In the following days, Lu Ming secluded himself for diligent cultivation.
With the batch of High-grade Bone Refining Pills he obtained from Zhou Xuan, Lu Ming's bone-refining progress was exceptionally rapid.
In just a few days, his second bone-refining was already nearing completion. When Lu Ming perceived his Divine Ability Bone, he could see spiritual light flowing across it, occasionally emitting faint, profound sounds, like the low growl of a tiger and leopard, or rolling thunder.
This was a sign that the second bone-refining was about to be completed.
When Lu Jin learned of Lu Ming's progress, he was delighted. At the same time, he instructed him to temporarily stop consuming Bone Refining Pills, because in the final stage of bone-refining, it was best to rely on one's own cultivated divine abilities to facilitate the final step of formation. Only then would the tempering effect reach perfection.
Relying solely on medicinal power would always leave omissions. These omissions might not be noticeable in the short term, but over time, they would affect one's foundation and roots.
Lu Ming naturally dared not ignore the old man's valuable experience.
Thus, for the next two days, he temporarily stopped taking High-grade Bone Refining Pills and instead poured all his energy into cultivating his two Lower Divine Abilities.
Under diligent cultivation, the two Lower Divine Abilities, Flame Blade and Lesser Lightning Flash, became increasingly proficient and easy to wield. However, it was regrettable that neither had yet entered the Great Success stage.
Clearly, there was a considerable gap between Initial Success and Great Success.
But Lu Ming was not impatient. Cultivating divine abilities naturally required time. Like Yuan Da and Gao Yu, who had dedicated months or even longer to painstakingly cultivate a Lower Divine Ability to Great Success, he, despite possessing a Sub-Heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone, could not achieve it overnight.
...
Boom!
A faint rumble of thunder echoed in the courtyard. Lu Ming's figure flashed past, his feet adorned with faint streaks of lightning, allowing him to swiftly navigate various obstacles in the courtyard like a nimble cat.
Lower Divine Ability, Lesser Lightning Flash.
Mastering this divine ability could enhance one's speed.
In just over ten breaths, Lu Ming's figure had covered dozens of zhang, appearing before a massive rock covered in scorched blade marks. He extended his palm, primordial energy surging from his body, instantly transforming into a foot-long crimson blade of light on his hand.
The blade of light pulsed, emitting high temperatures that made the air shimmer.
Lower Divine Ability, Flame Blade.
Lu Ming's eyes sharpened. He swung the Flame Blade, continuously striking the giant rock before him. Flames shattered, and a series of fiery blade marks constantly appeared.
After dozens of slashes.
Lu Ming's face finally paled. The crimson fire blade in his hand ultimately shattered into countless sparks as his primordial energy was depleted.
Phew.
Lu Ming panted, looking at the increasingly deep flame marks on the giant rock. This indicated that his Flame Blade realm was improving daily, but the fire remained crimson, without a trace of azure flames.
“Brother Yuan, Sister Yu, and the others, their Flame Blade almost always reached the Great Success stage during their third bone-refining. Looking at it that way, my primordial energy intensity isn't quite enough right now, which is why I haven't been able to reach the Great Success stage yet.”
Lu Ming wiped his sweat, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
However, to increase primordial energy, one could only rely on cultivating the Qi Refining Technique daily. Lu Ming was currently stuck in the final stage of his second bone-refining, where he couldn't rely on the power of pills. Only by honing his divine abilities and circulating primordial energy daily could he bring the bone-refining effect to perfection.
“If only there was another way to increase the intensity of my primordial energy…”
Lu Ming muttered to himself. Suddenly, his eyes flickered as he remembered the mysterious Fire Lotus divine ability imprinted on his Divine Ability Bone.
Buddha's Fury Flame Lotus.
The grade of this mysterious divine ability was unknown. Currently, Lu Ming had only developed its effect of enhancing the grade of his Divine Ability Bone, and even that was more of a passive activation; he hadn't truly mastered it.
“Perhaps one day, when I can perform this divine ability's 'Fusion Technique,' its true power will be unleashed.”
However, judging from the information inherited from the mysterious Fire Lotus, this so-called 'Fusion Technique' would require the fusion of at least two spiritual fires, neither of which Lu Ming currently possessed.
“If I complete my third bone-refining, perhaps I can try to obtain the 'Life's Flame' fire seed from within the black ring space. And our Thunderfire Hall's Mid Divine Ability, Golden Liquid Fire, can transform into a divine ability fire. I wonder if combining these two could allow me to perform this Fire Lotus's 'Fusion Technique'?”
Lu Ming was extremely interested in 'Life's Flame.' Although this miraculous spiritual fire wasn't skilled in offense, its functions were astonishing and perfectly suited for his developmental stage.
On the path of divine abilities, while talent was important, cultivation resources were equally indispensable. The same talent, combined with different resources, would lead to vastly different outcomes. Currently, he was only in the Bone Refining stage, and his family was already tightening its belt to gather resources for him. As his realm advanced in the future, the high-level resources required would be immeasurable, and at that point, everything would depend on himself.
And this 'Life's Flame,' if used well, might become one of his greatest aids on the path of divine abilities.
As Lu Ming pondered 'Life's Flame,' a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him.
“Right, my Flame Blade can't reach the Great Success stage right now because my primordial energy isn't dense and refined enough. But the 'Fire Lotus divine ability' is extraordinary; it can absorb primordial energy and transform it. If I use this transformed Fire Lotus primordial energy to activate my divine abilities, wouldn't the effect be even better?”
Thinking this, Lu Ming immediately wanted to try. With a thought, his Divine Ability Bone subtly vibrated, and the primordial energy within it surged, all flowing towards the Fire Lotus imprint.
The Fire Lotus imprint, in turn, swallowed all this primordial energy without reservation.
As the primordial energy poured in, a lotus petal on the Fire Lotus imprint ignited, its flame flickering and emitting peculiar fluctuations.
Lu Ming carefully activated the flames on the lotus petal. Streaks of flame darted out like agile fish, then rapidly circulated along the Flame Blade's divine ability trajectory within his body.
The young man extended his palm, fingers together, forming a hand-blade.
Whoosh!
The next instant, flames suddenly swept out from the pores of his right palm, transforming into an extremely scorching, violent Flame Blade.
Lu Ming's pupils slightly contracted, followed by a surge of shock and ecstasy.
Because this time, the fire blade in his palm no longer glowed crimson, but had transformed into azure flames.
Flame Blade, Great Success stage!
It actually worked!
Lu Ming's heart pounded. Unable to contain his ecstasy, he swung the azure fire blade in his hand directly at the giant rock before him. Accompanied by a low rumble, a flame blade mark, half an arm deep, clearly appeared before his eyes.
The destructive power was far more astonishing than dozens of previous slashes.
The Great Success stage Flame Blade was truly extraordinary!
However, after this single slash, Lu Ming also faintly felt a sense of weakness emanating from his body. This was due to the extremely intense consumption of primordial energy. Clearly, while the transformed 'Fire Lotus primordial energy' was incredibly potent, at Lu Ming's current level, he could only sustain it for a short time.
The 'Fire Lotus primordial energy' was consumed rapidly. As it dissipated, the azure fire blade in Lu Ming's hand quickly dimmed, first turning crimson, then directly extinguishing and vanishing.
Evidently, without the 'Fire Lotus primordial energy,' Lu Ming's Flame Blade could not remain in the Great Success stage.
Nevertheless, successfully performing the Great Success stage 'Flame Blade' this time made Lu Ming feel his Divine Ability Bone emit a joyous hum. It seemed that previously unreachable hidden areas had been tempered.
He was getting closer to perfection.
This achievement filled Lu Ming's face with joy. At this rate, he would likely complete his second bone-refining entirely in no time.
While Lu Ming was excited and happy, a small figure in the courtyard bent low, like a stealthy kitten, and crept to the stone pavilion. She then pulled out some items from her embrace and quietly tucked them into the cloth bag Lu Ming had left on the table.
Having done this, she quickly turned to slip away.
But before she had taken a few steps, a hand grabbed her by the back of her collar, lifting her directly.
“Lu Mengmeng, what trick are you up to now?” Lu Ming asked, looking at the girl in exasperation.
“Nothing at all,” Lu Mengmeng said, widening her innocent eyes.
Lu Ming used his other hand to grab the cloth bag, shook it, and several light green pills tumbled out.
Lu Mengmeng showed a naive smile: “Brother, these are all the Qi Refining Pills I've saved up these past few days. You're cultivating too hard, and I want to do my part to help you.”
Lu Ming fell silent, then extended a finger and flicked Lu Mengmeng hard on the forehead.
“You lazy good-for-nothing, if you don't want to cultivate, then don't. Don't give me such a grand excuse.” Lu Ming was both annoyed and amused. If he hadn't taken Qi Refining Pills himself during his Qi Refining stage, he might have actually believed the little girl's touching story.
Qi Refining Pills were necessary for the Qi Refining Realm, and they tasted extremely bitter.
Clearly, Lu Mengmeng was forced by Lu Qingyan to consume Qi Refining Pills for cultivation every day. So, she cleverly thought of slipping these secretly hoarded Qi Refining Pills to Lu Ming, calling it saving her own resources to help her brother cultivate.
“I really am thinking of you!” Lu Mengmeng stubbornly denied it, insisting on her story.
She understood the principle that confessing meant a beating, while being stubborn only earned a scolding.
“Thank you very much, but these Qi Refining Pills have no effect on me.” Lu Ming put her down and then tucked the Qi Refining Pills back into her pocket.
This girl might genuinely have had a slight intention to save resources for him, but mostly she just wanted to be lazy.
“Next time you secretly save Qi Refining Pills, I'll tell Father.”
“Ugh.”
Hearing Lu Ming invoke their father, Lu Mengmeng could only droop dejectedly.
“Go cultivate properly. Your father and I are going out to run errands, and I'll bring you some Sunset Crisps when we get back.” Lu Ming said, amused, as he ruffled the little girl's hair.
Hearing “Sunset Crisps,” Lu Mengmeng immediately perked up, agreeing eagerly and showering him with flattery.
Lu Ming, after a brief tidying, turned and exited the inner courtyard.
This task was specially assigned by Lu Jin, for Lu Ming to accompany Lu Qingyan on errands, so he could gain some understanding of Thunderfire Hall's affairs. At the same time, after such a long period of secluded cultivation, he needed to go out, relax, and broaden his horizons.
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