The Gap in Cultivation Techniques, Quasi-first-grade Pills

The Wolf Demon's eye socket was pierced through by an Iron Arrow. It let out a miserable howl and rolled on the ground in agony.

Taking advantage of the chaos among the wolf pack, Lu Yang had already charged over with his saber in hand.

"Rolling Stone Cracks Earth!"

"Rolling Stone Opens Mountain!"

The pack of Wolf Demons in the mountain hollow were all lesser demons that had yet to step into the Houtian Realm.

With Lu Yang's current strength, it was practically one saber, one kill.

In just a short while, those dozen-plus Wolf Demons had all died, and the system notifications kept ringing without end.

While Niu Hanshan was cutting open the bellies of those Wolf Demon corpses and searching for Demon Treasures, Lu Yang opened the system interface.

[Host: Lu Yang]

[Realm: Houtian First Level (2/99)]

[Martial Arts: Mountain Splitting Saber Art (Perfection: (10/10)]

[Experience Points: 112]

The two points of progress that had increased in the realm column were undoubtedly from his own cultivation last night.

Though the progress was fast, the pain like being sliced to pieces when drawing demonic qi into his body had, after all, not been suffered in vain.

Even now, when Lu Yang thought back on it, his heart still trembled a little.

As for the Experience Points required to advance to Houtian Second Level increasing from the previous 20 points to 99 points, Lu Yang was not particularly surprised.

As a high-level cultivation method, Returning Origin Art could increase one's true qi by as many as ninety-nine strands with each level of cultivation raised. Naturally, the difficulty of advancing in cultivation was much higher.

"Ding! It has been detected that the host's Experience Points meet the conditions for realm advancement. Consume 97 Experience Points to raise cultivation?"

"Huh? The Body Tempering Realm only tempers qi and blood, so never mind that cultivation could be raised directly without a cultivation method. But after having a cultivation method, can the system still ignore the cultivation method's requirements and directly raise my cultivation?" A burst of delight rose in Lu Yang's heart, and he hurriedly chanted inwardly:

"Raise it."

Strands of invisible red light spread out from within his body. That feeling, like soaking in warm water, made Lu Yang, who had not slept well last night, feel so comfortable he wanted to cry out.

Strands of demonic qi were drawn by some mysterious power, rising from the corpses of those Wolf Demons, burrowing into Lu Yang's body, circulating through one full cycle, and then immediately dispersing outside his body.

Throughout the entire process, under the envelopment of that red light, Lu Yang felt no pain at all.

In the blink of an eye, within Lu Yang's body, twelve of the thirty-six great apertures had been opened.

Lu Yang's cultivation also advanced as naturally as water flowing into a channel, stepping into Houtian Second Level.

[Host: Lu Yang]

[Realm: Houtian Second Level (0/199)]

[Martial Arts: Mountain Splitting Saber Art (Perfection: (10/10)]

[Experience Points: 15]

Countless red lights dispersed, transforming into motes of light, and within Lu Yang's body, they condensed into strand after strand of rich true qi.

Counting carefully, there were indeed ninety-nine strands.

Those martial artists who cultivated unranked methods, even if their cultivation reached Houtian Ninth Level, would probably still have a total amount of true qi inferior to Lu Yang's current amount.

People who cultivated Low-grade Yellow methods would only possess such a large total amount of true qi when they reached the middle stage of Houtian.

As far as Lu Yang knew, even those disciples of the Wang Family who cultivated High-grade Yellow Tier methods could at most increase their true qi by thirty or forty strands with each level of cultivation raised.

With Lu Yang's current total amount of true qi, he was also comparable to a martial artist above Houtian Third Level.

Most importantly, with the system's support, the dangerous process of Returning Origin Art drawing demonic qi into the body and stimulating the flesh had been completed easily in a state entirely without pain or danger. It was nothing like last night, when it had made Lu Yang hurt so badly he had wished for death and come back to life.

Ninety-nine strands of rich and peaceful true qi flowed through his meridians. Lu Yang flicked his saber's edge, and under the support of true qi, the huge rock before him split open amid a rumbling crash, leaving a gash two meters long and as thick as the mouth of a bowl.

This commotion directly startled Niu Hanshan off to the side.

"Brother Lu, did you... break through?" Niu Hanshan asked, somewhat incredulous.

Even the Demon Treasure the size of a fingernail that he had just dug out in his hand suddenly seemed less appealing.

One had to know that less than half a month ago, Lu Yang had only just broken through to Houtian First Level.

For an ordinary martial artist, this sort of speed in improvement was rather too fast.

Putting away his long saber, Lu Yang smiled. "Luck, just luck."

Naturally, Niu Hanshan did not believe Lu Yang's explanation.

One breakthrough could be considered luck, but two or three times in a row like this could not be simply described with luck.

There was clearly some sort of factor influencing his advancement.

Recalling the circumstances when Lu Yang had broken through before, Niu Hanshan's heart stirred, and he already had a guess.

"Rumor has it that there is a special physique in this world that can continuously improve itself in battle, known as the Battle Body. Could it be that this Lu Yang has exactly that sort of physique?" Niu Hanshan thought.

Because every increase in Lu Yang's strength seemed inseparable from battle, this guess also seemed quite reasonable.

If Lu Yang knew that Niu Hanshan had actually connected his situation with the legendary Battle Body, he would probably also sigh over the other party's rich imagination.

Heaven take pity on him—at least so far, he had yet to discover that he possessed any special constitution.

"Brother Lu, most of these Wolf Demons were killed by you, so this Demon Treasure..." After a slight hesitation, Niu Hanshan still took out the Demon Treasure he had just dug out and waved it at Lu Yang.

Lu Yang smiled. "If Brother Niu hadn't led the way, I'm afraid I wouldn't have found this place either. Let's do as we agreed before: the Demon Treasures we dig out will be split half and half between us. As for my half, after we return, I'll have to trouble Brother Niu to help convert it into silver."

In Lu Yang's view, although Niu Hanshan had broken through to the second tier and become a martial artist of the Houtian Realm, his strength was still limited.

With cultivation like that, wanting to deal with Old Master White Crane, who might already have reached the middle or even late stage of the second tier, was probably no different from a fool babbling of dreams.

Even if Niu Hanshan still had some trump cards he did not know about, the gap between their strengths was not so easy to cross.

Having Niu Hanshan swallow the Demon Treasure to raise his cultivation somewhat was a good thing too.

At the same time, having the Demon Treasures converted into silver would also benefit him.

"Haha, I won't say any more words of thanks. I'll have to trouble Brother Lu to protect me while I cultivate!" Niu Hanshan said with a hearty laugh.

"Very well."

Pale-yellow true qi circulated endlessly within Niu Hanshan's body. After he swallowed that Demon Treasure, his aura kept rising without pause.

However, the Spiritual Qi contained within this Demon Treasure was clearly not enough to let Niu Hanshan break through.

After a dozen or so streams of true qi had grown inside Niu Hanshan's body, it slowly came to a stop, failing to break through to the second level of the Houtian Realm.

Seeing that the remaining momentum was insufficient, Niu Hanshan suddenly took out a Jade Bottle from his robes.

A round, plump pill that spun smoothly was carefully taken out by him.

Smelling that strange medicinal fragrance, Lu Yang's heart could not help but stir.

"A Quasi-first-grade Pill!"

A Quasi-first-grade Pill was an existence between a failed, unranked defective product and a successfully refined first-grade pill.

Its medicinal strength barely reached the standard of a first-grade pill, but compared to a finished first-grade pill, it still had some flaws.

If he had taken it directly before, it would not have been able to help Niu Hanshan raise his cultivation.

But together with the medicinal power of the Demon Treasure he had swallowed earlier, there was an extremely high chance it could help Niu Hanshan break through.

Sure enough, after he swallowed that pill, the true qi inside Niu Hanshan's body abruptly surged by a dozen or so streams.

When the true qi within his body had increased to thirty-three streams, Niu Hanshan's cultivation instantly broke through to the second level of the Houtian Realm!

Seeing this scene, Lu Yang narrowed his eyes slightly.

"A High-grade Yellow Tier cultivation technique!"