty sword?

Mu Jinyu stored the Riot-Quelling Sword into his Dantian Qi Sea to slowly nurture it with his blood essence.

Then he took out the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures he had purchased and began consuming them to enhance his strength.

First was the Vermilion Fruit.

The Vermilion Fruit was indeed good. Although consuming it caused immense pain throughout the body, the enhancement was very noticeable.

Previously, Mu Jinyu had purchased and consumed one Vermilion Fruit from the Treasure Pavilion, which increased his strength by about the Strength of Three Horses, or approximately three thousand jin of force.

In his calculations, the best scenario was that consuming all two hundred and ten Vermilion Fruits would elevate his physical strength to the Power of One Dragon.

However, he knew this was likely difficult, as tolerance to the antidote builds over time, so reaching the Power of Seven Jiaos would be satisfying.

"Crunch!"

Mu Jinyu pierced the skin of one Vermilion Fruit and began devouring its juice.

A Vermilion Fruit, as large as a coconut, was quickly consumed by him.

This made him feel like his whole body was boiling, as if his blood had been ignited.

"Hoo..."

Meditating with the "Humanity Path Sutra" to refine his physical body and absorb the Vermilion Fruit juice.

In just a short while.

Mu Jinyu opened his eyes, and his pure physical strength had improved further.

He gained an additional Strength of Three Horses.

However, Mu Jinyu frowned slightly.

It was indeed as he had imagined; the effect of the Vermilion Fruit juice was not as potent as the first time he consumed it, with the potency slightly reduced.

Although not very obvious, there was a noticeable weakening.

He figured that after consuming several more Vermilion Fruits, it might take two Vermilion Fruits to achieve the effect of one.

"Oh well, it's still a gain, so no reason to complain,"

Mu Jinyu shook his head slightly, then immediately pierced ten Vermilion Fruits at once and began to gulp down the juice.

"Ha..."

After spending an hour refining the medicinal power of these ten Vermilion Fruits,

his pure physical strength increased by Three Elephants Five Horses Strength from what it was before he consumed the Vermilion Fruits.

That is, he gained thirty-five thousand jin of force!

But with diminishing effects.

Each Vermilion Fruit was supposed to provide the Strength of Three Horses, and he had consumed twelve altogether, theoretically gaining Three Elephants Six Horses Strength.

Yet in the end, he was lacking the Strength of One Horse.

Though it seemed insignificant, it meant the tolerance was building.

Initially insignificant, now it was missing the Strength of One Horse.

By the time he consumed the hundredth Vermilion Fruit, the effect was expected to be only half of what it originally was.

"Sigh..."

Mu Jinyu couldn't help but sigh softly, then accelerated his consumption of the Vermilion Fruits.

Soon.

Half a day later.

The remaining two hundred Vermilion Fruits were all consumed and refined by Mu Jinyu.

And his pure physical strength, far less than expected, even if he couldn't reach the Power of One Dragon, should've at least become the Power of Seven Jiaos, right?

But in reality, he only increased from the Power of Three Jiaos to Five Jiao Dragon Strength!

The later it got, the less effective the Vermilion Fruits were for him.

"Fine, for over two thousand academic credits, gaining the Power of Two Jiaos is not bad, don't be greedy!"

Mu Jinyu shook his head slightly.

He knew that the limited effect at the end was not only due to the tolerance developed against the Vermilion Fruits but also because physical body refinement becomes harder at later stages.

According to the attendant's introduction, a normal cultivator consuming a Vermilion Fruit should gain at least seven to eight thousand jin of strength.

That's an increase of seven to eight horses of strength.

Yet since he started consuming the Vermilion Fruit, he only gained the Strength of Three Horses.

This was because his physical body refinement had reached a certain level, and even without prior consumption of Vermilion Fruits, it would greatly reduce their effectiveness on refining his physical body.

"Now, it's time to consume the Soul Devouring Spiritual Fruit!"

Mu Jinyu turned his gaze to another type of fruit placed to the side, speaking with gleaming eyes.

His expectations were higher for the Soul Devouring Spiritual Fruit.

After all, his current Divine Soul Power was only approximately at the Late Broken Void Realm Stage nearing its peak.

He greatly hoped to consume the Soul Devouring Spiritual Fruit to raise his soul cultivation level to the Life and Death Realm.

To gain an early understanding of the Life and Death Realm.

"Crunch!"

The Soul Devouring Spiritual Fruit wasn't as big as the Vermilion Fruit; it resembled a mangosteen in appearance, but its skin wasn't as thick. Mu Jinyu consumed them one by one.

Very quickly, he consumed ten Soul Devouring Spiritual Fruits in succession.

If the attendant and others who had consumed Soul Devouring Spiritual Fruits saw his actions, they would probably be terrified.

No one dared to consume Soul Devouring Spiritual Fruits like this!

Consuming these fruits was extremely perilous; one careless mistake could allow the latent residual souls within the fruit to attack, causing one to fall into a demon state, resulting in mental collapse.

But Mu Jinyu had no such concerns or worries.

Because the Mystical Little Tree would take care of all those post-consumption worries for him.

It could even devour those residual souls, turning them into purer medicinal power and feeding it back to him.

This meant there was no risk in consuming the Soul Devouring Spiritual Fruits for him; instead, their medicinal power was much stronger than for others.

"Crunch crunch!!"

In an instant, Mu Jinyu consumed thirty Soul Devouring Spiritual Fruits, then checked the state within his Sea of Consciousness.

He saw that with the consumption of so many Soul Devouring Spiritual Fruits, his Sea of Consciousness now had hundreds of residual souls howling and roaring, their cries horribly chilling.

It was like a Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

It turned his originally golden Sea of Consciousness pitch black, as if it were the Underworld!

"Hiss hiss hiss!!"

At this moment, the Mystical Little Tree began its action.

It stretched out a golden branch covered in various runes and laws, sweeping across like chains of order.

It swept away all obstacles effortlessly.

"Bang bang bang!!"

The terrifying residual souls were instantly shattered by its golden branch, turning into starlight dots, then devoured by the branch, transforming into more refined soul fluid, feeding back to Mu Jinyu.