The next level would be the Iron Stomach, which required me to absorb 10,000 Low Tier 1 Void Essence or 1,000 Mid Tier 1 Void Essence. This process would take me forever to absorb 10,000 Low Tier 1 Void Essence so I decided to try and refine the Mid Tier 1 Void Essence.
I decided to try and break through to the 3rd level of the Body Refinement Realm after I had formed the Iron Stomach as Chen Xiao would be sending me somewhere and I should be prepared for when that had happened as I never know where I would be going.
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I sat cross-legged, calmed my mind and prepared for the pain to come as soon as I had started to refine the Essence. The process was 1.5 times difficult than refining Low Tier 1 Void Essence as I had to split the same amount of Essence out of the surroundings.
So I decided to split my Qi into two separate layers so that one could heal and one could direct the Essence towards my Qi Sea to be refined. There was a slight delay during splitting the Essence out from the surroundings, but that was expected.
As the Qi was travelling into my meridians the pain was excruciating, it started out as itching at first, then it gradually turned into a burning pain, like lava that was trying to incinerate the meridians that it had touched.
But I had expected this much and so I also redirected the other layer of Qi to the areas where the Essence was burning the meridians. The Qi was just barely able to heal the cracked meridians and I also had to run the method according to the refinement process of the Essence that Chen Xiao had told me as he had said that it would be worse compared to the Low Tier 1 Void Essence by 2 times.
This process had been going on for at least 2 hours before I was finally able to circulate it and refine the Essence into my Qi Sea, during the process the Essence had also reconstructed my meridians and tendons during the refinement, there was a slight film of filth on my body, which was handled by Chen Xiao.
He had told me that this was the process of cleansing my body, and the impurities were from all of the filth that had gathered into my pores. After some of the impurities were gone I would be able to absorb the Essence in the surrounding from my pores and wouldn't need to spend as much time refining them, as I had been as my body was very fragile at the moment so I would have to wait till upgrading to the 3rd level of Body Refinement realm.