Now an 8th-grade Golden Blood Child, Cao Yun had cultivated a Golden Fate, Golden Blood and now a Golden Body. Obviously, the name didn't mean that his body was actually golden. In fact, demons had various physical appearances depending on both their cultivation and their bloodline. And their appearance would change more and more as they would circulate their cultivation. It was fairly similar to the Qi Manifestation of humans, but also to the transformations of demonic beasts. As long as their cultivation was low, they were almost indistinguishable from any human apart from their skin and hair being a bit redder in general. But humans could also have those attributes, especially considering that humans and demons were coming from the same ancestors.
As a matter of fact, legends told that humans, asuras and devas were all descendants of the Three Jade Saints. Those mythical cultivators had received the Three Heavenly Treasures: Jin Xue, the Golden Blood, Tian Qi, the Heaven Qi and Hun Po, the Perfect Soul. Because Heaven itself was jealous of them, the Dao struck them down. As a consequence, their beings were split apart and from their extinction came humans with meridians and Dantian, asuras who excelled in blood cultivation and devas with ethereal mind and soul. Cao Yun didn't know how much of it was true, but it would explain many things. After all, he was able to cultivate the 'Crimson Inferno Road' reserved to demons. Of course, it was due to the Drop of Wrath, but he was still human.
Thanks to his improved cultivation, Cao Yun was able to move around some more and his flesh was much more resistant. However, the Blood Abyss was still slowly devouring his skin and his superficial tissues. They were reforming fast enough that no damage lasted long. That being said, the pain was still permanent. Although it had reduced in intensity, the true torture was to always be in pain rather than to suffer a lot one singular time.
Using the fact that he could move, the young human decided to work on his Qi cultivation. Indeed, 'Cultivation of Wrath' had a specific technique to help him break through, 'Demon Steel Drums Flesh'. Not only would it help him strengthen his meridians in order to become a 6th-grade Mortal Warrior, but it could also be applied to strengthen his Extraordinary Vessels which would bring him all the way to the 7th-grade Mortal Warrior stage. After that, he would simply have to go through the Lesser Tribulation in order to become a Spirit Warrior. With such a goal in front of him, Cao Yun couldn't help himself from being excited.
He was feeling a bit guilty staying down there as things were happening above. But he did need this amount of strength if he was to do anything about the situation. Besides, he simply couldn't swim upwards. The crushing pressure only allowed him to move a little. Several times he had even tried to jump and couldn't get higher than a simple mortal. Maybe he acquired the magical ability to fly, he might be able to get out of this Blood Abyss. And for that, he had to reach the third realm of either his blood cultivation of his Qi cultivation as both Accomplished Demons and Spirit Warriors had this ability.
'Demon Steel Drums Flesh' was rather simple in theory. One had to perform specific routines for each and every meridian and then Extraordinary Vessel. In total, there were twenty routines with a total of 361 movements. Each movement was related to an acupoint linked to a meridian or a vessel. At the same time, there were various mantras and visualizations to use in order to improve the flow of both Qi and blood in that specific acupoint during the movement. The muscles and tendons themselves would be used to pulsate and strike both the bones and the meridians. The idea was to use the soft tissues as a hammer and the bones as an anvil in order to forge the meridians.
With his vast knowledge of alchemy, Cao Yun could also use the Five Elements Wheel to make things faster. And since he was in such an oppressive environment, he could also use it to his advantage. Moreover, he even used his blood runes and seals in order to improve the process. He practiced 'Demon Steel Drums Flesh' for dozens of hours at once. Then, he rested a bit by focusing on his mind cultivation and went to his blood cultivation. He repeated the cycle again and again.
In his blood cultivation, he was practicing 'Overcome the Last Mount'. The point was to finally cross the last Flood Gate, Fengfu the Palace Gate. This one was the most delicate and the most dangerous as it was at the basis of the skull, just before one's head and brain. It was a narrow gate crushed between the skin of the neck and the cervical vertebrae. Sending too much Golden Blood through there could literally sever one's spinal cord and cause death. During this step, it was imperative to be extremely cautious. And Cao Yun was. However, he could feel that he was also extremely close to a breakthrough. Most likely, he would advance his blood cultivation even before his Qi cultivation.
After seven more months in the Blood Abyss, the young cultivator had strengthened all of his meridians. Instead of just focusing on his twelve standard meridians, the Young Sect Master of the Wubei Sect heeded the words of Chief Instructor Peng once more. He also worked on his lesser meridians: his fifteen connecting collaterals, his eight divergent collaterals, his twelve muscles meridians and even his four cutaneous meridians. In total he worked on his fifty-one meridians, without forgetting or disregarding any one of them.
Since 'Demon Steel Drums Flesh' only referred to the twelve standard meridians, Cao Yun was forced to adapt the movements and routines. Thankfully, he wasn't mindlessly practicing, he had also acquired a deep understanding of what he was doing, in huge parts thanks to Chief Instructor Peng. Indeed, his training had made Cao Yun much more sensitive to his own body. After all, he had acquired an Unquenchable Vessel back then.
At the same time, the young man had also worked on opening his Fengfu, the Palace Gate. He was certain that he was going to break through in his Qi cultivation in a few days when suddenly, something happened. While he was carrying some Golden Blood through his Fengfu, he felt as though a dam had broken. All of a sudden, his Golden Blood flowed through his vertebrae and rushed into his head. In fact, in his entire body, the flow of Golden Blood became powerful and violent. All of his three Flood Gates were suddenly overflowing with Golden Blood. Cao Yun's mind immediately focused on Fengfu the Palace Gate, terrified of what it could mean.
Thankfully, Cao Yun was able to control himself. This was the sign that he was breaking through. But if he lost his composure and tried to stop or even slow down the flow, he then could injure himself and even die. What was happening had to happen on its own. He had to stay outside of this even though this was a terrifying sensation. Indeed, it was as though he had lost all control over his own blood and his very own body. For a cultivator who had worked on controlling even the tiniest muscle, it was indeed terrifying. At the same time, Cao Yun was overly excited. After all, he knew what it meant.
For more than sixteen hours, his Golden Blood flowed throughout his body as though a tidal wave. When it was subsiding, there was a single part of his body the Golden Blood had not invaded, his Upper Dantian. Although Fengfu the Palace Gate was leading to his head, the Golden Blood had remained on its surface, entering the skull but not the brain. As a matter of fact, this was literally the point of the last and ninth grade of the Forging the Marrow realm. Indeed, Cao Yun was now a 9th-grade Golden Blood Child. Now, he had to practice 'Celestial Palace Accepts the Offering' so his Golden Blood would enter into his Upper Dantian. Once there, it would nourish his mind and sea of consciousness. For other demons, it was what allowed them to both turn their Po into Turbid Demons and to subdue them into their own strength.
As Cao Yun was human, his Upper Dantian might be a problem. Honestly, he wasn't sure. Demons simply had to cross the barrier of their brain, but Cao Yun had an Upper Dantian. Although it wasn't physical, it was a part of his Qi system. Thus, his Qi might block the entry of the Golden Blood. On the other hand, Cao Yun had developed his Upper Dantian thanks to the 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' manual. After energizing all of his nine chambers, he had a bit more control over his Upper Dantian than any Mortal Warrior. Thus, he wasn't too sure how difficult or easy this step would be.
After spending more than a day basking in his breakthrough, the young man decided to keep on working on 'Demon Steel Drums Flesh'. He executed his routines again and again. With each new movement, he could feel the Qi within him move around as well. He was always approaching this routines in various manners. Sometimes he chanted the mantras of the manual in his head. Sometimes, he imagined the very characters of the mantra moving in his meridians. Other times, he emptied his head completely. Or maybe, he fully focused on each acupoint and was just observing the Qi coming and going. There were almost as many variations as there were movements and routines.
This particular time, Cao Yun had decided to let go completely. He wasn't paying attention to anything in particular and was simply trying to live the moment. In his meridians, he felt a surge of Qi. Both Water Qi and Fire Qi from his Lower Dantian and Middle Dantian were mixed with it, but they were perfectly balanced. With the Wood element from the world tree seed, they were tempering his meridians from within. Instead of focusing on any place in particular, the young man kept on moving around while taking in every sensation he could. His meridians were starting to pulsate and so were his muscles.
Throughout his body, there were small vibrations of muscles contracting and relaxing in a frenzy rhythm. It was getting stronger and stronger but this didn't disturb Cao Yun. His Qi was surging through his entire body in various cycles following the routine he was doing. At first, he had wanted to do the twenty routines eight times before changing his approach. But it had been thirty hours since he had started this mindful attempt. His mind was focused on nothing in particular while still absorbing every sensation. There was no conscious analysis or even thought about this. He was simply noticing the sensations and moving on.
In the end, Cao Yun practiced the entire twenty routines for eight days straight. Even his body was reaching his limit. After all, both his Qi, blood and mind were exerted by this effort. Moreover, he had the full pressure of the Blood Abyss.
Ultimately, there was no great phenomenon. However, the young man knew. He had broken through two grades. Now, he was officially a 7th-grade Mortal Warrior. In other words, he was at the door of the Spirit Warrior realm. The only thing he had to do was to cross the threshold. But the threshold was the Lesser Tribulation. It was extremely difficult and dangerous. Even his father had failed once. Besides, he also remembered how vulnerable attempting the Lower Tribulation would make a cultivator. At the moment, Cao Yun had simply no way of trying such a thing. But he knew that he could do it. It was much earlier than he had thought, but he could definitely reach this realm. There was no doubt in his mind.
In order to test out his new cultivation, Cao Yun tried to condense as much Wei Qi around him as possible. He was able to push away most of the Blood Abyss. All of a sudden, the pressure almost disappeared. Instead of being on his physical body, it was now on his Wei Qi. But that meant that his body felt as light as a feather. Although he couldn't fly yet, he really had the feeling he could.
Ironically, Cao Yun was missing this pressure after so much time spent under it. In fact, he also needed the blood of the Blood Abyss to sustain himself. After all, he had no food, no water and no air down there. He was getting his sustenance from the Blood Abyss itself while his Drop of Wrath was absorbing it bit by bit. And with hi sturdier meridians and vessels, he might even be able to absorb more and more of it.
Since his Qi cultivation could not advance any further in this environment, Cao Yun focused solely on his mind and blood cultivation. After nearly two years spent in this Blood Abyss, his Unclean Evil was fully tamed. The creature had been chained to the Nine Soul Peaks. Just like the Flying Poison, it was completely subdued and it had even appeared within the Drop of Wrath. As such, Cao Yun's spiritual senses had developed even further. Unfortunately, they weren't strong enough so he could spread them outside of the Blood Abyss but they could get twice as far in every direction.
This time though, Cao Yun decided not to work on the next Po aspect, his Corpse Dog. Corpse Dog was the Turbid Demon associated with his Po of Yin and it was corrupted by fear. Fear was also a feeling he was unfortunately very familiar with, both for him and for his family and friends as well. At the moment, he was afraid for the entire Hongchen Kingdom, for Hongyu and also for the few demons he had formed bonds with. That being said, he would be smart this time and he would wait for the Stinking Lungs to be fully tamed before attempting to subdue another Turbid Demon.
As he was working on his blood cultivation, Cao Yun was absorbing more and more of the Blood Abyss. Of course, it was still too small for the Sisters of the Abyss to notice, but the quality of the Blood Abyss itself was slowly diminishing, prompting them to make sacrifices earlier.