After mastering the introductory level of the "Crocodile Demon One Hundred and Eight Forms Body Refining Technique," Su Yu felt a qualitative transformation in his body. A tremendous force surged from deep within, and his bones, flesh, and skin underwent significant changes.
A layer of blood-red patterns resembling crocodile demon scales appeared on the surface of his skin. When his blood energy flowed into these patterns, Su Yu felt an extremely violent power, as if he had transformed into a giant crocodile demon.
"This body refining technique is truly extraordinary!"
"Just the first level of the introductory stage, and the transformation of my physical strength is already far stronger than my Qi Refining Realm first layer's spiritual power!"
Su Yu couldn't help but feel astonished. He realized that if he were to pit his spiritual power against his body refining technique, the latter might be powerful enough to obliterate his former self with a single punch.
It was a true embodiment of brute force.
From this small glimpse, one could see the full picture—the ancient path of physical cultivation was undoubtedly formidable!
At the very least, it was not inferior to the path of immortal cultivation!
It took him ten days to complete the introductory level. After his body underwent this transformation, Su Yu's appetite increased significantly, and he needed to eat meat with every meal, preferably demon beast meat.
Correspondingly, the proficiency of his body refining technique improved rapidly, several times faster than the slow progress of the "Phoenix Green Wood Technique." With a full day of eating, drinking, and practicing the body refining technique, he could increase his proficiency by at least 1%.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Today was the day to collect the new month's stipend, and the young cultivators of the Su family were holding an internal trading fair.
"Brother Yu, hurry up! The trading fair is about to start," Su Qingyi shouted from outside Su Yu's courtyard.
The trading fair was held in the backyard of the Su family mansion, where more than a dozen stalls were set up.
Su Yu and Su Qingyi wandered around, stopping occasionally to look at the various stalls.
Most of the items traded at these stalls were quite ordinary, and some even included pills and medicinal herbs used by mortal martial artists.
However, as they passed by one stall, Su Yu spotted something that caught his eye.
A drop of mid-tier first-grade demon beast essence blood, priced at half a low-grade spirit stone.
After some thought, Su Yu decided to buy it.
Su Qingyi, standing beside him, was puzzled. "Why are you buying demon beast essence blood? Unless you're planning to refine pills or talismans, it's useless to you."
Half a low-grade spirit stone was not something to waste lightly, especially for the two of them who had just embarked on the path of immortal cultivation.
Su Yu smiled, carefully storing the jade vial containing the demon beast essence blood. "I have a use for it."
Su Qingyi's eyes flickered with curiosity, but he didn't press further.
A use? Could it be that he was planning to learn pill refining or talisman making? But even if he were, he should start from the basics, seeking a master within the clan to apprentice under.
At the last stall, Su Yu and Su Qingyi saw a row of ancient jade boxes.
These were a peculiar item in the cultivation world, known as "Restriction Jade Boxes," and they were said to have originated from ancient times.
Most of these boxes were found in ancient ruins and secret realms. Due to the restrictions placed on them, these ancient jade boxes retained a special aura even after countless years.
Once the restriction was broken, that aura would dissipate.
As a result, Restriction Jade Boxes from ancient secret realms could not be counterfeited.
These jade boxes contained spaces of varying sizes, and there might be remnants of ancient items inside—or they might be completely empty.
Some people had once opened these ancient jade boxes and discovered astonishing legacies.
But more often than not, people ended up losing everything they had invested in them.
The chance of obtaining an ancient opportunity from this thing was even more elusive than winning the lottery. The person running the stall turned out to be the Fifth Elder, Su Bin. When Su Bin saw Su Yu and Su Qingyi, he immediately smiled and said, "Little Yu, Qingyi, how about an ancient jade box? This thing might just contain an ancient opportunity."
"When Bai Yue Zhenren of Bai Yue Immortal City was young, he rose to prominence and founded Bai Yue Immortal City precisely because he obtained an ancient opportunity from an ancient jade box."
"Opportunities like this are rare and fleeting. An ancient opportunity for just one low-grade spirit stone—this is a great deal."
Su Yu looked speechlessly at the Fifth Elder, who had transformed into a street vendor. The two of them only received one low-grade spirit stone as their monthly allowance.
And yet, this elder was trying to coax them into buying an ancient jade box. Tsk, how shameless.
Originally, Su Qingyi was also reluctant, but upon hearing the example of Bai Yue Zhenren, his eyes narrowed, and he stared intently at the ancient jade boxes on the stall.
These ancient jade boxes varied in appearance, each bearing remnants of ancient restrictions. They couldn't see through what was inside—or if there was anything inside at all.
Just as Su Yu was about to advise Su Qingyi against it, the latter had already taken out a low-grade spirit stone, picked an ancient jade box from the stall, and said through gritted teeth, "I'll take this one."
"Hehe, good, good. Once the deal is done, there's no turning back—no refunds."
Su Bin accepted the low-grade spirit stone with a smile, his gaze shifting to Su Yu, making the latter's scalp tingle.
Su Yu quickly said, "I just bought something earlier, and I'm out of spirit stones now."
Su Bin's face immediately showed disappointment. "No spirit stones? You two youngsters are really scraping the bottom of the barrel."
"This won't do. When you have the chance, go ask the Eldest Elder if there's any work suitable for you, so you can earn more spirit stones."
"That way, when the next trade fair opens, you'll have spirit stones to try for an ancient opportunity."
What opportunity? If there really were ancient opportunities, they wouldn't fall into their hands.
Su Yu didn't even glance at these ancient jade boxes. He had seen similar things in games he played before—essentially a pay-to-win mechanism, a trick only the wealthy could afford.
But even for the wealthy, this kind of thing could be a painful grind, with less than one in ten thousand actually profiting.
If he had spare money, he might play around with it for fun.
But right now, every bit of his cultivation resources was precious, and he couldn't afford to waste them.
After leaving the trade fair, Su Qingyi sneaked back to his courtyard, clutching the ancient jade box. Su Yu watched his retreating figure and shook his head slightly before returning to his own courtyard.
After a few days of focused cultivation, Su Yu took out the drop of mid-tier first-stage demon beast essence blood, equivalent to the mid-stage of the Qi Refining Realm.
He divided it into three portions, consuming and refining them one by one to practice his body tempering technique.
Another half-month passed.
Buzz! On this day, Su Yu's blood energy surged, and blood-colored patterns reappeared on the surface of his skin. A monstrous blood energy transformed into the form of a giant crocodile demon, roaring at the heavens.
Crack, crack, crack! Su Yu's flesh, bones, and skin underwent another transformation.
With the help of that drop of mid-tier first-stage demon beast essence blood, his proficiency in the body tempering technique had skyrocketed over the past month, breaking through to the second layer.
[Techniques: Phoenix Parasol Green Wood Art (First Layer, 19.2%), Crocodile Demon One Hundred and Eight Forms Body Tempering Technique (Second Layer, 0.3%).]
After the transformation was complete, Su Yu gazed thoughtfully at the line of text before him.
"The 'Phoenix Tree Green Wood Technique' is limited by my spiritual root talent, and the growth in proficiency is somewhat slow. However, this body refining technique is not affected by spiritual root talent, and the rate at which proficiency increases is incomparable to the Phoenix Tree Green Wood Technique."
After experiencing the power of the body refining technique once more, Su Yu couldn't help but marvel inwardly. He felt that even against a cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining, he would have the strength to put up a fight.
However, it was a pity that in his heart, he still believed that cultivation was the true path. Although the proficiency in the Phoenix Tree Green Wood Technique improved slowly, it was still acceptable.
In a year's time, reaching the second level wouldn't be difficult.
With thousands or even tens of thousands of years of cultivation, he refused to believe that he couldn't achieve immortality and become an ancestor.