Qi Refining Level 7

In a rocky cave somewhere in Crescent Valley, Su Yu sat cross-legged on a green stone.

He had cleverly blocked the cave mouth with rubble, leaving only a few gaps for air.

After half a day of meditation, the dull ache in his chest finally faded, and the Spiritual Qi of Qi Refining Level 6 coursed joyfully through his meridians.

He took out two beast cores and held them in his palms; the Ancient Sword immediately trembled with hunger.

As the beast cores crumbled to dust, a stream of pure, refined Spiritual Qi fed back into him.

Su Yu activated the Qi Nurturing Technique, and the Spiritual Qi in his dantian grew visibly.

With about ten more, he could break through to Qi Refining Level 7.

Feeling the surging Spiritual Qi within, a sharp light flickered in Su Yu's eyes.

Outside the cave, on the open ground, a sword wind suddenly rose.

He unleashed the Gale Sword Style at the Perfected Realm; every move carried a sharp Wind Blade.

Green light crisscrossed, and all shrubs within three zhang were severed cleanly at the roots, the cuts smooth as mirrors.

With the Gale Sword's momentum backing him, its power was indeed more than double what it had been.

He sheathed his sword, turned, and stepped into the depths of Crescent Valley.

As soon as he entered, the air gradually filled with the smell of earth.

Occasional bleached bones lay in the rock crevices, all the work of Earth Splitting Bears.

These solitary Level 1 High Rank demon beasts, though possessing the strength to split rocks and shatter steles, had movements so sluggish that Su Yu saw nothing but openings.

By a pool, an Earth Splitting Bear over a zhang tall was drinking water.

Sensing the human presence, it rose on its hind legs and beat its chest, its yellowish-brown fur bristling like steel needles.

With a deafening roar, its thousand-jin body lunged forward, the ground trembling slightly.

Perfect timing!

Su Yu lightly tapped his toes, his figure drifting back like willow fluff.

His long sword stirred the air, and with a move like Wind Sweeps Clouds, he struck straight for the bear's belly.

But the blade only grazed the thick hide, leaving a shallow bloody scratch.

The enraged beast reared up and slammed down; amid the flying rubble, Su Yu spun to the right and struck Swift as Wind, Fast as Lightning at the previous wound.

The sword tip sank three inches into the flesh, making the demon beast's eyes blaze red with pain.

The ensuing fight was a dance of death.

Each frenzied lunge of the Earth Splitting Bear left claw marks a foot deep in the ground, yet always missed by a hair.

Su Yu wove around it, deepening that wound bit by bit. Over an hour later, the blood-drained bear finally crashed to the ground.

A Sword Light flashed across its throat, but there was no sign of a beast core.

Only a Thirty Percent chance, as expected.

Su Yu wiped the fine sweat from his brow and sat down cross-legged to meditate.

Twenty days later, in a hidden cave somewhere in Crescent Valley.

Su Yu sat cross-legged, six earthy-yellow beast cores neatly arranged before him, glowing faintly in the dim cave.

Six...

He muttered to himself.

That's all I've gotten these past few days.

After killing the first Earth Splitting Bear twenty days ago, he had run into a few more at first, but as time went on, these demon beasts seemed to vanish into thin air.

In the last few days, he had scoured nearly thirty li of Crescent Valley's outer reaches without spotting so much as a single bear hair.

Can they really be passing messages to each other? Su Yu frowned.

Though demon beasts weren't highly intelligent, some pack-dwelling types did warn each other through scent or roars.

Earth Splitting Bears were solitary, but if a few had escaped by chance, they might have released some kind of signal to make others avoid this area.

Forget it. Since I can't hunt more, I'll focus on training.

He put away the beast cores, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

In truth, even without a large supply of beast cores, his cultivation speed far exceeded ordinary people's.

Before the soul fusion, the original owner, as a genius of the Su family, had broken through from Qi Refining Level 1 to Level 3 in just half a year.

Now, with two lifetimes of souls merged, not only had his comprehension increased more than fivefold, but his cultivation speed had also risen at least three times.

Coupled with the pure Spiritual Qi the Ancient Sword occasionally fed back, his path of cultivation was almost unimpeded.

Qi Nurturing Technique, activate!

As he drove the second layer of the Qi Nurturing Technique, the pale yellow light orb in his dantian slowly spun, drawing in all the surrounding heaven-and-earth Spiritual Qi.

The Spiritual Qi in his meridians surged like a mountain stream, cycling over and over, each full cycle making his aura a little more solid.

The monotonous cultivation lasted a full ten days.

Until this day, Su Yu suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing within them.

He took out all the beast cores and laid them out in a row.

Six cores, plus the bitter training of these past days... that should be enough.

The Ancient Sword sensed the aura of the beast cores and let out a cheerful, soft hum.

When the first beast core was absorbed by the sword's blade, pure spiritual power surged back like a tidal wave.

As the spiritual power poured in continuously, his aura climbed steadily, and his Qi Refining Level 6 cultivation rose unceasingly under the torrential impact.

His meridians expanded under the relentless wash of spiritual power, and the spiritual power within his dantian grew denser and more solid.

Finally, his aura settled firmly at the peak of Qi Refining Level 6!

Su Yu snapped his eyes open, a lightning-like gleam within them. Spiritual power surged around him, and every move he made seemed to carry an invisible pressure in the air.

He could clearly feel that his spiritual power had doubled in density, his meridians had widened, and his spiritual sense had grown sharper.

Yet this was still far from enough.

It was time to break through to Qi Refining Level 7!

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes again, and focused his mind. He activated his cultivation technique, guiding his spiritual power to assault the realm's barrier.

Qi Refining Level 7 was a watershed within the Qi Refining stage. Once broken through, his spiritual power would multiply several times over.

Break for me!

He let out a low shout, and his spiritual power crashed against the realm's barrier like raging waves.

Once, twice, three times... each impact loosened the barrier a little more.

Finally, on the seventh strike, a faint sound came from within his dantian, as if some shackle had been shattered.

In an instant, a spiritual power vaster than before surged from the depths of his dantian, flooding his entire body like a burst dam.

His bones, flesh, and meridians were all tempered in that moment, and the total amount of spiritual power within him exploded to several times what it had been!

Qi Refining Level 7, achieved!

Su Yu opened his eyes, a brilliant gleam flickering within them. His entire demeanor had grown sharper and more formidable.

He gently clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within his body, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

At the same time, the circulation path of the Qi Nurturing Technique within his dantian suddenly shifted. The originally stable cycle route expanded abruptly, weaving a more intricate network of spiritual power within his body.

This was the third layer of the Qi Nurturing Technique.

It was time to return to the Su family.