Difference

"Inner Strength Minor Accomplishment."

Li ChunJun murmured.

After staying cooped up in his apartment for seven days, never going out, and training like a sheltered young lady, he had finally completed the tempering of his internal organs required for Inner Strengthening initiation and reached Inner Strength Minor Accomplishment.

He would need another ten days or so to reach Inner Strength Great Accomplishment and advance to Internal-External Unity.

After all, his method of cultivation was different from everyone else's.

Other people were tempering their bodies from scratch. His situation...

Was more like reviewing.

Or like filling in the steps while copying from an answer key.

Once his physical abilities met the requirements, all he had to do was train in a specific way to strengthen himself. Naturally, his progress would advance by leaps and bounds.

"Ding dong."

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Li ChunJun glanced outside but didn't move.

Yet thanks to his hearing, which had been enhanced again and again until it far surpassed that of ordinary people, he could still hear the people outside talking.

"Looks like nobody's home."

"That can't be right. The electric and water meters are running, and someone heard movement inside. Someone should be living here. Why does nobody ever answer when we ring the bell?"

"Forget it. It doesn't matter if anyone's home. We just need to show we came by."

"This is a task the higher-ups have emphasized time and again. We have to investigate every suspicious person. I think this apartment is pretty suspicious."

"I know you want to get the job done for the bosses, but do you know why they gave us this order? Apparently, a Century Thug went on a killing spree in Hengguang Garden, so the higher-ups told us to visit every household and investigate. But that Century Thug was vicious beyond belief. He killed over a hundred people in Hengguang Garden. They say the vehicles hauling away the bodies made several trips. Just how terrifying is that? If we run into him, do you think we'll make it out alive?"

"Over a hundred people!? I heard it was fewer than a hundred."

"Does it make any difference to us?"

"N-no..."

"Come on, let's go. It's enough to make a show of checking around. We only get three thousand a month. Why take it so seriously? You think you're going to get promoted and a raise? The directors' relatives are already lined up for those spots. There's no chance you'll get one."

Their conversation continued for a while, then gradually faded into the distance.

Li ChunJun listened.

"It's been a week."

He murmured.

Jin Zhiya should have arrived by now, if she was coming.

It was time to look into things.

He knew his way of waiting was far too passive.

During this week in the apartment, apart from tempering his internal organs and practicing swordsmanship, he had done nothing else.

It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to do anything. It was just that, apart from improving himself, he didn't know what to do.

Investigate the news?

He wasn't qualified.

Gather clues?

He had no connections.

He had no idea where to start.

The upheaval in his life had changed his way of thinking, but it hadn't broadened his horizons or knowledge.

As he pondered, he turned on his computer, browsed the forums, and searched the local community for news about Jin Family Courtyard.

The forum's biggest headline...

"Century Thug" drenches Hengguang Garden in blood.

The posts that followed were full of praise.

Everyone was lauding the "Century Thug" for his righteous actions.

Of course, there were even more people below condemning the thug and listing all his crimes, as if his misdeeds were too numerous to record.

Li ChunJun didn't read much further. He focused on gathering information.

Soon, a post caught his attention.

"Anyone hoping to see a cultivator battle the Century Thug is going to be disappointed. Jin Zhiya never returned to Guangzhou City."

The replies below were full of different opinions.

"Seriously? I heard that joining a cultivation sect meant severing worldly ties. Could that actually be true?"

"Sever worldly ties? Don't make me laugh. Is that something a Qi Refining Cultivator needs to worry about?"

"So what if Jin Zhiya comes back? Even if she's reached Qi Refining, she might not know any spells. Without spells, she's no match for the top Martial Artists."

"Haha, you dare look down on Qi Refining Cultivators online? If you met one in person, your legs would go weak and you wouldn't be able to stand straight. Oh, right—I forgot. Ninety-nine percent of you will never get to see a cultivator with your own eyes."

The discussion soon went off track.

People started arguing over whether Qi Refining Cultivators or Innate martial masters were stronger.

Li ChunJun read the posts in silence.

Cultivators had Spirit Roots. All they had to do was sense and draw in qi, and they could channel Heaven and Earth Origin Qi into their bodies, refining it into true qi or Mana.

During this process, they had two options.

The first was to form true qi and use it to nourish the cultivator's body, gradually strengthening it.

With just a year or two of nourishment, a Qi Refining Cultivator's physique could rival someone at the peak of Unity.

But most cultivators with Spirit Roots would instead use their Spirit Roots to draw in Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, then refine it into Mana with their cultivation method.

Mana's primary function was to cast spells.

But it was two or three times less effective at nourishing the body.

A Qi Refining Cultivator's Mana might take five or six years to strengthen their physique to the peak of Unity.

However, once a Qi Refining Cultivator mastered a spell...

It was like a Martial Artist wielding a gun.

Not just any gun, either, but a sharpshooter wielding a specially made, large-caliber pistol.

Their threat level would immediately rise by a whole tier.

So, even among cultivators at the same early stage of Qi Refining, how many years they had cultivated and whether they had mastered a spell were important measures of their strength.

After entering Red Sun Dao Institute, Jin Zhiya had spent four months sensing qi and three years drawing it in before passing the examination to become a Red Sun Dao Institute Disciple. By his calculations, she had been at the early stage of Qi Refining for two and a half years.

When she entered Qi Refining, had she chosen to nourish her body with true qi first, or had she gone straight to refining Mana and cultivating spells...

It was hard to say.

Besides, the particular spell she chose after comprehending one would also have a significant effect on her actual strength.

"Spells."

The word flashed through Li ChunJun's mind.

Cultivation had three great realms: Qi Refining, Spirit Refinement Realm, and Void Refinement Realm.

The outside world knew little about Void Refinement and Spirit Refinement.

All they knew was that the Nascent Soul Realm cultivator who had once swept across Blue Star was a True Lord of Spirit Refinement.

Qi Refining, on the other hand, was fairly well understood.

Qi Refining had nine stages.

Before reaching Condensing Qi and Refining Energy at the fourth stage of Qi Refining, cultivators couldn't withstand blades, guns, swords, or artillery unless they had a protective spell or Magical Artifact.

That was why cultivation sects strictly prohibited the spread of firearms and modern weapons.

After all, even in the World of Cultivation, low-level cultivators made up the vast majority.

In other words...

Even if Jin Zhiya really had mastered a spell, he might still be able to shoot her dead.

That was why he dared to wait for her to come.

But judging from these posts...

It seemed Jin Zhiya still hadn't shown herself.

After a moment of silence, Li ChunJun gathered his things.

The things online couldn't all be trusted.

Whether Jin Zhiya had arrived or not, he would know as soon as he went and took a look himself.

He checked his gun, loaded it, put away his two short blades, then changed into a windbreaker and put on a hat and mask. Carrying a long, rolled-up "painting" bag on his back, he left as night fell.

Thanks to his extraordinary hearing, he precisely avoided anyone he might encounter in the apartment building and vanished like a ghost.

When he appeared again, he was already in Hengguang Garden.