Three days later.
Lu Xuan sat cross-legged in his cave abode on Cangyun Island, gazing thoughtfully at the four jade boxes floating before him.
"With these four spiritual items, including the [Golden Crow Branch], plus the pills issued by the sect each month, reaching the Qi Refining Second Layer within a year should be possible."
"It's just that there probably won't be much time left after that year is up. It'll be difficult to seek further assessments..."
Before purchasing the spiritual items, Lu Xuan had known that the gains from demon slaying, combined with the sect's pills, would be enough to reach the Qi Refining Second Layer within a year.
But exactly how much time it would take had to be calculated after he exchanged those demon-slaying gains for tangible spiritual items.
That was what Lu Xuan had been doing these past few days.
His demon-slaying gains had sold for a total of fifty-six Spirit Stones.
That was no small amount of purchasing power. He had spent it all on four supremely yang spiritual items to aid his cultivation.
Yet it still fell somewhat short of what he had envisioned.
He had originally hoped to break through to the Qi Refining Second Layer within two months, leaving roughly one final month afterward to seek out Zhou Xuanpu for an assessment or two and earn some rewards.
He was confident he could pass one or two assessments.
Because once he broke through to the Qi Refining Second Layer, he intended to use another ancient character and initiate a Minor Offering Ritual.
In this demon-slaying excursion, together with the earlier Sword-Dueling Assembly, the power of the ancient characters had already revealed itself beyond doubt.
They were his capital for surpassing the other cultivators.
He still possessed the characters [Jia] and [Bypath].
Character