Immortals and Demons Forever

Chapter 28: Body Tempering with Heavy Sand

After resting, he resumed his training, and the black heavy sand was soon covered with a layer of bloody handprints. It was already night outside, but deep inside the mine, there was no distinction between day and night. Su Mu’s strange behavior caught the attention of quite a few people, including Hu Fo and his gang—the very ones he’d beaten up. He hated Su Mu with a passion; the injury from that kick to the groin would keep him sidelined for at least a week. He soon heard about the incident between Su Mu and Brother Da, and couldn’t help but gloat inwardly. He never expected karma to strike so quickly. “Brother Hu, what on earth is that kid up to? Has he lost his mind from too much pressure?” “I think he’s close—he’s already a bit out of his mind. Hasn’t he been pounding that wall for six or seven hours now?” Hu Fo asked. “Definitely. I don’t think he’ll stop all night. It’s absolutely hilarious. That black heavy sand is so hard—even an iron shovel bends when it hits it—and he’s delusionally trying to dig through it with his bare hands. I really don’t know what’s going through his head.” “Who cares? Let’s just wait patiently for Brother Da to beat the crap out of him. Once he’s thoroughly beaten up, I’m going to get my revenge! Nothing else matters—first, let’s take him out!” Actually, if it were anyone else, they wouldn’t have been able to keep striking like that with just their bare hands for this long. The Falling Sand Palm technique requires daily practice, and you need to soak your hands in medicinal liquid every day to alleviate the damage to your palms. If you didn’t do that, you might end up injuring your hands before you even mastered the technique. Zhong Da was also concerned about what Su Mu was up to, and when he received a report, his reaction was quite peculiar. At first, he thought Su Mu was intensifying his training, but such a reckless approach was clearly wrong. Could it be that he was intentionally injuring himself so that, out of concern for his reputation, Zhong Da wouldn’t be able to intervene—or so he could ask the foreman for permission to go out and treat his palm injuries? To be honest, self-harm was indeed a clever ploy to escape his predicament. In Zhong Da’s eyes, Su Mu’s actions amounted to self-harm. He was weighing whether to intervene; if he did, it would seem to play right into Su Mu’s hands—it was no small feat for someone to be so ruthless toward himself. He truly admired Su Mu, but when his younger brother was beaten up, as the older brother, he had to at least avenge him—even if it was just a simple punch, he had to make that gesture. If Su Mu were to stay here long-term, he might even step in to recruit him right now—not only would he not seek revenge, but he’d also treat him to a feast of rich foods. While others were either suspicious or sneering, Su Mu was so excited he almost shouted out loud. With every palm strike he delivered, a wisp of nearly imperceptible black mist would rise from the heavy black sand and seep into his body! Su Mu wasn’t foolish enough to train his palm to the point of ruin—but as he struck, he suddenly sensed a surge in his Source Power! This unexpected discovery filled him with immense joy. Upon closer examination, he realized that the blood flowing from his palm had absorbed some substance from the black heavy sand—a phenomenon that reminded him of his discovery at the Xuanwu Cliff, which was almost a perfect parallel. Looking at such a vast expanse of black heavy sand, Su Mu was so overjoyed he nearly fainted. In addition to the growth in his Source Power, Su Mu gradually discovered that his physical constitution was also noticeably strengthening. He could hardly believe it—after completing the Bone-Washing stage and entering the Post-Heaven Realm, there was still such immense room for improvement in physical cultivation! This could be considered a second round of physical refinement. A faintly visible layer of black qi swirled around his body, and as he repeatedly struck the wall, the sound of cracking bones echoed from his body. His bones were actually growing. As soon as the black sand layer on the wall in front of him stopped releasing black qi, he immediately moved to another spot—who would want to stop when such a good thing was happening? So, to others, it looked as though he had fallen into a demonic trance. But Su Mu wasn’t about to stop for even a second—he was actually absorbing power right before his eyes! Once the special substances within the black heavy sand were absorbed by his blood, although the color remained pitch black, the material had actually transformed into ordinary sand and gravel—so soft that a single punch could pierce right through it. As Su Mu continued striking, he quickly noticed that the force required was steadily decreasing, so he adjusted his strikes to avoid arousing suspicion. He kept striking for over ten hours until his entire body went limp with exhaustion; only then did he reluctantly lie down to rest, and the moment he closed his eyes, he fell into a deep sleep. In his dream, he found himself back in that ancient wasteland; the bizarre, ancient creatures that had once surrounded him were nowhere to be seen. Above him hovered a platform—the very one he had once stood upon, looking down upon all living things around him. This time, he had descended to the ground and was walking aimlessly forward. “Hahahaha, I can sense him!” A maniacal laugh echoed from the sky. “Once I catch him and extract that drop of essence blood, I too can become…” “Don’t even think about it! He’s mine! No one can take him from me. I’ll tear him to pieces and drain every last drop of blood from his body!” “I’ve come for you, having crossed a hundred thousand mountains. You insignificant mortal—you can’t escape my grasp!” Various voices rang out from the sky, like thunderclaps. “Don’t come any closer! Terrified, Su Mu took off running, driven by instinctive fear. He ran so frantically that he tumbled down a steep slope. He tumbled into a thicket of thorns, which pierced his entire body with excruciating pain. After finally breaking free from the thorns, he found himself facing a cliff. With a blood-curdling scream, he plummeted downward into a vast frozen lake with a huge hole in its center. Su Mu plummeted straight down; his entire body froze instantly as he was swept downward by the turbulent currents at the bottom of the lake. He was swept all the way to the bottom of the lake, then plummeted from the sky and landed on a mountain of fire. Instantly, his clothes caught fire, and his feet were scorched, causing him to hop about in pain. The mountain of fire suddenly began to tremble; lava spewed from the crater, and surging magma rushed toward Su Mu. Surrounded by flames with no way to retreat, he watched helplessly as the molten lava was about to engulf him. “No! He sat up with a start, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. It had all been a nightmare that had left him drenched in cold sweat—he’d actually thought it was real. “Xiao Mu, are you okay? You’re finally awake!” Lao Heitou, who had been watching over him, was both surprised and delighted. “I—I’m fine.” “How can you be okay? You’ve been asleep for a whole day and night—I couldn’t wake you no matter how much I called out to you.” “What? I’ve been asleep that long?!” Su Mu was taken aback. “Yeah. I thought you must be sick—your body kept alternating between hot and cold, and sometimes you were shaking uncontrollably. I went to ask the members of the Supervision Team to come over, but they didn’t even bother to respond.” Su Mu couldn’t help but think back to that strange dream—falling into an ice hole and getting pricked by thorn bushes. So those had been his body’s reactions to feeling unwell. But what about those thunderous voices? Why overthink it? It was just a dream. “Lao Hei, I’m really fine—I feel great.” Su Mu suddenly sniffed a few times. “It stinks! What’s that awful smell?” “Xiao Mu, the smell is coming from you. The locals are gloating, saying you’re about to die and your body has already started to stink…” Su Mu hurriedly checked his body and saw a layer of black, sticky substance on his skin—impurities being expelled from his body. How could so much be coming out? His physique had already undergone a purifying process once after he fell to the bottom of the pit and absorbed the essence blood. The more impurities expelled, the stronger his tendons, bones, meridians, and blood would become! For those who have reached the Posthuman Realm, opportunities to further refine their tendons, bones, and meridians are extremely rare. This was truly a cause for immense celebration!