Urgency

Half an hour later.

Blood Fiend Devil Sect outer disciple courtyard.

Zhou Kang sat in the courtyard, wiping his longsword. After hearing the message Liu Feng had sent him, he stopped what he was doing and said calmly, "Senior Brother Liu wants me to kill an eighth-layer Body Tempering Realm disciple of 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 the ninth layer of the Body Tempering Realm, 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 Body Tempering Realm outer disciple of the Guiyuan Sect, he might have given it some thought. But the target was merely at the eighth layer of the Body Tempering Realm—nothing more than a matter of lifting a hand.

No matter how he looked at it, this deal was extremely worthwhile.

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

"Many thanks, Senior Brother Zhou!"

The outer disciple delivering the message was overjoyed. He cupped his hands, then withdrew.

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

The corners of Zhou Kang's lips rose slightly, revealing a confident smile, as though he could already see the scene after completing the task.

The Pulse Breaking Pill was a medicinal pill that could help ninth-layer Body Tempering Realm martial artists break through to the Zhuqi Realm. Zhuqi Realm martial artists also needed it for cultivation, and it was exceedingly valuable.

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 that year.

He had already gathered enough merit points to exchange for a Pulse Breaking Pill, but such pills were highly sought after, since Zhuqi Realm martial artists needed them 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 would have to wait a very long time.

Inner disciples possessed priority.

This time, by making inner disciple Liu Feng owe him a favor, he could have Liu Feng help him 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 master.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled across the streets of Qingshi Town, casting a warm and gentle golden sheen over everything.

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

[Zhaoxi Value +1]

Host: Chen Xuan

Fate: Zhaoxi Bizheng

Realm: Ninth Layer of the Body Tempering Realm (Huajin)

Martial Arts: Giant Whale Body Refining Technique / Ninth Layer, Mountain Crushing Fist / Mastery, Vajra Technique / Fourth Layer

Zhaoxi Value: 1

"Improve the Vajra Technique."

Chen Xuan silently recited in his heart.

Buzz—

Scenes of a year of grueling cultivation surged into Chen Xuan's mind.

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

For a Body Tempering Realm martial artist to break through to the Zhuqi Realm, there were two stages.

The first stage was opening qi meridians.

Only after Body Tempering Realm martial artists opened qi meridians within their bodies could they circulate their cultivation techniques, move their intangible force through those meridians in a complete cycle, and gradually transform it into tangible true qi.

Different cultivation techniques opened different qi meridians, and their numbers varied as well.

To break through to the Zhuqi Realm with an ordinary cultivation technique, one only needed to connect twelve qi meridians. The resulting true qi was coarse in quality and shallow in quantity, but the process was quick.

Superior cultivation techniques were somewhat more difficult, requiring the connection of twenty-four qi meridians and producing higher-quality true qi. As a top-tier technique, however, the Vajra Technique required thirty-six qi meridians from the outset. Its true qi far surpassed that of ordinary techniques, but it also took far longer.

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

Moreover, qi meridians were innate.

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

The bone aptitudes of this world could roughly be divided into five grades: inferior, average, upper-average, superior, and supreme.

With inferior bones, qi meridians were innately weak. To connect even one required careful, gradual nourishment, inching forward like water grinding through stone. It took several years to connect a single qi meridian.

Yet even an ordinary Zhuqi Realm cultivation technique required twelve qi meridians to transform force into true qi.

Therefore, without some great fortuitous opportunity, a martial artist with only inferior bones would reach their limit at the ninth layer of the Body Tempering Realm. But with supreme bones, one's qi meridians were dozens of times tougher than those of someone with inferior bones and could withstand far more forceful expansion. Even without any cultivation resources, one could generally connect a qi meridian in ten days to half a month.

Legend had it that some peerless geniuses were born with all one hundred meridians already connected. For them, breaking through from the Body Tempering Realm to the Zhuqi Realm had no 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 physiques were known as Spirit Bodies. The five grades of bone aptitude below Spirit Bodies, regardless of grade, all belonged to mortal bodies.

Chen Xuan's bones were inferior.

Under normal circumstances, connecting a single qi meridian would require him to labor bitterly for several years.

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

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

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

Chen Xuan could feel his force surging through it like a newly carved river. Though narrow, it brimmed with vitality.

"I can connect one qi meridian a day. At this pace, it will still take thirty-five days to break through to the Zhuqi Realm."

Chen Xuan revealed a thoughtful expression.

Breaking through to the Zhuqi Realm in thirty-five days was an unimaginable miracle for any ninth-layer Body Tempering Realm martial artist. Even someone with supreme bones could not possibly 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 ago, Gang Leader Sun Tianxing had investigated and discovered that Liu Lie, whom Chen Xuan had killed, possessed an unusual identity. He had an older brother in the Blood Fiend Devil Sect who had reached the Zhuqi Realm.

Liu Lie had revealed this himself after joining the Blood Wolf Gang. Perhaps he had wanted to use his brother's status to secure a good position within the gang.

Qin Sihai had given Liu Lie the position of branch master, but he had needed to seize territory himself. Thus, he had taken Qingshi Town, only to be killed by Chen Xuan afterward.

Knowing that a Zhuqi Realm enemy lurked in the shadows, Chen Xuan felt a sense of urgency. He did not know when that enemy might come seeking revenge.

Although Chen Xuan's Vajra Technique, having reached the fourth layer, gave him combat strength comparable to someone newly entered into the Zhuqi Realm, that referred to an ordinary Zhuqi Realm martial artist who had connected twelve qi meridians. If his opponent 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 soon as possible.