I am in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have a demonic beast clone!

three days later.

Deep in the Taiyue Mountains, beneath a secluded cliff with jagged rocks, rarely visited by humans.

Zhou Ding appeared silently. He cautiously scanned his surroundings with his divine sense. After confirming that it was safe, he walked to a seemingly ordinary boulder, gently hooked his finger into a crevice, and a gray storage bag stained with some dried soil and dark red blood fell into his hand.

This was exactly what Xiao Jin had taken from Lu Mingyuan that day.

Instead of checking immediately, he quickly put away his storage bag and put away Little Gold, who was lurking nearby and keeping watch for him, back into his spirit beast bag. Then, he rode the Willow Leaf Shuttle, made a large circle, and returned to Yellow Maple Valley, quietly returning to the Xuankun Mountain courtyard.

Inside the quiet room, all restrictions were lifted.

Zhou Ding's heart raced slightly. He took a deep breath before taking out the bloodstained storage bag.

He wiped away the last faint trace of residue and poured the contents of the bag out in front of him.

First, there was a small pile of spirit stones, about two hundred low-grade spirit stones.

For a direct descendant of a prestigious family like Lu Mingyuan, who is on track to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, this number is not large. Perhaps most of the resources were invested in cultivation and purchasing the Azure Dragon Banner.

The talismans were mostly basic to high-level fireballs, ice arrows, and Vajra talismans, with nothing particularly remarkable about them.

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Finally, there were two narrow jade bottles, each only as thick as a thumb, pure white, with their mouths tightly sealed with pale gold talisman paper.

The talisman paper is decorated with intricate and mysterious patterns drawn with cinnabar, emitting a stabilizing effect on the medicinal properties and preventing the leakage of spiritual energy.

Zhou Ding carefully peeled off the sealing talisman and opened the stopper of the first jade bottle.

"Buzz..."

An indescribable, refreshing medicinal fragrance, accompanied by pure and abundant spiritual energy, instantly permeated the entire quiet room. Just a whiff of it was enough to clear Zhou Ding's mind and make his internal magical power seem more vibrant.

Inside the bottle, a pill the size of a longan, perfectly round, pale golden in color, with nine natural cloud patterns slowly flowing on its surface, lay quietly, radiating a warm and alluring luster.

Foundation Building Pill!

Opening the second jade bottle revealed another Foundation Establishment Pill, though the cloud-patterned flow was slightly different, but its unique and powerful medicinal power and Daoist charm were exactly the same!

"Two Foundation Establishment Pills!" Zhou Ding was overjoyed and almost burst into laughter.

After planning and lying in wait for half a month, he took the risk and made his move, all for this very thing!

Now that he has finally succeeded, it means that he no longer needs to risk his life in that blood-red forbidden land where he has a slim chance of survival, and he already has the key to the path to Foundation Establishment!

With these two Foundation Establishment Pills, he could find a safe and secluded place to concentrate on his cultivation and try to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage!

If successful, lifespan will increase to over two hundred years, magical power will liquefy, and strength and status will undergo earth-shattering changes!

However, after the initial euphoria, calm quickly returned.

Zhou Ding's smile gradually faded, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"I possess three spiritual roots, making me utterly unremarkable within Yellow Maple Valley. If I were to 'luckily' succeed in Foundation Establishment so soon after Lu Mingyuan's death... how would I explain this to outsiders?"

He muttered to himself, his eyes sharp, "At that time, how could the sects, especially the Chen and Lu families, not be suspicious? Lu Mingyuan was killed while possessing a Foundation Establishment Pill, and then I, a scion of a lower-class family with no connection to him and mediocre talent, suddenly achieved Foundation Establishment... This is practically writing the word 'murderer' on my face!"

Zhou Ding seemed to have already foreseen the terrifying investigation and backlash that would ensue if he rashly attempted to establish his foundation.

The Chen family may be happy to see Lu Mingyuan die, but the Lu family will never let it go!

The fury and intensity of the investigation of a cultivation family that has lost its Foundation Establishment Pill and direct descendants can be imagined.

In order to quell the situation and uphold the sect rules, Huangfeng Valley will certainly intervene.

At that time, Zhou Ding will become the target of everyone's criticism. Even with his Foundation Establishment cultivation, he will find it difficult to withstand the infighting of a powerful family or even a sect's law enforcement force.

"No, at least... I need to wait until things calm down. A year, maybe two, until Lu Mingyuan's death is gradually forgotten, or is classified as an 'accident' or 'the work of a cultivator from another sect,' then it would seem more reasonable for me to 'luckily' break through." Zhou Ding made his decision. He possessed two Foundation Establishment Pills, giving him relatively more time, and there was no need to put himself in danger just to gain a year or two.

Having figured this out, Zhou Ding felt reassured. He carefully resealed the two Foundation Establishment Pills with talisman paper and, along with the other items, categorized them and stored them in his most secret storage bag.

Since he couldn't break through to the Foundation Establishment stage for the time being, he couldn't waste this window of opportunity. He flipped his hand and took out the jade slip containing the body cultivation technique he had acquired from the auction but had never practiced before—"The Hundred Beasts Body Forging Technique".

"My Qi cultivation is complete, but my magical power has reached a bottleneck. I'll use this time to temper my physical body and embark on the path of dual cultivation of body and magic!" A determined look flashed in Zhou Ding's eyes.

With his current excellent physical foundation and sufficient resources, now is the perfect time for him to cultivate this skill.

After carefully studying the opening chapters and the key points of the first level of the technique, he went to the market again.

Instead of going to a large shop like Wanbaolou, they found several shops specializing in monster materials and spent a lot of spirit stones to purchase several fresh blood essences of "top-tier level one monsters", such as "Ironback Demon Bear", "Crimson Scale Python" and "Wind Wolf King".

He also purchased several kinds of auxiliary spiritual medicines according to the prescriptions attached to the "Hundred Beasts Body Forging Technique".

Back in the courtyard, he prepared a specially made large wooden tub, filled it with clean water, and added the essence blood of demonic beasts and crushed spiritual herbs in the correct proportions.

Soon, the clear water in the bucket turned into a viscous dark red liquid, emitting a strong smell of blood and mixed medicinal fragrance, with a faint sense of violent spiritual energy surging within the liquid.

Zhou Ding took off his clothes, gritted his teeth, stepped into the wooden tub, sat cross-legged, and immersed his whole body in the demon blood potion, leaving only his mouth and nose exposed.

"hiss--!"

The moment he entered, he gasped. The liquid, a mixture of demon blood and spiritual herbs, seemed to instantly transform into countless tiny steel needles, frantically drilling into every pore of his body!

It wasn't simply scorching or freezing, but a savage, violent energy, carrying the residual ferocity of a demonic beast, brutally washing over and pounding his skin, muscles, fascia, and bones!

The excruciating pain felt like being sliced ​​by a thousand knives, or being repeatedly forged by a heavy hammer.

His skin instantly turned bright red, and his veins bulged. Zhou Ding focused intently on his spiritual platform, silently circulating the first level of the "Hundred Beasts Body Forging Technique," guiding this violent energy along a specific route within his body. At the same time, he used his powerful blood and willpower to forcibly withstand, digest, and absorb this power.

The process was extremely painful. Even a cultivator who had reached the peak of Qi Refining, or even a beginner in Body Cultivation, would probably not be able to endure it for long before fainting or damaging their foundation.

However, Zhou Ding's physical body had been strengthened and modified by feedback from several clones, making it exceptionally resilient with wide meridians and a tolerance far exceeding that of his peers.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his muscles trembled uncontrollably, but he gritted his teeth and persevered, keeping his mind clear and guiding the medicinal power of the demon blood deep into his limbs and bones.

Two hours later, the dark red liquid in the bucket became much lighter in color, and the violent spiritual energy in it was basically absorbed.

Zhou Ding then exhaled a long breath of foul air, which smelled of blood, and slowly opened his eyes.

Although his eyes were tired, they still shone with a sharp light.

He could feel that after this painful tempering, his skin seemed to be a little firmer, the power contained in his muscle fibers had also increased slightly, and his bones seemed to have been wiped clean of some impurities, becoming more lustrous.

"It works!" Zhou Ding's spirits lifted.

Although the progress is small, this is only the first time!

Moreover, the fact that he endured pain that would break an ordinary cultivator means that he can continue this tempering process!

From then on, every two or three days, after his body had fully recovered and digested the previous gains, Zhou Ding would undergo "Demon Blood Body Tempering" again.

The type of demonic beast blood used each time varied slightly, to simulate the meaning of "all beasts". As the number of times increased, he felt his physical body becoming stronger and more resilient step by step at a slow but steady pace.

His blood and qi were becoming increasingly vigorous, and he exuded power in every move he made. Beneath his skin, there was a faint, fierce aura that was a mixture of various demonic beasts.

……

That day, Zhou Ding had just finished a body-training session and was recuperating when a sound transmission talisman suddenly passed through the courtyard's restrictions and flew to him.

As he crushed the talisman, an aged yet authoritative voice resounded directly in his mind: "Zhou Ding, come to Luo Ling Peak to see me immediately."

The owner of the voice was—Zhou Yong, the patriarch of the Zhou family!

Zhou Ding's brows furrowed instantly.

Since he joined Huangfeng Valley, this family patriarch, who was in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, had only met him once at the beginning of his journey and offered a few words of encouragement. He had not been summoned since.

Now, at this sensitive time, they've suddenly summoned me...

After a moment's thought, his face darkened.

"The Bloodstained Forbidden Zone!" Zhou Ding was almost certain.

The purpose of this ancestor, whose lifespan is nearing its end, summoning him, a member of the Zhou family, is self-evident!

……