Breakthrough to the Qi Refining Realm Fifth Layer

Breakthrough to the Qi Refining Realm Fifth Layer

Tonight, the sky was pitch-black. The moon and stars seemed to have hidden behind the clouds.

In the inner region of the Blackwater Mountains, inside a concealed cave, Ye Yun sat cross-legged, continuously regulating his aura.

After a long while, once everything was ready, Ye Yun took out the Lightning Eagle's Monster Crystal Core from his Storage Bag.

Ye Yun held the Monster Crystal Core in his palm and closed his eyes. With his mind, he controlled the true qi within his body, pouring it into the Monster Crystal Core, then guided the life energy within the core into his body.

Once the life energy from the Monster Crystal Core entered his body, Ye Yun's true qi began frantically devouring and refining it.

Gradually, the true qi within his body reached a limit. Ye Yun then controlled the immense true qi and charged at the Impurity Barrier blocking his meridians.

Every impact brought Ye Yun tremendous pain. Sweat constantly beaded on his forehead, yet he gritted his teeth and controlled his true qi to strike the Impurity Barrier again and again.

After about ten minutes, the Impurity Barrier could no longer hold on and finally shattered beneath the impacts of the true qi.

The instant the Impurity Barrier shattered, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth from all around continuously gathered, surging madly into the acupoint atop Ye Yun's head.

At that moment, his true qi kept growing stronger, while his flesh became increasingly powerful amid the constant tearing and restoration of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Ye Yun endured the pain with joy.

The entire breakthrough process ended after roughly ten minutes.

Ye Yun opened his eyes. Feeling the true qi that had grown by more than fifty percent after breaking through to the Qi Refining Realm Fifth Layer, as well as the vast power contained within his flesh and blood, confidence gleamed in his eyes.

With his current strength, once he returned to the sect, he could challenge the disciples ranked among the last ten on the Hundred Strong Ranking.

The explosive increase in true qi made it impossible for him to control it perfectly for the moment. Ye Yun suppressed the excitement in his heart and began stabilizing the somewhat unruly true qi within his body.

At dawn, when the sun rose at the horizon, Ye Yun in the cave controlled his true qi through the final circulation cycle.

After a night of stabilization, Ye Yun had finally regained control of the true qi within his body. Though it had not yet returned to the level of control he possessed before the breakthrough, he could already wield it well. He believed that after a few battles, he would be able to control it perfectly.

Standing atop a hill, Ye Yun looked at a Vajra Ape not far ahead. Its entire body was covered in golden fur, it stood over two meters tall, and muscles covered its body.

The Vajra Ape was a high-grade second-level monster beast. Its limbs were powerful and its strength boundless. Judging from the aura it emitted, it should have been comparable to a martial artist at the Seventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm.

What gave Ye Yun a headache was that not far from the Vajra Ape, five red flowers swayed in the wind. They were precisely the Red Jade Flowers Ye Yun had been searching for.

If he could obtain these five Red Jade Flowers, then together with the ones he already had, he would have exactly the ten Red Jade Flowers required for the mission.

Ye Yun compared the Vajra Ape with himself and found that aside from being somewhat inferior in strength, there was not much difference between them. Even if he could not defeat it, he could still escape.

The instant he made up his mind, Ye Yun launched himself at the Vajra Ape with speed too swift to cover one's ears.

When he was less than a meter from the Vajra Ape, he suddenly unleashed the Nine Yin Cold Claw and attacked it.

Sensing the attack, the Vajra Ape instinctively raised an arm to block. Ye Yun's sharp claw edge instantly left five bloody holes in the ape's arm. Not a single drop of blood flowed from them, and an eerie blue glint flashed within the wounds.

After recovering from its surprise, the Vajra Ape ignored the injury on its arm. Its other hand clenched into a fist and swung at Ye Yun. Ye Yun wanted to dodge, but the distance was too close and he could not evade it. He could only flood his arms with true qi, cross his hands, and take the punch head-on.

Bang!

When the Vajra Ape's fist struck him, Ye Yun felt as though a massive iron hammer had smashed into both his arms. The tremendous force instantly blasted him flying.

Ye Yun flew backward five or six meters before barely steadying himself. The Vajra Ape, meanwhile, charged furiously toward him. It wanted to tear apart the short human who had attacked it.

Facing the attacks that came one after another, Ye Yun remained calm and composed. When the Vajra Ape's attack came within half a meter of him, his footwork flickered. He dodged the ape's strike and simultaneously slashed a claw across its waist. The Vajra Ape's body swayed twice, yet it seemed as though it had suffered no injury and continued attacking Ye Yun.

One man and one ape battled in this manner, the ape throwing punches while Ye Yun answered with claws. The fight lasted for over ten minutes before the Vajra Ape's speed suddenly began to slow.

Ye Yun was delighted at the sight. The Ice Force he had driven into the Vajra Ape's body with every strike had finally begun to take effect. This Vajra Ape was indeed powerful—it had actually relied on its robust physique to forcibly endure so many attacks carrying Ice Force from Ye Yun.

Seeing the Vajra Ape reveal signs of defeat, Ye Yun pressed his advantage and launched his final offensive.

His movement speed suddenly increased by thirty percent as he attacked the Vajra Ape in rapid succession. With its body severely damaged, the Vajra Ape could only continuously defend against Ye Yun's attacks.

One punch, two punches, three punches—the Vajra Ape's injuries steadily worsened under Ye Yun's rapid assault. At last, it collapsed unwillingly.

Seeing the Vajra Ape fall, Ye Yun too collapsed beneath a tree with a victorious smile on his face. Such an intense battle was also a tremendous test for him.

Fortunately, he had ultimately killed this Vajra Ape comparable to a martial artist at the Seventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm. This filled him with even greater confidence in challenging the Hundred Strong Ranking.

Although this Vajra Ape's strength was far inferior to those senior brothers on the Hundred Strong Ranking who were at the Seventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm, it had still allowed Ye Yun to clearly see just how great the gap between himself and them was.

After resting for about ten minutes, Ye Yun recovered around thirty percent of his strength. He rose from the ground, casually took out a Qi-Replenishing Pill from his Storage Bag and swallowed it to hasten the recovery of his true qi, then walked toward the Red Jade Flowers beside the Vajra Ape's nest.

Arriving beside the Red Jade Flowers, Ye Yun skillfully picked them one by one and carefully stored them in his Storage Bag.

Just as he was preparing to dissect the Vajra Ape's corpse, Ye Yun heard a set of footsteps approaching from afar. He immediately watched the direction of the footsteps with vigilance.

Sure enough, less than two minutes later, four figures emerged from the forest in that direction. The leader was precisely the lavishly dressed young master whose prize Ye Yun had snatched yesterday.

Looking at the four people not far away, Ye Yun inwardly cursed his bad luck. He asked the leading young master, "May I ask who you are? I am Ye Yun, an inner disciple of the Purple Extreme Sect."

When the young master opposite heard Ye Yun say that he was an inner disciple of the Purple Extreme Sect, his brows furrowed. He said to Ye Yun, "For the sake of your status as an inner disciple of the Purple Extreme Sect, as long as you hand over the Earth-Origin Milk you stole yesterday, I, Zhao Yu, will spare you today. Otherwise, I will make sure you understand that my Imperial Capital Zhao Family is not to be trifled with."

Upon hearing this, Ye Yun understood that there would be no peaceful resolution today. The Zhao Family of the Great Chu Dynasty was one of the dynasty's six great lineages. Though it could not compare with the Purple Extreme Sect, it was still a force with True Essence Realm experts holding the fort.