As Peiyuan Gong broke through to a new level, the Internal Force within Lu Feng began to surge wildly, then converged toward his Dantian.
As the Internal Force gathered, Lu Feng could clearly sense its quality and quantity rapidly increasing.
The change in quality was especially striking. If the Internal Force in his body had been gaseous before, it had now become liquid, a significant difference.
This breakthrough brought about not only a tremendous change in his Internal Force, but also a strengthening of his body.
As a result, his body's carrying capacity had increased considerably.
When he was in the Martial Master Realm, he could raise his physical strength to a maximum of ten thousand jin.
That was a physical limitation, but after breaking through to the Grandmaster Realm, the shackles on his body seemed to have been unlocked.
Just like that, half an hour passed. Lu Feng slowly opened his eyes, which had grown deeper and brimmed with confidence.
"Phew! I finally broke through to the Grandmaster Realm!"
With that, Lu Feng summoned the Proficiency Panel with a thought and checked it.
[Name: Lu Feng] [Age: 19/90] [Realm: First-rank Grandmaster] [Cultivation Method: Peiyuan Gong (Mid-Grade, Upper-Tier, Transcendent 0/10000)] [Martial Skill: Cloud-Dispelling Palm (High-Grade, Lower-Tier, Mastery 12/5000)]
Looking at the enormous changes on the panel, Lu Feng was delighted, yet a hint of puzzlement appeared on his face.
"Huh?! My lifespan seems to have increased by twenty years. Looks like my guess was right: advancing to a higher major Martial Realm increases a cultivator's lifespan!"
The increase wasn't all that great, but living to ninety in ancient times was certainly considered a ripe old age.
Furthermore, Peiyuan Gong's breakthrough had shown him that after a Cultivation Method reached the Mastery Realm, there was another proficiency level called Transcendent.
Seeing this, Lu Feng closed his eyes again and began circulating Peiyuan Gong.
This time, however, it took only ten breaths to complete one Greater Celestial Circuit, cutting another five breaths off the time required to cultivate.
At the same time, he could feel that Peiyuan Gong at the Transcendent level could rapidly restore Internal Force and heal injuries.
"Haha! So that's how it is!"
After learning about Peiyuan Gong's special ability, Lu Feng burst out laughing.
If a Cultivation Method at the Mastery level filled in its shortcomings and brought it to perfection, then the Transcendent level elevated it and gave it a special ability.
"Hmm, I wonder what special ability Cloud-Dispelling Palm would gain if I cultivated it to the Transcendent level?"
"Wait! Peiyuan Gong on the panel just now seemed like it could still be cultivated further. Could the Transcendent level not be the highest proficiency level for a Cultivation Method?" Lu Feng thought, suddenly astonished.
After pondering for a moment, Lu Feng shook his head. "Looks like I still underestimated what this Proficiency Panel can do."
"Never mind. I'll keep cultivating, and in time I'll naturally uncover everything this panel can do."
With that, Lu Feng opened the door and went to the inn's first-floor hall.
Wang Chen was sitting by a window in the hall, drinking tea.
Seeing him, Lu Feng walked over in a few steps and sat down opposite him.
"Brother Wang, has anything happened these past few days?"
Wang Chen didn't answer right away. Instead, he poured him a cup of tea and said,
"Lu Feng, I noticed just now that your breathing was restrained and your Internal Force had vanished completely. What's going on? Did something go wrong with your cultivation?"
Lu Feng smiled as he replied, "Hehe, you're worrying too much, Brother Wang. I just broke through. This is simply the effect of my increased strength."
Wang Chen raised an eyebrow. The concern in his eyes gave way to surprise. "Oh?! So that's what happened! If so, you may have a chance at making the top ten in this Martial Examination!"
"Brother Wang, there are many experts competing in this Martial Examination. Why do you think I have a chance at making the top ten?"
Wang Chen set down his teacup and answered seriously, "Weren't you just asking whether anything had happened in the county city these past few days?"
Lu Feng nodded. "Yes."
"Nothing major happened, but I did manage to gather some information about the Martial Examination."
At once, Lu Feng grew interested. "Oh?! What did you find out?"
"First, there are ten favorites among this year's Youth Elite Competition participants, along with three who are practically guaranteed to take the top spots."
Lu Feng fell into thought. He couldn't guess who the ten favorites were, but he suspected the three who were all but guaranteed a place at the top were the strongest young members of the Three Great Noble Families in the county city.
In other words, Zhou Yonghua, Lu Wei, and Li Yi!
The three of them clearly had the strength of Martial Masters, and they weren't newcomers to the Martial Master Realm.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to ascend to the third floor during the last gathering.
Though Prefect Xu had invited them up, their own strength was certainly nothing to scoff at.
Lu Feng rubbed his chin and continued, "Brother Wang, did you manage to find out the Martial Realms of those ten favorites?"
Wang Chen nodded slightly. "Yes. Aside from the top three, the other seven are all roughly First-Rank or Second-Rank Martial Masters. The three guaranteed top contenders are the legitimate sons of the Three Great Noble Families of Baiyue County City. All three have reached the Third-Rank Martial Master level. But not all of this information is necessarily true, so just keep it in mind as a rough guide."
Lu Feng nodded to show he understood. "All right. Apart from that, has anything else happened?"
Wang Chen thought for a moment before replying, "The only other thing is the refugees outside the county city. Since the authorities won't let them in, they've been left starving. But five days ago, several porridge stalls were set up outside the city, so the people out there at least won't starve to death outright."
"Oh?! The authorities must have arranged for the porridge to be handed out, right?"
Wang Chen shook his head. "No! The authorities barely have any grain left themselves, and they still have to prepare for the Northern Wei Invasion. Whoever's giving out the porridge must be someone else!"
Lu Feng listened, turning the teacup in his hand as he fell into thought.
It was certainly a good thing that someone was willing to give porridge to the people outside the city. It wouldn't fill their stomachs, but at least it could keep them alive.
Just as Lu Feng was thinking that the person handing out porridge was a great benefactor, Wang Chen continued, "I haven't been able to find out who's behind the porridge, but their goal isn't simply to save the people outside the city. While handing out porridge, they've also been recruiting these refugees into a sect called the Wuji Cult."
At this, Lu Feng froze.
The situation suddenly reminded him of the Yellow Turban Rebellion he'd read about in the history of his previous life.
The names were different, but the patterns were strikingly similar.
It seemed the Great Yan Dynasty wasn't as solid as it appeared.
With Northern Wei invading from outside and a sect winning people's hearts within, Great Yan seemed to be on the brink of collapse.
Still, none of this had much to do with Lu Feng. If the sky fell, the tallest would hold it up.
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