Chapter 235 - 231: Triple Breakthrough to the 9th Realm
Chapter 235: Chapter 231: Triple Breakthrough to the 9th Realm
Cao Weifang’s face was contorted in agony. His aura grew weaker and weaker. In moments, his True Qi was completely devoured. His corpse fell to the ground, lifeless.
Meanwhile, Ye Xing’s Cultivation skyrocketed directly to the Peak of the Martial Arts Eighth Layer. The True Qi throughout his body surged and churned, restless and turbulent.
’Ugh, I’ve absorbed too much True Qi. I need to consolidate my Realm!’
Ye Xing’s gaze shifted. He immediately sat down cross-legged, circulated the Innate Skill, and began refining the turbulent True Qi within his body.
*EXHALE—*
*INHALE—*
He inhaled slowly, then gradually exhaled. Operating his Innate Skill Internal Cultivation Method, he guided the restless True Qi. It began to follow his Original True Qi from the Innate Skill, cycling again and again.
With each Circulation through his meridians, a portion of the turbulent True Qi was converted into Innate Skill True Qi. The process repeated, cycling endlessly.
After an unknown amount of time, all the turbulent True Qi he had absorbed was finally converted into pure Original True Qi.
’Whew, it’s all converted. This feeling of being filled with power is incredible!’
Ye Xing abruptly opened his eyes, a divine light gleaming within them, sharp and brilliant. His entire body surged with True Qi that was now dense, pure, and immense. He had truly and completely reached the Peak of the Martial Arts Eighth Layer, just half a step away from the Martial Arts Ninth Layer.
Ye Xing glanced at the watch on his left wrist. It was already five in the morning on the second day, and the sky outside was beginning to lighten. This meant that his cross-legged session to refine his True Qi had taken a full four or five shichen.
’I should get moving. Let’s see what everyone else is up to!’
Ye Xing’s gaze shifted. He immediately took out his phone, swiped the screen, and opened his surveillance app.
Instantly, a series of images appeared before his eyes.
Since Ye Xing had over a dozen Detectors, each in a different location, the feeds they provided were all different. Some Detectors showed empty passageways, while others might spot something useful. In short, the dozen or so Detectors were scattered throughout the Daluo Sect Treasure, flying and scouting on their own.
Ye Xing continuously tapped his phone screen, switching from one feed to another.
Suddenly, Ye Xing’s eyes locked onto his phone screen, a smile unconsciously forming on his lips. ’The Cao and Liu Families are finally fighting!’
The phone screen showed a stone chamber. There were no other treasures or Secret Manuals inside, only a bleached-white skeleton sitting in a cross-legged position, as if the deceased had been in Secluded Cultivation before death. A dark, ancient Treasure Sword was stuck in the ground beside the skeleton. Next to its hip bones was a Qiankun Cloth Bag. The bag’s texture was fine and ancient, a clear sign of its superb quality.
Even watching through his phone screen, Ye Xing could sense that the quality of that Qiankun Bag seemed to be even higher than his own. His best Qiankun Bag was a Mid-grade Qiankun Bag he had taken from the Innate Realm expert Hu Yinjiu. This meant the bag on screen had to be a Mid-grade Qiankun Bag at the very least, and could even be an extremely precious and rare Upper-grade Qiankun Bag.
Qiankun Bags were divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower Three Grades. A Lower-grade Qiankun Bag had space about the size of a single room and could be bought for several thousand Gold Coins. They were commonly found at auctions. In fact, Ye Xing had bought his first Qiankun Bag at an auction at the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower for several thousand Gold Coins. Mid-grade Qiankun Bags were relatively scarce. Their internal space was as large as an entire floor of a building, and their price was tens of thousands of Gold Coins. They were often priceless due to their rarity—you couldn’t necessarily buy one even if you had the money. As for Upper-grade Qiankun Bags, they were even rarer and more precious. Anyone qualified to carry one held an incredibly noble status and stood at the top of the food chain on the entire Martial Arts Continent.
A single Upper-grade Qiankun Bag alone was worth hundreds of thousands, or even over a million Gold Coins, not to mention the other valuable items likely inside.
At this moment, the four members of the Cao and Liu Families were breathing heavily, their gazes fixed on the skeleton in the stone chamber with a mixture of tension and excitement. To be precise, they were staring at the Treasure Sword and the Qiankun Bag beside the bleached bones.
The Cao Family’s party consisted of Patriarch Cao Bohao, ranked seventy-first on the Wind and Cloud List, and Cao Family Elder Cao Weiyuan, whose Cultivation was at the Martial Arts Ninth Layer. The Liu Family’s party consisted of Patriarch Liu Liqun, ranked one hundred and sixth on the Wind and Cloud List, and Gao Zhisong of the Seven-Snake Centipede Whip, ranked seventy-ninth on the list.
After a brief standoff, they could no longer hold back and erupted into a massive battle.
CLANG! PING! PANG! PING!
In an instant, the entire stone chamber was filled with the glint of blades and the shadows of swords as the four engaged in a fierce melee.
Logically, since the Cao and Liu Families were evenly matched, the outcome should have been a fifty-fifty split. However, after more than two hundred exchanges, the situation suddenly took a drastic turn.
The Cao Family Elder, Cao Weiyuan, suddenly made his move. Taking advantage of a moment when Patriarch Cao Bohao was fiercely engaged in battle and his guard was down, Cao Weiyuan lunged forward, dagger in hand, and savagely stabbed him in the back.
SQUELCH!
The dagger pierced through his back and emerged from his chest. Blood sprayed out, staining his clothes a dark black. The dagger was clearly coated with a potent poison.
The dark, poisoned blood dripped from the tip of the dagger, drop by drop, onto the ground.
"You... Why?" Cao Bohao’s eyes were filled with disbelief as he stared deathly at the Cao Family Elder, Cao Weiyuan.
"There is no why. I had no choice. Patriarch Liu ordered me to ambush you. If you don’t die, I will. Patriarch, I can only apologize," Cao Weiyuan said indifferently.
"Ah, damn you! Cao Weiyuan, you dare betray the family! I’ll wipe out your entire bloodline!" Cao Bohao roared in fury and struck out at Cao Weiyuan with his palm.
Cao Weiyuan’s expression changed slightly. He quickly circulated his True Qi to meet the blow.
BANG!
With a loud bang, immense Power erupted from their palms. Cao Weiyuan staggered back three steps—*thud, thud, thud*. Cao Bohao, on the other hand, coughed up blood and was sent flying, crashing heavily to the ground. He gritted his teeth, quickly got up, and forced himself to summon a breath of True Qi to flee out of the stone chamber.
"Don’t even think about escaping!" Cao Weiyuan shouted, about to use his Lightweight Skill to give chase.
"Cao Weiyuan, don’t pursue him!" Liu Family Head Liu Liqun said calmly.
"But if I don’t, Cao Bohao will get away! The consequences will be endless if he makes it back!" Cao Weiyuan said anxiously. He could imagine that if Cao Bohao escaped back to the family, he, Cao Weiyuan, would be finished. His entire bloodline would likely be purged from the clan. Therefore, Cao Weiyuan was desperate to kill Patriarch Cao Bohao.
"Relax. Even if the poison on the dagger doesn’t kill him, it’s enough to cripple him. What’s a mere Cao Bohao? The priority right now is to help me get this Qiankun Bag!" Liu Liqun said in a low voice, giving Gao Zhisong a meaningful look.
「Meanwhile,」
In another stone chamber, Ye Xing quickly turned off his phone screen and rushed out.
’Cao Bohao is a top expert on the Wind and Cloud List. His Cultivation must be incredibly profound. If I can devour it, I’ll easily break into the Ninth Realm! This is a god-sent opportunity, the perfect time for me to be the fisherman who profits!’ A vicious glint flashed in Ye Xing’s eyes, his gaze murderous. He used his Lightweight Skill and sped down the passageway in the direction Cao Bohao had fled.
Ye Xing was now also at the Peak of the Martial Arts Eighth Layer. Using his Lightweight Skill at full power, his speed was astonishing. With a Detector guiding him from ahead, it didn’t take long for him to find the fleeing Cao Bohao.
Cao Family Master Cao Bohao was clutching the wound on his chest with one hand, fleeing for his life. Suddenly, he saw a figure blocking his path and his expression changed. When he got a clear look at the person’s face, he visibly relaxed and then shouted sternly, "Brat, get out of my way! Don’t block the path!"
Ye Xing stood with his hands behind his back, blocking Cao Bohao’s path. He smiled faintly. "Patriarch Cao, how did you get injured?"
"So what if I’m injured? Even a little bastard like you dares to challenge me? Even if I’m severely wounded, killing a little bastard at the Martial Arts Sixth Realm like you is more than enough." Cao Bohao roared, charged forward, and once again forcibly summoned a breath of True Qi to strike at Ye Xing with his palm.
"Heh, I’d like to see how you’re going to kill me!" Ye Xing sneered. The True Qi in his body erupted, causing his sleeves to flutter as he met the attack with a palm strike of his own.
BANG!
The two palms collided, and Palm Force exploded outwards.
Cao Bohao’s expression changed drastically. He felt a colossal force wash over him. He coughed up blood and was sent flying backward like a broken sack, slamming hard against the passageway wall before falling to the ground. His injuries had worsened dramatically.
"You... Your Cultivation... How is this possible?" Cao Bohao’s face was deathly pale, completely drained of color. He staggered to his feet and tried to turn and run.
However, Ye Xing had already closed the distance again. His five fingers formed a claw, and carrying a bizarre, evil black mist, he clamped his hand onto the top of his skull.
In that instant, Cao Bohao felt the True Qi he had painstakingly cultivated for years gush out of him as if from a ruptured dam.
"Ah... My Cultivation... Why is my Cultivation regressing...?"
Cao Bohao’s face contorted in agony as he struggled desperately. But in his heavily injured state, how could he possibly be a match for Ye Xing?
"Struggling is useless. Just go in peace, Patriarch Cao. I’m in a good mood. Maybe I’ll even avenge you later!" A cold, devilish smile curled on Ye Xing’s lips as he frantically devoured Cao Bohao’s True Qi.
As he continued to devour it, his own Cultivation skyrocketed.
Peak of the Martial Arts Eighth Layer... Early Stage of the Martial Arts Ninth Layer... Middle Stage of the Martial Arts Ninth Layer...
(That’s the two updates for today, a big 3,000-character Chapter! I’ll continue with two updates tomorrow! ROAR ROAR ROAR!)