The inner corridors of the Legacy Mansion were silent and cold, stretching deep into the subterranean bedrock of the palace. Unlike the residential places where Auntie Mei and Uncle Zhang lived in peace, these deeper pathways were constructed from dark obsidian and raw black jade. The floor was polished to a glassy sheen, reflecting the ancient arrays carved into the stone walls. These arrays glowed with a faint, violet-black light, pulsing like a slow heartbeat and humming with a low, grounding resonance that kept the air heavy and still. There was no dust here, only the cold permanence of a place built to withstand the passage of epochs.
The elderly mansion spirit walked ahead, his spectral steps making no sound on the stone. His translucent white robes drifted like mist, and his eyes remained fixed on the path forward. Fang Lin followed behind him, his posture straight, his simple black cotton robes shifting slightly with his movements. As they walked deeper, the air grew increasingly cold, carrying the weight of ancient Yin energy that would freeze a lesser Qi Conjunction cultivator's spiritual flow in breaths.
"Your companions are progressing well," the Mansion Spirit spoke, his voice echoing softly in the narrow corridor. "The girl Feng Jiu'er has consolidated her Middle Core Formation Realm inside the Verdant Flame Hall, and the youth Xiao Chuan is stabilizing his foundation using the Deep-Spring Ocean Sutra. They are safe in the outer pavilions. But your path is different. You have chosen a road that few have dared to walk, and it demands preparation that exceeds ordinary cognition."
"I know, Senior," Fang Lin replied, his tone flat and steady.
They turned a corner, entering a high-ceilinged hall that felt older than the rest of the mansion. This was the Inheritance Shrine. Thick layers of ancient dust settled on the stone floor, untouched for thousands of years, except for the narrow path they cleared as they walked. The pillars rising to the arched ceiling were carved with murals depicting ancient wars in the starry river, where figures clad in dark armor fought against massive, cosmic beasts. Fang Lin stopped for a brief moment, his eyes scanning the murals. He felt a strange, distant resonance within the grey seed sprout mark inside his spiritual sea. The carvings showed a starry sky being shattered by colossal forces, recalling the fragments of memory from his parents he had witnessed during his meridian tempering. He thought of Uncle Wei, who had sacrificed everything to bring him here, and the quiet weight of the promise he had made to himself. This mansion was a sanctuary, but it was also a cocoon. Outside, the search fleets of the major sects were still searching, and the name of Shen Mo was branded in the minds of the cultivators. To protect the mortals in the courtyard and survive the coming storm, he needed absolute power. The path of a tri-core breakthrough was his only hope. He took a slow breath, centering his mind, and continued forward.
In the center of the hall stood a single stone altar, upon which rested a black-and-gold spatial box. The box was sealed with dense, swirling runes of spatial force that warped the surrounding air, making the light bend around it in unnatural waves.
The Mansion Spirit stopped before the altar and gestured to the box. "The creator of this palace left this box for the one who could clear the fifteenth level of the Myriad Halls Plaza before breaking through to Core Formation. Place your trial token on the pedestal to prove your victory."
Fang Lin stepped forward, his boots making a soft, distinct tap on the stone. He took out his identity token and placed it onto the small indentation on the side of the stone altar. He channeled a trace of the trial clearance mark he had received after defeating the basalt Asura puppet.
The runes on the spatial box flared with a brilliant dark-gold light. The spatial forces hummed, and with a series of clean, metallic clicks, the lid of the box slid open, dissolving the ancient seal.
Inside the box rested a single, dark-gold jade scroll. It radiated a dense, warm, and vibrant life energy that caused faint green-gold halos to shimmer in the surrounding air, bringing a soothing warmth to the cold corridor.
Fang Lin reached out and lifted the scroll. The moment his fingers touched the dark-gold jade scroll, a dense, warm vitality resonated with his perfected Netherskin, sending a deep vibration through his meridians. He unrolled the scroll, his Peak-Solid Soul scanning the ancient glyphs carved into the jade.
This was the complete technique.
Nine Nether Phantom Scripture.
As he read, he realized the scripture was structured into two distinct but deeply connected paths: the Supreme Body Cultivation Scripture—known as the Nine Nether Phantom Body—and the Supreme Life Cultivation Art that guided the Nether Life Spirit Qi of his Life River.
The detailed progression of the six body tempering stages manifested in his mind:
First was the Nether Skin. The skin was tempered by Nether Qi, creating an unyielding defense resistant to physical and spiritual strikes. By absorbing and condensing the ambient energy, the pores refined to form a thin, glassy barrier that could disperse physical impact and spiritual force. Fang Lin had already perfected this stage, his skin carrying a subtle, jade-like luster beneath the surface.
Second was the Asura Flesh. The muscles were infused with phantom power, reorganizing the muscle fibers at a microscopic level. The process required the cultivator to stress and temper their muscle fibers through intense gravity and force, rebuilding them into dense, resilient strands. Once completed, it provided a massive increase in physical strength and explosive speed. While it did not generate healing on its own, it was designed to receive the healing current of the Life River, allowing the refined flesh to recover and strengthen at a terrifying rate.
Third was the Spirit Bones. The skeleton was reforged into Nether Bone. By purifying the bone marrow and replacing it with pure, high-density marrow essence, the bones transformed into an indestructible structure capable of withstanding immense gravity fields and crushing blows.
Fourth was the Golden Veins Threading. The meridians evolved to carry vast amounts of Nether Qi. The pathway walls were refined to prevent any energy leakage, converting them into golden conduits that could support the rapid circulation of high-density Qi without tearing.
Fifth was the Blood Sanctification. The blood transformed into Nether Essence Blood, changing from crimson to a dark, gold-flecked violet-black color. Every drop contained immense vitality, raising the vessel's capacity to receive and store life force.
Sixth was the Organ Refinement. The vital organs underwent complete refinement, forming defensive chambers that locked in his life force, granting immunity to most toxins and curses, and enabling the body to survive in extreme, hostile environments.
Fang Lin stared at the scroll, his eyes dark. The scripture was detailed and complete, resolving the bottleneck that had halted his body refinement.
"You have perfected the Nether Skin," the Mansion Spirit said, watching him. "The next stage is the Asura Flesh. It is a path of extreme pain, tempering the muscles to endure the force of Core Formation. The body scripture does not form a core of its own, but it is the vessel that holds your three rivers. Without it, your physical frame will collapse under the pressure of three independent cores."
"I understand, Senior," Fang Lin said, rolling the scroll back up and storing it safely. "The pain is nothing if it secures the path."
"Go, Little Lin. The preparation is complete, but the three cores will test the limits of your new flesh," the Mansion Spirit warned.
Fang Lin nodded. He did not waste time. He walked back to the time-dilated obsidian chamber, his mind focused. The heavy stone door shut behind him with a dull, heavy thud, sealing him in absolute darkness.
He settled into a meditative posture on the cold stone floor, his breathing slowing to a crawl. He adjusted the formation, setting the gravity to fifteen times the normal rate and the time dilation to five times the calendar speed. The sudden increase in gravity slammed down on his shoulders like a mountain, forcing his spine to compress, but his posture remained perfectly straight, his bones locking into place.
For the next one hundred and eighty subjective days, Fang Lin immersed himself in the seclusion.
The training of the Asura Flesh was indeed agonizing. Under the heavy pressure of fifteen times gravity, Fang Lin circulated the phantom power of the Nine Nether Phantom Body scripture directly through his muscles. The phantom force ground against his flesh, stressing and micro-tearing the muscle fibers to force them into a denser alignment. Every subjective day was a cycle of intense physical strain and recovery. His muscles burned as if filled with molten lead, and his veins throbbed violently under his skin as he pushed the body scripture to its limits.
To survive and benefit from this self-destructive tempering, Fang Lin had to actively call upon his Life River. He channeled his Nether Life Spirit Qi, directing the cool, emerald-green vitality energy to flow into the damaged tissues. The green-gold healing force surged through the micro-tears, rebuilding the fibers into dense, resilient strands. Fang Lin remained completely still, his face expressionless despite the sweat that poured from his brow, only to freeze and evaporate into a faint green-gold mist whenever the Life River's healing flared to mend his frame. His Guard Dragon Breath hummed in his chest, providing a solid, unyielding support that protected his vital organs, while his parallel Frost River and Nether River remained completely quiet and isolated.
He focused on the microscopic details of his muscle fibers, watching them tear under the body scripture's phantom power and reassemble under the Life River's healing. He guided the tempering through his shoulders, chest, back, and limbs, reinforcing every major muscle group. As the weeks turned into months, his physical frame grew slightly more compact and defined, his presence carrying an undercurrent of explosive force. When he activated the Asura Flesh, his muscle fibers thrummed with a deep, metallic obsidian sheen, and his figure left brief, silent ripples in the air, his movements looking like a shifting silhouette.
During this long, quiet period of time-dilated cultivation, his passive accumulation of Shadow Dewdrops did not stop. Residing inside the Yin-cold, darkness-rich environment of the obsidian chamber, his dantian passively generated five Shadow Dewdrops per subjective day. The cold, silent air of the chamber flowed into his breathing, circulating through his parallel meridians before gathering in the Nether River of his dantian. The passive absorption hummed in the background, a steady trickle of energy that accumulated drop by drop without disturbing his primary focus.
Over the one hundred and eighty subjective days, he accumulated exactly nine hundred new Shadow Dewdrops.
These nine hundred Shadow Dewdrops automatically condensed into nine new Dark Buds inside his Nether River. This passive progression brought his separate pool of resources to ninety-one Dark Buds and fifty raw Shadow Dewdrops, floating in a silent, dark cloud around his rotating Midnight Lotus. The liquid energy of the Dew of Ten Thousand Shadows hummed with a stable, deep power, ready to be called upon at a moment's notice.
Eight hundred and fifty more dew drops, and he would be condensing his second Midnight Lotus, increasing the strength of the Night Lotus Bloom technique further.
By the end of the sixth subjective month, Fang Lin opened his eyes. The darkness in his eyes was absolute, carrying a brief emerald-green reflection from his Life River and a blue sheen of frost. He stood up, testing his limbs. Under the fifteen times gravity, his body felt light, almost weightless, his muscles contracting with twice the efficiency they had before. He could feel the incredible density of his muscles, the explosive strength waiting to be unleashed. He had successfully achieved Small Mastery over the Asura Flesh. His physical strength had surged, and his body was now a perfected vessel, ready to hold the immense energy of the upcoming breakthrough.
The preparation was complete.
Fang Lin took out the white jade bottle. He uncorked it, and the green-gold Three-Spirit Core-Balancing pill rolled into his palm, emitting a subtle, balancing resonance of three different elemental forces.
He swallowed the pill. The green-gold elixir dissolved instantly, turning into a stream of dense, warm energy that rushed down his throat. It did not merge with his rivers; instead, it formed a shimmering, gold-tinted membrane that wrapped around the outer walls of his Three-River Meridian Network and his dantian. The warm force thrummed with a steady, balancing resonance, reinforcing his internal channels against the impending shockwave of the breakthrough.
Immediately, a warm, balancing force spread from his stomach, wrapping around his dantian and meridians like a protective shield.
Fang Lin closed his eyes and directed his Qi. The icy-white Frost River, the green-gold Life River, and the violet-black Nether River began to surge, their silent flows turning into a roaring torrent. The three elemental forces, previously kept in absolute separation, began to swell and vibrate against each other, creating a massive pressure inside his dantian.
It was time. He guided the three opposing elemental forces to crash together in the center of his dantian.