5: Chapter 5: Ranking of Ancient Sacred Bodies

Eternal Night Palace, cultivation room.

Xiao Ran sat cross-legged in the center of the Demon Gathering Array, with the resources he had just received laid out before him.

One hundred Mid-Grade Demon Crystals, ten bottles of blood soul pills, and a jar of essence blood from a third-order Demonic Beast, the Earth Fiend Demonic Bear.

He was in no hurry to Cultivate, instead picking up the Jade Slip of the Eternal Night Demon Codex first, pressing it to his forehead to study it carefully.

This Jade Slip contained all the cultivation content from the Qi Refinement Stage to the Golden Core.

The content of the Qi Refinement chapter was very basic, consisting of nothing more than drawing Qi into the body, clearing the Meridians, and opening the Qi Sea.

This stage is the first step of cultivation; the Realm is not complex, and anyone with a Spiritual Root can Cultivate.

It was simply a matter of speed!

Xiao Ran read through the entire text once more, confirming there were no differences from what he had seen in the Eternal Night Palace before.

He then put down the Jade Slip and picked up a Demon Crystal.

He planned to simply brute force his way through the Qi Refinement Stage using resources.

Perhaps other Cultivators would worry that blindly using resources to stack Realms would lead to instability, burying hidden dangers for future cultivation.

But Xiao Ran didn't need to worry at all.

Because the Myriad Dao Guixu Body could completely absorb energy and ensure that everything inhaled was pure essence, he had no need to worry about an unstable Foundation.

It couldn't be helped; an Ancient Holy Body was just that domineering.

Xiao Ran began to Cultivate using the Demon Crystals. According to the records in the Eternal Night Demon Codex, a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator could absorb at most one Mid-Grade Demon Crystal a day; any more would burst their Meridians.

But Xiao Ran found that his Guixu Body... didn't seem to think so.

He held the Demon Crystal in his palm and tried to circulate his Cultivation Technique.

In the next second, the Devilish Qi in the Demon Crystal surged into his body like a bursting flood, rushing through his Meridians toward his Dantian.

Then it was swallowed in one gulp by that black vortex.

The entire process took less than three breaths.

Xiao Ran looked at the grayish-white waste stone in his hand and fell into deep thought.

"That's it?"

He tried picking up another one.

Swallow.

Another one.

Swallow.

After swallowing ten Demon Crystals in a row, Xiao Ran finally felt his Dantian was a bit saturated.

But it wasn't that he was stuffed; it was more like being eighty percent full—he could still fit a bit more if he wanted to.

"Is this Physique of mine... a bit too gluttonous?"

Xiao Ran looked down at his hand and the grayish-white Demon Crystal within it, a grin suddenly spreading across his face.

"A mere Foundation Establishment Stage—one month will be enough!"

...

In the following days, Xiao Ran began his frantic cultivation.

When hungry, he ate blood soul pills... one of these pills could last for three days and nourish the Physical Body.

When thirsty, he drank that jar of Demonic Beast essence blood... the fishy smell made him want to vomit, but the effect was remarkable; after drinking it, his blood surged throughout his body, and his muscles felt burning hot.

The rest of his time was entirely spent devouring Demon Crystals and circulating his Cultivation Technique.

Day one, first level of Qi Refinement.

Day three, second level of Qi Refinement.

Day seven, third level of Qi Refinement.

...

By the twentieth day, Xiao Ran had already broken through to the eighth level of Qi Refinement.

If this cultivation speed were to get out, it would be enough to scare many people witless.

For an average Genius to go from a Mortal to the eighth level of Qi Refinement, it would take at least a year or a half.

Xiao Ran had only used twenty days... it was like riding a rocket.

"This speed is just so-so!"

Xiao Ran sat in the cultivation room, looking at the few remaining Demon Crystals before him with a smile.

"Xiao Ran, are you there?"

Just then, Li Changsheng's voice came through the Soul link.

"I'm here, what's up?"

"I've reached the seventh level of Qi Refinement!"

"The Dao Palace's Taishang Induction Chapter is incredible; I feel like I'm using a cheat code..."

Li Changsheng's voice was full of excitement; after all, this cultivation speed had even shocked some of the elders in the Sect.

"I'm already at the eighth level of Qi Refinement."

Xiao Ran interrupted him calmly.

"...How many?"

Li Changsheng paused, then shouted in disbelief.

"Eighth level!"

"You motherf—" Li Changsheng took a deep breath. "On my side, I can absorb at most six or seven Mid-Grade Spirit Stones a day. Any more and my Meridians start to feel a bit sore and bloated. What about you?"

"Ten stones a day to start with."

"And I feel like I could do more, but resources are limited, so I didn't dare try."

Xiao Ran spoke honestly.

"...Freak," Li Changsheng muttered, then said seriously, "By the way, I was looking up information in the Scripture Pavilion today and saw something interesting."

"What is it?"

"The Ancient Saint Physique Rankings."

Li Changsheng explained, "Supposedly, it was ranked by a great expert in ancient times, recording one hundred and eight types of innate Saint Physiques. My Innate Dao Embryo Saint Physique is ranked seventh, and your Myriad Dao Guixu Body is ranked third."

Xiao Ran raised an eyebrow at the news. He knew about Saint Physiques, but he wasn't clear on the specific rankings.

"What are the top two?"

"First is the Chaos Dao Body, which legend says can evolve into Chaos and create the heavens and earth."

"Second is the Spacetime Divine Body, which supposedly involves the Laws of time and space."

"However, these two Physiques haven't appeared for thousands or even tens of thousands of years; they're basically legends now."

Li Changsheng, acting as a fountain of knowledge, passed everything he had seen and heard to Xiao Ran.

"Are there other Saint Physiques in the Demon Sect and the Dao Palace?"

"Yes," Li Changsheng said.

"I asked Second Senior Sister, and she said that at least half of the top eight Demon Sons of the Eternal Night Demon Sect possess Saint Physiques. Our Supreme Dao Palace's two Saints are also like this: Eldest Senior Brother Ling Jianxin has the Sword Bone Dao Embryo, ranked fifteenth; Second Senior Sister Su Qinghan has the Taiyin Spiritual Physique, ranked twenty-first."

"It's the same for other Holy Lands; they basically all have one or two Saint Physiques."

Xiao Ran became thoughtful upon hearing this.

So this world， Geniuses are not uncommon.

He was just one of them, and a particularly gluttonous one at that.

"There's one more thing."

"I heard that the Eternal Night Demon Sect has a Myriad Demon Trial Tower with a total of one hundred and eight floors. It's a Divine Artifact passed down from ancient times, corresponding to our Dao Sect's Dao-Seeking Tower."

"There are rewards for every floor passed, and it can also test your strength. Do you want to give it a try?"

Li Changsheng said.

"Trial Tower?" Xiao Ran's heart stirred, and a hint of interest arose.

He was just worrying about not finding a reference point!

"Alright, I'll go take a look tomorrow."

The two chatted for a few more moments about their cultivation insights before cutting the link.

Xiao Ran stood up and walked to the window of the Eternal Night Palace.

In the distance among the mountains, he could vaguely see a massive, pitch-black tower towering into the clouds.

Even from such a distance, he could feel that majestic pressure.

"The Trial Tower, huh..." Xiao Ran murmured. "Just as well, I also want to know what level I've actually reached."