Chapter 223 223. Martial Path Blood-Exchange
"Let's begin!"
Lu Yao swallowed two "Ten-Complete Immortal Pills" and fearlessly entered the Inner Vision state, activating his Inner Breath for Mind Cleansing.
With Liao Ya and Liao Qe watching over him, he felt very reassured. The countless times they had massaged each other meant they were extremely familiar with one another's bodies, both inside and out.
If there were any accidents, the sisters would take effective measures immediately, which was one of the benefits of being from the same sect.
In the state of Inner Vision, everything within the body was reflected into his mind.
For the cultivation of the Marrow-Cleansing Realm, cleansing the bones throughout the body wasn't difficult, relying on the accumulation of time and hard liver could do the job.
But cleansing the Brain Marrow was not so, this was the most difficult part, and it stymied 99% of people.
One could imagine that cleansing the Brain Marrow was bound to be exceedingly dangerous, with carelessness possibly leading to a stroke, shock, and it was said that some even caused a 'change of sex' due to practicing incorrectly.
Many timid or talentless people simply didn't practice this step and remained in the Marrow-Cleansing Realm for their entire lives.
However, none of these were problems for Lu Yao, who had activated his x-ray vision~
The surging Inner Breath, under the exquisite control of the Spirit Refinement Realm, transformed into a gentle duster, sweeping over the Brain Marrow with as much care as one would treat their eyeballs.
Suddenly, a warm and moist sensation spread through his brain, making it feel much lighter.
Inner Breath was the "Postnatal Essence." The so-called "Mind Cleansing" was actually using this "Postnatal Essence" to continuously nourish and strengthen the body, with the accumulation over days and months eventually leading to a qualitative change that triggered a breakthrough in realms.
At that moment, Lu Yao suddenly gained some insight: the essence of Martial Dao Cultivation was actually to induce the body to "evolve" through continuous arduous practice and with the help of Inner Breath, a miraculous life energy, also known as — benign mutation.
Formidable strength was merely a byproduct of the evolution.
Having understood this, Lu Yao's Mind Cleansing became even smoother, and he felt as if his brain, like a dusty pearl being wiped clean, was gradually revealing its dazzling brilliance.
But this was just the beginning; the real focus was next.
As a high-level practitioner in the Fetal Breath Realm, he couldn't just proceed step by step like an ordinary Martial Artist, otherwise, how would the marvelous aspects of Spirit Refinement be demonstrated?
While Lu Yao was cleansing his Brain Marrow, he controlled another stream of Inner Breath to cleanse his Spinal Cord.
As stated in the cultivation method of the Liao Family: "The marrow descends from the brain into the great shuttle acupoint, seeps into the spinal cord, runs down to the coccyx, soaking through the joints."
The Spinal Cord and Brain Marrow communicated with each other and could be cleansed simultaneously in theory, achieving better and faster cultivation effects.
Of course, only Spirit Refinement of Divine Fetal Breathing would enable one to do so.
At this moment, Lu Yao controlled the Inner Breath in a 'two-pronged approach,' jointly cleansing the brain and spinal cord, with an efficiency that was not as simple as 1+1=2.
This "mutual communication" between two connected organs greatly promoted the cleansing of each other.
Lu Yao could distinctly feel that his cultivation progress had increased fivefold! The consumption of Inner Breath also increased exponentially, but fortunately, the pills he had swallowed in advance were taking effect, continuously producing Inner Breath to sustain the cultivation.
After a while, Lu Yao finished his cultivation and began to regulate his breathing to finish the session. Looking up, he noticed that half a day had passed, and it was already well past dawn.
The two sisters had been by his side the whole time, never leaving, their hopeful and anxious eyes looking over.
Lu Yao smiled and said, "Mission accomplished!"
The two women finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Liao Qe joyfully said, "Ha, our family will soon have another Blood-Exchange Realm practitioner! And then in a couple of years, another step up to Innate Grandmaster, at which point I'll be an Imperially Mandated Madam~"
Following the Innate Realm, practitioners would "confer titles upon their wives and shade to their children," and according to Lu Yao's cultivation progress, it was already a done deal.
Lu Yao said with a proud smile, "Today is August 21, I will achieve Blood-Exchange by September! Stabilize the realm for a month, and then in October, I go to Imperial City!"
"Look at you being so capable~" Liao Ya teased, extending her finger like a spring onion, poking the proud disciple, Lu Yao opened his mouth as if to bite, scaring her into quickly retracting it.
Liao Qe looked at the affectionate pair, her gaze sharpening, but she blinked and chose to say nothing.
~~~~~~~~~
In the days that followed, Lu Yao set aside all distractions and focused on advancing to the Blood-Exchange Realm.
Every day, he either cleansed his spinal cord and brain marrow or hammered his body into shape, without a moment's rest.
The double-decker bus, with no engine, was repurposed into a barbell. Lu Yao lifted the back end of the bus, straining with all his might to only get it up to waist height.
He had kept a secret from everyone. A few days ago, when he had traveled far, he had carried the bus daily until his body was pushed to its limits. He clearly felt that the terminal illness could not be suppressed any longer and was ready to counterattack at any moment.
This thing had always been a shadow over his heart, but it was also a motivation for his cultivation!
After several days of arduous cultivation, on August 30th, Lu Yao woke up to find his two front teeth loose. With a gentle lick, they fell out!
Looking in the mirror, he saw two new teeth poking their sharp edges from the gums, pushing out the old teeth.
Liao Qe was extremely excited to witness this scene. Her delicate face flushed with two red spots, she screamed, "Ah~~~ Lu Yao, you have new teeth! This is the sign of entering the Blood-Exchange Realm!"
"I'm going to tell sister~" The girl flipped her braid and ran off, soon returning with Liao Ya in tow.
The two girls excitedly and curiously circled his mouth for a close inspection. Liao Ya's bright eyes were filled with joy,
"Congratulations, Junior Brother, for shedding the mortal coil and refining the immortal bones, and advancing to the Blood-Exchange Realm! Once all your new teeth are in, your realm will be completely stable."
Lu Yao laughed, "It's also thanks to you both, helping me with massages and foot rubs every day."
The two girls had also been busy these past days, pausing their own cultivation to fully assist their junior brother in breaking through, playing a significant role in his progress.
Liao Ya planned happily, "The Blood-Exchange is no small matter. Once your realm is stable, we need to throw a feast to celebrate and invite Daoist Zhou too."
Lu Yao nodded repeatedly, "Sure, the old Daoist gets on well with us, we definitely should invite him."
~~~~~~~
Next, Lu Yao paused his physical training and spent each day nurturing his body with Inner Breath.
Under the effect of "Inner Vision," even the tiniest flaw would be discovered in advance and promptly resolved.
At present, all the marrow in his body had been cleansed; crystal clear like frost.
This "new marrow" worked at full strength to replace all the blood in his body with "new blood," which was as dense as lead and mercury.
This "new blood" contained more energy and Inner Breath, thoroughly cleansing every part of his body from the inside out!
Every day, Lu Yao's body grew stronger, from bones to muscles, from blood vessels to nerves, each cell, each gland became more powerful than before!
As his realm gradually stabilized, he, with his robust body, even began to wonder if his flesh and bones were made of metal!
On the 20th day, Lu Yao's mouthful of teeth had been replaced, and he stepped into the Blood-Exchange Realm without any trouble or danger.
The newly grown teeth were clear and sparkling; they resounded with a metallic echo when tapped, their hardness even surpassing that of steel.
At that moment, Lu Yao held a stainless steel spoon, biting off the head in one go.
"Just like eating beef jerky." After chewing for a while, he spit out the stainless steel remains.
After the Blood-Exchange, his weight increased from the original 80 kilograms to 100 kilograms, but his body shape did not change a bit. The added weight was due to his body becoming even more formidable.
The previously difficult-to-lift bus could now be easily raised to the shoulders.
Post Blood-Exchange, one can possess a strength of ten thousand jin! Lu Yao, newly entered into this realm, currently only had a strength of 8000 jin.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
And the increase in strength was just the least significant benefit!
Next was to test the strength of the new body after the breakthrough in the realm. Liao Ya and Liao Qe came over holding guns. Handguns, AKs, Barretts, they had it all.
Lu Yao stripped off his clothes and cried out, "Fire away!"
It was indeed a command for the girls to shoot at him!
Liao Qe hesitated, "Lu Yao, are you sure about this? I can't bring myself to do it..."