A few days later
At his home in Bocheng,
Your Martial Arts System: Viscera Refinement Realm has increased from 2% to 4%.
Your basic swordsmanship proficiency has increased from 65% proficient to 87% proficient.
Your Blood Essence Level has increased from Level 7.6 to Level 7.7.
Li Xijun nodded slightly as he looked at the messages before him.
After reaching the Viscera Refinement Realm, progress had indeed slowed considerably. Any breakthrough had to be measured in months.
His swordsmanship, on the other hand, was an unexpected delight.
Over the past few days, he had tried to comprehend the page of swordsmanship Li Boyan had given him.
Yet every time he looked at it, he felt a sword intent filled with pure death and slaughter charging straight at his soul, making his body tremble and his entire body turn cold.
Forget practicing that sword form—most of the time, he could not even make out the name of the sword technique written on it.
The benefit was that his basic swordsmanship had improved rapidly because of it. In a few days, it would likely break through to the mastery level.
As for the increase in his Blood Essence Level, it was nothing much at the end of the term.
He was simply worried that once he advanced to Blood Essence Level 8.0, his rate of improvement would decline.
After all, the gap between Blood Essence Level 8.0 and Blood Essence Level 9.0 was a hurdle that blocked ninety-nine percent of Great Xia's martial arts students.
Whether one could reach Blood Essence Level 9.0 determined whether a candidate would attend one of the ordinary thirty-three Martial Arts Universities or enter one of the elite universities within the Nine Schools Alliance.
The difference between them was an insurmountable chasm for ordinary martial arts students.
Even Li Xijun would have to take it seriously if he wanted to quickly reach Blood Essence Level 9.0.
Thinking of this, he could not help recalling the Ninth Princess who had returned to Jinmen with Li Boyan.
He could not help remembering her dragon eyes, which turned into vertical pupils when she panicked,
her flawless white dragon scales, as naturally perfect as works of art, and her dragon claws, which could be called perfect weapons.
Especially when she had leaned out from the carriage, the lines of a true dragon radiating from her entire body—
Just recalling it made the Spine Great Dragon within Li Xijun stir restlessly.
"Only after breaking through to the Sitting in Oblivion Realm can I enter Duke Boyan's residence again and have a chance to see her."
"But the Sitting in Oblivion Realm... they say that hurdle is countless times harder than a martial warrior's Viscera Refining. It requires not only talent in spirit refinement, but also a temperament honed through hardship."
Even though he was already close to Spirit Condensation Completion, Li Xijun was still somewhat worried about it.
Fortunately,
compared with the pure-blooded dragon Ninth Princess, whom he could only see after reaching the Sitting in Oblivion Realm,
he, having already begun Viscera Refining, had another excellent resource that could accelerate his Blood Essence cultivation.
"Demonic beast flesh. This counts as a high-grade cultivation resource in the Da Sheng World."
Li Xijun tossed the blood-red jade pendant in his hand, anticipation rising in his eyes.
The Main World was naturally extremely rich in resources, but only after advancing to the Mortal Shedding Realm and gaining a body capable of absorbing Spiritual Power would one gain access to the incomparably abundant Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures of the various Mythical Worlds.
The cultivation resources available to those in the Apprentice Realm for cultivating Blood Essence were extremely scarce.
To the point that conspiracy theories often appeared online:
The Federation government deliberately refused to develop Blood Essence cultivation resources because it wanted to use Blood Essence cultivation in the Apprentice Realm to select genuine martial arts geniuses.
Li Xijun did not care whether that was true.
In any case, he was now going to travel to the Da Sheng World and obtain demonic beast flesh even more potent than Blood Essence Potions and Qi and Blood Great Pills.
And he would be spending silver that was not worth much to him.
Jinmen
The night was thick, with dark clouds obscuring the moon, creating a terrifying atmosphere where one could barely see one's hand before one's face.
In a remote area east of the inner river,
several silent men sat in boats with hoods over their heads. Nearly every one of them held a tobacco pipe, squatting in their boats and puffing away, yet not one spoke.
That was until Li Xijun arrived at this hidden place.
The instant he appeared, the dark eyes of the hat-wearing men smoking their pipes all turned toward him. Their gazes shone especially brightly in the night, and were especially frightening.
However, once their eyes fell upon the token hanging at Li Xijun's waist, they each withdrew their gazes and continued smoking.
An old fisherman with dark skin at the far left approached with a cheerful smile and said,
"By the rules, it's one tael of silver per trip. Does Young Master wish to board?"
"Mm."
Li Xijun, likewise dressed in black and masked, nodded and deliberately replied in a hoarse voice.
The dark-skinned old fisherman immediately maneuvered the boat. Once Li Xijun boarded, he pushed off with his bamboo pole, and the little boat shot toward the middle of the river like an arrow released from a bow. Judging by the force of that movement, he was actually a Tendons and Bones Realm martial warrior.
A moment later,
an island surrounded by the dense waterways downstream from eastern Jinmen appeared before Li Xijun.
As one of the largest port cities in the north, Jinmen was home to all sorts of people from every walk of life.
Even in this so-called black market, where everyone was mostly masked, there were still quite a few people coming and going among the various stalls.
Li Xijun even saw local Jinmen merchant guilds and merchant guilds under the Scales Church. They did not even bother pretending, openly building two-story bamboo towers and hanging up their signs for business.
"Want a slave from Sequence 9 of the Western Continent's War God Sequence? Strong and sturdy, with a War Cry skill. You won't lose out buying him."
"Sky Eagle Martial Hall Skin and Flesh Realm and Tendons and Bones Realm martial arts manuals, going cheap."
"Buying night owl feathers, Dragon Blood Grass, and all kinds of extraordinary materials from the Eastern Continent at high prices."
Li Xijun took a rough look around. There truly was every kind of person here, including plenty of foreigners from the nations of the Western Continent.
Since it was his first time here, he was in no hurry. After casually strolling around, he arrived before the stall of a middle-aged man who wore neither a mask nor a disguise, but boldly dressed in Taoist robes.
"Does Taoist Master sell Blood Vein Cord Flying Swords?"
Looking at the upright sign reading, "Mystic Items and Flying Swords of All Types Can Be Forged," Li Xijun asked tentatively.
The Flying Sword he had taken from Su Qiuzhen's corpse was certainly not suitable for public use in this world.
If he had the chance to buy a Flying Sword, he could use it in this world as well. It would count as a backup weapon.
"Of course. The Flying Swords produced by my Eternal Life Taoist Temple are renowned throughout Jinmen and several surrounding provinces. For only fifteen hundred taels of silver, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
The middle-aged Taoist chuckled.
"And as long as you can pay the price, forget Mystic Item Flying Swords—even this magical treasure, the Shadowless Sword, can be forged by this Taoist."
As he spoke, he deliberately flicked a short sword nearest to him on the stall, its entire body transparent like crystal.
A clear sword cry, like a dragon's roar, rang out.
It immediately drew many greedy gazes from all around.
Li Xijun's mouth twitched beneath his black cloth mask. He lost all interest in continuing the conversation and decisively turned to leave.
With his Spirit Condensation Realm cultivation nearly complete, he could naturally sense that the man's spiritual power exceeded his own. There was a ninety percent chance he was a Sitting in Oblivion Realm cultivator.
Flaunting wealth so brazenly in public—he was clearly trying to fish for prey.
For all he knew, the man considered him a fish too, intending to hook him with a straight hook while he was at it.
Encountering something like this on his first visit to the black market,
he could only say,
the local gangs were truly impolite!
Having suffered a minor loss, Li Xijun gained an even clearer understanding of how treacherous the black market was.
He directly chose to enter the bamboo tower belonging to the Scales Church's merchant guild.
It was, after all, a merchant guild backed by a major power, and its members belonged to a church that believed in fairness. At least it had some credibility when it came to business transactions.
"Welcome. What do you need?" A young woman with short flaxen hair approached, serving him with a smile.
"You sell demonic beast flesh here, right?"
Western merchant guilds purchased plenty of extraordinary biological materials from Dasheng, then shipped them across the sea to the Western Continent for sale. They certainly did not lack things like demonic beast flesh.
"Of course we have demonic beast flesh. We just acquired the flesh of a Bloodscale Python a few days ago. It's one hundred taels of silver per catty. How much would you like, sir?"
The price was indeed expensive.
No wonder Viscera Refinement Realm martial warriors had to run around everywhere for resources, even serving as guards for sea-trade merchant guilds traveling between the two continents to earn money.
Even if one only ate it once every ten or twenty days, it would still cost a considerable amount of silver.
The ten thousand taels of silver Li Boyan had written about for Viscera Refinement Completion was truly no exaggeration.
Fortunately, Li Xijun was not short on silver.
"I'll take three hundred taels' worth first."
Li Xijun had not yet refined his six viscera, so his entire digestive system could not digest too much demonic beast flesh.
Besides, this was his first time here. It was better to buy less and test the waters.
A moment later,
Li Xijun, carrying the carefully sealed demonic beast flesh in his arms and gripping an Electromagnetic Handgun beneath the loose sleeve of his left arm, cautiously departed with light steps.
As the boat set off,
the middle-aged Taoist manning his stall could not help shaking his head.
"He asked about a Blood Vein Cord Flying Sword, so I thought he was a fat sheep. Turns out he didn't buy much of anything."
Disappointed, he turned back with a smile and continued scanning the area, calculating whether any foolish outsiders would take the bait tonight.
After all, even a dignified Sitting in Oblivion Realm cultivator like him needed a considerable amount of silver to cultivate and break through to Embryonic Breathing.
With Li Boyan stationed in Jinmen now, he could not casually seize people's souls as he had before.
His most valued disciple, who came from a merchant guild, had died several months ago. Even the body had not been found, leaving him with much less tribute for no reason.
Now, he could only rely on fishing like this to earn some silver.
The next day
Li Xijun stuffed a strip of cooked meat the size of his little finger into a rice ball made from pearl Spirit Rice and brought it into his private Martial Arts Classroom.
Having completed the cleansing of his six viscera, he did not eat it immediately. Instead, he first summoned his smart butler.
"If anything unusual happens to me later, call Su Nianying directly."
Though there was most likely nothing wrong with this thing,
Li Xijun still gave this final safeguard order.
If anything truly happened, preserving his life and soul was the most important thing. As for other secrets, he could slowly talk his way through them later.
With that thought, Li Xijun took a deep breath and wolfed down the "rice ball" in his hand.
The next instant,
the demonic beast flesh entering his stomach instantly transformed into a fireball containing immense energy.
Like a miniature sun, it continuously scorched and washed through his five viscera and six bowels, tendons, bones, blood, and flesh from within.
"Urgh!"
It felt as though an ordinary person had swallowed a glowing-hot coal in winter.
Li Xijun felt the excessive heat continuously burning his internal organs. He could not help dropping to one knee, his face twisting slightly.
Along with it came a bloody, crazed, violent consciousness that relentlessly battered his soul.
Fortunately, he was already close to Spirit Condensation Completion and quickly entered the mental state of "White Lotus Ferrying Extinction."
His gaze gradually calmed, and his thoughts regained clarity. He began feeling the operation of his initially cleansed six viscera, slowly digesting and absorbing this energy to strengthen himself.
"There is some spiritual impact and influence, but fortunately, it isn't contamination."
"I don't consume much at the initial stage of Viscera Refining. Ordinary Viscera Refinement Martial Warriors can eat it once every ten days with Spirit Nourishing Incense. My Spirit Condensation cultivation is nearly complete, so to be safe, once every five days will do."
His thoughts grew clearer, and his body grew stronger.
Slowly, Li Xijun suddenly stood up and calmly directed the mechanical arms to place several humanoid targets.
He suddenly regulated his breath and circulated his qi. A cold snort came from his nose as he abruptly struck a palm against one of the humanoid targets, producing a crisp crack within it!
At the same time,
Li Xijun clearly felt the digestion and absorption of the demonic beast flesh within his body accelerate noticeably.
"Heh. It was merely an idea born from following my body's instincts. I never expected the True Martial Killing Move—Void Shock—to have such an effect."
Before his words had even faded, Li Xijun had already regulated his breath and struck out with his palm again!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
At the end of the month,
early in the morning
Bang!
Li Xijun no longer needed to regulate his breath.
As casually as reaching out on an ordinary day, the instant his hand brushed across the humanoid target before him,
the force resonating within and without erupted, turning all five viscera inside the humanoid target into shattered fragments.
Your "Martial Thirty-Six Forms" proficiency has increased from 94% master to 100% master.
Your Martial Arts System: Viscera Refinement Realm has increased from 16% to 18%.
"Mastering the True Martial Killing Move—Void Shock allows me to accelerate my circulation and absorption, promoting the cleansing of my six viscera."
"As my six viscera continuously grow stronger, the amount of demonic beast flesh I can eat is also increasing."
"Next time, I'll buy a large batch and stockpile it, so I don't have to go so often and run into any 'ghosts.'"
Li Xijun slowly withdrew his hand and focused his consciousness before him.
Name: Li Xijun Age: 17 Realm: Level 8 Apprentice Blood Essence Level: 8.1 Spirit Level: 20.0 Spirit-Refining System: Spirit Condensation Realm (100%) Martial Arts System: Viscera Refinement Realm (18%) Cultivation Methods: Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method: (Mastery 30%) Spirit-Refining Detailed Explanation Orifice-Sensing Method (100%) Contemplation Method: "Twenty-Four Rank White Lotus Salvation Chart" (Mastery 100%) Subduing Tiger Bone Refining Method (Grandmaster 100%) Martial Skills True Martial Thirty-Six Forms (Grandmaster 100%) Basic Saber Technique: (Proficient 61%) Basic Sword Technique: (Mastery 24%) Unifying the Heavens (0%)
"After reaching Blood Essence Level 8.0, with demon flesh and blood to help, it would probably take nine days to increase by 0.1."
"Still a little too slow. The Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Method needs to keep advancing, but unless I reach the Sitting in Oblivion Realm, I can't get in contact with the Ninth Princess."
"Likewise, I still can't see that sword move. It seems that if I want to improve my swordsmanship and learn that strike, I'll also need Sitting in Oblivion Realm cultivation."
"Spirit-refining cultivation truly is the top priority."
Li Xijun silently calculated until a burst of static crackled from the school loudspeakers.
"Today is the first day of the final exams. For this morning's tests, students, don't let your guard down just because they're academic subjects."
The grade director's words made Li Xijun, who had been immersed in cultivation, raise his head.
"The final assessment is finally here?"
"I also want to know what rank I can reach now."
Before you continue