Sprinting to Fourth Grade

After swallowing the Azure Origin Fruit, Qin Hao immediately circulated the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art. At once, the fruit's abundant medicinal power rapidly transformed into streams of exceedingly dense Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy...

Hum!

A Golden Little Sword Martial Soul slowly appeared before Qin Hao's chest.

The little sword was roughly half a meter long. Waves of pressure radiated from it as it frantically devoured the Azure Origin Fruit's Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.

In an instant, golden light blazed!

"The Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art truly lives up to its reputation as an ancient cultivation art. Its first section, Spirit Seizing, refines Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy so quickly."

Even after experiencing the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art many times, Qin Hao still found it astonishing.

A short while later...

"Hm?"

"The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy contained in a single Azure Origin Fruit is at least comparable to hundreds, perhaps even a thousand Body Tempering Pills."

"It absorbed so much Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, and its golden light became much more brilliant, yet it still hasn't advanced!"

Qin Hao exhaled a breath of stale air and slowly opened his eyes.

The golden little sword before his chest seemed to have grown several centimeters, and its aura had become even more imposing.

When it had advanced from second grade to third grade, it had consumed nearly two hundred Body Tempering Pills.

Based on that ratio, Qin Hao estimated that advancing his Martial Soul to fourth grade would require at least a thousand Body Tempering Pills.

"It's still not enough."

"But this Azure Origin Fruit did save me a great deal of time!"

"Although it hasn't advanced, the Martial Soul's aura has clearly changed considerably. It shouldn't be far from fourth grade now!"

Qin Hao estimated that another four or five hundred Body Tempering Pills would be enough to attempt the breakthrough to fourth grade!

At present, however, even the entire Qin clan probably could not scrape together five hundred Body Tempering Pills.

"It looks like advancing my Martial Soul to fourth grade will have to wait until I reach the Myriad Phenomena Hall."

Qin Hao pondered, The Myriad Phenomena Hall has countless treasures. With enough contribution points, I can exchange them for any treasure, even spirit fruits more precious than the Azure Origin Fruit.

Once I reach the Myriad Phenomena Hall, I need to find a way to advance to fifth grade as soon as possible. Only when my Martial Soul reaches fifth grade can I cultivate the second section of the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art.

The first section of the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art, Spirit Seizing, was already extraordinarily formidable.

How powerful would its second section, Sacred Embryo, be?

Qin Hao yearned for it intensely.

"Hao, guess what I brought you?"

Just then, a hearty laugh suddenly rang out beyond the door.

"You've truly brought great honor to the Qin clan this time! Today, the Qin clan basked in boundless glory! Hahaha!"

"Especially those factions, large and small. Every one of them was afraid of offending the Qin clan, scrambling to offer gifts and banknotes."

Before Qin Yuntian arrived, his laughter had already carried in from afar. He was full of vigor, his face radiant with delight.

"Father!" Qin Hao stood and smiled as well.

Qin Yuntian strode into the room and said with a laugh, "When they saw that your test revealed a First-Grade Martial Soul, every one of them immediately distanced themselves from the Qin clan. Now that you've taken first place in the Myriad Phenomena Genius Tournament, they're all falling over themselves to offer apologies!"

"Hao, take a look. What's this?" With a mysterious smile, Qin Yuntian took out ten jade bottles and placed them on the table.

"These are...?" Qin Hao was stunned.

Every jade bottle actually contained a full fifty Body Tempering Pills!

Before the Myriad Phenomena Genius Tournament, the Qin clan had already expended a great many pills. Even if they emptied their entire storehouse now, they might not be able to gather this many.

"Five hundred Body Tempering Pills? Father, where did you get so many pills?" Qin Hao asked in surprise.

"The Qin clan naturally couldn't produce so many pills."

Qin Yuntian laughed heartily. "You took first place in the Myriad Phenomena Genius Tournament and brought glory to the lineage. Even after emptying most of our pill reserves, we only had two hundred."

"The other three hundred were congratulatory gifts from the various factions!"

"Since they're congratulatory gifts, they naturally belong to you."

Qin Yuntian smiled warmly. "Hao, with these Body Tempering Pills, are you confident you can break through to the seventh layer of the Body Tempering Realm?"

Qin Hao's eyes brightened slightly, and he said confidently, "Of course. No problem!"

"But these people really were willing to part with quite a fortune!"

Three hundred Body Tempering Pills—even divided among the many factions, it was a painful bleeding of their resources.

"Nothing but opportunistic petty men. Without a warning, they'd really think the Qin clan was a paper tiger." Qin Yuntian sneered. "Enough about that. Hao, get some proper rest. We leave early tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, Father!" Qin Hao nodded.

Five hundred Body Tempering Pills...

Qin Hao was confident he could push his Martial Soul to Fourth-Grade Martial Soul!

"If anything comes up, tell me at any time."

Qin Yuntian laughed, waved a hand, and strode briskly out.

After watching Qin Yuntian leave, Qin Hao looked at the ten jade bottles on the table, his heart overflowing with wild joy.

"Father has done me an enormous favor this time!"

Qin Hao's gaze burned with excitement.

With almost no hesitation, Qin Hao immediately sat cross-legged.

Hum!

The next second, the golden little sword, Sword Soul, appeared out of thin air.

Holding a jade bottle in his left hand, Qin Hao poured a pill into his right while circulating the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art.

Then he swallowed the Body Tempering Pill.

"Hm? It refines them this quickly?"

Almost instantly, the Body Tempering Pill was completely refined. With a strange look in his eyes, Qin Hao simply poured out over a dozen Body Tempering Pills and swallowed them in one mouthful.

Thirty Body Tempering Pills!

Eighty Body Tempering Pills!

Three hundred and ninety Body Tempering Pills!

At the same time, Qin Hao felt the golden little sword tremble faintly. Its golden light blazed even brighter, and waves of terrifying pressure filled the entire room.

"Just a little more!"

Excitement surged through Qin Hao as he refined the Body Tempering Pills even faster.

Four hundred!

Four hundred and eighty!

Boom!

As though his soul had been elevated, Qin Hao shuddered from head to toe. The golden little sword before his chest abruptly grew several centimeters, drawing a little closer to a full meter in length!

An even more terrifying aura radiated from the entire little sword.

"A Fourth-Grade Martial Soul!"

"The advancement succeeded!"

Excitement spread across Qin Hao's face. With his Martial Soul's advancement to fourth grade, he could clearly feel that its pressure had increased severalfold.

Moreover, even without activating the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art, his Martial Soul continued slowly absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy on its own.

Even in the Myriad Phenomena Hall, someone with a Fourth-Grade Martial Soul would be considered a rare genius.

"Let's test my cultivation speed!"

Qin Hao circulated the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art. Instantly, vast amounts of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy frantically converged on him.

Like an enormous furnace, his body ravenously absorbed the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.

A short while later...

Hum!

As naturally as water flowing into a completed channel, Qin Hao's cultivation broke through to the early seventh layer of the Body Tempering Realm!

Then...

The middle seventh layer of the Body Tempering Realm!

The late seventh layer of the Body Tempering Realm!

The peak seventh layer of the Body Tempering Realm!

There were even faint signs that he might break through to the eighth layer of the Body Tempering Realm.

"An entire major realm in one go."

A faint smile touched Qin Hao's lips. "But I can't keep breaking through. The Body Tempering Realm focuses on tempering the body. Advancing too quickly isn't necessarily a good thing."

In just a few short hours, he had broken through several stages in succession.

Even the Myriad Phenomena Hall's most talented disciples probably could not accomplish that!

Just then, an intense sense of danger welled up within him.

"Someone's on the roof!"

Qin Hao's pupils abruptly contracted. He sprang to his feet and reached for the Long Sword beside him.

"Qin Hao, die! Die!"

An utterly savage aura spread through the room.

A black-clad man suddenly leaped down from the roof, brimming with murderous intent, and struck at Qin Hao with his palm.

Bang!

Qin Hao reacted extremely quickly, blocking with the Long Sword in his hand. With a bang, he was knocked several steps backward. His face flushed slightly before returning to normal.

"Liu Chengfeng, it's you!"

Once Qin Hao saw who had come, his expression abruptly darkened.

It was none other than the Elder of Liu, Liu Chengfeng.

"Hm? The peak seventh layer of the Body Tempering Realm? You consumed the Azure Origin Fruit?"

Liu Chengfeng was briefly startled, then sneered. "Even if you consumed the Azure Origin Fruit and raised your cultivation, you're still certain to die today!"

"This day next year will be the anniversary of your death!"