Eternal Tale

Chapter 252: Rootless Essence Flower

Half a day later.

"Xiao Chi."

"Yes, Big Brother?"

"I need a drop of your essence blood."

"Alright!"

Xiao Chi didn’t hesitate or ask for any explanation. He immediately forced out a drop of essence blood and handed it to Chen Xun.

However, after advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, the body’s transformation made every drop of essence blood incredibly precious, requiring significant time and valuable spiritual herbs to recover, especially for spirit beasts like Xiao Chi.

In that instant, Xiao Chi looked visibly drained. Brother Ox mooed a couple of times and immediately went to the storage area to pick out some spiritual herbs. After all, he had accumulated many herbs that were over a thousand years old.

"Brother Ox, take care of Xiao Chi," Chen Xun said as he carefully stored the drop of essence blood in a jade bottle, then placed it inside the protective case of the Five Elements Crane Tree.

"I have opened the body’s acupoints, but the power from the tribulation has been exhausted at the foundation level of body cultivation."

Chen Xun’s body began to emit a faint glow, each inch of his skin gleaming like polished jade, exuding unimaginable strength.

He started explaining to Brother Ox. Their system’s power boost was finally being utilized, combining with the body cultivation techniques for exponential growth.

Now, even without using his spiritual power, Chen Xun could shatter mountains with a single punch. Even if he exhausted his five-element energy, he could still fight against a Nascent Soul cultivator and escape if needed.

Xiao Chi, despite feeling weakened, couldn’t help but be captivated by Chen Xun’s arm.

In the glow, one could faintly see rotating acupoints, where vast amounts of energy flowed in cycles.

"Big Brother… you don’t seem like a human," Xiao Chi murmured, swallowing hard. Over the years, he had buried many human bodies and had never seen anyone with a structure like this.

His eyes widened. He didn’t quite understand concepts like the tribulation body refinement, but he didn’t care. Instead, he felt more certain that Big Brother wasn’t human.

Perhaps Chen Xun was some unknown ancient creature taking on human form. Xiao Chi’s thoughts slowly shifted to a sense of happiness—no wonder Big Brother seemed so different from other humans, both in personality and behavior.

"Brother Ox, I might need to collect the essence blood of many beings—possibly even the blood of all species…"

Chen Xun explained seriously, his eyes focused like never before. "But we must provide adequate compensation and not bring disaster to intelligent races."

This was a massive plan, but it wouldn’t be like the cruel methods described in some body cultivation techniques that spoke of using blood to nourish one’s body and extracting bones, which often led to the extinction of other species.

He had now opened 80 acupoints in his body, with his energy circulating through them in a continuous cycle.

Chen Xun was aware that he was becoming less human in essence, but this was a world of cultivation, full of mysteries. As long as he stayed true to himself, the exploration was all that mattered.

His outward appearance remained unchanged; he was still Chen Xun of the human race, and his brothers were still thriving. That was enough.

"Essence blood from all the species …" Xiao Chi’s mouth dropped open. Big Brother’s plan was insane.

"Moo~~" Brother Ox nodded solemnly, trusting Chen Xun’s decision without hesitation. Even if it meant seeking out the essence blood of a Buddha, he would try without question.

"There’s a great secret to body cultivation. Who knows what mysteries we’ll uncover if we keep pushing forward."

Chen Xun’s eyes gleamed as he looked at Brother Ox. "I want to cultivate a Rootless Essence Flower, which is why I need the essence blood of all species. The methods are all derived from these body cultivation techniques."

Taking a deep breath, his expression became profound as he shared his insights from the past years with Brother Ox.

Chen Xun had discovered that the secret behind using spiritual herbs and spirit beast blood to refine the body during the Qi Refinement stage was deeply tied to the essence of heaven and earth.

"Moo~~~" Brother Ox snorted, releasing a puff of air. Big Brother had truly unlocked another great secret of the world.

Xiao Chi, sweating profusely, couldn’t understand everything. However, he could tell from Chen Xun’s words that the path ahead might be incredibly perilous.

Suddenly, streams of air converged from all directions. Though there was no oppressive aura, the energy was strange. Xiao Chi and Brother Ox watched in shock as it all flowed toward Chen Xun.

Before their eyes, the streams of energy condensed into an icy mist in front of Chen Xun. He plunged his hands into it, a pained expression crossing his face.

"This is the essence of heaven and earth. Spiritual energy is drawn by the spiritual roots of the body, while the essence of heaven and earth… is drawn by one’s vast blood energy."

Chen Xun explained, his voice firm and powerful. "But to form this Rootless Essence Flower, the five-element energy and the power from the tribulation are crucial. Without practicing the five elements, it is difficult to comprehend its path."

"Moo~~" Brother Ox nodded in understanding, his eyes fixed on the scene. The five-element energy served as the perfect medium, converting all other energies into the neutral spiritual energy of the world.

He let out a heavy snort. The years of accumulated knowledge finally came together. It was good to live long!

Xiao Chi, confused, glanced at his own body. He had no idea what essence or the five elements were. Even though he practiced body cultivation and spiritual techniques, he had never sensed anything like this.

As the half-formed Rootless Essence Flower—a phantom of crystal-like beauty—floated in the air, glimmering with radiant, ethereal light, Chen Xun smiled slightly. "For the last thirty of these fifty years, I’ve been exploring the essence of heaven and earth. However, it’s like a floating weed—my body couldn’t absorb it."

Chen Xun’s expression brightened as he demonstrated step by step for Brother Ox. "But I refuse to waste the gifts of heaven. I will use my own blood energy as the seed, with five-element energy as the guide, to plant this flower!"

"Moo!" Brother Ox’s eyes were wide with amazement. He had wondered why it took Chen Xun so long to refine a body cultivation technique, given his profound strength and insight.

It turned out Chen Xun had been working on this project, likely facing difficulties far more complicated than he let on. Every technique he taught Brother Ox had already been perfected and simplified by him.

Brother Ox recalled their Five Elements Spiritual Roots. Chen Xun must have discovered some connection between them and his cultivation methods.

"But the flower isn’t fully formed yet. It needs to be nourished with essence blood, just like body cultivation. This idea came to me while observing how spiritual herbs are used in body refinement," Chen Xun explained, taking a few steps as the phantom flower floated along with him. "Once it fully forms, we can start cultivating and pave our own unique path in body refinement!"

He had tried using the universal essence he had before, but it had no effect. Currently, the essence of heaven and earth was the only viable option.

He realized that he might have to stick to the methods passed down by predecessors, gathering essence blood to see if it would work. He had previously experimented with drawing blood from fish in the Forbidden Sea, which showed some results initially but then stopped working.

Later, he tested with the essence blood of several sea beasts, most of which were at the Foundation Establishment stage. Those experiments were successful.

He concluded that quality, not quantity, mattered in the formation of the flower, leading him to develop the plan of gathering essence blood from all species.