The leader of the Tier One Wolves dove under the spirit deer's large red antlers dodging its strike.
The wolf leader swiped with its talon like claws towards the neck of the spirit deer leader causing it to neigh and rear upwards.
It was at this moment that Wu Tianmo dove from the top of the gorge with his weapon pointing down.
He descended directly onto the leader of the Tier One wolves and drove his weapon through the wolf's skull.
The blade passed through its head then shattered onto the rocky ground below.
In the end, it was only a training sword.
Wu Tianmo, who was now on the back of the dead wolf leader retracted the handle of the sword disappointed.
He was now in a predicament.
He had no weapon and a peak tier one beast staring at him.
The peak Tier One Spirit Deer looked in shock as Wu Tianmo waved dismissively towards it.
He yelled,
"Leave!"
It took a few limping steps back instinctually, its enemy was killed in one strike. Wouldn't it also be on the chopping block?
Wu Tianmo radiated a red aura causing it to feel fear.
It decided to run towards its herd, as fast as it could. Yet it also acknowledged that it was spared by the mysterious person.
Wu Tianmo sighed and the red aura dissipated,
"It's a good thing that the beast isn't intelligent... If it realized my sword was destroyed I doubt it would have left so easily."
He looked at the spoils of war with pride, he had a great harvest this time.
Nearby was a deep cave with a bit of natural light where he dragged the bodies of the dead wolves. He had to act quick or the smell of blood would attract more predators.
He quickly blocked the entrance of the cave with beast repellent gifted by the Liu clan alongside the fasting pills.
He then dug a bathtub size hole, each of the wolves was placed around the hole with their blood draining.
Wu Tianmo stood there looking at the dead wolves and their leader,
"Do I really have to bathe in this... I'm starting to understand why the bones of that skeleton were red."
He then thought of his trapped clan member and was resolved to continue, for the Wu Clan, there isn't anything he wouldn't do.
His clan was everything to him, whatever it took to bring his clan back to prosperity, he would do it.
--
1 hour later
--
The hole was now filled with the full pack's blood, the blood was crimson yet a bit of it was brighter than the rest. That was the leaders blood, it was at the peak of Tier 1, it's blood had been refined giving it a brighter sheen.
Wu Tianmo spat next to the blood pool before taking off his robes, this exposed his figure.
He was a proud sword cultivator and didn't have an ounce of fat on his body. His skin tightly wrapped his moderate muscles. His body was lean and powerful, honed through years of relentless sword training.
He walked to the edge of the blood pool then slowly stepped in not to splash any around causing waste.
Even though Wu Tianmo was tall, only his head was uncovered by the deep pool. He took a deep breath then submerged himself within taking the lotus position.
While cultivators could hold their breath, this technique would test those limits.
He started to circulate the Crimson Lunar Blood Scripture causing the blood pool to illuminate a bright red.
The spirit beast blood carried the spiritual essence that cultivators refined into qi, in abundance. Normally cultivators couldn't directly refine this essence from spirit beast blood but Wu Tianmo was different.
His refined Qi wasn't normal, it was Blood Qi. This allowed him to refine the spiritual essence within the blood violently.
The crimson crescent moon on his forehead started to glow as the blood pool swirled around him, the blood and essence poured into his tendons all over his body.
The pain was excruciating, as if his tendons were being violently stretched and torn then threaded back together.
---
4 Hours Later
---
The blood pool was slightly drained as a portion of it was refined into his body.
A blast of crimson aura shot through the top of the blood pool, he had broken through to the 4th Stage of the Body Reforging Realm.
Bone Tempering.
Wu Tianmo couldn't believe it, he rapidly broke through... This technique was truly heaven defying!
Continue!
Wu Tianmo wasn't done, the blood pool was still nearly full so he pressed on.
The blood pool began to illuminate once again yet it was slightly dimmer than the original refinement.
The blood swirled and poured through his pores into his body, the streams of blood twisted violently like small water spouts within his body, drilling throughout the bones creating veins of refined blood qi.
The bones all over his body were being destroyed then bound together by these new veins of blood qi.
With every heartbeat, the veins within the bones pulsed and illuminated.
After each break his bones were remolded and slowly taking on a crimson sheen.
---
8 hours Later (12 total)
---
A second burst of red aura escaped the blood pool and it's level had decreased to half.
He had broken through in the 5th Stage of Body Reforging Realm, Blood Tempering.
Wu Tianmo's head was revealed and he took this chance to breathe heavily.
While the progress was staggering, he had been submerged for over 12 hours at this point and nearly drown.
If anyone saw this cultivation speed they would be filled with desire and envy.
The Crimson Lunar Blood Scripture devoured the spiritual essence within the wolf pack's blood. What would normally take months, even years of careful tempering was violently condensed into a few hours.
Despite his body's painful state, he grit his teeth,
"Continue!"
He began circulating the Crimson Lunar Blood Scripture.
The pool illuminated once more, once again dimmer than before.
All the blood remaining belonged to the leader of the wolf pack. The younger and less powerful wolves blood was easier to refine and devoured first.
The wolf leaders blood was like oil in water, it separated due to its refined nature.
Wu Tianmo recalled the nature of this stage in cultivation, it was special for many reasons.
At the blood tempering stage a cultivator would use the spiritual energy to refine his blood removing any impurities, yet for Wu Tianmo this stage took a more dramatic turn.
He started to feel different, a chant in a language he didn't understand started to echo within his mind.
This chant got louder and louder, with each chant the cells within his blood pulsed and exploded.
The pool began to violently swirl, entering his body through every pore and through the seven orifices.
He grit his teeth to not yell out in pain, yet this pain was different, it was constant and seemingly never-ending.
---
12 hours later
---
The pain was worse than anything he had felt before, it burned, and pulsed like daggers throughout his body. All the blood was being cleansed, as if it was carefully scraped by a knife of all it's imperfections.
His heart stopped momentarily from the pain,
I can't fail here....
*Mysterious Chant*
*Ba dum.... ba dum ba dum bad dum*
Wu Tianmo roared out in defiance of death as a burst of red aura exploded from his body, along with a layer of black filth.
He had broken through to the 6th Stage of the Body Reforging Realm, Organ Tempering.
Yet this time the red aura merged with his own killing intent and took on the form of a 100 meter long celestial serpent covered in thick scales the size of shields. Its head had antler-like horns of a deer, large whiskers that flowed in the wind, fangs like that of a lion, and glowing red eyes that burned with the ferocity of the sun.
This wasn't just any serpent, it was the legendary dragon.
A loud roar echoed throughout the cave, then the dragon shaped aura broke through the ceiling.
The force was fierce, shattering the very mountain the cave was within.
Wu Tianmo fell backwards within the now empty hole which was stained red,
"That was... a dragon.."