Five Elements Primordial Chaos Art
Lu Feng set the Hundred Beasts Body-Tempering Art aside and turned his gaze to another line of text: Innate Primordial Qi, progress 100%.
He remembered it clearly. The moment he broke through to Hua Jin, the system had displayed two notifications.
One congratulated him on the successful breakthrough. The other asked whether he wanted to evolve Innate Primordial Qi into a Hua Jin-level cultivation art.
At the time, Zhu Ren's attack had already been upon him, and he hadn't had time to look closely.
Now Zhu Ren was dead. The cave had collapsed. He was alone in the room.
Lu Feng looked at Innate Primordial Qi on the panel.
"System, spend one hundred thousand Demon Points to evolve Innate Primordial Qi into a Hua Jin cultivation art."
[Ding! Successfully spent 100,000 Demon Points. "Innate Primordial Qi" has evolved into "Five Elements Primordial Chaos Art."]
Lu Feng immediately checked the information on the new art.
A moment later, he slowly breathed out, a gleam flashing in his eyes.
Five Elements Primordial Chaos Art.
A Hua Jin-level primary cultivation art.
It was cultivated by drawing Nei Jin into the five organs-the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys-and circulating it through them in the order of the five elements' mutual generation, in an unending cycle.
Once cultivated to perfection, the total amount of Nei Jin in his body would be five times that of a cultivator at the same level, and it would replenish itself without end.
Five times that of others at the same level.
Lu Feng knew exactly what that meant.
Though he and someone else might both be at Early Hua Jin, his reserves of Nei Jin would be five times as deep.
Someone else would be exhausted after using one set of ultimate techniques; he could use five.
Others had to carefully ration every bit of their strength, while he could spend his freely.
Not to mention that his Nei Jin would replenish itself, recovering every moment he fought.
[Five Elements Primordial Chaos Art (progress: 0%)]
Lu Feng looked at the 0% on the panel and fell briefly into thought.
He had 153,800 Demon Points. Enough to push the Five Elements Primordial Chaos Art up a fair way. But he didn't do it.
The reason was simple: he was already at Early Hua Jin.
A newcomer who had only recently joined the Demon-Slaying Bureau and bore the rank of Demon-Slaying Guard had attracted enough attention by displaying Nei Jin cultivation.
If he were to break through to Hua Jin as well, jumping from Mid Nei Jin to Hua Jin in just a few days, he would be courting death.
It wasn't as though the Demon-Slaying Bureau had no Grandmasters.
Su Ying's father was even a Half-Step Celestial Person.
Under the noses of people like that, if his cultivation soared at a rate that defied reason, what awaited him certainly wouldn't be favor and nurturing.
Until he had enough strength to protect himself, hiding his abilities was more important than standing out.
Lu Feng closed the panel and lay down on his back on the stone bed.
The bedding was coarse and hard, but compared with those hours in the underground cave, the stone bed was as comfortable as heaven itself.
He tucked his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. Sleepiness soon washed over him.
Three days later.
In the Fire Saber Sect's square, nearly twenty thousand disciples stood in orderly ranks, a sea of dark heads stretching from the raised platform all the way to the mountain gate.
No one spoke. Everyone looked up at the figures in fitted black outfits on the platform.
Gan Ping had changed into a brand-new blue robe. Standing in the center of the platform, he took a deep breath and turned to solemnly cup his fists at Lu Feng and the other three, then faced the crowd below.
"Three years ago, I broke through to Ming Jin and went to share the good news with Zhu Ren, overjoyed. That night, he knocked me unconscious with a palm strike. When I woke up, I was in a demonic beast's lair, chained to a stone pillar."
"I stayed there for three years. During those three years, I watched with my own eyes as demonic beasts tore apart and devoured my senior and junior brothers who had died from cultivation deviation. Their bones are still piled up in that cave."
"And Zhu Ren, the sect master of our Fire Saber Sect..." Gan Ping's voice turned hoarse.
"Every time he sent someone in, those demonic beasts gave him a drop of their essence blood. He used that essence blood to turn himself into a Half-Demon."
The crowd below erupted.
"How is that possible?!"
"Didn't Senior Brother Gan die three years ago after a failed breakthrough?!"
"How could Sect Master Zhu be a Half-Demon?"
"Nonsense! The sect master kills demonic beasts with his own hands every year!"
Voices clamored, fear and disbelief mingling together.
At that moment, Zhou Si stepped forward. Without any unnecessary movement, she simply raised a token high above her head.
The three characters for Demon-Slaying Bureau on the token were clearly visible in the sunlight.
The entire square fell silent in an instant.
"Zhu Ren colluded with demonic beasts, offering his sect's disciples as blood food in exchange for their essence blood. He cultivated demonic arts and turned himself into a Half-Demon."
Zhou Si's voice wasn't loud, but every word carried clearly across the square.
"He has now been executed. From this day forward, Gan Ping is the new sect master of the Fire Saber Sect."
The crowd below was utterly silent.
Gan Ping spoke again, his tone much steadier. "The honored Demon Slayer has left the Fire Saber Sect two complete Ming Jin cultivation arts. From now on, there will be no need to fear cultivation deviation when breaking through to Ming Jin. In addition, the demonic beasts in the nearby mountains have all been wiped out by the honored Demon Slayer. There are no more demonic beasts within thirty li of Nanxi City."
Complete Ming Jin cultivation arts. No more demonic beasts.
Those two statements were more effective than any explanation.
The unrest in the crowd gradually subsided. Some disciples were the first to kneel, and then the disciples went down in great swathes.
Lu Feng stood at one side of the platform, watching without a word.
Zhou Si had provided the two Ming Jin cultivation arts. She had obtained them by chance while on missions in the past; they weren't from the Demon-Slaying Bureau's stores and could be passed on under the rules.
They couldn't have been more suitable for reassuring the Fire Saber Sect's nearly twenty thousand disciples.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking.
The four left the Fire Saber Sect and followed the main road north.
Five had come; only four remained for the return journey.
They hadn't gone far before the mood gradually lightened.
Zhu Lin and Luo Fang flanked Lu Feng, one on either side, and asked about him on and off-where he was from, what his cultivation was, and whether he was married.
Lu Feng dealt with their questions one by one, telling them what he could and smiling as he deflected what he couldn't.
Compared with Liu Yong's snide mockery on the way there, the mood on the return trip made it seem like a different group altogether.
About ten li outside Nanxi City, ancient trees towered on both sides of the main road, and the light abruptly dimmed.
Lu Feng suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Ahead, several figures silently emerged from behind the trees.
They wore fitted black outfits and black cloths over their faces. The leader had a slender build, and not a speck of dust rose beneath his feet when he landed.
Zhou Si's pupils contracted slightly, and her right hand went to her saber hilt. "Careful! These people are skilled."
Lu Feng's gaze settled on the leader.
The moment the man had appeared, his movements had been unnaturally light. He had landed without a sound, his whole body like a feather. That wasn't something a Nei Jin martial artist could do.
Hua Jin.
Though the other masked figures didn't have that level of cultivation, every one of them had a steady, concentrated presence. They were all at least skilled Nei Jin fighters.
Eight people: one Hua Jin, seven Nei Jin.
That lineup would have been enough to form a patrol envoy squad in the Demon-Slaying Bureau.
Luo Fang stepped forward and displayed a token, her voice clear. "We serve under Captain Su of the Demon-Slaying Bureau. Who are you? Why are you blocking the road?"
The leader didn't look at the token.
He raised his hand, his voice coming from behind his face covering.
"Attack. Leave no one alive."
Lu Feng drew his saber.
"I'll handle this one. Be careful."
Before he finished speaking, he had already darted forward.