Bai Yu plunged into the wellspring of his memories, a map of cultivation unfolding in his mind's eye. The Blood Condensation stage, his current realm, was the foundation upon which his future power would be built. Here, he refined his blood essence, the very lifeblood of his potential. Beyond lay the Bone Forging Realm, where cultivators hammered their bones into impregnable fortresses.
A flicker of rage, hot and sharp, ignited within him as he recalled the Stormwind soldiers, their bones shattered like twigs. The True Chaos Scripture presented an alternative path, a wilder one that thrummed with an untamed power. It spoke of forging his bones with raw chaos energy, a method as potent as it was perilous.A shiver traced down his spine, the afterimage of the tribulation warning flashing across his mind. The scripture warned that his embrace of chaos would intensify the trials he faced – tribulations designed to cull the weak. The first, typically encountered in the Xiantian Realm, would find him sooner in the Bone Forging stage.Pushing those thoughts aside for now, Bai Yu drew in a deep breath. The Xiantian Realm, where one cast off their mortal shell, seemed an eternity away. His focus needed to be on the present, on mastering Blood Condensation and preparing for the imminent Bone Forging tribulation.
Days bled into weeks, measured by the tireless rising and setting of the sun. Bai Yu trained with a relentless focus, pushing himself to the very edge. He channeled Chaos Qi into his body, the tingling a constant reminder of the tightrope he walked.
His blood thrummed with chaotic energy, his entire being teetering on the precipice of implosion. Yet, he persevered. He would not be dominated by raw power – he would dominate it.Then, under the relentless glare of the afternoon sun, a scream ripped from his throat. Pain, a thousand needles piercing his flesh simultaneously, erupted as the Chaos Qi within him spiraled out of control. The world dissolved into a blur of agony.
When the pain receded, he lay gasping, sweat and blood slicking his body. But amidst the exhaustion, a triumphant grin stretched across his lips. He had not only survived, but achieved a breakthrough. "This," he rasped, a smile breaking through the pain, "is the 7th Stage of Blood Condensation, the Late stage."