Lu Zheng walked out of the lava pool and checked his body. The secret realm had no sense of time but with the changes in his body, he could tell how long time had passed.
From the small five year old body he had, he had grown into a fifteen year old teenager. His muscles were outlined, contrasting his jade-like skin that was as white as snow without blemishes.
"Ten days have passed now in this secret realm" Lu Zheng muttered as he punched the air.
"Pop, pop"
Even without using any martial technique, his punch caused the very air to pop and crack. He could produce a punch of over 8000 jin with barely any effort.
That was a result of the arduous tempering of the body.
Lu Zheng took in a deep breath of the hot air as his blood boiled. Uncontrollably, his bloodline was activated and his hair turned scarlet.
The mere addition of heat had caused him to transform. The Vermillion Bird Race's bloodline was definitely not simple.
Lu Zheng checked his body once more. His hair was scarlet and his pupils were red.
In his blood vessels, his blood boiled and churned with different runes shining within it.
In this state, Lu Zheng felt extremely stronger than normal.
"This must be the Vermillion Bird Race's transformation" Lu Zheng analysed.
In his past life as Xue Ritian, he had shared great enmity with a Vermillion Bird. Due to this, he researched deeply about the race's traits.
The transformation was the ideal battle body for the Vermillion Bird Race. It had strong regenerative abilities and high battle strength.
The only flaw was the consumption of fleshy energy.
In other words, it resulted in extreme hunger if it was overused.
Lu Zheng smiled softly as he removed the heat in his blood vessels, allowing his blood to soothe.
He sat down with his legs crossed and eyes closed in order to cultivate the ambient Qi in the secret realm.
His soul foundation was at the level of the hundred man soul and his meridians were tempered to the limits. Moreover, the ambient fire Qi was dense and facilitated his cultivation.
Within a few hours, he had broken through to the second tier of Condensation realm.
On his Qi tree, another Qi leaf sprouted before growing to the size of the other Qi leaves.
This meant that he had successfully broken through to a higher tier of the Condensation realm.
What should have taken months was done in a few hours. Lu Zheng finally understood the importance of the secret realm to Lu Clan.
Lu Zheng strengthened his resolve and did not stop cultivating. He was going to maximise the profits of the secret realm.
…..
Huge flames flickered around Lu Zheng, burning everything within a forty metre radius from him.
In his aperture, a large tree stood valiantly as seventeen verdant leaves decorated its body. It was his Qi tree and Qi leaves.
He had fifteen Qi leaves at the first tier of the Condensation realm and now had seventeen.
He had reached the third tier of the Condensation realm.
Lu Zheng stood up and let out a turbid breath.
Cultivation was strenuous on the mind and only those with a strong resolve and great willpower could endure cultivating for long periods of time.
The matter of food wasn't a problem at all. The ambient Qi served as the best nourishment for the body.
Lu Zheng stretched his limbs that had gone limp after sitting still for so long. He stared at the distant horizon and saw a unique landmark.
It was a small hill with lava pouring down its walls.
The reason Lu Zheng was surprised was because the secret realm was a flat realm.
Protrusions like this small hill were rare.
"Something special must be there" Lu Zheng said as he began walking towards the small hill.