Inside the cave residence, in a Cultivation Chamber. Lu Yang sat cross-legged and began to break through. The spiritual pills entered his stomach, and with his continuous plundering of Yun Miaoqing over the past half-month, his cultivation level quickly reached a state approaching its limit.
"Boom!"
The next second, as if he had stepped onto a higher stair, Lu Yang felt a majestic True Qi howling within his body, surging like a great river, which greatly invigorated his spirit. Second level of the Qi Refining Realm!
"There are no bottlenecks before the fourth level of Qi Refining. As long as you have enough resources, you can reach it just by grinding it out over time. However, it seems I don't have that kind of time right now."
The existence of Fairy Qingchen stirred a sense of crisis in Lu Yang. He would not forget that in his previous life, Liu Xin had openly and brazenly killed his way into his cave residence. If Liu Xin could do it, why couldn't Fairy Qingchen?
Even the cave residence was not reliable!
"The only things truly reliable are one's own cultivation level and strength!"
Thinking of this, Lu Yang gritted his teeth, took out all his remaining spiritual pills, and swallowed them whole, then called for Yun Miaoqing again.
Although doing this was a reckless waste of precious resources, with at least thirty percent of the spiritual pills' efficacy being wasted, it also allowed him to raise his cultivation level at the fastest possible speed.
And in Lu Yang's eyes, as long as he could break through to the third level of Qi Refining, these spiritual pills would have served their purpose and would not have been bought in vain. Time flew by; in the blink of an eye, three days and three nights had passed.
During this period, Lu Yang neither ate nor drank, and he plundered Yun Miaoqing until she was as limp as mud. Finally, he felt himself break through a thin barrier.
"... I've done it!"
Lu Yang inspected his body internally. He felt an immense True Qi, like a great river, flowing through his extraordinary meridians. It seemed vast, but in reality, he could not make the slightest bit of progress.
At first glance, it seemed as if his cultivation had reached Perfection.
"This is the bottleneck..."
One more step up was the fourth level of Qi Refining, making the leap from the early stage to the middle stage. In the Saint Sect, he would be considered an outstanding disciple capable of holding a certain position. Lu Yang did not stop, nor did he dare to relax.
He directly took out the Innate Primordial Qi.
"Continue!"
The Innate Primordial Qi circulated, and then Lu Yang manipulated his own True Qi to swallow it in one gulp. He then watched as his True Qi surged, flowing into his Dantian like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.
As the Innate Primordial Qi was continuously consumed, Lu Yang soon felt the bottleneck that had completely blocked him, a bottleneck as insurmountable as a mountain, being weakened bit by bit. By the time the Innate Primordial Qi was completely exhausted, that formless bottleneck melted away like ice and snow, instantly crumbling and disintegrating!
In the dim Cultivation Chamber, Lu Yang suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze was like a torch, illuminating the empty room. With a blink of his eyes, another day and night had passed.
However, from this moment on, Lu Yang's strength was worlds apart from what it had been just a few days ago!
"The middle stage of Qi Refining and the early stage are almost like different realms."
Lu Yang sensed the changes in his body, a look of joy on his face.
"If the True Qi in the early stage was a small river, then the middle stage is a great river meeting the sea! It's increased by more than ten times! Only upon reaching this step can one be considered a true cultivator..."
In the early stage of Qi Refining, True Qi was limited, so one had to be frugal when using any magical arts or divine abilities. But after advancing to the middle stage of Qi Refining, one basically no longer needed to worry about such things.
Ordinary magical arts could be cast at will, and the consumed True Qi could be replenished in just a few breaths.
"Not bad! Not bad at all!"
Lu Yang walked out of the Cultivation Chamber and took out a White Bone Flying Sword. With a thought, the flying sword instantly split into ten streaks of sword light, enveloping the entire cave residence.
Whoosh—!
In an instant, the sword light howled fiercely. Lu Yang executed the Divine Firmament Sword-Riding True Art, his body merging with the sword light. For a moment, he felt an ultimate sense of spiritual comfort and satisfaction.
"And I have Liu Xin to thank for this!"
"If it weren't for this 'Innate Primordial Qi' that perfectly suits me, it would have been impossible for me to break through. I would have been stuck at the third level of Qi Refining for at least several years!"
"No wonder Liu Xin gave up the Yin-Yang Great Pleasure Ode to cultivate that Innate Dao Scripture."
"Unfortunately, its intentions were corrupt, using people as medicine. Who knows how much slaughter Liu Xin caused after obtaining it. It all started because of the Innate Dao Scripture."
"Such a demonic art should rightfully be mine to use!"
A greedy thought suddenly emerged in Lu Yang's heart.
"No rush, I'll endure for now... I'll think about it in the next life, there's still plenty of time."
Just as Lu Yang was pondering, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and looked towards the entrance of his cave residence, because one of the streaks of sword light he had sent out had just been disturbed.
"Someone's here?"
A cold glint instantly flashed through Lu Yang's eyes. At the same time, he felt a bit of relief. It was a good thing he had been decisive, willing to waste resources to break through his cultivation level as quickly as possible.
If not for that, he would currently be in seclusion, completely unaware of the outside world. Wouldn't that have been a certain death sentence?
"This should be a lesson to me."
Thinking of this, Lu Yang quickly concealed the aura of his recent breakthrough, while the killing intent in his heart grew stronger and stronger, like a hunter silently waiting for his prey to arrive.
"Click."
Following a soft sound, the gate of the cave residence was silently pried open. Immediately after, three figures slipped in stealthily from outside, one after another. The three were dressed in black and wore masks.
They did not reveal a single trace of True Qi. Lu Yang, hiding in the dark, clicked his tongue in amazement. If he had not broken through and reached a higher cultivation level, he probably would not have been able to see through them and would have thought they were just three ordinary people.
This breath-concealing skill could be called exquisite.
"..."
The leader of the three black-robed men made a hand gesture without speaking. The others understood tacitly and quickly dispersed, about to start searching within the cave residence.
"Whoosh!"
The next second, the black-robed man in the lead felt his vision blur, and then a brilliant streak of sword light, accompanied by a whistling cry, arrived before his eyes!
"Not good!"
The black-robed man's expression changed drastically in an instant. He had no time to defend himself and could only roll to the side in an attempt to dodge. But no matter how fast a person is, how could they possibly be faster than a flying sword?
Swish—!
The sword light flashed, and a pillar of blood shot into the sky!
"Middle stage of Qi Refining!?"
The leader of the black-robed men was clearly discerning. He immediately identified Lu Yang's cultivation level from the power and quality of the sword light and cried out in alarm on the spot. At the same time, he cursed loudly in his heart.
That goddamn Qingchen! Is this a fucking newly admitted disciple? An easy target?
And this Lu Yang! He is clearly in the middle stage of Qi Refining and could have completely crushed the three of them, all in the early stage, in a direct confrontation. But he actually resorted to deception and a sneak attack?
What a dog! Seeing the sword light flying towards him, the black-robed man formed a hand seal to release a streak of profound light to protect himself, while hastily shouting, "A misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding..."
"Boom!"
Lu Yang turned a deaf ear. The sword light slashed horizontally, instantly striking the black-robed man's protective profound light to the brink of shattering.
At the same time, a mass of True Qi howled and spread out in the darkness, like a raging tidal wave, finally transforming into a large hand several zhang in size with clear palm lines, which directly seized another one of the black-robed men.
Squelch!
The next second, the large hand abruptly exerted its strength, directly crushing the second black-robed man until he exploded. Tendons snapped and bones broke, and red and white matter splattered everywhere. Seeing such a brutal scene, the leader's eyes looked as if they were about to split from their sockets.
On the other side, Lu Yang wore a satisfied expression.
"This Innate Primordial Qi Great Hand Seal is really not bad. Although it doesn't show much power against those of the same realm, it's incredibly effective for dealing with those of a lower realm."
While he was pondering, the sword light did not stop. More than ten streaks of sword light whistled through the cave residence, while the White Bone Flying Sword teleported and weaved among them, giving the leader of the black-robed men no chance to catch his breath. After a few breaths, the leader of the black-robed men was already exhausted.
Lu Yang found an opening and, commanding his sword, slashed down. Instantly, another pillar of blood shot into the sky.
"Phew! That was truly dangerous."
After finishing all this, Lu Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the corpses and bits of flesh covering the ground, he recalled the battle just now and even felt some lingering fear. Strictly speaking, this was the first time he had killed someone.
Although he had practiced that smooth combo of sneak attacks from the shadows countless times in private, it was, after all, the first time he had used it in actual combat.
"To be honest, my combat experience is far inferior to these three. At the same realm, forget three of them, I might not even be able to beat one. However, as long as I manage to launch a sneak attack, seize the initiative, and force them to compete with me in terms of power, I can still easily suppress them by relying on my higher realm."
"This is why it's said that competing in magical power is not as good as competing in divine abilities, and competing in divine abilities is not as good as competing in cultivation level."
Lu Yang reviewed and summarized the precious experience gained from this challenging battle, while also thinking about areas for improvement, believing that it would surely be applicable in his next life.