Rapid Advancement in Strength

Ke Fei's eyes widened in shock. He was stunned to see the droplet of water at the tip of Mu Qing's finger, and his expression shifted as his five fingers danced nimbly to control the humanoid puppet, attempting to dodge.

But it was already too late; the water droplet on Mu Qing's fingertip had already made contact with the chest of the humanoid puppet.

A terrifying surge of energy erupted instantly. The water droplet transformed into a rune, unleashing a fearsome power.

The energy released by the droplet caused the chest of the humanoid puppet to shatter directly, eventually dissipating into wisps of energy.

The entire humanoid puppet vanished before Mu Qing. Mu Qing panted heavily, his Origin Force completely exhausted.

A trace of surprise flickered in Mu Qing's eyes. He realized that when that droplet of water exploded, it possessed no corrosive properties at all.

Mu Qing then realized that the Origin Force converted by the little black fish could likely only target existences like barrier seals.

"You brat!" Ke Fei fumed, his beard bristling.

He felt a deep sense of heartache; the water droplet Mu Qing had used could have easily shattered one of the Nameless Tombstones, yet Mu Qing had wasted it on a humanoid puppet.

Mu Qing chuckled and scratched his head. In truth, he had just wanted to see how powerful the Myriad Water Barrier truly was.

Afterward, Ke Fei once again used his crude methods to borrow the energy of the barrier to condense a humanoid puppet, warning Mu Qing that he could no longer use the power of the Myriad Water Barrier.

Mu Qing's expression turned solemn, and he nodded. He knew that if he relied entirely on the Myriad Water Barrier, he would not receive any real tempering.

Over the next few days, Mu Qing consumed the Crow Blood and the other two items every day, continuously refining them with the Giant Elephant Transport Technique. By the end of the morning, he was able to fully refine these surging energies.

In the afternoon, Mu Qing would spar against the humanoid puppet condensed by Ke Fei. Without using the power of the Myriad Water Barrier, Mu Qing could only rely on his ability to perceive weaknesses to fight the puppet.

Almost every day, Mu Qing ended up bruised and battered, covered in wounds.

Sometimes, Mu Qing would even faint from the massive mental strain caused by perceiving weaknesses.

Ke Fei showed no mercy. He controlled the humanoid puppet to attack with increasing ferocity, and the injuries on Mu Qing's body grew with each passing day.

Of course, Mu Qing also received great rewards.

His own realm of the seventh stage of Blood Qi had completely stabilized, and he was on the verge of breaking through to the eighth stage!

His combat experience and techniques had improved significantly. He believed that if he were to face two opponents at the seventh stage of Blood Qi simultaneously now, he could easily defeat them.

One day, Mu Qing sat cross-legged beneath a withered, yellowed tree. Not far away, Ke Fei was fast asleep, snoring loudly.

Mu Qing's eyes were tightly shut. Wisps of morning light gathered around him, his aura growing increasingly powerful, and a dull, thumping sound resonated within his body.

He was about to break through to the eighth stage of Blood Qi!

Boom!

Mu Qing's tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open, his gaze piercing through the void like lightning.

An aura even more powerful than before surged from his body—it was the strength of the eighth stage of Blood Qi!

In less than ten days, he had actually broken through again, reaching the eighth stage of Blood Qi!

Ke Fei woke from his slumber and chuckled. Clearly, he had known all along that Mu Qing would break through to the eighth stage of Blood Qi this time, so he hadn't been worried.

Ke Fei raised his hand and once again borrowed the power of the barrier to condense a humanoid puppet, though this one was clearly much larger than the last, standing at five meters tall.

Following Mu Qing's breakthrough, Ke Fei naturally had to increase the power of the humanoid puppet to ensure it continued to serve as effective training for Mu Qing.

Mu Qing grinned and clenched his fists, rushing forward. The scorching white lightning on his hands condensed into six distinct bolts!

He had grown accustomed to this life: practicing in the morning, fighting the humanoid puppet in the afternoon, and training his martial arts at night.

He had already cultivated the Thunderstorm Fist to the sixth level.

More than twenty days later.

"The College Entrance Exam begins in about three days. You must be prepared," Ke Fei said early in the morning, pulling Mu Qing aside with a grave expression.

Mu Qing's expression turned stern, and he nodded.

At this moment, his aura was even more powerful; he had already reached the ninth stage of Blood Qi.

By now, the Nameless Tombstones around them had turned into ordinary rubble, scattered across the ground.

There were sixty Nameless Tombstones left within the barrier; the others had all been shattered by Mu Qing.

Ke Fei told Mu Qing that he must shatter the remaining ten within the next three days.

Only when fifty Nameless Tombstones remained would the energy of the barrier be sufficiently weakened for Ke Fei to use brute force to tear the entire barrier apart.

Furthermore, Ke Fei mentioned that if Mu Qing wanted to break through again, he would need to use a precious treasure located on the Lake Heart Island.

Ke Fei said, "As a reward for helping me break the barrier, I can help you obtain the most precious item on the Lake Heart Island. It will allow you to break through once more!"

He said that if he was lucky, he might even be able to break through to a low-level martial artist in one go and unlock his bloodline shackles!

Upon hearing this, Mu Qing's heart began to race. He was already at the ninth stage of Blood Qi, and he hadn't expected there to be such a treasure that could allow him to skip two levels and reach the first rank of the bloodline, the level of a low-level martial artist.

He knew that what Ke Fei had said earlier about helping him reach the level of a low-level martial artist before the College Entrance Exam was no empty promise.

However, Ke Fei had noted that because Mu Qing possessed a Dual Blood Spirit, and the little black fish was a mutated blood spirit, his energy requirements were actually immense.

If it were an ordinary person, using the most precious treasure on the Lake Heart Island would definitely allow them to break through two realms.

But for Mu Qing, it was uncertain. Ke Fei had never seen a mutated blood spirit and a Dual Blood Spirit appear in the same person before, so he didn't fully understand the energy required for Mu Qing's breakthrough.

He told Mu Qing to be prepared; he might only be able to break through one realm.

Mu Qing did not pay much attention to it; even if it was just breaking through a single realm, he was already very happy. In his heart, he had actually been prepared for this long ago.

He had discovered long ago that his two Blood Spirits had a demand for energy that far exceeded that of an ordinary person.

In particular, the little black fish sometimes only recognized water-attribute energy. Since it could not find any water-attribute energy within this Graveyard Barrier, it could only resort to consuming Mu Qing's blood to temporarily alleviate its hunger.

Mu Qing suddenly frowned. He felt that what Ke Fei had already given him was enough; even powerful martial arts like the Myriad Water Barrier had been bestowed upon him. This favor was a bit too large, so large that he did not know if he would ever be able to repay it.

Ke Fei laughed heartily, completely unconcerned.

He said that if Mu Qing had not appeared, he might have been trapped within this barrier for his entire life, so this compensation was only right.

If he were not afraid of Mu Qing's foundation becoming unstable, he would have wanted to use a technique of direct empowerment to forcibly raise Mu Qing's cultivation level.

Now, Mu Qing's cultivation had reached its limit. Within this graveyard, even continuing to consume the three items, including the Crow Blood, could no longer help him improve his cultivation.

Perhaps only by following what Ke Fei said and searching for the most precious treasure within the Lake Heart Island could he break through again!

Mu Qing took a deep breath, and deep down, he felt a faint sense of anticipation.

Blood Qi Stage Nine was, in a certain sense, already extremely powerful. As far as he knew, in past College Entrance Exams, most people only reached Blood Qi Stage Seven or Blood Qi Stage Eight. Only a small minority, those geniuses from the major top-tier factions, would possess the power of Blood Qi Stage Nine.

Mu Qing's current strength, combined with the Myriad Water Barrier, was enough to contend with students at Blood Qi Stage Nine.

He channeled the thick Origin Force within his body, and after almost draining all the Origin Force from his dantian and mind, he condensed two crystal-clear water droplets.

His Origin Force was now fully capable of condensing two water droplets.

This was definitely a huge improvement.

According to Ke Fei's deduction, the power erupted by these two water droplets currently possessed the full strength of Blood Qi Stage Nine.

It might even have miraculous effects when targeting certain seals or barriers!

For the entire day, Mu Qing spent his time recovering the Origin Force in his body, managing to condense a total of four water droplets.

Following this trend, he would be able to break the Nameless Stele within the barrier down to just fifty pieces exactly on the third day.

Not far from Mu Qing, Ke Fei sat cross-legged. Gone was his previously slovenly appearance; he tidied his clothes and began to restore his state.

Seeing that Mu Qing was about to destroy the majority of the Nameless Tombstone, Ke Fei naturally had to prepare himself, raising his state to its peak level to ensure that no mistakes would occur during the subsequent operation to break the barrier.

He saw the gravel around Ke Fei being stirred by an unknown energy, hovering in mid-air.

A terrifying suction force swept through the surroundings.

The energy between heaven and earth was being crazily absorbed and devoured by Ke Fei, converted into Origin Force to replenish him.

For a powerhouse like Ke Fei, the energy his dantian could contain was immense, and its quality was of a very high grade.

In the end, Ke Fei almost transformed into a tornado, with the endless stream of energy being absorbed into his body. The momentum was countless times greater than Mu Qing's!

Seeing this, a trace of shock flashed across Mu Qing's face.

One had to know that Ke Fei rarely displayed his power, had no airs of a powerhouse, and his relationship with Mu Qing had gradually become closer. Even though Mu Qing knew he was very strong, he had rarely witnessed it.

But now, it could be said that this was the first time Mu Qing had seen Ke Fei unleash his full aura. Even though the other party was extremely restrained, the wisps of aura that leaked out transformed into gale-force winds, sweeping across the surroundings.

In front of Ke Fei, Mu Qing felt as if he were an ant facing a vast ocean; the gap between the two was simply too enormous.

His fists were tightly clenched, and his eyes revealed determination. Ke Fei's strength made his pursuit of power even more fanatical.