Chapter 62: Carving formations into the Body
Just like that, a month quietly passed. Song Changsheng finally completed eight body temperings, with only one more to go before his physique would be fully tempered.
This time, the variety of spiritual herbs reached eighty-one, and the Dragon Blood Orchid he had exchanged from Shangguan Jian finally came into use.
As the Dragon Blood Orchid was tossed into the bronze cauldron, the originally dark green medicinal liquid was instantly dyed a blood-like crimson.
This time, he didn't add any spiritual spring water.
Immersing himself in it, Song Changsheng immediately experienced what it meant to have ten thousand ants gnawing at his heart, what it meant to suffer agony beyond description!
Those crimson medicinal liquids were like "maggots," drilling into his body through the pores on his skin. Once inside the muscles, they transformed into extremely corrosive liquids, eroding the steel-like muscle fibers, causing them to snap inch by inch, only to constantly reorganize.
Each reorganization significantly boosted the muscle fiber's strength, until it was comparable to a first rank magical tool!
That one hour felt like years. Song Changsheng almost fainted several times, but he pushed through each time with his powerful willpower.
As all the medicinal liquid merged into his body, Song Changsheng could no longer hold on. His eyes rolled back, and he fell unconscious.
When he awoke again, he had no idea how many days and nights had passed.
“It truly feels like I died once. Not many people could endure increasing their physical strength in this manner.” Song Changsheng felt a lingering fear. The pain of this last time was almost the sum of the previous eight, nearly causing his spirit to collapse.
He took out a dagger and, without blinking, struck his finger. No bloody scene appeared. Instead, there was the sound of metal striking stone.
“My physical strength has indeed significantly increased. Although it can't compare to those body cultivators, it's sufficient.” Song Changsheng was overjoyed; the suffering of this period had not been in vain.
“Next is carving formation patterns and connecting the acupoints.”
The formation Song Changsheng intended to engrave was called the "Yin-Yang Dual Polarity formation," a low-grade second rank formation. Once activated, this formation could summon Yin and Yang Qi to protect his body, allowing no one to approach within several zhang.
Carving formation patterns was the final and most perilous step.
This involved multiple aspects: Dantian, meridians, bones, and acupoints. A single mistake could lead to a ruptured Dantian and dissipated cultivation at best and death at worst.
Of course, there were protective measures. That was the Heart Protection Pill he had painstakingly acquired. Placing this pill in his mouth, if he failed, consuming it would buy him an extra hour. As long as he corrected the mistake and completed the formation within that time, he could turn danger into safety!
Adjusting his physical state, Song Changsheng calmed his mind, focused his spirit, and transformed his spiritual sense into a carving knife to begin carving the formation patterns.
He started with the bones first. The bones posed the least risk and were the quickest. Although the process involved some pain, Song Changsheng, having already undergone nine body temperings, was almost immune to this level of suffering.
In just three hours, all two hundred and six bones in his body were "carved" with formation patterns. Of course, this "carving" wasn't literal but rather the leaving of illusory traces with his spiritual sense, which could be erased at any time in the future.
Next were the more dangerous acupoints. The human body has nine orifices and seven hundred and twenty acupoints. In the records of the Inscribing Formations Upon the Body Method, these acupoints and orifices were compared to formation flags.
To engrave a formation, these acupoints and orifices were connected according to formation principles to form the formation foundation.
And the bridges connecting them were naturally the body's own bones and meridians.
The twelve regular meridians, the eight extraordinary meridians, and the fifteen collateral vessels, Song Changsheng meticulously sorted through each one.
Yingxiang, Chengjiang, Jinjin, Yuye…
One by one, the acupoints were connected by formation patterns by Song Changsheng, like a dazzling star map. Finally, all the formation patterns converged towards the Guanyuan(below the navel) acupoint.
Suddenly, Song Changsheng let out a muffled groan, a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.
The Guanyuan acupoint corresponds to the lower Dantian, which was his chosen "formation eye." Due to the formation patterns converging there too quickly, it instantly caused a violent impact, not only damaging his Dantian but also causing his spiritual energy to run wild and blood to surge upwards.
Seeing that he was about to fail, Song Changsheng decisively swallowed the Heart Protection Pill in his mouth. Immediately, a strange power flowed through his limbs, suppressing the rampaging spiritual energy while also stabilizing his Dantian.
Song Changsheng knew well that he was at a critical juncture between life and death. He realized he had been too eager just now and quickly calmed his mind, re-guiding the formation patterns to connect.
With the previous experience, Song Changsheng slowed down considerably this time. Dense formation patterns converged into his Dantian, gradually connecting with the Dao Foundation that had just begun to form an outline.
“Buzz!”
The moment all connections were made, the bones and connected acupoints within his body suddenly burst forth with dazzling light. This radiance was so brilliant that it even pierced through his flesh and skin.
From the outside, Song Changsheng appeared to be enveloped in a ball of light.
The spiritual energy within his body circulated wildly, and an invisible domain expanded centered around Song Changsheng. Black and white Qi swirled around him, emanating an astonishing aura.
The Yin-Yang Dual Polarity formation was complete!
Song Changsheng slowly opened his eyes, and the surrounding light gradually faded, leaving only the black and white Qi swirling around him.
“Did I… succeed?”
Song Changsheng looked at the constantly rotating black and white Qi around him with a sense of disbelief. After confirming that the cultivation was successful, a feeling of relief at having survived a great calamity immediately surged within him.
When the error occurred just now, he thought he was going to die, but by the grace of heaven, he succeeded.
“Senior He is truly a prodigious talent. If not for this Heart Protection Pill, I would have walked the Yellow Springs Road again today.”
Song Changsheng was filled with emotion. He Yunxuan, merely a low-grade third rank Formation Master, had actually pioneered an unprecedented path, which was truly admirable.
He tried circulating the formation within his body and found it incredibly smooth, without any obstruction, no different from ordinary array formations.
“Let's test its power.”
Song Changsheng took out a superior-grade first rank magical tool he had acquired previously and tossed it high into the air. Immediately, he commanded the black and white Qi swirling around him to attack it.
The black and white Qi transformed into a pair of scissors in the air. With a "snap," the superior-grade first rank magical tool, refined from profound iron, was instantly cut into two pieces, falling onto the floor with a crisp sound.
Song Changsheng's eyes widened in surprise, and he exclaimed, “It's actually this powerful! Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn't be able to ignore it, right?”
But then he frowned, realizing that that single strike had consumed one-third of his spiritual energy.
Activating the formation's attack consumed far too much, far more than his current cultivation could handle.
However, Song Changsheng quickly accepted it. There weren't that many perfect things in the world. High consumption simply meant using it cautiously.
(Chapter End)