Hu Shi left the Xu Household in high spirits.
Orders were passed down one after another. Hu Shi's father was promoted to chief instructor of the Xu Household, and trustworthy people were selected for Hu Shi to arrange to study artifact refining.
In just one day, news that the Xu Household had developed weapons imbued with spirituality swept through Canglan City.
Preorders!
Orders fell like snowflakes. Martial halls, small lineages, and others sent countless orders pouring in, packing all five weapon workshops to overflowing.
Even several neighboring major cities received the news. Several spiritual weapons hung in the halls, none for sale, drawing countless people to stop and look.
The five weapon workshops went into full production. Hu Shi brought all his skills to bear, refining day and night. More and more weapons left the Xu Household, making its name resound throughout Canglan City, with signs of gradually spreading across the entire Great Yan Imperial Dynasty.
The Tian Household!
Patriarch Tian Qisha's expression was terrifyingly dark. The Tian Household had paid an astronomical price to poach the Xu Household's master artifact refiners. Their first batch of weapons had yet to fully reach the market, and now look what had happened: the moment the Xu Household's spiritual weapons appeared, no one even inquired about the Tian Household's business anymore.
Most frightening of all, the Xu Household had improved its weapons' quality without changing their prices. That was truly terrifying. Under otherwise equal conditions, who would not choose something of better quality? Forget competing-the Tian Household's weapons were not even fit to carry their shoes.
They had lost the lady and their troops as well!
"Damn it!"
Tian Qisha hurled the cup in his hand against the floor, gritting his teeth in fury.
"Patriarch, what should we do? Many people outside have come to cancel their orders. They're tearing up their contracts, even forfeiting their deposits."
The Tian Household was in chaos. They had spent countless resources building several artifact-refining workshops, only to face closing their doors before they had even officially opened. It was like a heavy hammer had struck the Tian Household on the head, leaving everyone reeling.
This was also why Liu Wuxie had insisted that Hu Shi work it out within three days-to give the Tian Household no chance to catch its breath.
Only five or six days had passed since they poached the Xu Household's master artifact refiners. Building weapon workshops took time, and refining weapons took time too. Once everything was properly arranged, they discovered that it was all one enormous joke.
After finishing the work at hand, Xu Yilin rose and headed toward Liu Wuxie's courtyard.
The weapon workshops were already on track, and Lingxue had entered the Imperial Academy to cultivate. Liu Wuxie was the only one he still worried about.
For three days, Liu Wuxie had not stepped beyond his doors. The food the steward brought remained in the courtyard.
He devoted himself entirely to repairing his heart meridians. There could be no mistakes.
After three days, relying on his powerful soul force, he reconnected the final heart meridian. A surging force burst from within his body, forming a blast of air that swept through his surroundings.
Every table and chair in the room was thrown into the air. His cultivation climbed to the peak of the ninth layer of the Houtian Realm, yet showed no sign of stopping.
His hands formed a profound seal, and the Spiritual Qi above the courtyard surged madly into the room.
An enormous vortex appeared above the roof, with Spiritual Qi spiraling like a funnel.
Before Xu Yilin even approached the courtyard, a trace of horror crossed his face. The Spiritual Qi above the entire Xu Household was rapidly flowing in this direction. Just what was happening?
Over the past few days, servants had repeatedly reported that the Spiritual Qi above the Xu Household was disappearing for no apparent reason.
"This is..."
He pushed open the courtyard gate and stood inside. Dense Spiritual Qi enveloped Xu Yilin, and disbelief showed in his eyes.
He rarely visited this courtyard. Liu Wuxie had been a wastrel, and the servants shunned him. He lived alone in this area, which at least made it peaceful.
"What is this brat doing? Is he going to drain all the Spiritual Qi above the Xu Household?"
Xu Yilin knew a little about formations. There had to be something strange about this courtyard, some profound formation laid out to draw Spiritual Qi here. Even the Song Household, renowned for formations, probably could not accomplish this.
Then!
Something even more terrifying happened. The Spiritual Qi of all Canglan City gathered in this direction, condensing into spiritual rain that poured down over the Xu Household.
Great swaths of vegetation grew wildly. The sight startled all of Canglan City.
"Who is breaking through to cause such a heaven-shaking phenomenon?"
Many people appeared on the streets and looked toward the sky above the Xu Household, wanting to know just what it was doing to plunder so much Spiritual Qi.
Terrifying Innate Spirit burst from Liu Wuxie's room, making Xu Yilin stagger.
If Innate Spirit were compared to water, an ordinary person's breakthrough was a trickling stream, and a genius's was a torrential downpour. The Innate Spirit that had just erupted was like a raging flood and ferocious beasts, forcing back someone in the Spirit Cleansing Realm. How could that not be horrifying?
"Did Wuxie cause this?"
Xu Yilin was nearly frantic. He wanted to push open the door and look inside, but a sign reading "Do not disturb" hung on it. Even he dared not enter lightly at this critical moment in a breakthrough.
Even if someone entered by mistake, Liu Wuxie had made preparations. He had set up an illusion formation inside the room; anyone entering would lose all perception.
The Innate Spirit poured down like torrential rain, striking the ground with the clatter of jade falling onto a pearl platter. It was almost tangible. If this was a breakthrough to the Xiantian Realm, how extraordinary was it?
He strode out of the courtyard and issued order after order to prevent information from leaking. News of Wuxie's breakthrough to the Xiantian Realm absolutely could not get out.
Before leaving, he glanced around the courtyard. A large quantity of medicinal herbs lay scattered on the ground. What had originally been a mere suspicion further confirmed his thoughts. A few days ago, when the incident at the weapon workshop occurred, Liu Wuxie had inexplicably appeared at the scene. Had that been a coincidence?
With a little thought, Xu Yilin could reach the answer he wanted.
Liu Wuxie felt utterly stifled at that moment. The Grand Desolation Heaven-Devouring Instruction circulated on its own. Terrifying quantities of Spiritual Qi were absorbed by the Heaven-Devouring Divine Cauldron and transformed into a rich, mellow liquid that surged through his limbs and bones.
His Dantian continued to transform, filling with Grand Desolation Qi. Its entire structure had changed. A normal person's Dantian was hazy with mist, but his resembled a Primordial Desolation World, complete with mountains and water.
The changes in his Dantian were far from the only thing that shocked him. The Heaven-Devouring Divine Cauldron was growing larger and larger. The patterns on its surface flickered in and out of sight as it unleashed a powerful suction, devouring Spiritual Qi on its own.
Things had changed. The Heaven-Devouring Divine Cauldron seemed to have advanced-or rather, it could evolve as well. As his cultivation continued to break through, the divine cauldron's power would grow ever greater.
Since it could devour Spiritual Qi, could it devour other things? That remained unknown, something he would have to keep exploring.
"With such a powerful Dantian, my True Qi will be ten or even a hundred times that of an ordinary person, letting me challenge those above my level with ease. The drawback is that every breakthrough will also require ten or even a hundred times the resources others need."
Looking at the immensely powerful Primordial Desolation World, Liu Wuxie felt equal parts joy and worry.
He spent a day stabilizing himself at the first layer of the Innate Realm and did not rush to break through further. He had very few Spirit Stones left.
Breaking through to the Xiantian Realm had consumed over sixty Spirit Stones, yet they still could not fill his Grand Desolation Dantian.
"Now I can cultivate some immortal methods."
A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Having broken through to the Xiantian Realm, he could employ some immortal methods to save his life at critical moments.
He set aside martial techniques. The Blood Rainbow Saber Technique was sufficient for his current use. His present strength could not activate saber techniques that were too advanced.
There was only one option: switch to cultivating soul force, which was not limited by cultivation realm.
"Ghost Pupil, you're the one!"
Ghost Pupil was an extremely formidable ocular technique that used the soul to attack. Before cultivating Ghost Pupil, he first had to cultivate soul force.
Only powerful soul force could activate Ghost Pupil. It was an extremely uncanny ocular technique, and he had never cultivated it to its highest realm in his previous life.
Too many of its functions remained undeveloped.
Following Ghost Pupil's cultivation pathway, he closed his eyes and sank his Divine Sense into his brain, which was filled with numerous meridians and fine patterns.
Rumble!
His consciousness entered the soul sea, the central hub of the human brain. Only Liu Wuxie dared to guide his consciousness inside. Before reaching the Marrow Cleansing Realm, no one dared touch this sacred domain of the soul sea.
It was a forbidden zone for humans. The slightest mistake would scatter one's soul.
The soul sea was similar to the Dantian. The larger the space opened within it, the stronger one's soul force and the more outstanding one's comprehension. More terrifying still was manipulating soul force to attack.
Ghost Pupil's cultivation had to be carried out within the soul sea. Following its cultivation pathways, the hazy liquid-like vapor within his soul sea suddenly stirred. Intense, stabbing pain made Liu Wuxie clench his teeth. When he first began cultivating, he found it extremely difficult to adjust.
Nausea, dizziness, and blurred vision would all occur.
Open a pathway!
Next, he had to open a pathway so his soul force could reach his eye directly and be released through Ghost Pupil. The process was extremely dangerous. The slightest carelessness would damage his soul sea, bringing all his efforts to ruin and even affecting his subsequent cultivation.
Having cultivated it once in his previous life, he found it relatively undemanding. He simply had to proceed step by step, following the original route once more.
The meridians in his brain were as fine as hairs, and opening them was an extremely slow process.
Time passed second by second. His soul force traveled through the tiny meridians like mercury.
When tired, he rested for a while and took out a Heavenly Spirit Pill to replenish his stamina.
Spirit Essence could sustain life. Even going ten days and nights without food would pose no problem.
One day passed!
Two days passed!
The Ghost Pupil Technique progressed slowly, leaving only an inch to go before reaching his right eye.
On the third day, the pathway finally connected fully. A sharp pain suddenly shot through his right eye, as though a needle had pierced it, but the pain soon passed.
He opened both eyes. His right eye seemed different, though he could not quite say how. It was brighter, with a hint of eeriness.
He circulated his soul force, and an eerie gleam shone from his right eye. The scene inside the room seemed to change. Strange patterns appeared before him. These were the Principles of heaven and earth, within reach of his hand.
An insect flew in through a crack in the door and entered the illusion formation, darting about like a headless fly.
"This..."
A trace of shock appeared on Liu Wuxie's face. Ghost Pupil seemed to have changed, becoming even more powerful than when he had cultivated it in his previous life. The insect flying before him seemed to have slowed to half its speed.
He could clearly see the fluctuations produced by every beat of its wings.
"This is far too heaven-defying. If I use the Ghost Pupil Technique in battle, won't I be able to react in advance to every change in my opponent's martial techniques?"
His face was filled with shock. The Ghost Pupil Technique was not merely a soul attack. It had another function: it could slow down the surrounding environment.
Strictly speaking, nothing had slowed down. Rather, his Ghost Pupil Technique let him see every minute change more clearly. The world before his eyes was brighter and more transparent.
A wave of dizziness struck him. Using the Ghost Pupil Technique consumed an enormous amount of soul force.