Chapter 597 - 170: Introducing Evil into the Body, Refining Evil into Gang; Inner Marrow Tempering, External Defense of Ten Thousand Techniques

The last bit of frost in Li Qingxue’s eyes quietly melted away. She lowered her head, wiping the longsword in her hand as if to hide her expression, and said softly, "So that’s how it is." "Ha! And here I was wondering what was wrong!" Zhao Tianxing laughed heartily and picked up his cup again. "Come on, come on, let’s get back to talking about the Profound Origin Secret Realm!" The atmosphere became lively again, and was even a bit more relaxed than before. After everyone had left and dusk began to fall, Chu Fan did not return to his room. Instead, he sat cross-legged again in the center of the Martial Arts Arena. He closed his eyes and looked at the panel in the depths of his consciousness. [Spiritual Essence: 4985] [Pollution Level: 12/100] [Cultivation: Third Heaven of Divine Power Realm] [Skill: Nine Heavens Wind Mastery Scripture (Small Success) Progress: (1126/2500) (Trait: None)] [Skill: Moon Eclipse Arrow (Third Limit Break 4779/5000) (Trait: Soul Split; Breaking Gang; Annihilation)] [Skill: Ghost Shadow Illusionary Body Step (First Limit Break 4412/4500) (Trait: Ghost Fire Burning Soul)] [Skill: Vajra Subduing Demon Skill (Perfection) Progress: (2235/3000) (Trait: None)] ... Gazing at the panel, Chu Fan’s mind settled. Although he hadn’t taken any other Elixirs and Treasure Plants recently, his Spiritual Essence Value was still growing and was about to break the five-thousand mark. But aside from "Breaking Limit" and "Refinement," he didn’t know what else to use this ever-increasing Spiritual Essence on. He had also wondered if this Spiritual Essence could be used to purify or suppress his Pollution Level, but to this day, he had found no answer. His Pollution Level had stabilized at 12 and hadn’t continued to rise, which was a relief. Thanks to the "Wind Spirit Stone" he had obtained from Liu Qingwu, the senior disciple of the Carefree Sect, his Nine Heavens Wind Mastery Scripture was still only at Small Success. However, his control over the Wind Power was on a completely different level. Although he could currently only stir up gales and form Wind Blades, the boost it gave to his Body Technique’s speed already made him as fast as a phantom. The last time he was hunted by the Ghost Bone Elder, he couldn’t outrun that old monster’s clone. But now, he could probably compete with it in terms of speed. His Moon Eclipse Arrow was only a step away from the Fourth Limit Break. His Ghost Shadow Illusionary Body Step could reach the Second Limit Break with just a little more practice tonight. The only exception was the Vajra Subduing Demon Skill... Chu Fan’s gaze fell on the last entry, and his brow furrowed slightly. Reaching Perfection in the Vajra Subduing Demon Skill only represented the perfection of this particular Martial Arts, not the perfection of his physical body’s strength. To continuously strengthen his physique, he needed to train in this Body Refining Martial Arts every day. However, the effects of practicing the Vajra Subduing Demon Skill in seclusion were ultimately a step below what was needed. To frantically temper his physique with the Vajra Subduing Demon Skill, he had to "Introduce Evil into the Body, and Refine Evil into Gang"! This "Evil Qi," however, was not the same Heaven and Earth Evil Qi that Chu Fan could absorb anytime and anywhere when practicing the Nine Tribulations Blood Prison Saber. Instead, it was a special kind of Evil Qi found only in certain specific locations! When people heard the name "Vajra Demon Subduing," they would often think of Buddhist Temples and compassionate high monks. They would assume it was a Buddhist Secret Skill filled with righteous and noble energy. But Chu Fan knew that this name was purely a front. This Cultivation Technique had nothing to do with the word "Buddha"! On the contrary, it was more like the madness of "becoming a Fallen Demon," and then using a supreme, violent will to "subdue demons with a demon"! If the true meaning of the Buddhist Sect was "to lay down the butcher’s knife and attain Buddhahood on the spot," then the true meaning of this Vajra Subduing Demon Skill was... "Introduce Evil into the Body, Refine Evil into Gang, let your hands be the butcher’s knife, and slay all that is wicked." "If you kill, you kill. What need is there to become a Buddha!" Not only was it not compassionate, but it was actually more like a Demon Cultivator. It required one to "Introduce Evil into the Body and Refine Evil into Gang." It exuded a wild arrogance—a "fight fire with fire" mentality that seemed to want to smash the very heavens and earth to pieces! According to the deep information fragments within the Cultivation Technique, its creator was the master of the Vajra Sect’s founder—a Martial Dao fanatic of stunning talent who nonetheless defied convention. In his early years, he had stumbled into an ancient ruin. At the bottom of an abyss, he did not find the Golden Body of a Buddha, but a statue of an unknown, ancient god or demon. The statue had been eroded by hundreds of millions of years, its features long since blurred. But its posture—head raised to the sky, arms spread wide—was as if it were roaring at the heavens, seeking to shatter all the world’s shackles with its bare fists! That untamable defiance, which seemed to want to tear a hole in the sky, could still make one’s Divine Soul tremble even after ten thousand years! That senior sat in meditation under the statue for three years, performing Visualization on the god-demon’s posture, and from it, comprehended the terrifying Mental Realm of "breaking all techniques with pure force, indestructible through countless tribulations." The so-called "Vajra" did not refer to the Buddhist Guardian. Rather, it took on the nature of the hardest metals and stones in the world—indestructible and unyielding, preferring to break rather than bend! The so-called "Demon Suppression" was not just about subduing external Demon Fiends, but also about suppressing the inner madness amidst slaughter. It was about crushing all weakness and hesitation! "Hooo..." Chu Fan let out a long, turbid breath. He clenched his fists, and a series of crisp pops, like roasting soybeans, echoed from his bones. He wasn’t very interested in the wide, sweeping, lethal moves of the Vajra Subduing Demon Skill. What he valued was the core essence of this Cultivation Technique’s Body Forging. But this Body Refining Technique was extremely special. To push its effects to the absolute limit, it required extreme external stimulation. The Body Tempering Pools of the Vajra Sect and the Blood Bone Sect were precisely such environments. The Vajra Sect’s Body Tempering Pool relied on "Vajra Mother Ore," while the Blood Bone Sect’s depended on "Bone-Eroding Demon Crystal." But that wasn’t all. The most terrifying and core concept of this Cultivation Technique was actually related to the "Evil Qi" that all Cultivators avoided like the plague! "Introduce Evil into the Body, Refine Evil into Gang; Inner Marrow Tempering, External Defense of Ten Thousand Techniques!" This mantra was the general principle of the Cultivation Technique. Ordinary Body Refinement mostly involved absorbing the essence of plants and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism to nourish the physical body. But the Vajra Subduing Demon Skill took an unconventional path. It required the Cultivator to actively seek out and draw upon the violent energies born from extreme environments in the world. Such as the incomparably sharp "Geng Metal Evil Qi," or the violently scorching "Earth Vein Flame Fiend Qi."