Enhancement

In the blink of an eye, ten Silver Armored Corpse Puppets said to be invincible below the Innate Realm had been reduced to parts scattered across the ground.

The old Corpse Daoist's face had completely drained of color.

His final pillar of support was gone.

That was the only thought in his mind.

The Corpse Daoist turned and fled wildly into the depths of the dark passage, scrambling and crawling in utter disarray.

Shen Che did not even look at him. He merely threw a casual punch at the warped steel gate.

Boom!!!

A thunderous blast rang out.

That steel gate, half a foot thick and weighing several thousand pounds, was blasted into pieces by an irresistible force, countless fragments flying backward.

A figure was swept up by the fragments, screaming as he flew more than ten meters away before crashing heavily into the stone wall.

It was the Corpse Daoist.

Shen Che slowly walked over.

The Corpse Daoist struggled to his feet, then dropped to his knees with a thud and desperately kowtowed to Shen Che.

"Spare my life, my lord! Spare my life!"

"This old man failed to recognize Mount Tai and offended you, my lord!"

"This old man is willing to offer all his possessions, along with the secret manual for the Corpse Refining Technique. I only beg you to spare this dog's life!"

As he spoke, he pulled a yellowed booklet from his robes and raised it high with both hands.

The instant Shen Che drew near.

A flash of venomous resentment passed through the Corpse Daoist's eyes. His other hand, hidden in his sleeve, suddenly flicked upward.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Dozens of silver needles as fine as ox hair, coated in dark blue poison, shot in a fan-shaped spread toward Shen Che's eyes and vital points on his chest.

At such close range, with such a sudden ambush, any Earth Ranking expert would surely have died.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A crisp series of metallic collisions rang out.

When those poisoned needles came within three inches of Shen Che's body, they seemed to strike an invisible wall. All of them were deflected by an unseen force and scattered across the ground.

A black blade-light flashed past.

The Corpse Daoist's head flew into the air, his face still frozen in shock and incomprehension.

Shen Che kicked aside his headless corpse and placed the head into the storage space of his Demon Suppressing Token.

This was a big fish with a bounty on the Demon Suppression Ranking. It was worth quite a bit.

He picked up the Corpse Refining Technique from the ground without even flipping through it and tossed it directly into his storage space.

He had no interest in such crooked and evil arts.

Only then did Qian Jing and the other two recover from their shock and walk over to Shen Che.

Looking at the corpses littering the ground, Liu Tianqi could not help sighing. "Brother Shen, your strength... you truly hid it deeply."

Jin Wen's expression was equally complicated.

Qian Jing solemnly cupped his fists toward Shen Che. "This time, we have Brother Shen to thank. Otherwise, the three of us would likely have fallen here today."

As he looked at Shen Che, countless guesses arose in his heart.

So young, yet possessed of such terrifying physique and strength—he was likely a Bloodline Warrior from some hidden great clan, out gaining experience.

"Just a small effort." Shen Che sheathed the Meteor Thunder Blade.

The four left the cave.

Qian Jing invited him again. "Brother Shen, now that this matter is settled, why not return to the imperial capital with us? With your strength, you would surely shine brilliantly at headquarters."

"I still have matters to attend to. We can discuss it if there is a chance in the future." Shen Che declined.

"Very well." Qian Jing did not press him. "If you come to the imperial capital someday, be sure to find me at the Demon Suppression Division headquarters. Qian will sweep the couch clean to welcome you."

The four went their separate ways at the foot of the mountain.

Ten days later.

Cangyun City, Demon Suppression Division.

Shen Che, travel-worn from the road, entered Yan Xiu's study.

Yan Xiu was handling official business. When he looked up and saw Shen Che, he asked, "The mission is complete? The young man from the Bai family was delivered safely?"

"He was." Shen Che nodded.

"Good." Yan Xiu set down his brush. "You have worked hard this time. The Contribution Points for the escort mission will be transferred to your token shortly."

"Lord Yan, when I returned this time, I also took care of a small matter along the way."

As Shen Che spoke, he took out his Demon Suppressing Token.

With a thought, a head that had died with its eyes wide open rolled onto the floor of the study.

Yan Xiu had not paid much attention at first and merely glanced down at it.

The next second, he shot up from his chair, strode quickly to the head, and crouched down to inspect it closely.

"This... this is the Corpse Daoist?"

"It is."

Yan Xiu sucked in a cold breath.

He stood and circled Shen Che twice, as though meeting him for the first time.

"You brat, you went to escort someone and casually slaughtered the Corpse Daoist on the side?"

That old devil had been famous for decades. Several Earth Ranking experts had died by his hand, and his bounty was far greater than Yan Hong's had been.

And yet, you had dealt with him just like that "along the way"?

"Good luck. I happened to run into him." Shen Che spoke lightly.

Yan Xiu's mouth twitched.

"Well done."

"The Corpse Daoist's bounty is ten thousand Contribution Points. I'll approve it for you shortly."

"You brat, you are qualified to apply at headquarters for the Gold Medal Demon Suppressor assessment."

Ten thousand Contribution Points.

Shen Che's heart grew hot.

He spoke directly. "Lord Yan, I want to use the Contribution Points to exchange for Qi Condensing Pills."

"Qi Condensing Pills?" Yan Xiu was taken aback. "You are about to attempt the Primordial Qi Realm?"

"I'm preparing to try."

"One Qi Condensing Pill costs two thousand points. Ten thousand points is enough for exactly five." Yan Xiu nodded. "Approved. Go collect them from the storehouse yourself."

After obtaining the pills, Shen Che did not delay and returned directly to his residence in the southern part of the city.

He activated every formation, entered the secret chamber, and prepared to enter seclusion.

Looking at the five pills in his palm, each the size of a longan and giving off a rich medicinal fragrance, Shen Che did not hesitate.

When ordinary martial artists attempted to break into the Primordial Qi Realm, they refined the pills one at a time, afraid that excessive medicinal power would burst their meridians.

But Shen Che was different.

Shen Che opened his mouth and swallowed all five Qi Condensing Pills in one gulp.

Five vast and pure currents of medicinal power exploded within his abdomen like five rushing rivers.

The violent energy instantly surged into his limbs, bones, meridians, and flesh, crazily washing through his body.

"System, accelerate the refinement!"

[Consumed 2000 Time Value. Qi Condensing Pills refining...]

With the system's assistance, the violent medicinal power became docile, rapidly absorbed and transformed by his body.

The Horizontal Training True Qi within him began to compress, purify, and transform at an astonishing speed under the stimulation of that medicinal power.

Who knew how much time passed.

The system's notification sounded in his mind.

[Refining qi into qi force. Congratulations, Host, on advancing to the first level of the Primordial Qi Realm!]

Shen Che abruptly opened his eyes.

He could feel that the energy in his body had undergone a qualitative change.

The True Qi that had once been gaseous had completely transformed into liquid qi force, its quality more than ten times greater than before.

An unprecedented sense of power filled his entire body.

He clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him.

With the boosts of [Dragon's Roar Iron Shirt] and [Indestructible Diamond Divine Skill], this breakthrough had increased his physical strength by a full one hundred thousand pounds!

Ten times that of an ordinary martial artist!

With a thought, he activated his divine protective art.

A layer of incomparably solid Dragon Scale Battle Armor appeared over his body. Outside it, a heavy, solid golden bell enveloped him, Sanskrit characters flowing across its surface as it radiated an undying aura.

His defensive power had likewise undergone a qualitative leap.

Shen Che did not leave seclusion. Instead, he continued to settle his mind.

He began circulating the [Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill].

After advancing to the Primordial Qi Realm, his cultivation speed soared a thousand miles in a single day.

Half a month later.

The [Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill] smoothly broke through to the ninth level!

His physical strength increased by another hundred thousand pounds. The force of a single arm had already approached the terrifying threshold of six hundred thousand pounds.

But he came to a stop before the bottleneck of the ninth level.

The final four levels of the [Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill] were known as the realm of Gods and Devils. Under normal circumstances, one needed Innate Realm cultivation before attempting a breakthrough.

Shen Che tried to break through for several days, but his progress crawled as slowly as a turtle.

"System, level it up for me!"

He directly used the Time Value he had only just obtained and had not even had time to warm in his hands.

"Raise the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill to the tenth level!"

[Consumed 10000 Time Value. Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill raised to the tenth level!]

Rumble—!

A terrifying power, as though it had awakened from primordial antiquity, erupted within his body.

His bones gave off explosive cracks under unbearable strain, shattering inch by inch before instantly reforming.

A faint layer of silver light spread across his bones.

His meridians expanded several times over and became incomparably resilient.

Shen Che felt as though his body was undergoing an earth-shaking reconstruction.

When everything finally calmed.

He slowly rose to his feet, and the illusion that he could crush mountains and rivers in his hand and tear open the earth surged forth unbidden.

It was not an illusion.

It was real power.

The strength of one arm: one million six hundred thousand pounds!

Primordial Qi Realm, Dragon Elephant's tenth level.

Just as Shen Che was adapting to the newly born power within him.

Cangyun City, Demon Suppression Division, underground.

Demon Suppressing Prison.

A Demon Queller Envoy responsible for the night patrol carried a lantern as he walked through the dark, damp passage.

He performed his routine inspection of the cells on the first and second levels.

Everything was normal.

Yawning, he walked toward the entrance leading to the third level.