My cultivation method shines upon all heavens.

Shi Lei's face suddenly froze, then he roared hoarsely:

"Lu Ming...you bastard! You colluded with demons, the imperial court will not let you off! I curse you, I curse you to die a horrible death!"

The screams were heart-wrenching, filled with despair and resentment.

If he had known, he should have just killed that little bastard without hesitation.

Or... he shouldn't have provoked that little beast in the first place.

For a moment, endless regret filled my heart.

"Hahaha, well said! You piece of trash... Who did you call a bedbug earlier? Say it again... Who's the bedbug?"

Amidst the golden light, the arrogant voice clearly still harbored lingering anger.

Thousands of vertical pupils lit up simultaneously, all staring at Shi Lei.

Shi Lei's eyes glazed over instantly, as if he had fallen into an infernal hell. His flesh and blood vaporized and dissolved at a visible speed, and he involuntarily let out a wail:

"Ah... I'm a bug! I'm an animal! I'm a bastard! Let me die, give me a quick death..."

A thousand eyes flashed in the golden light, allowing him to slowly dissolve amidst his wails, while wisps of essence continuously flowed into the dark blue flames.

"Boom—!"

Just then, a bolt of crimson lightning descended from the sky, carrying the might of heaven and earth as it struck the golden pillar of light.

The golden light trembled violently, and strands of golden threads scattered like fragments.

But soon, the golden light within the golden pillar became even more dazzling, surging upwards to confront the crimson lightning head-on.

"I...I'm finally going to be free...Hahaha..."

Within the golden pillar, a thousand eyes rotated in unison, gazing towards the heavens.

Crimson lightning continued to fall, while golden light surged upwards. The two forces intertwined and collided above the temple, locked in a fierce battle like two giant dragons.

"Boom—!"

The dark blue flames suddenly surged, condensing into a hundred-foot-long phantom tiger.

The giant tiger was covered with a thousand eyes, each one shining with golden light, and it roared deafeningly to the sky.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that its body is covered with numerous black cracks, as dense as a spider web.

The crimson pillar of light seemed to be completely enraged, suddenly becoming vividly bright, and the entire temple trembled violently.

Lu Ming's heart tightened, and he abruptly left the temple, retreating to the side of the underworld, staring intently at the changing celestial phenomena before him.

"Aaaaaah—!"

Suddenly, a series of piercing screams came from the direction of the Demon-Locking Array nodes, tearing the night sky apart.

Lu Ming suddenly turned his head and a terrible thought arose in his mind:

"Could it be that this demon-locking formation..."

At this moment, the crimson beam of light seemed to have received a great boost, and it poured into the dilapidated temple.

The crimson runes on the temple walls peeled off piece by piece, gradually drifting towards the sky.

Immediately, the temple wall collapsed and transformed into six enormous yellow talismans that spun and rose.

Each one exuded a powerful aura, and the cinnabar on the talisman was as red as blood, vivid and dripping.

The six talismans spun three times in the void, then suddenly transformed into six thousand-foot-long sword energies, slashing down towards the giant tiger with the force to cleave the heavens and split the earth.

"Boom boom boom—!"

Six sword energies slashed down in succession.

The giant tiger had nowhere to hide, and its massive body trembled violently in the sword light.

Each sword strike caused its form to flicker and fade, with golden fragments scattering everywhere.

"Ah... my golden body!"

The golden body of the giant tiger, which was already on the verge of collapse, suddenly shattered and disintegrated, breaking apart like glass falling to the ground, revealing its dark blue true form underneath.

Although its true form is as ethereal as smoke, it exudes a chilling ferocity.

"Boom—!"

The rising crimson runes completely merged into the demon-locking formation, and an even thicker crimson lightning bolt struck down once more.

One after another, like divine whips lashing fiercely at the azure giant tiger.

"Ah... my Thousand Yin Demonic Qi! My supreme divine power..."

Amidst screams of agony, the azure giant tiger, struck by crimson lightning, grew increasingly ethereal, with azure blood flowing from its thousand eyes.

Even as a thousand bolts of lightning struck simultaneously, the giant tiger still roared to the sky, desperately resisting the bombardment of the crimson lightning, its illusory form never disintegrating.

Finally, the last bolt of crimson lightning struck, and the power of the Demon-Locking Array was completely exhausted.

The azure giant tiger's body was now only a little over three feet long, so ethereal that it seemed as if it could be blown away with a single breath.

However, an indescribable, ferocious aura spread like a tide, pressing down the surrounding vegetation.

"Hahaha... I'm free! You old bastard, you didn't expect that, did you! You finally failed to kill me!"

His arrogant words spread far and wide, resounding throughout heaven and earth:

"I will slaughter all your disciples and descendants! I will sacrifice billions of humans to rebuild my golden body and regain my supreme divine powers! You wait, you just wait! Hahaha..."

Amidst the wild laughter, golden light showered down like falling petals.

Lu Ming stood silently.

He looked up at the dark blue tiger shadow roaring to the sky and could feel a will that had firmly locked onto him.

An immense pressure descended upon him, causing him to catch his breath and turn extremely pale.

He ultimately underestimated the immense power of the Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva.

The existence that Zhang Jiao personally sealed away was far more valuable than ordinary demons.

Even though it had been sealed for sixty years and was nearly exhausted, it was also severely damaged by the demon-locking formation—

Even so, it was still beyond what he, a mere Bone Forging Realm cultivator, could achieve.

Even at their peak, standing in front of the opponent, they would probably find it difficult to even move.

Moreover, he had already been secretly plotted against by them, and had fought a bloody battle with Shi Lei, suffering severe injuries.

This is clearly why the other party is so confident at this moment.

Now, in the other party's eyes, he is like a fish on a chopping board, at their mercy.

Lu Ming lowered his eyes slightly and gripped the stone he had prepared in his hand tightly.

He took a deep breath, and the Heavenly Heart Scroll suddenly unfolded before his eyes—

[Found a Heart Imprint, a fragment of the superior-grade Earth Book, the "Moon Toad Scripture." Should it be refined?]

This is what he got from Chen Rui at the night market that day.

At that time, it could only cause a slight disturbance in the Heavenly Heart Scroll. It wasn't until he broke through to the Bone Forging Realm and studied it again on a whim that he discovered it could be completely refined.

He also deduced a certain mechanism of the Celestial Scroll from this:

If the level of the Heart Imprint exceeds two realms above one's own, one can only sense it but cannot refine it.

This is why, when he reached the Muscle Strengthening Realm, he could only sense unusual movements but could not see any specific information.

There are two reasons why he has not yet chosen to refine it.

Firstly, he needs this heart imprint to provide the ability to "refine and instantly restore injuries" at crucial moments.

In a desperate situation like this, this ability would allow him to instantly recover to his full strength, as if divinely aided.

Secondly, there is its grade.

Even a fragment of a top-grade earth book, which can only be cultivated to the Marrow Refining stage, is enough to tempt anyone.

But he knows his own family's affairs.

With his own talent and resources, let alone the Earth Book, he could only stumble and struggle to master even the Spirit Book-level martial arts.

Having witnessed the monstrous progress of Xu Lingxian's cultivation on the Earth Book, and comparing it to the meager advancements he had painstakingly made, he had long since shamefully abandoned this path.

If he refines the Heart Imprint but doesn't imprint the Dao Realm, he'll have to rely on himself to overcome the challenges from there.

He knew without a doubt that martial arts of this caliber were extremely rare among cultivators across the heavens.

This was the reason he had been unwilling to advance, but now he had no other choice.

Just as he was about to choose to refine it, another strange change occurred on the Heavenly Heart Scroll:

[Ding! It has been detected that the scroll owner's Heavenly Heart Points exceed ten. Do you wish to spend ten Heavenly Heart Points to rewind time and forcibly imprint the Howling Moon Spirit Toad's Enlightenment Realm of Gazing at the Moon?]

Lu Ming was taken aback, then a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

He chose "yes" without hesitation.

White mist surged on the scroll, and countless words rolled out like waves:

In the Silver Moon Great World, the Howling Moon Spirit Toad constantly absorbs the pure moonlight, observes the waxing and waning of the moon, and comprehends the way of cleansing the marrow with moonlight and making the toad's roar resonate through the body's core...

[The Howling Moon Toad observes the silver moon and awakens the "Moon Toad Scripture." Link available. Link now?]

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Ming decisively chose yes.

"boom--!"

In an instant, the world spun around, and my vision was suddenly swallowed up by a cold, silvery-white expanse.

In a daze, he found himself in a strange and distant world.

Above the sky, a huge silver moon hung high, its milky white light cascading down like a waterfall, enveloping the entire earth in a dreamlike glow.

The mountains and rivers shimmered with a soft silver light under the moonlight, and a layer of frost-like white glint clung to the tips of the leaves of the plants.

"Gurgle—!"

A long, drawn-out cry came from afar.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a silver-white toad on the top of a cliff, raising its head and chirping at the moon.

The spirit toad is carved from white jade, with a layer of warm silver light flowing beneath its skin.

With each breath, moonlight poured in through its mouth and nose, flowing and permeating its entire body, seeping into the deepest parts of its limbs and bones.

With each breath, its silvery-white color shines brighter, like a piece of unpolished jade revealing its inner brilliance through repeated polishing.

Time passed slowly, and I don't know how much time had gone by.

One night, the spirit toad suddenly leaped up from the edge of a cliff.

The moment its four legs broke the air, silver light exploded like fireworks, and it strode towards the silver moon in the sky, riding on the moonlight.

"Gurgle gurgle—!"

A long, earth-shaking cry erupted from its mouth, the sound waves spreading out as if they were tangible, stirring the moonlight in the sky to surge like waves.

The sound waves crashed heavily against the silver moon—

"Boom—!"

Impacted by this, the silver moon suddenly pressed inward several degrees, and its radiance instantly became even more dazzling.

Meanwhile, some loose rocks on the periphery shattered violently in the shockwave, transforming into countless streams of light that scattered and fell upon all the heavens and myriad realms...

"Drawing moonlight into the marrow, transforming mortal essence into spiritual essence, refining the origin with pure radiance..."

"The marrow is as smooth as frost, the bones as lustrous as jade, impervious to evil influences, and self-healing and regenerating..."

"The marrow fills with the fullness of the moon, and strength is replenished with the fullness of the moon; by using the breath of the toad to strengthen the marrow, life is endless..."

Countless profound insights flooded into his mind like a torrent, and Lu Ming frantically absorbed this knowledge.

At the same time, the lunar energy around him seemed to be summoned and was instantly swallowed up by his body.

The Thunder Tiger Roar started operating spontaneously, forming a strange resonance with the insights gained from the Moon Toad Scripture.

Thunderous sounds reverberated within his body, while moonlight seeped deep into his bone marrow along the seams between his bones.

The two forces intertwined and collided, repeatedly striking the bones throughout the body.

The bones were cracked by the tiger's roar, but were healed by the nourishment of the spiritual marrow.

The moonlight cleansed and refined every bone marrow of my body, each wash removing a wisp of dark impurities and infusing it with a layer of clear silver radiance.

His injuries healed at a visible speed thanks to the combined healing of these two forces.

The skin and flesh closed up, the broken bones healed, the bruising dissipated, and it quickly recovered to its original state.

The body becomes increasingly resilient through repeated destruction and reconstruction, with a subtle, lustrous sheen emanating from beneath the skin.

A faint silvery moonlight appeared on his body, his joints creaked like the tinkling of a spring, and he looked aloof and otherworldly.

"Refining Marrow..."

He slowly clenched his fist, feeling the surging explosive power coming from his spinal cord, his heart filled with surprise.

Looking down, the stone in his palm had turned into fine white powder, which was falling from between his fingers.

He subconsciously looked down into his eyes:

[Martial Arts: Moon Toad Scripture (Superior Earth Book, Incomplete; Minor Completion 3000/20000)]

Although he had only reached the minor level of mastery, he was already content.

The Marrow Refining Realm is the level that even the patriarchs of the four powerful families in Yinhu County are at.

Now, he stands among the top people in this county.

"Hey... your technique isn't bad."

A playful voice came from above, tinged with a hint of laziness:

"It seems you're hiding quite a few secrets."