Volume 1, Chapter 131 – Earth Fiend Realm

Shi Lan did not waste her precious time and quickly returned to the stone chamber.

The phoenix blood energy she had absorbed this time was already almost completely exhausted, and the speed of her cultivation’s rise had dropped quite a bit. However, the dense spiritual qi in the surroundings was still there, and her cultivation was still surging rapidly toward the peak of the ninth stage of the Innate Realm.

As she ran cycle after cycle of circulation, her Innate true qi grew ever thicker, flowing through the twelve main meridians and finally gathering in her dantian qi sea. As the amount of true qi increased, Shi Lan gradually felt a sense of fullness in her lower abdomen.

Very soon, the Innate true qi that her meridians throughout her body could hold also reached a critical point and could no longer bear any more. At this moment, Shi Lan had already reached the absolute limit of the peak of the ninth stage of the Innate Realm and could not advance a single step further.

Shi Lan stopped absorbing spiritual qi. She controlled the increasingly heavy true qi in her body, ran it along the great circuit, and sent it surging toward the Yangxi acupoint in the center of her left palm.

The acupoint was utterly silent, like a tightly shut gate, completely separating the heaven and earth within the point from the heaven and earth outside it.

Shi Lan’s true qi slowly flowed up to the Yangxi acupoint, yet did not ram into that gate. It merely brushed past it, then sped up slightly and once again entered the full-body circulation.

After more than ten full cycles, Shi Lan’s true qi was surging like a great river, roaring and rushing, like boiling water already at a rolling boil.

When the true qi once again arrived before the Yangxi acupoint, it finally no longer swept past. Instead, it was like a furious flood dragon, slamming with all its might into the gate of the acupoint.

“Crack”

A crisp sound that could be clearly heard echoed through the stone chamber. The acupoint’s gate shook violently, but still did not burst open. The surging true qi rebounded, churning up a vortex inside her body.

Only after a long moment did Shi Lan manage to calm the raging true qi.

If this had been an ordinary martial artist at the ninth stage of the Innate Realm, they would already have been injured by that fierce rebound of true qi just now and would need at least half a month of treatment and adjustment before attempting another breakthrough.

But the toughness of Shi Lan’s meridians was far beyond that of ordinary martial artists. That fierce rebound of true qi had only thrown her qi slightly into disorder and left her a bit out of breath.

Shi Lan adjusted her breathing for half an incense stick’s time, then returned to normal. Without the slightest hesitation, she began her breakthrough again.

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That fierce impact just now had already opened a thin crack in the acupoint’s gate. It was no longer as rock-solid and unbreakable as before.

Shi Lan calmed her mind, ran the great circuit, and her true qi rose like rolling waves, surging toward the acupoint once more.

“Boom”

An even clearer sound rang out. The crack on the acupoint’s gate widened once again, and it was now not far from being completely blasted open.

Shi Lan remained neither arrogant nor impatient. She calmed the turbulent true qi and, with relentless determination, launched yet another impact on the acupoint.

……

After the fifth impact, the shattered and battered gate of the acupoint could no longer withstand the raging true qi and was blown apart.

At the moment the acupoint was broken open, Shi Lan felt her true qi surge like the Yangtze River pouring into the sea, entering another, far vaster world. The true qi that had once felt thick and abundant now seemed somewhat inadequate all of a sudden.

At the same time, Shi Lan could feel that something within her body had once again sublimated, her vitality growing even more vigorous.

Shi Lan released her restraints, and the spiritual qi in all directions madly rushed toward her, drilling into her body. Her somewhat thin true qi swelled at a rapid pace, turning from flood dragon into true dragon, soaring more than tenfold before it slowly calmed down.

After gradually settling her true qi, Shi Lan opened her eyes. A flash of violet light flickered and vanished within them, and a white qi arrow nearly half a meter long shot out from her mouth.

The qi arrow flew as fast as lightning, piercing through the stone chamber wall and leaving behind a palm-sized black hole in the stone, its depths unseen.

Shi Lan clenched her fist and stood up. As she summoned the system panel, she stretched lazily, and her bones all over her body crackled with a crisp chorus of sound.

Host: Shi Lan

Cultivation: Early Earth Fiend Realm

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Aptitude: 9 (Innate spiritual body, seen once in a thousand years)

Cultivation Arts: Yuqing Creation Art (second layer), Vajra Divine Fist (great completion), Jade Tempering Art (sixth stage)

Divine Abilities: Heaven’s Eye Qi-Sight (three stars), Black Domain (seven stars)

Strength Evaluation: Minor achievements

Reputation: 36,500 (name just beginning to spread)

“What a pity…”

Looking at her attribute panel, Shi Lan let out a soft sigh. She had thought the Jade Tempering Art would advance into the seventh stage along with her cultivation, but it was still a little short, as if something were missing and the timing was not yet ripe.

Even though the Jade Tempering Art had not broken through, Shi Lan’s strength was still worlds apart from before.

With a thought, an illusion as black as ink spread out, filling the entire stone chamber. In the blink of an eye, it was as if the whole chamber had been swallowed by boundless darkness.

Although Shi Lan carefully circled around the blood pool, the blood qi permeating the air was still considerable. It was all devoured by the Black Domain and surged toward her body.

The blood qi pouring in one wave after another brought a faint flush to Shi Lan’s fair cheeks. The warm blood qi nourished her body like a spring breeze bringing life to all things.

Although the blood qi leaking into the surroundings was not small, it still could not withstand Shi Lan’s frenzied absorption and was soon sucked completely dry.

When she put away the Black Domain, the blood pool was still slowly releasing threads of blood qi, but at an extremely slow rate. To the current Shi Lan, it was no more than a cup of water on a cart of firewood.

Shi Lan very much wanted to absorb phoenix blood once more, but her internal organs would no longer allow her to do so.

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……

“Boom… crack…”

She slowly closed the mechanism and looked at the bluestone wall that revealed not the slightest trace. Shi Lan felt a bit reluctant. She did not know when she would next visit Ancient Phoenix City.

She had just carved many aura-sealing formations on the back of the mechanism, but if Ancient Phoenix City fell, she was not confident she could use them to fool those demonic beasts with extremely keen senses.

At this moment, Shi Lan only hated that she had too few crystal tokens. If she had enough high-grade spirit crystals, she could have taken away much more phoenix blood.

In the end, it still came down to being poor.

Wu Lingkong walked into the room, came up beside Shi Lan, and said, “All the luggage is packed. We can leave at any time.”

Shi Lan glanced at the bright daylight outside and nodded. “Sooner is better than later. We’ll set out in half an hour.”

Wu Lingkong nodded in agreement.

……

“Young lady, why not stay another two days? Why leave in such a hurry?”

When Gu Rentong learned that Shi Lan’s group was about to leave immediately, he hurriedly tried to persuade them to stay.

“Time waits for no one. We won’t impose any longer,” Shi Lan said with a shake of her head.

“Then this old man will see you off,” Gu Rentong sighed, then followed Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong to the manor gate.

Gu Deyuan stood waiting outside the gate, holding Gu Qingcang by the hand. Gu Qingcang was still dressed in blue, and though it had only been two days since they last met, there was already more liveliness in his brows.

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Wang Ning and the others had long since readied the flood-dragon horses and were waiting outside.

When he saw Shi Lan and the others come out, Gu Deyuan gently pushed Gu Qingcang forward. Gu Qingcang took two steps ahead, bowed, and gave Shi Lan a somewhat clumsy salute. “Th-thank… you.”

His speech was still a bit slurred.

Shi Lan smiled and ruffled Gu Qingcang’s little head, then turned her gaze toward Gu Rentong. “City Lord Gu, no need to see us any farther. We can leave the city on our own, and you can also start your preparations early.”

“Thank you for the reminder, young lady. This old man understands, so I won’t see you off too far,” Gu Rentong said with a cupped-fist salute.

“Please head back, City Lord Gu.”

Shi Lan swung herself into the saddle. Without further words, she gave a soft shout and urged the flood-dragon horse forward. Wu Lingkong and the others slowly followed.

After the group left the City Lord’s Manor, many martial artists, having heard the news, moved to follow from a distance.

Sensing the many tails that had appeared behind them, Shi Lan could not help but smile. She urged the horse beneath her, speeding up a bit.

In just a short while, Shi Lan and the others had left the city.

Not long after they exited, Shi Lan saw a somewhat familiar sky-blue figure at a roadside tea shed. She was slightly surprised. “Shen Tianlan?”

“Young lady, it’s been a few days, and your grace is as striking as ever. I originally came this time to escort you and your group safely out of Sky Thunder Hall’s sphere of influence, but it seems I was meddling unnecessarily.”

Shen Tianlan walked out from the tea shed, greeted them, and there was a hint of barely concealed astonishment in his eyes.