Seven days later, on the main road.
The mud-and-stone road, over a zhang wide, had been laid fairly level. A carriage rolled along at an unhurried pace. Lu Li sat in the driver's seat, his eyelids lowered as his mind immersed itself in cultivation.
Qingzhou City was not particularly far from Yunzhou, but the distance between them was still a hundred li.
The journey had been peaceful so far. As Lu Li drove the carriage, he also split his attention to refine his blood qi.
If he had been cultivating ordinary internal energy, that would have been difficult. Circulating internal energy through a full cycle required complete concentration, and the slightest mistake could damage one's meridians.
But the Demon Martial Path was different. He only needed to control his internal energy as it refined his blood qi.
"Phew... Fourth Layer of Meridian Opening."
Feeling the internal energy fill the fourth hidden meridian in his body, a glint of light seemed to flash through Lu Li's eyes.
Vast power coursed through his limbs and bones. Internal energy flowed throughout his body like a murmuring river, and Lu Li felt that he could now kill Huang Shang with a single blow.
Within the Meridian-Unblocking Realm, opening hidden meridians was like breaking the limits of the human body. One's muscles, bones, flesh, power, agility, and other attributes would all increase dramatically.
The Erosion Essence Scripture cultivated by Lu Li clearly granted an even more ferocious enhancement to the body after a breakthrough.
Having crossed merely two minor realms, his strength had already reached a massive three thousand jin.
One had to know that this level of strength was generally only barely attainable for martial artists at the Sixth Layer of Meridian Opening.
"Although completing all twelve layers of the Meridian-Unblocking Realm theoretically gives one nearly ten thousand jin of strength, no one can truly reach it. After all, a thousand is a thousand, and ten thousand is ten thousand. It is as if an invisible shackle seals off the upper limit."
"Even body-tempering martial artists would be considered exceptionally gifted if they could reach nine thousand jin of strength after completing Meridian Opening."
Lu Li thought to himself:
"However, given my current progress in the Demon Martial Path, breaking through the ten-thousand-jin limit seems effortless."
As a veteran player, Lu Li knew very well what benefits came with reaching ten thousand jin of strength.
It was like opening an invisible shackle within the human body. This was what people commonly called the Extreme Realm, and it could raise the limits of one's innate potential.
In the later Demon Martial Path, the original three major realms of Meridian Opening, Qi Solidification, and Divine Intent would be completely transformed. Above Divine Intent lay an entirely new realm.
Outer Scenery!
When a martial artist's Divine Intent condensed to its utmost limit, connected with the physical body, and absorbed the essence of demons, that Divine Intent would transform and condense into an Outer Scenery manifestation.
The cultivation of Outer Scenery further reflected upon the physical body, severing even subtler shackles.
Because of the development of the Outer Scenery Realm, the martial arts system naturally changed as well. The most obvious difference was that the early stages of cultivation were no longer simply about accumulating internal energy, but about striving to break the shackles limiting the human body.
The more shackles one broke beforehand, the easier Outer Scenery cultivation would become. The boundary of reaching ten thousand jin of strength was precisely one such shackle.
"In this era, no one knows that shackles even exist. Only after the Outer Scenery Realm is fully developed will the martial arts system undergo changes..."
Lu Li pondered inwardly, his eyes gleaming.
"One step ahead means every step ahead. If I break the limits of all three realms and reach the Extreme Realm in each one, then my cultivation of Outer Scenery will surely leave countless prodigies and heroes in the dust."
"Those who come later, meanwhile, will have to spend immense amounts of time and effort polishing away the flaws in their earlier martial cultivation. When the demon version arrives, I'll be far ahead of everyone else, and I'll be able to pursue countless opportunities without restraint."
Lu Li understood one thing clearly: only sufficient strength allowed one to lay hands on certain secret opportunities.
If he became the strongest in the world, then all the opportunities beneath heaven would naturally fall into his hands. Even certain factions could be kneaded and crushed however he pleased.
As he organized his plans, Lu Li also glanced at Xuandu beside him.
Over the past few days, aside from refining blood qi to improve his cultivation, he had also diligently practiced the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body.
It truly deserved to be called a matching treasure-art cultivation method. With the support of Xuandu Essence, his Heart-Breaking Buddha Body had progressed rapidly as well.
"The network of force is gradually solidifying. It's almost reached the second layer."
As Lu Li sensed the unique force circulating through his body, he understood that aside from the extraordinary effects of the Erosion Essence Scripture, the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body had also contributed greatly to his substantial increase in strength.
By guiding Xuandu Essence to merge with his body and circulating the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body, his physique could be said to be nourished at every moment.
In the game, Zhao Xingming possessed exceptional talent and survived until the end of the Demon Martial Path era. In his hands, the Heart-Breaking Buddha Body eventually became an extremely powerful Outer Scenery cultivation method.
At that thought, Lu Li's expression shifted slightly. He had eliminated the two Huang Household brothers and taken Xuandu and their martial arts. Would Zhao Xingming still appear?
"Heroes are shaped by their circumstances. Zhao Xingming may never appear."
After a brief sigh, Lu Li resumed his cultivation.
After seven days on the road, even without deliberately speeding up, they were already not far from Qingzhou City. Lu Li estimated that they would arrive around dusk.
During that time, Liu Yueling had neither fussed nor caused trouble. When she was bored, she would occasionally stare blankly at Lu Li, which worried him greatly.
The journey was tedious and long, and she had no companions her age. Lu Li truly feared that Liu Yueling might become depressed. The only thing that reassured him was that the little girl's laughter never ceased.
Time passed, and the sun hung high in the sky, pouring down scorching light.
The carriage stopped in a dense forest. Lu Li lit a fire and set a large pot, bought beforehand, over the flames, planning to stew some meat soup.
The fire crackled. Liu Yueling crouched nearby with an eager expression, while the Ground Owl stood on a tree trunk, its vertical pupils scanning the surroundings. Before long, it spread its wings and flew away.
Lu Li had long since grown used to this.
Ground Owls did not eat cooked food. Whenever the time came, it would fly out on its own to search for prey.
Lu Li still found beast taming rather novel. He had discovered that Liu Yueling could communicate silently with the Ground Owl. Merely through eye contact, she could understand what it wanted.
Glug, glug~
The meat soup was soon ready. Bubbles rose in the pot, and the fragrance of meat drifted through the air.
Lu Li filled two bowls with meat soup and handed one to Liu Yueling. Then, the pair, one grown and one small, sat beside the fire and drank.
Liu Yueling wore a satisfied expression. Just then, the Ground Owl flapped back, and she suddenly gave a startled cry.
"Brother Li, Little Gray seems to have found people nearby."
Little Gray was the name Liu Yueling had given the Ground Owl. Hearing that, Lu Li instantly became alert.
"People? In which direction?"
In this wilderness, encountering fierce beasts was secondary. With his current strength, even a pack of tigers could do nothing to him.
Only the human heart was unfathomable, and that was something he had to guard against.
"Over there!"
Liu Yueling immediately pointed in a direction. Lu Li followed her finger, and his gaze shifted. The direction she indicated was the only route leading to Qingzhou City.
"Brother Li, there are a lot of people over there, and they're surrounding a strange large carriage."
Liu Yueling exchanged a look with the Ground Owl before speaking to Lu Li in surprise.
"A large carriage?"
Before you continue