The next few months were uneventful, yet quietly significant in the lives of Si and Bao. Bao finally broke through into the Second Foundation Realm and spent nearly an entire month in jubilation, shamelessly neglecting his training.
Normally, Si would have scolded him without mercy. This time, he allowed it. After being trapped at the same bottleneck for over a year, how could Bao not be excited?
Meanwhile, the steady influx of corpses never ceased, keeping the burial grounds saturated with dense, frigid yin energy, perfect for Si's cultivation.
For three months, their lives settled into a rigid cycle of work, cultivate, eat, and rest. All distractions were severed without hesitation. Anything Si deemed irrelevant was cast aside without a second thought. Bao struggled at first with this relentless, joyless version of Si, but little by little, he began to adapt.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye, and Si finally approached a critical threshold in his cultivation.
Wooooosh!
The winds howled savagely across the burial grounds that night. Rain lashed down in violent sheets, turning the soil into thick sludge. Yet at the center of the graveyard, a solitary figure sat unmoving, as if carved from ice.
Immense yin qi surged into his body, assaulting his bones and seeping deep into their very structure. The process was far from pleasant. It felt as though a million three-inch needles were piercing him from within, drilling into every inch of his skeleton. The agony defied description, yet it was necessary.
In ordinary bone refinement, cultivators relied on supplements to strengthen their skeletons. Some even practiced animal-based tempering techniques in hopes of mimicking the toughness of beasts.
"Panther bone. Tiger bone. Dragon bone. All inferior to my Dead Bone Tempering Technique," Si scoffed inwardly.
The fatal truth the Martial World refused to acknowledge was simple: humans could never become animals. A cultivator practicing Tiger Bone Tempering would never possess bones equal to a tiger's. If the two ever clashed, the former would be crushed like an insect.
His technique was different.
The Dead Bone Tempering Technique delivered exactly what it promised.
As its name implied, it carried two primary effects. First, it dulled sensation within the bones to an extreme degree. Pain signals weakened, nearly severed. On the battlefield, this allowed its practitioner to move with ruthless efficiency, unconcerned with fractures or cracks that would cripple others. Those brave or foolish enough to cultivate such a diabolical method could only be described as walking corpses.
Picture that one madman on the battlefield, limping forward with a dagger clenched in his teeth, limbs twisted at grotesque angles, bones shattered beneath torn flesh, yet his expression remained unchanged. No screams. No hesitation.
Yes.
That man was Si.
The second effect was more tangible. The technique gradually increased bone density, thickening and reinforcing the skeleton over time. The result was immense physical strength at the undeniable cost of speed.
That was why, in his previous life, he had possessed a lean frame yet wielded the strength of ten men, capable of sending dozens flying with a single sweep of his Black Dragon Glaive.
Wave after wave of yin qi crashed into his bones like a relentless tide. They crushed him inch by inch, splinter by splinter, only to rebuild him in the same breath. Every fracture widened, then filled. Each crack expanded, then solidified, thicker than before.
Kacha!
"Gahh!"
A single cry tore from his lips as a violent shockwave erupted from his body. In that instant, it felt as though his frozen skeleton had been thrust beside a blazing furnace, the ice melting away to reveal something refined, something monstrous beneath.
Dead Bone 1-Dan achieved.
Si exhaled slowly. Frosty vapor drifted from his mouth. A strength this frail body had never known coursed through him, as though two beings now inhabited a single vessel.
"That means I can finally use those techniques…"
Murderous light flickered in his eyes.
KRAK!
He threw a slow, unassuming punch. There was nothing elegant about it, no flourish, no explosive display of qi. Yet the air split with a violent cracking sound, like stone being cleaved apart.
Gravebreaker Fist.
A short-range, bone-driven strike that transmitted force directly through the reinforced skeleton into the opponent. It did not rely on surface damage. Instead, it sent shockwaves inward, fracturing organs and bone alike. With his numbed skeleton, recoil was negligible.
"Harrumph!"
Si crossed his arms before his face and channeled yin qi into his skeletal frame. Instantly, his bone density surged. His body grew heavier, his movements slowed. Beneath him, the saturated earth sank under the sudden weight.
"Ossuary Guard," he murmured.
An ultimate defensive technique that had served him even after reaching the Grand Martial Realm. He channeled qi into his skeleton, causing bone density to spike violently. The body grew heavier, movements dulled, yet incoming blows felt as though they struck a burial monument.
He also possessed Marrowquake Stomp. By descending from height and slamming his reinforced heel into the ground, he could send a bone-conducted shockwave rippling through the earth, fracturing the terrain and destabilizing everything within five zhang.
And finally, White Coffin Embrace.
This was his trump card within the Foundation Realm.
It was a grappling technique. Once he secured a hold, escape became nearly impossible. His numbed bones ignored joint strain, allowing him to bend limbs at unnatural angles and apply crushing force without hesitation. To his victims, it felt as though they were being sealed inside a coffin while still alive.
Many talented cultivators with brilliant futures had perished within that embrace, cut off from friends and family. Watching them struggle always reminded him of prey ensnared by a massive python.
At first, they would fight fiercely. Then their strength would begin to wane, and then their will would collapse.
And finally, the light in their eyes would vanish.
By the time death came, he had broken not only their bodies, but their spirits as well.
"Yunhe," he laughed hysterically into the storm, standing amidst graves and rain, "your Divine General of Death has returned!"
Only one breakthrough remained. Once he entered the Fourth Tier of the Foundation Realm, he could enlist in the Bi family army. He could finally leave this graveyard behind, exchange rags for proper clothes, cold stone for a warm bed, scraps for real meals. More importantly, he would gain a place where he could cultivate his demonic art without restraint.
If the Gan Dynasty knew that the darkness destined to incinerate their empire was awakening here tonight, they would dispatch the imperial legions without hesitation.
"Fengzu!" Si roared, one eye swallowed by shadow. "If you fail to kill me in this first year, you will never have another chance! The Battle of Tu'lu will not end the same way again!"