Chapter 201: A mission

'Blood Tempering art' wasn't his blood cultivation art from the Beast God Scripture, also named Blood Tempering Art. Lu Ming's mind instantly filled with doubts regarding this subject. According to the ancestor's description, he shouldn't be able to practice Blood Tempering until he has completed Bone-forging. 

"Can ancestor elaborate on the last part? What does blood Tempering mean?"

"As you should be able to understand by now, the last two parts of Body path correspond a whole other kind of cultivation than the first three. While the first three just refer to excavating the already present and tempering them, the last two-parts can be summarized in three words 'destruction and recreation'."

"When you would go through bone forging, you need to completely disorient the bone and then reforge it. The new bone would be far stronger than the previous one."

"On the other hand, Blood Tempering is the most mysterious one. I have nearly no information about it, except for a general theory. Although you just can't destroy and recreate your blood, you could fundamentally change the quality of blood essence. I tried to research the subject. Many natural oddities of high tiers could help you form pills that can help with the process."

"Can the Blood Tempering be done with the help of beast blood?"

"It's possible in theory. If you look at the history of cultivators, we often hunt beasts to gain their precious blood essence, core, and other body parts. Some are used in weapon making, while others go in pill concoction. The core and blood essence should be able to provide us with the necessary elements to temper our blood."

"But I guess there is a catch to this part. If you want to use beast blood, you would require an ancient art on that subject. You couldn't just consume and directly use it to improve your blood essence. If that were the case, blood cultivators would be able to become hegemons in no time."

"How does the art cultivated by blood cultivators differ from the art of Tempering the blood?"

"The art used by blood cultivators uses blood mainly for three things. The first extract the blood essence of any kind of blood and then refine its top gain the energy stored within it. This energy is then utilized to promote its cultivation. There is also the case where they try to merge the blood of a beast with theirs, but all it does is overwhelm their blood with the blood of the beast."

"In long term usage, the beast blood would surely overpower the human one, and the practitioner either turns into a beast-man or a complete transformation to beast lineage."

"Blood Tempering on the other hand signifies improving the blood essence of your blood. You don't merge it with other kinds of blood. You use the essence energy of other kinds of blood to improve your essence quality and energy. That is why it differs from the arts which Blood practitioners use."

"The method of doing so is unknown to the current world or has been long lost over time. You shouldn't get too depressed on hearing this. I would be satisfied if you can enter the Channel Tempering realm."

"Does ancestor have any art to perform such operation?"

"I do have an art which could help in doing the Tempering." Lu Ming was elated to hear this. He couldn't believe he was about to get his hands on another extraordinary art that would promote his strength in the future.

.........................

"I do possess the scriptures which mention the complete process of tempering the channels. But I won't be giving it to you now." Lu Ming's expression turned serious.

"I have a task which you must fulfill if you want to gain the arts. Given your current potential, you can easily win this competition. I want you to win the competition and enter that space."

"Is the ancestor referring to the land of fire."

"So, you are aware of the prize given to the 1st rank. The vision you are currently seeing is a soul remanent I left within the lamps. It's not the complete soul and hence doesn't possess my whole memory. The two things I want to give you is with the remnant which is present within the land of fire. Since you managed to gain the total inheritance of this soul remnant, the one which is sealed within the land of fire would open this time."

"The land of fire is a zone which can only be entered by those within the King level. Given the duration of the competition, you are eligible to enter the next time it opens. The period is near the corner, around half a year from now. The land of fire is a place where every single disciple who is within the Qi King rank can enter."

"Although It is a land o0f opportunity, it is filled with countless dangers. The land of fire was created as a burial ground of all the top alchemists of Pill Valley, and hence contains countless inheritances within it. Each time it opens, the duration is fixed at 6 months. IF you are capable of surviving through the land of fire, and find my inheritance, I will pass the two promised arts to you along with many other benefits."

"The details of the competition are available within the valley's book vault and you can easily access them. You hereby also gain an honorable position within the valley as the inheritor of my first soul remnant. Go to the Hall of Saints to collect your badge. With this badge, you would benefit similar to the personal disciples of the current Valley Head, without accepting anyone as a master. The reason behind this is the fact that my inheritance should be enough to push you through the ranks."

"Answering the ancestor, I already have a master, who is a grand elder of the valley."

"I guess it was the reason I felt the similarity with the art you currently practice. The art you were taught for fire control is derived from the original art present here. The only person who, managed to enter here in the last century was the guy from the Ti clan. I guess you are his disciple. He should be able to guide you through the details of the Land of Fire. I truly hope you manage to overcome the trials and gain my second inheritance."

"How many inheritances did ancestors leave within the valley?"

"I have left three inheritances. The first one is present within the lamps. The second one is present within the land of fire. As per the third one, you need to be capable of entering the core valley for that."

"The second inheritance requires you to be a Powerful King grade practitioner, while the requirement of the third inheritance is quite high."

"Disciple is listening." Lu Ming bowed. He would love to have an aim to work for. The three inheritances would provide the perfect motivation.

"The third inheritance would require you to possess the strength of a peak Emperor. If you are capable enough to enter that stage someday, you might just be able to fulfill the ultimate task left by me."

Lu Ming wanted to ask a question to the founder but was hesitating. Looking at the conflict and inquisitiveness within the boy's eyes, the founder smiled.

"You want to know what my real cultivation is right boy?"

Lu Ming was surprised that the founder managed to guess the question in his mind. Just what kind of monster this man was at his peak.

"At my peak, I went by the name of Pill-sword saint."

Lu Ming's mouth was agape. He just had a conversation with a Qi saint. Someone who was just a level below the QI god level, the ultimate existence of Qi continent. He instantly kowtowed and praised the founder. The scene changed, and Lu Ming opened his eyes.