Breakthrough and a Deal (Please Collect)

Black Stone City.

In an abandoned house where no one lived.

Fang Xi stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Linghu Yang, who had already been knocked unconscious by the Soul Bewitching Technique.

This man's memories were quite the treasure trove.

Not only did they contain the True Energy Martial Master chapter of the Five Thunder Polarizing Hand!

There was also the method of Seed Demon Into Body, along with all sorts of secrets about Yuan He Mountain. They had greatly broadened Fang Xi's horizons.

"What a pity... The so-called 'Seed Demon Into Body' can only be slightly suppressed with a Martial Artist's vital essence... In the end, one still becomes a monster that has completely lost its reason."

"Linghu Yang was merely drinking poison to quench his thirst. Or perhaps... after being trapped in the Demon Domain, he had fallen into utter despair and had no choice but to stake everything on one desperate gamble?"

"This man's heart for the Dao was truly steadfast. What a pity his luck wasn't very good..."

Fang Xi fell silent for a moment, then raised a finger and flicked out a spark.

The spark landed on Linghu Yang. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a raging blaze that swallowed him whole, reducing him to ashes...

Fang Xi paid it no mind. He walked into the courtyard and began roasting Taisui Meat.

As he ate, every word of the Yuan He Five Thunder Hands manual appeared in his heart with incomparable clarity, like bright pearls.

"The Yuan He Five Thunder Hands is Yuan He Mountain's guardian art. Even Linghu Yang only obtained a fragment... And judging from his description, it's impossible for me to reconstruct the complete Divine Intent Diagram. It lacks the most fundamental thing—intent!"

The Divine Intent Diagram of the Yuan He Five Thunder Hands naturally wasn't with Linghu Yang, nor was it in Black Stone City. It was in Yuan He Mountain, under tight protection.

At present, Fang Xi was completely beyond its reach.

Still, he didn't feel that he had suffered a loss.

After all, his foundation had not been built on orthodox martial arts from Yuan He Mountain!

By constantly mixing martial arts and cultivating other third-rate martial arts, he had barely managed to make his True Energy cover his entire body and refine strength into his marrow!

Originally, True Energy would naturally be born within several months or several years.

At present, he merely wanted to accelerate the process.

Thus, some of the tricks in the Yuan He Five Thunder Hands were still very useful.

"Using True Energy to stimulate different acupoints can speed up the process of producing True Force... Wonderful!"

Fang Xi recalled a secret technique, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Only someone at the peak of True Energy can attempt this cultivation method. Make even the slightest mistake, and at best you'll be paralyzed; at worst, you'll die... I wonder how many people Yuan He Mountain killed to create this secret technique..."

He wolfed down the Taisui Meat and suddenly rose to his feet.

Boom!

Layer upon layer of martial arts circulated through Fang Xi's body. Terrifying True Energy covered him from head to toe, making every joint crack like popping beans. His body rose section by section, as if he had transformed into some terrifying demon...

"I reached the peak of True Energy long ago..."

"Five Thunder Polarization, Seven Stars Tempering the Body!"

Fang Xi gave a low shout. His right hand moved like a butterfly flitting through flowers, tapping several unusual spots on his body in rapid succession.

All of a sudden.

His face turned crimson. He felt the circulation of True Energy within his body accelerate once more, reaching a terrifying level.

Fang Xi's body could barely withstand it. Beads of blood seeped from his pores.

If Mu Canglong tried this brutal cultivation method, he would probably train himself to death halfway through, because his foundation is insufficient!

Fang Xi thought to himself as he used his Spiritual Awareness to inspect his body and control the True Energy throughout it, remaining completely at ease.

Unlike Martial Artists, Fang Xi possessed Spiritual Awareness, allowing him to control his body with the finest precision and reach the realm of "subtlety." This was a convenience even the martial artists of Yuan He Mountain could hardly enjoy.

What was more, Fang Xi had taken Qi and Blood Pills, broken through the limits of the human body, and caused his vital essence to surge once again. He could be called a genius of Blood Qi Martial Arts!

These favorable factors piled atop one another, allowing him to ignore many restrictions and advance at a speed that would have left even Linghu Yang dumbfounded.

Time passed bit by bit.

After half an hour, one hour, and three hours...

Fang Xi's entire body suddenly shook!

A layer of blood scabs fell away, revealing fair, delicate skin.

"True Force... I've succeeded!"

His eyes lit up as he sensed a special power born from his five viscera, six bowels, and bone marrow.

This power contained the White Cloud Palm, Red Snake Leg, Iron Cloth Skill, Heavenly Sight Earthly Hearing Skill, and a small portion of the True Energy from the Yuan He Five Thunder Hands, yet it was entirely different.

Moreover... its strength far surpassed True Energy!

It even carried a mysterious... vitality!

"No... Not vitality. It's the difference between True Force and True Energy. True Force can carry special attributes!"

Fang Xi looked at his right hand, circulated his True Force, and pressed it against a wall.

Crash!

In an instant, the entire wall collapsed. The broken edges twisted grotesquely and were streaked with charred black.

"The True Force cultivated by the Yuan He Five Thunder Hands is called—Five Thunder Energy. When it strikes an enemy, it can numb them slightly. Once perfected, it can even intimidate demons!"

Recalling Linghu Yang's description, Fang Xi examined his own power and immediately knew that what he had cultivated was definitely not Five Thunder Energy!

"By mixing third-rate martial arts to become a True Force Martial Master, there are probably only a few people in the entire world who can do it... After becoming a Martial Master, my True Energy fused into True Force, carrying the effects of every type of True Energy."

From the collapsed wall, Fang Xi saw the twisting force of Red Snake Leg and the poisonous force of White Cloud Palm. It even carried a trace of thunderous force...

"A single palm can carry multiple effects!"

"This force shall be called—Primordial Chaos Energy!"

Fang Xi nodded lightly and named his new martial art. "Therefore... my current cultivation method could be called Primordial Chaos Thunderbolt... Forget it, I'll call it the Primordial Chaos True Skill!"

He could clearly feel that beneath the Primordial Chaos Energy, his previously rather fragile five viscera and six bowels had undergone another round of strengthening.

At present, he could already rival a body cultivator at the second stage of Body Refinement—in other words, one at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

"At this point, even spirit farmer spells can't break through my defenses. Ordinary early- and mid-stage Qi Refining spells might not be able to kill me even if they struck me head-on... My ability to survive has greatly increased."

"Finally... finally, I can do business with that inter-realm profiteer."

Fang Xi's eyes reddened, and he nearly shed tears.

He cultivated the Evergreen Art every day, but its progress was as slow as a snail crawling.

Unfortunately, Fang Xi knew very clearly that martial arts had no future. He still had to cultivate immortality!

He practiced martial arts now only to obtain strength as quickly as possible and gather resources for immortal cultivation!

"The facts prove that my choice was completely correct... After practicing martial arts for only a few months, I gained strength comparable to the mid-stage of Qi Refining!"

"If I hadn't practiced martial arts and had instead devoted myself to cultivating the Evergreen Art every day, I would still be at the third layer of Qi Refining, with only limited improvement in strength!"

"What was more... In the Southern Barrens Cultivation World, advancing to the second stage of Body Refinement would require at least a hundred spirit stones' worth of resources. How could I possibly produce that much?"

"Now it's equivalent to earning over a hundred spirit stones in a few months. Congratulations, congratulations!"

Fang Xi raised his head and looked at the mountain-like Yao Mo Tree. Only then did the joy on his face gradually fade. "Time to run..."

If he waited until the Yao Mo Tree advanced, it would truly be a case of joy turning to sorrow.

With that thought, Fang Xi activated his movement technique without hesitation.

Whoosh!

With a light leap, he crossed five or six zhang and landed on a rooftop.

"My movement technique has improved enormously as well!"

Fang Xi nodded lightly, identified the direction, and headed toward the market district by the western city gate.

Western city gate.

After some time had passed, the environment here looked even worse.

Any passerby looked like a skeleton, as though they might collapse the next moment.

With his face covered, Fang Xi entered the market district and saw that prices had fallen through the floor yet again.

His heart remained utterly unmoved as he arrived at Fatty Han's shop and pushed open the door.

"Brother!"

The shrunken Meat Mountain actually looked somewhat human again.

Fatty Han let out a wail and seemed about to rush over and hug Fang Xi's leg. Even his voice carried a sobbing tone. "If you didn't come, Old Han would have been so hungry he'd have had to eat people!"

"Hold on!"

Fang Xi waved a hand, somewhat surprised. "Didn't I trade you a huge batch of food before? How did you end up like this?"

"You're a well-fed man who doesn't know the hunger of the starving..." Fatty Han poured out his grievances. "Old Han has already cut down to only five meals a day... The key is, there's also a Taisui, and I have a whole bunch of subordinates and family members. Those are the real big mouths!"

"Oh!"

Fang Xi nodded thoughtfully.

That was true. Fatty Han alone couldn't possibly support a shop conducting black-market trades.

Moreover, he hadn't transmigrated and hadn't suddenly appeared in this world, so he naturally had relatives and friends to look after.

"Brother, you've finally come... I have eight martial arts manuals here, every one of them a fine work. There's even my own Sky Swallowing Skill... I've truly brought out everything I've kept at the bottom of the chest. Only eight hundred—no, five hundred jin of grain per book!" Fatty Han held up five fingers and gazed at Fang Xi pitifully.

Unexpectedly, Fang Xi shook his head. "I don't lack True Energy manuals anymore."

"What?"

Fatty Han looked as though he had been struck by lightning. The huge Meat Mountain sat back down, causing another minor earthquake. He said dejectedly, "Then what do you want? Even if you wanted my six concubines, we could still discuss it!"

"Your concubines?"

Fang Xi shot Fatty Han a disdainful glance, while secretly admiring him.

Some people could live in comfort even during the apocalypse.

"My concubines are all as beautiful as flowers... Especially Little Peach Blossom. She was once Black Stone City's famous beauty and top courtesan. I'll only ask you for a thousand jin of grain. This deal won't be a loss." Seeing that Fang Xi seemed interested, Fatty Han hurriedly introduced her.

"Old Han."

Fang Xi's voice became calm and serious. "Let's drop the jokes and make a deal... Do you want to leave?"

"Leave? Leave the Demon Domain?" Fatty Han narrowed his eyes, which were squeezed into a slit by the surrounding layers of fat.

Yet dangerous light shone from that slit. "You can get out? It isn't that swindler Linghu Yang's route, is it? What do you want?"

"Don't worry, I'm not Linghu Yang." Fang Xi secretly admired how well-informed Fatty Han was.

He had only learned that Linghu Yang was a swindler after using the Soul Bewitching Technique on him.

Even for someone like Linghu Yang, who had used Seed Demon Into Body and transformed into half a demon, the odds of leaving the city were only fifty-fifty!

"I only want one thing from you, and I'll take you out!" Fang Xi's eyes sharpened as well. "That thing is... the Taisui!"

"Bold! How dare you covet Old Han's lifeblood!"

Fatty Han roared, and the entire Meat Mountain erupted!

Boom!

A terrifying wave of blood qi soared into the heavens.

The entire Meat Mountain moved, transforming into a fist that crashed down like Mount Tai bearing down on the world!