Rumble!
Whoosh!
As the Five Viscera Inner Cultivation Method continued to circulate,
sounds like rolling thunder and surging rivers actually arose from within Qin Zheng's body.
Qin Zheng knew that these were the sounds produced by the vibrations of his five viscera and the circulation of his blood and qi.
And as the commotion grew louder and louder, he could feel his inner body gradually becoming stronger and stronger.
Beneath his skin, his flesh was washed by surging blood and qi until it nearly became as translucent as blood jade.
Bang!
At a certain moment, Qin Zheng seemed to hear an illusory sound beside his ear.
When he came back to his senses, he realized that the Five Viscera Internal Cultivation Art had stopped circulating.
And his Flesh-Refining Realm had silently reached perfection. He had successfully broken through three great barriers and advanced to the Muscle-Refining Realm!
Even though Qin Zheng had long imagined how formidable inner cultivation would be,
at this moment, he was still plunged into deep shock.
Just half a day of cultivation was equivalent to several months of moving blood and qi through external cultivation!
Though this was because it was Qin Zheng's first time cultivating, releasing in one burst the blood and qi that had accumulated in his body for far too long,
achieving this much was still truly astonishing!
No wonder the great clans and noble houses kept inner cultivation tightly in their grasp. Such cultivation speed was simply too terrifying!
If everyone were allowed to cultivate inner cultivation freely, the number of martial artists across the land would likely erupt like a volcanic spring!
And as the saying went, heroes use martial prowess to defy the law. Once there were too many martial artists, the entire realm would descend into chaos!
Qin Zheng rose to his feet and sensed the strength of his inner body.
Now that his Flesh-Refining Realm had reached perfection and he had advanced to the Muscle-Refining Realm, his inner body could withstand even greater power.
He could now mobilize four thousand jin of force without the slightest strain.
If he forced it, he could even wield a majestic strength of five thousand jin!
Such power had already far surpassed the three thousand jin of strength a Bone-Refining Realm martial artist could unleash!
Thus, in terms of strength alone, Qin Zheng had already broken free from the first realm of martial arts!
Yet Ji Changyin had not mentioned what realm lay beyond it when he had explained martial cultivation to Qin Zheng that day.
Nor had Qin Zheng learned any related information elsewhere.
In a remote border town like Black Goose City, the first realm of martial arts—the four great barriers of Skin, Flesh, Tendon, and Bone—was already a level beyond the reach of most.
No one dared hope to learn what realm lay beyond the Bone-Refining Realm.
After returning this time, perhaps he could try to find out what realm came after the four great barriers of Skin, Flesh, Tendon, and Bone.
With that thought, Qin Zheng split off a thread of his awareness and sank it into the sea of his mind, looking toward the Merit Scroll floating within.
Qin Zheng Lifespan: 70 (17) Martial Arts: Five Viscera Inner Cultivation Method (Beginner), Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill (Fourth Layer), Great Sun Golden Cicada Skill (Mastery) Merit: Eleven taels, eight mace Current martial art: Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill can be upgraded. Requires one tael of merit. Upgrade? Current martial art: Great Sun Golden Cicada Skill can be upgraded. Requires eight taels of merit. Upgrade? Current martial art: Five Viscera Inner Cultivation Method can be upgraded. Requires ten taels of merit. Upgrade?
The Five Viscera Inner Cultivation Method was at Beginner level, the Great Sun Golden Cicada Skill at Mastery, the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill at the Fourth Layer, and all his other martial arts had reached perfection.
Without realizing it, Qin Zheng had already cultivated so many martial arts and pushed them all to respectable levels.
But likewise, he only had eleven taels and eight mace of merit left.
Of those remaining eleven taels and eight mace, at least one tael had to be used to upgrade the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill.
That meant the remaining ten taels of merit could only be used to upgrade either the Five Viscera Internal Cultivation Art or the Great Sun Golden Cicada Skill.
Yet one could accelerate the refinement of his inner body, while the other could strengthen his spiritual perception.
Both were things Qin Zheng currently wanted to improve.
"Still not enough merit."
Qin Zheng sighed softly, a feeling of poverty rising in his heart.
But after some consideration, Qin Zheng still decided to upgrade the Five Viscera Inner Cultivation Method first.
After all, the realm of the inner body was the foundation of everything. Only with a powerful inner body could he support all kinds of formidable external cultivation arts.
Therefore, Qin Zheng did not hesitate. He immediately muttered in his heart once more, "Upgrade the Five Viscera Internal Cultivation Art!"
At once, ten taels of merit were deducted from the Merit Scroll.
In response, Qin Zheng's five viscera began to emit a faint glow.
Qin Zheng could feel that, in that instant, his five viscera seemed to have been strengthened!
The five viscera were where spirit, blood and qi, soul, and essence were stored!
The moment his five viscera were strengthened, Qin Zheng's spirit and flesh both jolted violently and were strengthened as well!
Immediately afterward, his five viscera began to vibrate with even greater force.
It was as though they drew out the deep reserves of blood and qi hidden throughout his body, washing over all his flesh and blood along even more mysterious paths like great rivers.
After the upgrade, the cultivation method operated more efficiently, and the speed at which his inner body strengthened increased accordingly!
At this rate, it would not be long before he brought the Muscle-Refining Realm to perfection and advanced to the Bone-Refining Realm!
Qin Zheng could sense that, at most, he would need three months to break through the four great barriers in succession and reach the Bone-Refining Realm!
If he had enough merit to upgrade the Five Viscera Internal Cultivation Art again, perhaps he would not even need three months!
But before the inner cultivation method had circulated for long, Qin Zheng discovered that the blood and qi in his body had begun to thin.
His five viscera gradually calmed as well.
At the same time, a wave of dizziness rushed into his mind, and a weakness like anemia flooded his heart.
No!
Inner cultivation progresses too quickly! The consumption of blood and qi in my body is speeding up as well!
The blood and qi accumulated in my body is no longer enough to support the circulation of the cultivation method!
I need to replenish my flesh and blood, to fill this deficit in blood and qi!
Qin Zheng immediately turned his head toward the headless bear corpse beside him. Green light bloomed in his eyes, and he looked like a starving ghost!
"Steamed buns! Fresh, thin-skinned steamed buns!"
"Candied hawthorn! Candied hawthorn for sale!"
"..."
At noon, the streets in the southern district of Black Goose City were filled with all kinds of hawking cries.
Dressed in coarse linen garments and carrying a Ghost-Head Saber on his back, Qin Zheng slowly made his way home.
He had only been gone for three days, yet Black Goose City had already returned to normal, as though the bandits' attack on the city had never happened.
The entire city was once again brimming with life.
However, Qin Zheng noticed that besides the common people, there were now several monks in white robes on the streets.
Their robes resembled those worn by Wuchang the Monk from Rebirth Temple. They were likely monks from Rebirth Temple as well.
Groups of two or three commoners gathered around these monks, their faces devout as they followed along in chanting Buddhist scriptures.
When they finished, they handed their silver, eggs, or meat to the monks.
And the monks did not refuse. They accepted everything with cheerful smiles.
Thinking of what Zhang Xiuwen had said—that the monks of Rebirth Temple seemed to have some sort of deal with Gao Wusheng—
Qin Zheng immediately lost any favorable impression of these monks.
Now that he saw this scene, he felt even more that something was wrong with them.
Still, they had not provoked him, and it was none of his business, so Qin Zheng headed toward the small courtyard in the southern district.
He had spent three days in the deep mountains. Besides eating meat and cultivating, he had also tried to search for traces of the old monk.
But he had not found any trace of the old monk. Instead, he had killed several bandits who had fled into the mountains, accumulating some merit.
Now that he had returned to Black Goose City and found everything normal, he finally set his mind at ease.
He headed toward the small courtyard where Qi Yan and the others were staying, arriving at the gate shortly afterward.
After knocking several times, there was no response.
Qin Zheng's gaze sharpened. He immediately released his spiritual perception and instantly discovered that the small courtyard was completely empty!
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