Gu Jinlai returned to the site where he had slain three of the Star State Four Fierce, only to find that the old man had already left.
The prospect of stripping a garment from the old man to replace his own "holey clothes" was no longer a possibility.
Luckily, the third member of the Star State Four Fierce had a similar build to his, and although the clothes were blood-stained, they could be worn after a wash.
...
By the riverside, having cleaned up, Gu Jinlai changed into a gaudy set of clothes.
The "Gu Jinlai" he had crossed into was sixty-nine years old.
Even though Hugging Pill Cultivators could live up to one hundred and fifty or even theoretically two hundred years old, that still wasn't considered young.
Fortunately, having achieved Perfection in Hugging Pill, his vital energy was free of leaks, so he wouldn't suffer from the aches and cramps in the waist, back, and legs that plague elderly people in their seventies.
His body remained strong and nimble, capable of eating and jumping around with more vitality than a man in his twenties.
Moreover, the circulation of True Qi, being endless, offered a rather pleasant experience.
For instance, freshly washed clothes could be dried automatically with True Qi.
...
"Zhengyi Dao."
Gu Jinlai circulated the Great Sun Devilish Brilliance Skill instinctively to restore his True Qi while pondering his next moves.
To return to Changjun City, he couldn't avoid Zhengyi Dao.
Although Zhengyi Dao was not one of the top sects, its Sect Leader was a Refining God Giant.
With their headquarters located in Changjun City and their numerous and formidable followers, they were not to be underestimated.
The real issue, however, was Gu Jinlai's adversary – Lin Xiao, the Deputy Sect Master of the Purgatory Demon Sect.
As an elder of the Purgatory Demon Sect, his failure to receive aid while being pursued by Zhengyi Dao for over ten days was due to Lin Xiao's interference.
At the same level of Cultivation, the Deputy Sect Master had far more power than an elder.
"Such a Purgatory Demon Sect is not worth staying in."
Gu Jinlai planned to defect from the sect and join the Righteous Sects.
However...
If he approached the Six Great Immortal Sects like this, he would likely be encircled and slain by the Immortal Sect elders before he even entered their gates.
Moreover, the Purgatory Demon Sect was notoriously ruthless toward traitors, so until he found a backing or gained enough strength, he could only entertain the thought.
"In this past month, I've already shown weakness in front of Lin Xiao. Coupled with the BUFF from the ten layers of Karma, there's an eighty to ninety percent chance that the Deputy Sect Master will want to personally eliminate me! Therefore, I must restore my Cultivation to Refining God as soon as possible. For absolute safety, it's best to push forward and reach the Divinity Transformation Realm!"
His attention focused on the Green Lotus Consciousness in his spiritual world.
The Star State Four Fierce had provided him with four instances of Qingguang.
His gaze shifted to the Red Lotus Sword Qi.
With Qingguang, he could enhance his combat capabilities at the fastest pace, especially while the crisis had not yet been resolved.
"Green Lotus, level me up! Fill it up!"
"Buzz buzz!"
A streak of Qingguang smashed down, and a multitude of mysteries regarding Red Lotus Sword Qi surged forth once again.
Red Lotus Sword Qi: Mahayana → Perfection.
But...
"Something's not right."
Gu Jinlai pondered for a moment, "I'm not being stubborn! It's just that the more we debate, the clearer the Truth! When I last leveled up, I wondered why the Sword Qi had to take the shape of lotus petals? It made no sense from the perspective of aerodynamics! Previously, one could argue that my swordsmanship wasn't at Cultivation Perfection, unable to comprehend the true essence of the Red Lotus Sword Qi, but now that I have reached the end with Red Lotus Sword Qi, I have a say in this."
He felt that Red Lotus Sword Qi could do with some optimization.
How to optimize? Knowledge.
Gu Jinlai was aware of the Green Lotus Consciousness in his spiritual world.
"Every time I level up and experience Sudden Enlightenment, crucial information emerges from my brain, forming sparks of inspiration, as if the brain is filtering them on its own."
He conjectured, "In other words, although I may not understand these pieces of knowledge, as long as I have come across them before, my brain will recall this forgotten information during Sudden Enlightenment. It will digest any undigested points of knowledge and combine them into the most optimized solution, turning calculus into simple 1+1 for me to understand and comprehend."
So, this Green Lotus was actually not some simple point-adder!
Its essence was the ultimate research and development system!
"I graduated in Applied Physics, and before I found a job, I even wrote popular science articles for amateur scientists for four years at 'Hundred Thousand-Star Years on the Sand Station,' accumulating an extraordinary amount of related material. Although later on, I worked for two years in a county unit thanks to family connections and mostly forgot everything, all that knowledge was still settled in the depths of my mind."
He was eager to discover what kind of sparks would emerge from the collision between these pieces of knowledge and the Cultivation System of this world.
"True knowledge comes from practice. I will create a framework for the new Red Lotus Sword Qi, and the rest... I'll leave it to the brain!"
Qingguang flickered.
The next moment, his brain was flooded with thoughts of Perfect-Level Red Lotus Sword Qi, relevant fields such as aerodynamics, fluid mechanics, wave mechanics, metrology, meteorology, the unification of sword and Qi, the principles of True Qi, mechanical principles, shooting techniques, navigation technology...
A barrage of ideas emerged all at once.
For the first time, he realized his mind held such an abundance of information.
Some of the information he had only glanced at once.
Even reflections from advertisements in the screen of his phone while riding the subway came to mind.
"Buzz buzz!"
Gu Jinlai felt his brain heat up, as his body temperature rose by several degrees.
This was a warming of the body induced by the rapid energy supply to the brain.
He felt fortunate to be a Hugging Pill Cultivator, for an ordinary person's brain would have been burnt out by now.
After a while, the Qingguang dissipated.
The Red Lotus Sword Qi transformed into an unnamed swordsmanship.
Gu Jinlai sensed it briefly, and found the unnamed swordsmanship to be extremely complicated!
Complicated to the extreme!
He didn't even believe he could execute this sword technique.
Yes, he had mastered it, but he was unable to execute it.
After all...
It was his brain that had learned it, not his body.
It's normal for the body to not be able to do what the brain knows.
"I need to categorize it."
Gu Jinlai rubbed his temples.
He set aside many pieces of information and knowledge that were brain-consuming yet not significantly effective.
For a time, he began to trim down this unnamed swordsmanship.
After spending the better half of a day slimming down the sword technique, he once again shifted his focus to the consciousness of Qing Lian.
"Continue!"
Another Qingguang crashed down.
This time, the effect was much better than before.
Gu Jinlai gestured emptily, a Treasure Sword in hand, True Qi circulating.
Above the sword, streams of Sword Qi emerged, gradually forming a cascade of Invisible Sword Shadows.
Optical Invisibility.
Kinetic Power Arrangement.
Wave Dynamics Design.
With a thrust of his sword, a Sword Qi shot out, piercing through an ancient tree thirty meters away, sending wood chips flying.
"Stealth increased by double, speed by sixty percent, extension by fifty percent, power by thirty percent..."
This power.
It was already on par with the Refining God Sword Skill.
"The activation speed is a bit slow, and the reason is my insufficient control over my own True Qi."
Gu Jinlai turned his gaze to the Great Sun Devilish Brilliance Skill.
The Great Sun Devilish Brilliance Skill was already in a Perfect State, operating autonomously, endless and everlasting.
But Gu Jinlai had not experienced the Cultivation of this technique from scratch, True Qi flow and operation were like instincts, how to better exert the power of this technique?
With a thought, the last Qingguang infused into the Great Sun Devilish Brilliance Skill.
This Qingguang did not enhance the Great Sun Devilish Brilliance Skill, but it made his understanding of the technique more refined, and the True Qi circulated with ease.
"That settles it, if before I could barely exercise the combat power of a top-grade Hugging Pill relying on the Mahayana stage Red Lotus Sword Qi, then now, without a doubt, I have crossed the peak, comparable to the Peak of Hugging Pill."
If he could complement his shortcomings with movement techniques and secret techniques, he could fight even against a Refining God Giant.
"The new sword technique... One that encompasses all under the heavens, let's call it the Wanxiang Sword Qi, and another that is unseen and intangible, shall be named the Invisible Sword Qi."
With a thought from Gu Jinlai, a light sphere surrounding the Green Lotus Consciousness began to change.
Deep green transitioned to light blue.
Red Lotus Sword Qi: Perfection → Invisible Sword Qi: Entry-level.
As the light sphere changed, another new deep blue light sphere emerged within the consciousness.
Wanxiang Sword Qi: Entry-level.
"Four light spheres… three and a half, the light sphere of the Six Desires Demon Skill is fading so much it's almost disappearing."
Gu Jinlai withdrew his attention from the spiritual world.
He really wanted to master movement techniques as soon as possible.
Then he could advance or retreat as needed.
In the month since his arrival, he had seized the time to practice Red Lotus Sword Qi and Level 8 Wandering Dragon Body.
As a result, he had been on the run for ten days, continuously using a movement technique that just wouldn't reach the entry level, while the Red Lotus Sword Qi had overtaken it.
"No movement technique, so be it. I'll just cover with firepower. Now, as long as I don't face a Refining God Giant, I fear no opponent."
Gu Jinlai came back to his senses, squinting his eyes towards the woods.
After more than ten precarious days, at last, he had garnered a bit of self-protection.
Next...
It was time to make these pursuers from the Righteous and Demon Sects relearn what terror is.
Mwahahaha!
————————
(Bring me my nuclear-powered flying sword, uranium-235, fill it up, max it out!)