Gu Jinlai raised his head.
The warehouse, originally filled with flames and billowing smoke, had a path violently carved through it by the hurricane unleashed from his sword's slash.
The dust and flames dissipated, allowing the survivors of the Golden Seal Team to see the light of day once again.
What awaited him was Gu Jinlai's determined stride and his thunderous sword thrust forward.
This thousand-pound battle sword seemed weightless in his hands, yet each collision with the air whipped up a fierce hurricane.
Feeling the suffocating wind pressure, the Hugging Pill cultivator desperately raised his sword to block in despair.
The next moment...
"Bang!"
It was like a thousand-pound sledgehammer striking a small wooden stick.
The treasure sword in his hand instantly shattered into iron filings. Following that, the one-meter-eight-long sword blade, carrying the gravity potential energy akin to Mount Tai's crushing force, cleaved into his body. In the face of such pure physical damage, the Protective True Qi of the Qi Refining Level was meaningless.
He couldn't even manage to keep his body intact.
The entire person was obliterated into a mist of blood by the rampant huge power contained in that one sword strike.
Effortlessly shattered!
Gu Jinlai, leveraging his heavy armor advantage, fully demonstrated the meaning of effortlessly shattered.
"This path worked better than I anticipated."
Gu Jinlai slowly ceased his Spiritual Explosion state.
The burst of strength from Hugging Pill combined with the pure physical attacks akin to those of Upper Demons, resulted in an effect greater than the sum of its parts.
It was as if all attributes of a person doubled, leading to an exponential increase in combat power.
"Now, I might not be weaker than those in the Refining God stage..."
Gu Jinlai estimated, "However, compared to the all-around strength of Refining God practitioners, I have a fatal weakness: speed."
Up to this point, he had never neglected his training in the Level 8 Wandering Dragon Body technique, but he had yet to master it.
Moreover, wearing steel armor would significantly impair his agility, and a movement technique like the Level 8 Wandering Dragon was no longer suitable.
What he needed now was a direct, head-on charge type of movement technique.
"Additionally, the weapons in the hands of Refining God practitioners are stronger than those of Hugging Pill, at least all being Low-Grade Treasure Swords. Those with a bit of status are equipped with Top-Grade Treasure Swords, like Lin Xiao, a Great Sect Vice Sect Master, probably wields a Supreme Treasure Sword directly... A Refining God holding a Supreme Treasure Sword, with my current war armor's defense... can't withstand it."
Gu Jinlai summarized his shortcomings.
To confront Refining God practitioners, he needed even stronger, thicker armor.
"The next material should be a Titanium Alloy."
Gu Jinlai pondered, then thought about his current combat mode.
To ensure the advantage of gravity potential energy, the weight must not be too light.
"Os-Ir Alloy."
...
Meanwhile, Su Nanxing approached, carrying a corpse.
"Master, I've intercepted one."
"Good, throw it into the fire to give him a dignified end. Also, check their bodies to see if there's anything useful."
Gu Jinlai ordered, looking at the burning warehouse, "Next, put out the fire, and let Gu Chaoyang handle the dealings with the City Guard Army."
"Yes, Master," Su Nanxing responded and, activating his True Qi, swiftly entered the warehouse.
Those at the Qi Refining Stage would often carry Supreme Weapons, and the more affluent ones even wielded Low-Grade Treasure Swords, each worth twenty to thirty thousand silver, not to be wasted lightly.
Gu Jinlai returned to his carriage and left by coach.
...
The intense explosion that occurred in Starlight City shook South City and naturally caused quite a stir.
However, as a Qi Refining Realm expert, Gu Chaoyang had recently managed his relations with the City Guard Army well. Coupled with shifting the blame for the explosion onto fireworks, despite the guards' suspicions about the explosion's excessive force—firework accidents were not uncommon.
Following a bribe of a thousand silver taels, and Gu Chaoyang timely mentioning the Jiang family's name, the ripples caused by the explosion were quickly suppressed.
...
Returning to the courtyard, Gu Jinlai brewed a pot of tea in the small pavilion within and quietly waited.
Not long after, he suddenly said, "Silver Sword Master Chi Ying, please have a seat."
Seconds later, Silver Sword Master Chi Ying emerged from a bush, his face undergoing a series of changes.
Unlike the relaxed approach of last time, this time he had made every effort to conceal his presence as he entered the small courtyard; he even meticulously controlled his heartbeat rate and the circulation of his blood. Yet, he was still detected by Gu Jinlai the moment he stepped into the courtyard.
This level of perception...
It was as if the Void Great Method practiced by Xuzhen Tower was nothing at all.
"It is no wonder that he is a renowned Demon Sect Elder, his hidden methods are certainly not as simple as what is seen before us, just like the confrontation with the Golden Seal Team... That strength, on par with any Refining God Giant."
Chi Ying remained cautious in his heart.
He even speculated that Gu Jinlai's conversion to Heavenly Master was due to receiving an even more remarkable Heavenly Master inheritance than the Six Desires Demon Skill.
While his thoughts churned, his face maintained a smile, "Congratulations to Copper Sword Envoy for proving your strength and handling the trouble brought by the Demon Refining Hall with ease."
"All thanks to the information provided by Silver Sword Master Chi Ying," Gu Jinlai responded, "However, since Yun Guantian is not dead yet, claiming resolution is premature. We still need to rely greatly on the Silver Sword Master."
A flicker of surprise crossed Chi Ying's eyes.
Does Gu Jinlai still want to seek revenge against Yun Guantian?
Yun Guantian was not only the Hall Master of the Demon Refining Hall, an influential and powerful figure, but he was also a person at the Refining God Peak, just one step away from the Divinity Transformation Realm. His influence wasn't much different from that of Lin Xiao, the Vice Sect Master of Purgatory Sect.
However, Chi Ying did not wish to delve too deeply into Gu Jinlai's grievances and simply smiled, saying, "It's not about relying on each other; rather, we cooperate with each other to uphold the reputation of Xuzhen Tower."
He brought out a Jade Plate and set it on the stone table, "The Demon Refining Hall possesses a Dao Artifact, the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Map. While our Xuzhen Tower's supreme treasure may fall slightly short of the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Map, through the Xuzhen Plate, one can view all missions issued within the tower along with their corresponding rewards. The only drawback is that the rewards cannot be transferred here and must be collected from the designated person."
Gu Jinlai nodded, quickly understanding.
It was similar to the order tablets used in restaurants.
"By joining Xuzhen Tower, you can enjoy the general information of Xuzhen Tower, and once a month you may peruse one piece of top-grade information. Furthermore, you will also be bestowed with the Void Great Method."
As Chi Ying spoke, he took out his own Jade Plate and bumped it against Gu Jinlai's, a flicker of Divine Thought Fluctuation, and a Cultivation Technique was added to his plate.
"Xuzhen Tower's business lies in information and assassination. Information and assassination are categorized into five levels: ordinary, top-grade, prime, supreme, and peerless. Any valuable information you have can also be sold to Xuzhen Tower for true points."
"Of course."
Gu Jinlai acknowledged with a word.
Chi Ying took another half an hour to introduce the taboos of Xuzhen Tower to Gu Jinlai, saying, "The core of Xuzhen Tower is to complete missions and to provide information. Besides that, although there is no taboo against fights between members of Xuzhen Tower, they must not hinder the completion of others' missions."
Gu Jinlai liked this rule.
This standard meant they had to ensure the missions were done well on his behalf.
As long as the missions could be completed, it didn't matter if they fought each other to death.
"That's all for now, Jiang Tianshi can slowly look into the rest himself," said Chi Ying as he stood up, "I hope your joining can increase the success rate of our business in Starlight City."
"I'll do my best."
Gu Jinlai nodded slightly.
After Chi Ying left, he took out the Jade Plate to check the Void Great Method.
This Cultivation Technique, fundamental to Xuzhen Tower, allowed one to conceal their Qi fluctuations at the entry level. Upon reaching Small Achievement, one could approach within Refining God Ten Steps without being noticed. Once perfected, if one became an incarnation of the void, they would cease to exist in this world.
"This technique is completely incompatible with me," Gu Jinlai sighed.
How does one infiltrate or hide while wearing thousands of pounds?
He operated the Xuzhen Plate; as someone who could use even a large-screen TV, he quickly understood its functions.
Utilizing the monthly access to top-grade information, he swiftly opened the information on the Purgatory Sect.
Yes, the Purgatory Sect.
Compared to Yun Guantian of the Demon Refining Hall, it was the Purgatory Sect that he had betrayed which posed a real threat to his plans.