It was time to break through!
Hearing the system notification, Lu Li felt a surge of excitement.
In half a cup of tea, he should be able to reach the fifth layer of Refining Qi!
"All right, I still need to consolidate my cultivation."
Ghost Demon True Person waved a hand and gave his orders. "Meimei, you'll handle the congratulatory celebration three days from now. Jinfei, go deliver the invitations. As for Lu Li, you've just stirred up trouble, so don't go out. Stay in your cave abode and focus on your cultivation. I expect someone will come looking for trouble with you in three days. Go."
As he spoke, the red fish spat out another pile of golden invitations, which landed beside Bai Jinfei.
"This disciple obeys!"
The three of them cupped their hands in salute and left the cave abode.
Rumble.
With a clap of thunder, silver lightning flashed and sealed the entrance to the cave abode.
"Junior Brother, it looks like Master really thinks highly of you this time. He gave you a Mutated Vermilion Fruit to help with your cultivation, and he didn't even take back your congratulatory gift."
Bai Jinfei held a pile of invitations, his face full of envy.
In the demonic path, the most precious treasures were spirit fruits like this that could strengthen one's foundations—and this one could even improve one's cultivation!
A single Mutated Vermilion Fruit would fetch at least three hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
"Master is generous and has treated me with immense kindness. I'm naturally grateful beyond words! And I should thank you for speaking up for me just now, Senior Brother."
Lu Li put away the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner and the Spirit Ghost, then cupped his hands.
"Haha, no need to thank me. Next time we go to Ten Thousand Demon City, just treat me to a night of wine and women. In return, I'll take you somewhere rather improper and open your eyes. I guarantee you'll like the beauties there!"
Bai Jinfei grinned like a pimp.
"Hmph."
A cold snort came with a surge of icy air, chilling to the bone.
It was Second Senior Sister, Meimei.
She passed by the two of them, shot them a chilly glare, said nothing, and flew away.
The hostility in her gaze was still thick.
"Senior Brother Bai, why does Second Senior Sister seem to hate me? I don't think I've offended her."
Lu Li frowned slightly as he asked.
"Heh, Junior Brother, don't play dumb. Second Senior Sister's a snake demon, and you like getting bitten by snakes. If she doesn't hate you, who should she hate?" Bai Jinfei chuckled.
His expression was a little too gleeful.
A snake demon?
Like getting bitten by snakes?
Lu Li froze for a moment, then got the joke and felt a little speechless.
Clearly, Bai Jinfei had deliberately let it slip that Lu Li was a lusty rogue.
Hmm?
Lu Li suddenly realized something and grinned slyly. "Senior Brother, you deliberately told her I like playing with snakes to eliminate the competition, didn't you? You're actually in love with Second Senior Sister?"
"Ah..."
Bai Jinfei froze, his expression turning flustered. He quickly shook his head. "I'm not! I haven't! Don't make things up! Anyway, it's getting late, and I still need to deliver the invitations for Master. We'll talk later."
With that, he shot into the sky and disappeared behind a dog-shaped white cloud.
That was obviously a guilty conscience.
Looks like it was unrequited love.
Interesting!
Lu Li smiled, turned, and glided away in a flash, heading for Star Gazing Tower.
Soon, he was back in the familiar pavilion.
Straight to the cultivation chamber!
Phew.
He was finally back.
Lu Li leaned against the chamber's jade wall and relaxed his whole body.
A lot had happened over the past few days.
Fortunately, things had worked out well.
He was finally about to break through!
"System!"
Lu Li murmured, bringing up the System Log.
The newly evolved Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art was flooding the log with messages.
"Your Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art absorbed the spiritual energy of the Mutated Millennium Vermilion Fruit. Your cultivation improved. Progress +1%."
"...Progress +1%."
He checked the status panel again.
Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art: Fourth Layer (Progress 98%).
Suddenly, another system notification appeared.
99%!
Lu Li sat bolt upright, his eyes shining.
He began silently counting down from ten.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
One!
Breakthrough!
Ding.
A clear chime rang out.
The system notification sounded in his mind:
"Your Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art absorbed the spiritual energy of the Mutated Millennium Vermilion Fruit. Your cultivation improved. Progress +1%."
"Congratulations, Host. Your Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art has broken through to the fifth layer."
As the notification ended, a freezing aura surged out of his Dantian Purple Mansion, rolling through his limbs, bones, and meridians like a raging tide.
An invisible barrier shattered.
The fifth layer of Refining Qi!
At that instant, Lu Li clearly felt his magic power grow stronger and more abundant.
If his magic power had been a small washbasin before, it was now a large water vat!
He waved a hand, and a blood-red beam of demonic light, as thick as a chopstick, shot out.
It was as swift as an arrow loosed from a bow!
"This beam of demonic light is powerful enough to blast a tenth-layer Refining Qi vengeful ghost to pieces."
Lu Li looked extremely pleased.
Then he sat cross-legged and began reciting a sutra.
Before long, another clear chime rang out:
"Your Indestructible Vajra Divine Art listened to the supreme Buddhist scriptures and gained a little insight. Progress increased by 1%."
"Congratulations, Host. Your Indestructible Vajra Divine Art has broken through to the fourth layer."
As the notification ended, an astonishing force welled up from his dantian out of nowhere, fierce as a dragon, and spread through his bones and muscles.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
With a series of crisp bone-popping sounds, Lu Li's body swelled rapidly like a balloon.
His blazing masculine blood energy surged like waves!
The temperature around him rose rapidly!
The entire chamber became scorching hot, like a furnace for smelting iron.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Li had grown into a giant over two meters tall, his muscles bulging in thick knots and veins coiling across his entire body.
As his blood energy surged, one vein after another seemed to come alive, like serpents and pythons coiled around him.
A faint golden glow seeped out from beneath his skin.
At first glance, he looked like a Vajra strongman who had stepped out of an ancient temple, one who could seize flood dragons and subdue dragons!
Lu Li clearly felt his strength surging!
Twenty-four thousand jin.
Twenty-eight thousand jin.
Thirty-five thousand jin.
Forty-three thousand jin.
Forty-eight thousand jin!
Fifty thousand!
A full fifty thousand jin!
At that moment, Lu Li felt the terrifying force surging inside him. He clenched his fist, feeling as if one punch could split a mountain and shatter a city.
He could even uproot mountains and divide the seas!
Of course, that was just an illusion.
Uprooting mountains and dividing the seas were great divine abilities and vast magic power possessed only by Golden Core cultivators.
With his strength, he probably couldn't manage it yet.
But with fifty thousand jin of strength, plus the fourfold boost from the second layer of the Great Strength Vajra Dharma Incantation, no Foundation Establishment cultivator could withstand a single punch! They'd all die on the spot!
If anyone dared come looking for trouble with him in three days, heh.
But first, he had to test his strength!
With that thought, Lu Li reined in his blood energy. His body shrank back to its original size, and he left the cultivation chamber for the Martial Arts Arena on the second floor.
Facing a three-foot-thick slab of Black Steel Stone, he wasted no time and punched it with all his might.
Bang!
The slab of Black Steel Stone exploded, shattering into pieces as fragments flew everywhere.
"So this is what strength feels like?"
Lu Li withdrew his fist, his eyes gleaming sharply.
The next moment, he flashed over to another three-foot-thick slab of Black Steel Stone.
"Great Strength Vajra Dharma Incantation!"
Lu Li abruptly circulated the art, spread his hand, and struck with his palm.
Brilliant golden light appeared on the back of his hand, condensing into the image of a Great Power Vajra.
The palm strike was light and effortless.
It was like a Bodhisattva lowering her gaze, filled with great compassion for all beings.
Pfft.
A muffled thud sounded.
Lu Li's golden palm pressed against the smooth surface of the Black Steel Stone.
Nothing seemed to happen.
But the next moment, Lu Li gently blew on it.
Whoosh.
The five-foot-thick slab before him abruptly cracked and collapsed into a pile of black dust.
It was shattered beyond recognition.
That was the might of fifty thousand jin of physical strength combined with the second layer of the Great Strength Vajra Dharma Incantation!
Lu Li was very satisfied.
Moreover, with the Blood-Devouring Heaven-Swallowing Art evolved into the Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art, his magic power had grown much more abundant.
Even though the second layer of the Great Strength Vajra Dharma Incantation consumed twice as much, he could still handle it. He could unleash ten full-power strikes.
That was several times better than before, when he could only manage three.
"Now that the Indestructible Vajra Divine Art has broken through to the fourth layer, its defense should have increased considerably too. I wonder if I can withstand an attack from a high-grade spirit artifact?"
Lu Li clenched his fists and knocked them together twice.
Clang, clang.
The sound of a golden bell being struck rang out, crisp and clear as it echoed around him.
Unfortunately, he didn't have a spirit artifact right now, so he couldn't test it.
Wait!
The Ten Thousand Ghost Banner!
Lu Li suddenly thought of something. Yellow light flashed from his storage ring, and a purple-black banner appeared before him.
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