Qi Refining Level 5

Thick smoke still drifted everywhere in the surroundings.

Without a word, Lu Wanyuan supported the corpse that was about to fall.

He then used the Ghost Head Saber to fiercely twist it, creating a large, gaping hole in the corpse, utterly shredded.

When dealing with such a talented enemy, he absolutely couldn't give them any chance to survive; this was cutting the grass by the roots.

Otherwise, harboring even a shred of kindness would ultimately lead to his own injury.

Since that was the case, it was better to be cruel and thorough from the very beginning.

Only after confirming the other party was completely dead did he let the corpse fall.

With a thud, the body immediately crashed to the ground.

He then swung the Ghost Head Saber, aiming for the gray storage bag hanging at the enemy's waist. The tip of the saber flicked, directly slicing open the belt. With a gesture of his left wrist, the gray storage bag rose into the air. He grabbed it with his left hand, securing it tightly.

He then walked over to the body of the Zhuge man lying not far away, bent down to retrieve his storage bag, and searched the corpse. Finding nothing else left behind, he withdrew his hand and stood up.

Without another word, he ran towards the small path beside him, preparing to return to the market town!

This risky venture outside had achieved its objective: the target was slain, and he had unexpectedly acquired several storage bags, a pleasant surprise.

He didn't know the condition of the other storage bags, but Xiao Wanchang's storage bag should be substantial, judging by his bids at the auction.

Of course, these were originally his cultivation resources. Since these items belonged to Green Bamboo Peak, he was merely taking them back.

When he was strong enough, he would definitely ascend Green Bamboo Peak and kill that damned, despicable bitch, making her pay for her actions.

However, he was unaware that the moment he stabbed Xiao Wanchang to death.

In the cultivation chamber of Green Bamboo Peak, Ouyang Tingting suddenly felt her blood essence destabilize. Her normal cultivation was immediately interrupted.

She instantly understood that it was due to the bloodline connection. Recalling that her precious son had gone to Yangmei Market recently.

She instinctively felt something was wrong; her precious son was in trouble!

Without even bothering to wipe the blood seeping from her lips, she let out a cry and burst out of the room, flying at high speed towards Bayberry Market.

Meanwhile, Lu Wanyuan followed a small path, intending to hurry back to the market town.

He discovered that this road was surprisingly far from the market town. He couldn't see it at all, indicating it was at least twenty li away.

He had been chasing his target without realizing it, and now he had traveled such a distance.

Being so far away and having been delayed for a while, he felt the light barrier covering him growing fainter. He immediately understood that the two-hour concealment was about to expire.

This meant he could no longer remain hidden. At his current Qi Refining fourth layer, without concealment, surviving safely outside the chaotic market town would be troublesome. He dared not take the risk.

Crucially, he found that the Spiritual Power in his dantian was also nearly depleted.

He thought back to his actions after leaving the market town. He hadn't done anything that would consume Spiritual Power. Even the fight had ended with a single fatal blow to the target, requiring no Spiritual Power expenditure.

This indicated that the Spiritual Power had been consumed by the concealment. He had only used this concealment effect during his journey and done nothing else.

Damn it, it seemed this concealment attribute was truly a case of the user paying for their own benefits.

Seeing the thin light barrier covering his body about to dissipate, he panicked.

His dantian had very little Spiritual Power left. If he continued to use the attribute, and his Spiritual Power ran out midway, the concealment effect would definitely fail. He wouldn't be able to enter the market town safely; he'd likely run into trouble before even reaching the outskirts.

After rapid thought, he decided to find a safe place to temporarily hide and wait until his dantian's Spiritual Power recovered to a sufficient level before returning to the market town.

Of course, he had to find a hiding spot before the concealment effect wore off. He quickly surveyed his surroundings.

The market town was to the northeast, while to the southwest lay a forest. Beyond the forest were a plain and a lake.

He was currently in a hilly area.

Seeing this, he immediately walked towards a nearby hillside, halfway up the slope.

He took out the spirit hoe and began digging furiously.

In less than half a cup of tea, a cave half a person high and ten feet deep was dug.

He then disguised the entrance with branches. If someone didn't look closely, they wouldn't easily discover it.

Crucially, the cave was located at a high point, offering a panoramic view of the surrounding environment. He could sense any disturbance immediately.

He hadn't expected to find such a perfect vantage point in a random spot.

Thinking this, he felt even more secure about this location.

After dealing with everything, he immediately crawled inside.

Although it wasn't spacious, it was more than enough to accommodate one person, especially when sitting in meditation.

Of course, he didn't have high expectations for such a temporary shelter; having a place to stay was good enough.

Finally, he noticed the thin light barrier covering his body completely disappear, realizing the concealment effect of the attribute had worn off.

He also discovered that his dantian was completely devoid of Spiritual Power. Naturally, he needed to restore it quickly.

Spiritual Power, for a cultivator, was equivalent to the money in a man's pocket.

If a man can be confident, it's definitely because he has enough money in his pocket.

Similarly, if a cultivator can be confident, it's definitely because he has enough Spiritual Power in his dantian.

Fortunately, there were still four "wisp of spirit energy" Attributes in his mind, so he immediately used one.

Before long, dense Spiritual Energy began circulating within his body, and he started cultivating.

Fortunately, ever since he discarded that common cultivation technique and switched to the Minor Five Elements Art, although it was obscure and difficult to start with, he now felt it was far superior to the previous one.

Once he got the hang of it, he realized that all he needed to do was circulate the technique, and the rest was handled automatically: refining Spiritual Energy, tempering his body and bloodline with Spiritual Energy, and most importantly, converting the Spiritual Energy of various elements.

Normally, the Spiritual Energy absorbed into one's body is determined by the cultivator's elemental roots.

Therefore, one can only absorb Spiritual Energy of that specific element from the outside. For example, someone with an Earth root would find it most suitable to absorb external Earth Spiritual Energy.

But what if there isn't enough external Earth Spiritual Energy? Naturally, one would absorb Spiritual Energy from other elements.

For instance, Metal Spiritual Energy. However, directly absorbing it would cause problems. During the absorption process, the Earth root would attempt to convert the Metal Spiritual Energy into Earth Spiritual Energy. This conversion process is inefficient, so people generally avoid it unless absolutely necessary!

However, with this "wisp of spirit energy" Attribute, none of that is a concern. This Spiritual Energy is tailored to his body's needs, making the refining process much faster.

Before long, wisps of Spiritual Energy appeared in his dantian.

Seeing this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and, with renewed vigor, used the remaining three Attributes.

By the time he had finished refining everything, it was already the next morning.

Unexpectedly, this focused cultivation session allowed him to break through again, reaching the fifth level of Qi Refining.

It made sense. His dantian's Spiritual Power had never been completely depleted before. To think it reached this level this time was truly terrifying.

Moreover, it happened under extreme duress, which naturally stimulated his potential. Thus, a cultivation advancement was entirely plausible.

Feeling the abundant Spiritual Power in his dantian finally gave him some confidence. A man needs confidence, after all.

Now, he didn't have to worry too much. With ample Spiritual Power and two "Concealment 2 Hours" Attributes remaining in his mind, if his luck held, he should be able to safely return to the market town and get home.

He had been cultivating all night, so now that he could finally relax, he naturally wanted to thoroughly examine the storage bags he had been eyeing.

He had intended to thoroughly inspect the storage bags he acquired last night to see what was inside.

The first storage bag he opened belonged to Xiao Wanjian. It contained little: 28 spirit stones, a broken sword, and a common cultivation technique called Evergreen Cultivation Art. The rest were daily necessities.

Lu Wanyuan was speechless upon seeing this. This guy was even poorer than he was.

He immediately discarded all the daily necessities in the cave.

He collected the rest into his own storage bag, leaving this one empty to take back for his family.

Then, he eagerly took out Xiao Wannian's storage bag and immediately flipped it over.

With a rustling sound.

Items poured out of the storage bag: spirit stones, Magic Tools, elixirs, ores, cultivation techniques, spirit herbs, and more.

There were also some daily necessities, which he set aside.

The entire cave was immediately filled with an incredibly dense aura. A small pile of spirit stones appeared before him, at least six to seven thousand of them, just as he had expected.

Back at the auction, this guy had dared to bid against others. It was obvious he had resources.

Perhaps his foundation wasn't strong enough, and he still lost to others, with his items being auctioned off by someone else.

Fortunately, all these spirit stones ended up with him. It seemed he really had to thank the person who outbid him at the auction, as it gave him the opportunity to obtain so many spirit stones.

He immediately placed these spirit stones into his storage ring.

There was also a cultivation technique, Blazing Flame Art. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a low-grade Earth-tier technique that involved transforming fire into blades.

If cultivated successfully, its power would be unimaginable.

It was inherently fiery, yet formed sharp blades. It was likely that nothing could withstand its attack, being either burned or cleaved apart.

The fire required to cultivate this technique came from the Earth Vein's earth fire. However, to cultivate such a technique, one must first be able to withstand the heat of the earth fire.

The item that could achieve this effect was none other than the 'Ice Spirit Grass'.

No wonder Xiao Wanchang, no matter what happened at the auction, wanted to bid for the 'Ice Spirit Grass'. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough spirit stones, and it was ultimately auctioned off for 9,000 spirit stones.

The value of this cultivation technique was immeasurable.