The next day, Lu Li woke up feeling refreshed and full of energy.
A string of system notifications immediately rang out in his mind:
"Your Great Strength Vajra Dharma Incantation has been diligently advancing. After a night of hard cultivation, its progress has increased by 3%."
"Your Great Might Heavenly Dragon Dharma Incantation had nothing better to do, so it continued to teach the White Bone Heart-Destroying Palm a lesson. It gained some insight, and its progress has increased by 2%."
"Your Blood-Devouring Heaven-Swallowing Art, having devoured a massive amount of spiritual energy, is thoroughly satisfied. Its progress has increased by 5%."
"Because you spent all day holed up in your cave abode cultivating, your Spirit Ghost Phantom Step has grown lazier and lazier. As luck would have it, it grasped the martial principle of 'slowness,' and its progress has increased by 100%."
Four pieces of good news at once!
After hearing the system notifications, Lu Li's eyes lit up.
What he hadn't expected was that the Spirit Ghost Phantom Step's progress would increase by a full 100%!
It had broken through to the fifth layer in one go!
At the fifth layer, its speed was as fast as lightning, and it could produce five ghostly afterimages. Its ability to flee and confuse enemies had both improved considerably.
So being lazy had its benefits after all!
Unfortunately, the Blood-Devouring Heaven-Swallowing Art was full and content, and wouldn't go out again.
That meant it couldn't search for and discover Spirit Ghosts.
Still, Spirit Ghosts weren't that easy to find. At the very least, one only appeared every month or two.
Thinking of this, Lu Li didn't mind so much.
"Right, that poor White Bone Heart-Destroying Palm was beaten by the Great Might Heavenly Dragon Dharma Incantation all night. Its progress must have dropped quite a bit. System!"
Lu Li suddenly thought of something. He silently called out and summoned the system panel.
Host: Lu Li. Realm: Third Qi Refining Layer. Great Might Heavenly Dragon Dharma Incantation: First Layer (15%). Great Strength Vajra Dharma Incantation: First Layer (14%). Indestructible Vajra Divine Art: Third Layer (99%). Blood-Devouring Heaven-Swallowing Art: Third Layer (11%). Spirit Ghost Phantom Step: Fifth Layer (66%). White Bone Heart-Destroying Palm: Fourth Layer (84%).
How tragic!
Its progress had fallen by a full 15%!
What's more, the White Bone Heart-Destroying Palm had now become the one with the lowest standing.
Lu Li felt a little sorry for the poor thing.
But time was pressing. He could only wait until he reached the fifth Qi Refining Layer before going to the Ten Thousand Ghost Cave to deliver the evil ghosts and break through the White Bone Heart-Destroying Palm's realm.
Now, it was time to cultivate the Purple Haze Sun-Refining Scripture!
Lu Li picked up the control jade pendant beside him and activated the formation mechanisms.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The entire Star Gazing Tower trembled.
As the mechanisms inside the tower shifted, a straight skylight passage opened directly from the roof, leading all the way down to the cultivation chamber below.
In the next moment, the radiance of Hao Sun was drawn down and shone over Lu Li, making him look like a giant lightbulb.
Whoosh.
Lu Li tugged at his clothes and pulled them off, tossing them aside.
Then he circulated the Purple Haze Sun-Refining Scripture with all his might, drawing in the essence of Hao Sun and condensing Five Elements Sun True Qi.
The spiritual energy around him also flowed into his body as he inhaled and exhaled.
The system notifications rang out at once:
"Because you are immersing yourself wholeheartedly in the essence of Hao Sun, your Purple Haze Sun-Refining Scripture is brimming with enthusiasm, and its cultivation effect has increased by 100%."
"Your Purple Haze Sun-Refining Scripture is immersed in the dense spiritual energy of heaven and earth and feels extremely comfortable. Its cultivation effect has increased by 2000%."
Just as expected!
Whether you follow righteous cultivation methods or demonic ones, you'll all bow before my power of money!
Lu Li felt reassured and began silently reciting the Prajna Heart Sutra.
The System Log continued to scroll.
"Purple Haze Sun-Refining Scripture progress +1%."
"...progress +1%."
"...progress +1%."
"Great Strength Vajra Dharma Incantation progress +1%."
"Great Might Heavenly Dragon Dharma Incantation progress +1%."
And so, Lu Li once again entered seclusion, devoting himself to cultivation and shutting his ears to the world outside.
Day after day.
Who knew how much time had passed?
Crack.
A faint sound of something splitting rang out in the cultivation chamber.
The 233rd Mid-Grade Spirit Stone cracked, turning into a gray stone.
Lu Li slowly opened his eyes.
A low rumble sounded from within his body.
Spiritual energy surged like waves, breaking through an invisible barrier. At last, he had broken through to the next realm.
Realm: Fourth Qi Refining Layer!
"Eight days to break through from the third Qi Refining Layer to the fourth. That's many times faster than burying myself in cultivation."
Sensing the powerful magical force in his Dantian Purple Mansion, Lu Li smiled with satisfaction.
Then he raised his right hand, formed a hand seal, and traced a Spirit Talisman in the air.
"Condense!"
At his sharp cry, a wisp of blood-red light immediately gathered at his fingertip.
The blood-red light was bewitching, radiating wisps of cold air.
It was icy to the bone.
It felt like a sharp, frigid arrow aimed straight at the heart.
It seemed that after reaching the fourth Qi Refining Layer, the power of this Blood-Devouring Demon Light had increased considerably.
Once unleashed, it ought to drain the blood from a tiger or leopard in an instant, leaving behind nothing but its skin.
If a seventh- or eighth-layer ghost were struck by this demonic light, half its ghostly aura would probably be devoured in an instant, and its ghostly body would collapse and vanish.
At last, he had acquired a long-range attack spell!
Of course, his other martial arts had also improved considerably.
Lu Li immediately brought up the system panel:
Realm: Fourth Qi Refining Layer. Great Might Heavenly Dragon Dharma Incantation: First Layer (92%). Great Strength Vajra Dharma Incantation: First Layer (90%). Indestructible Vajra Divine Art: Third Layer (99%). Blood-Devouring Heaven-Swallowing Art: Fourth Layer (1%). Spirit Ghost Phantom Step: Fifth Layer (88%). White Bone Heart-Destroying Palm: Fourth Layer (99%).
The money had been well spent!
Looking at the six martial arts and cultivation arts on the system panel, all of which had improved by leaps and bounds, Lu Li was quite satisfied.
Both Dharma Incantations were close to breaking through.
The only unfortunate thing was that even if he recited the Prajna Heart Sutra for a whole day, the Dharma Incantations could only gain at most 3% progress.
He would have to wait a few more days before they could break through.
The only one still stuck in place was the White Bone Heart-Destroying Palm.
That unlucky thing had been targeted by the Great Might Heavenly Dragon Dharma Incantation. It got beaten every day and grew more and more withdrawn. Each day, it cultivated hard and gained progress, only to have it knocked right back down.
Lu Li could only mourn for it for three seconds.
At least as long as the Great Might Heavenly Dragon didn't pick on the Blood-Devouring Heaven-Swallowing Art, things would be fine.
Strike while the iron was hot!
Back to cultivation!
Lu Li took a deep breath, ready to bury himself in cultivation again, but then he noticed the pile of gray stones around him and found them rather unsightly.
He sniffed himself. He seemed to smell a little sour, too.
"Forget it. I'll go eat some grilled fish, take a dip in the pool, stretch my limbs, and get some rest first."
Lu Li stood up and stretched.
Crackling pops rang throughout his body like copper beans frying in a pan.
He flashed forward, his body like a ghostly shadow, and left the Star Gazing Tower in an instant.
Then he leaped into the large pool beside it, letting the waterfall wash away his weariness.
He also dived to the bottom of the pool and caught two plump, white spirit fish.
He even caught three large crabs.
Whoosh.
Before long, he had lit a fire by the pool, made a grill, and skewered the spirit fish to roast.
In between, he wandered off to pick a pile of spirit fruits.
And so Lu Li leaned against a rock, grilling fish, eating spirit fruit, sucking the crab roe from the shells, and basking in the sun. He felt utterly at ease.
A stolen half-day of leisure.
"Life's so comfortable when you don't have to work. Too bad I'm missing a bottle of happy water."
Lu Li tore off a tender piece of fish and put it in his mouth, his heart full of nostalgia and emotion.
If only he could live this way somewhere else.
But no, he was in the Demon Sect.
Thinking of it always made it hard to relax.
Right, it was around three in the afternoon. Time for a cup of tea.
"Hm? Why has it gotten dark?"
Lu Li stood up to make tea. He looked up and suddenly saw a vast mass of dark clouds rolling in, blotting out the sun.
Then an incomparably terrifying presence descended from the sky, vast and boundless.
Destruction! Erasure!
Awe-inspiring to all things!
Something was wrong with those dark clouds!
Lu Li's expression shifted slightly, and he sprang to his feet.
At that very instant, a bolt of lightning bright enough to blind him streaked across the sky.
Boom!
A tremendous peal of thunder shook heaven and earth.
Lu Li felt as if his soul had nearly been shattered by the sound.
He had never heard thunder this terrifying!
"Junior Brother, run! Master is undergoing the Nascent Soul Lightning Tribulation!"
Outside the Star Gazing Tower, Bai Jinfei rode a massive Flying Painting Boat over, shouting as he came.
"If you don't run now, the lightning tribulation's going to strike any moment. If it hits you, you won't even have ashes left!"
Before you continue