Chapter 184 - 120: Iron Bones Forged

Chapter 184: Chapter 120: Iron Bones Forged

But all of his supplements, including the precious ginseng and lucidum mushrooms, were stored in Fortress C-07. Besides his weapons, he was completely empty-handed!

Xu Mo immediately focused his senses inward to assess his body’s condition.

The sensation made Xu Mo’s heart sink.

In the short span of a few breaths, his qi and blood, which had been surging like a great river, had already weakened considerably. His body was now like a giant, dry sponge, a bottomless pit. Wherever the out-of-control torrent of qi and blood flowed, it was frantically absorbed and devoured by his muscles, bones, and fascia.

This absorbed qi and blood was fusing with his tissues at an astonishing rate, reinforcing their structure and increasing their density and strength.

The pleasant sensation of this reinforcement, intertwined with the sense of crisis from the rapid depletion of his qi and blood, left Xu Mo with incredibly mixed feelings.

’Damn! This fast!’

Xu Mo cursed under his breath, not daring to delay a moment longer. Forcing down the discomfort from his chaotic qi and blood, he pushed his speed to the absolute limit and sprinted desperately toward Fortress C-07.

At this moment, Xu Mo felt like he was in a race against time—a race against the speed at which his own qi and blood were being consumed!

Fortunately, he wasn’t far from C-07 to begin with, as he had been out supporting Lu Chuan’s squad. With his current explosive speed, the distance was closing rapidly.

A few minutes later, the familiar steel silhouette of Fortress C-07 finally appeared before Xu Mo. Near the entrance, a few zombies were crouched on the ground, gnawing on the corpses of their kin—remains of those he had either blown apart with grenades or finished off with his Triangular Spike. The scene was bloody and nauseating.

Burning with anxiety, Xu Mo had no time to waste on these grunts. His eyes turned icy. Instead of slowing, he accelerated. The Triangular Spike in his hand became a series of deadly black flashes, darting between the zombies like a butterfly flitting through flowers.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

A succession of soft sounds echoed as the zombies collapsed, their skulls pierced through before they even had time to look up. They fell without so much as a grunt.

Without a backward glance, Xu Mo forcefully kicked the corpses away to clear the entrance. He then slipped inside the fortress like a fish through water and pushed hard on the internal mechanism.

HISS—CLANG!

The hydraulic system engaged, and the heavy metal door slid shut and locked, sealing him off completely from the dangers and disturbances of the outside world.

Only then could Xu Mo let out a slight sigh of relief, but the condition of his body remained dire. In that short time, he felt his total qi and blood had already dropped to less than two-thirds of its peak. The rate of consumption was terrifying.

Xu Mo didn’t dare stop for a second. Without even changing out of his filth-caked combat gear, he scrambled up the rope ladder to the fortress’s upper living area as fast as he could. He went straight to the backpack containing his vital supplies and pulled out the best-quality ginseng he owned.

With no time to prepare it, Xu Mo shoved the entire root into his mouth and chewed hard. The rich taste of ginseng, along with a faint bitterness, immediately flooded his senses.

As soon as the ginseng was down, Xu Mo quickly settled into the Pile Training stance of the Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Cross Training. Holding his breath and focusing his spirit, he began to guide and perceive the changes within his body with all his might.

As his consciousness sank inward, Xu Mo could clearly "see"—or rather, feel—the rampaging qi and blood still frantically surging through his limbs and skeleton.

With each surge, a portion of the energy was greedily absorbed by his bones, bone marrow, deep fascia, and even his internal organs.

Xu Mo felt his bones emitting an almost imperceptible hum. Their density seemed to slowly increase as their structure grew tighter and more resilient. His muscle fibers tore and reformed, gaining more explosive power. Even his internal organs, nourished by the surging qi and blood, were radiating with renewed vitality.

This was the breakthrough into the Iron Bone Realm—a comprehensive physical enhancement.

However, the cost of this enhancement was terrifying. The medicinal essence of the ginseng began to spread through his body, transforming into warm currents of energy that merged with the torrent of his qi and blood in an attempt to replenish it. But compared to a consumption rate akin to a dam bursting its gates, this replenishment was merely a drop in the bucket.

Before long, Xu Mo felt his qi and blood drop to less than a fifth of its peak volume. The ginseng’s medicinal power was still being released, but it clearly couldn’t keep up with the consumption. At this rate, he would be completely drained of qi and blood in another minute or two at most. When that happened, he would inevitably start to burn through his core life essence.

Just as Xu Mo was about to consume another supplement, right at the critical moment his qi and blood were on the verge of drying up, a stream of energy emerged from somewhere deep within him. It was gentle, pure, and felt as warm as the morning sun.

This stream of energy was both gentle and abundant. Unlike the ginseng’s medicinal power, it required no conversion; it merged directly and swiftly into his nearly exhausted qi and blood.

Like a long drought ending in a welcome rain, Xu Mo’s qi and blood—which had been dwindling to the point of stagnation—were instantly replenished by the warm current, surging with power once more. In that instant, consumption and replenishment struck a delicate balance.

’This is... the energy from Qi Collection?!’

Understanding dawned on Xu Mo in an instant!

Ever since he began cultivating the Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Cross Training, he had practiced Qi Collection almost daily. He guided the gentle, ultimate yang energy between heaven and earth to temper his skin and membranes and to nourish his qi and blood. Over time, not all of this energy was expended. A significant portion of it had accumulated deep within his body, subtly and constantly improving his constitution.