Reclaiming Shangyang Town

After achieving perfection in the first level, one can reach the Grandmaster Perfection.

The subsequent cultivation technique will condense and liquefy the True Essence in the dantian, causing the cultivation level to regress from the Grandmaster Perfection back to the Early Grandmaster.

Although his cultivation level had declined, the total amount of True Essence within his body had not decreased at all.

After repeating this process three times, the Nine Extremes Essence Condensation Art will reach the third level, which is the limit for Grandmaster, allowing one to break through to the Great Grandmaster.

The same applies to Great Grandmaster and Celestial Person Realm; each realm requires three stages of Qi Condensation, three stages of Regression, and three stages of Advancement.

When the Nine Extremes Essence Condensation Art is cultivated to the ninth level, all the True Essence in the dantian is transformed into a liquid state.

At this moment, the True Essence is inexhaustible and ever-flowing.

"Life goes on and on."

Lu Feng went through those four words in his mind, and his heart warmed slightly.

His inexhaustible True Essence means he can unleash the Nine Extremes Heaven-Breaking Slash and the Phantom Sword Art without limit.

What's even more terrifying is that this technique compresses one's True Essence.

Each time the True Essence essence is condensed, its density doubles.

At the same level, the power of one part of someone else's True Essence might be equivalent to three, five, or even more parts for him.

This technique definitely does not belong to the Heavenly Profound Continent.

He continued reading.

The opening of the exercise consists of a few lines of mantra written in an archaic style.

Through nine extreme compressions, the gaseous True Essence was condensed into a liquid state.

Upon achieving the Nine Extremes, the Qi Sea transforms into liquid, and the True Essence becomes as deep as an abyss.

When True Essence is mixed and disordered, the three poles will inevitably collapse;

Those with weak meridians will inevitably suffer damage to the five vital organs.

Those whose True Essence is not pure should not cultivate.

Those who do not have strong and resilient meridians should not practice this.

Those who are not exceptionally gifted should not attempt this.

Those who lack perseverance and resilience should not attempt this.

Good grief, the opening line is to advise against cultivation. Fortunately, Lu Feng has a system, so he doesn't need to worry about that.

If this technique fell into the wrong hands, people would have to think twice just by looking at these four lines.

But he has a system. These restrictions are meaningless to him.

He continued reading. The following content became increasingly obscure, containing phrases like "Qi is the root of liquid, and liquid is the extreme of Qi. Nine extremes and nine condensations, when condensation reaches its extreme, Qi naturally becomes liquid," "Three condensations and three retreats, endlessly repeating," and "The sea of Qi transforms into liquid, as deep as the ocean."

He recognized each word individually, but when they were put together, he couldn't understand them at all.

He spent three whole hours reading it, flipping through it three times from beginning to end, but he still couldn't understand a single sentence.

"Forget it. Let's just rely on the system."

He sighed, banished the incantations from his mind, and silently recited them in his heart.

"System, upgrade the Nine Extremes Essence Condensation Art to the first level."

The system voice came through as soon as he finished speaking.

[Ding! Host's body has been severely injured, and acupoints are blocked. Forcibly increasing the cultivation technique will lead to meridian collapse and host's death. Do you want to continue increasing the technique?]

Lu Feng felt a chill run down his spine.

"No. We will not promote him for now."

He stopped immediately.

Good heavens, that was almost a disaster.

He didn't die at Hu Xiaotian's hands, but he almost died at the hands of the system.

It seems I can only wait until my acupoints open on their own and my body recovers before considering improving my cultivation level.

Since he couldn't cultivate, he had to find something to do. His gaze fell on the Bagua formation on the high platform.

"Unfortunately, the system cannot directly upgrade formations."

As soon as he finished speaking, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

No, that's not right! We can collect the original cultivation techniques, but what about the original formations?

If the original version of this formation is engraved on something, can the system also record it?

He walked to the edge of the platform, forced out a drop of blood, and dripped it into the groove in the center of the array pattern.

The blood droplets fell to the bottom of the dried-up groove. He waited for a long time, but the formation did not react, and the system did not give any prompts.

"That's true. This formation is clearly man-made; it couldn't possibly be the original."

Lu Feng withdrew his hand and shook his head self-deprecatingly.

But it's worth a try; at least I'll give up.

On the other side, in Shangyang Town.

Inside a stone house that had been half-shaved off by war, Wu Qingfeng stood in front of the remaining half of the wall, with a simple table made of rubble behind him.

Xiao Tianqi, Song Xuanji, Lu Qingshan, Qin Bailian and several others stood on both sides.

Everyone's face showed a relaxed expression that hadn't been seen for many days.

"Si Zheng, currently within Shangyang Town, apart from those two fifth-tier Blood-Pupiled Ape, no other fifth-tier demonic beasts have been found. The remaining low-tier demonic beasts are not a threat."

Qin Bailian spoke first, his tone much more relaxed than in the past few days.

"Shangyang Town has been captured by us. As long as we repair the barrier, the demonic beasts from outside the pass won't be able to get in. The rest is just like catching a turtle in a jar," Lu Qingshan added with a smile.

Song Xuanji sighed. "But the garrison at Severed Cloud Pass, and the more than ten thousand civilians in Shouyun City..."

The smiles on everyone's faces froze for a moment, and their expressions turned serious again.

Wu Qingfeng raised his hand to compose himself, his voice steady.

"Everyone, there's no need to worry. Guan Shanhai just sent word that Hu Xiaotian has been lured away by Lu Feng. Shouyun City's defensive formation has not been breached."

Is this really true?

Lu Qingshan looked up abruptly, his face filled with disbelief.

"Guan Shanhai has no reason to lie to us about something like this. Besides, Hu Xiaotian hasn't returned to Shouyun City since he left," Wu Qingfeng said with certainty.

Seeing Wu Qingfeng's certainty, everyone was overjoyed, except for Song Xuanji and Xiao Tianqi.

Lu Qingshan ignored their expressions and continued talking to himself.

"Young friend Lu Feng has done a great service this time. I wonder what method he used to lure Hu Xiaotian away!"

"Brother Xiao, Lu Feng really made your North City Demon-Slaying Bureau Division shine this time! Hmm... why do you look like that?"

Lu Qingshan was puzzled to see that Xiao Tianqi was calm and composed, with no smile on his lips.

Xiao Tianqi looked up at Lu Qingshan and said in a calm tone:

"Nothing to be happy about! It's too early to celebrate. The most urgent task is to gather the disciples near Shangyang Town and deal with those low-level demonic beasts!"

"Only then can we concentrate on dealing with Hu Xiaotian and the many Demon Lord!"

"Haha! Brother Xiao is right, we will immediately send a message for our disciples to come!" Wu Qingfeng chimed in at the right moment, smoothing things over.

Upon hearing this, Song Xuanji said nothing, and his expression instantly returned to normal.

The group reached into their robes, took out their tokens, dripped blood onto them, and began transmitting the message.

Dozens of kilometers away from Shangyang Town, in a secluded mountain valley.

Su Ying and the others are here.

In the mountain valley, hundreds of people were fully prepared and ready to go.

They were all disciples who had evacuated from Fallen Star Plain.

Han Baizhan stood at the front of the group, surrounded by several Grandmaster disciples including Su Ying and Shen Qingwu.

"We've just received news that Si Zheng and his men have successfully captured Shangyang Town."

As soon as Han Baizhan finished speaking, smiles appeared on the faces of the group. They exchanged glances, relieved.

Only Su Ying stood to the side, her gaze passing over everyone's heads, looking at the distant, hazy horizon, her thoughts elsewhere.

Not long ago, she heard Han Baizhan say that Lu Feng had lured away the sixth-tier Demon Emperor Hu Xiaotian, and she became very worried.

That's a sixth-tier Demon Emperor, equivalent to a Celestial Person Realm expert. Not to mention Grandmaster, even Great Grandmaster would be in extreme danger.

At this moment, no one cared about Lu Feng's safety, nor did anyone notice Su Ying's emotions.