Chapter 41: Racing Horsepower, the Nether King True Body Transforms!

Whether I can greatly increase my strength this time depends on whether this innate blood jade gives me enough power.

Inside a pitch‑black cave where one cannot see a hand, Chen Zheng sat cross‑legged on a large stone, his eyes blazing, took out the innate blood jade pendant he had obtained from Bloodflame Crown Prince, held it in his palm, and prepared to draw its innate blood for cultivation.

By slaying the Chi Dragon and Bloodflame Crown Prince this time, his strength rose considerably, reaching the power of eighteen Xuan‑Yellow fiery horses, and he also obtained two mid‑grade spiritual artifacts.

Adding the White Rainbow Sword he received from the horse‑faced man of Taiyi Gate, he now possessed three spiritual artifacts.

Such wealth would make most disciples inside and outside the Feather Ascension Sect weep with envy.

But to Chen Zheng, the three low‑ and mid‑grade spiritual artifacts were merely ordinary goods.

He did not care much.

The value of the three artifacts, to him, was far inferior to this rice‑grain‑sized innate blood jade pendant.

Spiritual artifacts are merely external aids for combat, whereas the innate blood jade is the foundation of his cultivation.

His own strength is the top priority!

Thus, as soon as Chen Zheng left the castle, he called to the celestial crane and, in one breath, flew over four hundred li away.

He found a demon bear den at the foot of the mountain, slashed the demon bear that was snoring loudly inside the cave with a single sword, seized the cave, and eagerly began his cultivation.

The celestial crane stood outside the cave to guard him, preventing any night‑riders from barging in and disturbing his practice.

Now the underground world is a mix of fish and dragons, and people from all factions are searching everywhere for traces of White Sea Zen; it's possible that some uninitiated ones will run here.

Inside the cave.

Swish!

As the Nether King True Body internal cultivation method activated, a fine blood‑red thread instantly sprouted from the tiny aperture of the innate blood jade pendant in Chen Zheng's palm, piercing his pores like a vein.

Blood loss!

"Such pure qi‑blood; this jade truly lives up to being a treasure useful even to Divine Art cultivators."

When the qi‑blood from the innate blood jade entered his body, a hint of joy flashed in Chen Zheng's eyes.

He focused his mind inward and could clearly see that the blood was not abundant, yet it was incomprehensibly viscous.

Its quality was astonishingly high.

All the blood he had previously drawn, including the black‑water king snake's heart blood and the Chi Dragon's blood, paled in comparison to this qi‑blood, as if they were pig blood and dog blood.

There is not even a speck of comparability!

However.

Although the qi‑blood emitted from the innate blood jade is minute, it is extremely fierce, raging inside like a young dragon, and is not easy to refine.

Just as the original owner of the innate blood jade, Bloodflame Crown Prince, could only occasionally absorb a little qi‑blood from the jade and had to wait until it was fully refined before absorbing more.

Otherwise, without a gradual process, the incoming qi‑blood can easily tear the flesh.

Even exploding and dying is not impossible.

This is the same principle as taking pills.

Martial artists use pills to aid cultivation, which can speed up progress, but the more one consumes does not mean strength grows faster.

One must observe a limit.

If one eats too many pills, digestion cannot keep up, and it backfires, literally crushing oneself to death.

For this reason, although Bloodflame Crown Prince has possessed the innate blood jade for several years, he has extracted less than ten percent of it.

In the end, it benefited Chen Zheng.

Chen Zheng is not Bloodflame Crown Prince.

He has no concern about over‑consuming beyond his digestion.

How mighty the Nether King True Body is, and how terrifying the refining power of one hundred and eight demon caves!

Not to mention a single innate blood jade pendant; even a mountain of innate blood jade placed before him would be completely drained after ten days to half a month of absorption.

Thus, Chen Zheng continuously refined and absorbed the blood qi he drew in.

Endlessly!

Unnoticed, an hour silently passed.

His flesh, blood, bones, five organs and six bowels, skin membrane, and so on also transformed over time.

A cataclysmic metamorphosis!

If that demon commander were here and used magical power to infiltrate Chen Zheng's body to assess the situation, he would be stunned speechless and swallow whole the claim that Chen Zheng could only be a mortal his whole life.

Because the current Chen Zheng has completely left the mortal realm.

Every inch of his flesh inside is trending toward a dark‑gold hue, brimming with explosive power and a trace of noble, domineering aura.

Like the body of a king. Nether King!

Even a stray hair from Chen Zheng could cleave a hard stone in two.

His mortal body is so powerful that, setting magical power aside, the vast majority of Divine Art cultivators of the first to fourth levels cannot compare.

Yet Chen Zheng's cultivation still does not cease.

The qi‑blood in the innate blood jade has not been exhausted.

His strength continues to surge violently.

It rises faster than ever before.

Thirty‑five horses…

Forty horses…

Fifty Xuan‑Yellow fiery horses' power!

Finally, the qi‑blood in the innate blood jade pendant was completely drained by him.

This novel you have reached

is exactly this moment.

Chen Zheng suddenly rose, his black hair wildly dancing without wind, his towering, soaring figure indescribable, as if the ancient Nether King, long asleep, were awakening from the eternal sand hell.

The aura he unintentionally emitted was like a raging gale, sweeping all directions, causing sand and stones to whirl inside the cave, as if in the next instant it would overturn the whole mountain above.

"What… what is this aura?"

Outside the cave, the immortal crane sensed Chen Zheng's aura, and was instantly terrified, its legs going limp, crawling on the ground trembling, staring in horror toward the cave entrance.

Could it be…

Has Chen Zheng already attained the Shen Tong Mi Jing?

Otherwise, how could he emit such a terrifying aura?

It was wrong to guess.

Chen Zheng has not attained the Shen Tong Mi Jing.

To be precise, he doesn't want to—for now.

If he wished, he could at any time strike the Gate of Shen Tong in his mind with the colossal force of fifty dark‑yellow fiery horses, blasting it open and becoming a Shen Tong cultivator.

The reason he hasn't done so is that, just now during cultivation, new changes appeared in the one hundred and eight demon caverns within his body.

The demonic qi in those caverns, after turning dark‑gold, spontaneously ignited, becoming one hundred and eight thumb‑sized dark‑gold flames.

Chen Zheng knows exactly what this means.

According to the Sheep Skin Scroll, when the Nether King True Body cultivates to a certain stage, it ignites true fire, greatly enhancing its refining ability.

At that stage, the Nether King True Body is no longer limited to a single blood‑draining cultivation.

Instead, any substance it can ingest—pill elixirs, spirit medicines, all kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, spiritual qi, immortal qi, even the magical power of Shen Tong cultivators, or energy bodies such as wandering souls and ghostly entities—can all be refined by true fire for its own use.

Celestial demons, for example, are a type of energy body.

If Chen Zheng remembers correctly, the Feather Ascension Sect's outer‑to‑inner assessment requires disciples to go to a star under the sect's jurisdiction and slay celestial demons there.

There are endless celestial demons there!

As soon as he returns to the sect and participates in the inner‑gate assessment, he can go to that star, absorb massive amounts of celestial demons for refinement, and attain hundred‑horse, even several‑hundred‑horse strength.

Then, when he successfully breaks through the Shen Tong Mi Jing, his magical power will be far beyond what could be achieved by merely attaining Shen Tong now.

The difference would be as vast as heaven and earth.

Because mortal strength is closely linked to magical power.

The stronger a warrior's physical strength, the greater the magical power he gains after attaining the Shen Tong Mi Jing.

It is a multiple‑fold increase.

In other words, if Chen Zheng can cultivate to hundred‑horse or several‑hundred‑horse strength in the Mortal Secret Realm,

then after attaining the Shen Tong Mi Jing, he would instantly possess several hundred to a thousand‑horse worth of magical power, dominate the same realm, and even cross realms to slay foes.

"Which sect's immortal crane are you, having eaten bear's heart and leopard's gallbladder to dare block us?"

Thanks to Xuanqiong Shangsheng Zhiming for the reward of 100 starting coins!

Thanks to all the big brothers for the recommendation votes and monthly tickets!

Everyone, don't worry; Chen Zheng will soon breakthrough to the Shen Tong Mi Jing.

(End of chapter)