Origin Energy Pill

PS: Please recommend!

"I'll give you a chance as well. Leave immediately." Ye Chen had used only half his strength just now; his true power had yet to be unleashed.

As though he had heard the funniest joke in the world, Li Bu burst into loud laughter. The killing intent in his laughter was undisguised—Ye Chen had clearly truly enraged him.

"Looks like you won't give up until you reach the Yellow River. Get on your knees!" Even as his laughter echoed, Li Bu had already charged forward. Along the way, his blade flashed, slicing through the air as it cleaved out with an aura that made gods and ghosts flee, vowing not to return without drawing blood.

Ye Chen stood motionless where he was, looking as if the fierce blade light had frightened him senseless.

Seeing this, Li Bu bared his teeth in a savage grin, wondering whether he should chop off one of Ye Chen's arms first, or one of his ears—or perhaps take both?

Hm, still thinking of resisting?

Li Bu saw Ye Chen's right hand resting on the sword hilt, his gaze seeming empty yet not empty.

Clang!

The next instant, a stunning Sword Light sprang into existence from thin air, thrusting out at an inconceivable speed before immediately retracting and returning to its sheath.

Li Bu stood there dumbly and looked down. At some point, a sword hole had appeared in the left side of his abdomen, piercing straight through his back. Blood dyed his clothes red.

"Impossible! Impossible! I reached the peak Qi Cultivation Realm Tenth Layer a year ago. How could I have been instantly killed?" Li Bu's expression was savage, yet it gave off a feeling of weakness beneath a tough exterior.

Ye Chen said calmly, "I won't kill you today, but if you come to provoke me again, the consequences will not be so simple."

Picking up his large leather bag, Ye Chen left the group with only his back in view.

Qingfeng Town.

Spirit Herb Pavilion.

The shopkeeper stared in astonishment at the Demonic Beast materials on the counter. It was not that there was anything wrong with the materials, but that their seller was simply too shocking. If a Qi Cultivation Realm Tenth Layer martial artist had obtained so many Demonic Beast materials, he would not have been this surprised. The key was that the other party was merely at the early Qi Cultivation Realm Seventh Layer.

"Red-Armored Spider materials, nine hundred taels; Earth-Splitting Centipede materials, twelve hundred taels; Crimson Flame Bird materials, thirteen hundred taels; Earth Viper materials, eight hundred taels; ... Tiger-Wolf Beast materials, eleven hundred taels. The total comes to twenty-eight thousand eight hundred taels of silver."

"The usual. Exchange it all for banknotes, and get me a bottle of Evil-Warding Potion as well." A Demonic Beast Core was more effective than Spirit Stones alone, and Ye Chen would not waste it.

"You have a Demonic Beast Core?" The shopkeeper's eyes lit up.

"Is there a problem?"

The shopkeeper said, "Would you be willing to sell this Inner Core to the Spirit Herb Pavilion?"

Ye Chen shook his head. "I'm not short on money. What I lack is time."

"What if I exchange an Origin Energy Pill for it? To be honest, the owner of our Spirit Herb Pavilion is experimenting with a new kind of pills and requires a great number of Demonic Beast Cores. The effects of one Origin Energy Pill are absolutely no less than an Inner Core with three months' worth of potency, and it would also save you the silver needed to buy Evil-Warding Potion."

Origin Energy Pill? Ye Chen was stunned. This kind of pill could save a Qi Cultivation Realm martial artist three months of hard work. Though the Tiger-Wolf Beast Inner Core was good, after using Evil-Warding Potion to expel its Demonic Energy, it could at most save two or three months of effort, making it inferior instead. Not to mention that it would also save him a bottle of Evil-Warding Potion worth over ten thousand taels.

"Fine, I agree to the exchange." Ye Chen nodded.

After leaving the Spirit Herb Pavilion, Ye Chen headed toward a restaurant.

"Young master, please have mercy! Give my pitiful daughter a bite to eat. In my next life, I'll serve you like an ox or a horse." At the entrance of the restaurant stood a middle-aged woman with a little girl. Both wore ragged clothes, their faces grimy. The little girl seemed starving; she sucked on her fingers as she gazed hopefully at the passing customers.

Unfortunately, no one paid them any attention. They found them dirty and could not even spare them a glance.

Seeing how pitiful they were, Ye Chen took out a piece of silver from his money pouch and tossed it over.

To him, small money was never lacking; what he lacked was big money. An ordinary meal cost at least ten or twenty taels of silver, so his standard of living was exceptionally luxurious.

"Thank you, thank you!" The middle-aged woman was too excited for words. She had brought her pitiful daughter to Qingfeng Town several days ago. Those who gave her money were mostly commoners, or elderly beggars, while the wealthy and noble would not part with a single coin.

Ye Chen waved his hand and stepped into the restaurant.

The little girl beside the middle-aged woman stared blankly at Ye Chen's retreating back. Her eyes held so very much, impossible to erase.

Second floor.

Sitting by the window, Ye Chen was still thinking about what had just happened.

"Compared to martial artists and wealthy families, the lives of commoners and the poor are far too bitter. I can earn hundreds or thousands of taels just by hunting one Demonic Beast, while they still struggle for three meals a day. Countless people starve to death. Does fate truly exist in Heaven?"

Only now did Ye Chen feel that he had truly blended into this world, feeling its joys and sorrows, its partings and reunions, and the suffering of all living beings.

Before this, he had always regarded himself as an outsider, a passerby.

"I won't think about it anymore. There are countless poor people on the True Spirit Continent; even if I wanted to help them, I couldn't help them all. I can only make sure to help every one I encounter."

After finishing his meal and leaving the restaurant, the mother and daughter were already gone. Perhaps they had gone to some steamed bun shop to buy buns. Ye Chen sighed and walked toward the towering Clear Wind Mountain in the distance.

By the time he returned to his secluded courtyard, night had already fallen, and a bright moon was slowly rising.

Ye Chen first took a bath to wash away the dust and grime from his body. Only then did he sit cross-legged on the bed, preparing to refine the newly acquired Origin Energy Pill into his own Internal Energy.

The Origin Energy Pill was pale yellow, with fine cloud-like patterns on its surface and a slight translucence.

Gulp!

After swallowing the Origin Energy Pill, Ye Chen gathered his essence and guarded his unity, slowly circulating the Pure Origin Skill.

Rumble.

A tremendous roar seemed to erupt within his inner world as the Origin Energy Pill transformed into a pure, surging torrent of Origin Energy, flooding into his limbs and meridians and merging with his Internal Energy.

A full hour passed.

Ye Chen opened his eyes, and a sharp glint flashed past them.

"I charged from the early Qi Cultivation Realm Seventh Layer to the late stage in one go. It seems the Origin Energy Pill shouldn't have such a great effect, should it?" Three months of hard work raising one's cultivation to the middle stage was already quite good. After all, Ye Chen's physical aptitude was not particularly high, only barely above average. He simply could not compare with those cultivation geniuses. His sole advantage was his powerful Soul Force and extraordinary comprehension. Any Martial Arts technique in his hands could be practiced until it was as perfect as a blazing furnace and reached the summit of mastery. Yet these had little to do with the growth of cultivation; at most, they allowed him to break through realms faster without needing too much time.

Could it be that the fish meat had changed my physique? Or perhaps after Divine Strength reached great mastery, my body was extremely deficient in Origin Energy, making it more efficient and converting more Internal Energy?

Ye Chen would not dwell on things he could not understand for the moment. What he needed to consider was how to cultivate the Third Art of the Jade Tempering Body Strengthening Art.

Unlike ordinary cultivation methods, body-strengthening arts were usually very difficult to practice. This had nothing to do with comprehension; what was needed was an opportunity and a method. Otherwise, one could only gaze at the ocean and sigh.

Of course, it was not that Ye Chen lacked the ability to cultivate it. Rather, the method for cultivating the Third Art was somewhat strange: it actually required him to absorb the jade energy within jade stones and merge it with his flesh.