Improvement

In the blink of an eye, ten Silver Armored Corpse Puppets, rumored to be invincible beneath the Innate Realm, were reduced to scattered parts.

The Corpse Daoist's aged face completely lost its color.

His last resort was gone.

This was the only thought in his mind.

The Corpse Daoist turned and fled madly into the depths of the dark passage, scrambling and crawling in a pathetic state.

Shen Che didn't even look at him, merely throwing a casual punch at the deformed steel gate.

BOOM!!!

A deafening roar.

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

A figure was swept up by the debris, flying out over ten meters with a scream, crashing heavily against the stone wall.

It was the Corpse Daoist.

Shen Che walked over slowly.

The Corpse Daoist struggled to get up, then knelt on the ground with a thud, desperately kowtowing to Shen Che.

"My lord, spare me! My lord, spare me!"

"This old man had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai, offending my lord!"

"This old man is willing to offer all his possessions, as well as this manual for the Corpse Refining Technique, just to beg my lord to spare my dog's life!"

As he spoke, he took out a yellowed booklet from his robes and held it high with both hands.

The moment Shen Che approached.

A flash of resentment flickered in the Corpse Daoist's eyes, and the other hand hidden in his sleeve suddenly swept out.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Dozens of needles, as fine as ox hair and coated with a dark blue poison, shot out in a fan shape towards Shen Che's eyes and vital chest area.

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

TING TING TING!

A series of crisp metallic clangs.

As the poisonous needles approached within three inches of Shen Che's body, they seemed to hit an invisible wall, being repelled by a force and scattering all over the ground.

A black blade light flashed.

The Corpse Daoist's head flew into the sky, his face still etched with shock and confusion.

Shen Che kicked away his headless corpse and stored the head in the Demon Suppression Token's storage space.

This was a big fish on the Demon Suppression Ranking, worth a considerable amount.

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

He had no interest in such heretical practices.

Qian Jing and the other two finally snapped out of their shock and walked over to Shen Che.

Looking at the corpses scattered all over the ground, Liu Tianqi couldn't help but sigh, "Brother Shen, your strength... is truly well-hidden."

Jin Wen also had a complex expression.

Qian Jing cupped his fists solemnly towards Shen Che, "We have Brother Shen to thank this time; otherwise, the three of us would likely have perished here today."

He looked at Shen Che, his mind racing with possibilities.

So young, yet possessing such terrifying physical prowess and strength, he must be a Bloodline Warrior from some hidden aristocratic family undergoing trials.

"It was nothing," Shen Che sheathed the Meteor Thunder Blade.

The four left the cave.

Qian Jing extended another invitation, "Brother Shen, now that this matter is settled, why not return to the Imperial Capital with us? With your strength, you'll surely shine brightly at headquarters."

"I still have matters to attend to; perhaps another time," Shen Che refused.

"Very well," Qian Jing didn't press further. "If you ever come to the Imperial Capital in the future, be sure to find me at the Demon Suppression Division headquarters. I will welcome you with open arms."

The four parted ways at the foot of the mountain.

Ten days later.

Cangyun City, Demon Suppression Division.

Shen Che, travel-worn, walked into Yan Xiu's study.

Yan Xiu was handling official duties and looked up upon seeing him, asking, "Did you complete the mission? Was the Bai family's young master safely delivered?"

"He was delivered," Shen Che nodded.

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

"Lord Yan, I also took care of a small matter on my way back this time."

Shen Che said, taking out the Demon Suppressing Token.

With a thought, a head with eyes wide open in death rolled onto the study floor.

Yan Xiu hadn't paid much attention at first, just glancing down.

The next second, he abruptly stood up from his chair, strode over to the head, and crouched down to examine it closely.

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

"It's him."

Yan Xiu gasped, taking a sharp breath.

He stood up and walked around Shen Che twice, as if seeing him for the first time.

"You brat, you went to escort someone and just happened to kill the Corpse Daoist?"

This old devil had been famous for decades, and several Earth Ranking experts had died by his hand. His bounty was significantly higher than Yan Hong's before.

And you just "happened" to deal with him like this?

"Got lucky and ran into him," Shen Che said dismissively.

Yan Xiu's mouth twitched.

"Well done."

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

"You brat, you're qualified to apply for the Gold Medal Demon Queller Envoy assessment at headquarters."

Ten thousand Contribution Points.

Shen Che's heart warmed.

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

"Qi Condensing Pills?" Yan Xiu was taken aback. "You're going to attempt the Primordial Qi Realm?"

"I'm preparing to try."

"One Qi Condensing Pill costs two thousand points. Ten thousand points is exactly enough for five," Yan Xiu nodded. "I approve. You can collect them from the treasury yourself."

After receiving the pills, Shen Che didn't delay and returned directly to his mansion in the southern part of the city.

He activated all the formations, entered the secret chamber, and prepared for seclusion.

Looking at the five dragon-eye-sized pills in his palm, emitting a rich medicinal aroma, Shen Che didn't hesitate.

Ordinary martial artists would refine the Qi Condensing Pills one by one when attempting to break through to the Primordial Qi Realm, fearing that the medicinal power would be too potent and rupture their meridians.

But he was different.

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

Five massive and pure medicinal energies exploded in his abdomen like five rushing rivers.

The violent energy instantly surged into every part of his body, frantically scouring his meridians and flesh.

"System, accelerate refinement!"

[Consuming 2000 Time Value, Qi Condensing Pill refinement in progress...]

With the System's assistance, the violent medicinal energy became docile, was rapidly absorbed by his body, and transformed.

Catalyzed by this medicinal energy, the Horizontal Training True Qi within his body began to compress, purify, and transform at an astonishing speed.

After an unknown amount of time.

The System's prompt sounded in his mind.

[Qi Condensed into Gang, congratulations Host, promoted to Primordial Qi Realm First Layer!]

Shen Che's eyes snapped open.

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

The True Qi, which had been in gaseous form, had completely transformed into liquid Qi, its quality more than ten times what it was before.

A sense of power he had never felt before filled his entire body.

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

With the enhancement of the Dragon's Roar Iron Shirt and the Indestructible Diamond Divine Skill, this breakthrough brought him a physical strength increase of a full 100,000 jin!

Ten times that of an ordinary martial artist!

With a thought, he activated his protective divine skill.

A layer of extremely solid Dragon Scale Battle Armor appeared on his body's surface, further enveloped by a thick and solid golden bell. Sanskrit characters flowed on the bell's wall, exuding an aura of immortality.

His defense had also achieved a qualitative leap.

Shen Che did not exit seclusion but continued to calm his mind.

He began to circulate the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.

After ascending to the Primordial Qi Realm, his cultivation speed advanced by leaps and bounds.

Half a month later.

[Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill] successfully broke through to the ninth layer!

His physical strength surged by another 100,000 jin. His single-arm strength had already reached the terrifying level of nearly 600,000 jin.

But he stopped at the bottleneck of the ninth layer.

The last four layers of [Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill] were known as the realm of Gods and Demons. Normally, one needed to reach the Innate Realm cultivation to attempt a breakthrough.

Shen Che tried to push through for several days, but his progress was as slow as a crawling turtle.

"System, upgrade me!"

He directly mobilized the Time Value he had just obtained and hadn't even warmed up yet.

"Upgrade Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill to the tenth layer!"

[Consumed 10,000 Time Value, Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill upgraded to the tenth layer!]

Rumble--!

A terrifying power, as if from the ancient primordial wilderness, awakened within his body.

His bones let out a creaking sound of being unable to bear the load, shattering inch by inch, only to instantly reform.

The color of his bones took on a faint silver glow.

His meridians were widened several times over, becoming incomparably tough.

Shen Che felt as if his body was undergoing a world-altering transformation.

When everything subsided.

He slowly stood up, an illusion of being able to crush mountains and tear apart the earth arose spontaneously.

This was not an illusion.

This was real power.

Single-arm strength, 1.6 million jin!

Primordial Qi Realm, having cultivated the tenth layer of Dragon Elephant.

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

Cangyun City, Demon Suppression Division, underground.

The Demon Suppressing Prison.

A Demon Queller Envoy, responsible for night patrols, walked through the dark and damp passage, carrying a lantern.

He routinely checked the cells on the first and second floors.

Everything was normal.

Yawning, he walked towards the entrance leading to the third floor.