The next morning, John woke up and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the previous day’s events. Although he knew it was the truth, he still found it hard to believe that he could cultivate.

John got up from his bed and walked over to his wardrobe, donning his favorite black robe. He then walked downstairs and found his mother in the kitchen making breakfast.

“Oh you’re awake. I’ve made some breakfast John. Sit and eat” his mother said as she saw John walk into the kitchen. John sat down at the kitchen table and started eating the eggs and bacon his mother had cooked for him.

“I guess I’ll head over to the Medicinal Pavillion today and get some blood refinement pills” thought John while eating his breakfast.

The Blood Refinement realm required one to consume various medicinal pills used to stimulate the blood’s potential. By drawing in the natural energy of the pills, the blood could be refined and purified, increasing its quality and potency. It was the last step in the Body Refinement realm, at which point one could tackle the Mist Creation realm.

After finishing his breakfast, John bid his mother goodbye before heading out the door and towards the Medicinal Pavillion. He walked for ten minutes before arriving in front of a grand building.

The six sided Medical Pavilion stood seven stories tall with dark red walls and gray eaves. The interior was decorated with carved beams and statues of various pill Elders of the past. Each floor contained various medicinal pills and ingredients, with the rarity and price of the items increasing with each floor.

John walked into the pavilion and looked around for a bit, before he was greeted by a middle aged man with a friendly face.

“Hello young master, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you in here. What brings you here this time?” asked the man with a smile on his face.

“Elder Barus, it’s been a while. I’m here to get some Blood Invigoration pills” replied John.

“Blood Invigoration pills?” Questioned Elder Barus. “Those are for Muscle Refinement cultivators looking to break through to Blood Refinement. What do you need these pills for?”

“I broke through to Muscle Refinement recently, and I want to attack Blood Refinement” replied John. Although the Elder didn’t need to know the use for his pills, John felt no need to hide it from him.

“You can cultivate now? When did that happen?” asked the shocked Elder.

“Recently” replied John with a slight smile on his face, but he elaborated no further.

The shocked look on Elder Barus’ face slowly faded as he replied “Well, that’s fantastic news for the clan. I’ll go gather the standard amount of pills each member uses to break through to Blood Refinement. Be right back” replied the Elder before heading through a doorway in the back of the building.

John started to wander around the first floor, looking at the various items available for purchase. Before long, John heard footsteps behind him and turned around. He saw Elder Barus return carrying a jar.

Elder Barus handed the jar to John before saying “Five blood refinement pills are inside. This should help you break through to the Blood Refinement realm”

John thanked the elder as he took the jar, browsing the items around the pavilion a bit more before heading outside. John walked straight back home and into his bedroom, before he sat down in a meditative position. John placed the jar in front of him and calmed his mind. After sitting these for a few minutes, John took out the first red pill and popped it into his mouth.

As the pill dissolved in his stomach, John could feel his body heating up. His blood started rushing, and he felt the energy in his body start to increase. John quietly observed the changes in his body, and after a few minutes, the effect of the pill died down.

“Although it’s the last stage in the Body Refinement realm, going from Muscle Refinement to Blood Refinement is the quickest of the Body Refinement realms. All I have to do is eat these five pills and stimulate my blood’s potential, at which point I’ll have reached Blood Refinement” John thought excitedly to himself as he grabbed the next pill and popped it into his mouth.

Body Refinement was split up into five stages; Organ Refinement, Bone Refinement, Tendon Refinement, Muscle Refinement, and finally Blood Refinement. From Organ Refinement to Muscle Refinement, one had to ingest medicinal pills and slowly infuse their essence into their body, a process which normally took months for each realm. Only Blood Refinement was able to be tacked in such a direct manner.

John continued the same process for the remaining pills, and after all five pills were consumed, John expected to feel an increase of power as his blood was refined and purified. But after consuming the fifth pill, John felt no different than before, just slightly hotter from the pills’ effects.

“What the hell? Why didn’t that work?” John thought as he tried to figure out how he had failed to advance. It was quite common logic that cultivators only needed five Blood Invigoration pills to advance to the Blood Refinement realm. There were some cases where cultivators needed more, but those were all cases where the cultivator had rare variant body types or powerful ancient bloodlines.

John thought about the situation for some time but couldn’t seem to figure anything out. “Well, I guess I’ll just go grab some more pills and hopefully that will solve it” John thought while getting up and leaving his bedroom. He walked back to the Medicinal Pavilion and found Elder Barus.

“Elder Barus, can I have some more Blood Invigoration pills please?” asked John.

Elder Barus turned around and was surprised to see John back so soon. “What do you need more pills for John?” asked Elder Barus.

“I failed to advance to the Blood Refinement realm, and so I came back to get some more” responded John with a sheepish look on his face.

“You failed? That’s odd. Maybe the batch was defective. Anyways, give me one minute and I’ll be back with another batch.” replied Elder Barus as he walked towards the back of the building. Elder Barus returned a few minutes later with a new jar of pills and handed them to John.

“This jar has ten pills, just in case. Once you’re done, please come back and return any unused pills” Elder Barus said to John. John thanked the Elder before walking back to his room. He closed the door and sat back down in his meditative position.

After a few minutes of gathering himself, John popped a pill in his mouth. He felt his blood start rushing faster as his body heated up again. After a few minutes, the effect wore off and John returned back to normal.

“What the hell? Still nothing? I refuse to believe I can’t break through” John thought to himself as he popped another pill in his mouth. An hour later, John looked helplessly at the empty jar in front of him, his cultivation still stuck in the Muscle Refinement realm.

“I refuse to believe this. I need more pills” John said as he stormed out of his bedroom, before running back towards the Medicinal Pavillion. Arriving in front of the building, John stormed inside and found Elder Barus cataloging some medicinal ingredients.

“I need more pills” John exclaimed to the elder as he walked closer. The surprised Elder Barus looked up to see John storming towards him, a look of displeasure all over his face.

“John? What’s the meaning of this? Are you taking these pills and selling them? There’s no way you took them all yourself and still haven’t broken through” replied Elder Barus angrily.

“Why would I sell the pills? I already can buy whatever I want in the clan as long as I ask my father. I have no need to get money from the pills. I took all fifteen pills you gave me and I’m still in the Muscle Refinement realm” John replied furiously.

Elder Barus stared at John, at a loss for words. He was about to open his mouth when John spoke up. “Just give me all the blood refinement pills you have. I’ll return any of the unneeded ones.”

“Do you have any idea how valuable these pills are? Although they’re not that expensive, they’re used to raise all the youths of our clan” replied Elder Barus, some visible anger on his face.

“Whatever the cost of the pills, my father will cover them. Please, just give me all the pills you have. I’ll return any pills I don’t end up using” John replied in an exasperated tone.

Elder Barus stared at John for a few moments before sighing deeply. He turned around without a word and walked to the back of the building. A few minutes later, the elder returned with a large barrel and placed it in front of John.

“There are over one hundred pills in this barrel. These are all the Blood Invigoration pills we have. Please just return whatever you don’t use back to me as soon as possible” said Elder Barus with a defeated look on his face.

John took a look at the barrel before saying “Thank you Elder. I promise to return the unused pills as soon as I’m finished” He excitedly collected the barrel before rushing off back to his room. Once more, John found himself in his room, a barrel of pills in front of him.

“It’s got to work this time. I refuse to believe I’m stuck at Muscle Refinement” John thought to himself as he popped a pill in his mouth. Time ticked away as John popped pill after pill, the barrel getting emptier and emptier while John grew more and more frustrated. About to lose his wits, John popped the sixtieth pill into his mouth, when all of a sudden,

“Boom!”

The sound of a muffled explosion escaped John’s body as he suddenly coughed up mouthful after mouthful of black blood. The smell of the black blood assaulted John’s nose, smelling like a rotting carcass. After a minute of throwing up black blood, John finally managed to stop and catch his breath.

“I finally succeeded. I finally broke through to the Blood Refinement realm” John said to himself, his face full of excitement.