Seventh Qi Refining Level

Xu Changxing stared at the shifting text in his sea of consciousness, his thoughts tumbling into disarray.

Three simulations, three deaths. Being a demonic cultivator is way too dangerous!

He had barely finished lamenting when the text in his sea of consciousness shifted again.

[Simulation ended]

[Assessment: Sometimes, luck matters quite a bit, too]

[Based on the simulation results, you may choose one of the following rewards]

[1. View footage of your simulated life from a first-person perspective]

[2. Cultivation at the seventh Qi Refining level]

The corner of Xu Changxing's mouth twitched. "I choose 2."

As his words fell, another warm current surged from his dantian.

His dantian slowly expanded along with it.

A moment later, he suddenly felt the warm current begin spreading through his limbs and meridians.

Wherever it passed, his pores opened wide, releasing a layer of foul-smelling sweat.

This was marrow cleansing!

Xu Changxing had long heard that reaching the seventh Qi Refining level marked a turning point in cultivation.

At the seventh Qi Refining level, the dantian would vibrate spontaneously, producing a marrow-cleansing effect.

He had never expected the reward to grant him the marrow cleansing as well.

With his marrow cleansed, he no longer had to restrict himself to low-level Spell Arts when fighting others.

With the slightest movement, he could crush ordinary martial artists of the mortal world.

He tried throwing a punch, and it stirred up a powerful gust, as though his fist were a thousand-pound iron hammer.

Feeling the changes in his body, Xu Changxing was filled with delight once more.

With this strength, he could crush Gao Teng to death with ease.

But he did not rashly go looking for trouble with Gao Teng.

His strength had skyrocketed so suddenly that his body had yet to adjust. Taking advantage of these two free days, he worked on quickly adapting to his new cultivation level.

Meanwhile, he also took out the blank talisman paper he had bought earlier.

His cultivation had previously been too low, so he could only draw the lowest-grade talismans.

Now that his cultivation had soared, he could finally draw talismans of a slightly higher grade.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Early on the third morning, someone kicked his door open.

Gao Teng strode in menacingly, followed by several attendants wielding sharp blades.

Perhaps they did not want anyone watching; after the last attendant entered, he casually closed the door behind him.

By then, Gao Teng had already walked up to Xu Changxing.

He glanced at the half-finished talisman Xu Changxing was drawing and sneered:

"Tsk, tsk. Death's already knocking, and you still have time to draw talismans.

"Did I beat you stupid?"

Xu Changxing glanced at him. "Get out now, and I can let what happened before slide."

Gao Teng froze for a moment, then flew into a rage:

"You fucking have a death wish, huh? Today, I'll make sure you learn what our Yin Corpse Sect is capable of!"

He raised his hand and summoned three Corpse Yin with bronze skin and iron bones.

Before their deaths, each had been a top martial artist of the mortal world. After being refined into Corpse Yin, they had grown even stronger.

The three Corpse Yin lunged at Xu Changxing at once, their charge terrifying.

Yet Xu Changxing's expression did not change in the slightest.

He pressed two fingers together and barked, "Go!"

Several blades of qi burst forth simultaneously, slicing the three Corpse Yin into scattered pieces in an instant.

Gao Teng's pupils contracted sharply, his eyes filling with terror.

"You..."

Before he could finish, a blade of qi swept straight across his neck, sending his head flying.

Blood spurted from his severed neck, splashing over the nearby thugs.

None of them had imagined that Xu Changxing, whom they had beaten up only a few days earlier, could become so powerful. They all stood dumbfounded.

Only one quick-witted thug turned and ran toward the closed door.

But now that Xu Changxing had struck, he would show no mercy.

Several more blades of qi flashed past, killing every thug on the spot.

Looking at the severed limbs scattered across the floor, Xu Changxing frowned slightly.

In the decade or so since transmigrating here, he had witnessed murder more than once.

But this was the first time he had killed anyone himself.

He quickly steadied his mind, then began searching the scattered body parts for spoils.

The first thing he found was Gao Teng's Storage Bag.

To Xu Changxing's delight, it was actually a spatial Storage Bag.

Because the Storage Bag was of relatively low quality, it had no restrictions placed on it. With a light shake, Xu Changxing tipped out the spirit stones inside.

He gave them a rough count and found more than a hundred and eighty low-grade spirit stones in the Storage Bag.

Besides the spirit stones, there was even a bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills inside.

Although both Spirit-Gathering Pills and spirit stones could be used for cultivation, cultivating with pills was far faster.

This small bottle contained a full twelve Spirit-Gathering Pills, worth sixty or seventy low-grade spirit stones.

Xu Changxing continued rummaging and found an assortment of miscellaneous items.

Together, these things could fetch another thirty or forty low-grade spirit stones, though they would be nowhere near as easy to sell as the Spirit-Gathering Pills.

After putting everything away, Xu Changxing searched Gao Teng's attendants as well.

These men were far poorer.

Even after searching them thoroughly, Xu Changxing found only a dozen or so low-grade spirit stones and some herbs of mediocre quality.

Sure enough, murder and plunder are the fastest way to earn spirit stones.

As he grumbled inwardly, he finished putting away his spoils and walked out of his thatched hut.

The moment Xu Changxing stepped outside, he noticed several astonished gazes in the distance.

They belonged to vendors running stalls in the market.

Ever since Gao Teng and his men had kicked open Xu Changxing's door, they had been secretly watching.

They clearly had not expected Xu Changxing to be the first person to emerge from the room.

One sharp-eyed vendor immediately spotted the bloodstained Storage Bag on Xu Changxing, and his mouth unwittingly fell wide open.

Ignoring them, Xu Changxing headed straight into the hills behind the market and left the place.

He found a secluded spot and summoned the system again.

Since his cultivation had reached the seventh Qi Refining level, this simulation would cost a full 64 points.

Although this was not his first time seeing that number, it still pained him.

Sixty-four low-grade spirit stones were a fortune he had never possessed before.

Yet he did not hesitate. He simply grabbed the spirit stones and said softly, "Recharge!"

As his words fell, the spiritual energy within the stones rapidly vanished.

After repeating this several times, he finally brought his balance up to 64 points.

Then he started the simulation without hesitation.

[Day one: Keenly aware of the hardships of being a demonic cultivator, you prepare to leave this place and cultivate in territory belonging to righteous cultivators.

While running your stall earlier, you heard that the Setting Sun Sect lies a few hundred miles to the south. You decide to try your luck there.]

[Day two: After running a hundred miles, you arrive at a ruined temple and decide to rest here for a while.

You have only rested a short while when a hunter arrives outside the temple.

The hunter carries a dead deer on his back. It seems he has just finished hunting and also intends to stop here.

But after seeing you, he has the good sense to leave.]