Twin Divine Bodies

Many powerhouses rushed toward the Green Demon Mountain Range to investigate the matter.

However, there were no traces to follow regarding the strange celestial phenomenon.

Before long, the golden light above the firmament gradually dimmed.

The phantoms of the Black Tortoise Divine Beast and the Vajra Giant Buddha vanished without a trace.

The heavens and earth returned to normal.

Inside the mountain 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 permeating his body, feeling the astonishing transformation of his physical form.

The moment he broke through to the Qi Refining Realm, his body underwent a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering change.

"Congratulations to the host for breaking through to the Qi Refining Realm and successfully cultivating the Black Tortoise Divine Body and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Body." The system's voice rang out.

The Black Tortoise Divine Body and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Body were finally complete.

This meant that from now on, he was no longer a mortal.

Zhou Cheng tried throwing a punch with the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist; instantly, tigers roared in the mountains and dragons hummed, the power increased by more than several times.

Following this, Zhou Cheng practiced the Wind-Facing Willow Steps and the Demon-Subduing Saber Technique, both of which also saw a massive increase in power.

Under the strength of the two great divine bodies, any martial art could be greatly amplified.

After practicing the three martial arts for a while, Zhou Cheng noticed that the tasks in the system task bar and the breakthrough gift pack in the item bar were flickering.

Zhou Cheng opened the breakthrough gift pack first.

"You have obtained a manual for the Northern Dark Divine Technique."

"You have obtained four Marrow-Cleansing Pills."

"You have obtained 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, one needed to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to convert it into internal force; therefore, he had to cultivate a Qi-refining technique.

The Northern Dark Divine Technique was a god-level Qi-refining technique.

Zhou Cheng silently recited the cultivation method for the Northern Dark Divine Technique in his heart.

The manual transformed into golden characters, which then merged into his memory.

"Congratulations to the host for mastering the Northern Dark Divine Technique."

"The Northern Dark Divine Technique is a technique created by the first Kunpeng Divine Beast of heaven and earth. When cultivated to its peak, it can devour the most powerful divine artifacts in the world."

Created by the first Kunpeng Divine Beast? Zhou Cheng clearly felt the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathering toward him at an astonishing speed, pouring into his body.

Feeling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth continuously converting into internal force within him, Zhou Cheng let out a breath. The Northern Dark Divine Technique's ability to devour spiritual energy was already incredible, and now that his two divine bodies were complete, his absorption rate would be even faster. He would soon be able to break through to the sixth and seventh levels of the Qi Refining Realm!

Once he reached the seventh level of the Qi Refining Realm, with his combat power, he would be invincible below the Innate Realm.

Zhou Cheng looked at the four Marrow-Cleansing Pills.

His aptitude was currently that of a "Century-Level Genius." He wondered how much it would improve after consuming these four pills.

Zhou Cheng immediately swallowed the four Marrow-Cleansing Pills.

After evolving into a Century-Level Genius, the effect of the Marrow-Cleansing Pills had diminished significantly; one pill only provided a 25% increase, so swallowing all four only resulted in a 10% total improvement.

However, Zhou Cheng was not disappointed.

Before breaking through to the Innate Realm, he still had hope of evolving from a Century-Level Genius into a Peerless Prodigy.

Under the impact of the medicinal power from the four Marrow-Cleansing Pills, the cultivation speed of Zhou Cheng's Northern Dark Divine Technique increased rapidly.

"Congratulations to the host for opening the first meridian, the Conception Vessel, and breaking through to the first level of the Qi Refining Realm."

Humans possess the eight extraordinary meridians, the earth meridian, and the heavenly meridian. Cultivating the Qi Refining Realm involves opening these ten meridians; opening each one constitutes a level.

Breaking through from the peak of the tenth level of Body Refining to the Qi Refining Realm does not immediately result in the first level of Qi Refining. To reach the first level, one must accumulate internal force over a period of time and open the first meridian, the Conception Vessel.

Zhou Cheng checked his character panel.

Host: Zhou Cheng

Northern Dark Divine Technique: Qi Refining Level 1, Progress 1%

Black Tortoise Divine Body: Initial Success, Progress 4%

Indestructible Vajra Divine Body: Initial Success, 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 success stage, the Marrow-Cleansing Pills had cleansed his marrow, improved his bone structure, and strengthened his divine bodies, raising their progress to 4%.

Zhou Cheng then released the Bronze-Armored Guard. This guard was also at the seventh level of the Xiantian realm, wielded an axe, and possessed a frame even more robust than Qin Meng's, standing at two meters tall.

With this, Zhou Cheng now had seven seventh-level Xiantian experts by his side.

Zhou Cheng opened his task panel.

"Task: Collect ten portions each of eighty-one types 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 recipe."

Zhou Cheng memorized all eighty-one types of medicinal herbs, then left the cave and returned to the Capital City with Qin Meng and the others.

Since it was already midnight, the apothecary was long closed, so Zhou Cheng decided to visit Four Seasons Apothecary the next day.

Zhou Cheng enjoyed a good night's sleep.

Upon waking, he ran through a set of Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist to loosen his muscles, the force of his movements causing the courtyard to crackle and rumble.

After practicing the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist, Zhou Cheng arrived at Four Seasons Apothecary.

Chen Zhiqu, the manager of Four Seasons Apothecary, greeted Zhou Cheng with the enthusiasm of a long-lost friend.

"Young Master, I've been counting the days, hoping and praying, and finally, you've graced us with your presence again," Chen Zhiqu laughed.

Zhou Cheng smiled. "You were looking for me?"

Chen Zhiqu chuckled. "It's not me, it's our Fourth Miss. She instructed me to notify her the moment you returned. Would you be willing to spare some time to meet with her?"

"Very well." Zhou Cheng thought for a moment and agreed, then pulled out the list of the eighty-one medicinal herbs he needed and handed it to Chen Zhiqu. "I've come today to purchase these herbs. Does your Four Seasons Apothecary have them in stock?"

Chen Zhiqu took the list, frowned, and gave a bitter smile. "Young Master, many of the herbs you're looking for are extremely rare, at least within our Great Feng Dynasty. We do have some of them, but we generally don't sell them to the public."

Zhou Cheng understood the subtext: Four Seasons Apothecary had these herbs, but they kept some for their own use and did not sell them to outsiders.

"However, our Fourth Miss has the authority to allocate these herbs. But these medicinal ingredients are very expensive; ten portions of each would cost at least thirty to forty thousand taels." Chen Zhiqu added.

Zhou Cheng had expected the medicinal herbs to be much pricier than ordinary ones, but thirty to forty thousand taels was far beyond his estimate.

Business at the smithy had been very good these past few days, yet the total income was only a little over twenty thousand taels.

So, he was still short by nearly twenty thousand taels?

A moment later, Zhou Cheng met Yan Wan, the Fourth Miss of Four Seasons Apothecary. She was a year or two older than him, with fair skin and bright eyes. Unlike the noble air of Princess Zixue, Yan Wan gave off an impression of poise and grace.

After exchanging polite pleasantries, Yan Wan smiled. "Of the eighty-one herbs Young Master Zhou wishes to purchase, sixteen are not for public sale."

"However, I can authorize the allocation of these herbs to sell to you."

She paused, then asked with a hint of embarrassment, "I wonder if Young Master Zhou still has any of those Body-Refining Pills from last time?"

Finally reached the Qi Refining realm, asking for recommendation votes.