Hidden Dragon Ridge…
In the back chamber of the underground palace…
Other than some grave goods, the most noteworthy thing was some old pieces of parchment on the dust-covered stone shelf.
With shield and ax on his back, Xiang Shaoyun reached for one of them.
Xiang Shaoyun saw that the text on the pieces of parchment was very profound—at least for someone like him who did not know much about ancient texts. In fact, he did not understand the texts well.
However, when a wisp of Spirit Qi flowed out of his Qi Core into the parchment, Xiang Shaoyun immediately understood the text in the pieces of parchment. The cultivation technique—Spirit Transmission Sword Transcript—recorded in the texts he found suddenly appeared in his head.
It was a cultivation swordsmen’s technique about Spirit Qi breathing.
Xiang Shaoyun frowned slightly. He looked back at Li Sansi, limping, and then threw him the parchment.
“You are a swordsman. This immortal cultivation technique is suitable for you. Use Spirit Qi to activate it.”
Xiang Shaoyun said.
Li Sansi caught it. He raised his eyebrow instantly. As soon as he introduced a wisp of Spirit Qi into the parchment, the immortal cultivation technique appeared in his head.
Reading it carefully, he was genuinely shocked. His eyes lit up.
Xiang Shaoyun took another piece of parchment, which was almost ragged. When spirit Qi had been introduced into it, another cultivation technique—Righteousness Spirit Transmission Technique—appeared in his head.
He was still not very satisfied with this immortal cultivation technique. However, at least it was more suitable for him than Spirit Transmission Sword Transcript.
The other two pieces of parchment did not have any immortal cultivation techniques on them. They were about two attacking immortal techniques, Sword Control Technique and Sword Flip Technique, both related to swords.
Xiang Shaoyun was somewhat disappointed.
However, he still read through them, thinking maybe he could draw inspiration from them.
Kong Nanfei practiced Righteousness Spirit Transmission Technique. His facial expression looked a little bit odd.
“This immortal technique shares something in common with Confucianism’s Righteousness Transfusion Technique, only more profound. Maybe… Confucianism’s Righteousness Transfusion Technique originated from this ancient immortal technique.”
Kong Nanfei was puzzled.
The three of them walked a few laps in the Immortal Palace.
Then they decided to leave.
Wisps of Spirit Qi once again started to gather slowly in every corner of the Immortal Palace, transforming to small ghosts.
“These small ghosts are transformed by Spirit Qi. As long as there is Spirit Qi, these small ghosts will continue to emerge. We can make Spirit Qi cling around us by killing them. Maybe this Immortal Palace will be a fantastic cultivation site in the future.”
The three exclaimed.
Then they briskly walked out of the Immortal Palace.
Once they were out, they smelled the strong stench of blood.
Four miles away from the Immortal Gate, dead bodies were littered all over. The brown dirt was stained with blood.
“Some people must have been blinded by greed.”
Holding his wooden sword, Li Sansi let out a sigh, shaking his head.
They were not dumb. They supposed after fleeing out of the Immortal Palace, Mo Shougui must have disclosed the information about the Qi Refiner’s Condensed Core, and that ignited the greed of those left outside.
As a result, Ning Zhao and Nie Changqing, two apprentices of White Jade City, had to confront those greedy armies.
The two, one in a white robe and the other in a white dress, killed so many people that the land was covered with corpses, and blood was spattered everywhere.
******
The sun was setting in the west.
The boat was rocking.
After they had arrived at the shore, Ning Zhao and Nie Changqing jumped off the boat right away. Both of their white clothes were stained with blood. Both of them looked aggressive.
In the distance…
Drawing Spirit Qi into his body, the assassin Mo Liuqi opened his eyes. Looking at the two drenched in blood, he could not help but tense up.
That blood, that aggressiveness, did they just survive a battle against an army of a thousands of soldiers?
Nie Shuang and Ni Yu were staring at Ning Zhao and Nie Changqing with fear from far away.
However, those two were pretty calm. They wiped the blood off their faces and then looked up at the terrace of White Jade City’s pavilion.
In the pavilion, Lu Fan’s face showed up behind the wooden rail.
Nie Changqing and Ning Zhao climbed onto the terrace.
Covered with blood, they stood before Lu Fan.
“Young Master.”
Lowering their heads, the two greeted him.
“How come you made such a sorry figure of yourselves?”
Lu Fan’s wheelchair turned automatically to Ning Zhao and Nie Changqing, his brows slightly knitted.
“We’ve got the Condensed Core of the ancient Qi Refiner. But something came up on our way back.”
Nie Changqing told him.
“Someone disclosed that you got the Condensed Core?”
Lu Fan leaned back on the wheelchair, placed his elbows on the armrests, and cupped his jaw with his hands. Slightly looking up, he said indifferently.
“Yes.”
Nie Changqing nodded.
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Ning Zhao did not speak.
“Where is that person?”
“We cut one of his arms off. Someone else saved him.”
“I didn’t do a good job. Young Master, please punish…” Ning Zhao, whose lips had been pressed, said.
But Lu Fan waved his hand, cutting off Ning Zhao’s reply.
“I’m a good-tempered person. You think I’m a person who punishes people constantly?
“It’s all right that he escaped. Kill him when you see him next time. That’s all.”
Lu Fan’s skin looked rosy in the evening glow.
“Yes.”
Ning Zhao and Nie Changqing felt relieved.
Then, Ning Zhao took the Condensed Core out. She unwrapped the white silk handkerchief with extreme care and then handed it to Lu Fan.
Lu Fan took it. He tossed it into the air lightly.
“The ancient Qi Refiner was the overlord the Immortal deployed in Hidden Dragon Ridge’s Secret Realm. In fact, it was not easy at all to fetch the Condensed Core. Only the person who could kill the overlord could take the core.
“However, this Qi Refiner self-exploded, so anyone could get his Condensed Core.
“You should pay extra attention when you run into such overlords in Secret Realms again. Don’t let others take the fruit of your hard work by chance.”
Lu Fan said slowly.
Nie Changqing and Ning Zhao were dumbstruck. They lifted their heads with an astonished look.
Was there such an incredible thing in the world?
“There are way too many incredible things when it comes to an Immortal.” Lu Fan showed a small smile.
“I told you it is fun to compete with the Immortal. You won’t get how fun it is.”
Lu Fan’s smile was pretty meaningful.
“Sister Ning, with nine wisps Spirit Qi in your Qi Core now, it can’t hold more. That means your Qi Core Realm has already achieved completeness. You can start to condense a core… Take this Condensed Core so you can study it. You can also try to refine the Spirit Qi contained in it.”
Lu Fan said.
He threw the Condensed Core to Ning Zhao.
Ning Zhao caught it. Her face, stained with blood, looked nervous and astonished at the same time as if what she had just caught was an extremely hot potato.
“Young Master, it’s too precious…”
“It’s precious for you, but for me, it’s not very useful.”
Shaking his head, Lu Fan added.
“Your talent is quite average. Your Qi Core could only hold nine wisps of Spirit Qi. By contrast, Nie’s could hold twelve wisps. If he achieves the completeness of Qi Core Realm, plus his Knife Control Technique, he will be able to kill you easily.”
Ning Zhao was dumbstruck.
“Cultivators have different talents. Some people have bigger Qi Cores, while others have smaller ones. This is something that has been decided at birth. Like Xiang Shaoyun from West County, his talent in martial arts is innate, so that means he can improve faster than average practitioners. He became a Fifth Resonance Grandmaster at the age of ten. This is the talent of his body.
“As a result, Sister Ning, you have to put in more effort than others to achieve the next level if you want to narrow this innate gap.”
Lu Fan said.
Nie Changqing and Ning Zhao were deeply absorbed in his remark.
“Young Master… How on earth are cultivators’ realms divided?”
Ning Zhao asked involuntarily. She had achieved the completeness of Qi Core Realm, but what was the next realm?
Nie Changqing was very curious too.
A smile up pulled at the corners of Lu Fan’s lips.
The wheelchair turned automatically. At the rail, he watched the sun setting on the horizon where the lake and the sky met.
Shrouded in the sunset glow, he looked like he was wearing a thin veil.
“The first realm of cultivation is Qi Core Realm. In this realm, cultivators draw Qi into their bodies to condense Qi Core. Although they won’t be strong enough to fly in the sky or travel underground, using Qi to walk can make them move as fast as Ferghana horses. Using Qi to attack can make them as threatening as knives, swords, spears, and axes. Once their Qi Core achieves completeness, they can move freely in an army of tens of thousands of soldiers.”
Lu Fan said. His tone was slow and plain.
Ning Zhao and Nie Changqing nodded.
They had just broken through the blockade of thousands of people. They certainly knew how powerful Qi Core Realm was.
What they felt curious about was the realm after Qi Core.
Looking at the setting sun, Lu Fan squinted. He looked a little bit lazy. His smile seemed mysterious.
“The second realm of cultivation is Internal Organs Realm. In this realm, cultivators explore their bodies. The five internal organs are five treasures in the body. Cultivators draw Spirit Qi out of Qi Core to flow through their meridians and train the five internal organs. Once the highest level of Internal Organs Realm is achieved, your elemental Spirit Qi will be generated, your life span will be increased, and your attacks will be invincible. It will be easy for you to break several-feet-long city walls and eliminate an army of tens of thousands of people alone.”
Lu Fan continued.
Internal Organs Realm was the second cultivation realm established by Lu Fan.
He had conceived the idea of the Internal Organs Realm in Hidden Dragon Ridge’s Secret Realm. The Qi Refiner Jiang Chao had achieved the Internal Organs Realm, but he died on the battlefield.
He fought people more powerful than him. It was a peaceful and honorable death.
In fact, in Lu Fan’s head, if someone from Wuhuang Continent could achieve the highest level of Internal Organs Realm, then Wuhuang Continent might be qualified to be upgraded to Mid-Level Martial World.
In the Internal Organs Realm, cultivators would be endowed with different elements of Spirit Qi. The five internal organs corresponded to the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Cultivators who achieved the highest level of Internal Organs Realm could even generate elemental Spirit Qi.
With elements involved, the destructive power would certainly significantly increase.
“Internal Organs Realm… Eliminating an army of tens of thousands of people alone?!”
Ning Zhao and Nie Changqing sucked the air through gritted teeth.
The word Lu Fan had used was “eliminating,” which perfectly explained how strong cultivators in Internal Organs Realm were!
Nie Changqing trembled slightly. He felt tempted.
“Is Young Master a cultivator in Internal Organs Realm?”
Ning Zhao asked out of curiosity.
Lu Fan’s strength was unquestionable. Once he released Spirit Pressure, even she, whose Qi Core had achieved completeness, might have to throw herself down at his feet with admiration and stay motionless.
Lu Fan, with his back facing Ning Zhao and Nie Changqing, was watching the remote sun as red as blood in the wheelchair.
His voice came slowly.
“No, I am not.
“Well.
“The trivial Internal Organs Realms, I’m not now, and I won’t be in the future.”