True Qi Realm

After leaving the Demon Extermination Society, Bi Changsheng did not head straight home. Instead, he went to a shop called Dan Cao Hall.

Bi Changsheng had now obtained the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law. From now on, he would certainly use its more powerful effects for Life-Spending Cultivation. But greater efficacy also meant that the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law would inevitably drain his body even more severely than the Body Burning Art.

Therefore, the All-Inclusive Great Tonic Soup, whose effects had already begun to wane, could no longer sustain his future Life-Spending Cultivation. He could only switch to pills with stronger medicinal effects.

While studying the Alchemy Legacy left behind by Cen Xiuqi, Bi Changsheng had found a suitable replacement pill: the Foundation Nurturing Pill.

The Foundation Nurturing Pill had effects similar to the All-Inclusive Great Tonic Soup, both nourishing the body and strengthening one's foundation. Its medicinal potency, however, was far greater than the soup's.

The Dan Cao Hall Bi Changsheng had come to was a Great Gan faction primarily dealing in medicinal herbs and pills. It had Condensing Gang Realm experts stationed within, making it one of the strongest factions beneath the ten major powers.

Moreover, Dan Cao Hall had branches in every prefecture across the country, and its reputation was fairly good. That was why Bi Changsheng had chosen it directly.

Upon entering Dan Cao Hall and asking about the price, Bi Changsheng learned that a single Foundation Nurturing Pill cost twelve thousand taels. Hearing that price, he immediately sensed the outrageous profits in pill-making. Based on the pill formula Cen Xiuqi had left behind, Bi Changsheng estimated that the herbs needed to refine one Foundation Nurturing Pill were worth only around two thousand taels. Even calculating with a thirty percent success rate, each pill still yielded nearly fifty percent profit.

In the end, Bi Changsheng directly bought ten pills. By the time he walked out of Dan Cao Hall, another hundred and twenty thousand taels had vanished from his funds, leaving him with only eight hundred and sixty thousand taels.

Bi Changsheng could not help sighing inwardly that money truly disappeared like water. Still, this was a necessary expense for Life-Spending Cultivation. His alchemy had yet to reach the introductory stage; once it did, his expenses in this regard would be greatly reduced.

After returning home, Bi Changsheng began learning and mastering the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law. Since he already had experience with the similar Body Burning Art, he learned quickly.

Two days later, Bi Changsheng had finally gained complete control over the first level of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law and was ready to use it for Life-Spending Cultivation for the first time.

Bi Changsheng's Cultivation Level had now surpassed the Qi and Blood Dragon realm, reaching the Qi and Blood Rainbow realm he had attained when he used Jade Burn in Lin'an City and burned a hundred years of Lifespan.

Life-Spending Cultivation was truly terrifying. Every improvement was flawless, laying an exceptionally solid foundation for Bi Changsheng.

However, Bi Changsheng's current strength only allowed him to contend with ordinary late-stage True Qi Realm martial artists. The main reason he had been able to unleash such a powerful sword strike in Lin'an City was the boost granted by burning a hundred years of Lifespan through Jade Burn.

Once everything was ready, Bi Changsheng first took a Foundation Nurturing Pill from his Storage Ring and swallowed it. At once, he felt that near-exploding sensation again—a feeling he had not experienced for a long time, ever since his Cultivation Level had steadily grown stronger and the All-Inclusive Great Tonic Soup's effects began to weaken.

Bi Changsheng had also tried making up for the All-Inclusive Great Tonic Soup's lack of potency with quantity. The result had been conflicting medicinal properties, which only made his Life-Spending Cultivation less efficient.

Not daring to let his mind wander, Bi Changsheng immediately began circulating the first level of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law. An immense pulling force began extracting the Foundation Nurturing Pill's medicinal power and Bi Changsheng's Lifespan. Yet even though this force was many times stronger than that of the Body Burning Art, the Lifespan it extracted was instantly replenished by the Longevity Dao Fruit.

That energy carrying a faint aura of life's very essence appeared once more, rapidly strengthening the qi and blood within his body. When his qi and blood swelled to a certain limit, the qi and blood throughout his body began to boil and circulate within him.

In the end, the boiling qi and blood began converging in the dantian within his chest and abdomen.

Boom!

Bi Changsheng's dantian was forcefully blasted open by the boiling qi and blood. After entering the dantian, that qi and blood began reverting to the innate and transforming into true qi. Before long, all the qi and blood in Bi Changsheng's body had transformed into true qi and settled in his dantian. At that moment, Bi Changsheng had broken through into the True Qi Realm.

Yet the strengthening continued. The true qi in Bi Changsheng's dantian kept growing stronger under the support of that energy.

Only after he had burned roughly fifty years of Lifespan was the Foundation Nurturing Pill's medicinal power finally exhausted, and Bi Changsheng took the opportunity to stop cultivating.

Two months after breaking through the Qi and Blood Realm, Bi Changsheng had smoothly broken through into the True Qi Realm as well.

Feeling the vast true qi within his dantian, Bi Changsheng smiled in satisfaction. Because his foundation was extraordinarily strong, the true qi in his dantian was many times denser than that of other martial artists at the early True Qi Realm.

By Bi Changsheng's estimate, his current strength could already crush ordinary late-stage True Qi Realm martial artists, though he was still somewhat inferior to Condensing Gang Realm martial artists.

"I really am getting a little carried away."

After that thought arose, Bi Changsheng quietly teased himself inwardly.

He had only just entered the early True Qi Realm, yet he was already comparing himself to Condensing Gang Realm martial artists. That did not fit his principle of acting steadily and cautiously. Bi Changsheng silently repeated the words "steady and cautious" several times in his heart.

Of course, it was mostly self-mockery. Only through comparison could he more clearly understand where his strength stood.

Still, the price of rapidly increasing his strength was rather steep. Thinking of the twelve-thousand-tael Foundation Nurturing Pills, Bi Changsheng had already decided to put learning introductory alchemy on the agenda as soon as possible.

Ordinary people would at most take a Foundation Nurturing Pill when injured or physically weak. Someone like Bi Changsheng, who consumed one every time he practiced Life-Spending Cultivation, was not something many people could afford to sustain.

While improving his Cultivation Level just now, Bi Changsheng had also devoted part of his attention to observing the differences between using the first level of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law and the Body Burning Art for Life-Spending Cultivation. He wanted to understand why the Body Burning Art could not let him break through to the True Qi Realm as the first level of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law had.

As a result, Bi Changsheng discovered that when he circulated the first level of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law, the energy produced with that faint aura of life's essence carried a purer life aura than the energy generated by the Body Burning Art.

He guessed that this might be why the first level of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law could allow him to break through to the True Qi Realm. But Bi Changsheng did not jump to conclusions. Instead, he planned to compare them again when he used the second level of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Law to break through into the Condensing Gang Realm, to see whether the same held true.

Only after understanding the condition of every aspect of his body following the breakthrough did Bi Changsheng rise and walk out of his room.

"Young Master, how did it go?"

The moment he stepped outside, Bi Changsheng saw Liu Zhengqing, who had been standing guard outside the door all along. Before attempting his breakthrough, Bi Changsheng had informed Uncle Fu and Liu Zhengqing, telling them not to disturb him during this period.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhengqing had volunteered to guard the door and protect Bi Changsheng. At the same time, if Bi Changsheng needed anything, he could respond promptly.

"Everything went smoothly."

Bi Changsheng smiled at Liu Zhengqing.

"I knew nothing could stump you, Young Master."

The moment he heard that Bi Changsheng had broken through successfully, Liu Zhengqing broke into a broad grin. In his heart, nothing could ever stump his young master, and the facts had proven him right.

"You're doing well too."

In his cheerful mood, Bi Changsheng rarely exchanged compliments with Liu Zhengqing. After a month of cultivation, Liu Zhengqing had successfully broken through to the early Bone Forging Realm. Compared to ordinary people, that speed was like soaring straight into the sky.

"I'm far behind you, Young Master."

Embarrassed by Bi Changsheng's praise, Liu Zhengqing scratched the back of his head.

Bi Changsheng merely smiled without saying anything further. Instead, he looked toward Little Black, who was lying in the courtyard. It appeared to be lazily basking in the sun, but was actually meditating and cultivating.

After Bi Changsheng had recited the Taiyin Qi Condensation Method to Little Black over the past two days, Little Black had successfully learned to enter a meditative cultivation state on its own. Bi Changsheng no longer needed to recite the method for it.

Everything was developing in a better direction.