Chapter 288: 5: Thud Thud Thud Thud, A Sudden Surge in Cultivation Level

An Zhisu carefully cradled the wooden bowl, taking a sip of the stone milk contained within.

As the stone milk entered her stomach, she quickly became aware of a great amount of utterly pure vital energy pouring into her meridians and finally converging into the Qi Sea of her Dantian.

With the rotation of the Qi Sea in her Dantian, that vital energy gradually adhered to the inner walls of the Purple Mansion, forming a tough “membrane,” and slowly healing the fine flaws within.

However, as the vital energy circulated through her meridians, it also continuously secreted a certain type of turbid yellow qi, which adhered to the inner walls of her meridians, bringing with it a faint, corrosive, burning pain.

Her complexion swiftly turned pale.

Although the pain was unbearable, she was, after all, the Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal; she was well-accustomed to such suffering.

The real issue was the turbid qi, which had already begun to hinder the flow of True Yuan, thereby endangering her body—this was probably what Lin Duanshan referred to as “the poisonous strength of the millennium stone milk.”

After estimating for a moment more, she realized she could indeed only withstand tenfold the quantity; any more would completely block her meridians, turning her into a waste who could no longer pursue the Daoist way.

An Zhisu sighed inwardly and then turned to look at her junior brother beside her.

All she saw was Ling Yunpo holding the wooden bowl, his face full of conflict.

“Junior brother,” An Zhisu thought he was reluctant to part with those thirty years of cultivation, so she softly said, “It’s okay. With sixty years of Mercurial Elixir Liquid plus these ten years of cultivation from the stone milk, you already have seventy years of Refining Mansion cultivation.”

“You still have one hundred and forty years of natural lifespan. As long as you cultivate step by step from now on, you are bound to form a Third Grade Golden Core.”

“That’s right,” Lin Duanshan also started to persuade, “Theoretically speaking, a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator needs to obtain at least seventy years of Refining Mansion cultivation from serendipity or secret medicines to ensure the formation of a Third Grade Golden Core.”

“For Loose Cultivators and small sects, seventy years of cultivation is as difficult as ascending to heaven, but for us Shushan Sword Immortals it’s relatively simple… as long as you become an elite disciple and obtain the Mercurial Elixir Liquid, it’s pretty much half done.”

Ling Yunpo: ………

Why don’t I feel anything after drinking this millennium stone milk?

“Ah Jing,” he asked in a low voice, “Am I impervious to all poisons by any chance?”

“You’re not,” Kunlun Mirror sighed and said, “Take a closer look.”

Following Kunlun Mirror’s guidance in his Sea of Consciousness, Ling Yunpo quickly used internal visualization and discovered that the millennium stone milk indeed contained some kind of toxic turbid qi of the earth attribute.

However, this turbid qi had not adhered to the inner walls of his meridians but instead roamed uncontrollably with the True Yuan within his meridians…

It then suddenly occurred to him that when he had absorbed the blood qi in the Shushan Demon Locking Tower’s Blood Pool, he also instantaneously completed Marrow Cleansing.

The reason was that for those with Innate Sword Bone, both the twelve primary channels and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians are completely unobstructed, making it difficult for the turbid qi to remain within.

In other words, even though I have ingested the millennium stone milk and have also taken in its turbid qi, this turbid qi will not cause me harm?

Great! Doesn’t that mean I can drink to my heart’s content!

Under the persuasion of Lin Duanshan and others, Ling Yunpo then showed a resolute expression, lifted the large sea bowl, and started to gulp it down.

Glug glug glug!

He drank so fast that by the time An Zhisu rushed over and slapped the wooden bowl from his hand, he had already downed quite a lot.

Lin Duanshan next to him was both shocked and astonished, Duan Fenhai’s mouth was agape, Guan Shanyue’s brow furrowed slightly—the three of them never expected Ling Yunpo to be so fierce. Was he trying to challenge the limit of what his body could endure?

Fool! If the challenge fails and the turbid qi completely blocks the Qi Sea, you will become a cripple who cannot cultivate!

Just as Duan Fenhai was about to speak, he only heard Ling Yunpo laughingly say:

“Senior Sister, I’m fine. Don’t believe me? Look at my complexion?”

An Zhisu couldn’t believe it, so she grabbed his palm and slowly infiltrated it with her Divine Sense.

Inside his meridians, she saw pale purple True Yuan flowing, referred to as “Purple Qi” among Daoists, a characteristic of pure and clear qi.

However, within the silky-purple fluid, there were many dull, turbid yellow strands intermixed.

It was indeed the “toxins” within the millennia-old stone milk.

“How could this be?” An Zhisu was completely baffled and even doubted her own Divine Sense for a moment.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yet she was, after all, a person of strong mental fortitude, having witnessed too many incredulous things in her junior brother, so she simply sought confirmation, asking,

“Are you really alright? Senior Sister An is telling you, you mustn’t force yourself…”

“Senior Sister, I’m truly fine,” Ling Yunpo replied seriously, straightening her shoulders.

An Zhisu stared at him blankly for a long while before nodding solemnly.

The three people beside them were already stupefied, thinking, so you possess a body immune to all poisons?

However, Guan Shanyue, with the sharpest mind among them, quickly recalled that Ling Yunpo was born with the Innate Sword Bone constitution, which was precisely why the elder of the Guan Family held him in high regard and intended to take him on an expedition to find a sword.

Could it be that someone born with the Innate Sword Bone is immune to the poison of the millennia-old stone milk?

Lin Duanshan and Duan Fenhai also grasped the crux of the matter and their expressions turned complex.

Lin Duanshan thought, If that’s the case, wouldn’t Junior Brother Ling be able to drink the millennia-old stone milk indefinitely?

No, that can’t be right, for the Way of Heaven is to take from what has in excess to make good what is deficient. The medicinal potency must have its limits on his body.

Probably meaning that he could disregard the toxicity of the stone milk and drink it continuously only up to forty years.

Duan Fenhai, however, thought, His constitution would be very fitting for work at the Demon Locking Tower!

The Demon Locking Tower contains many poisonous creatures; while they may not be strong in combat, their venom is extremely vicious and could even trouble Golden Core True Persons on an unlucky encounter.

If the Innate Sword Bone truly grants immunity to all poisons, I do know of a secret place where he might be able to assist me…

While these three contemplated their separate thoughts, Ling Yunpo had already taken another big gulp of the stone milk, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and said,

“Senior Sister, I’ve had nearly enough.”

The cultivation of forty years in the Refining Mansion was within reach!

Once he refined it further, Ling Yunpo would possess the cultivation of three hundred and sixty years in the Refining Mansion.

The cost, however, was that nearly half of his body’s Daoist True Yuan had been tainted soil yellow by the stone milk’s turbid Qi, and his technique activation was also starting to falter.

Yet due to the special trait of the Innate Sword Bone, namely “all hundred apertures interconnected,” these turbid elements did not adhere to the inner walls of his meridians, creating hazardous blockages… but they still had taken their toll.

“Alright,” An Zhisu checked the condition of his meridians and knew that he was now unable to mobilize his True Yuan, likely even Sword Control would be difficult, so she earnestly said, “You should rest well from now on, Senior Sister will protect you.”

“Okay,” nodded Ling Yunpo.

Senior Sister An then clasped his arm and firmed her resolve in her heart:

Refining and expelling such an amount of turbid Qi is feared to be no simpler than Marrow Cleansing Rank, possibly taking years.

During this time, I must protect my junior brother well!

Ling Yunpo, with his arm held by his senior sister, sighed internally:

For any other cultivator, so much turbid Qi within the body would mean, at the very least, several years of secluded cultivation to remedy after returning home.

However, Wei Dongliu’s talent is known as “Chaotic Demon Body,” which allows for turbid Qi to be moved and mobilized freely like Pure Qi, and hence could be effortlessly expelled from the body.

There are even simpler methods, like directly employing the Qi Refining Technique of “Dispelling Demons and Exalting Spirit: Segregating Purity and Turbidity,” which can directly transform this turbid Qi into Pure Qi… There are quite a number of ways, indeed!

But by doing so, Senior Sister An would be further puzzled.

Senior Sister An is easy to fool, but those three senior brothers and sisters across from us like to overthink. If they found out that I suddenly refined and expelled all the turbid Qi in my body, they would surely grow even more suspicious.

I need to figure out a way to deal with this.