Entering the Essence Condensation Realm

Although Su Chen had no experience in breaking through to the Essence Condensation Realm, the Primordial Five-Element Lotus he had just consumed helped him immensely.

Because the true qi transformed from the Primordial Five-Element Lotus was simply too abundant, and his dantian could not contain so much true qi, it almost automatically began compressing into Essence Energy.

Very soon, the first thread of milky-white Essence Energy appeared.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth...

Su Chen grew increasingly adept, skillfully controlling these threads of Essence Energy as they entwined together and formed an Essence Core like a silkworm cocoon.

Without mishap, once this Essence Core condensed to the size of a walnut, he would officially have broken through to the First Layer of Essence Condensation Realm.

But Su Chen soon discovered that things were not so simple.

Because after the first Essence Core appeared, a second, third, fourth, and fifth Essence Core unexpectedly emerged within his dantian!

A total of five Essence Cores floated inside Su Chen's dantian.

Su Chen had never seen such a scene before. His first reaction was to wonder whether he had leapt straight to the Fifth Layer of Essence Condensation Realm.

But he quickly realized that was impossible.

These five Essence Cores were far too small, nowhere near the size of a normal Essence Core. Rather than five Essence Cores, they were more like one large Essence Core divided into five parts.

Though the five small Essence Cores were separated by a certain distance, it was obvious that they formed a whole. The five small Essence Cores seemed to be wrestling against one another, creating a balance of mutual generation and mutual restraint. They each displayed a different color: gold, green, blue, red, and yellow.

These five colors were exactly the same as the colors of the Primordial Five-Element Lotus, representing the five attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Su Chen's heart jolted. Could this be the Primordial Five-Element Lotus's true effect?

In his previous life, he had only known that the Primordial Five-Element Lotus could grant a martial artist a complete rebirth, but he had not known how that effect manifested.

Now it seemed that the Primordial Five-Element Lotus altered a martial artist's constitution, allowing them to possess talent in all five attributes at once!

It was common knowledge that most martial artists' constitutions naturally leaned toward one of the five elements. Thus, when breaking through to the Essence Condensation Realm, many martial artists could only condense an Essence Core of a single attribute—for instance, a metal Essence Core or a wood Essence Core. From then on, martial artists basically focused on developing the talent of that one attribute.

Only exceptionally rare geniuses could condense Essence Cores of two attributes—the Dual Essence Cores. Yet such geniuses were few and far between.

As for the Triple Essence Cores, or even the Quadruple Essence Cores, they were rarer still.

Yet the Primordial Five-Element Lotus could allow an Essence Condensation Realm martial artist to condense Five Essence Cores within their dantian!

This meant that a martial artist who consumed the Primordial Five-Element Lotus would see their martial talent blossom across the board. They would possess talent in all five elemental attributes and could cultivate martial skills of all five attributes.

And its benefits went far beyond that.

The five Essence Cores formed one large Essence Core, which meant that whenever Su Chen made a move in the future, all five Essence Cores would channel Essence Energy together. Its power would be a full five times greater than that of an ordinary person!

Of course, it was not without drawbacks.

The drawback was that every cultivation session required him to strengthen all five Essence Cores simultaneously. Compared with others, who only needed to strengthen one Essence Core, strengthening five at once meant consuming five times as many resources.

Moreover, the further one progressed in martial cultivation, the more resources were required. In the later stages, the cultivation resources needed by Five Essence Cores could only be described as vast as the sea!

But Su Chen was not worried.

"If I want strength five times greater than an ordinary person's, how could I avoid paying a price? Besides, I am the mighty Dust Pill Emperor. If a mere problem of cultivation resources could stump me, then there would be no need for me to keep the title of Pill Emperor."

An incomparably confident gleam burst from Su Chen's eyes.

"In this life, I possess the advantage of foreknowledge, the vast knowledge of a Pill Emperor, and now the Five Essence Cores that countless martial artists can only dream of obtaining. In this life, I will surely fulfill the wish of my previous life and ascend to the pinnacle of the martial path."

Su Chen drew a deep breath and continued cultivating. Having just broken through to the First Layer of Essence Condensation Realm, his cultivation was still somewhat unstable, and he needed to continue cultivating to consolidate it.

Three more days passed before Su Chen finally consolidated his First Layer of Essence Condensation Realm cultivation.

He stopped circulating his cultivation technique, sorted through the streams of Essence Energy flowing through his meridians one by one, and drew them back into the Essence Cores in his dantian. The aura around him also withdrew.

This way, the Essence Energy within him was condensed but not released. When others saw him, they would only take him for a Qi-Attraction Realm martial artist.

Yet upon closer inspection, one could discern subtle differences. Su Chen's gaze was now brighter, his expression more confident, and his entire bearing colder and more solemn. He was like a peerless fine sword still sheathed; once drawn, it would erupt with power enough to pierce heaven and earth.

Su Chen calculated the time. Altogether, he had already spent half a month in the Rising Sun Mountains.

Over that half month, he had gone from the Peak of the Eighth Layer of Qi-Attraction Realm to the First Layer of Essence Condensation Realm. His strength had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.

From this day onward, he too was an Essence Condensation Realm expert.

"It is time to return."

Su Chen turned back toward home, using the Essence Energy within his dantian to hasten his journey.

The trip there had taken an afternoon and a night, but the journey back took only one afternoon.

Before evening arrived, Su Chen had entered the gates of Clear River City.

Su Chen had thought he could head straight back to the Jiang Family, but fate had other plans.

Not long after entering Clear River City, Su Chen was blocked on the main street by a group of people.

"Su Chen, I have waited half a month for you. You have finally returned!"

The leader of the group was none other than Wang Bingyan. Judging only by her words, one might have thought she and Su Chen were on excellent terms.

But in truth, Wang Bingyan's eyes were spewing fire as she said it. Her tone was brimming with fury and carried a trace of resentment.

Su Chen stopped and said, "Waiting for me?"

Wang Bingyan said hatefully, "You caused my younger brother to become crippled for life. We are going to settle this score properly today!"

Wang Bingyan's heart was filled with rage. After Su Chen refused to treat her younger brother that day, she had no choice but to take him back to the Wang Family. Fortunately, the Wang Family had extensive connections. When no one in the Alchemy Guild was willing to treat him, they still managed to invite an alchemist from another city and save Wang Bingyan's younger brother's life.

Even so, the poison in his body could not be completely expelled. Furthermore, the best window for treatment had passed, so he still ended up crippled for life and bedridden.

Thinking of how even that ragged little commoner child had been saved that day, while her own younger brother had become crippled, Wang Bingyan gritted her teeth in hatred. She therefore bore a grudge against Su Chen and sent people to the Jiang Family to find him, only to be told that Su Chen had left the city and that no one knew when he would return.

Thus, Wang Bingyan stationed people day and night at the gates of Clear River City. At last, they waited until Su Chen returned today. The moment Wang Bingyan received the news, she immediately rushed over with a group of Wang Family disciples.