Aotian's continuous screams echoed through the apartment, reverberating off the walls and growing even louder.
His bloodstained body dirtied the floor as he writhed in agony.
Rihai, her face soaked in tears, watched, unable to look away.
These could be the last moments of the man she had fallen in love with.
The process of creating spiritual veins did not require absolute control from the martial artist. He didn't need to precisely guide where the veins would branch—because that would be nearly impossible. It would be the equivalent of trying to mold an entire vascular system, but even more complex, as it also involved the soul.
No, the essence was much simpler:
He had to draw in spiritual energy from the outside into his dantian, and the veins would naturally form as the energy carved its own path to reach it.
Martial arts prepared the body for this moment, purging impurities and making it compatible with spiritual energy.
These impurities were problematic because they blocked the path of spiritual energy during the essence refinement process, severing the pathways for root formation, resulting in the creation of scattered roots.
The different levels of scattered roots were therefore directly related to how many impurities could be removed during the earlier refinement stages of skin, blood, and bones.
Aotian's body was already free of impurities when he completed bone refinement, but he still could not form a true spiritual root before finishing the synthesis of essence refinement.
The reason? The dantian.
The dantian, the center of vital energy, also existed in mortals, but unlike cultivators, it was filled with impurities that could not be simply cleansed through physical exercises.
Fortunately, the solution lay in essence refinement.
Even amidst the piercing pain, Aotian began to manipulate the energy inside his dantian, creating a complex rotational motion as he attracted energy from the surroundings.
The energy, which had previously forced its way in brutally like a battering ram, began to spin, shaping itself into a drill.
The unbearable pressure on his body eased slightly. It was still excruciating, but now bearable enough for him to maintain control.
The energy accelerated, penetrating every fiber of his being, leaving behind a stable, well-structured energy pathway—his spiritual veins.
With each passing moment, these veins branched further, expanding throughout his body.
The extent to which the veins reached the dantian was controlled by Aotian—his body had to be fully connected by veins before the final stage could be completed: the direct connection to the dantian.
The process was delicate—one mistake, an early connection to the dantian, could compromise the quality of the veins.
But the real danger wasn't there.
The greatest threat in this process wasn't physical risks but the overwhelming pain.
Pain wouldn't kill him directly, but it could make him lose control.
If he fainted or lost control over the energy accumulated in his dantian, the excess spiritual energy inside his body would run rampant, tearing him apart from the inside out—both body and soul.
That's why Rihai was desperate.
What she didn't know was that Aotian wasn't dealing with this alone.
His avatars were there to share the burden.
Slowly, the pain on Aotian's face began to fade.
If one could see between the real and the unreal, they would witness an intricate system of energy veins stretching through his entire body and soul, leaving only one final link to connect to the dantian.
Aotian's panting body slowly rose.
Still trembling, he sat on the floor, looked at Rihai, and smiled.
"Wife, I'm fine!"
His mischievous smile was both a tease and an attempt to reassure Rihai.
But the truth was… he had just endured the greatest torture of his life.
He was drenched in sweat, and he never wanted to go through that again—not even if his life depended on it.
Rihai, collapsed on the floor, stared at him in disbelief.
Then, from her red, swollen eyes, more tears fell.
"AOTIAAAN!!!"
She ran toward him, throwing herself at him without hesitation, knocking him over to the ground in a desperate embrace.
Her pristine white dress was stained red with the blood he had spilled.
She buried her face in his chest and held him tightly, as if afraid that if she let go, he would disappear.
Aotian smiled and gently stroked her golden hair.
"It's okay! I told you there was no need to worry."
Rihai lifted her head and glared at him in anger.
"No need to worry, my ass! If you make me worry like this again, I'll kill you myself!"
For some reason, Aotian only found her even more beautiful and attractive that way.
And that was when the two froze.
Rihai felt something rise and press against her chest and abdomen.
Instinctively, her hand reached for it.
"Warm, hard, and thick… What is this?" she thought innocently, looking down.
And then, she froze.
"HASP!" Aotian choked, feeling her hand grasping it. His body shuddered, and for a moment, he almost lost control of the energy in his dantian.
He quickly regained control, but fear crept into his heart.
"Rihai, please, let go! I'll let you play with it later, but right now, I'm about to lose control!" he pleaded, a mix of desperation and regret in his voice.
At any other time, he would have loved being in this situation. But right now, all he wanted was for her to move away as fast as possible.
Rihai was snapped back to reality by Aotian's distressed voice. Startled, she immediately let go, her face burning in embarrassment. She even forgot to scold him for what he had just said.
Aotian closed his eyes, trying to recompose himself for the next step. He took a deep breath, focusing on his dantian.
Meanwhile, Rihai, her face still burning, placed her hands behind her back, trying to calm down.
But involuntarily, her fingers moved against her palm, still feeling the warmth, still remembering the texture and shape of what she had just held.
She stole a glance at Aotian, who sat with his back turned to her, eyes shut tight in deep concentration.
Her heart pounded faster.
With a bit of shame, she slowly raised her hand to her nose, discreetly inhaling the intense masculine scent, mixed with a faint trace of blood.
Then, she quickly lowered her hand behind her back again, even more embarrassed.
If Aotian had seen this scene, he would have been shocked and terrified.
"Wait… Isn't the MC the one who's supposed to spank the heroine and do this kind of thing?!"
Unfortunately, he saw nothing.
He was completely focused on his dantian.
After a few more seconds of meditation, certain that he was ready, Aotian didn't hesitate.
He blocked the connection to the sensation of pain once again, preventing it from reaching his avatars, since this final step, though excruciatingly painful, would occur all at once, and there was no longer any risk of losing control.
To prevent his pain from affecting them, he completely severed the connection of sensations with them.
Then, without hesitation, he manipulated his dantian and pulled in all the accumulated energy at once.
It felt like millions of drills were piercing his dantian simultaneously.
The pain was a hundred times worse than before.
His eyes rolled back.
His body trembled.
And then—
He collapsed unconscious to the ground.
Rihai had anticipated this and remained calm, knowing that the final part held no risk, although she couldn't help but feel a little worried.
'Thankfully, he passed out. This way, he doesn't have to endure so much pain while conscious.' she thought, feeling an unexpected relief.
Her gaze fell on Aotian's unconscious, twisted body.
From his pores, a black, viscous substance began to ooze, releasing a foul stench.
Rihai wrinkled her nose and took a step back, covering her nostrils.
The impurities from a mortal's dantian were far denser than normal impurities. After all, without spiritual roots to filter them from birth, they accumulated throughout an entire lifetime.
But soon, the release stopped.
A faint ripple of spiritual energy spread through the room.
Rihai felt the fluctuation of the First Level of Qi Refinement emanating from Aotian.
Her expression softened.
A genuine, relieved smile formed on her lips.