The transformation continued.
Lin Sheng sat motionless within the secluded courtyard, his body suspended in a state between stillness and violent change. To an ordinary observer, nothing about him seemed unusual. His breathing was slow, his eyes remained closed, and his limbs rested naturally against the ground, yet beneath that calm exterior, every part of his body was undergoing a profound transformation.
The foundation of his Vajra Body was beginning to reveal its true purpose.
When Lin Sheng had first perfected his Iron Skin, Bronze Muscles, Ox Tendons, and Silver Steel Bones, each perfection state had produced something that he had initially regarded as incomplete runes. The patterns had appeared faintly within his body, embedded into the layers of flesh, muscle, tendon, and bone, but none of them had possessed a complete circulation.
At the time, he had assumed that was simply the nature of the perfection states.
Now he understood.
They had never been meant to exist independently.
The moment his Silver Steel Bones had been perfected, the four incomplete Qi-Blood runes had finally connected.
The four transformations had fused together, their incomplete patterns completing one another until they formed a single circulation that permeated his entire body.
Vajra Body or diamond body as referred to as by the monks in Buddhism.
That was the true foundation of the subsequent stages.
Without Vajra Body, marrow cleansing was merely an attempt to force Qi-Blood into regions of the body that were too delicate to withstand the transformation. The brain marrow in particular was an extremely dangerous region, and even those who possessed powerful external arts generally wouldn't dare attempt to refine it recklessly.
But Vajra Body was different.
The perfected body itself had become a vessel capable of supporting the transformation.
Lin Sheng could feel the Qi-Blood runes circulating through his body.
They weren't merely strengthening his flesh anymore.
They were acting like a massive formation engraved directly into his physique.
Every circulation drew Qi-Blood through his skin, muscles, tendons, and bones before returning it toward his marrow. The process was extremely subtle at first, almost imperceptible, but as the circulation repeated itself, the deep layers of his body began responding.
His bone marrow trembled.
His spinal marrow trembled.
Even the deepest region within his skull, the mysterious mud-pill region associated with the brain marrow, began reacting.
Lin Sheng's expression became solemn.
"Here we go."
He had already studied enough external arts to understand what normally happened at this stage.
Frost Marrow.
It was the result of the three great marrows beginning to synchronize.
Bone marrow, Spinal marrow, Brain marrow.
The Qi-Blood infused with spiritual energy would penetrate the marrow and gradually cleanse it, driving out impurities while simultaneously altering the marrow's fundamental nature. As the transformation progressed, the marrows would begin producing higher-quality Qi-Blood, creating a cycle in which improved Qi-Blood further nourished the marrow.
Eventually, the Qi-Blood would possess a quality comparable to mercury.
Dense.
Heavy.
Pure.
And extremely difficult to disperse.
That was the reason Frost Marrow was considered such an important threshold.
Yet Lin Sheng quickly realized something.
His situation was different.
Ordinary external martial artists relied heavily upon great medicines, beast materials, cultivation methods, and martial concepts to provide the necessary nourishment for marrow cleansing. Even those who possessed exceptional martial intent could only introduce limited amounts of spiritual energy into their bodies.
Their physiques simply couldn't endure more.
But Lin Sheng had never been an ordinary practitioner. Using his martial will to drive the spiritual energy infusion was one way.
His spiritual energy reserves were enormous.
His body was powerful enough to withstand forces that would have shattered an ordinary martial artist.
And most importantly, he possessed a method of directly forcing spiritual energy into his body.
A thought appeared in his mind.
If Frost Marrow represented the beginning of Qi-Blood like Mercury...
Then what would happen if he continued forcing spiritual energy into the transformation?
Would blood exchange truly be the only method of improving the quality of Qi-Blood?
Lin Sheng's eyes remained closed.
His thoughts raced.
Blood Exchange was a process of replacing the old blood with newly generated blood nine times, with each exchange gradually increasing the quality of Qi-Blood.
But that didn't necessarily mean it was the only route.
Perhaps the reason ordinary practitioners needed Blood Exchange was simply because their marrow could only support a limited transformation.
They needed the gradual replacement of blood to slowly adapt their bodies.
Lin Sheng didn't have that limitation.
His Vajra Body had already pushed his physique far beyond the ordinary.
His spiritual energy was also vastly greater than what a normal external martial artist could manipulate.
So why stop?
"Let's see how far this can go."
The moment the thought formed, Lin Sheng deliberately increased the amount of spiritual energy flowing into his body.
Boom!
A silent tremor passed through his physique.
His marrow reacted immediately.
The change was no longer subtle.
The bone marrow within his four limbs began glowing faintly, as though countless tiny stars had appeared inside his bones. The spiritual energy entered the marrow and mixed with his Qi-Blood before being drawn deeper by the circulating Vajra runes.
His spinal marrow followed.
Then his brain marrow.
The three great marrows began responding simultaneously.
Lin Sheng's expression gradually became more serious.
Pain began spreading through his body. It wasn't the pain of injury.
It was the sensation of his body being rewritten. His Rank 3 body foundation wasn't something that could be shaken but this was a qualitative transformation rather than a quantitative one.
His marrow seemed to be melting and reforming at the same time, countless impurities being expelled while the remaining essence was compressed into something denser.
His Qi-Blood surged.
The sound of it moving through his body resembled a distant river.
Then a second sound appeared.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
His heartbeat became heavier.
Every beat sent a wave of Qi-Blood through his body.
The Vajra runes responded to each pulse.
The circulation accelerated.
The transformation deepened.
Lin Sheng could feel the marrow beneath his bones becoming increasingly pure.
The original white appearance of the marrow gradually changed.
A faint crystalline quality emerged.
At first it was barely noticeable.
Then it became clearer.
The deeper he pushed the transformation, the more translucent the marrow became.
Lin Sheng's consciousness sank deeper into his body.
He could practically see the transformation occurring.
The runes that had previously been hidden within the Vajra Body began appearing within the marrow itself.
New patterns.
New connections.
New circulations.
They weren't exactly the same as the Vajra Body runes.
Instead, they seemed to be an extension of them.
The marrow was using the foundation of the Vajra Body as a bridge to undergo its own transformation.
Lin Sheng's breathing gradually slowed.
The crystalline marrow continued changing.
It wasn't quite transparent.
It wasn't quite crystalline.
There was a faint jade-like quality permeating it.
Lin Sheng stared at the transformation through his inner vision.
"Jade..."
The thought came naturally.
He had never seen such a state recorded in the external arts he had studied.
Perhaps some ancient inheritance had mentioned something similar, but the countless fragments of techniques he had gathered rarely contained the complete picture of the realm.
Still, he could feel the difference.
This wasn't ordinary Frost Marrow.
His marrow had already surpassed the state described by conventional external arts.
"Jade Marrow."
Lin Sheng gave the state a name.
The moment he did, another transformation occurred.
His Qi-Blood suddenly surged.
Boom!
A dense wave of Qi-Blood erupted from his body.
Yet instead of dispersing into the surroundings, it remained tightly attached to his skin.
Lin Sheng opened his eyes.
His pupils flashed.
He could see something that hadn't been there before.
A thin layer of Qi-Blood surrounded his entire body.
It was extremely faint.
Almost invisible.
Yet when Lin Sheng concentrated, he could clearly sense its existence.
It clung to his skin like an invisible garment.
His Qi-Blood wasn't simply circulating within his body anymore.
It had begun naturally extending beyond his physical form.
Lin Sheng raised his hand.
The layer of Qi-Blood moved with it.
He slowly clenched his fist.
The surrounding air seemed to distort slightly.
His eyes narrowed.
"This..."
He carefully examined the phenomenon.
The protective layer wasn't merely an external manifestation of Qi-Blood.
It seemed to possess its own circulation.
His body produced Qi-Blood.
The Vajra Body compressed and circulated it.
The Jade Marrow nourished it.
And now the Qi-Blood naturally overflowed from his body, forming a protective layer around his physical form.
Lin Sheng's expression became increasingly strange.
He had seen descriptions of Qi-Blood like Veil before.
It was supposed to appear during the Blood Exchange realm.
The transformation of Qi-Blood would eventually allow it to become increasingly dense and powerful, progressing through the various states before reaching the legendary Qi-Blood like Dragon.
But he had achieved the first stage before even performing a single Blood Exchange.
"Did I..."
Lin Sheng looked at the faint layer surrounding his hand.
"...just achieve Qi-Blood like Veil?"
Silence filled the courtyard.
After a moment, Lin Sheng laughed softly.
It wasn't excitement.
It was genuine curiosity.
His path had already deviated too far from the ordinary external martial path.
Vajra Body had been his foundation.
Frost Marrow had been surpassed.
Jade Marrow had appeared.
And now Qi-Blood like Veil had manifested before Blood Exchange.
Perhaps this wasn't an accident.
Perhaps every perfect foundation he had built was pushing the subsequent realms beyond their conventional limits.
Lin Sheng slowly stood.
The moment his feet touched the ground, the Qi-Blood surrounding his body tightened.
His physique seemed heavier.
Not simply heavier in weight, but denser.
Every muscle contained terrifying potential.
Every tendon carried enormous explosive force.
His bones were like refined divine metal.
His marrow had become jade-like.
And the Qi-Blood flowing through him possessed a protective quality that could now extend beyond his physical body.
Lin Sheng looked down at his palm.
A faint veil of Qi-Blood gathered across it.
He slowly closed his fingers.
The surrounding air cracked.
His expression became calm.
"Then Blood Exchange..."
His eyes narrowed.
"...should be even more interesting."
He had originally intended to use the next two years to slowly complete the nine exchanges.
Now, however, he wondered just how much further he could push each exchange.
The conventional path had already ceased to be sufficient to describe his cultivation.
And Lin Sheng had no intention of stopping simply because the ancient records said something was supposed to be the limit.