[In July of the third year, you cultivated diligently and never forgot to carve out time to study the Water Dragon Fist.]
[However, because the Water Dragon Fist was far too profound, you had no clue for a time.]
[You wanted to go visit your grandfather, but your father informed you that your grandfather was currently in seclusion healing his injuries and it was best not to disturb him. Thus, you gave up.]
[You took the time to visit Mu Xinger, but she was also quite busy. After a brief chat, the two of you had no choice but to part ways.]
[You likewise came to visit your mother, who gave you a bottle of Yellow Grade Mid Rank Qi Gathering Pill.]
[You accepted it with a sheepish smile and chatted amiably with your mother for a while.]
[Your mother listened with a face full of smiles, making you feel as though you were bathed in a gentle spring breeze.]
[In August of the third year, you sensed a trace of an opportunity regarding the Water Dragon Fist and immediately began practicing your punches.]
[You felt as though you had attained sudden enlightenment, sensing a vague, ethereal sensation that was nevertheless like a thin strand of silk, always eluding your grasp.]
[Just as you were about to seize that shred of enlightenment, Muye Mountain suffered a sudden, drastic upheaval!]
[A massive hand dropped from the heavens, blocking out the sun in a mere instant. That gigantic palm was blood-red in color, resembling a sky-covering blood palm!]
[You heard a crisp snap, like an eggshell shattering. It was precisely the sound of the Clan Protection Array being forcibly broken!]
[A moment later, your grandfather shot straight up toward the giant hand, executing a flash-cast Water Dragon Fist and roaring, "Run! It's Jin...!"]
[Before your grandfather could finish his words, however, he was firmly sucked in. Unable to even utter a sound, he was directly battered into a mist of blood!]
[You wanted to roar in fury, but you discovered that your body had actually been placed under control and you were completely unable to move!]
[You watched with your own eyes as your father, your mother, and the elders rushed forward wave after wave, yet all of them failed to shake that blood palm even a fraction!]
[Your father, your mother, and a host of elders were successively battered into mists of blood!]
[You watched as the mists of blood were absorbed by the crimson giant palm!]
[You intended to detonate your core, only to find that even self-detonation was beyond you. It was as if the blood within your body was being forcibly controlled by someone, causing your blood to congeal!]
[You saw Seventh Brother Mu Xingluo, Fourth Brother Mu Xinghan, and Eighth Sister Mu Xingyu all crushed to pieces by the blood palm!]
[Mu Xinger likewise met a death without even a corpse left behind!]
[The blood palm swept across your physical body, and you felt your flesh instantly pulverized, transforming into a mist of blood that was absorbed by that eerie blood palm!]
[You died!]
"Ah? No way..." Mu Xingqi started to say, stopping himself mid-sentence.
Having just evaded the annihilation disaster of the Wang Family, a terrifying blood palm suddenly appeared out of nowhere?
Could it be that some party had plotted against their Mu Family? Must they be exterminated in the third year?
Mu Xingqi felt rather troubled. He had originally thought he caught sight of an exit, but never expected it to be yet another dead end.
Now he had even more lingering doubts and puzzles.
What on earth was that eerie blood palm? Was it human, or some sort of demon or ghost? Did it have anything to do with the Wang Family? Or was there something in their Mu Family that attracted that palm? His grandfather clearly knew something, though regrettably, he only managed to reveal a single character—"Jin"—before he died.
Just what kind of Jin could it be? Mu Xingqi still had no clue at present; there was simply no way to know with so little information.
And that eerie blood palm was able to congeal the blood throughout my body, and furthermore, after being battered into a blood mist, it would be absorbed by the blood palm. It stands to reason that the palm is definitely inseparable from fresh blood; this might just be a breakthrough point.
Mu Xingqi gnashed his teeth in secret. He had not anticipated so many variables in the future.
It seemed he still had a very long road ahead of him.
Attending to the rewards comes first!
With that thought, Mu Xingqi looked toward the simulator panel.
[The simulation has concluded. You may choose one from the following rewards.] [Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivation: With the aid of the pills given by your mother, you successively broke through half of the bottlenecks, and subsequently obtained the Spirit Replenishing Pill gifted by your grandfather, successfully blasting through five bottleneck layers in one breath. Successfully stepping into the late stage of Qi Refining, you displayed the demeanor of a champion during the clan competition. Having consumed the reward Yellow Grade High Rank Qi Gathering Pill, coupled with several years of cultivation, you have traversed a considerable distance even upon the realm of the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.] [Yellow Grade High Rank Spirit Replenishing Pill: After consuming it, it helps you instantly blast through five bottleneck layers. Its medicinal efficacy is as violent as a mad bull, requiring a prolonged period of refinement. You sense that it inevitably still possesses benefits unknown to you, and is not merely limited to the ability of assaulting bottlenecks.] [Water Dragon Fist half-entry-level experience: Priding itself as a spirit grade technique though merely of low rank, the Water Dragon Fist is still not something you, currently in the Qi Refining realm, can successfully cultivate with ease. To cross ranks to cultivate techniques is unattainable save for those with great fortune and grand destiny. A fortuitous trace of enlightenment allowed you to push it to a half-entry state. Had your enlightenment not been disrupted, you might have been able to catch a glimpse of the entry realm by virtue of it. Although it is only half-entry level, it can nevertheless unleash ten percent of this technique's might, which is already quite extraordinary in the Qi Refining realm.]
All three rewards offered this time were quite good, leaving him somewhat hesitant.
The Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivation went without saying.
That Spirit Replenishing Pill definitely still possessed effects he was unaware of; this point was verified by the system and could not be false.
The half-entry realm of the Water Dragon Fist was also good. One must realize that for someone in the Qi Refining realm wishing to successfully cultivate a spirit grade technique, it truly was just as the system stated—hard for anyone lacking grand destiny and great fortune to succeed. It had been extremely difficult for him to attain that shred of enlightenment in this simulation, and he might not necessarily have it in the future.
Moreover, a half-entry realm Water Dragon Fist would definitely allow him to run amok unhindered throughout the Qi Refining realm.
Ultimately, after careful consideration, Mu Xingqi chose... Qi Refining Seventh Layer cultivation!
After all, he knew just how difficult it was to break through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, a point of which he had profound personal experience.
With his own Five Spirit Root aptitude, those ten-layer bottlenecks were no joke.
Relying solely on his own subpar talent, how could he possibly smash through the ten-layer bottlenecks without a few years?
"The Spirit Replenishing Pill is still with grandfather, so there's no fear of it getting lost. As for the Water Dragon Fist, there will be plenty of opportunities to cultivate it in the future. Since it's hard to cross ranks to cultivate techniques in the Qi Refining stage, I'll just cultivate it once I reach the Foundation Establishment Realm."
He was not stupid; why hang himself from a single tree?
A familiar surge of spiritual qi rolled outward, and Mu Xingqi felt as though this breakthrough was somehow different from the previous few.
A quarter of an hour later, Mu Xingqi's face revealed an expression of agony. Breaking through the bottleneck this time felt as though a giant hand of spiritual power was forcibly ripping his bottleneck apart.
It hurt so much that he wanted to howl out loud, but he still gritted his teeth and endured it.
Another quarter of an hour passed. All of his bottlenecks were breached, accompanied by a massive torrent of spiritual power that poured into Mu Xingqi's body in one breath, just like a reverse waterfall.
He felt as though he had been filled to the brim with spiritual power, and could not possibly hold a single shred more at present.
This was a sensation he had never possessed before.
Mu Xingqi hurriedly circulated his cultivation technique to refine the spiritual power within his body, sensing that if he did not refine it right away, he would be "blown apart" by this surge of spiritual power.
Although his Wood Spirit Body Cultivation Technique had not yet reached the point of complete mastery, he could still manage the simple task of refining the spiritual power inside his body.
As Mu Xingqi completely refined the spiritual power within his body, his cultivation smoothly arrived at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, and he felt he should have reached a position slightly past the mid-stage of the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.
"As expected, possessing strength is what brings the greatest peace of mind!" The elevation of his cultivation brought him an inexplicable sense of security.
"Right now, the spiritual power within my body is continuous and endless. Even if I frantically unleash techniques, I can sustain it for around an hour!"
The most direct sensation brought by the elevation of his cultivation was that his mana pool had grown larger. Of course, the intensity and purity of his spiritual power had also grown higher, which likewise allowed the might of his unleashed techniques to gain a marked enhancement.
In other words, his offensive power had also increased.
Mu Xingqi stretched lazily, and as he stood up...
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