Body Tempering, Seventh Layer: Inner Strength Realm (Seeking Monthly Votes, Recommendations, Tips)

Fang Yu felt little joy at resolving the two men in just a few breaths. He merely sighed softly, gathered up the spoils, buried them both, and left.

As for whether the two had any companions, he did not know. But now that things had come to this, there was nothing more to be done.

Had they not insisted on seizing his body, they would not have met such an end.

They could only blame themselves. By burying them, he had repaid the favor; from then on, neither owed the other anything.

As for Meng Shan the Third, the blue-clad man, along with Meng Shan the Fourth and Meng Shan the Fifth, it was best not to meet them again.

Otherwise, there would be no way to explain things, especially since Meng Shan the Fourth and Meng Shan the Third, the blue-clad man, had clearly noticed something.

But he still had to attend the Ascension Conference. The method for refining storage bags and the Great Development Art were both things he had to obtain.

After putting everything in order, Fang Yu headed for the Ascension Conference.

Meng Shan the First and Meng Shan the Second, the yellow-robed man, had pitifully few possessions. Aside from two magical artifacts, they only had a few scattered spirit stones and several talismans. It could hardly be called a gain.

It could only be said that the two had paid too great a price to help Fang Yu cultivate, and he had helped free them in return.

What Fang Yu did not know was that, in a mountain forest dozens of li from where the incident had taken place, the three green-patterned Daoists, having waited a long time without anyone arriving, naturally left in a furious rage.

Jian Prefecture lay in the north of Yue Kingdom. Its area ranked second among the thirteen prefectures. Its territory was mostly mountains and hills, sparsely populated, and bordered the neighboring Yuanwu Kingdom.

The Grand Peak Mountains lay in the west of Jian Prefecture, stretching for several thousand li. Not only were all manner of wild beasts and birds of prey endlessly found there, making it a primitive forest rarely visited by humans, but rumors occasionally emerged of woodcutters and hunters claiming to have seen immortals and demons, draping the place in an even thicker veil of mystery.

Ordinary mortals naturally could not have imagined that the middle of the entire mountain range had long been occupied by Yellow Maple Valley, one of the seven great cultivation sects, for thousands of years.

From above, it looked no different from other mountain ranges, with steep ridges and lush trees. In truth, however, it was covered by an enormous and wondrous formation, everything merely an illusion. Beneath it, countless pavilions and grand halls had long been built in dense rows, while cultivators standing atop leaf-shaped magical artifacts flew back and forth through the low sky, endlessly busy.

Yellow Maple Valley's current sect master, Zhong Lingdao, was already over a hundred years old, yet he still looked like a middle-aged man with three wisps of long beard. He was a late Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, steady by nature and skilled at organization. He commanded great prestige within the sect, and both the elders and his fellow disciples trusted him deeply.

At this moment, he was especially delighted. At this Ascension Conference, Yellow Maple Valley had gained two cultivators with variant spirit roots in one stroke—one wind, one lightning.

There was no need to mention the wind attribute. That disciple was originally a member of the Lu family, a cultivation clan in Jian Prefecture, and it had long been agreed that he would enter Yellow Maple Valley through the Ascension Conference.

The other disciple with a variant spirit root was different. He was a genuine independent cultivator, and his spirit root was the lightning attribute, renowned for its offensive power.

At the same time, he had taken first place at the Ascension Conference despite being only at the eleventh layer of Qi Refinement.

What delighted Sect Master Zhong most was that this disciple was also a talisman master. Although he could only make one kind of talisman, his success rate had reached twenty to thirty percent.

With such a high success rate, even if he did not possess a lightning-attributed variant spirit root and only had an ordinary spirit root, Zhong Lingdao would have been overjoyed.

Now that the two were combined, one could well imagine his delight. He immediately rewarded the disciple with a top-grade magical artifact, five mid-grade spirit stones, and a Foundation Establishment Pill, telling him to cultivate diligently and not concern himself with talismans before establishing his foundation.

At the same time, he specifically sent someone to report the matter to Lei Wanhe, Yellow Maple Valley's Core Formation cultivator, to see whether he might be willing to take the disciple under his wing.

With a Core Formation cultivator as his master, Zhong Lingdao believed that disciple's future would be a broad and level road, and that he might one day have a chance to form a golden core and become a Core Formation cultivator himself.

At the same time, Fang Yu, who had settled down in Yellow Maple Valley, did not need to complete missions for spirit stones like the other disciples because he possessed a lightning-attributed variant spirit root.

His sole task was to focus on cultivation, establish his foundation as soon as possible, and become a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

Thus, he was directly given a simple cave abode where he could cultivate.

Inside the cave abode

"This is the Foundation Establishment Pill. There really is quite a difference between it and Eclosion Sect's Foundation Establishment Pill."

Fang Yu held a Foundation Establishment Pill in each hand. One was a mortal Foundation Establishment Pill, gleaming blue and giving off a faint, pungent medicinal scent; the other was Eclosion Sect's Foundation Establishment Pill.

He felt that Eclosion Sect's Foundation Establishment Pill should also be able to help him establish his foundation, so he chose to first test the taste and effects of the mortal Foundation Establishment Pill.

He remembered that it could cleanse the meridians and wash the marrow. Perhaps it could help him break through.

With that thought, Fang Yu let out a long breath. No longer hesitating, he opened his mouth and tossed the mortal Foundation Establishment Pill inside, then began circulating his cultivation technique to refine the medicinal power and spiritual energy it contained.

Time flew by. As the impurities within his body were purged away, Fang Yu felt as though he had shed more than ten jin. His entire body seemed ready to float away.

One day, Pfft! Fang Yu's expression suddenly changed slightly as his breath surged upward.

Then he felt a thick wad of phlegm lodged in his throat, making him as uncomfortable as bellows being pulled. He coughed sharply.

A great mouthful of blood-streaked phlegm immediately sprayed out.

In that instant, Fang Yu felt as light and untrammeled as an immortal, his entire body incomparably comfortable!

At the same time, saliva flooded his mouth, like jade nectar and divine ambrosia. With the slightest movement, that nectar bubbled up between his tongue in gurgling streams, winding around his body like a clear breeze, leaving the inside of his whole body refreshed.

Body Tempering, Seventh Layer: Inner Strength Realm—breakthrough successful!

Once one reached this realm, one could prolong life and preserve vitality. The internal organs would be free of all illnesses; one was no longer an ordinary person.

"I finally broke through. This Foundation Establishment Pill is not bad. It has some effect."

The moment he finished speaking, Fang Yu's brows furrowed tightly. He immediately rose and began cleaning the foul-smelling impurities from his body. He truly had not expected that even at this stage, there would still be so many impurities in his body. It was quite beyond expectation.

But he knew that unless he advanced to the second realm of the Longevity Secret Realm, the Undying Body, impurities would always remain within the body to some extent.

It was simply unavoidable.

After washing and bathing, Fang Yu sensed the abundant strength and true essence mana within his body and finally relaxed.

This time, not only had his body cultivation risen by one realm, but his immortal cultivation had also risen by one layer, reaching the twelfth layer of Qi Refinement.

"Looks like I'll have to find a way to get a few more Foundation Establishment Pills."

After stretching his limbs, Fang Yu muttered softly.

However, he also knew that obtaining Foundation Establishment Pills was no easy matter. At least in the short term, unless he killed the other nine people, there was no point even thinking about it.

Foundation Establishment Pills were monopolized by Yue Kingdom's seven sects. As for the other sects, he did not even know who was in them.

No, that was not right. Han Yunzhi's elder brother definitely had one, since he had taken first place at Spirit Beast Mountain's Ascension Conference.

But he could not possibly make a move against him.