Bodily Transformation, Nourishing Yuan Realm Third Layer

Qingxiao Sect had been attacked by the Seven Peaks Alliance, and Jiang Zhaoxia and Li Sifeng had suffered severe injuries!

The news landed inside Qingxiao Sect like a bombshell, startling all the disciples into gathering in the courtyard. They discussed the battle at the foot of the mountain, their voices lowered, afraid of disturbing the people inside.

Inside the room.

Li Sifeng lay on the bed, while Jiang Zhaoxia sat meditating at his feet. Li Qingqiu stood beside the bed, performing the Spring Return Ghost Immortal Needle on Li Sifeng.

He had obtained a set of needles from a tailor. Although they were not true medicinal needles, they could barely be put to use.

Li Sifeng's condition was not optimistic. Several of his ribs were broken, his face had been disfigured, and several teeth had been knocked out. He had now fallen into a coma.

Fortunately, he was not crippled. Li Qingqiu's Spring Return Ghost Immortal Needle could not save someone who was crippled.

Zhang Yuchun, Li Dongyue, Wu Man'er, Li Sijin, and Yang Jueding stood behind her, watching Li Qingqiu treat Li Sifeng with nervous, worried expressions.

Xu Ning sat meditating on a stool in the corner, circulating her energy to regulate the qi and blood in her body.

The room was silent. No one dared disturb Li Qingqiu. Their hearts were heavy, and they feared that Li Sifeng would not make it through.

Li Qingqiu withdrew his hands, leaving three needles in Li Sifeng's chest. He said, "All right. Sifeng is no longer in danger. Now we only need to wait for him to wake up."

At those words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Only then did Yang Jueding turn to Jiang Zhaoxia and ask, "How many people did the Seven Peaks Alliance send? Who was leading them?"

Jiang Zhaoxia opened his eyes and replied, "Several hundred. None of them were weak. The leader was highly skilled and caused me quite a bit of trouble. In the end, I even let him escape. Before leaving, he said this matter wasn't over. I don't know his name."

"Oh, right. We owe it to Xu Ning for arriving in time this time. Otherwise, I might already be dead."

Xu Ning?

Everyone turned to look at the only ten-year-old Xu Ning, their expressions full of astonishment.

Xu Ning did not open her eyes, remaining focused on herself.

Could she really be an unparalleled genius?

Yang Jueding was secretly shocked. He had not expected to misjudge her again. However, he did not dwell on it. His expression grew solemn as he said, "The Seven Peaks Alliance is a major power in the Guzhou Martial Arts World. If they attack our Qingxiao Sect with all their strength, it will be very difficult for us to resist. They have as many as three thousand disciples, with experts as common as clouds. This time, we're truly in trouble."

Three thousand!

Everyone was frightened. Several hundred people had nearly cost Jiang Zhaoxia his life. If all three thousand gathered, how could they resist?

Li Qingqiu said, "Let them rest for now. That group will need time to hurry back to the Seven Peaks Alliance as well. At least for the next half a month, we can remain at ease."

His tone was calm, and no emotion could be seen on his face. In truth, his heart was churning with stormy waves, utterly unable to settle down.

With that, Li Qingqiu turned and walked toward the door, while the others followed close behind.

After leaving the room, Zhang Yuchun began dispersing the disciples, telling them to continue with their own affairs. Yang Jueding, meanwhile, followed in Li Qingqiu's footsteps.

"What do you think of this matter?" Yang Jueding asked in a low voice as he walked beside Li Qingqiu.

Li Qingqiu replied, "I haven't figured it out yet, but we can't let this matter go."

Hearing his answer, Yang Jueding could not help sighing. "This is the martial world. Even if you don't provoke others, others will come looking for trouble with you. You're still too young. If necessary, find somewhere else to lie low and weather the storm. After a few years, come back and reclaim the territory that belongs to you."

Li Qingqiu stopped and glanced at Yang Jueding. His gaze actually made Yang Jueding feel faintly uneasy.

"Precisely because we're young, we don't want to hide."

Li Qingqiu left him with those words and headed toward the mountain gate. Yang Jueding stopped, watching him with a complicated expression.

After leaving the mountain gate, Li Qingqiu went straight for the underground Spirit Lake, even though night was about to fall.

He walked faster and faster, quickly vanishing into the night.

From the day he became the master of Qingxiao Sect, Li Qingqiu had anticipated that he would encounter all kinds of trouble in the future. Thus, he had hoped Qingxiao Sect would develop quietly and that trouble would come as late as possible.

Unfortunately, things had ultimately not gone as he wished.

He could avoid trouble, but once trouble came, he would not cower either.

The Seven Peaks Alliance had sought trouble with Qingxiao Sect twice. In Li Qingqiu's heart, they were already mortal enemies, and there could be no reconciliation.

Find a way to deal with the Seven Peaks Alliance's next attack?

No!

He could not wait!

Tonight, Li Qingqiu was going to extract his second Fate. He planned to test the conjecture he had formed earlier and see whether he could forcibly raise his cultivation to the Nourishing Yuan Realm Third Layer.

After less than half an hour, Li Qingqiu entered the underground Spirit Lake. Once he confirmed that there were no wild beasts or outsiders who had intruded, he brought up the Legacy System and extracted Xu Ning's Fate.

At present, Xu Ning's Fate was the strongest. If he accepted another disciple, who knew how long he would have to wait before encountering someone stronger than Xu Ning?

Moreover, Xu Ning's cultivation speed was actually a little faster than Jiang Zhaoxia's. It was just that Jiang Zhaoxia's swordsmanship talent was more suited to actual combat.

After selecting the Fate, Li Qingqiu was once again drawn into an abstruse state, as if he had entered a dream.

Spiritual energy began surging through this underground space, converging toward Li Qingqiu and gradually forming a vortex around him.

If the Innate Sword Maniac was a transformation of comprehension, then the Heaven Heavenly Thunder Spirit Root was a tempering of the physical body.

Before cultivating immortality, Xu Ning's constitution had already been different from ordinary people's. Before turning ten, she had been able to endure hunger and walk a hundred li in one go. How astonishing was that?

Without any accidents, Xu Ning would surpass the others and become the third person, after Jiang Zhaoxia and Li Qingqiu, to enter the Nourishing Yuan Realm Second Layer.

Li Qingqiu's consciousness was shrouded in chaos. He seemed to be standing among the clouds, facing vast heavenly thunder. The heavenly thunder was terrifying, yet it also seemed to be guiding him.

Rumble--

Thunder rang out across the night sky enveloping the Tai Kun Mountain Range, as if Heaven itself were angrily condemning the slaughter in the mortal world.

Jiang Zhaoxia opened his eyes and looked outside the window. Night had fallen. Li Dongyue and Xu Ning had already returned to the female disciples' room.

"Third Junior Uncle, is there anything we can do?"

Huang Shan, lying on another bed, spoke up. The other second-generation disciples also looked toward Jiang Zhaoxia.

Li Sifeng was gravely injured and unconscious, while the strongest Jiang Zhaoxia was also recuperating. Qingxiao Sect had fallen into a gloom it had never experienced before. Although the Qingxiao Seven Sons were frightened as well, they did not want to simply sit and watch. They also wanted to do something for their sect.

Sitting beside Li Sifeng, Wu Man'er said in a muffled voice, "Third Senior Brother, I want to avenge Sixth Junior Brother."

Although Wu Man'er had not yet found an opportunity to make a move, everyone could feel his strength advancing by leaps and bounds. Even sitting there, he resembled a ferocious bear, the muscles on his body nearly bursting through his sect robes.

Zhang Yuchun lay on the bed with his back to everyone, his brows tightly furrowed. No one knew what he was thinking.

Jiang Zhaoxia withdrew his gaze and swept it over the disciples, saying irritably, "What are you thinking? You're still young. Focus on practicing. We don't need you yet. Besides, I've already beaten the enemy into a panic. They won't dare come again."

Seeing that Jiang Zhaoxia remained arrogant and spoke so wildly, the disciples instead relaxed. At this critical moment, they actually found themselves somewhat fond of Jiang Zhaoxia's arrogance.

The disciples began asking about the battle at the foot of the mountain. Once he had calmed down, Jiang Zhaoxia did not conceal anything and calmly recounted the great battle he had experienced.

When he thought of Xu Ning, a powerful sense of danger suddenly arose in his heart.

He had actually misjudged her. That girl possessed talent no weaker than his own. The Eldest Senior Brother was truly impressive.

Beside the underground Spirit Lake, a silvery-blue, eerie light shone across Li Qingqiu's face. He slowly opened his eyes, in which threads of lightning seemed to flicker, giving his features an extra touch of divinity.

After opening his eyes, Li Qingqiu swiftly regained control of his body.

"Hmm?"

Li Qingqiu let out a surprised sound, delight appearing on his face.

He had actually reached the Nourishing Yuan Realm Third Layer directly!

Not only that, but his physical strength had also increased considerably, giving him a feeling of Bone-Shedding and Marrow-Changing.

He had originally intended to use the Spirit Stones embedded in the mountain wall to break through. When he had come to cultivate before, he had sensed that those crystals contained dense spiritual energy that could be absorbed into the body. However, the amount was too great and could easily damage the meridians, so he had not tried it. He had also forbidden his junior brothers and sisters from taking them on their own.

If these Spirit Stones could help cultivators practice, then their usefulness would be immense, especially for newly emerging cultivation sects.

Li Qingqiu carefully sensed the Origin Energy within his body. He discovered that not only had his Origin Energy multiplied several times, but its nature had also changed.

Lightning attribute!

Cultivation techniques were divided by attribute. The Taiqing Primordial Scripture he had obtained contained every attribute. It could even be said to be a collection of the five elements, capable of accommodating cultivators with different Spiritual Root Aptitudes and allowing them to cultivate. From there, they could develop their own paths based on this cultivation technique.

Just like now, Li Qingqiu's Origin Energy had transformed into the Lightning attribute, containing an overbearing thunderous might.

In the future, when his Origin Energy struck an enemy, it would also carry lightning damage.

He felt that his Origin Energy had become even more lethal. No wonder he had sensed that Xu Ning's Origin Energy was unusual when he had taught her before.

The spiritual energy around him had yet to disperse, bringing a certain possibility to mind.

"Can body-related Fates raise my realm along with them?"

This conjecture filled Li Qingqiu with even greater anticipation toward such Fates.

He stood up and came to the mountain wall. After removing a Spirit Stone and tucking it into his robe, he left the underground Spirit Lake.

He had originally wanted to use the Spirit Stones in the underground Spirit Lake to forcibly break through to the Nourishing Yuan Realm Third Layer. Now that he had already reached it, there was no need to take the risk.

His body was now overflowing with Origin Energy, and he did not even need to recuperate.

He planned to act immediately and catch the Seven Peaks Alliance off guard!

Half an hour later.

Li Qingqiu returned to Qingxiao Sect and woke Yang Jueding.

At that moment, heavy rain poured down, while thunder rolled without pause.

Yang Jueding opened the door. Seeing Li Qingqiu drenched from head to toe, he asked in surprise, "What did you go do?"

Li Qingqiu stared at him and asked, "Do you know how to get to the Seven Peaks Alliance?"

Yang Jueding replied, "Of course I do. I've visited them before. What are you planning?"

"Get ready. Come down the mountain with me."

Li Qingqiu left him with those words and turned away, leaving Yang Jueding rooted to the spot.

He came to the courtyard where he lived and knocked on the door of the room where his junior brothers lived. Soon, Zhang Yuchun opened the door.

"Yuchun, I'm planning to take Yang Jueding down the mountain to patrol the Tai Kun Mountain Range, to prevent anyone from the Seven Peaks Alliance from still being there. For the next few days, tell the disciples not to stray too far from the sect. Wait until we return." Li Qingqiu smiled as he gave his instructions.

Zhang Yuchun frowned and asked, "Senior Brother, the rain is so heavy. Why don't you go down the mountain tomorrow?"

Li Qingqiu waved his hand. "A rainy night is precisely when it's easier to act."

With that, he turned and walked toward his own room. Zhang Yuchun wanted to say something but stopped. In the end, he chose to trust Li Qingqiu and closed the door.

After a while.

Yang Jueding, wearing a straw raincoat, waited for Li Qingqiu at the mountain gate. Li Qingqiu had donned one as well, with the Heavenly Rainbow Sword his master had left him hanging at his waist.