During the New Recruit Competition, the ambush by the ninth-ranked individual on the Blood Scroll had once plunged Qin Fen into unconsciousness. However, before that coma, Qin Fen had managed a brief moment of lucidity, and his meridians had only sustained damage.

This time, Qin Fen had taken a direct hit from the Divine Beast-level master Bai Hu’s palm strike from a distance. He lost consciousness instantly, and his body's meridians—his internal organs—were tens of times more severely injured than before.

The top medical experts, summoned from Shengjing, crowded around the transparent projection screen in the hospital in Tianbei City, discussing in hushed tones.

They were the pinnacle experts in Zhongzhou, and every one of their brows was tightly furrowed, showing no sign of relaxing for a long time.

Such injuries were rarely seen. Apart from the bones, nearly every internal organ had suffered grievous trauma. His blood vessels were on the verge of collapse.

With such severe injuries, his immediate death would not have surprised anyone. Yet, he was still alive. Tenaciously alive—alive from the moment of injury until the experts arrived, barely better than being in a vegetative state.

These were top-tier experts. Even when facing severe injuries like those suffered by Hades, the Little King of the Underworld, they had formulated and implemented numerous treatment plans that achieved decent results.

But with this current injury, everyone felt utterly powerless. They didn't even know how to begin treatment, as if they could only stand by, watching, praying for a legendary deity to appear and heal him.

Injuries caused by a single palm strike from a Divine Beast were enough to leave even the foremost experts helpless, unable to find any remedy.

In the strange dreamscape where Qin Fen was suspended, he scratched his head repeatedly. Most people lost consciousness completely when they fell into a coma. He, comparatively, was much luckier; at least he had a space to house his conscious mind.

However, Qin Fen pulled at the corners of his lips. This conscious presence in the dreamscape also had a terrible downside: the brutal injuries were felt with startling clarity even here. The agonizing pain in his five viscera and six bowels, and throughout all his meridians, felt as if molten lava had been poured into him.

If this were in the real world, Qin Fen believed that no matter how high his endurance, he would be screaming out from the pain.

"Kid, you're luckier than most."

A figure radiating white light emerged from the darkness, taking the form of a refined Master. Qin Fen managed a weak nod; he couldn't deny that point.

"An ordinary person in this state would need sheer willpower to hold on," the Master said, approaching Qin Fen. "You retain an extra layer of consciousness, which slightly reduces the danger."

Qin Fen shrugged and nodded. An extra layer of consciousness meant an extra chance. If it weren't for waiting for the Master, Qin Fen would have already been trying to adjust his body, attempting to use his Zhenqi to shock and heal himself.

"Of course," the Master sighed. "Even without this luck, I believe you would still awaken. Because your greatest asset is that your will is far stronger than that of ordinary people. This place only offers you a temporary reprieve."

Qin Fen smiled, remaining silent. Luck was luck. If he hadn't obtained that peculiar metallic sphere, even if he awoke, recovery would likely be agonizingly slow, perhaps even—

With the strength of the Bai Hu Divine Beast, wasn't it relatively easy to cripple someone’s martial arts with a single palm strike, thereby destroying their future path in the Martial Way?

Qin Fen's face darkened. While he was confident he could eventually fumble out a recovery method even without the Master's help, the thought of Hares being a Beast Martial Artist—the gap in their strength was immense—sent a fresh wave of helplessness through him.

"Congratulations, kid. You are truly unlucky," the Master said with a faint smile. "I recall you had reached the Xiantian Realm once, but due to special circumstances, your cultivation regressed. You then struggled mightily just to fight your way back to the Meteor Level, correct?"

"That is correct," Qin Fen nodded. "That incident did happen."

The Master shook his head, a faint, wry smile gracing his refined, handsome face. "The person who struck you is incredibly powerful. Though it seems he didn't use his full strength, his technique was masterful. Not only did he shatter your meridians with one palm, but he also dispersed the blood you worked so hard to exchange and remake."

"What?"

Qin Fen looked at the Master in shock. Having lost consciousness and entered this space meant his control over his body was weakened. Naturally, he couldn't sense that his true blood exchange had been undone.

"Yes," the Master nodded seriously. "You are now a Level Ten Martial Artist, no longer a True Xiantian Martial Artist."

Qin Fen's lips twitched repeatedly. If he knew cursing wouldn't even scratch Hares, he would have erupted into a torrent of obscenities long ago.

After all the hardship and countless fortuitous encounters, he had finally achieved rebirth through blood exchange into the True Xiantian state. Before he could fully consolidate this foundation, Bai Hu had struck him down, reverting him to square one.

Qin Fen took ten seconds to re-stabilize his emotions, looking helplessly at the Master. "Master, such terrible luck truly isn't something to be congratulated about. I truly don't know how I'll manage the next exchange of blood for the True Xiantian rebirth."

"You might not be able to," the Master murmured, nodding to himself. "The blood exchange rebirth for the True Xiantian level achieved by a Meteor Level practitioner is different. The possibility of recovering after being struck like this is infinitesimally close to zero."

"Infinitesimally close?" Qin Fen shrugged. "So there's still a chance? Ever since I turned eighteen, my luck has been explosively good. Perhaps I can still recover, apart from being critically injured this time, I've been quite unlucky." Luck? The Master rubbed his index finger across the bridge of his nose a few times, then slowly nodded. "Your luck is indeed quite good. I once researched a special method, but I never had a suitable subject to test it on. You are a very suitable candidate."

"A test subject?"

"Exactly, a test subject. Are you willing to be one?"

Qin Fen let out a long sigh. In this situation, did he really have a choice? Under such circumstances, if a Martial Arts Grandmaster offered a chance, refusing it to fumble around on his own would be foolish.

The Master's face lit up with genuine pleasure. He adjusted the collar of his robe with his hand, as if a professor were about to begin a lecture.

Though Qin Fen was his only student in this space, the Master maintained the demeanor of a distinguished university professor.

"Our topic today is Marrow Replacement and Nirvana into the Great Xiantian."

The Master snapped his fingers sharply. A massive screen materialized in the air above him, displaying Qin Fen's body, showing his bones and the marrow within them.

Marrow Replacement and Nirvana into the Great Xiantian? Qin Fen shook his head repeatedly. What was this now?

"Ahem," the Master coughed symbolically. "In general circumstances, when a martial artist enters the Five-Star state, their Zhenqi undergoes a qualitative change, entering what is called the Xiantian Realm. When one reaches Nine Stars and aims for the Ten-Star Martial Artist realm, they must undergo the blood exchange rebirth into True Xiantian. If a martial artist is approaching the Fifteen-Star level, there exists yet another martial arts hurdle there."

The image of Qin Fen's skeletal structure in the sky magnified again, the bone marrow inside gently swirling. Next to it appeared a schematic of a body that was not Qin Fen's, where the bone marrow looked as thick and viscous as quicksilver.

"Theoretically, a martial artist whose power hasn't reached the Ten-Star level usually cannot sense the bone marrow," the Master nodded very seriously. "But my research suggests that it isn't entirely impossible. For instance, if there were someone with impossibly terrifying martial talent, they might sense the issue of the bone marrow during the blood exchange rebirth. They might even grasp it and stimulate it."

The Master paused for a few seconds, his expression peculiar, then shook his head vigorously. "Of course, such martial arts freaks appear perhaps once in tens of thousands of years. If one were to appear, they would undoubtedly be an astonishing genius, a supreme powerhouse capable of repeatedly breaking established rules, increasing their star level at an unbelievable, dizzying pace."

Qin Fen frowned, staring at the bone marrow diagram overhead. If the marrow was fixed, could the meridians reconnect? That was clearly impossible. So, what was the Master implying?

Ignoring Qin Fen's confused look, the Master continued with great interest. "In fact, you don't quite qualify as one of those astonishing, once-in-tens-of-thousands-of-years freaks."

Qin Fen grinned. Why was the Master so animated today? Even his usual delight in putting others down seemed more enthusiastic than before.

"But that's alright. My research topic isn't exclusively aimed at those astonishing freaks," the Master's brow showed a hint of pride and self-satisfaction. "The most fascinating thing in this world is the process of turning a failure into a genius."

"What a pity," the Master's expression suddenly darkened. He looked at Qin Fen and shook his head repeatedly. "You are not a failure in martial arts cultivation; rather, you are a young man with very high comprehension. At least in terms of comprehension and research, you are qualified to be a genius. This takes away some of my pleasure."

—

Qin Fen kept quiet, truly unsure how to respond to this excited Martial Arts Grandmaster.

Fortunately, the Master had no intention of letting Qin Fen interrupt. He continued his monologue with intense focus. "I have conducted extensive research on the issue of Marrow Replacement and Nirvana into the Great Xiantian. The core of my study was how to perform this marrow replacement when one is not naturally qualified. As a result, I discovered an unsolvable problem."

Qin Fen spread his arms, finally seizing an opportunity to engage the Master. "Are you saying that you need to find someone as incredibly unlucky as I am right now?"

"Precisely," the Master snapped his fingers again. "Your meridians are completely severed, meaning your control over your Zhenqi is at its weakest. Simultaneously, your blood exchange has been reset to its original state, meaning your influence on your blood is also at its lowest. This situation removes all the things that were previously your advantages and could interfere with you. Therefore, the chance to sense the bone marrow naturally becomes much greater."