The night wind howled, carrying the unique chill of the mountain forests.
Chen Chen rode the door-sized flying sword, racing through the skies several hundred meters above the ground.
This was the first time he had truly flown through the air.
When he had been fleeing for his life before, he had relied entirely on his surging blood and qi to force his way onward, with no time to appreciate the sensation. Now that his mind had settled, an unprecedentedly wondrous feeling rose within him.
Beneath his feet, mountains and rivers sped backward. By his ears, the wind roared fiercely. The vastness of heaven and earth lay spread before his eyes.
This was the world of cultivators!
It was an experience on an entirely different plane from Body Tempering Realm martial artists racing about on the ground.
The true qi within him slowly flowed into the flying sword beneath his feet according to the methods of the Asura God Transformation Art. Though the sword's spiritual glow remained dim, its speed and stability far surpassed what they had been when he had driven it with blood and qi.
True qi... truly is a higher-level form of energy than blood and qi. Chen Chen sighed inwardly.
He could feel the tiny blood-colored vortex in his dantian. Every rotation produced strands of pure true qi that flowed through his limbs and bones, filling his entire body with strength.
After the Nine Nether Soul Refining Art advanced to the Minor Accomplishment stage, his Spiritual Power had surged as well. Within a radius of a thousand meters, not even the slightest rustle of grass or movement of wind could escape his senses. This gave him greater composure and security while flying on his sword.
He glanced back in the direction of Qingyang City, but it had long vanished into the boundless night.
Blood Fiend Tower...
Wang Teng...
Chen Chen's gaze was icy as frost.
He knew that although his current strength was enough for him to run rampant in a place like Qingyang City, in the grand scope of the world, the Qi Condensation First Stage was merely the starting point of the cultivation path.
Whether it was that mysterious Blood Fiend Tower envoy or Wang Teng, who was in the Azure Cloud Sect, neither was someone he could easily handle now.
Not to mention the White-robed Woman, who had slashed open a spatial rift with a single sword strike. Her strength was even more unfathomable.
Heavenly Sword Peak. The three-month appointment.
It was an opportunity, but also immense pressure.
The most urgent matter is to find a place to thoroughly stabilize my cultivation, and turn this harvest into true strength.
Chen Chen made up his mind.
He was sitting atop a mountain of treasure, yet he had no time to inventory it. The items in Wang Zhan's storage bag, the staggering 1,540 Cultivation Points, and the newly awakened divine ability, Asura Battle Body—all of it required him to calm down and study them carefully.
He changed direction. Rather than flying aimlessly, he headed away from Qingyang City, intending to find an inconspicuous town where he could temporarily settle down.
Two days later.
Nearly a thousand miles from Qingyang City, a small town named Luoyun Town appeared in Chen Chen's sight.
The town was built against the mountains. It was not large and looked utterly ordinary, yet among the pedestrians moving through its streets were quite a few sturdy martial artists carrying sabers and swords.
Chen Chen even sensed several faint auras belonging to Qi Condensation Realm cultivators.
This was clearly a place where cultivators and ordinary people lived together, a foothold where all sorts of wanderers, Rogue Cultivators, and martial artists gathered.
Where dragons and snakes mingled, it was the perfect place to conceal one's identity.
Chen Chen landed in a dense forest more than ten miles away from the town.
He put away his flying sword, changed out of his tattered clothes, and put on the most ordinary azure martial outfit he had found in Wang Zhan's storage bag.
Then, he washed the bloodstains from his face with clean water and used a special medicinal solution to make slight adjustments to his appearance. He now looked several years older than he truly was, with an added trace of weathered hardship between his brows.
After finishing all this, he restrained his aura and suppressed his cultivation to around the seventh or eighth level of the Body Tempering Realm before walking toward Luoyun Town.
The moment he entered the town, an atmosphere entirely different from Qingyang City washed over him.
Shops lined both sides of the streets.
Besides the usual taverns, inns, and grain stores, there were many shops bearing signs such as "Hundred Herbs Hall," "Artifact Refining Pavilion," and "Talisman Studio."
Martial artists frequently entered and exited those shops, discussing topics such as demon beasts, Spirit Medicine, and missions.
Chen Chen found the most ordinary-looking inn and rented a room.
After entering, the first thing he did was use his Spiritual Power to carefully inspect the entire room, as well as several neighboring rooms.
Only after confirming there was no surveillance or any restrictions did he finally let out a breath.
He shut the doors and windows, set up a simple warning formation, and only then immersed his consciousness fully into the system.
[Name: Chen Chen] [Realm: Qi Condensation First Stage] [Cultivation Arts: Asura God Transformation Art (Second Layer), Nine Nether Soul Refining Art (Minor Accomplishment)] [Martial Skill: Seven Shadows Step (Perfected)] [Divine Abilities: Eye of Asura, Asura Battle Body (Initial Stage)] [Cultivation Points: 1500]
Looking at the full 1,500 Cultivation Points, Chen Chen's heart burned with excitement once more.
These Cultivation Points were enough to bring another earth-shaking transformation to his strength!
System, how many Cultivation Points are needed to break through to the Second Level of Qi Condensation?
[Breaking through from the Qi Condensation First Stage to the Second Level of Qi Condensation requires 1,000 Cultivation Points.]
One thousand points!
Chen Chen frowned.
The cost was far greater than he had expected.
Even a perfect breakthrough from the Ninth Level of Body Tempering to the Qi Condensation First Layer had only cost 500 points. Yet going from the first level to the second had directly doubled the cost!
It seemed that every advancement after entering the Qi Condensation Realm would be an enormous hurdle.
Still, he had enough Cultivation Points now.
But he did not immediately choose to break through.
He had only just stepped into the Qi Condensation Realm. His foundation was not yet stable, and he was still unfamiliar with using true qi. Rashly breaking through again could easily destabilize his foundation and leave behind hidden dangers.
Rice must be eaten one bite at a time.
Chen Chen suppressed the impulse in his heart and shifted his attention to his newly awakened divine ability.
Asura Battle Body, Initial Stage!
With a thought, he began trying to activate it.
[Activating 'Asura Battle Body' requires true qi. With the host's current reserves of true qi, it can be maintained for one incense stick's time.]
The system prompt sounded.
Chen Chen did not hesitate and chose to activate it.
Boom!
A violent blood-colored Killing Intent erupted from the vortex in his dantian and instantly flooded through his limbs and bones!
Beneath the skin across his body, mysterious and intricate blood-colored patterns lit up like living things, spreading from his chest all the way to his cheeks and limbs.
His hair stirred without wind, its tips faintly stained with an eerie crimson hue.
An aura far more terrifying and domineering than before exploded from his body!
Chen Chen clenched his fist. He could feel that his physical strength had increased at least threefold at this moment!
Not only that, his body's defense had reached an astonishing level. He extended a finger and slashed hard across his own arm, producing a clang like metal striking metal. Not even a white mark was left on his skin!
Such a powerful body!
A terrifying gleam burst from Chen Chen's eyes.
This was only the initial stage of the Asura Battle Body! If he cultivated it to a profound level, would he not be able to forge his flesh into sainthood and remain untouched by ten thousand techniques?
A Heaven-grade Cultivation Art was truly terrifying to such an extent!
He carefully sensed the changes brought by the Asura Battle Body. Only after one incense stick's time had passed, when the true qi in his body had been completely exhausted, did the blood-colored patterns slowly fade away.
A wave of weakness swept over him.
Chen Chen immediately sat cross-legged and took out a Low-grade Spirit Stone from his storage bag.
This was his first time trying to use a Spirit Stone to restore his cultivation.
Following the methods of the Asura God Transformation Art, he began absorbing the pure Spiritual Energy within the Spirit Stone.
Strands of pure Spiritual Energy were drawn from the stone and poured into his body, rapidly replenishing the dried-up vortex in his dantian.
A Low-grade Spirit Stone quickly turned into powder.
The true qi he had expended had also recovered seven or eight tenths.
Cultivating with Spirit Stones really is more than a hundred times faster than painstaking cultivation alone!
Chen Chen sighed inwardly.
No wonder people said cultivation was a contest of resources.
Without resources, no matter how great one's talent, one could not take even a single step forward.
He glanced at the more than a thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones in Wang Zhan's storage bag, and his heart settled slightly.
These resources would be enough for him to spend freely for a while.
Besides Cultivation Points and divine abilities, he also needed to sort through Wang Zhan's storage bag.
Aside from Spirit Stones and Qi Condensation Pills, there were quite a few good things inside.
Several Yellow Tier and Black Tier Martial Skill Manuals did not suit his cultivation path, but studying them by analogy could still offer him considerable insight.
Especially the Low-grade Black Tier Blood Fiend Saber Technique. Some of its moves were worth drawing upon.
There were also various pills, talismans, and unknown materials.
He had no use for those things for now, but he could exchange them for Spirit Stones.
It's time to take a look around the town.
Chen Chen stood, pushed open the door, and walked out.
He needed to understand this world, and he also needed to turn these spoils of war into the capital that would let him continue growing stronger.
Before you continue