The Demon Fiend suddenly stood up like a man, slamming its pillar-like fists together with a heaven-shaking BOOM.

A bizarre oppressive aura suddenly erupted from the white ape, making Xu Yunfan’s breath catch in his throat. He forcefully reversed his Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength. His shoulder blades ground against each other with a sickening scrape as he used the second form of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer—Earth Dragon Flipping Over—to meet the old ape’s two-fisted, descending strike.

"BOOM!"

The shockwave ripped up the bedrock within a thirty-foot radius.

Every muscle in Xu Yunfan’s body shuddered violently. The leaves of his Dragon Scale Armor rustled, opening and closing in rapid succession as he used the Dissipation technique of his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body to channel the impact into the ground. As earth and rock splintered beneath him, Xu Yunfan used the recoil to launch himself thirty feet into the air.

The Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength surged madly through his flesh and blood, and the scorching aura from the Dragon Scale Armor vaporized blood into a crimson mist.

Just as the old ape leaped skyward, swinging its fists, the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace shot from Xu Yunfan’s grasp. He twisted his waist in midair, unleashing his Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength. The power surged through the three-hundred-plus-pound Heavy Hammer and crashed into the Demon Fiend’s vital point.

With the sharp cracking of bronze chains snapping link by link, the old ape’s ten-foot-tall demonic body crashed to its knees. Half a rust-stained Bone-Piercing Nail erupted from the fleshy growth that was its right eye.

’You have successfully killed a Demon Fiend. Your Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique Skill Level has increased.’

’Interesting.’

Xu Yunfan shouldered the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer again and adjusted the position of the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace.

’This Divine Weapon has a terrible temper.’ He wondered when he should drag the will of the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace into his Sea of Consciousness and use the Linn Character Technique to suppress it with his Self God.

The Minor Achievement in the Linn Character Technique had already made his spiritual will much more solid.

"Hm?"

As his knuckles brushed past the broken bronze clasp on the old ape’s neck, Xu Yunfan suddenly caught a foul, gamey scent on the mountain wind. Only then did he realize why this Demon Fiend had climbed to the peak.

Thirty paces below the cliff, a ten-foot-tall fissure gaped open in the vine-draped rock face. The stench of rot and rust billowed from the cave within. Dark red crystal clusters had formed in the cracks—the obvious result of a Demon Fiend’s saliva corroding the rock over countless years.

He flicked a loose stone into the cave with the tip of his boot. A clatter echoed and re-echoed off the unseen walls.

’This place was clearly the old ape’s lair.’

Beasts had far sharper senses than ordinary people. The ape must have chosen this place as its nest because it sensed the Primordial Spirit Breath gathering on the peak.

’It seems that wherever the mountain’s power and Primordial Spirit converge, some extraordinary creature takes up residence.’

With this in mind, Xu Yunfan gazed at the endless mountain ranges stretching before him. But through the lens of his Seeking Dragon and Distinguishing Veins ability, he saw something else entirely: a series of nodes where Primordial Spirit Breath converged among the peaks.

Xu Yunfan stepped back onto the summit and gazed into the distance.

Viewing the landscape through the lens of Seeking Dragon and Distinguishing Veins, he could see, in the folds of the mountain ranges, seven pillars of purple qi soaring into the sky like Flood Dragons coiling around columns. In three other locations, crimson mist churned like roiling pools of blood.

A foul Dirt Qi, just like the one from the old ape’s cave, clung to every Spiritual Energy Node. In some places, it formed a toxic miasma that blotted out the sun; in others, it became black clouds that hung heavy over the land. The most distant wisp, a streak of gray-green Evil Qi that stretched across three peaks, had even vaguely coalesced into the image of a nine-headed serpent swallowing the mountains.

’This so-called Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm... is completely overrun by Demon Fiends.’

But what shocked him most was that Divine Weapon Ridge even possessed a Secret Realm at all.

Secret Realms, after all, were a foundational treasure that only the Six Top Sects—those who had once counted true Human Immortals among their ranks—could ever hope to possess.

The mountain wind swirled the old ape’s severed white hairs. Suddenly, Xu Yunfan’s stomach let out a thunderous growl.

After a long moment, Xu Yunfan exhaled and glanced down at the old ape’s corpse.

He was getting hungry. He stared at the Demon Fiend’s gnarled muscles, the bitter aftertaste of the Ginseng Child still lingering between his teeth. The rich Spiritual Qi from the Ginseng Qi-Refining Spirit Marrow was potent, but ultimately, it couldn’t silence the primal call of his own flesh for sustenance.

’I’ve been surviving almost entirely on the Ginseng Child’s Qi of Ginseng for days. If I don’t eat some real food soon...’

Xu Yunfan stared at the old ape’s corpse, steeling himself for a good while before he finally, slowly, approached it.

Less than an hour later, Xu Yunfan had a bonfire crackling. Skewered on several sticks were cuts of meat from the corpse.

Xu Yunfan traced a line across the Demon Fiend’s torso with a fingertip glowing with Red Flood Dragon Force. A scent like sandalwood unexpectedly mingled with the smell of scorched flesh.

When he detached the seventh rib, a look of pleasant surprise crossed his face. The dark golden liquid flowing from the Demon Fiend’s marrow was a clear sign it had consumed Earth Vein Dragon Marrow.

"CRUNCH!"

Xu Yunfan’s eyes lit up as he took his first bite of the crispy roasted meat. The old ape’s flesh contained an incredibly pure Blood Qi Supplementing Power.

Before long, as his stomach digested the meat, waves of warmth began to spread through his entire body.

All at once, the pores all over his body flared open. His spine tingled as the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength began to circulate of its own accord.

The Spirit Vein Essence Qi that the Demon Fiend had devoured for three decades now surged down his throat, washing through his limbs and bones.

「Three days later.」 Xu Yunfan glanced at the bone in his hand, gnawed clean of every last shred of meat. He casually tossed it into the Old Ape Cave thirty feet away. The CRACK of the leg bone against the cave wall echoed again and again before fading.

Feeling a sense of satiation from his stomach, Xu Yunfan slowly exhaled.

He could clearly feel the warmth rising from his lower abdomen, fueling his Blood Qi and causing his body temperature to climb steadily. It grew so hot that it vaporized the mountain fog within inches of his skin.

He loosely clenched his fist. Interwoven red and gold patterns surfaced on his bulging muscles—a sign that his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body, having devoured over three hundred pounds of Demon Flesh and Blood, was on the verge of reaching Great Success as its Skill Level climbed ever higher.

As dawn broke through the sea of clouds, Xu Yunfan assumed the Red Flood Dragon Coiling Mountain Stake. His Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength flowed through flesh, sinew, bone, and skin, slowly tempering his frame with the Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body technique.

His feet sank three inches into the earth, drawing upon its strength.

The moment he activated his Pure Yang Qi Skill, his Pure Yang Inner Breath began to flow. The Mountain Peak Primordial Spirit rushed toward him like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, pouring through his nostrils and into his flesh and bones.

"Hiss..."

Feeling a taut, stinging sensation from within, like a thousand needles pricking him, Xu Yunfan couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

The great dragon of his spine suddenly arched like a full moon. His ribs flexed and rippled, emitting the sound of a complex mechanism clicking into place.

The Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit flooded his body, coursing through flesh and skin. The undigested Essence Qi from the Demon Flesh and Blood churned in his stomach. These two forces twisted together with his Pure Yang Inner Breath.

’You continuously absorb Heaven and Earth Primordial Spiritual Energy, converting it into Pure Yang Inner Breath to strengthen yourself. Your Pure Yang Qi Skill Skill Level has increased slightly.’

’By continuously tempering your Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body with your Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength, the two have synergized. Your Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique Skill Level has increased significantly.’

’...’

The Martial Dao of this world emphasizes an outside-in approach. One first trains muscle, bone, and skin. By combining these three, a wisp of Strength is born. This Strength, along with the body’s own flesh and blood, shatters the physical limitations of the human form, allowing one to step into the Flesh Refining Realm.

When the Strength fills the flesh to overflowing, this dense power—nurtured until it permeates every inch of one’s being—will shatter the barriers of the flesh, merge into the bloodstream, and refine one’s lifeblood into true Blood Qi. This process is called Blood Exchange.