Chapter 31

Reincarnated as a Sword Emperor in the Sword Artisan Family (31)

Not only was it a situation where even a 10th Rank Body Tempering Realm practitioner could not guarantee survival, but even a True Martial Realm warrior would struggle to survive.

In the sealed space, the self-destruction of a monster, even in a severely weakened state, at the True Martial Realm level, where the power capacity far exceeded that of a human, was catastrophic. With no exit for the heat and shockwaves, they swirled repeatedly inside the cave. The soil that had nurtured spirit herbs and fruits melted and clung together in a black mass, and the air burned, turning the cave into a hell where breathing was impossible.

Fortunately, small cracks appeared in the rock walls, allowing some of the heat to escape, providing a glimmer of hope.

“Phew!”

Leonard, who was left with only the hilt of his sword, spat out blood. Both internal and external injuries were fatal.

While the heat and shockwaves were barely blocked by the sword barrier, the shockwaves that hit the cave walls rebounded, striking his back. The smell of burning leather and the stench of melting metal and flesh rose from his charred nightwear.

‘...If this continues... I’ll die.’

The flow of the Five Elements Qi circulating within him was slowing, warning him that he would die the moment it was cut off. If it weren’t for Leonard, he would have already suffocated.

He was still alive thanks to the sword barrier that blocked the direct impact and the Five Elements Qi within his body that resisted the heat. If the elements could counteract each other, even a force several times greater could be repelled.

By using the flow of Water generating Wood, Wood generating Fire, Fire generating Earth, Earth generating Metal, and Metal generating Water, the absorbed Fire Qi could be amplified several times over, protecting his body from turning into charcoal.

‘The power... difference is too... great.’

Even the best defense Leonard could muster was insufficient due to the vast power gap between the two entities.

The difference between a 10th Rank Body Tempering Realm and a True Martial Realm was enormous. If the difference were only a few times, he might have just suffered some burns, but with a difference of dozens or even a hundred times, there was no hope.

Even in a battle of techniques, it was a miracle that Leonard had defeated the red troll and survived the explosion.

If this continued, he wouldn’t last five minutes.

‘I need to break through.’

That was the only way for Leonard to survive.

One of the things he realized when breaking through to the 10th Rank Body Tempering Realm was that this ‘breakthrough’ phenomenon itself had a restorative effect on the body. While others might experience aftereffects or a recovery period, he had heard that even minor injuries would heal.

If breaking through to a minor realm could achieve this, then breaking through to a major realm would likely result in a surge of power that could heal his body.

A similar case existed in the process of Rebirth and Transformation. If someone had lived with a missing limb for too long, the injury wouldn’t heal even after Rebirth and Transformation. However, if the transformation occurred immediately after losing the limb, it would regrow.

‘...Anyway, no help... will come.’

He had to survive on his own. Sneaking into the island’s interior in the middle of the night, there was no way the events inside the cave could be observed from the outside.

Even if observed, it would only be seen as a battle between two True Martial Realm monsters, with one winning and the other losing.

Rumble.

He didn’t even have the time to sort through the items in his pocket.

Shaking out the contents of his dimensional pocket, a large quantity of items spilled out.

1,500 mid-grade spirit stones.

500 low-grade spirit herbs classified by the five elements.

Roughly 100 spirit fruits mined from the Spirit Fruit Cave.

Various monster byproducts, such as hides, teeth, and claws, and over 10,000 low-grade spirit stones. The amount was enough to form a small hill, but the items he needed were specific.

‘Start with the spirit herbs.’

The low-grade Water element spirit herbs looked like reeds with a few small, translucent beads hanging from them.

Leonard picked up about half a dozen and put them in his mouth.

Chew, chew.

He swallowed them without properly chewing. The digestive system of a Body Tempering Realm practitioner could digest even rocks, and spirit herbs rapidly decompose in the body, converting into elemental mana.

There was no time or reason to chew politely.

The next spirit herb Leonard reached for was a Wood element one.

Following the principle of the Five Elements generating each other, he aimed to slightly increase the power of the low-grade spirit herbs.

One-Element Five-Elements Divine Skill (一元五行神功)

Five Elements Harmonizing Technique (五星造化訣) - Generation (生)

His jaw muscles barely moved, and bits of spirit herbs spilled out, mixing with saliva and residue around his mouth, but he didn’t stop his hands or jaw.

Though it looked disgusting, the effect was clear.

From Water generating Wood, Wood generating Fire, Fire generating Earth, Earth generating Metal, and Metal generating Water, the cycle of the Five Elements generating each other was created.

‘...Done. I’ve reconstructed the basic flow.’

Despite being low-grade spirit herbs, the large quantity and the use of the One-Element Five-Elements Divine Skill provided a significant amount of Qi. The internal energy that had been barely trickling began to flow like a stream.

His consciousness, which he had been desperately clinging to, gained a bit of leeway, and his eyes shone clearly.

However, Leonard knew he had only passed the first hurdle.

‘I’ve only prevented the internal injuries from worsening or dying from Qi deviation. If I don’t recover my body, I’ll die within a quarter of an hour (15 minutes).’

His condition had improved only to the extent that he could control his dying body by finding the flow of internal energy.

He had a bit more time, about 15 minutes, but there was no other way to recover except by breaking through to the True Martial Realm.

With his body in a state of near-death, Leonard reached out without hesitation, this time for the mid-grade spirit stones. Using low-grade spirit stones to break through to the True Martial Realm would take all day, just absorbing Qi.

Crack...

The spirit stones, drained of their power, crumbled, and the next one was immediately grasped.

Even ten mid-grade spirit stones should have been enough to fill him with Qi, but given his poor condition, it was like pouring water into a bottomless bucket.

Still, he didn’t stop, and the consumption of mid-grade spirit stones had already surpassed a hundred.

He thought to himself,

‘The principle of breaking through to the True Martial Realm is not much different from the Body Tempering Realm.’

It involved filling the body with a massive amount of Qi, expanding the meridians and channels with the pressure, and releasing the excess Qi. If even a tiny part of the meridians was blocked, the Qi would reverse and cause a fatal explosion, but the people here were unaware of this danger.

Leonard continued to absorb spirit stones, and when he realized he had already absorbed over a thousand, he was taken aback.

‘...This exceeds my expectations. Even 1,500 might not be enough. I’ll use all the spirit fruits I mined here.’

The advantage of spirit stones was their attribute-less nature, but this was also a disadvantage.

Unlike the low-grade spirit herbs he had consumed earlier, which could be amplified through the principle of the Five Elements generating each other, the spirit stones could only provide the Qi within them, leaving no room for further use.

When he combined the mid-grade spirit stones, of which fewer than 500 remained, with the spirit fruits cultivated by the trolls, he finally began to feel something.

‘The quantities of the elements are not uniform, so I need to reinforce the weaker elements... but this is enough.’

He didn’t expect to use them immediately after obtaining them, but his life was more precious. The spirit fruits, each worth more than dozens of mid-grade spirit stones, were sucked into his mouth.

After a few minutes of repeatedly consuming spirit fruits and absorbing spirit stones, he had almost forgotten how long it had been.

Fortunately, the breakthrough to the True Martial Realm was not delayed.

Boom!

The moment he sensed the internal energy surging uncontrollably within his body, Leonard closed his eyes and stopped all actions.

He hadn’t given up.

Do what you can, and wait for the will of heaven (盡人事待天命).

He had done everything he could, and now he could only wait for the result, as the breakthrough phenomenon was beyond his control.

‘Still, is this level of power normal?’

Leonard felt a hint of unease, but it was something he couldn’t understand.

Under normal circumstances, the amount of spirit stones or spirit fruits needed to break through from the Body Tempering Realm to the True Martial Realm would be half of what he had consumed, and then half of that.

However, his near-death body perceived the sudden influx of power as a lifeline, compressing the Qi needed for the breakthrough throughout his body.

Even in a typical breakthrough to the True Martial Realm, the excess Qi would be released in the form of a pillar of light. In Leonard’s case, the amount of Qi accumulated in his body was nearly five times that.

And then.

Boom——!

The terrifying Qi began to rage.

The roar of the Qi within Leonard’s body was so loud that it could be heard outside.

Like a dragon whose scales had been touched, the Qi, far exceeding the critical point, expanded the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the Twelve Regular Meridians, but it still felt confined, causing it to go wild.

The internal injuries he had barely contained reappeared and healed within seconds, repeating the cycle of intense pain.

Grind.

Even the process of separating tendons and bones (分筋錯骨) didn’t cause this much pain.

In his memories of the martial arts world, there were few experiences that could compare to the pain he was feeling now. If he had to compare, it might be similar to the pain of being severely poisoned by a corrosive poison, causing his internal organs to dissolve.

Even Leonard, who remained calm after having his heart pierced by a demon horse, had to grit his teeth.

If he spat out blood now, he would immediately die.

‘—It’s coming!’

The breakthrough to the True Martial Realm itself was successful.

Boom!

The Qi that tore apart and remade his entire blood vessels extended to his limbs.

It happened in an instant.

The Lung Meridian, Heart Meridian, and Pericardium Meridian on the inside of his arms.

The Triple Burner Meridian, Small Intestine Meridian, and Large Intestine Meridian on the outside of his arms.

The Six Meridians (六脈) swelled, and the tattered remains of his nightwear on his arms burst.

Next, the Six Meridians on the inside and back of his feet exploded, leaving only a few fragments of the already ragged nightwear.

Normally, the breakthrough would be completed at this point, with the Qi rising through the Governor Vessel and being released from the Baihui point.

‘No, it’s not over.’

As he expected, the Qi that had penetrated the Twelve Regular Meridians was still actively moving.

This was evidence of remaining power.

With the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Regular Meridians expanded to the point where they could move freely, the Qi Dragon rapidly circled within Leonard’s body.

One circle, two circles, three circles.

The speed of the Qi was almost limitless if the flow was perfect.

At first, he could observe the speed, but it gradually increased until it became a streak of light or lightning, making it impossible to determine where it started and ended.

‘This is beyond what my body can handle...!’

The flow, which grew stronger with each circle, eventually became too much for Leonard to bear.

As the rotational force continued to increase, it would either converge inward or scatter outward.

In this case, both happened.

Roar——.

Leonard, who had somehow managed to sit in a lotus position, floated, surrounded by a brilliant five-colored glow.

Inside, his body was undergoing significant changes.

Pentacore.

The core secret hidden in the Cardenas bloodline.

A mechanism that could be described as the fiery form of a Dragon Heart, fueled by the Five Elements Qi, recreating a legend that had left no trace over generations.

Crack, crack, crack.

The Qi, compressed in a ring around his heart, finally pressed against the heart itself, condensing the organ, larger than a fist, into a small sphere.

Black, white, blue, red, yellow.

The Five Elements Qi concentrated into a single point, transforming into five colors.

The Five-Colored Qi, which Sword Emperor Lian Wuxie pursued as the ultimate form of his martial arts, formed as a mechanism replacing the heart, though slightly different.

‘The Middle Dantian...?’

The Three Dantians (三丹田) in the Daoist martial arts system.

The Middle Dantian, also known as the Jade Hall, is associated with the heart.

However, the One-Element Five-Elements Divine Skill that Leonard practiced did not construct a separate Middle Dantian but used the central point between the Upper and Lower Dantians as a Qi nucleus.

‘...No, it also serves as a Qi nucleus. The Five Elements Qi reconstructed the entire heart from the beginning, so it’s not biased towards Fire.’

The heart, with its strong Fire element, would disrupt the balance of the Five Elements Qi.

Therefore, a separate Middle Dantian was not formed. However, if the heart itself was composed of Five Elements Qi, there was no significant issue. The founder of the One-Element Five-Elements Divine Skill likely never imagined such a formation of the Middle Dantian.

Leonard didn’t know, but his heart, now extremely close to that of a dragon, pulled his entire body into a different dimension.

Crack! Snap! Crack!

The strength of his bones, which had reached the