Someone broke through to the barrier of the Internal Organs Realm before anyone else.
It was a massive blow to the Overlord, who was very competitive.
He challenged 50,000 North County soldiers alone on his black horse, but that did not make him an Internal Organs Realms cultivator. On the iron chain bridge, he had himself injured on purpose. However, he was still just within a hair’s breadth of a breakthrough.
And by then, someone beat him to it.
“Who the hell is that?” The Overlord murmured, standing on the floating sky island, with his hair blowing in the wind.
Was that Nie Changqing?
Or Ning Zhao?
These two were the most likely to beat him to it.
The Overlord shook his head. No matter what, he fell behind.
But it was not a problem. It was not that the earlier a cultivator achieves a breakthrough, the stronger he will become.
The Overlord turned to walk toward the palace on the floating sky island.
The bronze, three-legged cauldron was there, with purple smoke curling up. The Overlord walked around it. Uninterested in it, he went to the palace.
This palace was a little different from the underground palace in the first Secret Realm.
That underground palace was spooky. After all, as a burying ground, it felt dead.
And this palace seemed to have immortal energy surrounding it. Also, lingering in the air was the vague scent of sandalwood and a delicate fragrance that could soothe people’s nerves.
Frowning, the Overlord stood there for a long time.
Then he finally pushed the gate open.
Inside of the palace, it was as black as pitch. As soon as the Overlord pushed the gate open, candles lit up automatically.
Inside the empty palace was a white jade Eight Immortals Table.
There were a few objects placed on the Eight Immortals Table.
Suddenly, the Overlord breathed faster yet shorter. Could those be cultivation methods for Internal Organs Realm?
Immediately, he approached the Eight Immortals Table. Fixing his eyes on those objects, he was slightly astounded.
He saw three small boxes on the Eight Immortals Table.
“There are prizes for defeating a challenge in a Secret Realm, like the immortal cultivation method I got in the Secret Realm of the Hidden Dragon Ridge and the Condensed Core of that ancient Qi Refiner…”
The Overlord pondered in silence. Apparently, the three small boxes before him were the prizes for this challenge.
The Overlord hesitated to take one of the boxes.
He slowly removed the lid of the box.
A rich elixir fragrance came out, lingering at the tip of his nose.
In the box, a line of text formed by the elixir fragrance, written in some ancient language, which was hard to understand, emerged.
“Gathering Qi Elixir. Swallow it down to gather Spirit Qi of Heaven and Earth, restore Spirit Qi in Qi Core, and speed up cultivation. No side effect.”
The text disappeared after two or three seconds.
The Overlord’s eyes lit up. This Gathering Qi Elixir was good stuff!
It must be the only one in this world. So he must cherish such a precious thing.
The box had three Gathering Qi Elixirs in it.
The Overlord took them with caution.
Then he looked at the other two boxes.
He took a box and opened it. There was only one round elixir in it.
The elixir fragrance turned into the introductory text of the elixir.
“Ejecting Qi Elixir. Swallow it down to decuple the wisps of Spirit Qi in Qi Core and get ultimate strength. Essential for killing enemies at higher levels. Side effect: extremely weak in a short time.”
The Overlord took a deep breath. To decuple the wisps of Spirit Qi in Qi Core?!
This thing was way too powerful.
With Ejecting Qi Elixir, he would even have the confidence to challenge Young Master Lu from Beiluo!
“Wonderful!”
The Overlord took this box as well. Then he looked at the third box.
Gathering Qi Elixir and Ejecting Qi Elixir were both great, but they were not that kind of treasure the Overlord was expecting. He wanted some kind of treasure to help him break through to the Internal Organs Realm.
It was a pity for him, after all.
He opened the third elixir box.
An elixir fragrance gushed out and turned into a text.
“Body Building Elixir. Swallow it down to explore the treasures in the human body and achieve Internal Organs Realm. Side effect: cultivation talent will be impaired.”
The Overlord’s pupils constricted.
Body Building Elixir to achieve Internal Organs Realm?!
That’s it!
The Overlord was extremely excited. He opened the lid of the elixir box immediately to take the navy blue Body Building Elixir out. He was going to put it into his mouth right away.
However…
He stopped when it was almost in his mouth.
He was so eager because he was so upset about someone beating him to achieving a breakthrough to the Internal Organs Realm.
“Side effect… Cultivation talent will be impaired?”
“Sacrificing my cultivation talent to achieve Internal Organs Realm? Is it worth it?” the Overlord asked himself as he spread the palm of his hand and looked at the navy blue elixir on it.
It was not.
Of course, it was not worth it!
The Overlord put the Body Building Elixir back in the elixir box and took it with him.
He would not need the Body Building Elixir to achieve Internal Organs Realm. He could do it on his own.
But he could keep this elixir for the future. Mingsang could use it if she could not break through to Internal Organs Realm by herself.
If the Overlord was right, then there were eight Body Building Elixirs in all in the eight Dragon Gate in the Secret Realms.
That means there would be eight cultivators in the Internal Organs Realm…
However, those who achieved the Internal Organs Realm with the aid of a Body Building Elixir could not be as good as those who realized the breakthrough on their own. It was a shortcut, but not the best choice.
He took all of the elixirs. Nothing was left on the white jade Eight Immortals Table.
The Overlord walked out of the palace calmly. Then he looked at the grand palace behind the floating sky island, the center of all of the eight Dragon Gates.
With just only one look, and the Overlord felt the blood in his body started to flow beyond his control.
Some extremely dreadful thing must be asleep in that grand palace.
******
Lu Fan was sort of surprised that the Overlord resisted the temptation. He did not take the Body Building Elixir to achieve a breakthrough.
If the Overlord had really taken it, Lu Fan would not stop him from doing it, because it was his choice. No matter how difficult it would be in the future, he would have to live with it.
Lu Fan stopped paying attention to the Overlord.
He started to check out his new prizes, Tool Refining Manual and Dragon’s Blood Elixir Refining Manual.
Judging by their names, these two prizes should be quite similar to Gathering Qi Elixir Refining Manual he got earlier.
Lu Fan was curious about Tool Refining Manual.
Would he be able to refine a Spirit Tool?
The Spirit Pressure Chessboard was a Spirit Tool, and it was a Heaven Level. It could amplify a cultivator’s fighting power to a great extent.
He started to read Tool Refining Manual with his mind.
Instantly, lights seemed to be surging in Lu Fan’s eyes. One line after another seemed to be flashing by.
His white robe was blowing involuntarily, fluttering in the wind like seaweed floating in the sea.
It did not become still again until a few moments had passed.
“Tool refining…”
Lu Fan took a deep breath. This was a profound subject too.
It would not be easier than elixir refining.
Lu Fan entered Dao Impartment Platform with his mind. There, he could practice tool refining the way he wanted.
“What should be the first Spirit Tool to refine?”
Lu Fan wondered.
He was sitting cross-legged on the formation. Metal ores showed up before him according to his thoughts.
Lu Fan followed the Tool Refining Manual to refine metal ores with Soul Strength and temper them with Spirit Qi.
Quality goods are the products of a thorough tempering process.
Lu Fan was not in a hurry.
Although he did not know how long had passed, he succeeded a few times and also failed a few times.
Lu Fan was sitting cross-legged on the platform, around which there were many short blades like daggers without handles.
He finally turned the metal ores into those blades.
Lu Fan opened his eyes slowly.
Even though he was just on the Dao Impartment Platform, Lu Fan still felt exhausted.
He made 1,000 short blades in all, though none of them had a handle.
When Lu Fan looked at them, a smile tugged the corners of his lips. He was kind of satisfied.
He lifted his hand to snap his fingers.
When the Soul Strength surged, the blades all rose into the air, as if they all turned into small white daggers.
As they stacked up one on top of the other, a metallic ringing sound could be heard.
In the end, a wheelchair took shape in front of Lu Fan.
A silver and shining wheelchair made up of a thousand short blades!
Lu Fan’s eyes lit up.
That was the kind of wheelchair that went with his elegance.
He quit the Dao Impartment Platform with his mind.
Lu Fan was sitting straight in the wheelchair and leaning against the vermilion carved wooden rail. A relaxing breeze stirred his hair and white robe.
On the terrace on the second floor of White Jade City Pavilion…
Looking at the staircase, Lu Fan raised his hand to consume his Soul Strength so he could make the same thing happen in real life. He gently pointed toward the set of stairs.
His Soul Strength surged.
Then a silver radiance suddenly appeared.
This was followed by the appearance of numerous silver radiances that came out of nowhere. That dreadful sharpness and terrifying ripping feeling whizzed across the second floor of White Jade City Pavilion.
A thousand silver blades stacked up into a silver wheelchair.
The wheelchair fell on the floor quietly.
Lu Fan smiled.
His body floated into the air from the wooden wheelchair and moved into the one made of a thousand sharp blades. With the wool blanket covering his legs, he leaned against the back of the new wheelchair elegantly.
Each blade that made up this wheelchair was an Earth Level Low Grade Spirit Tool.
Lu Fan could improve them and nurture them with Spirit Qi in the future.
Cupping one hand around his chin, he touched the armrest of the wheelchair gently with the other hand.
He started to study Dragon’s Blood Elixir Refining Manual.
******
Daoist School.
Nie Changqing was carrying the Daoist nun on his back. His energy was soaring. The dead bamboo leaves on the ground were stirring around him as if there was a gale.
Nie Changqing’s hair was blowing, while his eyes were as ablaze like torches.
In the distance, Li Sansui felt extremely pressured.
Powerful!
Nie Changqing’s strength was beyond her expectation.
Was he in the middle of a breakthrough?!
Nie Changqing was holding the butcher knife with one hand. He was extremely moody.
He said that any closure—whatever it was like—was closure enough for him. However, he had been waiting for five years. How would he accept such a result so easily?
Fortunately, his wife was still alive. He felt very fortunate.
When the knot in his heart was untied, this gave Nie Changqing a moment of clarity. He felt everything was clear for him at the moment.
It was a sublimation in his soul and spirit.
He had been inhibiting his feelings for too long.
From writing letters in the inn to intruding into the main gate of Daoist School, he had been very depressed during the whole process. He had been so depressed that if he was careless, he could lose control of himself completely.
However, at the moment, with his wife on his back, Nie Changqing felt incredibly peaceful.
Xie Yunling fixed his old eyes on Nie Changqing.
Five years had passed. This stubborn young man had been much more mature.
Nevertheless, this day, they really should settle the old grudges of the past five years between them.
Xie Yunling was the philosopher of Daoist School, a person strong enough to compete with Kong Xiu, Mo Beike, and others.
And this day, he would settle those grudges with Nie Changqing.
“Cultivator…”
Xie Yunling smiled with his back hunched.
He extended his skinny hand. That old hand moved in the air as graceful as a teenage girl’s delicate soft hand playing the pipa.
Bamboo leaves stirred all over.
Spirit Qi flowed out of Xie Yunling’s body.
The philosopher of Daoist School had been studying Spirit Qi for a long time ago.
“This is for Young Master Lu from Beiluo…”
“If you want to try it, suit yourself,” Xie Yunling said.
Then…
The bamboo leaves in the bamboo forest formed a pattern before Xie Yunling. The circles looked like mysterious runes.
It was like using Spirit Qi as the formation’s foundation and creating runes based on heaven and earth!
Nie Changqing’s hair was blowing. He lifted his hand to pat his wife on the back gently. She was a little terrified.
“It’s for Young Master?”
Nie Changqing remained calm.
The butcher knife started to spin at high speed.
And in his body, Spirit Qi was surging.
He took a step forward, and the clouds overhead all turned dark.
The bamboos in the bamboo forest all bent due to the dreadful pressure released by Nie Changqing.
The sound of rustling leaves filled the whole bamboo forest.
Nie Changqing’s bones banged. At that moment, he seemed to be in a mysterious status.
He could see the internal organs in his body as well as the blood flowing in the blood vessels and the bursting of Qi and blood.
“Internal Organs…” Nie Changqing murmured.
He achieved the Internal Organs Realm simply with a thought.
He threw the butcher knife over. That was a knife attack from a cultivator in the Internal Organs Realm.
Buzz…
Nie Changqing’s butcher knife cut forward lithely.
In an instant…
Numerous wisps of Spirit Qi surrounded the butcher knife. As the knife was struck, Spirit Qi gushed out.
The unreal outline of the butcher knife turned into a real giant knife formed by Spirit Qi.
The knife fell.
Xie Yunling flushed. He took five steps back.
The bamboo house behind him was also cut in half by Nie Changqing’s knife.
Bamboo leaves flew all over. Each of them was cut in half while floating in the air.
The whole bamboo forest was eerily quiet.
Xie Yunling gave in. He coughed up blood. The dead bamboos on the ground were tinted red.
He was covered with numerous fallen leaves.
Not until then did Nie Changqing’s unhurried voice come.
“For Young Master…”
“It’s simply not good enough yet.”