Apex War God

The Wolf Companion Blood Crystal was the size of a fist, with blood strands running along its sides. Shining and translucent, this precious stone was formed with the blood of the Wolf King and could be considered a King Class object.

When an ordinary wolf spirit swallowed this Wolf Companion Blood Crystal, not only would its bloodline improve, but its strength would also increase significantly, improving its chances of becoming a Spirit King.

It could be said that such a Wolf Companion Blood Crystal was a rare find, one that could bring a human great benefits when refining the physical body.

Yang Wu didn’t just cultivate. Since childhood, he often read with his brother, except that his brother read scholarly books while he read books about all kinds of fantastic oddities. Hence, he recognized the Wolf Companion Blood Crystal that Lang Jie spat out at a glance.

So how could he not feel a pang at the sight of Sooty simply gulping down such a precious treasure?

With just a teeny bit of this rare treasure, he could temper his body further. This held great benefits without any downsides for him.

Fortunately, Sooty wasn’t one who only thought of itself. The dog quickly returned and spat out a thumb-sized Wolf Companion Blood Crystal from its mouth. The young man snatched it up and said, “Hey, Sooty, this piece of King Class object may not mean anything to you, but this doesn’t mean you can behave like a prodigal, you know. With such a big piece, couldn’t you have left a little for Skinny Monkey and Xiaoman, too, on top of giving me some?”

The puppy stuck out its tongue, revealing two pieces of blood crystals nestled inside its mouth, then quickly rolled its tongue in.

Yang Wu laughed heartily and stroked the dog gently. “I was wrong to blame you.” After a pause, he glanced at Lang Jie, still sprawled on the ground, not daring to move, and asked Sooty, “What should we do with it?”

The young man dearly wanted the Wolf King as his mount, but he dared not stand out too much. If he did, he would definitely kick up a storm, and he still wanted to get rid of his prisoner status openly.

Sooty rolled its eyes, then barked a few times at Lang Jie, which nodded submissively to the orders. A while later, it stood up and said in the human tongue, “Here’s a wolf fang; please accept it. It’ll prevent you from being attacked by my pack, and you can look for me anytime in my territory.”

After saying that, it spat out a rather large wolf fang to Yang Wu and, after giving Sooty a reluctant glance, took off into the night sky.

The young man picked up the sharp wolf fang and commented delightedly, “Now, I have an amnesty token for the wolves!”

This rare opportunity that fell into his lap was really a pleasant surprise.

At the moment, what he wanted most was to use this piece of Wolf Companion Blood Crystal. He knew he couldn’t devour it the way Sooty had; its Spirit Energy would immediately finish him off. To use it to temper his body, he had to soak it in water first.

However, it was difficult to bathe in the prison, so where could he find water to soak the item for tempering his body?

It looks like I have to trouble Big Sister Lanxin! Yang Wu thought to himself.

He found a piece of rag in short order, wrote a few words on it with charcoal, and then handed it to the little black dog. “Sooty, help me to pass this to my big sister tomorrow.”

The dog took the rag in its mouth and nodded.

That night, Yang Wu could not meditate, so he practiced his combat techniques all night instead and greeted the morning sun the next day.

That morning, he did not sit to absorb the morning propitious energy. As he stood with his palms behind his back, the propitious energy sank into his body automatically.

Right then, he opened another seven acupoints, just two short of 108.

Despite staying up all night, Yang Wu was sprightly, energetic, and radiant, his mind not the slightest bit sluggish.

Around this time, a prison guard carrying a tub came up the mountain speedily.

This prison guard was very young, around the same age as Yang Wu. He would not be considered handsome, but his tough, resolute air made him more attractive the longer one looked at him.

This young prison guard put the tub in front of Yang Wu and said with an unkind scowl, “I don’t know what your relationship with Captain Wan is, but I hope you understand your position and don’t implicate her in your affairs.”

After saying that, the young guard turned around without waiting for Yang Wu’s reply and strode down the mountain.

Yang Wu watched the figure depart and laughed, “This must be another youth charmed by Big Sister Lanxin.”

Just then, Sooty scampered in from outside, appearing in front of him with something clenched between its jaws. Glancing at the puppy, he said with a cocked brow, “Sooty, you’re finally willing to get me some aged herbs for nourishment, aren’t you?”

What the dog had in its mouth was aged frost gathering grass, an herb for countering heatiness. Although it was not as precious as blood ginseng, it was valued for its mild, cooling properties, which helped to reduce heatiness, and was easy to absorb.

[TL Note: Heaty and cooling are concepts from traditional Chinese medicine. All foods are categorized into two categories, heaty and cooling. The basis for this is the concept of Yin and Yang. Too much of either can result in problems, so a balance needs to be achieved. This concept is not present in modern Western medicine. Here is an article explaining this concept further and some examples: https://www.benefits-of-honey.com/heaty/.]

The black puppy gesticulated with its front paws, apparently telling the young man to throw the herb into the tub.

Yang Wu understood. “You want me to use this frost gathering grass together with the Wolf Companion Blood Crystal?”

The dog nodded repeatedly in agreement.

“Alright!” The young man knew that Sooty would not do anything to harm him, so he agreed and carried the tub into the stone hut. After throwing the thumb-sized blood crystal and the grass inside, he stripped, stepped into the tub, and assumed the Dragon Turtle Water Suppression Stance to absorb the water-attributed Profound Energy in the ground below him. Even a General Realm cultivator might not have this ability to draw water out of the ground like that.

For most of the day, the young man stood with his full concentration. The water inside the tub grew from damp patches into a puddle, then rose to his knees. Eventually, water filled the tub to the brim.

Yang Wu submerged himself in the water, feeling completely comfortable. His mental and physical fatigue was swept away in an instant. Inside his body, the peach-pit dantian was absorbing the water-attributed Profound Energy, with the meridians and acupoints humming in synchronicity. He could open a total of 108 acupoints and enter the Superior Grade Warrior Realm anytime.

He held the Wolf Companion Blood Crystal in his palm and crushed it into pieces. The instant the blood crystal shattered, Spirit Energy escaped into the air to manifest a dark shadow in the shape of a wolf prancing toward him with sneering claws and jaws. Others would have been terrified in this situation, but Yang Wu was already prepared; he had worn the wolf fang on his chest. This was a wolf fang from before Lang Jie became a Wolf King. Although it wasn’t a King Class item, it was still a Consummate Grade General Class fang. Not only could the wolf fang resist the wolf spirit’s Spirit Energy, but it could also calm his heart.

The Spirit Energy disappeared before it could get close to the young man. The energy from the blood crystal began to disperse, instantly turning the water in the tub crimson. The water started to boil without warning.

Hiss!

The young man felt like he was inside a steamer. The boiling water was so hot that it made him scream and spasm. He wanted to jump out of the tub for fear of dying.

He endured the excruciating pain, gritting his teeth and thinking to himself, I survived the bloody aura. This pain is nothing!

The Wolf Companion Blood Crystal was only the size of a thumb, but its energy was sufficient to temper a General’s body. As Yang Wu was just in the Warrior Realm, it naturally was enough for him.

The blood crystal had heaty properties while the frost gathering grass was cooling in nature. The herb started to work its effect around this time, producing wisps of cold energy that slightly reduced the heatiness inside the tub. Otherwise, the heat from the water would have been terrifying, beyond the tolerance of a General, much less Yang Wu’s.

Yang Wu discarded all distracting thoughts. He circulated the Supreme Nine Profound Art with all his might and took up the Dragon Turtle Water Suppression Stance to absorb the energy that penetrated his body.

With the combination of the Supreme Nine Profound Art and the Dragon Turtle Water Suppression Stance, the energy inside of the tub was continuously absorbed into his pores and eventually reached the peach-pit dantian. The Profound Essence released from the thousands of tiny holes in his dantian was like rosy clouds, which was truly mystical.

While this energy strengthened the peach-pit dantian, more seeped into the young man’s flesh and viscera, strengthening these little by little, making them incredibly tough.

As Yang Wu endured the pain of the high heat on his flesh, he could also sense his Mental Energy improving. Otherwise, he couldn’t have withstood the pain and would have fainted on the spot. Even if the scalding did not kill him, he would have wasted all this energy.

Another half day passed and night descended. The redness of the water in the tub finally subsided, and the water no longer boiled.

The young man remained standing, his face no longer evincing pain. There was a faint figure of a dragon turtle behind him, but it was so faint that it was almost imperceptible.

Suddenly, the water inside the tub stirred once more. This time, it did not boil but swirled rapidly like a whirlpool. After rising to a certain level, the water overflowed. Yang Wu opened his eyes, and the tub burst.

Bang!

The water spilled all over the place as a robust, well-balanced, and perfect body revealed itself.

Bursts of unusual noises like tens of thousands of arrows whizzing through the air resounded. Then, a spate of swirling vortexes appeared, motes of light dappling his body like stars and finally forming a long, spectacular rainbow.

Rainbow-Strung Acupoints!

This was a sign unique to the breakthrough to the Superior Grade Warrior Realm.

Yang Wu opened fourteen acupoints in a row, breaking through the limit of 108 acupoints to reach 120 acupoints. Profound Energy swirled rapidly in each acupoint. In fact, the Profound Energy in the twelve major meridians and the minor meridian was like a raging river.

In addition, another meridian seemed to be reacting slightly; unfortunately, the energy could not clear it.

Yang Wu opened his eyes, which were like two laser beams cutting through the night. The area three hundred meters or so outside the hut was clearly visible to him. A soft sound reached his ears, the sound of the prisoners sleeping inside their dens.

“It’s totally different once one reaches the Superior Grade Warrior Realm. Now, I can go to those higher-ranked prison bosses for a wager. Let’s see if they’re willing to contribute the Scarlet Steel Rock they collected,” he muttered to himself.

After putting on his prison clothes, he executed a few Spiraling Waves Rending Palm Strikes. The Profound Energy sent out from the center of his palms was remarkably dense, and the spiraling force was sufficient to drill through a General’s Profound Armor.

Aside from that, the cicada armor around him appeared sturdy and strong, resembling a General’s Profound Armor. This naturally meant that his defense had risen by several levels.

Patting the blue shell and his tough physical body, Yang Wu smiled. “This body is impervious, right?”

After that, he assumed the Dragon Turtle Water Suppression Stance again and began visualizing the Dragon Turtle Sea Flipping Art. He made tremendous gains each time he revisited this combat art. This was truly a supreme secret technique.

The next day, before Yang Wu could challenge block 1, someone over there came to look for trouble first.

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