"In the wilds of deserted mountains and ridges, not only does the recovery of True Qi slow down, but the operation of the Great Sun Devilish Brilliance Skill also gets affected."
Inside the carriage, Gu Jinlai, who was practicing and regulating his breathing, exhaled a breath.
The carriage he was in was the most luxurious. Despite the interior space being less than three square meters, it was fitted with thick carpets and had an excellent shock absorption system, so cultivating inside the carriage wouldn't be too greatly affected.
After finishing his breathing exercises and recovering his True Qi, Gu Jinlai turned his attention to his bundle.
It was time to take stock of his gains.
There were quite a few things packed in the bundle.
Nine Jade Treasures, twelve books, and two treasure boxes.
Gu Jinlai looked through them one by one.
The Jade Treasures were quite valuable.
Out of the twelve books, six held value.
Two martial arts, one secret technique, a True Monarch's biography, a brief report on the major powers and great sects of Star State, and the last book detailed the merits needed to exchange for various resources with the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Map.
Gu Jinlai took a closer look at the brief report on the major forces of Star State.
This report was not detailed for a major force like the Purgatory Demon Sect. If it were to be placed on the desk of Alliance Hierarch Lu Dengxian, the great man wouldn't spare it a second glance.
But to Gu Jinlai, especially one who had traversed worlds and had only been here for less than two months, it was an eye-opener.
After roughly skimming through it, he scanned the martial arts and the secret technique.
The martial arts were quite exquisite, one fist technique, and one sword technique.
Among them, the fist technique, named Great Sky Gang Hand, was a Refining God Level martial art, involving many aspects of using Divine Thought to minutely control True Qi.
The swordsmanship was only at the Hugging Pill Level.
However, compared to the martial arts, the secret technique was what truly made Gu Jinlai's eyes light up.
The secret technique was the Burning Yuan Technique.
It used a special method to compress and detonate True Qi within the body, giving it a potency multiple times greater than its normal state.
Of course, the consumption of True Qi under the Burning Yuan Technique would increase significantly. If the True Qi's power doubles, the consumption would be at least three times as fast.
And over time, it would also cause damage to oneself.
"No matter the level, secret techniques are incredibly valuable, serving as a trump card that can reverse situations in critical moments. Many Refining God Immortals may not even possess such secret techniques."
The original "Gu Jinlai" was the perfect example.
As an elder of the Purgatory Demon Sect, he had been like this, let alone the other Refining Gods.
Yun Guantian possessing a secret technique was most likely related to his control of the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Map.
With the Dao Artifact as a foundation, as long as one has enough merit, there is no shortage of secret techniques or forbidden techniques.
Finally, he turned his gaze to the two treasure boxes.
He first opened the box that was embedded in the wall.
A crystal-clear gem emitting a blue light lay before his eyes.
"Is this... Shuo Guang Stone?"
Gu Jinlai exclaimed in surprise.
Shuo Guang Stone was one of the primary materials used in forging flying swords.
This type of gem was not only light, flexible, and easy to fuse, but it also had an excellent guiding effect on Divine Thought.
And flying swords...
That was the dividing line between Divinity Transformation Immortals and the more advanced stages.
Without a flying sword, a Divinity Transformation Immortal would simply be a step further in the accumulation of Divine Thought, forming a Yin God.
However, if one could refine a flying sword, using Yin God to control it, one could decapitate a person from ten miles away with the sword.
Both deterrent and killing power would skyrocket.
"This Shuo Guang Stone, if sold, can be exchanged for a top-grade Treasure Armor."
Gu Jinlai thought to himself.
He quickly stored the gem away.
Then he opened the second box.
The second box was rather straightforward and violent.
Inside was a single Spirit Pill.
"Nourishing God Pill."
Gu Jinlai paused for a moment.
He stared at the elixir for a while before repeating, "It really is a Nourishing God Pill."
If he hadn't obtained the Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method earlier, the appearance of this Nourishing God Pill would have been like sending charcoal in snowy weather.
At that time, he desperately needed to possess the combat power of the Refining God Level.
And the hope for recovering Refining God Level strength lay in the Nourishing God Pill.
But now…
He had already left Changjun City through the Jiang Family's channel, stepping out of the whirlpool, and planned to cultivate the Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method and embark on the Path of Heavenly Master.
To him, the Nourishing God Pill was now just icing on the cake.
"The Nourishing God Pill can greatly shorten the time for Hugging Pill nurturing of the mind, concealing, and Yun Shen. If used by a Hugging Pill Master, three to five Nourishing God Pills could potentially create one Refining God."
Among his disciples, Su Nanxing was approaching the Perfection of Hugging Pill.
Through their short time together, he had developed a certain level of trust in this disciple.
As his master, it was time to consider his entry into the Refining God Realm.
"Jade, treasures, elixirs, all together nearly worth two million taels, and this is not even considering the value of martial arts and secret techniques… Yun Guantian truly lives up to his reputation as the Demon Refining Hall Master."
Gu Jinlai carefully put away these items again.
Beyond these material gains, he had obtained two streaks of Qingguang by slaying that mysterious assassin.
Everything was ready, all that was left was to master the Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method and step onto the Path of Heavenly Master.
…
Shao Hong led the caravan, traveling by night and hiding by day, and after six days, covering a thousand miles, they appeared outside the Capital of Star State, Starlight City.
Starlight City is not located in the center of Star State, but to the north, close to Yellow State.
It's four hundred miles from Yellow State, and a thousand miles from Red State.
Furthermore, as a city with the dignity of Upper State, this city has no walls.
For this reason, the area of Starlight City is several times larger than other cities, with a population reaching six million.
These six million people are scattered across dozens to hundreds of miles of Starlight City, making its population density not as high as that of Changjun City.
As Gu Jinlai entered Starlight City, he saw estates and manors everywhere, some built like castles. It was faintly visible that martial artists wearing armor and wielding weapons patrolled the surroundings, on high alert, and common people found it difficult to enter.
It seemed that upon arriving in Starlight City, Shao Hong's mood relaxed a bit.
Noticing Gu Jinlai looking around, he smiled and introduced, "Starlight City has the most prominent families in Star State, including some top forces. Many top powers balance each other under the State Governor's tactics. Generally speaking, Starlight City is quite peaceful."
"Generally speaking?"
Gu Jinlai glanced at him, "So you're saying Starlight City is not entirely peaceful?"
"In today's world, I'm afraid even the Central State Imperial City cannot claim to be without trouble."
Shao Hong said, lowering his voice slightly, "It's said that not long ago there was a theft at the Demon Refining Hall in Changjun City. Upon hearing this, Hall Master Yun Guantian was thunderously furious, ordering a thorough investigation, and even offered a reward of 300,000 taels in the underworld for the arrest of the culprit… Compared to Changjun City, Starlight City is already quite peaceful."
"Is that so."
Gu Jinlai's expression remained unchanged.
"Within the Capital territory, the Ten Great Demon Sects are not well-liked by many clans; there's a lot of suppression. Elder Gu's identity would be quite inconvenient if you enter the city… But it so happens that my Jiang Family has some connections; we've arranged an identity for Elder Gu."
Shao Hong handed a bag to Gu Jinlai, "A distant relative who broke away from our main family lived with a Heavenly Master since childhood. In recent years, after the Heavenly Master passed away, he came to the Jiang Family. Since he shares the Jiang surname, we've purchased a manor to accommodate him, but from now on he is also not permitted to appear as a Jiang Family's Young Master in public. Elder Gu, what do you think?"
Gu Jinlai understood what Shao Hong meant.
If he took on this identity and moved into the manor arranged by the Jiang Family, the two parties would be even in their debts to each other.
Clearly, that Jiang Family's Young Master, Jiang Xiyu, did not want to become too involved with a Demon Sect Elder like him.
Given his abilities…
He was probably not as simple as just being from a distant branch.
However, Gu Jinlai had no intention of clinging to the Jiang Family.
He took the bag, readily saying, "Then as Guard Shao has said."
"That is well."
Shao Hong breathed a sigh of relief.
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(Thank you for the support from Nian Ca, speaking of which, I actually didn't recognize this character. I looked it up on Baidu only to learn that it's pronounced 'ca', third tone.)