A Surge in Cultivation, Officially Entering the Second Level of the Qi Refining Realm

Only—

Chen Qiu lowered his head to look at his legs, his brow furrowing slightly. His legs seemed to be bound by some inexplicable force; no matter how hard he tried, he could not move even a single step.

"Useless."

Seeing Chen Qiu's movements, although Fat Dragon's expression was not much better, he still forced himself to speak. "Before the entrance to any secret realm closes, cultivators who enter it cannot move. This is a Heavenly Dao rule!"

"And at this time, you can't leave either. Only after the secret realm entrance closes can cultivators move freely. This is to ensure that all cultivators start on the same line, so that whoever enters first doesn't gain an overwhelming advantage."

"But even so."

"Entering the secret realm early still gives you an advantage."

"Look over there."

Fat Dragon raised a hand and pointed at the four red beams soaring into the sky in the west. "In the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, red light represents opportunities for 'mental cultivation methods.' If you want a mental cultivation method more, run west later."

"There are three blue beams in the east. Blue light represents 'cultivation techniques.' Defensive techniques, offensive techniques, flying techniques, beast-controlling techniques—all kinds of techniques are blue light."

"Those seven 'purple lights' in the north will probably attract the most people later. Purple light represents spirit treasures, and those are what all cultivators like most."

"Mm."

Chen Qiu nodded. He had to admit that although his first meeting with Fat Dragon had not been pleasant—this pig-brained man had eaten the pig head meat and strong liquor Chen Qiu had earned through bitter labor—the information was absolutely worth the price!

This world had no internet.

Information was relatively blocked.

Just like before this, he had never known any of this. Trading a little pig head meat for so much intelligence was well worth it. From a certain perspective, Fat Dragon counted as one of his benefactors.

A benefactor did not necessarily have to grant you immense wealth and status. Someone who could show you the way—how were they not a benefactor?

After pausing for a moment, he pointed toward the black beam soaring into the sky in the south. "There's only one black beam in the south. What's there? The greatest opportunity?"

"Heh heh."

The corner of Fat Dragon's mouth twitched slightly. "Do you think black and opportunity can go together? Black often means the strongest vicious beast in this secret realm is there. It's best to stay as far away as possible."

"Understood."

Chen Qiu looked toward the southern forest. He could vaguely see quite a few demon beasts moving within it. His eyes narrowed slightly before he raised his head and gazed into the distance. "The entire Minor World is wrapped in a gigantic white membrane. That membrane won't gradually shrink inward, will it?"

"You guessed right. It's exactly what you're thinking—similar to that battle royale game we used to play."

"That's why I'm so wary of Heavenly Dao Secret Realms of the 'killing' type. The mortality rate is truly too high!!!"

At this moment—

Quite a few people began entering the secret realm one after another.

Most of them were burly men. Some were dressed as escorts, some as villagers, while others wore sect uniforms and were clearly disciples of some sect. All sorts of people from every walk of life had gathered here, and nearly every face was grim.

Of course, under such circumstances, few people could laugh.

After entering the Minor World, everyone could only stand motionlessly around the white vortex and wait patiently. Before sunset, the secret realm had filled with one hundred people.

The secret realm entrance closed ahead of time.

In an instant—

Everyone suddenly discovered that the inexplicable force binding their legs had vanished. They all regained their freedom, and almost immediately, everyone shot toward the east, west, and north!

No one fought!

Everyone tacitly saved their strength for the end and rushed forward at full speed. Those with higher cultivation, spirit treasures, and cultivation techniques made up the first group. Those with poorer cultivation followed in the second group, while some who clearly had very low cultivation and had entered merely to try their luck remained in the third group.

More than forty people headed toward the northern desert. Clearly, the purple light representing spirit treasures was more tempting.

"What are you waiting for?"

At that moment, Fat Dragon anxiously turned his head toward Chen Qiu, who stood motionless where he was. "Let's hurry too. Standing still like this will make us look timid. I'm a cultivator at the Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Realm, after all!"

"As long as I act more arrogant later and brag about myself a little, if they can't gauge my true strength, they probably won't rashly make a move against us."

"Especially since we haven't snatched any treasure, they have no reason to fight us to the death."

"But if we show weakness now, we might very well be offered up as sacrifices to heaven later!"

It had to be said.

In the nearly five months Fat Dragon had spent in this world, he had developed a survival method suited to himself.

However—

Chen Qiu shook his head, his gaze fixed straight ahead. "Leaving our lives entirely to other people's caution and deliberation feels far too unsafe. I have a better solution. We're going south."

Only the south had demon beasts.

South.

Within the forest, Fat Dragon panted heavily as he swung the longsword in his hand, severely wounding another demon beast. After kicking the beast before Chen Qiu, he raised his head and uneasily swept a glance over the distant flashes of colored light that vanished without pause.

Whenever a streak of colored light disappeared, it meant that someone had taken a treasure.

A slaughter would certainly follow.

Wasting so much stamina now would only make survival even harder later.

He hurriedly turned back toward Chen Qiu, speaking anxiously and uneasily. "Brother Chen Qiu, are you sure the Trait you obtained when your cultivation broke through to Qi Refinement First Layer is that as long as you break through to the Second Level of the Qi Refining Realm, your strength will become stronger?"

"That sounds way too vague!"

"No matter how much stronger you get, can you surpass the Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Realm?"

At that moment, several wounds from the demon beasts' death struggles covered his body. They were neither serious nor fatal, but they would definitely affect his combat strength—as well as other people's assessment of it.

"Mm."

Chen Qiu nodded without elaborating. He merely took a deep breath, gripped the hilt of his blade tightly with both hands, bent his knees slightly, and stared without blinking at the hungry wolf before him, which stared back with savage eyes.

He responded to ten thousand changes with one unchanging stance.

At last, the hungry wolf could no longer endure it. With a howl, it charged straight at him. Chen Qiu shifted his feet slightly to evade the strike, gathered all the strength in his body into his arms, and slashed out with the momentum.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

One slash killed it, and he casually cut down the dying demon beast Fat Dragon had kicked over as well.

More than an hour had passed since the secret realm opened. He had spent nearly half that time fighting in this forest, and by now he was already utterly exhausted. From his initial clumsy fighting, he had gradually gained a measure of combat experience.

He had killed more than twenty vicious beasts at the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm.

The vicious beasts here were all hungry wolves, and their cultivation was basically at the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm. Otherwise, they truly would not have been easy to kill.

At last, that familiar panel wrapped in mist and clouds appeared before him once more.

"A surge in cultivation, officially entering the Second Level of the Qi Refining Realm."

"Due to the Trait 'Rise at Every Step,' this cultivation breakthrough allows you to obtain another Trait."

"Please choose from the three random Traits below within ten breaths."

1:

"Trait Name": Seize the Initiative.

"Trait Grade": Green Trait.

"Trait Effect": Upon entering a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm, you may break through the binding restriction and move freely before the secret realm entrance closes.

2:

"Trait Name": Alchemy Aptitude.

"Trait Grade": White Trait.

"Trait Effect": Your success rate in refining pills will increase slightly.

3:

"Trait Name": Delayed Foundation Establishment.

"Trait Grade": Green Trait.

"Trait Effect": Your Qi Refining Realm will extend from the normal nine levels to eleven levels. When you undergo Foundation Establishment afterward, the spiritual energy in your dantian will be more abundant and purer than that of Foundation Establishment cultivators of the same period, and your success rate in Foundation Establishment will also be higher.

"..."

Chen Qiu panted a few times and thrust the blood-soaked woodcutting knife in his hand into the dirt beside him. The strip of cloth that had originally tied the handle to his right hand had long since disappeared during the fighting.

He looked at the three Trait choices on the panel before him, wrapped in clouds and mist and radiating an ethereal charm. After remaining silent for a while, he turned toward the restless Fat Dragon beside him and spoke softly.

"My strength has increased a little."

"But it's still not enough. If I can break through to the Third Level of the Qi Refining Realm, there definitely won't be a problem."

"Are you joking, my good brother?!!!"

Fat Dragon could not help roaring furiously. "Do you think cultivation breakthroughs are that easy? Going from the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm to the Third Level of the Qi Refining Realm in a single day? Do you think cultivation breakthroughs are like drinking cold water?"

"I've been in this world for five months already, and I'm only at the Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Realm, all right!"

"If you want to rely purely on killing demon beasts to gain cultivation points and break through to the Third Level of the Qi Refining Realm, you'll need to kill at least one demon beast at the Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Realm! The surroundings are full of little demon beasts at the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm—where are you going to find a demon beast with that level of cultivation?!"

At this moment—

ROAR!!!

A burst of violent demon aura suddenly exploded from the depths of the forest. At the same time, a howl abruptly rang out. Along with the trembling ground, it was obvious that an extremely violent vicious beast deep within the forest had awakened—and with an exceptionally clear target, it charged straight toward them!

Judging from the intensity of that demon aura, it was at least at the Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Realm, perhaps even higher.

"..."

Fat Dragon stood where he was and lowered his head in silence for a while. Then he suddenly sighed, his voice becoming somewhat hoarse.

"Perhaps I have the hidden Trait 'Word Becomes Law.'"

"Or perhaps I shouldn't have grabbed you from the crowd back then."

"In any case—"

"We have to risk our lives. Once this kind of vicious beast locks onto us, we can't escape. We can only fight."

"Let's hope we win."

"I'm at the Sixth Level of the Qi Refining Realm, after all. I'm stronger than you. I'll take the front; look for an opening from the side."

Chen Qiu said nothing more. He merely pulled the woodcutting knife from the soil and looked toward a larger Wolf King with silver-white fur, vaguely visible in the distant forest as it charged toward them.