Chapter 114: Dragonblood Body Refinement

Xia Jiuxuan recovered after a moment, finally catching his breath.

“Spirit power is only easy to use if your meridians are strong enough,” he said.

The spirit power Xia Jiuxuan had just used was actually formed from spirit crystals.

This was thanks to the dragon energy he had absorbed earlier, which had broadened and strengthened his meridians. Without that, he certainly wouldn’t have been able to withstand the backlash from using spirit power.

Duanmu Wan pondered for a moment and said, “My meridians are strong enough too. Why can’t I use spirit power?”

Xia Jiuxuan patted her on the head. “Can you instantly refine a thousand spirit crystals? If you can, then I’ll teach you how to use spirit power.”

Duanmu Wan immediately understood. This guy relied on his unparalleled refining ability to use spirit crystals as a source of spirit power.

That was something she definitely couldn’t do.

Not to mention a thousand crystals, she couldn’t even instantly refine ten at once.

That was the difference between them.

Duanmu Wan shot Xia Jiuxuan a sideways glance. “Alright, you’re amazing, okay? Humph.”

Then she stood up, seemingly forgetting her dress had been torn.

As she rose, the red dress slipped from her shoulder, leaving her completely exposed to the side where Xia Jiuxuan was lying.

“Tsk tsk,” Xia Jiuxuan clicked his tongue, then said, “I was wrong before. Your figure is just as good as Li Luoyan’s!”

“Ah!” Duanmu Wan let out a shy cry and hurriedly grabbed the fallen dress.

In her flustered state, she tripped over the dress and fell straight onto Xia Jiuxuan.

Xia Jiuxuan’s eyes widened, and he shouted, “Duanmu Wan, calm down!”

Soft, snow-white skin pressed against Xia Jiuxuan’s face…

“Ugh! Damn softness!” he thought, his whole body tingling.

“Ah, forget it. I won’t resist anymore. Do whatever you want,” Xia Jiuxuan sighed softly.

“Shut up!” Duanmu Wan’s chest lifted off his face, and her fair palm quickly covered his eyes. She carefully tied a knot in her dress at the shoulder.

Wriggling, she climbed off Xia Jiuxuan, only to notice the lingering expression of satisfaction on his face.

“You jerk! You took advantage of me again!” Duanmu Wan’s cheeks flushed red as she quickly covered her face in embarrassment.

“Pot calling the kettle black! You’re the one who fell on me, alright?” Xia Jiuxuan laughed.

Duanmu Wan stomped her foot in frustration. “Why do you always blame me? I’m not that kind of person, boohoo.”

Xia Jiuxuan shook his head with a sigh. “Ah, women are always two-faced. They want to possess me but refuse to admit it.”

With that, Xia Jiuxuan jumped up and headed toward a shattered hole in the stone wall.

Duanmu Wan pouted irritably, thinking, “It’s not the first time this guy’s taken advantage of me. Why bother getting mad?”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Sounds echoed from the broken stone cave.

Soon, Xia Jiuxuan emerged, dragging a long corpse behind him.

The corpse resembled a giant earthworm magnified ten thousand times.

“That’s disgusting, and it’s slimy too,” Duanmu Wan wrinkled her nose.

“This thing is highly nourishing. I’ll prepare some for you to eat later.”

“Get lost! I don’t want any, it’s gross!”

Xia Jiuxuan drew his sword and sliced open the parasite’s belly.

Out rolled a blood-red orb the size of a chicken egg.

“Wow, what’s that?” Duanmu Wan asked curiously.

“It’s essence blood. It’s condensed from the blood dragon’s essence blood that the parasite previously absorbed and stored inside.”

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Wan’s eyes lit up. “Such essence blood must be priceless!”

“Of course,” Xia Jiuxuan replied. “But since this parasite lost its host, most of the dragon energy in the essence blood has been consumed. It’s far less effective than true blood dragon essence blood.”

Though this essence blood pill wasn’t as potent as before, for Xia Jiuxuan at this stage, it was still a treasure beyond price.

Carefully, Xia Jiuxuan pierced the essence blood pill and collected the dragon blood into a jade bottle.

In total, he gathered seventy-six drops.

“Senior Brother Xia, how do you use this? Do you just drink it straight?” Duanmu Wan asked.

Xia Jiuxuan shook his head. “Do you want to die? If you drink this, your internal organs will be instantly corroded.”

“Then how should it be used?” Duanmu Wan squatted down, one hand resting on Xia Jiuxuan’s shoulder.

“It can only be used for body refinement,” Xia Jiuxuan replied calmly.

“That’s not bad. Both of us are reincarnated cultivators. If our physical strength increases, we can wield stronger martial techniques and scriptures, which is equivalent to boosting our power,” Duanmu Wan said.

“Mm,” Xia Jiuxuan nodded, then said, “Let’s find a place to hide and refine our bodies. This place isn’t safe.”

Worried about the demonic tribe pursuing them, Xia Jiuxuan insisted on leaving first.

“All right!”

Xia Jiuxuan and Duanmu Wan carefully left the area.

After traveling for half a day, they arrived at another cave.

This place wasn’t secretive, but Xia Jiuxuan could guarantee it was completely safe.

Because this was a cave he had previously carved out to rest in!

“What an intense sword aura!” Duanmu Wan looked at the seven sword scars on the cave wall. The faint residual sword aura made her heart tremble in fear.

“Senior Brother Xia, someone incredible must have lived here before. Their strength was unimaginable!” Duanmu Wan turned to him, shocked.

Xia Jiuxuan smiled. “Of course. In my opinion, that person wasn’t just peerless in cultivation, but also irresistibly handsome—like a heartthrob idol worshipped by thousands of goddesses!”

Duanmu Wan rolled her eyes. “I’m serious. Don’t believe me? Take a look at these sword scars. I don’t know how long they’ve been here, but they still intimidate my soul.”

Xia Jiuxuan maintained a serious expression. “I’m serious too.”

Duanmu Wan looked at him suspiciously, then suddenly covered her mouth in surprise. “Y-you! Could these sword scars have been left by you?”

She recalled when they first entered, he boasted about how this ruin was where he had been stranded after a fierce fight.

By that logic, these sword scars were most likely his handiwork!

Xia Jiuxuan said lightly, “You’re only realizing this now? Is your brain filled with mush?”

Duanmu Wan was speechless, but inside she felt both excited and confused.

Who exactly was this guy? He was so mysterious.

“Hey, can you tell me who you really are?” Duanmu Wan’s curiosity was like a cat scratching at her heart—it was unbearable.

“If I told you, you wouldn’t understand. Hurry up and cultivate; don’t hold me back,” Xia Jiuxuan said, then summoned three drops of blood dragon essence blood from the jade bottle. One drop floated in front of Duanmu Wan.

“Hmph,” Duanmu Wan snorted, “If you won’t say, fine. I’ll follow you for life anyway, and I’ll find out your identity in time!”

“???” Xia Jiuxuan stared at her. “You’ve only touched me a few times, and now you’re clinging to me? I never agreed to anything.”

“You! Get lost! I never said I wanted you. I just said I’m following you. No matter what you say, I’m sticking with you!” Duanmu Wan sat cross-legged and closed her eyes to cultivate, but her mind refused to settle.

A faint smile tugged at Xia Jiuxuan’s lips. He silently recited a calming mantra, and a peaceful aura washed over Duanmu Wan, calming her restless heart.

“Phew.”

Duanmu Wan gently breathed in and out as the method for body refinement transmitted through Xia Jiuxuan’s mind imprinted itself in her memory.

“Amazing!” she marveled, astonished by the profound technique now etched in her mind.

Xia Jiuxuan’s mind fell silent as he activated the body refinement method.

A drop of blood dragon essence blood began to dissolve, transforming into a swirling red mist.

With each steady breath Xia Jiuxuan took, the red mist gradually seeped into every limb and bone in his body.

Pain!

The dragon blood invaded, breaking down and corroding Xia Jiuxuan’s flesh and bones.

The agony was immense.

But Xia Jiuxuan’s endurance was far beyond ordinary people’s; naturally, he could bear it.

Time passed quickly. A full day went by.

The first drop of dragon blood was completely consumed.

The newly formed flesh and bones, empowered by the dragon blood, had significantly increased in strength.

Xia Jiuxuan opened his eyes and looked at Duanmu Wan ahead.

She was also emanating a blood-red glow, her expression one of intense pain.

In one day, she had refined over half a drop of the essence blood.

“That girl’s not bad,” Xia Jiuxuan nodded quietly and sank back into his cultivation.

By the fourth day, Xia Jiuxuan awoke again from his meditation.

His body was tinged purple, and his meridians writhed beneath his skin, giving him a somewhat fierce appearance.

“Duanmu Wan, wake up!” Xia Jiuxuan called gently, rousing her from her cultivation.

“What’s wrong, Senior Brother Xia?” Duanmu Wan opened her eyes, also tortured by the dragon blood. The pain had reached her tolerance limit.

“Our bodies can no longer absorb more dragon blood. It’s time for body refinement—thousands of hammering blows, hitting each other,” Xia Jiuxuan explained.

Duanmu Wan immediately understood.

The key to Xia Jiuxuan’s body refinement method was this: using profound techniques to strike the body repeatedly, like hammering a weapon.

“I’ll start. You endure it!”

“Okay, I’m ready too!”

Swish! Swish!

They sprang up simultaneously, standing opposite each other.

A faint blue glow shimmered on Xia Jiuxuan’s palm as he suddenly struck Duanmu Wan’s shoulder with a powerful palm strike.

“Pfft!”

Duanmu Wan spat out purple blood from the blow.

Yet, she didn’t feel pain. Instead, the dragon blood’s corrosive agony lessened slightly.

Recalling the thousand-hammer method, Duanmu Wan struck Xia Jiuxuan back.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Back and forth they went, striking each other without pause.

One hundred times, one thousand times, ten thousand times…

Three full days and nights passed before they finally stopped.

“Huff, huff,” Duanmu Wan withdrew her true energy, her gaze falling on her arms.

Her skin was as white and smooth as jade, with a faint silver gleam shimmering on the surface.

“Senior Brother Xia, my body’s strength is nearly at the Saint Realm!” she exclaimed, hardly able to believe how much her physical power had improved.

Just one step away from matching the Saint Realm!

And this was only from three drops of blood dragon essence blood.

“Not bad, Zhenbai,” Xia Jiuxuan grinned, his gaze fixed on Duanmu Wan’s chest.

Duanmu Wan instinctively looked down.

“Ah!”

She screamed because her clothes had been shattered by the beating, leaving her completely exposed.

“Huh? Wait a minute.”

Duanmu Wan’s expression shifted subtly. She raised her head confidently.

“Hmph, just look all you want! I don’t care anymore; you’ve seen it plenty of times already.”

She hummed an unknown tune, deliberately ignoring Xia Jiuxuan’s gaze.

Xia Jiuxuan: “……”