After stabilizing his realm, he began to circulate the cultivation technique with the help of the Furnace. It took almost twenty hours for him to hit his limit, he was much stronger than when he just advanced.
In his Dantian, his true qi was between gaseous and liquid, just a little short of truly liquifying. It was extremely powerful and abnormal.
It was extremely rare to see someone in the peak of the Qi Refining Realm with liquifying true qi, and he was still far from the peak! Although he had less true qi than someone at the ninth layer, he was as strong or stronger than someone ordinary at the ninth layer.
He spent the rest of the week adapting to his new strength and his body was again strengthened by the more powerful true qi.
Compared to when he just advanced to the fourth layer, he turned 15% stronger overall. Although it didn't seem much, it could be decisive in fights.
When the one week ended, he left quickly to report. The sect gave him no praise or harsh words, it was simply what they expected from him, someone with a seven-elemental spirit root.
After all, they knew it would take longer and longer for him to advance his realm, and they even strongly doubted he would be able to advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm before the age of eighteen.
He received two new secret techniques from the sect: One was called "sound transmission technique" and the other was called "Heart Sutra."
The first technique's name was self-explanatory, and the second technique was one used to calm the mind and nurture one's state of mind, it could be beneficial to one's cultivation speed in the long run.
With his new cultivation base, he could accept more dangerous extra tasks as well, which would give him more merits. Yujin was full of expectations for gaining the status of an outer disciple since it would mean the end of his servant's life. He would have more time for cultivation and would be sent to the main sect or a bigger branch, where the density of spiritual qi was higher and the resources were more abundant.
The sect also gave him two spirit stones besides the techniques, they could help him to accelerate his cultivation or hit bottlenecks. However, the amount was too small to be of any use.
To gain more spirit stones, he would need to advance more or successfully execute some more dangerous extra tasks.
However, it was extremely difficult for him to get an extra task that rewarded spirit stones, because of the harsh competition and the fact he didn't want to show his strength by competing with older disciples.
In any case, he felt that he didn't need spirit stones at all for the moment so he wasn't in a hurry. He returned to his routine of doing chores and simple extra tasks.
A few weeks after his advancement, Long Xue invited him to go out and play, Yujin agreed since he had done the chores of the day.
"Elder brother, I heard there is a beast tamer from afar visiting the city and doing shows, let's go see him!" Long Xue suggested as they walked the streets, she took Yujin's hand and with another hand, she held the leashes of several pets.
Yujin was curious about the profission of a beast tamer so he didn't think much and just agreed.
But just a few seconds later, the sky darkened and the temperature dropped severely. It was as if something covered the whole world evilly.
"Young Miss," two secret guards appeared suddenly beside them, "We need to return, NOW!"
Yujin fred his hand consciously and the guards vanished with Long Xue before she had the time to react.
Yujin sighed and wasn't surprised to be abandoned like that. He looked at the darkened sky with a gloomy heart, it was beating wildly.
It was the same feeling he felt when the bandits attacked his village. Terror was approaching.
Yujin returned to the sect's branch in a hurry, but a formation blocked him outside. It was clearly a defensive formation and the one controlling it had no intention of letting others enter, regardless of their status.
Other than him, there were other disciples and servants outside screaming and trying to enter.
Yujin's face turned more gloomy and left quickly, he wanted to escape from the city.
But when he reached the walls, he found a deep grey mist slowly invading the city from outside, the city was completely sieghed by it.
Just as he began to despair, he felt a hand grabbing his shoulder. One of the two guards from earlier appeared and began to carry him forcefully back to the sect, his speed was so fast that the surroundings felt like a blur to Yujin.
The guard said nothing to Yujin as if regarding him as an object.
Before Yujin could feel relieved, however, the guard threw him away and Yujin saw two figures confronting the guard.
"Kill!" a shout came and many figures sieghed the guard.
"Die!" the guard shouted fiercely and showed his prowess. He cultivated a fire cultivation technique and his true qi was as hot as the sun's fire. The ground around him melted and shockwaves began to destroy everything around him as he clashed against his enemies.
Yujin felt his organs being smashed by the shockwaves and quickly ran away from the place, he also felt many fights throughout the city, and it became complete chaos.
Two men in grey clothing followed Yujin as he ran, they were as quick as him and didn't stop for a moment in their pursuit. Although Yujin wasn't using all his strength when running, it was still commendable.
Yujin frowned and decided to confront them. He felt their cultivation was still in the Qi Refining Realm, so he could still fight and survive against them.
However, if he showed all his speed and power, someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm might show up and pursue him.
Yujin circulated his body technique and his true qi covered his whole body, granting him more power and defense. He punched the closest enemy and avoided a blow from the other just after.
"Die!" the two men shouted with bloodshot eyes and began to use their secret techniques. One of them made numerous small fire lotus appear and siege Yujin.
The other summoned numerous wind blades and slashed them toward a Yujin.
A cold glint flashed in Yujin's eyes as he urged his body technique to the limit and used his escape technique to approach the closest enemy.
The man was obviously shocked by Yujin's burst of speed and had no time to react as a gist hit his nose.
The second man watched helplessly as his companion was hit and knocked out by a single punch. He was ready to ask for help but saw Yujin's face turn pale and his aura weaken.
'An forbidden technique?' the man's eyes brightened and he urged the numerous fire lotuses to fly towards Yujin, he wanted to avenge his companion by himself.
Of course, Yujin was just feigning weakness to make the enemy lose the will to ask for reinforcements. But at the same time, he had to bear the attacks without using his true strength.
Even with a body technique at the complete mastery level, and even with his powerful abnormal true qi, Yujin was quickly found to be in a very sorry state. His clothes were completely torn and his body was full of wounds.
He would secretly use the small healing technique on himself from time to time, but it had a limit on how much it could heal after all.
After a few dozen minutes, the man in grey clothes also discovered something was wrong and decided to call for help.
Yujin felt a strong sense of urgency when his opponent suddenly retreated, it was obvious he was discovered to be hiding his true strength.
He completely exploded his power and used his escape technique to the limit to approach his enemy. Before he had time to react, Yujin hit his chest with all his might, the ribs cracked, fractured, and pierced different organs.
Yujin knew the man wasn't killed by that punch, only knocked out, but he was too worried to finish the job and decided to run away on the spot. If someone at the Foundation Establishment Realm arrived, he would be doomed.
He heard many screams from many places while he fought and gathered enough information to understand who was attacking the city.
It was the Myriad Illusions Palace, one of the many forces of the dark side of the cultivation world. It was an open enemy of the Abyssal Fountain Sect, and repeatedly initiated conflicts.
Both sects have been waging war for decades, and everyone knew the war could reach a critical point at any moment.
Just as he ran, Yujin felt a hand pressing on his shoulder again, and a voice reached his ears, "Let's go, don't resist!"
Yujin looked quickly and saw the guard from before, full of wounds and with a pale and bloodied face.
The guard took Yujin away and with extreme speed reached the sect's branch. The formation was briefly opened to them, and many figures tried to enter using that opportunity.
However, the one controlling the formation expected that and used it to send many attacks toward them, protecting Yujin and the guard as they entered the manor.
However, many attacks still managed to reach the guard, and Yujin, the guard used his own methods to protect them. However, Yujin still felt dizzy and his blood filled his mouth with a bitter taste.
After they entered the manor, the formation was quickly closed. However, some enemies managed to enter the manor, too. They were quickly killed by the many warriors there, though.
The guars disappeared on the spot and Yujin was left alone, struggling to keep himself straight. He walked slowly towards a corner and began to heal himself, but the effect was limited to the internal wounds.
"Elder brother, are you okay?" Long Xue appeared and approached him with a face full of concern, "Do you need healing?"
Yujin opened his eyes and smiled, "I won't die, those wounds aren't fatal."
"That's great!" Long Xue sighed in relief but still gave him a pill, "Take this, it can help brother heal!"
Yujin did"t think much and just swallowed the pill, a warm current began to wash his internal wounds and slowly heal them.
"Thank you," Yujin smiled warmly at her and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Do I look wounded?" Long Xue was ill-humored, "I arrived here safely, but it took me some time to convince my dad to send a guard to save you."
"Thanks..." Yujin was sincerely touched, he knew his chances of surviving by himself were slim.
"It took me no effort!" Long Xue grinned and sat on the ground beside him, "Are you worried?"
"Do you know what exactly is happening?" Yujin asked back.
"My dad said an enemy was invading," Long Xue said while playing with her hair, "But he didn't want to explain more to me."
"Why aren't you with them?" Yujin asked with a frown, "You will be safer by their side."
Long Xue shook her head and said, "I heard some guards saying our only hope is the formation. If it is broken before reinforcements arrive, we will all... die.*
Yujin shook his head and said, "I don't think so. If the situation is so bad, why would your father risk opening the formation to rescue me?"
Long Xue tilted her head and said, "Yes, it makes sense. But why does it sound harsh? Aren't you my friend?"
Yujin smiled bitterly and patted her head lightly, "Why aren't you with your pets?"
"They seemed to be panicking with the fighting sounds coming from outside, so I placed there somewhere."