By the seventh day the liquid in the lotus basin had fallen to Pei Jing’s waist. After more than a hundred and forty hours, he’d absorbed seventy percent of the ancient earth-marrow. What remained was an ivory paste that clung to the white stone. Light bounced off the wet rock in sharp beams.
Pei Jing sat with both forearms sunk in the paste. The Ledger counted down the last seconds.
00:00:20.
00:00:10.
The Five-Elemental Chaos Martial Root had almost finished its two-hour cycle. The five currents had wound themselves around the surface of every bone, laying down one thin layer of qi after another.
The timer reached zero.
Pei Jing lifted his arms and made two fists. A pale blue light rose from the marrow, laced with amber earth qi. He could see the outlines of the tendons and finger bones through his skin, like jade held up to a candle.
Ancient texts called this stage of Five-Phase Bone-Forging the Astral Crystalline Bone Sheath. The earth-marrow had changed seventy percent of his bones. The outer layers held rigid under a slow load. Under a sudden blow the inner layers still gave like spring steel. He turned both wrists. The qi had left his joints free to move.
