Setting Out

"I've been cultivating for so long. It's time to get moving."

Putting away the letter, Zhao Ping'an rose and headed for South Ridge City.

After half a year of nonstop cultivation, his status panel had changed beyond recognition.

[Name: Zhao Ping'an]

[Realm: Eighth Layer of Great Grandmaster]

[Body Cultivation: Fourth Layer of Martial Venerable]

Arts:

[Jade Armor Art (Profound Grade Art): 268/1500 (Fourth Layer, simplified) Repeatedly ram into an iron pillar 500 times to increase Training Progress by 1 point]

[Primordial Chaos Art (Yellow-grade Art): 980/1000 (Eighth Layer, simplified) Meditate calmly and absorb Heavenly Qi for ten minutes to increase Training Progress by 1 point]

Martial Arts:

[Nine Forms of Hegemonic Saber (Mysterious Tier Martial Art): 300/1500 (Great Accomplishment, simplified) Swing a Steel Saber weighing at least twenty kilograms 500 times to increase Training Progress by 1 point]

[Soaring Dragon Void Steps (Yellow-grade Martial Art): 1000/1000 (Perfection, simplified) Available for deduction!]

[Purple Light Ghostly Eyes (Yellow-grade Martial Art): 896/1000 (Great Accomplishment, simplified) Focus both eyes on the square hole at the center of a coin twenty meters away for one minute to increase Training Progress by 1 point]

[Five Thunders Sky Severing Palm (Yellow-grade Martial Art): 879/1000 (Great Accomplishment, simplified) Strike an iron pillar with both palms 100 times to increase Training Progress by 1 point]

[Phantom Flying Dagger (Yellow-grade Martial Art): 987/1000 (Great Accomplishment, simplified) Hit a target one meter in diameter from thirty meters away with a pebble 100 times to increase Training Progress by 1 point]

[Deduction Points: 48%]

(Method of obtaining Deduction Points: omitted)

Aside from his Profound Grade Art and martial arts, whose cultivation had become much harder, the progress of the Primordial Chaos Art was also painfully slow.

Even after absorbing Heavenly Qi for a full five hours a day, he could only gain thirty points of Training Progress. It would take him more than a month to advance one layer.

By contrast, his Body Cultivation art, Jade Armor Art, had advanced to Profound grade. Even though its proficiency requirement had increased by five hundred and the difficulty of cultivation had quintupled, its progress was still impressive.

With his stamina and physical strength, he felt nothing when he slammed into the iron pillar. He even had to control his force to keep from accidentally knocking it over.

As for the speed of his strikes, he only hit it twice a second, holding back because he was afraid the pillar wouldn't withstand anything faster.

Even so, excluding rest breaks, he could advance one layer in about a month.

That was faster than the Primordial Chaos Art, which was only a Yellow-grade Art.

If he hadn't gone three months without cultivating the Jade Armor Art, and then spent extra time catching up on the Primordial Chaos Art in the mornings, his Body Cultivation and realm would have been more than a full major realm apart.

Lastly, there were his Deduction Points. After his Body Cultivation broke through to the Martial Venerable Realm, his total Deduction Points had increased once again.

Now that Spiritual Medicine could no longer raise his Deduction Points, Zhao Ping'an could only gain a tiny amount by eating large quantities of Demonic Beast meat every day.

On average, he earned just over one percent a day.

Over the course of half a year, he had spent 75% of his Deduction Points to evolve God Slaying Saber Strike into the Profound-grade martial art Nine Forms of Hegemonic Saber.

He had also spent 40% each to evolve three Human-grade martial arts—Soul Capturing Mystic Pupil, Void Splitting Palm, and Absolute Shadow Flying Blade—into Yellow-grade martial arts.

Altogether, he had used less than 200% of his Deduction Points.

"I've never seen a Fourth-grade Spiritual Medicine before. I wonder how many Deduction Points one plant would give me?"

On the road from Wu'an Mountain to South Ridge City, Zhao Ping'an sat in a carriage, his thoughts wandering.

He had asked his Master, Zheng Hetong, to help him find Fourth-grade Spiritual Medicine, but more than half a year had passed without any news.

He knew why. South Ridge City was too small. Whenever Fourth-grade Spiritual Medicine appeared, it was snapped up at any cost by forces with a Grandmaster among their ranks. It would never be transported here, and none of the local powers could afford it.

As for the area within a hundred miles of South Ridge City, there simply wasn't any Fourth-grade Spiritual Medicine to be found. His only option was to seek it in a larger city.

"Sir, we've arrived at the workshop."

After who knew how long, Zhao Ping'an, who had been absorbing Heavenly Qi with his eyes closed, heard the coachman report from outside the carriage.

"Mm."

Zhao Ping'an opened his eyes and answered softly, his tone calm.

He wasn't afraid of being disturbed while absorbing Heavenly Qi. All he did was draw the Heavenly Qi that was everywhere in the air into his body; he wasn't circulating any Lesser or Greater Celestial Circuit.

Nor was he limited by the concentration of Heavenly Qi, which made the method exceedingly convenient. If anyone learned that this was how he cultivated, the whole world would be thrown into a frenzy.

"Little Junior Brother? It's not the end of the month yet. What brings you here?"

Zhao Ping'an had just stepped out of the carriage and entered the workshop when he ran into his Second Senior Disciple Brother, Cui Kang'an.

"Second Senior Disciple Brother, the City Lord had something to discuss with me. I'm just stopping by to take a look, so don't mind me," Zhao Ping'an said with a smile.

When they first learned that he had reached Grandmaster Peak, his senior brothers and sisters had all been extremely cautious around him.

Third Senior Sister Mu Yunmeng, in particular, was usually so carefree. The moment she remembered that she had dared to tug a Grandmaster's ear, she had wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground.

But they soon realized that Zhao Ping'an was still the same Zhao Ping'an. Apart from learning how strong he really was, nothing about his attitude toward them had changed. He was still as gentle as ever.

Still, the senior brothers and sisters who knew his true strength—including their Master, Zheng Hetong—could never go back to the way things had been. They always treated Zhao Ping'an with a measure of respect, though they were far less stiff around him than they had been at first.

The only exception was Mistress Zhao Xiuyun. Her attitude toward Zhao Ping'an had never changed.

Zhao Ping'an soon made a round of the Alchemy Workshop. He saw only three of his senior brothers and sisters; his Master, Zheng Hetong, was nowhere to be found.

He didn't mind. He had only come to the Alchemy Workshop because he had nothing better to do. He had even put the land deed and the property deed in his Master's hands. Once his cultivation slowed, he would leave this place, and these two businesses would serve as retirement funds for his Master and Mistress.

Once Third-grade Spiritual Medicine stopped working on Zhao Ping'an, he had given his Master all the Third-grade Spiritual Medicine he had gathered over the following six months, allowing his stagnant cultivation to start advancing rapidly again.

As for his three senior brothers and sisters, they still couldn't withstand the potency of Third-grade Spiritual Medicine and could only take Second-grade medicine.

After a while, even Fourth-grade Spiritual Medicine would probably become useless to him. When that happened, he would help his Master gather some Fourth-grade Spiritual Medicine so he could break through to the Grandmaster Realm. Then Zhao Ping'an wouldn't have to worry about their safety anymore.

In this remote South Ridge City, the Grandmaster Realm ruled all.

Seeing that it was getting late, Zhao Ping'an left the workshop and walked to Zhao Residence. He had already sent word to Mistress that he would be home for lunch.

After enjoying a lavish lunch, both delicious and beautifully presented, Zhao Ping'an chatted with Mistress for a while. It wasn't until two in the afternoon that he set out for the City Lord's Mansion.