The crowd around the arena surged.
After Duan Xiuwen was sent flying off of the stage, the crowd automatically made way for him.
The originally lively atmosphere abruptly switched to one of dead silence.
All of the disciples that had been spectating were left dumbfounded.
They looked at Duan Xiuwen, whose face was covered in dirt, and the tall figure standing on the stage in shock.
A fifth-level qi refining cultivator had actually defeated a perfected-level qi refining cultivator with a single blow?
That extremely fast speed and the similarly fast attack at the end caught everyone off guard.
After a few moments of silence, the crowd burst into an uproar.
"He actually won so easily?"
"Why didn't Senior Brother Duan hit Li Ming?"
"Oi, Duan Xiuwen, did you receive a bribe to fake the match?"
The disciples that had spectated the match simply could not believe the outcome.
Li Ming had not even used his spiritual qi to knock Duan Xiuwen off of the stage.
They all felt that if they were the ones up on the stage fighting, they would not have ended up like this.
How could he not defeat Li Ming with his powerful spiritual energy and qi cultivation techniques?
In reality, Duan Xiuwen, who was currently getting up from the ground, was also at a loss. He had used a magical art to protect his body from the last attack, but he was still sent flying by a huge force.
How did he get sent flying?
Duan Xiuwen could not believe it. He dashed toward the stage and wanted to try again.
He must have failed to perform well just now.
He believed that if it was a head-on confrontation, he would definitely be the victor...
However, he found that Li Ming was no longer on the stage. He had run to the spectator stand to collect the bet he had placed and took it as his spoils of war.
Li Ming turned around and said lightly, "Prepare more resources if you want to duel me again. I'll be taking my leave now."
He directly left the stage.
Duan Xiuwen stood on the stage alone and felt the gazes from all directions. His face was burning from shame, and he quickly jumped off the stage and left.
Li Ming did not feel much about defeating Duan Xiuwen.
At most, he now had a clearer understanding of his own strength.
The cultivation technique of qi refining cultivators focused on condensing a stronger vortex, and using it with various magical artifacts and spells to display various magical abilities.
However, in terms of physical strength, qi refinement cultivators were far weaker than their body refinement counterparts.
"Senior brother... Senior brother!"
Seeing Li Ming leave, Chen Qingke quickly followed after him.
She had a lot of questions after seeing Li Ming defeat Duan Xiuwen.
...
The battle between Li Ming and Duan Xiuwen.
At first, not many people paid attention to it. There were actually not that many disciples who watched the show when looking at the entire sect.
However, the final result of the battle undoubtedly made everyone's jaws drop.
A perfected-level qi refinement cultivator failed to beat a fifth-level qi refinement realm cultivator?
This matter caused quite a stir among the qi refinement disciples.
When the elders passed by the main peak, they all heard the news as well.
The great elder called a disciple over and had him give them a detailed report of the battle.
The great elder's eyes were gloomy as he waved his hand, signalling the disciple to leave.
"Elders, what do you all think?"
A white-bearded elder said, "A fifth-level qi refining cultivator defeated a perfected qi refining cultivator. Furthermore, he defeated his opponent with one move. This is definitely not an easily achievable feat."
Another gray-robed elder said thoughtfully, "That disciple Li Ming has been engrossed in body cultivation for the past few years. I did not pay much attention to him before."
"A few days ago, we were even considering demoting him to an outer disciple. But now, it seems that we need to wait and see."
The great elder nodded. The potential that Li Ming had shown was indeed enough to make them reconsider.
For a large sect like the Divine Will Sect, some resources were secondary.
"How about this?" the gray-robed elder said, "Let's give Li Ming another chance..."
"Ok." The great elder did not say anything more.
With their status, they would rarely spend much time and energy on such minor things.
...
On the way back to the cave abode.
Chen Qingke followed Li Ming.
She had been very worried for him before.
However, it was a pleasant surprise for her to see Li Ming easily defeat Duan Xiuwen.
"Senior brother, I didn't know you were so powerful. It seems as if you've always been confident that you would be able to win against that guy..."
"To think that you've been hiding it from me..."
Li Ming said helplessly, "This is my first time participating in actual combat. It just so happens that... Well, it went pretty well."
"Oh?" Chen Qingke asked curiously. "Senior brother, is this the power of your body refining?"
"Yes."
Is body refinement really that magical?
Chen Qingke became curious about body refinement and asked all sorts of questions.
In the end, the answer she received was that body refinement and qi refinement were simply two paths and that was that."
Li Ming nodded.
Soon, they arrived at his cave abode.
"Junior sister, I know what I'm doing. You should go back home."
"Hm, ok. Goodbye, senior brother."
Chen Qingke waved her hand and said, "Call me if you encounter any trouble."
Li Ming waved his hand calmly.
He was finally able to send this little junior sister away.
In the sect, it was not bad to have such a loyal junior sister.
...
Li Ming closed the door.
He started to check his gains from the battle.
He used his will to open the storage bag and found that Duan Xiuwen was not lacking in terms of resources.
These were the cultivation resources distributed by the sect every month. There were hundreds of low-grade spirit stones, which was quite a good amount.
He did not expect Duan Xiuwen to be so rich.
This was especially a lot for someone like him who was no longer valued as much by the sect.
With the low-grade spirit stones now in hand, Li Ming began to think about what to buy.
What he needed right now were body refinement resources and qi scattering pills that were a must-have for those at the early stages of qi refinement...
He immediately set out for the market.
The market was located on the periphery of the sect and was part of the Divine Will Sect.
Compared to the silence in the mountains, this market was much more bustling.
When Li Ming arrived at the market, it was the time when there were many people. The endless stream of people included not only the disciples of the Divine Will Sect, but also people from other sects.
Even some itinerant cultivators would come here to trade.
Even an immortal cultivation sect like the Divine Will Sect needed such business to maintain their expenses.
And where there were benefits, all kinds of people would be drawn over.
Of course, this place was not far from the Divine Will Sect, so no one would dare to act rashly.
"There are really many people..."
Li Ming had not seen so many people at once in a long time.
After going around and slowly entering the depths of the market, one would find that the items sold here were even more precious than those in the periphery.
There were even some natural treasures. It basically had everything.
It was Li Ming's first time here, so he was quite surprised by what he saw.
His goal was to buy medicinal pills, and he knew what way to go very clearly.
After several turns, he saw a rather large shop—Pill King Medicinal Hall.
Seeing that this shop was quite stylish, Li Ming walked straight into it.
"Sir, what do you want to buy?"
Seeing that Li Ming's clothes had the Divine Will Sect's logo on it, the shop owner did not dare to be negligent.
"We have a complete range of medicinal pills here. Please take a look."
Li Ming glanced at the list of medicinal pills.
He pointed at the spiritual liquid needed for body cultivation. "I want these..."
He also bought some qi scattering pills for qi cultivation.
With these spiritual liquids and medicinal pills, the efficiency of his cultivation could return to the previous speed when it advanced at a tremendous pace.
Li Ming did not feel any heartache at all for spending the spirit stones he had earned from the duel.
He also bought a lot of qi and blood pills that he needed for body tempering.
Because after today's battle, he was even more determined to continue treading the path of body refinement.
In the end, this was where his foundation lay.