Chapter 10
Chapter 10: A Night of Murder Under the Dark Moon
Inside the cave dwelling, within a quiet chamber.
Lü Yang sat cross-legged, beginning to break through.
With the spiritual pills ingested, and coupled with the continuous harvesting of Yun Miaoqing over the past half month, his cultivation rapidly approached a near-limit state.
"Boom!"
In the next moment, as if ascending a step, Lü Yang felt a vast surge of True Qi roaring within his body, rushing like a river, invigorating his spirit.
Qi Refining Stage Two!
"Before reaching Qi Refining Stage Four, there are no bottlenecks; as long as resources are sufficient, time alone can achieve it. But now, it seems I might not have that time."
The existence of Qing Chen Fairy stirred a sense of crisis in Lü Yang.
He would not forget that in his previous life, Liu Xin had brazenly stormed into his cave dwelling. If Liu Xin could do it, couldn't Qing Chen Fairy do the same?
The cave dwelling was unreliable!
"What truly matters is one's own cultivation and strength!"
With this thought, Lü Yang gritted his teeth, directly taking out all the remaining spiritual pills and swallowing them whole, then summoned Yun Miaoqing again.
Although such an approach was somewhat wasteful, with at least thirty percent of the pills' efficacy being squandered, it also allowed him to enhance his cultivation at the fastest possible speed.
In Lü Yang's view, as long as he could break through to Qi Refining Stage Three, these spiritual pills would have been used to their fullest, not bought in vain.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three days and nights passed.
During this period, Lü Yang neither ate nor drank, and nearly drained Yun Miaoqing to the point of collapse, finally feeling that he had broken through a thin barrier.
"I succeeded!"
Lü Yang looked inwardly at his entire body, feeling a vast True Qi flowing through his meridians like a mighty river, seemingly boundless, yet unable to make any further progress.
At first glance, it seemed as if his cultivation had reached perfection.
"This is the bottleneck."
The next step would be Qi Refining Stage Four, transitioning from the early to the mid-stage, which, within the Primordial Saint Sect, would qualify him as an outstanding disciple eligible for certain positions.
Lü Yang did not pause, nor did he dare to relax, directly taking out the Innate True Qi.
"Continue!"
Activating the Innate True Qi, Lü Yang then manipulated his own True Qi to swallow it in one gulp, subsequently observing the surge of True Qi flooding into his dantian like rivers converging into the sea.
As the Innate True Qi was continuously consumed, Lü Yang soon felt that the bottleneck, which had previously seemed insurmountable like a mountain, was gradually weakening.
Until the Innate True Qi was completely depleted, that invisible bottleneck melted away like snow and ice, collapsing instantly!
In the dimly lit quiet chamber, Lü Yang suddenly opened his eyes.
His gaze was like a torch, illuminating the void.
With a blink, another day and night passed, yet from this moment on, Lü Yang's strength was vastly different from a few days prior!
"Mid-stage Qi Refining, it's almost like a different realm compared to the early stage." Lü Yang felt the changes within his body, his face showing joy: "If the True Qi of the early stage was a small river, then the mid-stage is an ocean! It's increased by more than tenfold! Reaching this point, one can be considered a true cultivator."
In the early stage of Qi Refining, True Qi was limited, and all spells and divine abilities had to be used sparingly.
However, after advancing to the mid-stage, there was no longer a need to worry about such things; ordinary spells could be cast effortlessly, and the consumed True Qi could be replenished within a few breaths.
"Not bad! Not bad!"
Lü Yang walked out of the quiet chamber, took out a white bone flying sword, and with a thought, the flying sword instantly split into ten sword lights, enveloping the entire cave dwelling.
Whoosh whoosh—!
In an instant, the sword lights howled fiercely, and Lü Yang performed the Divine Firmament Sword Control True Formula, merging himself with the sword light, feeling an unparalleled sense of comfort and ease.
"It's all thanks to Liu Xin!"
"If it weren't for this 'Innate True Qi' that perfectly matched me, I wouldn't have been able to break through; at the very least, I would have been stuck at Qi Refining Stage Three for several years!"
"No wonder Liu Xin abandoned the Ode of Yin-Yang Great Bliss to cultivate the Innate Dao Book."
"Unfortunately, his intentions were not righteous, using people as medicine. After obtaining it, Liu Xin caused countless killings, all because of the Innate Dao Book."
"Such an evil art is destined to be used by me!"
Lü Yang suddenly felt a surge of greed rising in his heart.
“Not yet, hold it in… Next lifetime, there’s still plenty of time.”
Just as Lü Yang was deep in thought, his eyebrows suddenly lifted as he looked toward the cave dwelling’s entrance—because one of his sword lights set as a sensor had just been triggered.
“Someone’s here?”
A cold glint instantly flashed through Lü Yang’s eyes, mixed with a bit of relief—thankfully he had made the snap decision to break through even if it meant wasting resources.
If not for that, he would still be in secluded cultivation, completely unaware of the outside world. Wouldn’t that mean certain death?
“This must serve as a warning...”
Thinking this, Lü Yang quickly restrained the aura of his breakthrough, while the killing intent in his heart grew even stronger, like a hunter silently waiting for his prey to walk into the trap.
“Crack.”
Accompanied by a soft sound, the cave dwelling’s door was silently pried open, and immediately after, three figures sneaked in one after another.
The trio wore black clothes and masks, not revealing a trace of True Qi. Lü Yang watched from the shadows, clicking his tongue in admiration.
Had he not just broken through and gained higher cultivation, he might not have seen through their disguises, and would have mistaken them for ordinary people. Their ability to conceal themselves was truly exquisite.
...
The leading black-clothed figure gave a hand signal without speaking, and the others understood at once, quickly spreading out to search the cave dwelling.
“Whoosh whoosh!”
In the next second, the foremost black-clothed figure suddenly saw a flash before his eyes, followed by a dazzling sword light shrieking toward him!
“Not good!”
The man’s expression changed drastically in an instant. He had no time to defend and could only roll sideways in an attempt to dodge. But how could a person ever be faster than a flying sword?
Swish—!
The sword light flashed, and a pillar of blood shot into the sky!
“Qi Refining mid-stage!?”
The black-clothed leader clearly had a sharp eye. From the power and purity of the sword light, he immediately recognized Lü Yang’s cultivation and cried out on the spot.
At the same time, he cursed furiously in his heart.
Damn that Qing Chen!
This guy was supposed to be a newly admitted disciple? An easy pushover?
And this Lü Yang—clearly at mid-stage Qi Refining and fully capable of crushing the three of them—yet he still resorted to deception and ambush?
What a beast!
Seeing the sword light approaching, the black-clothed man hurriedly formed a hand seal and released a mysterious light to shield himself while shouting loudly, “It’s a misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding—”
“Boom!”
Lü Yang turned a deaf ear.
The sword light slashed horizontally, instantly shattering the man’s protective light barrier.
At the same time, in the darkness, another wave of True Qi surged like raging waves, transforming into a massive hand several zhang wide, complete with clearly visible palm lines, which grabbed another black-clothed person directly.
Splat!
The next second, the giant hand suddenly clenched, crushing the second black-clothed figure into a bloody mess—bones snapped, muscles torn, red and white matter splattered everywhere.
Such a brutal scene made the leader’s eyes nearly burst with rage.
Meanwhile, Lü Yang wore a satisfied expression.
“This Innate True Qi Great Hand Seal really is impressive. While it doesn’t show much power against someone in the same realm, it’s guaranteed to crush those below.”
As he pondered, the sword lights did not stop.
Over a dozen beams of sword light howled through the cave dwelling, with the white bone flying sword teleporting within them, not giving the leader a moment to breathe.
After just a few breaths, the leader had already exhausted his strength. Lü Yang seized an opening, controlled the sword, and with one strike, another pillar of blood soared into the air.
“Phew! That was really dangerous...”
Only after doing all this did Lü Yang finally let out a breath of relief.
Looking at the corpses and chunks of flesh all over the floor, he recalled the battle just now with lingering fear.
Strictly speaking, this was his first time killing someone.
Even though he had practiced the ambush combo in private countless times, this was the first time he had put it into actual combat.
“Honestly, my combat experience is far inferior to those three. In the same realm, I might not even win against one, let alone three. But as long as I can ambush, seize the initiative, and force them into a direct power clash, I can still easily suppress them with my superior cultivation.”
“This is exactly what they say—when power can't win, rely on divine abilities; when divine abilities fall short, rely on Dao attainment.”
Lü Yang reviewed and summarized the valuable experience of this cross-level battle, while also reflecting on areas to improve, believing it would surely be useful in his next lifetime.