Chapter Forty-Four: Super Bone Refinement Realm

Chapter Forty-Four: The Super Bone-Refining Realm

The moment Wu Songran’s soft, delicate body wrapped around Wu Hong, his whole body shivered. Strangely, there wasn’t the slightest wind in this mountain forest, yet Wu Hong suddenly felt a chill run through him, as if he were bare to the world.

“Uh, Ran, I’m fine. Could you let go of me for a moment?” Wu Hong’s face flushed bright red. Though Wu Songran was his sister, at this moment, he was entirely unclothed, and being embraced by such a gentle, lovely girl left him at a complete loss.

“I won’t let go, I won’t! I’ll never let go!” Wu Songran’s voice quivered with tears, as if she feared that the moment she released him, she would lose him forever.

Wu Hong’s arms trembled; he didn’t know whether to gently push her away or not. His face reddened further, embarrassment overwhelming him.

After more than ten minutes, Wu Songran finally calmed down. She suddenly noticed something odd about Wu Hong’s body. Lifting her head, she saw his face crimson and his arms awkwardly positioned, his upper body exposed. She shrieked, “Ah!” and hastily turned away.

“You! Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?” Wu Songran’s face instantly turned scarlet, as if a mere pinprick could draw forth a jet of blood.

“I—I tried to say, but you were holding me the whole time! I—” Wu Hong stammered, flustered.

Wu Songran quickly turned away in embarrassment.

Wu Hong hurriedly climbed up a large tree, plucked several broad leaves and a few tough old vines, and hastily fashioned a makeshift outfit to cover himself.

His appearance now was nothing like his once thin and frail self. His skin gleamed with a faint, flowing luster, smooth as that of a newborn, yet reflecting a subtle, sacred metallic sheen. Luckily, the surrounding trees, though short, were much larger than those outside, with leaves half a meter wide—enough to improvise a set of clothes.

After a while, Wu Songran shyly glanced over. At the sight of Wu Hong, she burst into laughter. “Brother, now I finally know what a wild man looks like!” She doubled over, covering her stomach, tears streaming from her eyes.

“Hmph! Little rascal, is this how you laugh at your brother?” Wu Hong had been born in the royal household, but the warmth he felt in these recent days with Wu Songran was something new. Only now did he truly understand the meaning of kinship.

Curiously, after Wu Hong absorbed the two kingly fruits, the strange energy in the forest vanished without a trace.

Only now did Wu Hong check his own condition, realizing he had not yet broken through to the Marrow-Refining Realm. Normally, a martial artist who fully absorbed a single Xuan Yin Fruit would undergo a transformation and immediately ascend to the Marrow-Refining Realm. However, such breakthroughs by external means were often unstable, and still fell short of true marrow-refining masters.

It was said that true entry into the Marrow-Refining Realm could not be achieved by accumulating power alone; one needed enlightenment.

The Marrow-Refining Realm was no trivial matter—it was the initial stage of sensing the primordial energy of heaven and earth, laying the foundation for becoming a legendary innate master.

Wu Hong’s Supreme Sutra of the Great Sun Tathagata was one of gradual accumulation erupting in sudden bursts; the more he stored up, the greater his eventual breakthrough.

Wu Hong felt his blood flowing smoothly, power surging endlessly within him. Normally, in the Bone-Refining Realm, true energy could not be released outward. Yet his Great Sun Tathagata Vajra Palm was extraordinary—at a mere thought, his palms swelled with the wind.

In a blink, his hands grew to over a hundred meters in size. Raising his hand to the sky, his giant palm blotted out the sun.

Wu Songran, watching from the side, stared in wide-eyed amazement. “Brother, what realm have you reached? And what martial art are you practicing? How can your hands grow so enormous?”

Wu Hong was overjoyed. He never expected that, thanks to those two fruits, his strength would soar to such a degree. He did not know that those were the King of Xuan Yin Fruit and the King of Xuan Yang Fruit, nor how much spiritual energy they had absorbed, nor how many years they had grown to yield such rare kingly fruit.

Had an ordinary martial artist fully digested even one, they would likely have immediately reached the peak of the Marrow-Refining Realm.

Now, Wu Hong’s flesh was like iron, his bones like diamond—ordinary blades and swords would hardly leave a mark. Only a peak marrow-refining expert might threaten him.

In terms of martial cultivation, Wu Hong had not yet reached the Marrow-Refining Realm, but in terms of raw strength, he could already challenge a master at its pinnacle.

Wu Hong’s confidence soared. With his current level, even the strongest foe would find him a worthy adversary—he could finally seek vengeance for his father.

He withdrew his surging energy, and his hands returned to their normal size, leaving Wu Songran dazzled. She didn’t ask about his martial art; in the martial world, inquiring after another’s cultivation was considered disrespectful. Her earlier outburst had been an unguarded slip, born of astonishment.

Even as siblings, Wu Songran harbored some reservations. She did not ask, and Wu Hong did not say—the existence of the Supreme Sutra of the Great Sun Tathagata was simply too incredible. The fewer who knew, the better.

“Come, Ran, let’s have a look inside the tree hollow. Perhaps there’s more to find.”

Excited, the two of them carefully entered the hollow. Though the entrance was wide, the interior was cramped. An unknown green light source suffused the place with a gentle warmth.

Soon, a small stone chamber appeared before them. Wu Hong was startled—it was remarkably similar to the stone chamber within the mountain cave where he first entered this miniature world.

They pushed open the stone door and entered. The chamber was small, containing only an altar with two objects upon it: a manual emitting a faint green glow, and a jade bottle whose contents were a mystery.

“Oh! There’s an innate manual here as well!” Wu Hong exclaimed in surprise and delight.

Wu Songran, however, froze on hearing the words “innate manual.”

There was a reason for her astonishment. She and Wang Liang had traversed several mountains and entered similar caves, but found nothing. She never imagined that, by following Wu Hong into this strange tree hollow, they would stumble upon an innate manual.

What they didn’t know was that this miniature world was filled with countless mountains and caves, but only a select few truly held innate manuals. Such caves were always accompanied by great dangers—whether fierce beasts or perilous environments. This, the two siblings did not realize.

Under normal circumstances, any martial artist who came here in search of the Xuan Yin Fruit would be doomed, much less if they hoped to consume the King of Xuan Yin and King of Xuan Yang Fruits. The mere aura those two fruits emitted would cause most experts to retreat in fear.

Wu Hong leapt forward to the altar and picked up the green-covered manual. Three characters were inscribed on the cover: “Withering and Flourishing Formula.”

Unable to contain his excitement, Wu Hong flipped to the first page. As expected, there was an annotation: “Cannot be cultivated by anyone below the Postnatal Perfection Realm.”

What a high threshold for an innate manual! While there were many marrow-refining experts—perhaps tens of thousands in the entire Great Qian Dynasty—those who had achieved Postnatal Perfection, the late stage of marrow-refining, were exceedingly rare.

Wu Hong then picked up the jade bottle on the altar, examining it closely. Tiny characters were inscribed on its surface: “Withering and Flourishing Pill. When the body is depleted and weak, this pill is a marvelous remedy; it can also enhance one’s cultivation. But it must never be taken when one’s vigor is strong and health is sound, for then it will do more harm than good.”

How peculiar, Wu Hong thought.

Carrying the two treasures, Wu Hong walked over to the still-stunned Wu Songran. “Ran, these are for you.”

“What? Both of these are for me?” Wu Songran’s delicate face was a picture of astonishment as she pointed at her own nose.

“Silly girl, if not you, then who?” Wu Hong shook his head, smiling, and pressed the treasures into her hands.

Wu Songran looked at the two objects in her hands in amazement. What kind of person was her brother, really? Why did he grow more and more unfathomable? The innate manual, which others would value above life itself, he gave away without a second thought. He had suffered endless humiliation, yet remained unbowed—who could be targeting him so ruthlessly?

Leaving the tree hollow, Wu Hong decided to search for the hammer he had thrown away while in midair. In the chaos of battle, he hadn’t noticed where his weapon had landed.

With Wu Songran in tow, he set off to find it, heading in the general direction where he thought it might be.