Yin Xiu and Hu Meng spent two more days searching various parts nearby in the forest. They stood above a pile of poisonous plants, and the poison gland of an early stage Qi refinement thee-tailed wood scorpion that Hu Meng had killed in their search.
"Hu Meng do you all have a cauldron that I could possibly use to soak in these poisons?" Yin Xiu asked as he looked at the various materials that should be useful for his cultivation.
"We found a dead alchemist once. There should definitely be a cauldron in his bag." Hu Meng responded after thinking a moment.
"It seems like not very many here cultivators leave here alive." Yin Xiu sighed.
"Well, most of the places in the forest have very territorial spirit beasts living in them. I'm honestly kinda surprised you managed to make it as far as you did if I'm being honest. Before you came here I'd never seen a living human, only dead ones. If you had cultivation base when I first saw you I probably would have not been so willing to befriend you." Hu Meng added.
"Understandable, maybe it was fate. Let's get this started and see if I can complete my skin refinement."
Hu Meng quickly entered the cave he shared with his mother before coming out not long after with another storage bag that looked more luxurious than the one they had looted from Senior Brother Ming. "Alchemists are really rich, my mother found a ton of useful herbs, and medicinal pills that helped her advance to stage 5 from this guy. Unlike the poor ghosts we encountered." Hu Meng said with resentment. Quickly pulling out an ordinary cauldron with strange lines engraved into it. Hu Meng then controlled the arrays carved into it, to enlarge the cauldron to a size that Yin Xiu could barely fit inside.
"What does a rank 5 spirit beast correlate too in human cultivation terms?" Yin Xiu asked with keen interest. He had been curious about just how strong Hu Fang was ever since he first met her and felt the pressure she exuded.
"Rank one is from the early to lower middle Qi refinement stage, rank three and four are the same but for the foundation establishment stage, and rank five and six for the core refinement stage. It'll be a while before we get to that level of strength." Hu Meng said with a touch of longing.
"It really is far from us now." Yin Xiu agreed as he started throwing in the poisons they had accumulated over the past few days. Quickly he ground them up like he had with their original test until a creepy grayish liquid was formed in the cauldron. With wisps of miasma occasionally rising up from the mixture ominously. Hu Meng instinctively felt his hair stand up just looking at it.
"Are you sure this won't kill you?" Hu Meng asked warily while moving back several meters. In case he inhaled the miasma accidentally.
Yin Xiu casually looked at the mixture, and began disrobing. "Honestly it'll probably be a terrible experience at first, but I should be able to handle it. If I survived that white tree, I should be able to handle this fairly easily. Not to mention the enlightenment I experienced allowed me to more easily accept toxins into my body."
Yin Xiu took a deep breath before hopping directly into the liquid. The poisons immediately seeped into his skin and flesh, as Yin Xiu felt a myriad of effects take hold of his body simultaneously. His skin froze, burned, turned necrotic, bubbled with pus, shriveled up, Yin Xiu almost passed out multiple times in agony as his body underwent the torturous feeling.
Hu Meng was appalled as more and more time passed with Yin Xiu still becoming increasingly unrecognizable. About five minutes in, the bone in his chest finally moved, absorbing and tempering his skin. Yin Xiu's body slowly healed as some poisons were removed while others were absorbed into the skin. Noticing the change, Yin Xiu dropped his head into the mixture as well. Holding his breath to completely refine every inch of skin he had. He became increasingly pale as black impurities were helplessly dissolved in a deluge of toxins while every cell was coated in poison. The skin was toughened and loosened aligning with the path his muscles had undertaken, allowing for even more flexibility. Hu Meng guarded closely while using his Qi to separate out the impurities carefully, so any leftover poisons could be used to test Yin Xiu's theory on the step required for his bone refinement.
Half a day after the grueling process began, the liquid in the cauldron had decreased by half, and Yin Xiu stepped out feeling extremely comfortable. Unknown even to himself, the lack of completing the skin refinement stage had made his cultivation unstable. Finally accomplishing this step allowed his body to achieve harmony, and his foundation became solid.
"Yin Xiu you practically glow in the dark now, you're so pale." Hu Meng laughed as he observed Yin Xiu's changes. His friend was quite striking to look at. His skin was so white it was almost translucent, paired with his purple hair, and blood-red pupils he was both unsettling, and strangely beautiful.
"That first fruit really affected my appearance a lot huh?" Yin Xiu laughed, as he looked at his reflection in the cauldron.
"Come to the cave." An awe-inspiring voice entered their heads, quickly glancing at each other they both quickly ascended up towards the cave to answer the summons of Hu Fang. Upon entering, the massive White Tiger scrutinized Yin Xiu.
"Greetings senior." Yin Xiu performed a Daoist salute solemnly.
"Your way of cultivation is quite... intriguing. Can you determine which of the poisons was used to perfect the refinement?" Hu Fang asked Yin Xiu.
"I should be able to determine them if I sense the aura of those materials again senior. During the actual refinement I wasn't able to concentrate all that well." Yin Xiu said sheepishly, "Why do you ask senior?"
"It is extremely beneficial to your future cultivation if you develop a new cultivation technique and record it. If you are lucky it may be rewarded by the Heavenly Dao with merit, which has a myriad of uses." Hu Fang explained while still observing Yin Xiu's changes with interest. "To be fair it will be a small amount as it would only be a body refinement technique, but any amount of merit is immensely beneficial." Hu Fang continued "As a reward for your advancement I will answer three questions that you have."
Yin Xiu's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this, his biggest problem currently was his lack of knowledge. He debated internally for a moment, before asking "Senior Hu Fang, Hu Meng once told me that he knew of three of the Nine Heavens, I would like to ask what the others are."
Hu Fang nodded, "Hu Meng hasn't advanced far enough in his cultivation to unlock memories from his bloodline, so he doesn't yet know of the full situation in the Nine Heavens. Every Heaven is representative of one of the five basic elements, the two heavenly elements, or yin and yang. There are the three you two currently know of, Primal Heaven which is formed from Wood Immortal Qi at its core, Abyssal Heaven which is formed from Water immortal Qi, and our own Tempestuous Heaven which is formed from Wind Immortal Qi. All of the five heavens formed by the basic elements have already had a faction completely hold dominion over them.
Besides the two controlled by Spirit beast tribes that you are already aware of, the Buddhists control Serene Heaven based on the fire element, Confucians hold sway over Righteous Heaven of the Earth element, and Daoism is the dominant force that controls Harmonious Heaven of the Metal element. These Heavens originally had different titles, but were renamed to represent the powers that control them." Hu Fang then sighed and continued "Only one other heaven is controlled by a force of the higher elements, which is unfortunately those bloodthirsty lunatics of the Unorthodox Faction that control Fiend Haven of the Yin element. Thunderstruck Heaven of the Lightning element, Tempestuous Heaven, and Solar Heaven of the Yang element are currently the only unconquered Heavens."
Yin Xiu processed the massive amount of information Hu Fang had told them. Before tentatively asking "What is the reason that the Nine Heavens were created in this manner?"
Hu fang smiled as a hint of piety appeared in her eyes. "The Nine Heavens form a natural array that supplies energy both to the Heavenly Dao, and the most important place in our universe, The Realm of the Gods." Yin Xiu's head buzzed in shock when he heard these words. 'Gods truly exist?' In disbelief Yin Xiu slowly came to terms with this earth shattering fact, while Hu Meng's eyes were also wide open in shock. Yin Xiu quickly debated on asking more about the Gods, but quickly changed his mind 'That information is too far away from me right now. Besides... I don't know if Senior Hu Feng knows much either.' Calming down, Yin Xiu quickly determined his next question.
"Senior are there any benefits to cultivation if you cultivate in a Heaven that aligns with your own attributes?"
"Of course" Hu Fang nodded, "It is much faster to cultivate in an appropriate Heaven. That's why some of the most powerful individuals in each of the factions have skills primarily based on those elements. Daoist cultivators mainly use swords as Harmonious Heaven has abundant metal Qi, Buddhists can condense Karmic Fire due to the nature of Serene Heaven. The list goes on. It's not to say that you can't cultivate other elemental techniques on the various heavens. A world wouldn't be complete if it was missing any of the elements. It's just that each one has a dominant Qi at its source. It is reflected in various ways. The terrain will be more aligned with the dominant element, it is easier for materials of that element to form there, and it is reflected in the likelihood that the individuals born there will be compatible with that element. Each Heaven will subtly influence every living thing. That's also why those famous techniques will often be based on that specific element, a lot of the cultivator population will be compatible with them."
"Thank you for your guidance senior." Yin Xiu bowed respectfully.
Hu Fang nodded before looking at both Hu Meng and Yin Xiu in turn "Besides the reward for your advancement, there's a more pressing matter I need to tell the two of you." Hu Meng sat up straight, and Yin Xiu also listened with bated breath. "I have stabilized my fifth stage cultivation, and I'm going to expand my territory in two weeks. I need the both of you to prepare to fight. Hu Meng I need you to train your stealth skills attentively, and Yin Xiu I want you to at least complete bone refinement, and get used to using your weapon in this time."
Hu Meng was practically trembling in excitement "Which territory are we going to conquer?" He asked eagerly.
"I'm going to get rid of those annoying stone-armed baboons." Hu Fang said with disdain "I'll kill their leader first, he has been stuck at the fourth stage for a long time, your jobs are to prevent his offspring from interfering. I don't need you to kill them all quickly just hold on and defeat as many as you can before I kill their boss. Understood?" Hu Fang said gravely.
Hu Meng and Yin Xiu both nodded before leaving the cave in excitement preparing to increase their strength for the coming fight.