Chapter 2123: Physical Breakthrough

"Let's go, take me to see where the Zizhen Fruit grows!"

Having tamed the beast, Zhang Xuan did not rush to ask for its blood, but instead spoke.

The Phosphorus Armor Beast led the way.

It was the same cave where it had been drinking earlier. Arriving at the entrance, they stepped inside and indeed found at the deepest part a few small trees growing.

The rock above had been hollowed out, starlight shining down onto the leaves and branches, where a string of bright red fruits hung, glistening and tempting.

Around the trees, an exquisite formation was laid out. Unless one's cultivation far surpassed the Phosphorus Armor Beast, it was nearly impossible to get past. The entire cave had no other plants besides these trees.

Without needing the beast's guidance, Zhang Xuan walked up, stamped his foot, and the formation stopped. He stepped inside.

The Phosphorus Armor Beast shuddered.

With a single step to halt the formation's operation—such ability was unimaginable.

This master before him seemed young, yet every skill he possessed was extraordinary.

Casually picking a Zizhen Fruit, Zhang Xuan examined it closely.

It was about the size of an apple, exuding a vigorous spiritual energy. Absorbing it into the body gave one a sensation of muscles twitching.

A sword aura emerged from his fingertip and lightly traced across the back of his hand, leaving a bloody wound. He squeezed the fruit and let its juice drip onto the wound.

Whoosh!

In a moment, the wound healed completely.

"Just as I thought..." Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

This Zizhen Fruit not only strengthened the cultivator's physical body but, more importantly, had a powerful restorative effect on injuries.

No wonder this creature had such invincible defenses—constantly consuming this fruit, its muscles were destroyed and regrown, destroyed and regrown. Over time, the supercompensation naturally made it stronger and stronger.

In fact, it was similar in principle to his own Heaven's Path true qi tempering his muscles.

"Master, is there a way to solve my problem with hardened meridians?" Seeing his full smile, the Phosphorus Armor Beast looked at him with some concern.

This was its lair; it had checked countless times whether there were any other plants. If there truly was a treasure that could soften its meridians, it would have seen it long ago and wouldn't be completely unaware.

"It can be solved!" Zhang Xuan turned around.

"Then..." The Phosphorus Armor Beast was puzzled.

"When you consume these Zizhen Fruits, have you ever eaten the pits inside?" Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

"The pits... you can't eat them, can you?" The Phosphorus Armor Beast was taken aback.

The fruit was sweet and beneficial to the body, but the pits—it had never heard of them being edible!

"Just try it!" Flicking his finger, the fruit in his hand flew over.

The Phosphorus Armor Beast peeled open the flesh in confusion, revealing the pit inside—hard and dry, like an apricot kernel.

It tossed it into its mouth and immediately felt a bitter taste.

"It tastes terrible..." The Phosphorus Armor Beast shook its head.

"I know it's terrible, but try to absorb the spiritual energy from the pit into your body," Zhang Xuan said.

The pit contained the seed of the Zizhen Fruit tree and was also rich in spiritual energy.

Still puzzled, the Phosphorus Armor Beast nodded, closed its eyes, and absorbed the bitter spiritual energy into its meridians.

Whoosh!

Once it entered the body, the meridians, which had been as hard as stone, indeed became soft.

"This..." The Phosphorus Armor Beast's eyes reddened.

Over the years of cultivation, although its body had become increasingly solid, its agility had greatly diminished. Breaking through to the Heavenly God realm had seemed nearly impossible, so it had given up hope.

It never expected... the key to improving this situation lay in these bitter pits it had never eaten!

If it had known it was this simple, why would it have acknowledged a master?

Freedom was so much better...

"The flesh hardens the meridians, and the pits restore them—every bite and sip is ordained by heaven. This is the fairness of the Heavenly Dao," Zhang Xuan nodded.

Though he explained to the beast, deep down he also gained a deeper understanding of the Heavenly Dao.

Heaven and earth are divided into yin and yang, day and night, the five elements that generate and overcome each other, and all natural things... Whenever one substance appears, there must be another substance corresponding to it.

Nothing can transcend this.

Even emotions—love exists with hate, joy with sorrow—they are equally opposed and equally fair.

"Yes!" The Phosphorus Armor Beast understood only partially. It moved to a corner where a pile of leftover pits was stacked—originally intended for planting to see if more Zizhen Fruit trees could be cultivated. Now that it understood their marvelous use, it said no more, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed them all.

Crunch! Crunch!

The extremely hard pits were nothing to it, and in a moment, they were swallowed into its stomach.

The bitter spiritual energy instantly erupted, flowing along the meridians into its body. In an instant, the hardened meridians recovered, and vigorous divine power surged within, its aura growing stronger.

"Let me help you!"

Seeing it was about to break through to the Heavenly God realm, Zhang Xuan smiled lightly. Dozens of silver needles appeared at his fingertips, infused with Heaven's Path true qi, and flew over.

Pfft! Pfft!

They pierced into various acupoints of the Phosphorus Armor Beast. The qi flow circulated, and in a flash, it broke through the previously blocked shackles.

Boom!

Wherever the divine power reached, the Heavenly God realm was thoroughly opened.

"Not bad..." Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up. He flicked his finger again, and five bottles of Divine Origin Pills flew over, fifty pills scattering like raindrops.

Although the beast had accumulated enough to break through to Heavenly God, it still required a great deal of spiritual energy. The spiritual energy here was depleted; relying on absorption alone would take who knows how long. He couldn't afford the delay, so he had to lend a hand!

Since it had already submitted, it wasn't a waste.

Unexpected that the master would give so many pills at once, the Phosphorus Armor Beast showed excitement in its eyes, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed them directly. Countless spiritual energy filled its entire body.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

It was as if bombs were exploding inside its body, producing a series of muffled sounds. In a moment, its entire body's pitch-black scales turned into a jet-black color, like black jade.

Knowing the breakthrough was now certain, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

With this creature's success, he now had a Heavenly God realm expert by his side, one with invincible defenses, and few at the same level could likely defeat it.

In other words... in Nightmare City, he no longer had to worry about anyone.

After the breakthrough, he gave a few more bottles of Divine Origin Pills. After nearly two hours, the Phosphorus Armor Beast finally stabilized its cultivation. It transformed back into the young man from before and knelt down.

"Thank you, master, for your help..."

Earlier, when it acknowledged the master, it still felt coerced and unwilling. Now, that feeling was swept away, replaced by a sense of gratitude.

"You're welcome. Give me some of your blood; I need to enhance my physical strength," Zhang Xuan said.

The Phosphorus Armor Beast said nothing more. With a thought, it reverted to its original form, tore its hoof lightly, and blood flowed out.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan grabbed lightly. Divine power surged, and the blood turned into mist, pouring into his body through his pores. At the same time, with a light tap, the Zizhen Fruits on the nearby tree flew down, also turning into juice that covered his entire body.

He had already deduced the method for tempering his physical body over the past two hours and had designed an approach.

As the blood energy and fruit juice flowed into his body, Zhang Xuan's already powerful divine body underwent a transformation. His golden body became even more solid and condensed, his muscles as fine and pure as divine artifacts.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Muscles shattered and regenerated, splitting and growing continuously.

"Physical breakthrough is even harder than qi breakthrough..."

Seeing the master tempering his body, the Phosphorus Armor Beast stood guard, afraid something might go wrong.

Physical tempering involved destruction and growth; even with healing elixirs, it wasn't easy.

Not to mention anything else, it had endured countless hardships and sufferings for the so-called invincible defense.

It had taken decades of painstaking effort to reach its current level.

The master, with only a Lower Deity's physical body, even if gifted beyond compare, would surely need several years to succeed!

As it marveled, it couldn't help but look at the young man before it. The漫天 blood mist and fruit juice had already been absorbed. His body alternated between red and white.

In a flash, it turned golden, then returned to normal.

Whoosh!

Exhaling a breath, the young master opened his eyes. His pupils seemed to turn golden, flashing with light, then reverted.

"Young master, you... aren't you going to cultivate?"

Seeing that he had only been cultivating for about ten breaths before stopping, the Phosphorus Armor Beast couldn't help but be startled.

"I'm done cultivating..." Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Done cultivating?" The Phosphorus Armor Beast blinked, utterly confused. "What do you mean?"

It, with its extraordinary talent, had taken decades to harden its body. The other said he was done cultivating—what did that mean?

Could it be that he was stopping for now?

"Try attacking me..."

Without answering, Zhang Xuan looked at his beast pet, eager to try.

After a pause, the Phosphorus Armor Beast nodded. "Alright!"

It extended a hoof forward and flicked lightly.

Afraid the master couldn't withstand it, it used only one percent of its strength.

As its hoof met the young master's fist, it immediately felt a tremendous force crushing down, and its entire body stiffened.

This force was vast and mighty, like a tidal wave. If it didn't use full strength, it might be crushed into a meat patty on the spot.

No longer hesitating, it immediately raised its power!

Five percent!

Ten percent!

Fifteen percent!

...

Fifty percent!

In a flash, it used half of its physical strength.

Bang!

Its body lurched, and the Phosphorus Armor Beast flew backward, crashing heavily into the wall, sending rubble flying.

"Master..."

Looking over in disbelief, the Phosphorus Armor Beast felt like it was going crazy.

It had seen the master's strength before—only his swordsmanship was formidable. When had his fist power become so fierce?

Although it had only used half its strength, being sent flying and nearly suffocating... Such fist power was something even an ordinary Lower Heavenly God might not withstand!

In just over ten breaths, from a Lower Deity to possessing brute strength comparable to a Lower Heavenly God...

Were you really not pretending, but actually just cultivated this?

Just as it was full of doubt, it saw the young man across from him, not proud, but rather dejected and disappointed.

"Sigh, my cultivation speed is indeed too slow... Could it be that my talent really isn't good enough?"

"Slow? Talent not good enough?"

Its body swayed, and the Phosphorus Armor Beast nearly cried.

In just over ten breaths, his strength had gone from Lower Deity to comparable to Lower Heavenly God—three major levels...

Slow...

Are you serious, or are you deliberately showing off?