Preparations Before Departure

The night was deep.

Su Yu sat cross-legged and began circulating the Purple Sun Art cultivation technique.

As the technique ran, wisps of pale purple Spiritual Qi seeped out from his acupoints, flowing slowly in the Quiet Room, swirling like morning mist.

Ever since he broke through to the late stage of the first level of the Spirit Condensation Realm with the help of a Beast Core's feedback, his cultivation had been steadily improving over the past half-month, even without deliberate practice.

The Soul Light Orb turning from pale yellow to gold had doubled his talent and comprehension, allowing his cultivation speed to far surpass ordinary people.

The efficiency of the third layer of the Purple Sun Art was several times greater than the Qi Nurturing Technique from before.

Now is the time! Su Yu suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of purple light disappearing in his pupils.

The Spiritual Power within his body surged like a river, finally breaking through the bottleneck and reaching the peak of the first level of the Spirit Condensation Realm.

Without a moment's hesitation, he took out a pill from the Jade Bottle – a Spirit Condensing Pill, pure white all over.

A faint halo flowed across the surface of the pill, emitting a refreshing medicinal fragrance.

"The path of cultivation is to advance or retreat," Su Yu muttered to himself.

He knew deeply that on the Nine Heavens Continent, where the law of the jungle prevailed, strength was the only fundamental.

To miss an opportunity due to stinginess with pills, or even to perish, would be truly foolish.

The pill melted in his mouth, turning into a surge of powerful medicinal energy that rushed through his limbs and bones.

Su Yu felt a roar in his Sea of Consciousness, his Spiritual Sense expanding outwards like a tide, surging from its original ten-mile range to fifteen miles.

The Spiritual Power within his body churned even more, its speed of flow through the meridians suddenly more than doubling.

Second level of the Spirit Condensation Realm!

The breakthrough came naturally and without any hindrance.

But before Su Yu could rejoice, he noticed that the circulation path of the Purple Sun Art had suddenly changed.

The purple Spiritual Qi reorganized itself within his meridians, forming a more profound circulation route.

The opportunity for the fourth layer! Su Yu's heart trembled. He immediately calmed his mind and guided the Spiritual Qi's circulation with all his might.

He saw purple energy surge around him, condensing into a small purple cloud above his head, which then slowly sank into his Tianling acupoint.

When the last wisp of purple energy settled, Su Yu let out a long sigh.

At this moment, the total amount of Spiritual Power within his body was comparable to that of an ordinary Martial Artist at the third level of the Spirit Condensation Realm.

Even more astonishingly, the purity of his Spiritual Power had increased again, showing a faint tendency to liquefy.

This was precisely the characteristic of the fourth layer of the Purple Sun Art – Spiritual Qi liquefaction.

The moon slanted west. Su Yu finished his practice and stood up.

He pushed open the window, gazing at the fish-belly white of the sky, feeling the surging power within him.

In the early morning, Su Yu stood before the task wall of the Inner Sect Main Hall, carefully reading the Inner Sect Task Regulations posted beside it.

Neatly written on the parchment were:

"All external commissioned training missions must be completed and delivered within sixty days of acceptance. Those who fail to return by the deadline will be considered to have failed the mission and will have corresponding Contribution Points deducted. Special missions will be regulated separately."

His slender fingers gently tapped on this rule, lost in thought.

"Two months is quite ample..." Su Yu murmured softly.

But he was always cautious, knowing that the Nine Heavens Continent was fraught with danger. Even with his greatly increased strength, he dared not be careless.

After a moment of thought, Su Yu turned and headed for the Contribution Pavilion.

Inside the Contribution Pavilion!

Su Yu's gaze slowly swept over the pills displayed on the shelves. He paused slightly as he passed the Qi Condensing Pills.

The label indicated a price of five hundred Contribution Points, yet it could only increase cultivation speed by thirty percent. This made him frown.

"Too low cost-effectiveness," he commented softly.

Compared to such mild auxiliary pills, directly refining Beast Cores was clearly more efficient.

He turned to the Spirit Artifact area, where various weapons gleamed coldly in the morning light.

Human-grade High-tier Spirit Artifacts were priced at two thousand Contribution Points, but after trying a few long swords, Su Yu found the improvement to be very limited compared to his Lone Swan Sword.

It would be better to strengthen his defense.

With a thought, he walked towards the armor display area.

The disciple on duty immediately pointed to a Human-grade High-tier soft armor and enthusiastically recommended, "Senior Brother, please look at this Cicada Wing Armor. It's woven from a hundred-year-old ice silkworm silk and profound iron essence gold. It weighs no more than three pounds, yet it can withstand a full-powered strike from the Qi Refining Realm."

Su Yu took the silver soft armor, as thin as a cicada's wing, and lightly shook it in his palm. The armor flowed like water, almost transparent.

He channeled a wisp of Spiritual Power to test it and found that it could neutralize thirty percent of the force from even a Spirit Condensation Realm attack.

"Just what I wanted."

Su Yu immediately deducted two thousand Contribution Points.

This armor, which could be worn close to the body, would not hinder his movements and would provide an extra layer of safety.

He exchanged the remaining three thousand Contribution Points for ten Body Tempering Pills.

These pale golden pills emitted a faint medicinal fragrance, and each one cost three hundred Contribution Points.

Su Yu was well aware of his shortcomings.

Although his strength had increased to fourteen thousand jin after breaking through to the second level of the Spirit Condensation Realm last night, he was still far from the Spirit Condensation Realm's limit of fifty thousand jin.

These Body Tempering Pills should be able to elevate his physique to another level.

As soon as Su Yu stepped out of the Contribution Pavilion, he bumped into a familiar figure.

Shen Feng stood at the bottom of the steps, a hesitant look on his face. He finally cupped his hands and said, "Junior Brother Su, regarding yesterday's matter... I hope you can forgive me."

He had specifically inquired about this young man's background.

He had entered the sect less than three months ago and had already secured the top spot on the Outer Sect rankings. Furthermore, he had been personally brought into the Inner Sect by Grand Elder Mo Yuan, and it was rumored that he had even met with the Disciplinary Elder.

Such talent and potential had kept him tossing and turning, and he had finally decided to apologize in person.

He hadn't expected to run into him here today.

Yesterday? Su Yu's face showed confusion.

Did something happen?

Ah... it's nothing, nothing!

Seeing that the other party held no grudges, Shen Feng immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly chuckled, "If you need anything in the future, Junior Brother, please don't hesitate to come to me, Senior Brother."

"Thank you, Senior Brother," Su Yu nodded slightly and walked past him.