Each Spirit Stone required approximately fifteen minutes of consumption time for Fuyue. Little Jin only managed to swallow sixteen before being unable to take any more.

Its body swelled again, round and taut, yet without any sign of pain. It jumped into his palm, rubbing against his skin with intense affection.

Zong Shou let out a soft chuckle, retrieving the ore core and placing it before him, his expression gradually becoming solemn.

He bit open his finger and traced two talismans onto the surface of the ore core. One read ‘Quake,’ the other ‘Rend.’

Then, his eyes suddenly flashed with brilliance, and he roared, “Shatter!”

The Spirit Stone ore core immediately began to tremble violently, and countless fine cracks spread across it. It held on for only a brief moment before completely disintegrating.

Instantly, two streams of silvery-white light surged out from within, resembling massive pythons, shooting outward to the left and right.

The world speaks of the so-called Dragon Veins; even a mortal who obstructs them might become a king or hegemon. In truth, these Dragon Veins are merely concentrations of vast Origin Spirits. Once awakened, they are like colossal dragons, roaming the heavens and earth independent of terrestrial energy.

Before Zong Shou now were merely two small-scale Metal Element Spirit Veins. Yet, upon bursting forth from the ore core, they moved with the terrifying momentum of giant serpents.

However, just as these two great pythons reached about four zhang away, an invisible barrier abruptly formed, forcefully repelling them back.

Zong Shou dared not delay, knowing his spirit array was ultimately too low-grade to hold for long. He formed a hand seal with his right hand and uttered the word ‘Draw!’ once more.

Following this, a burst of radiance erupted from Little Jin’s abdomen in Zong Shou’s hands. The two Spirit Veins seemed to be forcibly drawn by an unknown power, converging toward him.

Little Jin felt uneasy at first, attempting to struggle. After a short while, realizing the two silver-white beams caused it no harm—and in fact, provided some unexpected benefit—it calmed down, allowing the twin great pythons to drill into its belly.

Three full hours passed before the two Metal Element Spirit Veins were completely assimilated into the Spirit Vein Bead.

The entire process seemed utterly seamless, concluding in complete success without a hitch.

Yet, when Zong Shou finished, his forehead was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, and his complexion was deathly pale. He felt even more exhausted than after the fierce battle with Li Xie Ling that day.

These Spirit Veins inherently possess no will of their own, allowing them to be controlled, but they naturally exhibit the characteristic of agility and dispersion, being exceptionally sensitive to spiritual energy fluctuations.

The hardest part just now was not summoning or trapping them. It was maintaining absolute concentration for a full three hours, ensuring his soul consciousness remained perfectly harmonious with the spiritual energy of the world.

Furthermore, an enormous amount of soul power was required to prevent the Spirit Veins from escaping or dissipating. Thus, the expenditure was equivalent to fighting a powerful enemy at full strength for three hours!

“These Spirit Veins are indeed incredibly difficult to control! No wonder even the lowest-grade Spirit Vein Beads require a Spirit Master at the Return to Vitality Realm to refine them. Capturing them is extremely arduous. Guiding them into the Spirit Vein Bead demands a colossal amount of soul power, and the control over spiritual energy must be exquisitely precise. Each additional vein increases the difficulty tenfold. As for finding materials capable of accommodating Spirit Veins—that is an obstacle layered upon another! My Metal Element Spirit Vein Bead can accommodate a maximum of five Spirit Veins; achieving even that is a great feat. Yiren’s outer elixir, in comparison, is truly priceless. Today’s success was fortunate; I found this ore core, and the Spirit Veins within were naturally docile, allowing the Spirit Vein Bead to advance—Only after the last trace of radiance was completely absorbed by the Spirit Vein Bead did Zong Shou settle into meditation, only stirring when the Dark Evening Primrose on the side suddenly emitted a wave of spiritual energy fluctuation.

However, his spirit had barely recovered, and fatigue still lingered in his eyes.

Yet, a slight excitement played across his face. With a mere thought, the film formed by Little Jin began to spread first over his upper arm, then covered his chest and abdomen, resembling a silver-hued, skintight armor that enveloped his entire upper body.

Countless tiny barbs pierced into his muscle tissue, connecting with his meridian points.

At this moment, Little Jin was like an extension of his own physical body. The Fourth-Tier Spirit Vein Bead, channeling through Little Jin’s body, poured streams of vast spiritual energy into his frame.

The vital energy within Zong Shou suddenly became full, surging and boiling unrestrainedly. His entire body’s strength seemed to multiply several times over in that instant!

This physical transformation gradually increased its interference with the spiritual energy of the world, especially the Geng Metal essence.

A movement of the true qi within his body could summon innumerable spiritual energies: “This is the Innate Realm One…”

A long-lost sensation surfaced in Zong Shou’s heart, causing his state of mind to ripple. Even though he was currently only reaching the Innate Realm by borrowing the power of the outer elixir, he found it hard to contain himself.

What surged and roared within him now was true qi, power—tangible strength that he could command!

Exhaling sharply, Zong Shou suddenly thrust out a sword strike. A beam of sword qi pierced from the tip of the Thunder Fang Sword, emitting a sharp ‘hissing’ sound, dissipating only after reaching six zhang away.

Stone dust flew, leaving a small, pierced crater on the stone wall. It was utterly sharp, yet utterly silent.

“It’s not the Water attribute I desire most, nor the Lightning attribute that could fully unleash the intent of the Startling Cloud Divine Annihilation Sword Style, but it possesses the sharpness of Geng Metal. With this strike, none below a Spirit Weapon could withstand it!”

He then sent out the hiltless Black Wave Sword, not grasping it in his hand. Merely by channeling a strand of true force toward the blade from a distance, another wave of sword qi erupted, reaching seven zhang out.

This sword had been nurtured by the broken blade fragment for nearly two hundred years, absorbing some residual Sharp Gold Sword Intent. Now, infused with Zong Shou’s massive Metal Element spiritual energy, it underwent a chemical-like reaction.

“My sword qi can penetrate beyond six zhang, meaning my current physical strength can reach sixty thousand catties! Thirty thousand catties of strength allows qi projection outside the body. For every ten thousand catties gained thereafter, projection extends one zhang further! With a full-force strike, I can match those Innate Realm experts who lack Spirit Vein Beads. Unfortunately, I am not truly Innate yet; though I can utilize this power, I cannot sustain it for long!”

The reason why Earth Wheel realm experts completely surpassed Body Wheel experts in terms of power was not just their ability to draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper their flesh. Beyond integrating the Fetal Wheel, Breath Wheel, Marrow Wheel, Bone Wheel, Blood Wheel, Wisdom Wheel, Organ Wheel, Outer Wheel—nine successive wheel refinements—the greatest disparity lay in the integration of Spirit Veins.

For every wheel refined, one Spirit Vein could be chosen and integrated into the physical body, merging with that wheel.

Others could only rely on physical strength, reaching the Secret Martial Master realm before borrowing a sliver of celestial might. But Innate Martial Masters possessed self-sustaining Spirit Veins within their bodies, unafraid of exhaustion and holding vast spiritual energy. How could a Body Wheel Martial Master possibly contend? How could their physical strength not be terrifyingly robust?

And the reason this stage of martial arts is called the Earth Wheel is precisely due to this. Spirit Veins also have tiers. Small-scale Spirit Veins, relying on terrestrial energy for their existence, are therefore also termed Earth Veins.

Though borrowing the power of the outer elixir allowed him to temporarily wield strength capable of contending with Innate Martial Masters, the problem remained: his physical body was still at the Body Wheel stage, its meridians fragile and incapable of sustained support.

However, his reserves were not substantial to begin with! Once engaged in combat, regardless of victory or defeat, expending his full power would last at most for the duration of one or two sticks of incense, mitigating that specific worry.

The real pity was that the power channeled through a Fourth-Tier Spirit Vein Bead was limited, and channeling it through Little Jin’s body further diminished the amount.

Zong Shou shook his head in resignation as Little Jin’s form began to retract, gathering back onto his left hand, tightly wrapping around it like a protective guard.

“With this outer elixir, I can handle everything before breaking through to the Innate Realm. Even against those Grandmaster experts, in the worst case, I can retreat unharmed. Now, I am only curious: can my dual-vein body integrate parallel Spirit Veins as well? Ha! Is it possible for someone in the Earth Wheel Realm to merge eighteen Spirit Veins within their body?”

Zong Shou fell deep in thought, recalling records of cultivation for dual-vein bodies found in ancient texts. None mentioned success, nor did they specifically address the impossibility; perhaps no one had ever achieved it.

But this was unprecedented territory. Likely no one else possessed his spiral meridian structure! And certainly, no one else had created the 'World-Mechanical Spirit Art' that intertwined the Water, Fire, and Lightning attributes in a spiral form.

A ball of vital energy suddenly pierced out of his palm. Observing the blue and red energies, mutually intertwined, attracting yet repelling each other, Zong Shou let out a soft laugh and abruptly clenched his fist, extinguishing the energies.

This possibility truly inspired anticipation. However, contemplating such matters now was premature. It would be better to address it after shattering the Body Wheel barrier!

Stepping lightly, Zong Shou floated to the edge of the pit again. He cast a cold glance at the Dark Evening Primrose.

The fluctuation of its spiritual energy was currently wildly intense and extremely unstable, as if poised on the brink of explosion.

After reaching its utmost agitation, it stabilized once more. Then, the tiny petals began to unfurl at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Zong Shou’s breath hitched. In his vision, the flower’s pure black color appeared as the ultimate form of beauty.

“What flower is this? So beautiful!”

Chuxue, who had already finished absorbing her Spirit Stones, walked up to the edge of the pit, a look of slight enchantment on her face. She instinctively reached out a hand, intending to touch it, but Zong Shou grabbed her wrist.

And when the Evening Primrose fully bloomed, Zong Shou did not advance; instead, he retreated, pulling Chuxue back to a distance of ten zhang.

In the next instant, a cloud of faint black mist was expelled. Spreading over several zhang, it silently corroded a large portion of the surrounding soil.

Chuxue’s face turned ashen upon seeing this. The peerlessly beautiful flower also harbored a deadly toxin. Had she been slightly slower to retreat, or had her hand touched the bloom, her entire body would likely have dissolved completely by now.

Zong Shou remained unmoved, directly using a spiritual technique to summon a gust of clean wind, blowing the black mist away.

Only when not a single trace remained did he advance again, moving to the side of the pit.

As he watched the fading of the Evening Primrose after its bloom, the entire pit suddenly began to shake violently, showering down countless grains of sand and soil.

Zong Shou frowned slightly and glanced toward the distance.

Faintly, he could hear human voices from afar, quite numerous, heading in this direction.