Terran Guardian

True Qi washed over Shen Changqing's flesh and body.

The injuries on his body recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye, under the effects of the vast True Qi.

The True Qi gradually calmed down and returned to his dantian.

Shen Changqing then found that some of the less serious injuries had already recovered to a good extent.

Even for some of the more serious injuries, the cold Yin Aura attached to them had all been expelled. The remaining ones still had residue, but they did not have much of an impact.

"Level 9 [Pure Yang Kung Fu], I am now considered to have officially broken through to the Peak Qi Circulation Realm!"

Shen Changqing dived into his body and found that the True Qi in his dantian had undergone quite a lot of change.

Seeing this, he was very satisfied.

"Just that–"

"The upgrade from Level 8 to 9 consumed 5 points of Killing Value. The remaining Killing Value will not be able to upgrade much more."

Shen Changqing secretly thought.

There was no doubt.

The reason why the consumption of the [Pure Yang Kung Fu] was more than the consumption of the [Thirteen Cross Practice] was because the former was more powerful.

If they were to be divided into ranks.

The [Thirteen Cross Practice] could only be considered a Beginner Martial Art.

The [Pure Yang Kung Fu] would be considered an Advanced Martial Art, one level higher than the former.

"Now that I've killed the monster here, I should return to the Capital and become an Official Slayer. A Yellow Rank Official Slayer is qualified to enter the second floor of the Library, there must be more powerful Martial Arts recorded there."

"But it is not the best choice to keep my Killing Value, waiting until after going back and getting a stronger Martial Art to upgrade that instead."

Shen Changqing stood in place and fell into contemplation.

He had ten points of Killing Value left.

Based on the consumption of his two Martial Arts, he was almost certain that if he were to upgrade to a stronger martial arts, the consumption would be much more.

He'll only be able to upgrade it once, or even not at all.

By then, wouldn't he get the same amount of benefit if he raised his current Martial Art?

Regardless of the rank of the Martial Art, they would become stronger than the ones ranked above them as long as its level was enough.

For example, the Level 3 Advanced Martial Art [Pure Yang Kung Fu] wouldn't be able to beat the Level 15 Beginner Martial Art [Thirteen Cross Practice].

So, instead of saving his Killing Value to specialize in a new Martial Art, it would be better to continue upgrading his current ones. Who knows, he might get an unexpected harvest.

"Besides, if my strength is raised, once I deal with a Yellow Rank Official Slayer mission, my safety will undoubtedly be much higher."

"Judging from the fact that Zhao Fang's party colluded with the monsters, it is not impossible to say that there wouldn't be other similar cases."

"Only by increasing my strength can I be a little more secure!"

Shen Changqing thought and hardened his resolve.

His thoughts then fell on the panel.

After the [Pure Yang Kung Fu] had broken through to Level 9, there was still the can be upgraded notice next to it.

"Upgrade!"

Shen Changqing silently said in his heart.

He felt like a sun was in his dantian, as an incomparably powerful and scorching energy swept through his body.

At that moment, Shen Changqing's skin faintly turned red, as if he was going to burst.

Immediately after that, the [Thirteen Cross Practice] activated.

His qi and blood trembled.

His body flickered with light.

No matter how much the sizzling power tried to break out, it was suppressed back.

After this repeated several times, the scorching energy finally settled down, running normally in his body, before finally returning to his dantian.

"Phew~!"

After the Pure Yang True Qi settled down, Shen Changqing let out a long breath.

With this simple breath, he was able to cause the air to break and cause the dead leaves on the ground to fly up.

Once he calmed down, Shen Changing began to observe the changes.

"Level 10 of the [Pure Yang Kung Fu]... It seems that the Pure Yang True Qi has undergone a transformation. Its temperature is much higher than before. If my body wasn't strong enough, the upgrade just now would've failed and I would have suffered"

"In addition to that, my qi and blood have also decayed a bit–"

Shen Changqing frowned.

He originally thought that as long as he had Killing Value, he could upgrade at will without limit.

But looking at it now, Martial Arts could not be upgraded indiscriminately.

As his Martial Arts upgraded, his body also had to keep up with the progress. Otherwise his body would not be able to handle that much True Qi.

Not only that, at the time the [Pure Yang Kung Fu] upgraded, his qi and blood were also declining.

It was obvious that True Qi does not appear out of thin air, but was transformed into True Qi from one's qi and blood.

This was a little different from when the [Thirteen Cross Practice] was upgraded.

It was obvious that his qi and blood decayed to a certain degree right now, compared to before.

Though with the strengthening of the [Thirteen Cross Practice], it had greatly strengthened Shen Changqing's physique. It was strengthened to such an amazing level that the Level 10 [Pure Yang Kung Fu] did not cause too much impact.

Also-

It was still far from reaching the limit.

At this moment, his Killing Value had been reduced by 5 points again.

Just as he envisioned, the consumption of the [Pure Yang Kung Fu] was higher than that of the [Thirteen Cross Practice]. The latter was 3 points per level, while the former was 5 points per level.

Fortunately, he still had 5 points of Killing Value left, enough to upgrade for one more level.

As soon as his thoughts fell, his Killing Value was completely emptied.

Immediately after that, his qi and blood decayed at an insane rate.

At the same time, the Pure Yang True Qi in his dantian also grew at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The next instant, the Pure Yang True Qi had completed its transformation.

It then rushed uncontrollably throughout his body. One after another, his meridians were broken–

[Rumble~]!!!

His body shook wildly.

It was as if there were ancient beasts wreaking havoc inside him.

However, no matter how much the True Qi rampaged, it had no way of breaking through Shen Changqing's body.

It gradually calmed down, and an unknown number of meridians in his body was also opened up from that previous thrashing.

By the time the Pure Yang True Qi returned to his dantian, one could see that under Shen Changqing's skin, the meridians that had been opened, had faint lights flickering inside them.

The moment the linkage took shape, some sort of invisible film formed.

At the moment of the film's emergence, an enlightenment rose in Shen Changqing's mind.

Astral Qi!

"This is Astral Qi!"

Shen Changqing seemed to have been relieved of a heavy burden.

At the extreme of the Body Forging Realm, True Qi would form and one would cross over to the Qi Circulation Realm.

The Qi Circulation Realm was based on nurturing True Qi and opening up the meridians.

When the meridians were opened to a certain point, the Cultivator will naturally form Astral Qi.

Astral Qi was also known as Internal Strength.

At this stage, the Cultivator had officially crossed from the Qi Circulation Realm to the Innate Realm.