Talent and Aptitude Soar

According to the intelligence gathered from the surrounding area, the things appearing at night in Tongxin Town and the nearby villages were basically Ghost Spirits. There were relatively few Demonic Beasts, while Demonic Beasts and anomalies had yet to be discovered.

Yet among these Ghost Spirits were some whose strength rivaled the Inner Refinement Third Layer. Coupled with the abilities unique to Ghost Spirits, even Inner Refinement Fourth Layer martial artists found it difficult to kill them.

Song Ankang could handle one or two, but once their numbers grew, he would have to flee with his head in his hands.

At this moment, there were definitely more than several dozen Ghost Spirits roaming around Tongxin Town. If they joined forces, Song Ankang would gain nothing from facing them.

Even if Chaoyun Manor as a whole faced an attack from so many Ghost Spirits, there was more than a ninety percent chance it would fall.

Fortunately, those Ghost Spirits only devoured people who left their homes at night. As long as one stayed obediently indoors after dark, nothing would happen. They were still abiding by the tacit understanding that had long existed between them and Human Race cultivators.

All Chaoyun Manor could do was tell the Tenant Farmers never to leave the manor at night. Better yet, they should not even step outside their homes, but stay indoors obediently and handle whatever needed doing during the day.

Storm clouds were gathering. Who knew whether the Ghost Spirits that were still following the rules would continue doing so? If they brazenly attacked the humans hiding in their homes, what would they have to resist them with?

Although the possibility was not great, it was not impossible either. Some low-level Ghost Spirits possessed limited intelligence and could easily be influenced by unusual factors, doing things that courted death.

Song Ankang could not place his hopes on those Ghost Spirits following the rules. After all, if they broke the rules and truly attacked Chaoyun Manor, what use would it be even if someone avenged them afterward?

Strengthening himself was what mattered most!

Song Ankang cultivated diligently, even wasting a certain amount of pills and Medicinal Herbs without hesitation. His strength rose at an astonishing pace, while the atmosphere in Chaoyun Manor and the many surrounding villages and towns grew more oppressive by the day.

He cultivated without regard for day or night. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Song Ankang's strength had reached the limit of the Blood Replacement Realm, the limit of the Inner Refinement Fourth Layer.

The qi and blood throughout Song Ankang's body had already completed their transformation, becoming true Seven Injuries Qi and Blood. Its abundance and purity far surpassed that of any martial artist cultivating the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture.

After absorbing the side effects of the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture, then absorbing the side effects of the Heaven Concealing Earth Absorbing Art, Song Ankang's foundation had become so profound that, let alone among the Human Race, it ranked among the foremost even among the myriad races of the Xuanhuang Continent.

His qi and blood were abundant and pure, his foundation stable and solid, his body hard yet flexible. Song Ankang's future was boundless.

Feeling the surging, formidable Seven Injuries Qi and Blood within him, as well as the strength several times greater than before, Song Ankang finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

However, this was still no time to slacken. After familiarizing himself with his current strength and stabilizing it somewhat, Song Ankang once again plunged into arduous cultivation.

Incidentally, after completing Blood Replacement, Song Ankang's Talent and Aptitude had soared to more than twice their original level. They now surpassed those of many ordinary people, barely reaching the lower-middle tier.

With his Talent and Aptitude improved so greatly, Song Ankang's cultivation speed surged like wind and lightning—of course, compared with before.

In truth, Song Ankang's current Talent and Aptitude could not even be called one in ten thousand, or even one in a hundred. At most, it was one in ten.

Having reached the limit of the Blood Replacement Realm, the next step was to remove the Filth Qi inside and outside his Dantian, allowing the Seven Injuries Qi and Blood to temper it.

The races of the Xuanhuang Continent possessed unusual constitutions. For most races, Filth Qi was hidden inside and outside their Dantians. Only after clearing away this Filth Qi could they continue cultivating.

Of course, for some races, the Filth Qi was not located in the Dantian, but elsewhere.

Sensing the Filth Qi entrenched inside and outside his Dantian, Song Ankang could not help drawing a sharp breath. Wasn't the Filth Qi in his Dantian a little too plentiful? And far too condensed? This was different from what Jiang Yunhe had told him.

According to Jiang Yunhe, the Filth Qi inside and outside an ordinary martial artist's Dantian amounted to only a fraction of Song Ankang's at most, and was nowhere near this terrifyingly condensed.

Could it be that because his cultivation foundation was too profound and his body was extraordinarily hard and flexible, it had also bred more Filth Qi?

That was highly likely. The ancient texts contained similar descriptions. Yet fortune lay hidden within misfortune, and misfortune leaned upon fortune. The more Filth Qi there was, the stronger Song Ankang's Dantian was. Once he cleared away this Filth Qi, the greater the benefits he would gain.

Moreover, the process of clearing Filth Qi could effectively temper the Seven Injuries Qi and Blood, accomplishing several things at once.

After restoring his essence, qi, and spirit to their peak, Song Ankang began following the instructions of the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture. He mobilized the Seven Injuries Qi and Blood within his body to clear away the Filth Qi inside and outside his Dantian.

Strand after strand of Seven Injuries Qi and Blood began from the outer edge, tearing at a strand of Filth Qi on the periphery. But what left Song Ankang speechless was that several strands of pure, powerful Seven Injuries Qi and Blood could not even tear off a single strand of Filth Qi.

Did it have to be this troublesome!

Song Ankang mobilized more Seven Injuries Qi and Blood, several dozen strands in all, and tore at that strand of Filth Qi again.

This time, he finally shook the strand of Filth Qi loose, tearing it off bit by bit. Then the numerous strands of Seven Injuries Qi and Blood surged forward, pouncing upon it.

"Hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss..."

The two sides battled together. By the time that strand of Filth Qi had been completely eliminated, little remained of the several dozen strands of Seven Injuries Qi and Blood.

Seeing this, Song Ankang fell silent. The disparity between the two sides was a little too great, wasn't it? At this rate, it would be difficult to remove all the Filth Qi without several months. That was only because Song Ankang cultivated a demonic art and had the Heavenly Book of Fate Defiance feeding back its side effects.

If it were anyone else, without eight or ten years, they simply could not clear away the Filth Qi inside and outside their Dantian. They might even fail to clear it away in their entire lifetime.

And this Filth Qi would not obediently allow martial artists to remove it. Once the cleansing reached a certain point, the Filth Qi would strike back as well. If one failed to withstand it, Filth Qi would contaminate the entire body. Having one's martial arts crippled would be the least of it; one could very likely die on the spot.

Thus, while clearing the Filth Qi inside and outside his Dantian, Song Ankang remained exceedingly careful. He retained most of his Seven Injuries Qi and Blood to guard against a counterattack from the Filth Qi, mobilizing only a small portion each time to remove the Filth Qi inside and outside his Dantian.

Fortunately, the Filth Qi inside and outside the Dantian was limited in quantity and recovered extremely slowly. Song Ankang could take his time and clear it away gradually.

Still, although his current clearing speed might already seem fast to others, to Song Ankang, it was truly far too slow.

He could not wait, nor could he afford to wait!