Many powerful figures rushed to the Green Demon Mountain Range, eager to uncover what had happened.
But the strange celestial phenomenon had left no trace.
Before long, the golden light in the sky gradually dimmed.
The phantom of the Black Tortoise Divine Beast and the Vajra Giant Buddha vanished without a trace.
The world returned to normal.
Inside the cave.
Zhou Cheng opened his eyes.
After fifteen days of bitter cultivation, he had finally broken through to the Qi Refining Realm!
He looked at the divine radiance still swirling around him and felt the astonishing transformation of his body.
The instant he broke through to the Qi Refining Realm, his body underwent a complete metamorphosis.
"Congratulations, host. You have broken through to the Qi Refining Realm and cultivated the Black Tortoise Divine Body and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Body," the system announced.
At last, he had fully attained the Black Tortoise Divine Body and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Body.
That meant he was no longer mortal.
Zhou Cheng tried throwing a punch with the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist. Instantly, a tiger roared through the mountains and a dragon's cry shook the air. Its power had increased several times over.
Then Zhou Cheng practiced the Wind-Facing Willow Steps and the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique. Their power had increased just as dramatically.
With the strength of the two divine bodies, any martial technique he used would be greatly enhanced.
After practicing the three martial techniques for a while, Zhou Cheng noticed that the task list and the Realm-Breakthrough Gift Pack in his inventory were flashing.
He opened the gift pack first.
"You have received a Northern Dark Divine Technique manual."
"You have received four Marrow-Cleansing Pills."
"You have received a Bronze-Armored Guard."
The Black Tortoise Divine Technique and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique were Body Refining techniques. But after breaking through to the Qi Refining Realm, he needed to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and convert it into his own internal energy, so he had to cultivate a Qi Refining technique.
The Northern Dark Divine Technique was a God Grade Qi Refining technique.
Zhou Cheng silently began cultivating the Northern Dark Divine Technique.
The manual turned into golden characters that flowed into his mind and became part of his memories.
"Congratulations, host. You have mastered the Northern Dark Divine Technique."
"The Northern Dark Divine Technique was created by the first Kunpeng Divine Beast in the world. Cultivated to its utmost level, it can devour the mightiest divine artifacts in existence."
Created by the first Kunpeng Divine Beast in the world? Zhou Cheng could clearly feel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth rushing toward him at an astonishing speed, pouring into his body.
Feeling the spiritual energy continually transform into internal energy within him, Zhou Cheng exhaled. The Northern Dark Divine Technique was already astonishingly effective at absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth. Now he had attained not just one divine body, but two, so he would absorb that energy even faster. He would soon break through to the sixth and seventh levels of the Qi Refining Realm!
Once he reached the seventh level, his combat strength would make him invincible below the Xiantian Realm.
Zhou Cheng looked at the four Marrow-Cleansing Pills.
His aptitude was now that of a century-old genius. How much would it improve if he took all four pills?
Zhou Cheng swallowed all four Marrow-Cleansing Pills at once.
After his aptitude had advanced to that of a century-old genius, the pills' effects had weakened considerably. Each Marrow-Cleansing Pill raised it by only 25 points, so taking all four increased it by just 10.
Still, Zhou Cheng wasn't disappointed.
Before breaking through to the Xiantian Realm, he still had a chance to advance from a century-old genius to a peerless prodigy.
As the power of the four pills surged through him, Zhou Cheng's cultivation speed with the Northern Dark Divine Technique rapidly increased.
"Congratulations, host. You have opened your first meridian, the Conception Vessel, and broken through to the first level of the Qi Refining Realm."
People had the eight extraordinary meridians, along with the Earth Meridian and Heaven Meridian. Cultivating in the Qi Refining Realm meant opening the body's ten meridians, with each one opened marking a new level.
Breaking through from the peak of the tenth level of the Body Refining Realm did not mean reaching the first level of the Qi Refining Realm immediately. He had to accumulate internal energy for a while and open his first meridian, the Conception Vessel, before he could break through to the first level.
Zhou Cheng checked his character panel.
Host: Zhou Cheng
Northern Dark Divine Technique: Qi Refining First Level, progress 1
Black Tortoise Divine Body: Initial Stage, progress 4
Indestructible Vajra Divine Body: Initial Stage, progress 4
Wind-Facing Willow Steps: Mastery, progress 5
Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist: Mastery, progress 15
Demon-Subduing Saber Technique: Mastery, progress 10
Although his Black Tortoise Divine Body and Indestructible Vajra Divine Body were only at the initial stage, the Marrow-Cleansing Pills had cleansed his meridians and marrow, improved his constitution, and strengthened his divine bodies, raising their progress to 4.
Afterward, Zhou Cheng brought out the Bronze-Armored Guard. He, too, was at the seventh level of the Xiantian Realm and wielded an axe. He was even more heavily built than Qin Meng, standing two meters tall.
Now Zhou Cheng had seven guards at the seventh level of the Xiantian Realm by his side.
Zhou Cheng opened the task list.
"Task: Collect ten portions each of eighty-one kinds of medicinal herbs, including Sun-Condensing Grass, Purple Blood Lingzhi, Dragon Whisker Fruit, and Flame Leaf."
"Reward: Two Nine-Orifice Golden Pills and one Nine-Orifice Golden Pill formula."
Zhou Cheng memorized all eighty-one herbs, then left the cave and returned to the Capital City with Qin Meng and the others.
It was already midnight, and the apothecaries were closed, so Zhou Cheng decided to visit the Four Seasons Apothecary the next day.
Zhou Cheng slept soundly.
When he got up, he ran through the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist to loosen up. The courtyard crackled and boomed beneath his blows.
After practicing the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist, Zhou Cheng went to the Four Seasons Apothecary.
When Chen Zhiqu, the manager of the Four Seasons Apothecary, saw Zhou Cheng, he greeted him with the warmth of a longtime friend.
"Young master, I've been waiting and waiting for you these past few days. At last, you've come back!" Chen Zhiqu said with a smile.
Zhou Cheng smiled. "Did you need something from me?"
"It wasn't me who wanted to see you. It was our Fourth Young Lady. She said that if you came by again, I should let her know. I wonder if you could spare some time to meet her?"
"Certainly," Zhou Cheng replied after a moment's thought. He took out the list of eighty-one herbs he needed and handed it to Chen Zhiqu. "I came today to buy these medicinal herbs. Does the Four Seasons Apothecary have them?"
Chen Zhiqu took the list and frowned. With a wry smile, he said, "Young master, many of these medicinal herbs you want are extremely rare. At least in our Great Feng Dynasty, they're very hard to come by. We do have some of them, but we usually don't sell them to outsiders."
Zhou Cheng understood the unspoken meaning: the Four Seasons Apothecary had these herbs, but kept some for its own use rather than selling them to outsiders.
"However, our Fourth Young Lady can arrange for these herbs to be sold to you. It's just that they're all very expensive. Ten portions will cost at least thirty or forty thousand taels," Chen Zhiqu added.
Zhou Cheng had expected medicinal herbs to cost far more than ordinary ones, but thirty or forty thousand taels was still far beyond what he had estimated.
The weapon-forging shop had been doing excellent business lately, but even so, its earnings amounted to only a little over twenty thousand taels.
So he was still short by nearly twenty thousand taels?
A little later, Zhou Cheng met Yan Wan, the Fourth Young Lady of the Four Seasons Apothecary. She was a year or two older than him, with fair skin and bright eyes. Unlike Princess Zixue's noble bearing, Yan Wan gave off an air of easy confidence.
After exchanging pleasantries, Yan Wan smiled and said, "Of the eighty-one herbs you want to buy, there are sixteen that we don't sell to outsiders."
"But I can arrange to sell those herbs to you."
She paused, then asked somewhat awkwardly, "I wonder if you still have any of those Body-Refining Pills from last time, Young Master Zhou?"
At last, he had reached the Qi Refining Realm. Please vote for this novel.
Before you continue