Talent, resources, and all the necessary conditions were already in place.
Breaking through to the fifth order was no difficulty at all for Jiang Li.
He took the singular velvet sky chrysanthemum first.
Immediately afterward, a powerful force erupted within Jiang Li, surging wildly into his limbs and every bone in his body, improving his physique.
His external spiritual power rose rapidly.
So-called external spiritual power was, in fact, physical strength.
In this regard, the rules of the Holy Demon Continent were very unusual.
Before awakening internal spiritual power, the upper limit of external spiritual power was 200.
Neither growing older, training like mad, nor taking pills could push it any further.
Only after awakening internal spiritual power could one continue growing stronger.
But that growth had its limits.
Only knights and warriors could keep strengthening their external spiritual power as their overall strength increased.
For professions such as mages, summoners, and priests, even if their strength reached a very powerful realm, the increase in their external spiritual power remained extremely limited.
Of course, priests who could go berserk were exceptions, special cases in their own right.
Jiang Li's external spiritual power was formidable. Before forming a contract with Qian Renxue, he had already used warriors' cultivation methods to raise it to a level comparable to a third-order knight's.
Knights themselves cultivated both magic and battle aura, and as his cultivation rose, his external spiritual power had advanced further as well.
By now, it was comparable to that of a third-order, fourth-level knight.
In other words, even without spiritual power, he could fight a third-order member of the Demon Race with his physique alone.
He had achieved such a physique through the arrangements Ye Hua had made for him, combined with his own research, frenzied bodily tempering, and rigorous training.
Now, after taking the singular velvet sky chrysanthemum, Jiang Li's physique strengthened again, undergoing a transformation.
Moreover, he had also taken ten-thousand-year whale glue not long ago.
As the medicinal potency continued to dissolve and merge into him, his physique kept improving, and Jiang Li's external spiritual power grew stronger and ever more heaven-defying.
At this moment, however, Jiang Li was not dwelling on any of that. His attention was immersed elsewhere.
The singular velvet sky chrysanthemum sent qi through the limbs and blood through the eight meridians, forged an indestructible body, strengthened one's foundation and nourished one's vitality, helped break through bottlenecks, and increased physical strength.
Right now, he was carefully sensing the locations of the eight meridians within his body.
In his previous life, he had never studied the so-called eight extraordinary meridians and knew nothing about them.
He had also considered creating his own cultivation method. After all, although research into meridians on the Holy Demon Continent was not extensive, its understanding of acupoints was profound, providing a natural foundation.
Previously, he had obtained the Angel Meditation Method from Qian Renxue, which included some methods for circulating soul power through the meridians.
Combining this with the Holy Demon Continent's research into spirit apertures already provided the rudiments needed to create a cultivation method.
What he currently lacked was the core of the eight extraordinary meridians.
And this gap, this final piece of the puzzle, could be filled through whale rubber and immortal herbs.
Whale rubber could expand the meridians, allowing him to identify where his meridians lay throughout his body and gain a rough outline and initial framework.
Both the singular velvet sky chrysanthemum and the narcissus jade muscle bone had such effects.
With these, he could identify the structure of the human body's meridians, then combine that with the Holy Demon Continent's legacy to fully establish the structure of its acupoints and meridians, comparing them against various meditation methods to determine their functions and characteristics.
And construct a cultivation method.
As Jiang Li took the immortal herb and strengthened his physique, the spiritual power between heaven and earth began gathering within his body, bringing out the herb's medicinal properties to their fullest extent.
Before he knew it, a night had passed.
When he opened his eyes again, his strength had successfully broken through to the realm of a fifth-order knight.
Based on the characteristics of his mount, he should have been called a Sky Knight.
After all, his mount could fly.
Moreover, he had done more than merely enter the fifth order.
His internal spiritual power had reached 2,780. Under a more detailed classification, he was a Fourth-Level knight of the Fifth Order.
This improvement was nothing short of astonishing.
But what Jiang Li valued most was not this, but the increase in his external spiritual power.
His physique was now comparable to a fourth-order knight's, and a mid-level fourth-order knight's at that.
In other words, relying on physical strength alone, he could contend with a Fourth Order magical beast.
An improvement in his physique also meant an improvement in his defenses, giving him more room for error when faced with hidden arrows he could neither gauge nor block.
"Now, with my own strength alone, I can defeat a fifth-order knight fighting alongside their mount."
Jiang Li was very confident that when the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Competition began, he would surely win the championship.
After all, the champion could receive a Spirit Furnace.
His junior brother Long Haochen had a Spirit Furnace prepared for him by his father. In the original, established timeline, he had given up that Spirit Furnace for Cai'er, so it had never been something he needed to keep.
Jiang Li, however, had no way to obtain a Spirit Furnace. The Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament was an excellent opportunity.
How could he miss it?
With less than two months remaining before the Demon Hunt Squad selection, his next task was to master his combat strength and seek out skills that only fifth-order knights could put to use, making himself even stronger in battle.
His cultivation had risen, but he still had shortcomings.
Equipment and skills were things he lacked.
This was what he had to face without a powerful figure backing him.
Still, he could milk his teacher for some skills. Equipment was something he truly needed to put on the agenda and make progress on.
Meanwhile, on the Douluo Continent, Qian Renxue had already collected enough whale rubber for her needs and was preparing to return to the Holy Demon Continent.
Inside the Papal Hall in Spirit City.
Bibi Dong's feelings were extremely complicated at that moment.
Not long ago, those old fellows from the Worship Hall had sent her a large batch of things.
Things that could help her better achieve her goal, complete unification, and thereby destroy this world.
At first, Bibi Dong had thought these things were from those old fellows' private collections.
But she soon discovered that they were not products of the Douluo Continent.
As long as love was not involved, Bibi Dong had quite a good head on her shoulders.
She soon connected them to Qian Renxue's disappearance and realized that Qian Renxue had most likely obtained them somewhere else.
As someone bearing a deity's legacy, she naturally knew very well that the Douluo Continent was not the only world.
Beyond this world, there were other worlds.
Judging by the various signs, Qian Renxue was the only person who could enter that world.
In other words, Qian Renxue had ventured there all alone.
This was different from going to the Heaven Dou Empire on a mission.
Both involved coldly allowing her to go alone, but during her mission in the Heaven Dou Empire, Qian Renxue's safety could be assured.
After all, she was still on the Douluo Continent.
If anything truly happened to Qian Renxue, those old fossils in the Worship Hall would really be useless.
But now, she had gone to an unknown world where no one else could help her.
In that world, would she encounter danger? Would something go wrong and get her killed?
During this time, these things had kept surfacing in Bibi Dong's mind.
All kinds of thoughts relentlessly assailed her mind.
The Rakshasa God's Divine Examination kept beguiling him, urging him to destroy everything connected to the Angel God, while the feelings deep within his heart gave rise to thoughts and impulses to protect the Angel God.
These two extremes of thought fought ceaselessly.
She had descended completely into madness.
Before you continue