I feel as if time is crawling by in slow motion. The world I see is one of brightness, modulated by the pain I feel, and a cacophony of bestial voices chanting for my inevitable success.

But my success is not inevitable. The only thing that I, in the moment, feel is coming is my death.

What would the monkeys think if their God or Master remained lifeless on the altar? Broken and warped, and no matter how many of their numbers they sacrifice, never to be whole again?

Would they even care?

Of course not. They are just monkeys. A collection of thinking carbon molecules.Blood Pointsto be collected and spent.

I might have missed the monkeys, once our paths separated. They will not miss me. They will forget about me, and perhaps even learn something about worshiping alien and foreign influences. But they will not miss me.

They dont even know what I am.

Nine revolutions.

The catastrophic impact of my revolvingbloodsplits the azure jade fuller, the most important part of my vessel for my internal structure, and the crack runs along through the entirety of what remains of my split-in-half vessel.

[MidVessel Refining Progress:99% ]

Mybloodslows to a crawl and then stops. The pain subsides.

For a brief moment, I feel rapture more so because the pain is gone than any possibility that I might survive this episode of stupidity.

It occurs to me in that moment of lucid clarity that, normally,sapientcreatures do not cultivate their bodies because it comes with an extreme resource cost to do sosafely. The chances of breaking through even once, without assistance, is pitifully small I reckon it around 10%.

I am about to do so twice in a row.

Another emotion Ive never felt is fear, but I am immediately introduced to its cold grip around my sentient core In such a way that all the processes of my consciousness freeze at its touch.

Mybloodmoves once more. Its circular voyage through what remains of my vessel carries an inexorable momentum, gaining speed and power like a wrecking ball falling from the apex of its pendulum.

And like a wrecking ball it pummels into the very core of my being, and my being shatters.

[MidVessel Refining Progress:100% ]

[ Current stage:Black Jade Transformation(LateVessel Refining) ]

The rest of my blade explodes and my fuller also shatters in half. Now, the only thing remaining of my vessel is the pommel, grip, ruined and gem-less cross-guard, and two thirds of my fuller. The green jade gem embedded in my fuller also explodes, andblack bloodspills out from the socket, oozing over my fuller.

I scream internally and voicelessly. If I thought I knewpainbefore, then I was now regrettably re-examining my definition of how high the pain scale runs. What I thought was a10before was a6at best, considering what I am experiencing now.

In another moment of futile, but lucid clarity, I reach out for the only recourse left to me.

I did not want to be awake to experience my death, so I directed my [Critical Analysis] talent towards the very method I was cultivating and that was killing me.

[Analysis: GainedDeep Insighton the Dao ofEssenceafter studying Black Jade Blood Refinement.]

[Critical Analysis: GradeE-> GradeD]

[ Dao ofEssence: GradeD-> GradeC]

I gain an insight into theDaoof Body Cultivation called Essence and my [Critical Analysis] improves in rank. MyDaoalso improves immediately.

But I do not lose consciousness.

In the aftermath of my attempt, I am left thoughtless and shocked to the core. I realize I would have to bear this until the end, only to witness my own death.

As mybloodmy actualbloodoozes out of the gem socket and coats my fuller, I feel something changing. An incredibly dense metal begins to form within the blood and to replace the parts of my vessel which Ive lost.

[LateVessel Refining Progress:20% ]

I think if I was a mundane,sapientcreature, with a normal brain made out of meat, I wouldve surely lost my sanity.

Was I really going to breakthroughthree times in a row?

The chances of survival were so pitifully low, they were not even worth discussing.

I did not even understandhowI wasstillalive.

Not that I had any capacity to entertain that question. The pain alone wouldve killed me on the spot if I were a creature of meat and pain receptors.

In a desperate attempt to distract myself from the pain, I try to steer my thoughts towards the Insight I gained and thesubroutineimmediately triggers.

[Black Jade Blood Refinementis an Emperor Grade body cultivation method. Refine the Qi into trueBlood Essenceand use it to destroy the body and reforge it as anImmortalGrade foundation after theBlack Jade Transformationstage. Once theBlood Essenceis compressed, the process cannot be stopped until the final stage is reached and the new body is forged. ]

[LateVessel Refining Progress:60% ]

TheBlood Essencepouring out of my socket leaves behind a pristine, silver metal that feels just as heavy as the blood that formed it. It feels like a metallic crystal that has been folded into itself a dozen times, denser than even the heaviest elements. Just looking at my sharpened edge feels like it might cut my perception.

The azure jade fuller caves and warps under the black blood as it oozes lower to reform the tip of my blade, its blackness fading to a pure silvery white that could reflect its surroundings like a mirror.

[LateVessel Refining Progress:80% ]

The azure jade then cracks and begins turning black.

The monkeys howl and drop to their knees once more. They kowtow to me as if they can somehow sense that my transformation is coming to an end.

I cannot comprehend their behavior. I cannot rationalize their intelligence. I cannot deny their instinct.

Of course, I realize. Only demonic beasts are foolish enough to attempt body cultivation with no resources. Only the strong will survive the attempt. Only the ones blessed by the Heavens would walk this path. They are not afraid of death. They do not pity those others who must die like those who are sacrificed to me.

This is their world. This is the jungle in which they thrive or die.

They know I am at my apex because they areexpertsof body cultivation.

I have underestimated them.

[LateVessel Refining Progress:100% ]

Finally, my fuller turns completely black, with a faint sheen of blood red coloration refracting within the blackness of my jade.

My vessel is completely reforged. I no longer possess such luxurious gems as before. I am a pristine silver sword, around a black jade core, that could cut through mountains with ease.

I am complete.

[ Current stage:Blood Core Refinement(PeakVessel Refining) ]

I am hungry.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com