Chapter 140: Eleven Pieces

That medicinal pill was an extremely precious healing elixir. Even Xie Yuan himself did not possess many of them. The true value of this pill lay in the fact that it was effective even when a fifth-rank martial artist was injured.

However, rare as the pill was, someone of Xie Yuan's status could still manage to acquire one. Compared to that wisp of ethereal Qi, it was practically nothing.

What truly pained Xie Yuan was that wisp of ethereal Qi. The preciousness of this ethereal Qi was simply incomparable to a mere medicinal pill; if measured by value, it was a priceless treasure.

"Brat, I've even invested the ethereal Qi in you. You better not disappoint me." Xie Yuan muttered resentfully as he looked at Yang Ze, whose breathing had already returned to normal.

At the same time, a thought formed in his mind. This matter could absolute not end here. He had only bestowed the ethereal Qi upon Yang Ze out of regard for Ning Teng, so this debt would have to be settled with Ning Teng.

Looking at the sleeping Yang Ze, Xie Yuan flicked his sleeve and walked out of the stone chamber. He closed the heavy door and activated the array inside the immortal cave to ensure Yang Ze's safety.

As for himself, he left the cave at this moment. Since Yang Ze had already made his breakthrough, arrangements could now be made for him to enter the outer court.

Normally, such matters would not require a peak-master elder to busy himself with, but the Yang Ze he had encountered this time naturally warranted a slightly different treatment.

After Xie Yuan left, only Yang Ze remained lying inside the stone chamber. He remained in a state of deep slumber, but as time passed, a wave of cultivation energy continuously emanated from his body, growing increasingly intense.

A day and a night later, the aura around Yang Ze reached its peak and suddenly dispersed. Tiny specks of white light surfaced on the surface of his skin, adhering to his body.

The normally flesh-and-blood Yang Ze became completely enveloped by this white light, making him look like a cocoon.

The phenomenon did not last long before the white light adhering to his body suddenly converged, drilling inward into Yang Ze's flesh. Within the span of just a few breaths, all the white light completely vanished.

As the white light disappeared entirely, Yang Ze's body shuddered a few times. His eyelids, which had been closed for so long, suddenly fluttered open.

At that exact moment, a dazzling flash of white light burst from the depths of Yang Ze's eyes, though it vanished almost as instantly as it appeared.

Yang Ze slowly sat up on the bed, his expression somewhat dazed.

He had successfully broken through, yet he felt not a shred of joy, because at that critical juncture, not only did he feel the successful breakthrough, but he had also sensed his life force ebbing away, making him believe he was done for.

Yet right now, far from ebbing away, his vitality was brimming with vigor, and his entire body felt packed with strength.

Silently running his cultivation technique, Yang Ze extended his inner perception to examine his own condition.

The moment he circulated his energy, he was instantly stunned, utterly astounded by the state of his body.

His internal organs and every single meridian were coated with a layer of white substance, which appeared to be composed of countless tiny specks of light.

Beyond that, the true essence in his dantian had increased by quite a margin, and his physical blood and qi had also been elevated.

The most dramatic change was in the bones of his lower limbs. Previously, he had only tempered a single bone, but now Yang Ze discovered that he had successfully tempered eleven lower limb bones in total.

Furthermore, the newly tempered lower limb bones were identical to the first one he had tempered earlier, radiating a faint, extraordinary golden glow.

As his true essence circulated, Yang Ze sensed that a rice-grain-sized object existed within his dantian.

Wisps of energy drifted out from that rice-grain-sized object from time to time, settling into his dantian and continuously fueling the growth of his true essence.

Yang Ze was completely clueless about all of these developments. He had no idea what had actually transpired; not only had he miraculously survived, but his cultivation had also improved by leaps and bounds. Moreover, he sensed there must be other changes in his body that he simply hadn't discovered yet.

Just as he was feeling utterly bewildered by all of this, the stone chamber door opened, and Xie Yuan walked in.

Seeing that Yang Ze had woken up, Xie Yuan's face turned gloomy before Yang Ze could even speak, and he said testily, "You brat, you're finally awake."

Hearing Xie Yuan's hostile tone, Yang Ze's heart sank. Could it be that his cultivation session had exceeded the time limit and thus angered Xie Yuan?

Thinking this, he immediately began gathering his belongings, preparing to leave. But the moment he made a move, Xie Yuan stopped him.

"What are you doing?"

"This disciple is packing up to leave. Isn't the elder here because my time is up?" As he spoke, Yang Ze had already tidied up his meager luggage.

"Who told you I came to chase you away? You brat, you probably don't even know you were on the verge of death. It was me, I was the one who saved your life." Xie Yuan suppressed the irritability rising in his chest; for some reason, whenever he laid eyes on Yang Ze, he simply couldn't control his temper.

Yang Ze raised an eyebrow. He had never expected that the one who saved his life would turn out to be Xie Yuan. If that was the case, then the changes happening to his body must have been brought about by Xie Yuan as well.

In that instant, any lingering resentment he held toward Xie Yuan for what happened at the martial tournament vanished. He immediately bowed deeply toward Xie Yuan.

This was a life-saving grace; minor grievances were simply insignificant in the face of such a debt.

"I paid a heavy price to save you. You'll understand in the future. There's no need to thank me now—even if you wanted to repay me, you couldn't afford to. Right now, there is one thing I want to know: how many of your lower limb bones have you tempered?"

As a late-stage fifth-rank Qi Sea realm expert, Xie Yuan could naturally sense that Yang Ze's cultivation remained at the early-stage first-rank Bone Tempering realm. However, to discern his exact progress, he would have to employ certain methods, which was unnecessary for someone like Yang Ze right now.

"This disciple originally tempered one lower limb bone myself. As of now, I have successfully tempered a total of eleven lower limb bones," Yang Ze answered truthfully.

"What?" Xie Yuan said, somewhat surprised.

"You obtained my ethereal Qi, and yet you only managed to temper ten lower limb bones in one go? That shouldn't be. Logically speaking, you should have tempered at least twenty bones. How can it only be ten? Is there any abnormality in your dantian?" Xie Yuan continued to ask.

"Yes, a rice-grain-sized object has appeared inside this disciple's dantian, and a continuous stream of power emanates from it, causing my cultivation to grow ceaselessly at every moment." Yang Ze kept his expression calm, though waves were already crashing inside his heart.

According to what Xie Yuan said, a normal person should be able to temper twenty lower limb bones in one go, yet he had only managed ten. Could it be that tempering a single bone of his required vastly more energy?

"Use your full strength to launch an attack against me. Fists or palms, it doesn't matter, whatever you prefer," Xie Yuan instructed.

Yang Ze was startled. He had not expected Xie Yuan to make such a demand, but seeing the serious expression on the elder's face, he set his luggage aside without a word.

He mobilized all the true essence in his dantian, concentrated it into his right hand, and abruptly clenched his fist. The muscles in his right arm bulged, and the eleven successfully tempered golden bones in his lower limbs simultaneously radiated bone-tempering power.

The aura emanating from Yang Ze had reached the absolute limit of what he could currently achieve. While this momentum meant nothing before Xie Yuan, the elder had already noticed that Yang Ze's blood-and-qi vitality was far stronger than that of an ordinary early-stage bone-tempering practitioner, rivaling even a mid-stage one.

Taking a deep breath under Xie Yuan's watchful gaze, Yang Ze threw a punch. The force of the blow whistled through the air, stirring up a gust of wind inside the stone chamber as it struck toward Xie Yuan.

Xie Yuan stood his ground without moving a muscle. When the punch landed about a foot away from him, it felt as though it had hit an invisible wall of resistance, unable to advance an inch further.

No matter how hard Yang Ze strained, his fist remained stuck at that exact spot, as if blocked by an impassable barrier that could never be breached.

Suddenly, the stone chamber shook slightly. Yang Ze felt an overwhelming force rebound back at him, sending his body flying backward until he crashed onto the floor.

"Eleven tempered bones do not possess this level of power. That rice-grain object in your dantian must be the manifestation of my ethereal Qi. It seems there is something rather peculiar about you. But this is your own fortuitous encounter. The martial academy has its rules: whenever a disciple obtains an opportunity, it belongs to them alone, and others may neither inquire about it nor seize it.

"So rest assured, cultivate peacefully within the martial academy; no one will dare to harm you."

Yang Ze took every word of Xie Yuan's to heart. No wonder the Ethereal Martial Academy had become a dominant sect ruling the entire state—refusing to plunder a disciple's cultivation opportunities was the greatest form of protection a sect could offer.

Even so, Yang Ze would never expose his own secret. He trusted only himself, and an earth-defying treasure like the Black Stone must never be leaked.

"Furthermore, your body has already been cleansed of impurities and your marrow washed. Regardless of your previous talent, your aptitude is now top-tier. Within the martial academy, you can well be considered a genius.

"Let's go. You can come with me now." Xie Yuan turned and walked toward the exit.

"Go? Where is the elder taking this disciple?" Yang Ze asked, following closely behind.

"Naturally, to the outer court. Since you've already stepped into the first-rank Bone Tempering realm, you are no longer a registered disciple. However, the outer court only opens once a month. If I don't take you there personally, you'd have to wait several more days, so I have to escort you into the outer court myself to avoid further delay. Is your luggage all on you?"

"Yes, thank you, Elder!" Yang Ze cupped his fists in gratitude once more, never expecting that Xie Yuan would suddenly grow so solicitous of his welfare.

"Then stand steady, I'm taking you to the outer court."

With that, Xie Yuan grabbed Yang Ze by the shoulder, stepped out of the immortal cave in a few strides, appeared outside the Qingyang Hall, and leaped upward into the sky, rocketing toward the peak of Qingyang Mountain.