Urgency

Two hours later.

Blood Fiend Devil Sect Outer Disciple courtyard.

Zhou Kang was sitting in the courtyard, wiping his longsword. After hearing the message Liu Feng had sent him, he paused and said blandly, "Senior Brother Liu wants me to kill an Eighth Layer of Body Tempering disciple from the Guiyuan Sect?"

"Yes." The Outer Disciple delivering the message respectfully handed over a token. "Senior Brother Liu said that once it is done, he will owe you a favor."

"Fine, I understand." Zhou Kang reached out and took the token. "Tell Senior Brother Liu that I'll bring the man back within ten days."

With his cultivation at the peak of Ninth Layer of Body Tempering Huajin, he was among the very best of the Blood Fiend Devil Sect's Outer Disciples.

If Liu Feng had wanted him to deal with a Ninth Layer of Body Tempering Outer Disciple from the Guiyuan Sect, he might have given it some thought. But the target was merely at the Eighth Layer of Body Tempering—nothing more than a matter of lifting a hand.

No matter how he looked at it, this deal was an excellent bargain.

Thus, without a second thought, Zhou Kang decisively agreed to Liu Feng's request.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Zhou!"

The Outer Disciple delivering the message was overjoyed. After cupping his hands, he withdrew.

"Once I finish this matter, I'll be able to exchange for a Pulse Breaking Pill."

The corners of Zhou Kang's lips curled up slightly, revealing a confident smile, as though he had already seen the scene after completing the task.

A Pulse Breaking Pill was an elixir that could help a Ninth Layer of Body Tempering martial artist break through to the Zhuqi Realm. Zhuqi Realm martial artists also needed it for daily cultivation, so its value was considerable.

He was only half a step away from the Zhuqi Realm.

Yet if he wanted to cross that half-step on his own, it would take at least a year. If he could exchange for a Pulse Breaking Pill, however, he could save an entire year.

He had already gathered the Merit Points needed to exchange for a Pulse Breaking Pill, but this kind of elixir was extremely sought after. Zhuqi Realm martial artists needed it for their daily cultivation as well.

Therefore, even if Outer Disciples had Merit Points, it was difficult for them to exchange for one without connections. They had to wait a very long time.

Inner Disciples had priority.

If he could make Inner Disciple Liu Feng owe him a favor this time, he could ask him to help exchange for a Pulse Breaking Pill. Then he would be able to break through to the Zhuqi Realm.

At once, Zhou Kang picked up his longsword and strode out of the courtyard.

Qingshi Town.

The evening of Chen Xuan's seventh day as branch leader.

The lingering rays of the setting sun spilled over Qingshi Town's streets, casting them in a warm, gentle gold.

From a high place in the branch leader's residence, Chen Xuan gazed at the sky as it gradually darkened, until the sun completely vanished beyond the horizon.

[Zhaoxi Value +1]

Host: Chen Xuan

Fate: Zhaoxi Bizheng

Realm: Ninth Layer of Body Tempering (Huajin)

Martial Arts: Giant Whale Body Refining Technique/Level Nine, Mountain-Crushing Fist/Mastery, Vajra Technique/Level Four

Zhaoxi Value: 1

"Upgrade the Vajra Technique."

Chen Xuan murmured inwardly.

Buzz~~~

Scenes of a year of arduous cultivation flooded into Chen Xuan's mind.

This time, it was no longer about tempering skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and organs, but about opening qi meridians.

Breaking through from the Body Tempering Realm to the Zhuqi Realm was divided into two stages.

The first stage was opening qi meridians.

Only after a Body Tempering Realm martial artist opened qi meridians within their body, circulated invisible force through those meridians to form a complete cycle, could it gradually transform into tangible true qi.

Different cultivation techniques opened different qi meridians, and the number of meridians opened also varied.

An Ordinary Technique only required twelve qi meridians to be connected in order to break through to the Zhuqi Realm. The resulting true qi was crude in quality and scant in quantity, but it was fast.

Superior Techniques were somewhat more difficult, requiring twenty-four qi meridians to be connected, producing true qi of higher quality. As a Top-Tier Technique, however, the Vajra Technique required thirty-six qi meridians from the very start. Its true qi far surpassed that of Ordinary Techniques, but it also took longer.

Connecting each qi meridian was like carving out a river channel through flesh and blood. It required force to scour, expand, and stabilize it bit by bit.

Moreover, qi meridians were innate.

The better one's bone aptitude, the easier it was to connect qi meridians.

Bone aptitude in this world was roughly divided into five grades: inferior, average, upper-average, superior, and transcendent.

With inferior bone aptitude, one's qi meridians were innately weak. To connect even one qi meridian, one had to nourish it carefully and slowly, grinding away like water wearing through stone, spending several years to open a single meridian.

Yet even an ordinary Zhuqi Realm cultivation technique required twelve qi meridians to be connected before force could be transformed into true qi.

Therefore, without some great stroke of fortune, a martial artist with inferior bone aptitude would find the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering to be their limit. But with Transcendent Bone Aptitude, qi meridians were dozens of times tougher than those of inferior bone aptitude and could withstand far greater force during development. Even without any cultivation resources, one could generally connect a qi meridian every ten days or half a month.

Legend had it that some supreme geniuses were born with All Meridians Connected. For them, breaking through from the Body Tempering Realm to the Zhuqi Realm did not involve any bottleneck at all.

As long as their accumulation was sufficient, they could break through. Everything would fall into place as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

Such a physique was known as a Spirit Body. The five grades of bone aptitude beneath it, regardless of rank, all belonged to mortal bodies.

Chen Xuan's bone aptitude was inferior.

Under normal circumstances, it would take him years of hard work to connect a single qi meridian.

But he had a cheat. One day could grant him a year's worth of cultivation.

The first qi meridian recorded in the Vajra Technique lay between the dantian and the Gate of Life, as thin as a strand of hair. Under ordinary circumstances, its existence could not be sensed at all.

But now, accelerated by Zhaoxi Value, after a year of tireless, sleepless cultivation, that qi meridian was connected in an instant.

Chen Xuan could feel force surging and flowing through it like a newly carved river. Though narrow, it was brimming with vitality.

"One day is enough to connect one qi meridian. At this pace, I'll still need thirty-five days to break through to the Zhuqi Realm."

Chen Xuan revealed a thoughtful expression.

Being able to break through to the Zhuqi Realm in thirty-five days was an unimaginable miracle for any Ninth Layer of Body Tempering martial artist. Even someone with Transcendent Bone Aptitude could not break through in only thirty-five days, especially while cultivating a Top-Tier martial art and opening thirty-six qi meridians.

Yet Chen Xuan still felt it was somewhat too slow.

A few days earlier, Guild Master Sun Tianxing had investigated and discovered that Liu Lie, whom Chen Xuan had killed, had an unusual background. He had an elder brother in the Blood Fiend Devil Sect who had reached the Zhuqi Realm.

Liu Lie had said this himself after coming to the Blood Wolf Gang. Perhaps he had wanted to rely on his brother's status to secure a good position within the Blood Wolf Gang.

Qin Sihai had given Liu Lie a branch leader position, but Liu Lie had needed to seize territory himself. Thus, he had taken Qingshi Town, only to later be killed by Chen Xuan.

Knowing that an enemy at the Zhuqi Realm was lurking in the shadows, Chen Xuan felt a sense of urgency. He did not know when that enemy would come seeking revenge.

Although Chen Xuan's Vajra Technique, cultivated to the fourth level, gave him combat strength capable of matching a martial artist newly entered into the Zhuqi Realm, that only applied to ordinary Zhuqi Realm martial artists who had connected twelve qi meridians. If the other party cultivated superior Zhuqi Realm martial arts, there would still be a gap between them.

Therefore, he had to break through to the Zhuqi Realm as quickly as possible.