This time he was shocked as he saw the massive smoke composed of countless wailing souls.
"What the hell? Indeed, these cultivators are demons. How many mortals have been killed just to craft this thing!" He had a hint of coldness when he thought of how cultivators look at those without spiritual roots.
"It turns out that is the look they have when looking at their raised raw materials and ingredients." He realized something was wrong with that look, and now he was sure these people wouldn't even spare the soul.
"In this world, if you want to protect something, you must be willing to kill something. There is no such thing as sitting in the middle and being neutral. Immortals want to protect their path and rise to pursue immortality, and mortal life is why they are willing to pay for this. What am I willing to pay for my Hong Clan?" The moment he had these thoughts, his mind was dazed.
Gu Tian and Master Ye, who were fighting in the distance, noticed his abnormality.
"What the hell? Is this kid kidding us? He can actually gain enlightenment even in such a situation?" Old master Ye couldn't help but complain.
The blood Qi that had gathered behind him was mobilized and covered the entire sword he was holding before swinging it forward.
The reason Hong Jun didn't bother with this black smoke was that he didn't have any means to deal with it.
It was not the same with these two old men. After all, he wasn't the only one that went back into that ruin to collect the Origin Trees planted in the Hong clan territory.
They followed, and what they gained is enough to act as guidance for them to go further than the grandmaster realm.
Based on remnants of the ancient martial arts obtained from the ruins, the most important thing for them now was to improve the artistic conception (intent) they had grasped. Once it reached the seventh level, they could use it to attack the star acupoints in the body.
The result of this was breaking through to the spirit body realm.
This was also the stage where life level would jump.
The monster meat was enough to accumulate enough blood and energy in the body to strengthen the physique. In return, the spirit would also be strengthened passively.
But comprehension of intent is different, as it would allow spirit to improve greatly with every improvement.
The strength of blood and Qi determines the strength of a grandmaster. Intent only magnifies the already existing power. A weak body can't handle intent, nor can it utilize it.
Dazed Hong Jun thought about it and realized his wife was pregnant.
He then thought about how he was the clan master.
"For me! The most important thing is to protect whatever matters to me, and the price is to kill anyone that blocks my way! If immortals block the way, cut immortals. If Buddha blocks the way, cut Buddha, and if Heaven blocks the way, cut Heaven."
The moment this line of thought appeared in his mind, the state of enlightenment ended, and a sound of something cracking appeared in his mind.
The barrier blocking his advancement had been broken.
"Old Master Ye, Old Gu Tian! Can you guys help me with the blood corpses?" He finally turned his attention to the two guys, and they threw them to him.
With a pulling motion, two blood clots appeared in his hand, and he threw them both into the mouth.
The action made the faces of the two old men twitch. Blood cores were full of blood energy from the monsters but also remnant spirit and resentment from the dead monster accumulated there.
It was the reason the two gave it up; after all, the monster meat was enough to allow them to accumulate slowly, and with their strength having made such a leap, it was easier to consume and absorb energy from the meat.
The energy from the core was just too massive, and this was difficult to keep under control even if one wasn't affected by the will hidden in the core.
He swallowed two without even a second thought, making the two old men uneasy.
"Gu Tian? What have you been teaching our clan master? He actually dares to swallow blood cores of rank two monsters just like that? Doesn't he know about the resentment and remnant spirits?" Old Master Ye complained.
"Hmm! Do you really think that I was responsible for this? I suspected you of doing it, but it seems not the case. Let's trust in the clan master's vision." Hong Jun complained.
Even though the two of them were acting envious, they were actually very happy.
"This kid indeed has already taken that step into the grandmaster realm. This means that in our Hongn, we have three grandmasters. We also can have more confidence when we explore the ruins." Old Guy Tian was very sober and happy.
The opportunity in the ruins was difficult to get in the current world, as they came from distant eras. Something like the origin trees, for instance, was not something of this era.
The two of them stopped all of their actions and guarded Hong Jun, because they could see the area of sixty meters around them had dimmed. It was not the end; rather, the coverage kept increasing until it barely reached 100 meters.
The pressure that came from Hong Jun as the center was clearly different. It has a defiant aura about it, as though he was going to cut off everything and anything blocking his path.
"What an ambitious brat." Old Master Ye praised as he solemnly looked at the intent being released from Hong Jun's body.
"I'm just wondering what organ he is going to make to elevate with his intent and completely step into the grandmaster realm." Old Gu Tian was indeed more interested in this.
Sitting on the ground, the blood energy from the blood cores erupted, and the remnant spirit was crushed against the moment it appeared close to his spirit and used to enhance his spirit.
His intent traveled all around his body, and finally it was directed towards his eyes.
The moment this happened, the old men could see the intent that had been projected outwards being swallowed back inside his body.
He gritted his teeth as that intent circled around his eyes like waves in the ocean.
Surprisingly, it was painful, just like ants crawling inside his eyes, but as time passed, he felt a strange force awakening inside of his eyes.
Dark red blood was dripping from the corner of his closed eyes like tears.
"This! Is he crazy?" Old Master Ye shouted in shock. Clearly, Hong Jun's act of using his eyes to enter the grandmaster realm was shocking.