Dark Force--Achieved!

"Li Xiao, what are you planning to do now?"

A cold voice fell as a young man sauntered out from the corner.

He wore a moon-white brocade robe with an exceptionally fine suet-jade pendant hanging at his waist. His features were passably handsome, except that his slightly upturned eyes contained a matter-of-course arrogance, the haughtiness of a superior who had stood above everyone since childhood.

He walked up to Li Xiao without cupping his fists or exchanging pleasantries, diving straight into interrogation as if the man sitting before him were not the head of a martial hall, but a readily summonable dog of the Feng Household.

Not a shred of annoyance appeared on Li Xiao's face. He merely spoke calmly.

"Don't rush, Eldest Young Master Feng. Even if the Qin Household knows, so what? Gu De didn't fall into their hands. Relying solely on those abandoned pawns to confront us is meaningless. Qin Yuan isn't a fool; he won't commit such a pointless act."

"His only choice for his next step is to woo Blackstone Martial Hall. In the entire Chi City, the only one qualified to contend with me to any degree is Zhang Yao."

"Zhang Yao of Blackstone Martial Hall... is that so."

Feng Jiaqi raised his brow slightly.

Naturally, he had heard Zhang Yao's moniker. Even before he was born, that man had already forged a formidable reputation in Chi City with a pair of iron fists, single-handedly founding Blackstone Martial Hall and standing firm to this day. He had long been a pivotal figure in Chi City.

"I heard he stepped into Late Dark Force ten years ago." Feng Jiaqi shifted his gaze to Li Xiao. "Do you have the certainty to win against him?"

"Hah, is Eldest Young Master Feng looking down on me?" The corners of Li Xiao's mouth pulled back to reveal stark white teeth. "Thanks to the item the eldest young master brought, in just three days, I will be able to shatter the Dark Force bottleneck and step into Transformation Force. When that time comes, mere Zhang Yao will not be worth mentioning. The entire Chi City will have to be trampled beneath my feet."

"Hmph, then good."

Feng Jiaqi stopped pressing, though a hint of warning lingered in his eyes.

"Li Xiao, don't forget that you can reach today entirely thanks to the Feng Household."

"That goes without saying." Li Xiao immediately stood up, his tone solemn. "Rest assured, Eldest Young Master Feng, I, Li Xiao, will never betray the Feng Household—it was so in the past, and it will remain so in the future. I also ask the eldest young master to take a message to the master: at the Qin Household's grand banquet three days from now, I will naturally stage a fine show for him."

"Good."

Only then did Feng Jiaqi turn around in satisfaction and stroll away leisurely.

As that moon-white figure completely vanished outside the door, the smile on Li Xiao's face cooled inch by inch, ultimately condensing into a heart-stopping chill.

A mere playboy master dares to boss me around. If you weren't still somewhat useful, I would have squashed you long ago.

The murderous whispers echoed in the dim room.

A moment later, he fished a pill out from his bosom, his gaze turning blazing hot once more.

"Still, the Feng Household is truly extraordinary, even producing elixirs capable of forcing a Dark Force martial artist to break through their realm. This medicine has already been tested on Gu De; it's genuine. The next three days shall be the time when I, Li Xiao, break through my bottleneck."

He clenched the pill tightly, a cold flash in his eyes.

"Zhang Yao, just wait. That debt from ten years ago, three days from now, I will return it to you with interest."

Creak.

The door closed.

Lu Fan lit the lamp, his gaze falling upon the meat piled bountifully on the table. A hint of a smile arose on his aged face.

Twenty catties of meat—Old Zhang certainly proved generous with his move.

If this meat were exchanged for silver, it would be no small sum.

Recalling Old Zhang's repeated attempts to make him stay at the time of parting, the Qin Household's intention to recruit him was already blatantly obvious.

However, he had zero interest in becoming any sort of lineage attendant.

The top priority right now was singular: raising his strength.

Everything else was secondary.

What was more, he still had the identity of a Blackstone Martial Hall cook to fall back on, so there was no need to expose his identity for this petty profit.

Suppressing his tangled thoughts, Lu Fan consumed the meat and closed his eyes to circulate the Evergreen Formula.

A familiar searing sensation surged from his stomach. The fatigue and depletion accumulated from days of travel gradually melted away under the scouring of this hot current.

Under the hundredfold enhancement, the blood and qi in the meat transformed into rolling heatwaves, surging along the meridians toward his limbs and bones, filling every inch of parched flesh and blood.

He could clearly feel his meridians undergoing minute changes; the originally parched and narrow pathways were widened inch by inch, and the speed at which his blood and qi rushed through them was nearly double that of the previous days.

The barrier blocking the path between Bright Force and Dark Force seemed to loosen by a sliver under the impact of this continuously accumulating power.

Yet, that was all.

Although this blood and qi was full, it was far from as fierce and violent as when he had first contacted meat.

His body was like a piece of iron hammered repeatedly, and his craving for meat grew larger by the day. Moreover, the essence of blood and qi contained within the meat could gradually no longer keep pace with his rate of consumption.

As the final round of the circulation completed, Lu Fan slowly opened his eyes.

The hunger within his body had merely been suppressed with difficulty, rather than truly being filled.

The meat on the table had hit rock bottom, yet his cultivation remained firmly stuck at Bright Force Peak, separated from Dark Force by only a single layer of window paper.

Yet this layer of paper could no longer be pierced by meat alone.

He fell silent for a moment, fishing out the bottle of Qi-Replenishing Pill gifted by Old Zhang from his bosom.

It was time to use it.

He poured out a single pellet and swallowed it head-up.

The instant the pill entered his stomach, a violent surge of blood and qi, far surpassing the meat, exploded with a boom. That was medicinal potency prepared for Dark Force martial artists; under the hundredfold enhancement, it transformed into a nearly out-of-control torrent, roaring as it crashed into the meridians and charging in all directions.

The very first moment, Lu Fan fully operated the Evergreen Formula, desperately guiding this power.

Under his willpower, the torrent of blood and qi circulated through his meridians circle by circle. With each completed cycle, that violent power was tamed by a fraction.

Intense pain and numbness arrived in turns. His meridians were stretched open, torn, and then repaired, undergoing repeated tempering.

He did not know how long had passed before the churning blood and qi within his body finally subsided gradually.

Lu Fan slowly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing and vanishing within those aged orbs.

The barrier blocking Bright Force and Dark Force had been breached by this violent medicinal potency.

A strength never before experienced surged from the depths of his Dantian—no longer a violent torrent, but a steady and lucid sense of control.

He spread his palm. As his force undulated, an intangible power swirled faintly within his palm, not as showy and outwardly released as Bright Force, but heavier, denser, and deadlier.

Dark Force—so this was what it felt like.

Yet even upon stepping into Dark Force, that majestic blood and qi fused into his body had not yet been completely refined.

He could advance further.

Thinking of this, Lu Fan did not hesitate, once again operating the Evergreen Formula to refine the remaining medicinal potency. He wanted to see what kind of strength he could attain once the blood and qi within the Qi-Replenishing Pill were fully digested.