Chapter 217 - 217. Breakthrough

Peak of the third rank of the body at the age of nineteen and a half!

That was an incredible feat!

Most of it though was due to the Forging of the Seven Hells in which Noah had trained in his childhood.

Unorthodox techniques had a faster pace of training but required for the cultivator to undergo risky procedures.

The Forging of the Seven Hells had endangered Noah's life many times, it was no wonder that he could reach the peak of the third rank at such a young age.

'Now, I need to store "Breath" through my whole body.'

A lot of energy was required for the reconstruction of the body and, of course, the best source of energy of that world was the marvelous "Breath".

Noah resumed his cultivation, he had to be sure that his body was filled with "Breath" before he attempted in the reconstruction.

One week passed uneventfully, with Noah focusing each night concentrating on the Yin body and using the rest of the day to sleep.

Rest was necessary during that process, the body needed time to mix with the "Breath" and the latter had to uniformly nourish each of its components.

It was only when the seventh night ended that Noah could not store any more "Breath".

'It is time.'

Noah undressed and sat naked on the wooden floor.

The reconstruction process was long and painful, it was similar to the hibernation of the magical beasts when they increased their rank, with the only difference being that humans didn't need to create an incubating membrane during it.

'The first step toward the heroic ranks, the first step toward complete freedom!'

Noah's will rose and he wasted no more time, activating the next step of his nourishing method.

The bones in his body had accumulated so much "Breath" that they autonomously radiated a cold halo, they were the part focused by the Yin body after all.

Yet, as Noah willed, they broke and released waves of energy through his whole body.

CRACK!

"GHHHHH!"

Noah suppressed a loud cry as the pain invaded him.

The process had started, stopping it at that moment would endanger the cultivator's life or inflict incurable injuries.

Nevertheless, the idea of stopping the process had never crossed Noah's mind.

The "Breath" contained in his bones ran free through his body, breaking everything that it met.

The first to be affected were his organs which were pierced and cut in many places as the waves of energy crossed them.

Then, it was time for his circulatory system to be affected.

His blood vessels exploded, forming large bruises under his white shin.

Noah was already laying on the ground, convulsing like crazy.

Once his bones had shattered, he could not sustain his sitting position anymore.

After that, it was time for his flesh.

The waves of energy ravaged the flesh and ripped off the muscles, anything that stood in their way was destroyed!

It wasn't a casual process though.

The "Breath" would only destroy the body parts unfit for the new form that Noah was assuming.

Like the dantian boiled away most of its impure "Breath" to reach a higher purity when it increased in rank, so did the body.

Flesh was a mortal material, "Breath" was the true source of energy.

All those impure body parts had to be expelled to form a purer body, able to successfully store "Breath" of a higher quality.

The dantian needed those impurities to improve its composition but the body didn't.

It had to be said though that the impurities of the dantian were still "Breath" while the ones of the body were the body parts, devoid of any value.

Of course, that process was extremely painful.

Noah felt that his body was being punctured and cut everywhere.

His internal composition was being shaken by an unrestrainable power, he felt like each organ under his flesh was being mixed together to form a disgusting human soup!

Then, it was time to expel the useless parts.

The skin of the living beings was the body part that had the most contact with the external world, which meant that it was almost completely filled with impurities.

Noah's figure laid on the floor directly exploded!

The entirety of his skin was ripped off, leaving only a bloody human figure in the room.

The deadly part had begun!

Noah's consciousness was still focused, the pain that he had felt until that moment didn't make him faint or lose concentration.

The Yin body activated and a huge black vortex enveloped his sorry figure.

The "Breath" that he had accumulated was still inside him, searching for other useless body parts to eject.

Yet, after a few rounds of inspections, it couldn't find any of them and began to solidify.

Noah was at the center of the black vortex, he was filled with "Breath" and more of it was gathered by the suction force of his nourishing method.

The "Breath" began to solidify, mixing with the remaining body parts and reconstructing the missing ones.

The skeletal system formed, it was gray with dark shades all over it.

Then it was the time for the organs and the circulatory system.

The organs seemed to shine under the daylight and the blood vessels had a thicker form while being half-transparent.

His flesh and muscles recomposed, they were sturdier and denser, it didn't seem that they were made of simple flesh.

His skinless figure solidified and started the healing phase.

Noah's skin grew, it was white and smooth, devoid of any follicle, not even a simple imperfection was present on it.

Two black tattoos appeared on his chest, a bat with two pairs of wings and a panther, and they roamed freely on the newly formed body.

At last, a black membrane was created around Noah's heart.

As the vortex continued to absorb "Breath", a black liquid began to fill that membrane, immersing Noah's heart in that cold substance.

The vortex rotated for a few more minutes, fixing the absorbed "Breath" on each part of Noah's body and securing its sturdiness.

Then the vortex dispersed, leaving a naked Noah on the floor, surrounded by the filth that had been expelled in that process.

Noah felt a huge amount of energy filling him but his mental sphere was too tired from all the pain that he had to endure while maintaining control on his body-nourishing technique.

He could only have one last thought before falling asleep on the spot.

'Rank 4 body!'