Two Equipment Slots! Equip a Demonic Core! Demon-Slaying Blade Technique!

Under Yang Xiao's deliberate control, the Origin-Guiding Qi Gathering Art ran at full force.

The Blue Prefix Spirit Swallowing tripled his efficiency, making him absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around him at astonishing speed.

That energy gathered around him as a faint white mist, barely visible to the naked eye, before burrowing madly into his body.

Boom!

A powerful impact erupted inside him.

Yang Xiao felt as though something within his body had opened.

It was an entirely new sensation, like a new space had been carved out inside him.

Rumble!

The instant the Aperture opened, Yang Xiao felt spiritual energy flood into his body. It gathered and compressed within the Aperture, growing denser and more abundant.

Two hours later.

Yang Xiao felt that the spiritual energy in his first Aperture had reached its limit.

He opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

The One-Aperture Qi Gathering Realm!

He stood and felt the changes in his body.

Before, he had relied on the brute strength of his own flesh and blood. Prolonged combat would set his blood churning and leave his limbs aching and weak. Once his stamina ran out, he could fight no more.

His injuries had also healed painfully slowly, often lingering for weeks or months. Some even left lifelong ailments that were nearly impossible to cure.

The instant the Aperture formed inside him, the body he had forged to the peak of vitality began transforming layer by layer under the wash of spiritual energy.

The most immediate changes were his endurance and combat ability.

The Qi Gathering Realm drew on the spiritual energy in his Apertures. Spiritual energy existed everywhere between heaven and earth, so he could replenish it as he spent it.

Even after a long, bitter battle, he would no longer suffer the same exhaustion. He needed only to sit and regulate his breathing, replenish the energy in his Apertures, and return to his peak.

Now, he could pour spiritual energy into his fists, feet, and weapons. The power he could unleash far surpassed what he had possessed in the Body Forging Realm.

He could condense it into a force that struck enemies from a distance, or spread it over his body for defense. His options had become far more varied.

Yang Xiao clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him, far greater than before.

"So this is the power of the Qi Gathering Realm. It really is extraordinary!"

Suddenly, Yang Xiao sensed something change in his mind.

He opened his Equipment Slot and found himself both surprised and delighted.

Originally, it had held only one slot, occupied by the Origin-Guiding Qi Gathering Art. Its twelve-hour permanence requirement would not be complete until the early hours of the morning.

Now, another empty slot had appeared to its right.

"This is..." Yang Xiao's thoughts stirred. "The number of Equipment Slots increases when my cultivation realm rises?"

"Makes sense!"

Yang Xiao began searching through the items on him for something he could equip.

First, he took an egg-sized, pale-yellow bead from a hidden fold in his clothes. It was the Demonic Core of the Old Yellow Dog he had killed in Wang Village.

The Inner Core of a Qi Gathering Realm Demon!

Pure internal energy and impure Demonic Qi were mixed together inside it. By conventional wisdom, he could not use it directly.

But what effect would equipping it have?

Yang Xiao looked at the Demonic Core, willing to give it a try, and the Equipment Slot appeared before his eyes.

[Usable equipment detected: Qi Gathering Demonic Core (consumable)]

[Effect 1: Replenishes the spiritual energy of three Apertures.]

[Effect 2: Grants the prefix (green) Spiritual Olfaction: Enhances the sense of smell. No scent within ten li can escape detection.]

[Equip the "Qi Gathering Demonic Core" in the Equipment Slot?]

He would not have to worry about Demonic Qi, and it could directly add three Apertures?

Besides adding three Apertures, it would grant him the green prefix Spiritual Olfaction. This Inner Core was practically a supreme restorative pill!

Without hesitation, Yang Xiao placed it in the second Equipment Slot.

Boom!

A powerful force erupted inside him.

The internal energy in the Demonic Core surged into his body with almost brutal force, carving out new Apertures along his meridians in an instant.

A moment later.

Yang Xiao looked inward and found four full Apertures resting steadily within his body.

The abundant spiritual energy inside them flowed slowly through his meridians and into every limb and bone, filling his organs. The feeling was invigorating, comforting beyond words.

Feeling the power filling him, Yang Xiao extended a finger and drew a light stroke through the air before him with his spiritual energy.

A three-foot ribbon of drifting white mist appeared in the air. The instant it touched the ground, the earth caved in beneath it, as though pressed by a weight of ten thousand jun.

Now, even a casual punch or saber strike infused with a little spiritual energy would far surpass anything Yang Xiao had done before.

As for the Basic Blade Technique he had used so often, it now seemed like an empty framework: crude and lacking power.

If he faced that Qi Gathering Realm Old Yellow Dog again, what need would he have for a blade technique?

With that creature's meager physical toughness, Yang Xiao feared a single Monument Splitting Palm might blast it into a bloody mist.

He practiced releasing and withdrawing his spiritual energy in the courtyard, feeling terrifyingly strong!

Looking again at the Equipment Slot before him, Yang Xiao calmed himself.

"Still not enough. I've barely begun. There's always someone stronger, and a sky beyond the sky."

"I can't let this go to my head!"

One Equipment Slot stood empty. Yang Xiao continued searching the items nearby until his gaze settled on a book beside the bed.

Demon-Slaying Blade Technique.

It was one of the treasured possessions Zhang Hu had given him.

A blade technique from the Demon Suppression Division, designed specifically to fight Demons. Its moves were fierce, and it was especially lethal against them.

But it had one restriction—he had to reach the Qi Gathering Realm before he could begin training in it.

He now met that requirement.

Yang Xiao picked up the book and flipped through it. Its obscure training methods stumped him once again. If he had to comprehend and practice it on his own, who knew how many years it would take?

That was no great problem. He placed it straight into the second Equipment Slot.

["Demon-Slaying Blade Technique"]

[Effect 1: Perfect mastery of "Demon-Slaying Blade Technique."]

[Effect 2: Grants the prefix (blue) Demon-Slaying: Grants keen insight into Demons' vital points and increases damage dealt to Demons.]

[Note: After twelve hours equipped, this item's equipment effects become permanent.]

Yang Xiao gently closed his eyes, and a flood of blade-technique memories surged into his mind.

It was as though a senior practitioner stood before him, extracting the purest essence from those dry pages and teaching it to him hand by hand.

The defenses of Demons' hides, the structure of their muscles and bones, and even the patterns and weaknesses in the flow of their demonic power were all laid bare to him.

Countless insights piled upon one another. It was as though Yang Xiao had truly trained diligently and fought through blood-soaked battles until every trace of awkwardness had fallen away. Today, his Demon-Slaying Blade Technique had reached perfection.

Yang Xiao picked up the Spring Embroidery Saber and brushed his fingertips over its cool blade. His understanding was clear and complete.

He moved the saber gently and began practicing the Demon-Slaying Blade Technique in the courtyard.

Every intricate form flowed together. A thousand moves became one simple cut. He had no need to recall a technique deliberately: when his hand rose, he struck; when the blade fell, he killed.

Before, he had attacked with spiritual energy by throwing raw power at his enemies without a plan. Now, he wielded it with ease.

Every cut was pared to its essence, without wasting a trace of spiritual energy.

A moment later.

Yang Xiao sheathed his saber and took stock of his current strength.

Cultivation: Four-Aperture Qi Gathering Realm. Techniques mastered to perfection: Demon-Slaying Blade Technique, Monument Splitting Palm, Astonishing Swan Steps, and Iron Cloth Technique.

Prefix enhancements: Hundred-Refined Edge (blue), Demon-Slaying (blue), Spirit Swallowing (blue), Vitality Recovery (green), Shadow Swoop (green), Mountain-Opening Force (green), Spiritual Olfaction (green), and Iron Armor (white).

With all that at his disposal, even if the Old Dog from Wang Village were in its youthful prime, he could suppress it with one hand!

"Phew—"

Yang Xiao took a deep breath, walked out of the room, and stood in the courtyard.

He looked up at the moon in the night sky, calculating silently.

The Demon Suppression Division's people were due to arrive in four days. His current strength should already be enough.