Qi Refining Second Layer

The bamboo leaves shot towards Fang Chen with such speed that they emitted sharp whistling sounds as they cut through the air.

Fang Chen's eyes narrowed. He hadn't expected the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo's leaves to attack on their own. He immediately swung the Floating Immortal Sword, slashing at the incoming leaves.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

Fang Chen continuously deflected the bamboo leaves with his sword. At the same time, he felt a flow of energy from the Floating Immortal Sword surge into his body, causing a slight stinging sensation in his meridians, as if tiny knives were slicing them.

However, this stinging sensation was nothing compared to the overbearing energy flow he had experienced when chopping that stone on the summit of Dog Head Ridge.

Fang Chen knew that the stinging was caused by the Sword Intent contained within the energy flow, affecting his meridians.

Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo is a special type of spiritual bamboo that naturally contains Sword Intent. In most cases, it's used to refine Body Tempering Spiritual Liquid.

The Body Tempering Spiritual Liquid refined from Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo not only strengthens a sword cultivator's physical body but also makes it easier for them to comprehend Sword Intent.

Due to the incredibly fast speed of his sword swings, Fang Chen's body was enveloped in a dense web of sword shadows. Even though there were many bamboo leaves, not a single one could penetrate the sword screen formed by these shadows around Fang Chen.

Soon, all the leaves on the bamboo stalk fell off.

Fang Chen had chopped them all down, and they landed more than three feet away from his body.

"What powerful attacks!"

Fang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. He hadn't expected the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo to be so formidable. Now he finally understood why the person who had tried to sell him the Mystic Ice Dharma Robe charged ten taels of silver per stalk.

Looking back, Fang Chen felt that ten taels of silver per stalk was actually quite cheap.

In Thousand Bamboo Ridge, with his current strength, he could cut down an Exquisite Bamboo in a dozen swings, easily earning one tael of silver.

But now, he had spent so much time and True Qi without even cutting down a single stalk of Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo. Although the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo before him was much smaller than the Exquisite Bamboo, it was a spiritual bamboo. Not only did it possess Body Protection Spiritual Light, but it also had offensive capabilities, making it significantly harder to chop.

If not for the Floating Immortal Sword's assistance, he suspected the True Qi in his Dantian would have been nearly depleted.

After all the leaves fell, Fang Chen noticed that the Body Protection Spiritual Light on the surface of the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo had also dimmed considerably.

Without its leaves, the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo lost its offensive capabilities, allowing Fang Chen to chop it with more confidence.

He swung the Floating Immortal Sword again, striking the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo.

"Clang!"

This time, the Floating Immortal Sword left a deeper gash on the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo.

Although Fang Chen used True Qi with every swing, a cool stream of energy flowed from the sword hilt into Fang Chen's body with each impact. Under the influence of this cool energy, Fang Chen's True Qi didn't decrease; instead, it slowly increased.

After the time it takes for one incense stick to burn, Fang Chen finally managed to cut down the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo.

At that very moment, the True Qi vortex in Fang Chen's Dantian trembled slightly. In the center of the vortex, a ball of golden flame appeared, and the True Qi in his Dantian instantly ignited. Fang Chen's Dantian expanded rapidly, feeling as if it were about to explode.

"Boom!"

A powerful aura erupted from within Fang Chen, scattering the surrounding bamboo leaves and dust.

At this moment, Fang Chen's Dantian was filled with golden flames. Under the scorching of these flames, golden mystical runes appeared on the walls of his Dantian.

Ten breaths later, the aura emanating from Fang Chen gradually weakened, and the golden flames in his Dantian disappeared. The diameter of the True Qi vortex was only a tenth of its original size, but the True Qi had become significantly more refined.

"Qi Refining second layer? I've broken through to the second layer of Qi Refining?"

Seeing the changes in his Dantian, Fang Chen was overjoyed. He hadn't expected to break through to the second layer of Qi Refining so quickly.

He had only just broken through to the first layer of Qi Refining in Thousand Bamboo Ridge the day before yesterday, and now he had reached the second layer. Such a terrifying pace was likely unmatched even by those with True Spiritual Roots.

With a thought, Fang Chen summoned a wisp of white True Qi into his palm. He could feel that the transformed True Qi exuded a stronger pressure than before.

As the name suggests, cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm are meant to refine their True Qi. During this process, cultivators continuously accumulate True Qi in their Dantian. Once the True Qi reaches a certain level, it spontaneously combusts, undergoing a transformation to become more refined and powerful.

After True Qi undergoes nine transformations, one can attempt to condense a Foundation Establishment Dao Platform.

The purer the True Qi, the higher the quality of the condensed Foundation Establishment Dao Platform.

Some geniuses can achieve ten or even eleven transformations of their True Qi during the Qi Refining stage.

There are also some monstrous talents who can achieve twelve transformations.

Fang Chen channeled his True Qi into the Floating Immortal Sword.

"Hum!"

The Floating Immortal Sword vibrated slightly, and a multitude of cyan formation patterns appeared on its surface, emitting a sharp Sword Intent.

He gently swung the Floating Immortal Sword, striking the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo.

"Crack!"

A large chunk of bamboo was cleaved off, leaving a massive gap in the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo.

An even stronger cool stream of energy surged from the Floating Immortal Sword's hilt into Fang Chen's body. Fang Chen shivered, exhaled a puff of white mist, and felt refreshed.

"Comfortable!"

Fang Chen wore a look of bliss and continued to swing his sword at the bamboo.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

Fang Chen swung his sword rapidly, and streams of cool energy continuously flowed into him.

Soon, another stalk of Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo was cut down.

After cutting down the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo, he took out his identity token, infused it with True Qi, and the token instantly lit up. He then placed the identity token onto the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo.

Back when he was at Thousand Bamboo Ridge, after cutting down bamboo, he needed a steward to use a Spirit Pen to draw lines on his identity token and the bamboo as a mark. Now that he was a Qi Refining Realm cultivator, he could use his True Qi to activate the imprint on his identity token and directly brand his own Spiritual Sense imprint onto the bamboo, which made things much more convenient.

"Chii!"

A Spiritual Sense imprint was instantly left on the Fire Spirit Bamboo. Under the effect of the Spiritual Sense, Fang Chen could see a large number of white threads spreading across the bamboo.

One bamboo could only have one Spiritual Sense imprint branded onto it, and only its owner could erase this imprint.

Even if someone else snatched the bamboo, it would still be registered according to the number of the Spiritual Sense imprint during the final registration, and ultimately, the bamboo would be counted towards Fang Chen.

After cutting down the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo, the branches also needed to be cut off to be considered compliant.

Fang Chen skillfully lopped off the branches and continued to cut down the second stalk.

After the time it takes for one incense stick to burn.

As Fang Chen was cutting bamboo, he sensed a sound of something breaking through the air behind him.

His expression changed drastically, and he immediately dropped to the ground.

"Whoosh!"

A cold glint flew past his head and struck a Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo not far away.

"Crack!"

The Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo instantly exploded, and a gleaming flying sword was seen embedded in it.