Zhen Len used his control over fire to burn an isolated tree nearby and placed half of the lone wolf's corpse as close to his body as possible before using the Purple Demon Eye technique to absorb the first rays of sunlight. At the same time, he easily broke through the 100-year cultivation threshold.
The change was immediate and brutal. His body began to tremble as a surge of power overflowed from deep within him, coursing through every corner of his body via his meridians like the current of a river, following the same path used by the Mysterious Heaven Skill technique.
He felt a dull pain throughout his body, every fiber, every nerve, every bone twisted as if burning from within. It was as though his very body was adapting to the new power that pushed him to the limit of his natural capabilities. He could have let the process run its natural course, allowing the breakthrough to complete in just a couple of hours, as it did with most ordinary soul beasts. But he didn't. Zhen Len slowed down his breakthrough.
He clenched his teeth so hard that one of his fangs chipped. His consciousness still felt very clear, and that wasn't enough, he had to surpass the limits his body and mind could endure. That's why this self-imposed resistance to the natural breakthrough was exactly what he sought.
He knew that if he prolonged the process and forced it to stabilize slowly using the cultivation techniques from his past life, his foundation would be more solid, and his power more refined.
He closed his eyes, channeling part of his spiritual energy into the elemental fire meditation technique, while the Eye of Truth, which seemed to have the Purple Demon Eye technique imprinted into it, began to cultivate it separately, without Zhen Len's direct involvement.The process, however, was significantly slower.
The fire particles around him, coming from the still-burning tree, moved in sync toward his body with every breath, while it trembled violently, forcing more elemental energy inside him every second.
After a few minutes, he switched to the Mysterious Heaven Skill , breathing rhythmically as he had practiced thousands of times, focusing on not letting the energy surge overwhelm him.
He kept each technique active only for brief moments, just enough to avoid mental collapse. He rotated between them with surgical precision, like a blacksmith hammering red-hot metal without letting it cool or melt.
This intense cultivation process only ended at dawn the next day, when he used the Purple Demon Eye technique for the second time.His brothers, who had been nearby and witnessed the crazy things Zhen Len had done since the previous day, didn't dare approach, fearing he might attack them in his current state. So, they simply turned a blind eye to his strange behavior.
They were already used to him doing inexplicable things for no apparent reason.
After quickly devouring the remaining half of the lone wolf's corpse and absorbing the energy from the first rays of sunlight, he activated the first level of the Body Forging technique for the first time.He began using his spiritual power to control his soul power, condensing it into tiny spikes that started drilling into his muscles, tendons, veins, organs, bones… Every part of his body felt as if needles were piercing him from inside and out, making him frown and clench his teeth as his claws and pads, covered in a soft, milky jade glow, pierced the stone he sat on with extreme ease.
Zhen Len did not scream, despite all the pain he felt. He couldn't afford to waste the momentum he had built with a scream, so he held back.His skin cracked, and cuts opened all over his body, bleeding rapidly, giving him a grim appearance, as if he had been tortured for hours.His fur began falling off in clumps.Even so, he didn't stop the process.
He could feel his body slowly beginning to recover, but the speed at which it did was incomparably slower than the damage it was taking. Still, he persevered with the same intensity for minutes that turned into hours. Even his body started rejecting the evolution and breakthrough in cultivation in order to preserve life. But Zhen Len, who had great control over his body, prevented that from happening. He continued like this for many more hours, until they turned into days.
He didn't even try to absorb the first rays of the sun anymore, because the Eye of Truth did it on its own to replenish his spiritual power. Meanwhile, the Mysterious Heaven Skill was being used entirely automatically and instinctively by his body, trying to nourish it with nutrients and soul power using the meat that Zhen Len had not fully digested earlier. All that suffering ended when the blood essence core began to form.
A small blood vortex manifested inside his body until it slowly took a more spherical and compact form.
When it was finally complete, a blood core had formed near his abdomen. This core began to aid in Zhen Len's recovery, healing his ever-emerging wounds. Little by little, his recovery became faster than the rate at which new wounds appeared.
The wounds began to expel a sticky and foul-smelling substance.After a few more hours, Zhen Len finally stopped.
His body quickly began to stabilize.
The fur he had lost began to grow back, much stronger than before.Many other changes became evident. His claws grew longer, harder, and sharper, while his pads became much tougher, taking on a milky white tone, just like his claws.
His teeth and fangs sharpened even more, his size nearly doubled, and a red-and-white mark resembling a collar appeared on his neck.
The Eye of Truth also showed visible changes. The color of the gem outer edges turned purple, with a much more refined and exquisite design, while the center took on a bright ruby red, different from Zhen Len's intense red hair and eyes.
When all of this ended, Zhen Len lay on the rock, drenched in blood, gasping for air. But he had succeeded.
He had not only reached 100 years of cultivation, but had reinforced every part of his being.
His body had strengthened, and even his spirit power had reached the Spirit Sea Realm. His control over the fire element had also greatly improved thanks to his spiritual power breakthrough. Not only that, but he had once again mastered the elemental heart of fire. At this rate, he would master ultimate fire at 1,000 or even 10,000 years of cultivation, and most importantly. He had successfully evolved into a Fire Spirit Fox King.
What kind of soul beast manages to enhance its bloodline without having been born with it, nor having inherited it from its parents or any ancestor?
Despite how excited Zhen Len was to examine all the changes he had undergone, the fatigue from having spent so much energy healing his wounds, only to repeatedly injure himself again, combined with the extreme tension maintained for so long, took its toll.
Within seconds, he felt all the energy leave his body and passed out on the rock.
His brothers, who had witnessed the entire display, slowly approached and, after confirming he was still alive, dragged him back to the den.After all, from their perspective, he was the one who always protected them when much stronger soul beasts appeared.
If it weren't for him, they would have no choice but to abandon the territory… and possibly become another soul beast's dinner And for some reason, from the very depths of their being, they felt that they had to help and obey him.
If before they did it simply out of fear that he might get angry, for his protection, and for the occasional rewards he gave them, now they would obey him because they felt they had to respect him from the very depths of their soul.