Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Five Viscera Blaze Like a Furnace, Qi and Blood Temper the Golden Body

The brand-new breathing technique was the sharp axe in his hands, used to fell this giant tree of cultivation.

Everything hinged on the Qi. Over the next few days, Chen Yu focused his energy on it—adjusting his breathing, guiding the Qi, and conducting extensive experiments. Beyond the various cultivation methods recorded in Taoist books and scriptures, he also let his mind wander, conceiving many new approaches. While few were truly effective, by verifying them one by one, he was bound to find the right path eventually.

Time flowed like water, and two days passed in the blink of an eye.

The sky was no longer overcast, returning to its usual clarity. The little deer had vanished once more. After being fed a few more peach blossoms, its wounds had scabbed over; two poultices had been applied, and once the scabs fell off, he removed the bandages and stopped replacing them.

The gluttonous deer had departed, and Chen Yu did not stop it. The grass in the Taoist temple had been eaten clean, and his woven basket was empty, not a single blade of grass remaining.

During those two days, the rain had stopped early. He had ventured into the mountains once with a wooden staff, but whether the black bear had been truly terrified out of its wits or not, he never managed to find it.

After patrolling the chicken coop and confirming there were no breaches, he returned to the courtyard to begin his routine practice.

Today, however, things were slightly different—the Qi seeds in his heart, lungs, and kidneys were slowly merging, leaving only the final step. This meant these three areas were nearing metamorphosis, just as his liver had half a month prior.

Chen Yu set out a censer, placed a Clarity Pill in his mouth, and composed his mind. After a long while, when his thoughts were clear and empty, he poured his spiritual power forth, letting it permeate his internal organs, and eventually, his entire body.

As his spiritual power swirled, with each breath, strands of milky-white Qi were infused into his organs. He watched silently, waiting for the moment of completion.

At a certain moment, the flesh around his heart contracted sharply as the final wisp of Qi merged within.

Thump-thump! Thump-thump!

The expansion and contraction quickened, and waves of denser, thicker blood surged from the ventricles, pumping throughout his body.

While this blood was not quite the "primal blood" nourished directly by Qi, it was significantly stronger than his old blood. What caught his attention was that, as the blood circulated through the heart, it showed a tendency to gradually transform into primal blood. Conversely, some primal blood was drawn into the ventricles, where it was further refined before being pumped out again.

Before he could dwell on it, his kidneys and lungs also underwent changes.

The metamorphosis of the kidneys triggered his skeletal structure, sending waves of soreness and numbness through his spine that made him stir slightly.

In cultivation, it has always been said that the liver governs the sinews, the kidneys govern the bones, the spleen governs the flesh, the heart governs the vessels, and the lungs govern the skin and hair.

As for the lungs, after the metamorphosis, they seemed unchanged at first glance. But when Chen Yu took a light breath, a sense of clarity rose from within them, soothing the heat generated by the surging primal blood and making it even gentler than before.

Clear-headed and invigorated, the metamorphosis of his lungs seemed to grant him more than just improved breath-holding and respiration; there was something inexplicable about it, something more peculiar compared to his other organs.

With a thought, Chen Yu employed his breathing technique. As expected, guiding the Qi had become much simpler. In the past, it felt as if every strand of Qi was covered in thick layers of gauze, requiring time and effort to unravel before it could be driven.

Now, however, it was vastly different. While he couldn't say it moved entirely at his whim, it was certainly no less effective than using his spiritual power to guide it. With the two working in tandem, his speed was greater than ever before.

It takes long to describe, but in reality, all three changes occurred in an instant. Just as Chen Yu decided to stop his practice to study the effects, a chaotic surge of Qi suddenly erupted within his body.

He focused his attention and saw that the Qi was coming from his spleen and stomach.

What was happening?

Though unexpected, Chen Yu remained calm, his spiritual power already prepared to handle such anomalies. Before the Qi could lash out and damage his internal organs, he drove his spiritual power to surround it completely.

He partitioned, refined, and finally merged it into the surrounding flesh.

The reaction of Qi merging into different parts varied: in the acupoints, it would sprout fetal membranes and polyps; when merged into organs, it would first coalesce into a Qi seed, slowly nourishing them to trigger a qualitative metamorphosis.

As for other areas, he had yet to discover anything, either because the amount merged was too small or because there was simply nothing special about them.

Bang!

The Qi was suppressed. However, the primal blood was also agitated by the restless Qi. It was a chain reaction; even with his current control over his body, he could not stop it in time.

Bang!

Another sound followed. The five viscera were interconnected, and as the blood surged, it sounded like thunder roaring endlessly within his torso. The Qi in his spleen and stomach began to pour rapidly into the organs. His stomach churned, beginning its metamorphosis days ahead of schedule.

Chen Yu made his decision in two breaths.

He diverted a portion of his spiritual power, pulled the loose Qi from his acupoints, and channeled it into his spleen and stomach, accelerating the metamorphosis further.

Rumble! The surging primal blood roared through his sinews, bones, and flesh. With each thunderous pulse, a vast, unstoppable force—like a mountain collapsing and a jade pillar toppling—gathered and stimulated his entire body.

A hazy red mist seeped from his pores, shrouding him in a circle a foot wide. Within this canopy of colored clouds, the roaring did not cease.

It was like a tripod!

Inside the "tripod," Chen Yu was struggling to hold it together. His breathing technique was pushed to its absolute limit. With every inhalation, a large amount of blood mist was sucked into his nostrils, and with every exhalation, it was blasted out, shooting out several feet like a plume of fire.

What he was exhaling was impure Qi—the accumulated waste within his body.

Breath after breath, his entire body became translucent.

At this moment, Chen Yu gulped down a mouthful of spiritual liquid and grabbed another handful of peach blossoms. The connection between the five viscera was profound; the metamorphosis of the spleen and stomach was accelerating repeatedly, and the primal blood was expanding so much that his flesh could barely contain it.

He barely managed to stabilize the internal injuries.

Huff! Huff!

His breathing technique continued to cycle. The changes within were too violent. No sooner had the primal blood calmed than a fetal membrane was breached, polyps sprouted, and spiritual liquid flowed into his liver. All four other organs operated in unison, and the Qi within his body was consumed at a rapid pace.

Finally, in silence, the metamorphosis of the spleen and stomach was complete.

Skree!

The final breath of turbid air, long-settled in his chest, was blasted out, striking the courtyard wall not far away. The sharp, piercing sound of tearing fabric left a finger-deep hole in the masonry.

Chen Yu, however, felt nothing, for the changes within had not yet ceased. Perhaps due to the connection of the five viscera, his bone marrow began to draw in a large amount of Qi at that moment. Finally, with the heart and bones acting in unison, despite having prepared thoroughly and even memorized several blood-replenishing prescriptions, the blood-changing process began abruptly.

Fortunately, he had anticipated the blood change, and the process was far less dangerous than he had imagined.

Amidst the swirling blood mist, threads of energy floated, sometimes sinking into his body, sometimes rising and overflowing.

Drip!

Fresh blood seeped from his elbows, stained his clothes, and fell to the ground.

This seemed to be a signal. In the blink of an eye, his entire body flushed red, and then blood began to emerge from every pore.

At first, this blood was dull, but as the blood energy intertwined, accompanied by muffled thumping sounds, a trace of vivid crimson appeared—a red so pure and intense it was striking.

Inside his body, once the five viscera had fully metamorphosed, his internal organs fused into one, and the muffled thumping originated from there. It was like a furnace, using blood energy as firewood to ignite a roaring fire, clearing away all impurities.

Unknown how much time had passed, the midday sun fell from above.

In the Taoist temple, the red mist around Chen Yu had vanished, replaced by a faint white light that draped over him like the glow of the moon.

The blood scabs fell away, revealing his face. His skin was as translucent as jade, and under the pale light, he looked even more like an otherworldly immortal.