Those four words were the only warning the arrogant Alchemist got. Right after, he felt like a rock smashed into his face.
He was struck so hard that his entire body shot through the Missions Hall. He crashed into the wall, right by the entrance. There was a horrifying cracking sound as his skull contacted the unyielding brick. The contents of his bags and pockets spilled all across the floor, and Nelson landed in a crumpled heap right next to the door.
Instantly, the Missions Hall fell dead silent. Everyone was already watching the confrontation between the two, and many thought the Alchemist was being far too unreasonable. They also thought Nelson was an idiot – who didn't know James had a terrible temper? They were waiting to see what James would do.
Yet, none of them expected James to attack. Attacking an Alchemist was completely different from attacking a teacher!
'James… is there no limit to his courage?' they all thought in shock.
No one ever dared to offend Alchemists, much less attack one. Even in the most extreme cases such as wars or massacres, the Alchemists from the losing side would be left alive, and were even welcomed to the winning side. That was just how valuable Alchemists were.
The last time someone attacked an Alchemist in the Swan Sea Sect was centuries ago, and his story was now circulated as a warning. As a result of that attack, the Alchemy Hall announced no one with any relationship to the attacker could buy their pills. After the man was whipped to an inch of his life, he found himself alone and friendless, unable to use the pills of the Swan Sea Sect to heal himself or cultivate. The entire sect shunned him, and it wasn't long before his cultivation progress slowed, and he was expelled.
Harry neither knew nor cared about any of that. In fact, he was about to teach this arrogant fatty another lesson, but stopped when he noticed the items rolling around the ground.
"These, are these healing pills?" his eyes gleamed. Picking one up and sniffing it, he broke into a smile.
Though they weren't the Earth Grade healing pills he'd gotten from Slughorn and the Exalted Cat, these pills had a similar fragrance to them. They were Ordinary Grade pills, but still precious in their own right.
"Perfect, I just happened to need some healing pills. Haha, it must be my lucky day," laughing, Harry ran around the Missions Hall, eagerly picking up the pills rolling around the ground. His expression no longer looked angry or frightening, rather, he looked like a gleeful scoundrel.
He was worrying about how he'd heal his injuries, both his existing ones and the ones he'd get after refining the Beast Flames. But it seemed like the answer was right here.
"Oh? And here's another kind of pill!" Harry spotted a batch of different pills. A vial in Nelson's pocket shattered, sending eight green pills wheeling around the floor. He didn't know what they were for or what they were called, but he took them anyways. In his mind, every pill was a treasure.
The Exalted Cat was right. The fastest way to get rich was to rob someone.
"You - " the Alchemist was fuming with rage, but in too much pain to move or speak. His head was ringing, blood was flowing out his nose, and his vision was spinning. He'd never felt so much pain in his life. He could only helplessly lay on the ground and watch as his pills were taken.
"Since you gave me these pills, I'm in a good mood and I'll let you off. There's no need to thank me," Harry laughed again.
'You attacked me and stole my pills, why the fuck would I thank you?' Nelson wanted to roar.
"The punishment is 180 lashes, right? Just find me when you're ready to administer it," Harry called over his shoulder as he left.
Harry gathered all his cultivation resources in his dorm.
First was the bag of Purple Qi Fruits. He upended the bag, revealing exactly 25 fruits, ripe for eating. They had a fresh, sweet smell, and sort of resembled pears, except they were larger, and purple.
Next were the Beast Flames, held in little bottles. The Flame Capturing Jars were miraculous inventions. They not only contained flame, but also contained the heat. The outside of the jar was warm to the touch, but not hot.
Then there were his pills. There were only two Body Nourishing Pills left over, but he also had the three Qi Gathering Pills. From his inquiries, he understood these pills would gather all the surrounding Qi in the area, and let it enter his body. They were precious resources, but doubly so for Body Tempering Realm cultivators who couldn't naturally absorb Qi.
For most pills, the most important aspect was their quality. But for these pills, what mattered more was how much Qi was in the surroundings, in other words, the location. If Harry used these pills in Crystal Mine City, the effect wouldn't even be as good as using a Body Nourishing Pill. But using these pills here would be much more effective.
Finally, he pulled out the healing pills he robbed – ahem, accepted – from that fat Alchemist.
'Haha, I'm rich!' he thought merrily as he admired his small pile of wealth. But then he remembered he was about to open his 8th meridian, and his excitement faded.
The 8th meridian was the Muscle Meridian. It was dispersed across every muscle in his body, just like how the Blood Vessel Meridian wound through every blood vessel. He knew once he started to open this meridian, he would suffer a pain impossible to describe.
'I'll start with the Purple Qi Fruits,' he reasoned. Pills could stay fresh and useful for long periods of time, but the fruits would eventually rot. Who knew when he'd collect enough resources to break through the 9th level? And he couldn't risk opening the 9th meridian until he had enough, lest he ran out in the middle and was stuck in agonizing pain forever.
He bit into the first of the Purple Qi Fruits. Its fragrance filled his mouth, like an explosion of flavor. It was very sweet, the sweetest thing he'd ever eaten, and as the fruit traveled down his throat, it dissolved into streams of Qi that traveled through his meridians.
They traveled through his body, and reached the ends of the Blood Vessel Meridian. Yet, Harry held them there, not allowing them to enter his muscles just yet. He swallowed another fruit, then another. He ate five, then he could no longer hold it anymore.
'This is going to hurt like hell. Here it goes.'
Like a dam bursting apart under the pressure of the water behind it, the mass of Qi forcefully entered his Muscle Meridian.
Back when he worked in the Qi Crystal mines as a child, sometimes, he'd overwork himself and get muscle cramps. His muscles tightened up, shocking him with a bolt of pain, and he'd clutch his body in agony until it went away.
This pain was like those muscle cramps, but a thousand times worse. And moreover, it was happening in every muscle of his body at once.
He fell to the floor as his leg muscles stopped responding, and began spasming in pain. To his horror, he could see the muscles on his arms and legs contracting and writhing, like they were possessed and trying to escape out his body. It was as if the poison animated his muscles and was tearing them off his bones. Gritting his teeth, Harry continued cultivating.
He reached over for more fruits, knocking the entire table over in the process. His precious fruits rolled all across the floor. But that didn't stop him. He crawled over and ate them right off the floor in desperation, as quickly as he could. Fruit after fruit dissolved into Qi, which he hurriedly pushed into the 8th meridian. They joined in the battle against the poison wracking havoc in his muscles.
Harry felt this pain in his full body, from the muscles in his cheeks and throat to the tips of his fingers and toes. His whole body was uncontrollably twitching and jerking about.
Once or twice, the pain was too much and Harry passed out. But a moment later, a fresh wave of it woke him back up.
He lost track of time, but it must have been an hour of unbearable pain. By the end of it, he was left groaning on the floor, unable to resist. The moment his 8th meridian began to open, the pain vanished and he felt the poison retreat from his meridians. He broke into a smile of relief, then fell unconscious.
Another hour later, he shakily got back up, and continued cultivating.
Though he felt like he experienced the pinnacle of pain, he knew opening the 9th would be even worse. He sensed the poison leave his muscles, but sink into his bones. He shuddered to think just how much pain opening the Skeletal Meridian would entail. According to Slughorn, the pain of the last level was so great no one had ever survived it before.
As he recovered, he slowly ate the other fruits, savoring the sweet taste. Because the fruit dissolved on its way down his throat, he didn't feel full no matter how many he ate. It was no problem for him to eat all 25.
Next, he refined the remaining high-quality Body Nourishing Pills. Yet, he felt his Muscle Meridian was only three-quarters of the way open. That amount of resources could easily get someone from the 1st to the 9th level – but for him, he couldn't even get from the 7th to the 8th.
'Guess I have no choice but to use one of these,' he grumbled as he picked up one of the Qi Gathering Pills. He was hoping to save them for when he entered the 9th level, but he underestimated his own consumption.
He swallowed the pill, and the moment he did, he could sense the Qi in his surroundings stir. As if it were roused awake, it began rushing towards him. The range of this pill wasn't that large, only limited to the Qi in and around his house, but it was enough.
The Qi accumulated and formed a small whirlwind as it circled around his head, then entered into his body.
It was like trying to swallow a stream. Qi poured in his body, nourishing his muscles and filling his meridian. He was lucky his body could handle so much Qi at once – for anyone else, they wouldn't be able to refine so quickly, and the Qi would be wasted. Or worse, their meridian would explode. But Harry's 8th meridian was rapidly filling up.
'Maybe I should have started with this,' Harry sighed. If he used this pill from the beginning, he wouldn't have needed to force himself to keep swallowing the fruits. The Qi would continually enter his body and naturally push the poison back.
A couple minutes later, Harry entered the 8th level of the Body Tempering Realm.
There was still plenty of Qi around him, but he refrained from using it. Unless he had enough resources to break through the 9th level one go, he didn't want to risk it. He regretfully let the remaining Qi slowly dissipate back throughout his environment.
With a tiny bit of hope, he wondered if a Magic Spirit would appear. But nothing happened.
'Everyone knows Ranks 1, 2, 3 awaken at the 1st level. And Slughorn said Ranks 4, 5, 6 awaken at the 2nd level. Assuming the pattern continues, at the 8th level, the corresponding ranks are 22, 23, and 24,' Harry reasoned, and then snorted.
Out of the millions of people in the empire, not even 100 were blessed with Rank 4 Magic Spirits. And out of the billions of people in the world, very, very few were blessed with Rank 5 Magic Spirits. The Exalted Cat itself said that Rank 6 Magic Spirits probably didn't exist. Something like Rank 22 was so far-fetched that nobody even considered it.
Everyone got their Magic Spirit by the 2nd level of the Body Tempering Realm. There was no such thing as awakening a spirit at the 8th level.
He was definitely Spiritless.
'Whatever, I've already come to terms about that. I should finish Burning Blood now. I wonder how strong I'll be then.'
And when he finished Rebirthing Muscle… he was almost too scared to consider the possibility. Would it stack up with Burning Blood? Perhaps if he used both at the same time, he'd be as strong as someone at the 3rd level of the Qi Absorption Realm. That sort of powerup was impossible to believe. Who ever heard of a Body Tempering Realm cultivator with such strength?
It was the hope of strength that drove Harry to perform his next actions. He took a deep breath, opened one of the Flame Capturing Jars, and grabbed ahold of the Beast Flame.
The fire encompassed his hand, and he let out a scream of pain. He immediately stuffed a healing pill into his mouth.
There was a force decomposing his hand, melting his skin and assaulting his nerves, while another one simultaneously healed his wounds. It was a battle taking place on his flesh. He was being burned alive, then he was healed, then he was burned alive, then healed, and on and on and on. The flesh of his hand was destroyed and regrown countless times.
Though the healing pills restored his body, it didn't dampen the pain. All he could do was clench his muscles and urge the Nameless Seed to absorb Fire Qi faster.
Streams of Fire Qi were racing through his arm, and entering the seed. Then they rushed through his blood vessels and converted the blood in his body. Drops of blood were forming at an incredible rate. He could feel his veins filling up and transforming as the seed greedily devoured the fire.
The worker in the Missions Hall was right. The ball of fire was incredibly compressed, in no way inferior to the amount of fire he'd gotten from the Scarlet Flame Wolf. It took many minutes of agonizing pain until the ball of fire shrunk to the size of a Purple Qi Fruit, then to a pill, until the last bit of it finally vanished.
He didn't stop there. Once his hand was healed, he opened the next jar, and repeated his actions. He was afraid that if he hesitated, he'd waver and lose the strength to continue.
It was fortunate Harry had a high tolerance for pain, as it was a slow process. After refining the first two flames, he reached 50% completion. Each of the flames after were able to convert roughly 10% of his blood.
The third flame… the fourth… the fifth… the sixth…
As it turned out, he earned just enough Beast Flames. In the middle of refining the 7th flame, he felt Nameless Seed stop absorbing Fire Qi, and he immediately snatched his hand back from the jar. Once it was healed, he examined his body.
When he finished Strengthening Flesh, he felt the Nameless Seed harden in his body, like it turned into wood. That was the first time he felt the seed itself transform.
Now, he felt a second transformation. The seed started to emit heat, like a soothing flame in his abdomen. It was generating Fire Qi constantly, endlessly nourishing his blood and providing a separate source of energy alongside the Wood Qi. His veins were humming, vibrating slightly, just waiting to unleash their energy.
'Now for Rebirthing Muscle… where am I supposed to find a shitload of Earth Qi? And what about regular Qi, for reaching the 9th level? That's also going to be a massive headache to obtain. I can use the Qi Gathering -'
Harry froze as he abruptly realized something.
Once he was at the 9th level, he'd enter the Qi Absorption Realm as soon as he reached Perfect Opening. For the average cultivator, it took many weeks, even months, to reach Perfect Opening. It took a long period of practice and letting Qi flow through one's body before it happened.
But for him, and for reasons he still didn't understand, it only took a few days. Indeed, he reached Perfect Opening in his 7th meridian his second day at the beach. He knew in a few more days, he'd reach Perfect Opening in his 8th meridian too.
That meant a few days after he opened his 9th meridian, he'd be in the Qi Absorption Realm. It was beyond his control.
For anyone else, that would be fantastic and unbelievable news. They would be jumping and crying with joy. But for him, it was terrible.
He still needed to complete the rest of the Nameless Technique – Rebirthing Muscle, Forging Bone, and Washing Marrow. Once he was in the Qi Absorption Realm, he wouldn't be able to cultivate it. Therefore, he was stuck at the 8th level for the foreseeable future.
'Damn it, why didn't I realize this sooner? I need to find Earth Qi! Ah, I wish the cat was around – '
A loud roar from outdoors interrupted his thoughts.
"JAMES EVANS, GET THE HELL OUT HERE!"