After learning the Taiyi Sword Technique, the second sword technique Zhou Cheng studied was the Swift Wind Nine Swords.
The Swift Wind Nine Swords consisted of nine moves. It was a fast sword technique.
"Your Swift Wind Nine Swords have been successfully cultivated."
"Your Swift Wind Nine Swords have grown hostile toward the Taiyi Sword Technique and challenged it. After a battle, your Swift Wind Nine Swords were soundly defeated."
"Your Taiyi Sword Technique has absorbed the essence of the Swift Wind Nine Swords, and its cultivation progress has surged."
"Surged by 4."
"Surged by 8."
"Surged by 12."
The system's voice rang out again and again.
After absorbing the essence of the Swift Wind Nine Swords, the Taiyi Sword Technique instantly rose to 12.
Zhou Cheng began learning a third sword technique, the Phantom Sword Technique.
Like the Swift Wind Nine Swords, the Phantom Sword Technique was defeated by the Taiyi Sword Technique. The Taiyi Sword Technique absorbed its essence and surged again—this time even more, instantly rising by 16.
After that, whenever Zhou Cheng mastered a sword technique and it was defeated by the Taiyi Sword Technique, the Taiyi Sword Technique surged. Sometimes it rose by 12 at once, sometimes by 16, and at most by 20.
The more powerful the sword technique the Taiyi Sword Technique defeated, the greater its improvement.
Before long, the Taiyi Sword Technique broke through to the Mastery Realm.
Zhou Cheng smiled wryly. If only I'd known, I would've trained this way sooner. Maybe my Demon-Subduing Saber Technique, Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist, and Wind-Facing Willow Steps would already have reached the pinnacle.
After the Taiyi Sword Technique broke through to the Mastery Realm, Zhou Cheng continued studying sword manuals.
However, after reaching the Mastery Realm, the Taiyi Sword Technique improved much more slowly. Sometimes, after defeating a new sword technique, it rose by only 5, and sometimes by as little as 2.
Even so, the Taiyi Sword Technique was still improving at an astonishing pace.
After Zhou Cheng had practiced the Taiyi Sword Technique for two days, it broke through to the Perfected Realm.
By then, Zhou Cheng had been away from the Ten Thousand Stars Sect for four days.
Four days earlier, Zhou Cheng had broken through to Qi Refining Level Seven. After taking eight Marrow-Cleansing Pills, he had reached 32 at Qi Refining Level Seven. Over the past few days, with a Nine-Orifice Golden Pill each day and the Northern Dark Divine Technique cultivating automatically, his cultivation had already reached the peak of Qi Refining Level Seven.
So, on the morning of the fifth day after leaving the Ten Thousand Stars Sect, Zhou Cheng swallowed a Nine-Orifice Golden Pill and unblocked his eighth meridian, the Yang Qiao Meridian, successfully breaking through to Qi Refining Level Eight.
"Now all eight meridians are unblocked!"
"Only the Earth Meridian and Heaven Meridian remain!"
Zhou Cheng thought to himself.
The Earth Meridian and Heaven Meridian were the final two meridians of the Qi Refining Realm.
They were also the hardest two meridians to unblock.
Many Qi Refining Realm martial artists unblocked their first eight meridians without trouble, only to get stuck on the Earth Meridian and Heaven Meridian for years.
"Looks like I'll have to search for more medicinal ingredients." Zhou Cheng looked at the two Nine-Orifice Golden Pills he had left.
Before, when leaving the Capital City, he had bought another batch of medicinal ingredients from the Four Seasons Apothecary and refined twenty Nine-Orifice Golden Pills. Along with the two he'd received as a mission reward, he had twenty-two in total.
He had swallowed twenty of them over the past few days, leaving only two.
At most, his supply of Nine-Orifice Golden Pills would last another two days.
He hadn't wanted to buy more ingredients from the Four Seasons Apothecary, but more than a dozen different medicinal ingredients were needed to refine Nine-Orifice Golden Pills, and the apothecary's supply of them wasn't abundant.
He wondered whether the Demonic Cult Treasury had those dozen or so medicinal ingredients.
His master, Xing Yao, had said that the Demonic Cult had recently been collecting medicinal ingredients everywhere to cultivate experts. The treasury might have what he needed.
Dongsheng Province lay at the southernmost end of the Great Feng Dynasty, and the journey from the Ten Thousand Stars Sect was long. Zhou Cheng didn't reach Dongsheng Province until seven days after leaving the sect.
When he arrived at the Blackwater Mountain Range and Hundred Flowers City in Dongsheng Province, he saw Great Feng troops stationed at every road crossing in great numbers.
After stabling their horses somewhere safe, Zhou Cheng and Qin Meng, Lin Ru, and the others rode the Ice Snow Phoenix beneath the cover of the thick night, evading the large number of Great Feng troops and entering the Blackwater Mountain Range.
Looking down from the sky, they saw a huge black river winding through the mountain peaks. This was the Blackwater River, which had given the Blackwater Mountain Range its name.
Zhou Cheng and the others landed in a dense forest and came to the bank of the Blackwater River. A faint black vapor drifted above its surface—the cold, Killing Intent rising from underground.
This cold Killing Intent was highly useful to those who practiced demonic arts.
The surroundings were still and silent.
Using the Demon God Garment, Zhou Cheng turned invisible and headed deeper into the Blackwater Mountain Range with Qin Meng and the others.
Since Zhou Cheng and his companions had pushed their horses hard throughout the journey, the experts from the three great sects and the Great Feng imperial court had yet to arrive.
"According to the scouts, the experts from the Great Feng imperial court and the three great sects will reach the Blackwater Mountain Range tomorrow. This time, they've sent a hundred and sixty Xiantian Grandmasters."
"What's there to worry about? The cult leader has already laid a vast net. Once they arrive, they won't leave alive!"
"Besides, we've already dug a tunnel. We can retreat whenever we need to."
Zhou Cheng and the others hadn't gone far when they heard Demonic Cult disciples talking up ahead. Qin Meng and the others had just hidden themselves when two Demonic Cult disciples appeared in the distance.
One was tall and the other short. Both had strong auras and were experts at Qi Refining Level Ten.
Although experts at Qi Refining Level Ten weren't as highly regarded as Xiantian Grandmasters, they still held considerable standing in the Demonic Cult.
Zhou Cheng closed in. With a single move of the Spirit Monkey Hundred Transformations Movement Technique, he appeared in front of them and struck without warning, sealing both their mute points almost simultaneously. Then, with one blow of the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist, he sent them flying.
The two Qi Refining Level Ten Demonic Cult disciples were utterly powerless against Zhou Cheng. They were subdued in the blink of an eye.
Qin Meng held his long saber across their throats and began questioning them.
After questioning them, Zhou Cheng learned who they were: one was a disciple of the Demon Face Left Envoy, and the other was a disciple of the Demon Tiger General, one of the Twelve Demon Generals.
Half an hour later, after they had gotten the information they wanted, Qin Meng cut open the two men's throats with his saber.
"An attack with fire?" Zhou Cheng murmured.
From the two men, he had learned that there was a Demonic Cult spy among the experts from the three great sects and the Great Feng imperial court. When the time came, this person would lead them to a certain stretch of dense forest.
Once the experts from the three great sects and the Great Feng imperial court entered the forest, the Demonic Cult's experts would set it ablaze, burning them all alive inside.
Zhou Cheng's eyes turned cold.
If the experts from the three great sects and the Great Feng imperial court were lured into the forest and surrounded by a raging fire, they would have a hard time escaping.
Even if they weren't wiped out completely, they would suffer grievous losses.
However, the two disciples of the Demon Face Left Envoy didn't know the spy's identity, so Zhou Cheng had no idea who it was either.
Still, the fact that this person could lead the experts from the three great sects and the Great Feng imperial court into a stretch of forest showed that he held a high position—and he was most likely a member of the Great Feng imperial court.
If so, the experts from the three great sects and the Great Feng imperial court were in danger.
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