Breaking through the Viscera Refining Realm was not that easy.
Every realm of martial arts was separated by a gulf as vast as heaven and earth.
Entering the Realm was merely the beginning of cultivating Qi and Blood, opening up and strengthening the meridians within the body.
The Viscera Refining Realm meant one could already gather the Qi and Blood within the body, triggering a transformation and naturally forming a cycle. From then on, the Qi and Blood circulated through the body, endlessly tempering the muscles, bones, flesh, and blood.
When the Qi and Blood were stimulated, one could even reach the level of Bronze Skin Iron Bone, where blades and swords could barely injure them!
To go from refining Qi and Blood to making it form a cycle—
That step had trapped countless martial artists who had no inheritance or master to teach them and could only grope their way forward.
There were quite a few rural lineages that, in order to nurture a single Viscera Refining Realm martial artist, had to spend the time of several generations exploring the path. Only through the discoveries of successive generations could they eventually allow their descendants to break through beyond the Viscera Refining Realm and become a prominent local clan.
However,
While crossing this step was incomparably difficult for others,
For Yang Qingyun,
It was not particularly difficult.
After all, in his Previous Life, he had already broken through once.
This time, he only needed to proceed step by step, accumulate enough Qi and Blood, and strengthen the meridians within his body to a certain level. With a thought, reaching the Viscera Refining Realm would be as natural as water flowing along its course.
He had only been cultivating anew for a month or two, yet he had already reached the Peak of the Entering Realm.
This speed—
For other martial artists, it could only be described as earth-shattering!
Even the direct descendants of some great powers, or even the children of Grandmasters, might not be able to cultivate this quickly!
But precisely because his realm had risen too quickly,
Yang Qingyun had also developed a hint of worry.
The meridians and dantian within his body had not undergone enough tempering from Qi and Blood.
His meridians and dantian might not be able to withstand the explosive surge of Qi and Blood after breaking through to the Viscera Refining Realm, nor the immense pressure produced by the Qi and Blood surging and circulating through his body!
This could result in bodily damage!
Therefore,
Yang Qingyun planned to slow down a little. He would cultivate for another month or two for the time being, and wait until his dantian and meridians had been sufficiently strengthened through the tempering of Qi and Blood before making further plans.
However, although Yang Qingyun had entered the Viscera Refining Realm,
Someone else had advanced to the Viscera Refining Realm before him.
That person was Zhou Weilong!
"Brother Zhou, congratulations on breaking through!"
In the courtyard, Yang Qingyun and Zhou Weilong sat facing each other.
Yang Qingyun smiled and cupped his hands toward him in congratulations.
Not long ago, after receiving the pills from Yang Qingyun and his guidance on the path ahead, Zhou Weilong had returned and entered seclusion soon afterward.
Finally, not long ago, he had broken into the Viscera Refining Realm in one stroke!
Perhaps the Viscera Refining Realm could only be considered the realm of a third-rate expert in the Southern Wilderness martial world of the Chu Kingdom, barely worth mentioning.
But in a small place like Huangshi Town, it could already be said to be a single leap into the heavens!
Even if he was merely third-rate,
He was still an expert,
An existence whose name carried weight!
He was already standing at the pinnacle of Huangshi Town!
If not for the conflict between the Sifang Society and the Black Tiger Gang, establishing a considerable family business here would not have been difficult.
"I suppose I've wasted more than a decade of my life. If not for your help, Brother Yang, I'm afraid I would have remained buried in obscurity until death. How could I have had the chance to glimpse the mysteries of such a realm?"
Zhou Weilong sighed.
Yet between his brows,
His excitement was plain for all to see.
Anyone who had been stuck at the Peak of the Entering Realm for years, already believing they had no hope and preparing to give up,
Would naturally be beside themselves with excitement after unexpectedly receiving the aid of a benefactor and entering a new world they had dreamed of, finally witnessing the realm they had always yearned for.
"Thank you, Brother Yang, for the grace of giving me a new life!"
As he spoke, Zhou Weilong rose and bowed deeply toward Yang Qingyun.
Yang Qingyun rose with him and pressed him back down.
"No need to be so courteous, Brother Zhou. You make too much of it. To me, this was merely something I did on a whim."
Yang Qingyun shook his head slightly.
As for this man,
His impression of him was fairly good.
The fact that he had gone to Black Wind Mountain to reason with the Black Wind Bandits for the sake of a disciple, seeking justice for a group of weak and innocent commoners, was enough to show the kindness in his heart.
Although he also had considerable ambitions and wanted to use the matter to build a reputation, so that his Weilong Martial Arts School could become a family business passed down through the generations,
At least, he had acted!
If he had been a little stronger and able to defeat the Golden-Eyed Leopard, perhaps Yang Qingyun in his Previous Life could have been rescued at that time.
Then his path in his Previous Life might not have been severed, forcing him into a bitter fate of wandering and hardship.
"What was merely a whim to you, Brother Yang, is a mountain of grace to me!"
Zhou Weilong shook his head.
But after Yang Qingyun's repeated persuasion, he eventually sat back down.
"By the way, besides coming to thank you, Brother Yang, I also have an important matter to discuss."
"What is it?"
"It concerns the firebird that descended outside the city several years ago, and the mysterious object the Black Tiger Gang obtained from it."
Zhou Weilong spoke with a solemn expression.
"Recently, I learned from a prisoner of the Black Tiger Gang that what their leader, Shi Meng, obtained from that mountain back then was a scroll wreathed in crimson flames, with a blue bird painted on it that looked almost alive!"
"No one knows how that scroll appeared. But the scroll was found on the mountain amid the raging fire, without the slightest sign of being burned or damaged. It was extraordinarily strange!"
"It can even be suspected that the true culprit behind that mountain fire was that very scroll!"
"That Black Tiger Gang prisoner was originally one of the elite gang members who first charged into the volcano. He witnessed that scene with his own eyes."
"But afterward, amid the smoke and scorching flames, he accidentally stepped into empty air and fell to the foot of the mountain, which happened to save his life."
"Everyone who had been the first to charge in and see that painting was later slaughtered by the gang leader."
"At the time, he climbed back up from the foot of the mountain in a sorry state and happened to see the killings. So he hid himself. The flames were raging fiercely, allowing him to narrowly escape disaster. But after secretly fleeing back, he never dared mention the matter again. It was only after he was captured some time ago, and after my position rose somewhat following my breakthrough, that I decided to cast a wider net and secretly interrogate these men who had originally been marked for execution. I never expected to uncover such a huge fish."
"A painting of a blue bird wreathed in crimson flames?"
Yang Qingyun's brows furrowed slightly when he heard this.
Impervious to both water and fire—and even the Black Tiger Gang leader had personally killed everyone who had witnessed that scene.
Such mystery—
It was probably an extraordinary treasure!
What could it be?
Yang Qingyun fell into deep thought. He vaguely remembered that in his Previous Life, whether in the Old Era or the New Era, certain unusual arts had once existed in the martial world.
However, most of the low-level martial artists he had dealt with had been beneath that level. The path of unusual arts seemed to have existed only in legends among high-realm martial artists after the Spiritual Qi Resurgence.
Before Yang Qingyun could speak, Zhou Weilong solemnly added another sentence.
"Brother Yang, if I'm not mistaken, Hall Master Feng's purpose in coming here may also be this!"
"And thanks to Brother Yang's assistance, I was able to advance to the Viscera Refining Realm. I can now be considered part of the middle and upper ranks of the Sifang Society, which gave me the qualifications to learn certain secrets."
"According to Hall Master Feng, the Great Dragon Head of the Sifang Society seems to have been sending people to search for strange tales from all over the land, just as you have."
"Not long ago, Hall Master Feng instructed me that if I could find any unusual rare treasures, the Great Dragon Head would surely reward me handsomely."
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