Before coming to the Bloodthirsty Demon Mountain, Su Yi had only cultivated about ten percent of his Dao Gang.
But now, he had refined all his true essence into Dao Gang.
This was what they called "transforming Gang."
When it reached perfection, it meant that his cultivation had reached the pinnacle of the Qi Gathering Realm.
"I can finally cultivate the Furnace Nurturing Realm..."
Contemplating this, Su Yi hesitated no further and took out the long-preserved two Pure Yang Fire Peaches.
These were fourth-grade spirit medicines, containing abundant Fire-attribute Pure Yang essence, which greatly benefited the foundation building of the Furnace Nurturing Realm.
As he swallowed these two Fire Peaches one by one, Su Yi felt a surge of vigorous and scorching heat spreading throughout his body.
Without hesitation, he activated the cultivation technique related to the Furnace Nurturing chapter in the Crane Soaring and Body Tempering Art, starting to meditate and circulate his Qi.
In the Furnace Nurturing Realm, the focus was on tempering the five viscera: the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. They were likened to five cauldrons, thus earning the name Furnace Nurturing Realm.
When cultivated to the extreme, the internal organs would become as powerful as a melting furnace, capable of melting gold and stone upon ingestion.
Different cultivation methods targeted different visceral locations during the first phase of Grandmaster cultivation.
For example, in the Crane Soaring and Body Tempering Art, the first phase targeted the heart.
The heart belonged to the Fire element.
A strong heart and blood would be like a burning furnace, nurturing the blood essence and tempering the spirit.
For Su Yi, if he wanted to surpass his previous life's level in this realm, he needed to cultivate the "Five Viscera Spiritual Essence," a profound foundation!
The so-called Five Viscera Spiritual Essence referred to refining the five types of spiritual essence, namely, Wood of Yǐ , Metal of Gēng , Fire of Bǐng , Water of Rén , and Earth of Shǔ , within the five cauldrons of the viscera.
Yǐ Wood emitted a green light, nurtured in the cauldron of the liver.
Gēng Metal emitted a golden light, nurtured in the cauldron of the lungs.
And so on.
The five viscera were like furnaces, the Five Viscera Spiritual Essence formed a complete and powerful force, which was the ultimate secret of the five stages of a Grandmaster.
Based on Su Yi's observation, even characters as powerful as Ning Xie and Mu Xi in the Great Zhou World had not truly refined the complete "Five Viscera Spiritual Essence."
As for the vast and desolate Nine Provinces in his previous life, anyone who possessed the foundation of the "Five Viscera Spiritual Essence" was a peerless genius who stood above all, a rarity that only appeared once in a thousand years!
Generally speaking, only the most ancient and prestigious lineages had a chance to cultivate such extraordinary individuals.
Of course, that was merely a possibility.
In Su Yi's sect, he had nine senior disciples, but only three of them had cultivated the complete "Five Viscera Spiritual Essence."
One was his eldest disciple, Pí Mó; one was his third disciple, Wáng Què; and one was his youngest disciple, Qīng Táng.
However, there were different levels of attainment in the cultivation of the Five Viscera Spiritual Essence.
For example, Qīng Táng's Five Viscera Spiritual Essence, when released, reached a height of a hundred zhang, radiant like a rainbow of five colors.
Compared to Pí Mó's eighty zhang and Wáng Què's sixty zhang, it undoubtedly surpassed them.
As for Su Yi in this life, he had already cultivated three extraordinary foundations: "Spiritualization of the Orifices," "Hidden Veins," and "Dao Gang," when he reached the Qi Gathering Realm. These were sufficient to allow him to cultivate even stronger Five Viscera Spiritual Essence in the Furnace Nurturing Realm!
However, it was too early to talk about these things now.
After all, at this moment, he had just stepped into the threshold of the Furnace Nurturing Realm...
Crash!
The powerful force of blood and Qi surged within Su Yi's body, resembling a collapsing mountain and a roaring tsunami. His entire being was bathed in a radiant aura of true essence, brimming with vitality.
Deep within his heart, a unique and profound rhythm pulsed like thunder, resonating with a spiritual brilliance that shimmered faintly.
After a long while, Su Yi quietly opened his eyes.
In that instant, a blazing crimson light burst forth from his chest, soaring into the void above.
Within the blink of an eye, it reached a hundred zhang away before disappearing.
"I have just stepped into the threshold of the Furnace Nurturing Realm, and I'm already able to forge a spiritual Dao light in the depths of my heart that can reach a hundred zhang in height. If I cultivate to the pinnacle of this realm, I will undoubtedly become even stronger!"
A hint of satisfaction appeared on Su Yi's lips.
The Furnace Nurturing Realm, also known as the Grandmaster Realm, was already like a divine dragon in the mortal world.
At this stage, one could kill enemies from a distance, traverse the sky in a short amount of time, and remain impervious to the erosion of water and fire. With a single leap, they could reach a hundred zhang away!
Furthermore, those who possessed the foundation of the "Five Viscera Spiritual Essence" could even "use martial arts to control spirits and convert power into techniques"!
In other words, they could utilize the spiritual energy and the grand momentum of heaven and earth with their cultivation in the Furnace Nurturing Realm, deriving formidable powers similar to techniques!
Ning Xie once displayed such power and sparred with Su Yi.
However, although Ning Xie was powerful, she had not truly forged spiritual Dao lights in all five viscera.
According to Su Yi's speculation, this mysterious woman had likely cultivated two types of spiritual Dao lights instead of five.
Nevertheless, even so, it was still remarkable.
After all, this was the mortal world.
Sensing the changes in his Qi and strength, Su Yi stood up tall.
At this moment, he had truly become a Grandmaster!
He flipped his palm, and a soul jade appeared in his hand.
Glancing at the thousand-zhang blood-colored vortex beneath the sky, a tinge of regret welled up in his heart.
In this operation, he had originally intended to help Qing Wan explore the mystery of her origin.
But now it seemed that it would be difficult to accomplish.
However, Su Yi could roughly infer that this soul jade probably came from a world on the other side of the spatial barrier!
In other words, Qing Wan was highly likely not a person from the Azure Green Continent!
"With the patterns and traces imprinted on this soul jade, it is indeed possible to directly penetrate through the world barrier with the activation of certain secret methods. Unfortunately, the power of the soul jade has been completely worn out, and we can no longer discern any other secrets..."
Su Yi pondered for a moment, then put away the soul jade and turned to leave the underground world.
Once Martial Spirit Marquis Chen Zheng had assimilated the soul power within his sea of consciousness, perhaps he could find some information related to the world beyond the spatial barrier from the memories of that soul power. At that time, they could naturally deduce some clues related to Qing Wan's background.
...
Above ground.
"It has been two days, why hasn't Lord Su returned? Could something unexpected have happened?"
Chen Zheng felt worried.
"If he encounters any trouble, all of us together wouldn't be of much help."
Ning Xie chuckled lightly.
Compared to the others, she was undoubtedly the most composed.
"Speaking of which, we came here this time to seek opportunities, but unexpectedly encountered an unforeseen calamity. It truly is a twist of fate."
The Elder of Xingya Academy, Puyi, sighed.
Shen Jiusong, Jiang Tanyun, Lu Changfeng, and others recalled the events from two days ago, and their hearts sighed with emotion.
Indeed, who could have imagined that the incident at the Bloodthorn Demon Mountain would be related to cultivators from another world?
And the Yin Sha Sect undoubtedly knew about this secret long ago!
Moreover, they had taken action in advance, preparing to receive a terrifying existence that crossed the boundaries of dimensions.
Fortunately, this operation was foiled by Su Yi, otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"The spiritual energy in the Azure Green Continent is so scarce. Why would these true cultivators come across the spatial barrier? What is there in this world worth their scheming?" Mu Xi murmured.
He was also somewhat puzzled.
"Just the eight demon mountains within the Great Zhou Empire harbor great mysteries. If we consider the hundreds of countries across the Azure Green Continent, it's certain that there won't be a shortage of places with similar hidden secrets," Ning Xie pondered. "Now, we only know that this Bloodthorn Demon Mountain contains a sealed spatial barrier, but it doesn't mean that other demon mountains don't have such barriers."
A chill ran through the hearts of everyone present.
"What I'm even more curious about is who set up these 108 altars and why they sealed the world barrier beneath this fissure. There must be significant secrets hidden within," Mu Xi pondered.
This conversation, heard by Shen Jiusong and the others, weighed heavily on their hearts, making them feel increasingly burdened.
In the mortal realm, each of them stood at the pinnacle of martial artists. They all held positions of authority and overwhelming power that commanded respect.
However, upon learning about the secrets of this place and realizing the terror of true cultivators, these prominent figures suddenly felt a sense of insignificance and oppression.
Masters like dragons?
Perhaps they were only given such respect in the mortal realm.
In the eyes of true cultivators, the so-called "Martial Master Realm" was merely the third stage of martial cultivation, the "Furnace Nurturing Realm"!
True cultivators dined on the wind and drank dew, practiced fasting, soared through clouds and mist, and harnessed their breath to create thunder!
That was the existence akin to immortals.
Just like those characters in the mortal realm revered as "Land Immortals," they were the ones who truly stepped into the path of cultivation.
But...
They had only just entered the gates!
When they truly understood the hidden truths of cultivation, how could these prominent figures with extraordinary power in the mortal realm not feel disheartened?
They had thought of themselves as heavenly dragons, but in reality, they were nothing more than a group of individuals who had yet to truly step into the path of cultivation...
"Fortunately, I have received guidance from Master Ning and know how to seize the opportunities related to cultivation," Shen Jiusong secretly rejoiced, compared to others.
"Sudao friend must surely have a better understanding of the mysteries hidden in this place than we do. With his capabilities, he must also have a way to resolve them," Ning Xihu casually remarked, full of confidence in Su Yi.
Mu Xi paused for a moment, nodding and saying, "That's right. He even mentioned that he would welcome those cultivators from other realms crossing over so that he could harvest a batch of prey..."
As he spoke, his eyes took on a strange expression, and his demeanor showed a hint of peculiarity.
Previously, when Mu Xi heard Su Yi contemptuously refer to those outsiders as prey in the underground world, he found it incredibly absurd and thought Su Yi was bragging.
However, now Mu Xi couldn't help but admit that Su Yi had proven himself with his actions.
That foreign cultivator who was about to possess Chen Zheng was easily suppressed and imprisoned by Su Yi!
Upon hearing Mu Xi's words, the expressions of Pu Yi and the others also became peculiar, and they couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
In this world, perhaps only someone like Su Yi, who couldn't be measured by conventional standards, would dare to act in such a way...
For anyone else, who would dare to disdain those cultivators from other realms who could cross the world barrier?
Chen Zheng even chimed in, "If it were when I was younger, I would undoubtedly have pleaded with Su Gongzi to take me as his disciple. Perhaps then, I could have embarked on the true path of cultivation from the beginning instead of floating and sinking on the path of martial arts until now..."
Unintentional words, but they carried weight with the listeners.
Chen Zheng's statement stirred something within Pu Yi, Jiang Tanyun, and the others.