Xu Yang left Qin Shuang's cave abode without lingering at the camp. Although he had come to terms with what had happened with Li Qingqing, he still had no desire to spend more time with Huo Lian. So he went straight to a Blood Refining Sect disciple at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, killed him, and fulfilled the sect's training requirement.
Afterward, Xu Yang found a sect disciple in the camp and registered, confirming that he had completed his task and could choose whether or not to remain on the border battlefield.
Naturally, Xu Yang had no intention of staying there. He walked out of the camp, took to his flying sword, and returned to the sect. He traveled in fits and starts, and after three days finally made it back. He registered at the External Affairs Hall, officially completing the sect's training. To his disappointment, however, he did not see Lin Heng, and had no idea how he was doing or whether he had completed his training.
Since Lin Heng was nowhere to be found, Xu Yang did not linger at the External Affairs Hall. He quickly returned to his loft. Nothing inside had changed; it was as simple and plain as ever, and Xu Yang had no desire to go to the trouble of decorating it.
If he managed to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, he would naturally seek a secluded place in the sect's rear mountain to cultivate in seclusion. If he failed, then all would be for nothing, and someone else would take over this place.
At that thought, Xu Yang raised his hand and activated the loft's Restriction. He went to the Lesser Spirit Gathering Array on the second floor, sat cross-legged, and slowly began circulating the Qi Refining Secret Record. His rapid cultivation was due in part to the large quantities of pills he had taken, and in part to the extraordinary speed at which the Qi Refining Secret Record could be cultivated.
Of course, the crucial factor was the Black Little Sword in his dantian. Without it constantly drawing in and releasing pure Gang Qi, Xu Yang would have suffered cultivation deviation long ago. He would never have made it to his current level.
Xu Yang had never had the slightest clue about the Black Little Sword. It was far too mysterious. No matter how he tested it, it remained unmoved, without the slightest change. Perhaps his cultivation was too low to meet the requirements to activate it.
For that very reason, Xu Yang had grown more and more curious about the Black Little Sword. He hoped to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm soon, so he could uncover its secrets.
In the time that followed, Xu Yang remained in seclusion in his loft, taking Bigu Pills whenever he grew hungry. Bigu Pills were essential for Qi Refining Realm cultivators going into seclusion. They allowed cultivators to train for long periods without starving to death. They were not particularly valuable, either, and were easy to make: one Spirit Stone could buy three bottles. Xu Yang had bought his from the sect.
Only after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm could a cultivator truly abstain from food, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to sustain himself. As the saying went, "Those who feed on qi attain divine clarity and longevity; those who do not eat neither die nor lose their divinity." Thus, Qi Refining Realm cultivators had the same lifespan as ordinary people, no more than a hundred years at most. Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators lived for a hundred and fifty years, gaining a full fifty years. If they broke through again and reached the Golden Core Realm, their lifespan would increase dramatically once more, to a full five hundred years.
Xu Yang's seclusion lasted three years. During that time, his cultivation broke through again, advancing a whole major realm in Qi Refining to reach the peak of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining. The top-grade Qi Refining Powder had indeed proved powerful, even more effective than top-grade Zengyuan Pills.
His body cultivation, meanwhile, had reached its peak long ago. But without True Spirit Essence Blood, he was now stuck at a bottleneck and unable to cultivate the Bronze Body chapter of the Indestructible Golden Body Art. This troubled Xu Yang greatly.
Besides that, he went through the treasures he had acquired. First were two top-grade Dharma Artifacts, the mountain and the mirror, which Xu Yang had already refined: Emerald Screen Peak and the Heavenly Escape Mirror. Emerald Screen Peak was only the size of a palm, but once activated, it instantly became a small mountain ten zhang tall, capable of crushing any enemy.
The Heavenly Escape Mirror was also palm-sized and made from an unknown material. It could emit five-colored divine light; any other Dharma Artifact struck by that light would immediately lose all its power. These two Dharma Artifacts were exceptional treasures, immensely powerful and exceedingly rare among top-grade Dharma Artifacts.
Then there were the three strange items Qin Shuang had given him. Xu Yang examined them and found that, just as Qin Shuang had said, the tortoiseshell and red crystal were incredibly hard. No matter how fiercely he attacked them, they remained completely unharmed. Yet he could not uncover their secrets either, and came away empty-handed.
As for the two Ice Centipede eggs, Xu Yang could sense life within them but had no idea how to hatch them. That sort of thing was the Hundred Beasts Sect's specialty.
Then there was Hu Xinrong's Qiankun Bag. At the time, everything had happened in too much of a rush, and Xu Yang and Ling Feng had only split the Qiankun Bags of the three men without examining them closely.
Xu Yang erased the imprint on the Qiankun Bag and sent his spiritual sense inside to inspect it. He discovered, to his dismay, that it held nothing particularly valuable. It seemed Hu Xinrong had focused on body cultivation, which explained why he had not used any Dharma Artifacts, apart from a Black Small Banner that had been burned to ashes by the Samadhi True Fire. In the end, Xu Yang got only a little over a hundred Spirit Stones and a copy of the Asura Yin Evil Technique.
Xu Yang looked through the Asura Yin Evil Technique, then placed it disdainfully in a corner of the Qiankun Bag. It was far inferior to the Indestructible Golden Body Art, and Xu Yang had no interest in it at all. Objectively speaking, though, the Asura Yin Evil Technique was still decent. Xu Yang planned to sell it for Spirit Stones.
As for the other spiritual materials and herbs, Xu Yang merely sorted them out and stored them in sealed wooden boxes for future use. He did not know how to refine pills or craft artifacts, and at his current stage, cultivation had to come first.
Pill refining and artifact crafting took far too much time. Most cultivators only dabbled in them after advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm, when their lifespans had increased and they could spare the time to learn. Besides, after advancing to the Golden Core Realm, a cultivator had to craft his own life-bound Dharma Artifact. If he did not know how to craft artifacts, he had to hire a dedicated artifact refiner, and the expense was so enormous that most cultivators could not afford it.
Xu Yang had also refined the Sky-Severing Sword and the other top-grade Dharma Artifacts once more. With his Gang Qi cultivation at the peak of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, he could wield these top-grade Dharma Artifacts with ease. The Yellow Heaven Bell, which Hu Xinrong had dented, had already repaired itself. That was one reason Xu Yang had chosen it in the first place: it contained a small amount of Heaven Source Gold, which let it repair damage on its own.
Heaven Source Gold was extremely precious. It was an essential material for crafting spirit treasures, as well as life-bound Dharma Artifacts. The more Heaven Source Gold that was incorporated, the faster an artifact could repair itself. Of course, if an artifact was shattered completely, it could not be repaired.
Finally, he had a Lesser Displacement Talisman and a Blood-Burning Talisman. Su Ru had given him the Lesser Displacement Talisman when they first met. Once activated, it could instantly transport him a li away, making it an excellent escape tool. Xu Yang had kept it carefully as his last trump card.
He had obtained the Blood-Burning Talisman from Xue Meng, a Blood Refining Sect disciple. It could burn the essence blood in the body to raise one's strength, so it could also save a life. But it came with a drawback: once its effects wore off, the user would be severely weakened and temporarily unable to fight anyone with magic.
Xu Yang's cultivation had now reached a bottleneck, and he had finished sorting through his belongings. He had no choice but to leave seclusion and seek an opportunity, hoping to find a demon beast with a True Spirit bloodline or two Foundation Establishment Pills. If he found either, the rest would be easy.
Once he broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, he could solve the other problem. Foundation Establishment Pills were only useful to Qi Refining Realm cultivators; they were of no use to those who had already reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. It was difficult for Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators to obtain them, but not impossible—only costly.
Likewise, most demon beasts with True Spirit bloodlines were at or above the Foundation Establishment Realm. Only after reaching that level would Xu Yang have the strength to hunt them, and his own safety would be far more assured.
At the Qi Refining Realm, not only would he be unable to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, but hunting demon beasts would also be extremely dangerous. One careless mistake, and he could die at their hands. Before, even with a Talisman Treasure, Xu Yang had only managed to flee in a sorry state. Now he had lost it, to boot.
Although Talisman Treasures had no cultivation requirements and anyone could use them, cultivators at different realms could bring out vastly different levels of power. A Talisman Treasure used by a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator was worlds apart from one used by a Qi Refining Realm cultivator. They were simply on different levels.
If Xu Yang advanced to the Foundation Establishment Realm and then sold everything he had to buy a Talisman Treasure from the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, he would have a much better chance of hunting demon beasts. That would allow his body cultivation to break through its bottleneck. But first, he had to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm and gather enough Spirit Stones to buy a Talisman Treasure.
Xu Yang was no longer a novice in the cultivation world. He now knew the true price of a Talisman Treasure. Elder Ren of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion had been exceptionally generous back then, asking him for only six hundred Spirit Stones. A Talisman Treasure's true price was far higher than that.
Even the cheapest Talisman Treasures cost around eight hundred Spirit Stones. Powerful ones cost at least a thousand, and at auctions in the market, the price could reach around twelve hundred Spirit Stones. At such exorbitant prices, Xu Yang could not afford one.
As for why Elder Ren had treated him so well, Xu Yang had no idea. But he had already decided that he would not see Elder Ren again until he broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. In the end, everything came down to strength! If he could reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, all these difficulties would fall into place. Whatever Elder Ren was plotting, he would have the confidence to face him.
After leaving seclusion, Xu Yang did not head to the External Affairs Hall. Instead, he went to Li Qingqing's loft. Li Qingqing happened to be inside. When she saw Xu Yang visiting, the chill in her expression eased somewhat. She led Wu Yuan in welcoming Xu Yang into the loft.
Once they were seated, Xu Yang looked up at Li Qingqing and smiled as he cupped his hands in greeting. "This junior congratulates Senior Sister on reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm. Judging by your appearance, you must have broken through some time ago."
Li Qingqing looked at Xu Yang in surprise, not expecting him to have seen through her cultivation. He could do so thanks to the Detection Technique Qin Shuang had taught him. As long as a cultivator was not above the Golden Core Realm, he could discern some clues.
Li Qingqing nodded at Xu Yang. "A year ago, my adoptive father gave me a Foundation Establishment Pill, and I was fortunate enough to break through. Unfortunately, he only gave me one. If I had another, I would give it to you."
Xu Yang's heart leapt when he heard that. He looked carefully at Li Qingqing and committed her appearance to memory. With a moved expression, he said, "Senior Sister, I'm deeply grateful that you would think of me. I'll find a way to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill."
Li Qingqing looked deeply at Xu Yang, a hint of hope in her eyes. No one knew what she was thinking—not even she knew why Xu Yang was so special to her. She felt hope, fear, shyness, and resistance all at once, a tangle of conflicting emotions.
Li Qingqing shook her head, forcing down her complicated feelings, then said sternly to Xu Yang, "It's good you came. I was just about to go find you, so now I don't have to."
Xu Yang looked at Li Qingqing in surprise. "Senior Sister, you wanted to see me? What do you need me to do? This junior will do everything in his power."
Li Qingqing shook her head. "It's not me who wants to see you. My adoptive father does. He has something for you to do, and asked me to notify you to visit his cave abode in the rear mountain tomorrow."
Xu Yang asked Li Qingqing seriously, "Senior Sister, do you know why Master wants to see me? Could you give me a hint?"
"Sorry, junior brother, I don't know why my adoptive father wants to see you. He only told me to summon you for a visit; he didn't say what it was about. But you don't need to worry. From what I know of him, it should be good news. After all, ever since you brought Wu Yuan back, my adoptive father hasn't rewarded you." As she spoke, Li Qingqing raised her hand and patted Wu Yuan beside her.
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