Sky Herb Pavilion

"Ten layers of Karma, and all sorts of trouble really did come one after another."

Gu Jinlai remarked.

After a moment, he seemed to think of something. "It isn't entirely trouble, either. Demonic Beasts appear and disappear without a trace, and ordinary demon hunters might not find even one or two in a month. I killed thirteen Demonic Beasts in three months. That's also a hidden advantage."

If he stacked a few more layers of Karma, he would become the strongest monster-attractor.

The consequences?

As long as he could suppress them with his strength, none of this could be called trouble.

At that moment, Su Nanxing carried a pile of books in from outside.

"You bought them?"

"These are all the books on realms that can be bought on the market."

Su Nanxing answered.

Gu Jinlai opened one of the books.

"Realms are divided into three levels: the Transformation Realm, the Intent Realm, and the Force Realm."

The Transformation Realm took its meaning from "reaching perfection and entering the realm of transformation." It meant that one's control over their own strength had entered the realm of transformation—lifting something heavy as though it were light, and lifting something light as though it were heavy.

When cultivated to the extreme, not a shred of strength would leak out during a fight. One hundred percent of it would pour onto the opponent.

This was somewhat similar to refining the Spirit Refining Realm to the minutest detail, using one part of strength as three.

In truth, a Core Forming martial artist who had comprehended the Transformation Realm might not be unable to fight a Spirit Refining True Person. They simply could not match Spirit Refining cultivators in endurance.

Above the Transformation Realm was the Intent Realm.

At this stage, cultivators used their own intent to reflect the area around them, sensing the slightest details. Its profundity was almost indistinguishable from spiritual sense. Some powerful experts could even condense their intent into their attacks, transforming it into fist intent, sword intent, or saber intent—terrifying enough to slay spirits. It was equivalent to carrying a mental shock within a physical attack.

Throughout history, every Core Forming cultivator who had slain a Spirit Refining cultivator by surpassing a major realm had comprehended the Intent Realm without exception.

Above that, the Force Realm involved the mysteries of Heaven and man. Every movement and every word carried the force of Heaven and Earth.

Since ancient times, the outside world had circulated the saying that a True Lord who comprehended force could contend with a celestial.

"Realm comprehension is also connected to one's cultivation. Out of a hundred Core Forming cultivators, not necessarily one can comprehend the Transformation Realm. But for a Spirit Refining cultivator who has refined their control to the minutest detail and then comprehends the Transformation Realm, the difficulty drops greatly. One in ten can do it."

Gu Jinlai flipped through the book. "However, for Spirit Refining cultivators, what they want to comprehend is the Intent Realm. Once intent is formed, supplemented by spiritual sense, it can reflect the area around them, allowing them to evade Yin Spirit sword attacks. A very few can even condense sword intent and slay Yin Spirits that come flying on swords, thereby accomplishing the feat of challenging those at a higher level."

Of course, sword intent could harm a Yin Spirit only when it was controlling a sword outside the body. If a Great Spirit Transformation True Person did not send their Yin Spirit out of the body, then no matter how powerful sword intent or fist intent was, it could do no more than shake their mind.

"Intent Realm... In the entire Starlight City, only one person has mastered it—the Star Lord of the Falling Star Guard, Xin Tianqi, known as the number-one expert of Star Province."

That man commanded the Falling Star Guard and, together with the Great General Xue Yue, served as the left and right arms of the Star Province Governor.

In particular, it was precisely because of Star Lord Xin Tianqi's existence that forces such as the Purgatory Demon Sect, the Yellow Springs Demon Sect, and the Cold Moon Demon Sect had never been able to set foot in Star Province.

Over the years, the three sects had thought they could establish a foothold in Starlight City. In the end, more than ten Spirit Refining Giants had died at his hands.

As a result, none of the three sects now dared to send Spirit Refining Giants to Starlight City to act, lest they throw away their lives for nothing.

"The Intent Realm is too far off for now. I have movement techniques, secret techniques, cultivation methods, and sword techniques..."

Gu Jinlai thought of Formless Sword Qi and felt that wasting that much clear light on it had been somewhat regrettable.

Formless Sword Qi was completely unsuited to his current style.

However, if he had not added swordsmanship to it at the time, he might not have escaped the Orthodox One Sect's pursuit. It could not really be called a waste.

"Once I make up for the gap in swordsmanship, I'll have no weaknesses left. If I can comprehend the Intent Realm... The Transformation Realm will be enough. With a High-ranking Demonic Beast's physique, an osmium-alloy battle sword, and Transformation Realm martial arts, I won't fear a Great True Person in the slightest, even face-to-face."

Gu Jinlai "looked" at the small figure of the consciousness entity in his spiritual world.

The clear light was exhausted.

But as long as he had enough clear light, achieving these goals would be easy.

Once this batch of goods had been delivered, it would be time to choose some missions from the Ruins True Tower and carry them out.

Three days later.

Su Nanxing and Gu Chaoyang drove a carriage with ten men to the Sky Herb Pavilion in the northern city.

The Sky Herb Pavilion cultivated spirit plants and had dozens of alchemists within its sect. Its connections reached far and wide; throughout Starlight City and even across half of Star Province, all the major powers knew its name.

With three Spirit Refining Giants in the sect as well, it was a behemoth in Starlight City that no one dared to ignore.

Gu Jinlai's group arrived at the courtyard.

"Everyone, please follow me. Pavilion Master Bai has been waiting for quite some time."

A disciple smilingly led Su Nanxing and the others into the rear courtyard.

Inside the Sky Herb Pavilion, Bai Yang was waiting there with more than a dozen people.

Upon seeing Su Nanxing and Gu Chaoyang, he hurried forward. "The treasured armor is finished? I asked an armor-forging master to inspect it. The quality is fine, right?"

"Of course."

Gu Chaoyang smiled faintly. "Our treasured armor can withstand any inspection."

"Good."

Bai Yang waved his hand.

Soon, several Gang Condensing cultivators stepped forward, selected several sets of armor, and put them on. Other disciples measured them one by one.

Feeling the weight and defensive power of the treasured armor, several Gang Condensing disciples of the Sky Herb Pavilion found themselves unable to put it down.

"Real gold fears no fire. The performance of armor forged by my master is beyond question."

Seeing the satisfaction on the faces of those Gang Condensing disciples, Gu Chaoyang said with a smile.

"Professional matters should still be left to professionals."

Bai Yang did not respond directly. He merely gave a meaningful glance to the three armor-forging masters inspecting the armor's quality.

Soon, one of the armor-forging masters said, "Although the quality of these armors is decent, they have not yet reached the level of high-grade treasured armor. Moreover, their structural design is unreasonable and will greatly affect the user's agility, reducing their combat strength. In addition, these materials... I've never seen them before, but judging by their color and luster, they're likely fragile and brittle, with a short service life. They may even be disposable items..."

All sorts of seemingly plausible yet utterly untenable reasons flowed from the mouths of the armor-forging masters, directly condemning the treasured armor as worthless.

For a moment, Gu Chaoyang's expression stiffened.

"These armors actually have so many problems?"

Bai Yang wore an exaggerated look of astonishment.

"Pavilion Master Bai, we clearly agreed beforehand... What do you mean by this?"

Gu Chaoyang said.

"What do I mean? I'd like to ask what Gu... what Celestial Master Jiang Dongqu means."

Bai Yang's expression turned cold. "Passing off inferior goods as quality goods—is this how you look down on our Sky Herb Pavilion? Do you think our Sky Herb Pavilion is easy to bully?"

"We hold the Sky Herb Pavilion in great respect. Otherwise, we wouldn't have chosen it as our first partner. As for the true quality of these armors..."

"The quality is right here. The armor-forging masters invited by my Sky Herb Pavilion have inspected it clearly."

As Bai Yang spoke, he looked as though he could not be bothered to exchange more words with a minor figure like Gu Chaoyang. "Go. Call your master over and have him speak with me."

"I understand."

Gu Chaoyang took a deep breath and quickly forced himself to calm down. He put on a faint smile and said, "I'll go invite my master right now."

As he spoke, he called out to the Gu Clan disciples. "Let's take the armor away first."

"Wait. You may leave, but leave the goods behind! These inferior armors are evidence for my confrontation with Jiang Dongqu! If we let you carry them away now, and you replace them with another batch later, then falsely accuse our Sky Herb Pavilion of framing you, how are we supposed to explain ourselves?"

After Bai Yang finished speaking, he waved his hand.

More than a dozen Sky Herb Pavilion disciples swiftly surrounded them.

Every one of these people had achieved success in Qi Refining, and three of them were Core Forming elders.

The three formed a triangle and surrounded Su Nanxing, the only Core Forming cultivator among them. It seemed that if he dared to make even the slightest move, they would strike like thunder and blast him to death on the spot.