Zhou Cheng swallowed the Marrow-Cleansing Pill.
At once, the pill dissolved into a surging torrent of medicinal energy.
"Because the Marrow-Cleansing Pill washed your meridians and marrow and improved your constitution, your aptitude has increased."
"Your superior aptitude has increased to 25."
With his superior aptitude now at 25, just three more Marrow-Cleansing Pills would raise it to that of a century-level genius.
"Because of the Marrow-Cleansing Pill's surging medicinal energy, your Black Tortoise Divine Technique and Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique have made tremendous progress."
"Black Tortoise Divine Technique progress increased by 1."
"Increased by 2."
"Increased by 3."
"Increased by 20."
The Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique's progress increased twice as much as the Black Tortoise Divine Technique's, surging by 40 all at once.
Zhou Cheng checked his status.
Host: Zhou Cheng Black Tortoise Divine Technique: Sixth Layer (Progress: 86) Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique: Seventh Layer (Progress: 40)
Zhou Cheng had worried that after breaking through to the seventh layer, the Marrow-Cleansing Pill's effects would diminish greatly. Now it seemed his concern had been unnecessary.
Of course, it might also have been because his aptitude kept improving, which in turn increased how effectively he absorbed the pill's medicinal energy.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the recipe for the Marrow-Cleansing Pill. If he could make them himself, two more pills would let his Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique break through to the eighth layer.
Next, Zhou Cheng brought out the Bronze-Armored Guard.
As soon as he appeared, the guard bowed respectfully to Zhou Cheng. "Jiang Chen pays his respects to Master."
Jiang Chen had a resolute face and was about the same build as Lin Ru. But Qin Meng used a saber, Lin Ru used a sword, and Jiang Chen used a bow!
Warriors rarely used bows as weapons.
Zhou Cheng told him to rise, then asked about his strength.
As expected, like Qin Meng and Lin Ru, Jiang Chen was a grandmaster at the Xiantian Seventh Level.
That meant Zhou Cheng now had three grandmasters at the Xiantian Seventh Level by his side.
"Three grandmasters at the Xiantian Seventh Level." Looking at Qin Meng, Lin Ru, and Jiang Chen before him, Zhou Cheng felt full of confidence. With their combined strength, they should be able to face an ordinary Xiantian Level Ten expert.
There were plenty of Xiantian experts in the Great Feng Dynasty, but very few had reached Xiantian Level Ten.
Only a handful of factions had such experts: the Great Feng royal family, the Sun Moon Sword Sect, Shaolin Temple, the Ten Thousand Stars Sect, the Demonic Sect, and the Saber Sect.
Zhou Cheng then brought out the young Black Tortoise Divine Beast.
The Ice Snow Phoenix had been longing for a playmate, and now at last it had one.
Even as a juvenile, the Black Tortoise Divine Beast was enormous, like a small mountain on the ground.
Black light shrouded the divine beast. A giant serpent coiled around its shell, giving it a fearsome appearance. The space around them instantly darkened, and the temperature dropped.
It was July, and the sun was high in the sky. The weather was sweltering, but Zhou Cheng felt waves of chilling energy.
When the Black Tortoise Divine Beast appeared, Tianlong Mountain seemed to have been struck by a giant mountain. It shook with a thunderous rumble.
The abbot of Heavenly Dragon Temple had just seen off Zhu Xuan, the Emperor of Great Feng, when the temple suddenly began to shake violently. He was startled, and the monks came pouring out of their rooms in a panic.
Zhu Xuan had only just left Heavenly Dragon Temple. Hearing the rumble, he turned around and saw the temple shaking violently. He stared in shock, dumbfounded.
Inside an empty room, Zhou Cheng hurriedly had the Black Tortoise shrink.
The Black Tortoise, which had been as big as a small mountain, kept changing until it was finally no larger than the Ice Snow Phoenix—about the size of a palm.
Now that it was small, it looked like an ordinary black tortoise. Even its head was black, and only its eyes were a vivid tortoise-green. The giant serpent coiled around its back had become a totem, resting against its shell.
As the Black Tortoise shrank, the shaking of Heavenly Dragon Temple stopped abruptly.
The abbot, several thousand monks, and countless onlookers were all bewildered.
Only when Heavenly Dragon Temple finally stopped shaking did Zhou Cheng relax.
"Congratulations, Host, on obtaining the Black Tortoise Divine Beast."
"Because the Black Tortoise Divine Technique will now be accompanied by the Black Tortoise Divine Beast day and night and suffused with its divine nature, your cultivation of the Black Tortoise Divine Technique will improve greatly."
Hearing the system's voice, Zhou Cheng was stunned.
He checked the Black Tortoise Divine Technique, and sure enough, its progress had suddenly surged.
Previously, its cultivation speed had always lagged behind the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique, the foremost Body Refining technique. But now, suffused with the Black Tortoise's divine nature, its progress had become fully comparable to the speed at which the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique advanced at Heavenly Dragon Temple.
Zhou Cheng estimated that at its current rate, his Black Tortoise Divine Technique would break through to the seventh layer that very night.
Once both divine techniques had reached the seventh layer of Body Refining, he should be invincible beneath the Qi Refining Realm.
Zhou Cheng didn't linger at Heavenly Dragon Temple. He took Qin Meng, the other two guards, and the two beasts down the mountain and headed back to the Grand General's Mansion.
Along the way, the Capital Defense Army could be seen everywhere, as could guards from the Grand Tutor Mansion.
On both sides of the street, passersby pointed and talked about the Grand Tutor Mansion.
Zhou Cheng knew they had discovered Gao Jun's body.
As Zhou Cheng hurried back to the Grand General's Mansion, a group of monks sat inside a teahouse by the road. They were eminent monks from Shaolin Temple, drawn here by the divine phoenix.
At their head was Shaolin's abbot, Venerable Huineng.
Venerable Huineng and the others had traveled day and night and had only just arrived in the Capital City. Now, as he and the Shaolin monks drank tea, the prayer beads before him suddenly began to glow.
A faint Buddhist radiance shone from them.
Venerable Huineng was startled, then shocked and thrilled. "This is?!"
The prayer beads around his neck were a treasured heirloom of Shaolin, worn only by its abbots and passed down for over a thousand years. They had a spirit of their own, but had never behaved like this before.
The other Shaolin monks noticed the beads' strange glow, too, and were astonished.
Venerable Huineng scanned the area. Suddenly, he saw a slender boy of about thirteen or fourteen walking past the teahouse, followed by three guards.
As the boy passed, the prayer beads at Huineng's chest glowed even brighter. A faint Sanskrit chant rang out, too. No one else could hear it, but Huineng could.
Venerable Huineng sprang to his feet and stared fixedly at the slender boy, overwhelmed with excitement.
Seeing the boy about to go farther away, he dashed out of the teahouse. With a swift step, he used Shaolin's consummate technique, Crossing the River on a Reed, to intercept him.
The chief of Shaolin Martial Monk Courtyard and the others were surprised to see their abbot so excited and flustered. They hurried after him.
Zhou Cheng had been hurrying along when an old monk suddenly came out of the teahouse and stopped him. He was about to speak when the monk raised a palm and said, "Amitabha."
Then he stared at Zhou Cheng, visibly excited. "Young benefactor, you are destined to have a connection with the Buddha."
"This old monk would like to take you as his personal disciple. Would you agree?"
Would he agree?
The Shaolin monks were dumbfounded. Their abbot had suddenly come out and asked to take this slender boy as his personal disciple—and had even asked in a pleading tone.
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