"I must examine this vessel's aptitude for cultivation," Fang Chen murmured, settling into a meditative lotus position.
Scanning his internal meridians, he encountered a familiar yet chaotic energy. "So, this is what they call Chakra. It bears a resemblance to Qi, yet it is dreadfully impure is muddled by the crude methods of this world's inhabitants. These 'ninja' wield energy like savages. I shall refine this dross and convert it into true Heavenly Qi."
Closing his eyes, Fang Chen activated the Heavenly Demon Breathing Technique. He began to draw the wild chakra toward his Dantian, meticulously stripping away the impurities before storing the essence. Within a single hour, a resonant hum vibrated through his bones. He had successfully broken through to the Body Refinement Stage.
A mere beginning, he thought, though a flicker of surprise crossed his mind. This body... its innate reserves are monstrous. Such natural talent is rare even in the Great Thousand Worlds.
Just as he prepared to cease his cultivation, the world around him warped. The forest floor vanished, replaced by a cold, damp chamber submerged in ankle deep water. Before him loomed a colossal cage, its bars pulsating with a restrictive seal.
"So, I have entered the inner sanctum of the seal," Fang Chen noted, his gaze fixed on the darkness within the cage.
From the shadows, a pair of slit, crimson eyes snapped open. The Nine-Tailed Fox rose, its massive form radiating malice. It looked down at the boy, a hint of confusion breaking through its rage.
"Brat... how did you get in here?" the beast roared, its voice echoing like thunder. Usually, the boy only appeared when the seal weakened or when its own hatred spilled over.
Fang Chen did not flinch. Instead, he stared at the fox in shock, not out of fear, but out of pure greed. "This beast... its entire form is composed of concentrated Demonic Qi!"
A dark thrill surged through him. "This is a gift from the heavens. If I devour the essence of this creature, I can force a breakthrough straight into the Nascent Soul Stage!"
For the first time in its immortal existence, the fox felt a shiver of genuine fear. He looked into the boy's eyes and saw not the loud mouthed brat he knew.
"Brat! Open the seal this instant, or I will tear you apart!" the fox bellowed, lashing its tails against the bars.
Fang Chen offered no reply. He simply dropped back into a meditative stance. This vessel is physically tempered; it can withstand the influx of power.
Without a shred of hesitation or mercy, he initiated the forbidden art: the Heaven Devouring Demon Scripture. This technique allowed for the absorption of energy at a rate a hundred times faster than any orthodox method.
Suddenly, the fox let out a harrowing shriek. It felt its very soul and chakra being forcibly ripped away, spiraling toward the boy like a vortex.
"Stop! Brat, what are you doing?!" The Fox desperately gathered energy to launch a Tailed Beast Ball, but the sphere of destruction disintegrated into raw mist before it could even form, sucked into the black hole of Fang Chen's cultivation.
"Stop it!" the beast pleaded, its voice cracking.
Fang Chen ignored the cries. Inside his spirit sea, the breakthroughs came in rapid succession.
Qi Condensation.
Foundation Establishment.
Core Formation.
A rare, lethal smile played on Fang Chen's usually expresionless face.
The Nine-Tails, a creature that had terrorized nations for centuries, began to physically shrink. Panicked, it scrambled into the darkest corner of the cage, trying to pull its essence inward. But it was useless. To its horror, the suction from Naruto's body only intensified, stripping the crimson chakra from its bones like flesh from a carcass.
"Boy, stop! Please!" the beast shrieked, its voice cracking with a desperation it had never known. "I will be your slave! I will give you my power whenever you want! Just stop this!"
Fang Chen heard nothing. He was deaf to the pleas of a "beast" he considered nothing more than a high grade medicinal ingredient. His entire focus was locked on compressing the stolen Demonic Qi into his Dantian, refining the wild, hateful energy into a crystalline red core.
Three hours passed. Inside the seal, the Fox had become a mere phantom, a translucent outline. It glared at Fang Chen with a final, withered hatred. "Brat... I curse you. May your life be a cycle of misery. May your death be a hundred times more agonizing than mine!"
With a final, silent tremor, the Fox vanished completely. The entity known as Kurama was gone, its consciousness and energy entirely consumed. In the physical world, Naruto's body began to hover several feet off the forest floor. The sky darkened completely. Black clouds gathered above Fang Chen, forming a vortex. The air grew heavy, and the pressure sharply increased.
One bolt of lightning struck him directly.
His body tensed. His skin burned instantly, but he did not move. He guided the lightning into his dantian, forcing it to temper his bones and organs.
The second bolt came faster and stronger.
This time, blood spilled from his mouth. His bones cracked, but he continued absorbing the energy. The red core inside his dantian spun faster, refining both the lightning and the demonic qi.
The third bolt descended.
It did not just hit his body, it shook his mind. His consciousness trembled, but he stabilized it and forced the energy into his forming Nascent Soul. More lightning followed, one after another. His body broke apart and reformed repeatedly. His skin tore, his bones shattered, then rebuilt stronger each time. His meridians expanded under the pressure. At one point, his body nearly collapsed completely. He immediately circulated all his energy, compressing everything into his dantian. The lightning, the demonic qi, and his own power clashed violently. Then after a few minutes it stabilized. A small figure began to form inside his dantian in the shape of a baby with Naruto's features.
Another bolt struck, stronger than all the rest. Fang Chen stopped resisting and absorbed it completely. His body trembled, then went still. A sharp pulse spread through him.
The Nascent Soul fully formed. The lightning stopped.
The clouds slowly dispersed.
Fang Chen dropped back to the ground, his body restored but far stronger than before. He opened his eyes, calm and steady.
He had successfully broken through to the Nascent Soul Stage.
""I succeeded… I regained 500 years of cultivation in a single day. The heavens could not stop me. Once I break through to the Soul Transformation stage, I will be at my peak."
Fang Chen's body was covered in black ash. He walked toward a nearby river to wash himself.
As he looked at his reflection in the water, he paused, slightly surprised by the changes in his body.
His hair was now long, reaching down his back, dark as night. His eyes had turned a deep crimson.
He stared at himself for a moment, then muttered,
"It must be the demonic qi."