Early the following morning, Li Ming had already pretty much completed his mission. He was now just waiting for someone to take over.
Before long, a group of elite disciples wearing the robes of the Divine Will Sect arrived.
Each and every one of them had extraordinary cultivation, and their temperaments were completely different from that of ordinary qi refinement disciples.
From their aura, they should be foundation establishment disciples, just like Senior Sister Lu Lan.
The one leading this group of foundation establishment stage elite disciples was a slightly older middle-aged cultivator, a golden core stage elder of the sect.
Seeing that everyone had arrived on the mountain path.
"Disciple Li Ming greets elder and senior brothers and sisters," Li Ming greeted politely.
He was tall, and with the addition of his qi and body cultivation, his body appeared even more otherworldly.
He was bright and spirited, and one could tell at a glance that he was a cultivator who was untainted by the world.
After seeing Li Ming, Senior Sister Lu Lan walked over. It seemed that they had finished their work and had the time to deal with the ghosts now.
"Junior Brother Li, thank you for watching over the ghosts."
Lu Lan said with a smile in her eyes.
The barrier of the mountain forest was still strong, which meant that no ghosts had escaped.
"It's nothing," Li Ming said.
As she spoke, Senior Sister Lu Lan handed over a storage bag.
"This is the reward for the completion of the mission. There were originally two portions meant for two disciples, but I'll give both portions to you."
She was originally supposed to look for two qi refinement disciples to guard the place, but since Li Ming knew fire attribute techniques, he was enough.
"Thank you, Senior Sister Lu." Li Ming took the storage bag.
After that, Senior Sister Lu Lan told him to go back home, then she followed the golden core elder and the other elite disciples into the mountain.
They were probably going to transport the ghosts.
There was nothing else for him to do here, so he turned around and left.
Right now, the most important agenda for him was to increase his own strength. As such, he immediately headed back to his cave abode.
On his way back to the cave abode from the mountain valley, Li Ming put the mission to the back of his mind and could not wait to check what he had received after completing the mission.
After all, the prompt stated that he would receive a blue entry for completing the mission. A blue entry was something he saw as extremely valuable.
However, when he saw the entry, he was dumbfounded.
[Ghost Hero (Blue): Increases temperament, especially charm towards ghosts, allows the user to gain a good impression from ghosts.]
The blue words also had an additional skill: [Dead as a Ghost: Takes effect during the yin ghost state. Increases the cultivation efficiency for ghost cultivation techniques and allows the user to command ghosts.]
After reading the description of the entry, although it was blue, Li Ming still found himself feeling stifled.
What the hell is this? Increases one's temperament and charm towards ghosts?
And this skill, it needs me to be in the yin ghost state? This is simply ridiculous. Do I have to commit suicide just to make use of the skill?
That's impossible.
It was likely that he just so happened to stumble upon a useless entry.
He thought about how he had spent three days on the mission. Was it not all for this blue entry?
Yet this was the result?
On the way back to the cave, Li Ming was angry.
Nevertheless, after he got back to his cave abode, he had thought things through.
Who cares, I pretty much got it for free anyway.
If it was useful, he would use it. If it was not, he could just fuse it with other entries. He would not really lose out either way.
...
After completing the mission, Li Ming felt that his understanding of the Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art had deepened by another level. With his deepened understanding, he felt that making the breakthrough would not be difficult at all.
And so, he followed his original plan and began training.
Every time he tempered his body, he would improve. After continuous improvement, it would lead to a qualitative change, allowing him to get closer to his small goal of reaching the martial dao foundation establishment stage.
It was a painful process for body cultivators to use true qi to comb through their bodies and souls.
Fortunately, Li Ming had gradually adapted to the pain, which eventually brought joy, and he even began to grow fond of the process.
While training his body, Li Ming had already developed his meridians until they were very wide and tough.
With that, it was much easier for him to circulate true qi and use his meridians to temper his bones and muscles.
Originally, he was already only one step away from completing the Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art.
This time, he could no longer hold himself back.
During the day, he would practice his Five Divine Fists by stance training under the sun. He would also practice the Wind Lightning Steps to strengthen his legs. Finally, he would practice Iron Skin to train his skin.
Every night, he would pour the spiritual liquid he bought into a bathtub filled with hot water and bathe in it, using the spiritual liquid to warm his body.
Day and night, he went into closed-door cultivation. What surprised him was that on the morning of the seventh day...
With the influx of a large amount of spiritual qi, he broke through to seventh level of the qi refinement stage.
Seven days later, at noon, Li Ming directly moved the bathtub to the courtyard, basking in the sun and absorbing the benefits of the spiritual liquid.
The water had already been mixed with the spirit liquid, but it had become diluted. Due to the Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art, the steaming water was still hot.
"Rumble..."
Waves of true qi surged through his body like a tide. The blazing sun true qi stimulated his bones and flesh, bringing him a burning pain.
Every time his body was tempered, his blazing sun true qi would also be further improved, which also brought about a tempering effect.
On the other hand, if the blazing sun true qi was too mild, it meant that he had reached a bottleneck and needed to take a yang forging pill to continue his cultivation.
As the muscles and bones in his body gradually grew stronger, Li Ming felt something in his heart.
With the accumulation of the [Unobstructed Hundred Meridians], some of the minute minor meridians in his body had also been opened up. Now, he felt a burning pain on the surface of his body.
"I should eat a few more yang forging pills!"
Li Ming took two more precious yang forging pills in a row, and the blazing sun true qi in his body became more and more like a pot of boiling oil with water and suddenly began steaming.
"Hiss!"
Li Ming gritted his teeth. He felt like there was a fire burning in his internal organs.
As he breathed, the blazing sun true qi under the sun entered his lungs and immediately intensified.
"Bang!"
A loud roar came from Li Ming's chest. It was the first transformation of the blazing sun true qi in his body.
The spiritual liquid in the entire bathtub was visibly diluted and became extremely clear.
With him as the center, a dense mist rose in the courtyard.
Li Ming stood in the mist, his body tense and his eyes closed as if he was bitterly enduring something.
If he looked inside his body, he would see that several of his main meridians had become due to the mutated blazing sun true fire.
The pain that seeped deep into his bone marrows was only slightly relieved after the meridians were charred and new skin grew.
At this moment, Li Ming recalled the battle with Duan Xiuwen. He had used his bare hands to resist the magical artifact, and in the end, he was seriously injured.
If he could train to the point where his body was thoroughly tempered, he would be able to block it without any visible injury, right?
Thinking of this, the pain receded like the tide, and a new numbing feeling emerged all over his body.
It was as if tiny ants were crawling throughout his body. This feeling was brought about by the growth of his flesh and bones.
Li Ming could not hold back the feeling of restlessness that surged throughout his body. Under the sun, he used the momentum of his qi cultivation breakthrough to circulate the Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art with the blazing sun true fire.
The true qi in his body ignited from his meridians, and he punched!
He punched, and he punched!
His entire arm was charred black from the strength of the flamed!
The color of the blazing sun true fire turned dark in the midst of the crackling sounds.
"BOOM!"
All of the true qi entered his body and let out explosive sounds between his bones.
Finally, he could not hold it in any longer. A ray of fire as bright as the sun appeared as the blazing sun true qi in Li Ming's body surged out through his fist.
He smashed the fake stone with one punch and sent his true qi into the pond in the courtyard, instantly causing a huge explosion in the pond and turning it into something akin to a boiling pot.
"Whoosh—"
It was as if a sea of fire was flowing in the pond, and it did not go out for a long time.
Li Ming let out a long fiery breath, filled with surprise.
The blazing sun true qi had turned into a tangible fire, and the damage it brought was even more intense.
He had broken through to the fifth level of the Blazing Sun Body Tempering Art!