Realm-Hopping Martial Master

A Storage Bag like this one, although also engraved with storage Treasure Patterns, cannot be used for combat and does not qualify as a clan-protecting Treasure.

For a clan-protecting Treasure, its Treasure Patterns can themselves absorb the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. When a Martial Artist activates the Treasure Patterns, their peak strike can directly slay a warrior of the Acupoint Passage Realm!

A Martial Artist of the Acupoint Passage Realm holding such a Treasure can even briefly match a warrior of the Detachment Realm!

Indeed, only by venturing out can one truly realize the vastness of the world.

"With your strength, how much longer will you need to reach the Acupoint Passage Realm?"

Chu Xisheng shook his head and walked over. Unlike Jiang Shu, he wasn't laden with various packages; at his waist hung only a small Storage Bag. Hailing from a state city, he had seen countless geniuses.

But very few were as peculiar as Jiang Shu.

Although his Realm had not yet reached the Late Stage of the Blood Exchange Realm, his entire being seemed to merge with heaven and earth. They had not truly fought. However, I have an inexplicable intuition that even if we did battle, I might not gain much of an advantage, Chu Xisheng mused.

"Judging by Brother Jiang's demeanor, are you planning to rest briefly in the County City of Tianqing? Tianqing County is pleasant, but its Martial Arts resources and the number of talented Martial Artists cannot compare to the state city. With Brother Jiang's strength, you could go directly to the state city. If you need a place to stay, as a direct descendant of the Chu Family, I would warmly welcome a genius like Brother Jiang." Chu Xisheng extended an invitation.

Long voyages on a giant ship were never absolutely safe.

Ten days into the journey, one night, a Fourth Rank Peak Mutant Beast had surged from the water. It was he and Jiang Shu who had jointly repelled it. Since then, the two had occasionally communicated and gradually became acquainted.

"Brother Chu is too kind. I will certainly visit your esteemed residence when the opportunity arises."

Jiang Shu smiled, bowed to Chu Xisheng in farewell, and slowly disembarked.

The state city is definitely on my itinerary, but not yet. Over this month's journey, he had come to understand more about this world, no longer confined like a frog in a well, gazing at the sky from the bottom.

The Da Jing Dynasty was not the hegemonic power of this world.

It was merely a medium-sized Dynasty. There were hundreds of such Dynasties in this vast domain.

The primary reason a Dynasty could endure for millennia was not the emperor's wisdom.

Rather, it was the existence of higher-level entities above the Dynasty.

Sects!

Sects ruled everything.

Over the centuries, it's not that no Martial Artists have revolted. But rebellions are always small-scale; once the stability of the land is threatened, the Sects' Martial Dao Banished Immortals will descend from the mountains to intervene.

They could change the course of battles as if shifting stars, burn mountains, and boil seas.

Even the most formidable rebel armies would be decimated under true Divine Skills.

Martial Arts: Body Refinement, Qi Refinement, Spirit Refinement.

In truth, these were just processes for laying a foundation.

Martial arts geniuses competed for the Little Dragon Tiger List and the Dragon Tiger List, not for fame or profit.

Only by climbing step by step could one become a true genius of the Dynasty, enter the Detachment Realm, and have the chance to shine in the Battle of the Hundred Dynasties.

The Battle of the Hundred Dynasties.

Held once every ten years.

The Sects would send elders, and only true geniuses would have the opportunity to be selected, to become existences beyond the Detachment Realm.

Some archives and secret records contained information about that Realm.

The Furnace Fire Realm.

The world is a furnace, and I am the fire within it.

The Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi is no longer merely used to open acupoints as in the Acupoint Passage Realm, but truly resides within every limb and bone.

With every move, one can draw upon the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.

Flying through the air, free and unfettered.

At this Realm, one's lifespan reached five hundred years.

He exhaled a long breath.

Before him, there was a continuous stream of carriages and horses, a myriad of pedestrians.

The occasional calls and shouts reached Jiang Shu's ears, pulling his thoughts back to the present.

The more I know, the more I realize my own insignificance.

Never mind the Furnace Fire Realm. Right now, even reaching the Acupoint Passage Realm and the Detachment Realm will take me considerable time.

And more than eight years have passed since the last Battle of the Hundred Dynasties. I have less than two years left.

It amounts to roughly a year and a half, but that's a conservative estimate. After all, the spots for the Battle of the Hundred Dynasties will likely be decided much earlier. If I want to make it to this session, I must become renowned throughout the entire Da Jing Dynasty within a year.

Top the Little Dragon Tiger List, step into the Detachment Realm.

Time is pressing.

Jiang Shu walked into a branch of the Danxia Chamber of Commerce, presented his first-class genius Token, and entered an Earth Fire Refining Room.

The state city is indeed large and also the headquarters of the Danxia Chamber of Commerce. But after my battle with Zhao Chengxuan, who knows how many geniuses allied with the Great Elder's faction are waiting for me there.

If it were the old me, unaware of the world's vastness, I might have headed straight to the state city.

Since I began practicing Martial Arts, I have never feared battle. Whoever comes, I'll fight them. I'll fight until they are all thoroughly convinced of my superiority.

By doing so, I could also gradually improve my ranking on the Little Dragon Tiger List, from the very bottom to the top.

But now, in my eyes, the Little Dragon Tiger List seems like a list for those who curry favor with the powerful.

Slowly climbing to the top is just a waste of time, holding little significance.

What I need to do is enter the state city and effortlessly defeat everyone. I will top the Little Dragon Tiger List and then head to the Royal City to test the true geniuses of the Dynasty.

Before the Sects, a Dynasty is but a speck of dust. What then of a mere small state under its rule? Even if one were first within it, so what?

Jiang Shu sat cross-legged, his breathing gradually stabilizing. He slapped his pack, and a top-grade Pill Furnace, along with numerous medicinal materials, flew out.

Having lost the ability to use the Two Realms Shuttle, my Martial Arts resources have greatly diminished.

Before reaching the Acupoint Passage Realm, I can only rely on myself.

"Eight Desolate Grass, Yang Burning Flower, Purifying Bamboo..."

After meticulously checking everything, the Vermilion Bird True Strength within Jiang Shu slowly circulated.

Earth fire danced beneath the top-grade Pill Furnace. His body, like a Great Pill, drew the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi from beneath the earth as he placed each medicinal material into the top-grade Pill Furnace using True Strength.

「Half an hour later.」

Sweat beaded on Jiang Shu's forehead. The flames in the Pill Furnace erupted, True Strength ran rampant, and Yuan Qi dispersed.

A burnt smell wafted from it.

Indeed, top-grade Elixirs are not so easy to refine.

Swallowing a Blood Replenishing Pill, Jiang Shu readjusted his state.

At my current Realm, the benefits of refining Middle Grade Elixirs are too small. To achieve a significant return, I must transcend my Realm and refine top-grade Elixirs!

For an ordinary Blood Exchange Realm Alchemist, this was utterly impossible. Because refining top-grade Elixirs required control of the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.

But for Jiang Shu, who had entered the realm of Pill Strength and even made great strides within it, attempting it was not out of the question.

Just now, the Vermilion Bird True Strength must have collapsed suddenly. Next time, I'll start by inputting Azure Dragon True Strength to stabilize the energy of the medicinal materials. The drawing of Yuan Qi also needs to be slower.

The sequence of placing the medicinal materials was correct, but the timing was slightly off. After placing the Purifying Bamboo, the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi must immediately envelop it, followed swiftly by the Eternal Peace Flower. Jiang Shu summarized his experience.

Elixir Recipes, in fact, often have subtle variations due to the Alchemist's habits. It's not as if following an Elixir Recipe guarantees success. Success in alchemy still depends on understanding the medicinal materials, controlling True Strength, and the subtle manipulation of Yuan Qi.

After an hour of adjustment, he resumed refining.

Failed.

Successful.

The clear, crisp fragrance of the Elixir, like a spring, somewhat dispelled the scorching heat of the Earth Fire Refining Room.

Jiang Shu consumed one and carefully sensed its effects.

Although it was only his third refining attempt, his spiritual power was already beginning to wane.

He circulated the Dream Sleep Elixir and rested.

Failed.

Successful.

Successful.

Day after day, he lived in the Earth Fire Refining Room, amidst the fierce earth fire and the overflowing fragrance of Elixirs.

「Half a month later.」

Jiang Shu emerged from his seclusion.

He sold all the Middle Grade Elixirs he had to the Danxia Chamber of Commerce.

After staying for two days in a tavern in the County City, his facial features changed, his build altered. A black cloak enveloped his entire body.

Unhurriedly, he stepped into the Flame Tripod Commerce, one of the three major commerce branches in Tianqing County City.

He flicked three wooden boxes directly from his sleeve onto the desk of the commerce's manager and said, "Thirty bottles of top-grade Elixirs, Qi Gathering Pills, for auction."