For Li Taixing, this battle was nothing short of a leapfrog challenge. The fact that the opponent could fly using a sword clearly indicated that they were in the Gold Core stage. If it hadn't been for the crucial role played by the Transformation Mask, which allowed Li Taixing to assume the appearance of an immortal-like old man and deceive the opponent, there would have been no chance of defeating the man in black.
After all, regardless of his powerful attack capabilities, Li Taixing's reflexes and cultivation level were still confined to the Body Refining realm.
'Damn, I was only able to kill him thanks to these high-grade spiritual weapons,' Li Taixing thought, nearly collapsing to the ground as the adrenaline wore off. Reflecting on the battle left him with a deep sense of dread.
He considered that if a thousand Qingyue swords hadn't been enough to kill the man in black, he would have summoned ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand swords, draining his Spirit Sea entirely if necessary, to defeat the Gold Core expert. Otherwise, it would have been the end for him.
Fortunately, the man in black had underestimated him in the end, granting Li Taixing the opportunity to strike the fatal blow.
Walking over to the body of the man in black, Li Taixing retrieved all the Qingyue swords before searching the corpse. His search yielded a black token inscribed with the words "Black Soul."
"Black Soul?" Li Taixing murmured, puzzled by the token's meaning.
Meanwhile, Boss Zhao and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief as they watched the robbers retreat. They soon approached Li Taixing.
Boss Zhao, upon seeing the man in black's body riddled with holes from the Qingyue swords, could not hold back his revulsion.
"Urgh!" He clutched at a nearby tree, vomiting violently.
Holding the black token, Li Taixing approached the captain of the guard and asked, "Do you know what this is?"
The captain of the guard shook his head, his face showing equal puzzlement. "Old Immortal, I'm afraid I don't recognize it."
Li Taixing glanced at Boss Zhao, who was slowly recovering with the help of his maid.
"Old Immortal, I'm sorry," Boss Zhao managed to say, still visibly shaken.
"It's fine," Li Taixing replied. "Do you recognize this black token?"
Boss Zhao took a quick look before shaking his head. "I don't, but Old Immortal, shouldn't we leave this cursed place right away?"
Clearly, Boss Zhao was eager to get as far away as possible, fearing for his life if they lingered.
Li Taixing nodded in agreement. "Yes, let's move on."
Relieved, Boss Zhao quickly rallied the caravan, and they set off without delay.
Back in his carriage, Li Taixing finally allowed himself to relax. The recent battle had left him with a lingering sense of unease, and he had no desire to experience something similar again.
Yet, as Li Taixing settled down and reflected on the fight, he suddenly felt a strange sensation, a kind of enlightenment washing over him.
"Wait...did I just have a breakthrough?" Li Taixing muttered, surprised.
[Ding! A Realm breakthrough has been detected, triggering the system's tens of billions multiplier effect.]
[Ding! Congratulations, host, for reaching the Ninth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.]
Despite the breakthrough, Li Taixing couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. After all, once he hit a bottleneck, the amplification effect would be halted, preventing him from advancing to the next major Realm.
The fortunate part was that he didn't need to cultivate through every single stage. The downside, however, was that he would go directly from one bottleneck to another.
Just as he reached the Qi Gathering Realm, Li Taixing realized something even more astonishing—his bottleneck was loosening again, and he had just stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
"What? Another Realm breakthrough?"
"Could it be because I killed that man in black earlier?" Li Taixing speculated, astonished.
[Ding! A Realm breakthrough has been detected, triggering the system's tens of billions multiplier effect.]
[Ding! Congratulations, host, for reaching the Ninth Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.]
"This is insane... I've already reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, and it's still the Ninth Stage..." Li Taixing was immediately shocked by the rapid progression.
However, he soon hit another bottleneck, one that was absolutely unyielding this time.
'Damn, they weren't kidding when they said the greater the risk, the greater the reward,' he thought, feeling an intense rush of satisfaction. If Li Taixing were to face someone on the same level as the man in black now, he could easily kill them within seconds.
The thought filled him with growing excitement.
"My disciple is really something else," remarked Wang Xuanwu, sitting in a tree nearby, sipping on a drink while watching the caravan disappear into the distance.
She had been ready to intervene when she saw Li Taixing going up against the Gold Core expert. However, to her surprise, Li Taixing had managed to kill the man in black all on his own.
It was likely due to the man in black's overconfidence, never suspecting that Li Taixing could be so powerful and capable of wielding so many high-grade spiritual weapons.
Moreover, Li Taixing's decisiveness sealed his victory.
"I have a feeling this foolish apprentice of mine has just made an enemy of the Black Soul Palace," Wang Xuanwu mused. "Should I go and destroy this Black Soul Palace?"
She chuckled softly, weighing her options.
"Hehe, it seems my disciple has a unique fate with this Black Soul Palace. Perhaps I'll leave it be for now."
As Wang Xuanwu continued to sip her drink, she suddenly choked and spat out a mouthful of wine.
"Cough cough! What on earth is going on?" she spluttered, startled by what she sensed.
"How did he reach the Ninth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm just like that? And then break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm? Ninth Stage again?"
"In the blink of an eye, this kid went from the Ninth Stage of the Body Refining Realm to the Ninth Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. What on earth did this kid eat to become so powerful?" Wang Xuanwu gazed after the receding caravan with a mixture of envy and bewilderment, then relaxed back against the tree, her expression content and lazy.
"Hehe, coming along on this journey has truly been rewarding."
"Not only did I discover that my disciple can transform, but I also witnessed him, in the Body Refining realm, kill a Gold Core expert. And to top it all off, he advanced through his Realms so fiercely... I can't help but feel a little envious as his teacher!" Wang Xuanwu laughed softly.
For the next several days, Boss Zhao was too afraid to rest. He insisted on continuing the journey without stopping, even urging the caravan to keep moving as they ate.
Li Taixing was quite content with this pace. At this rate, they would reach the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts in no time.
As expected, a few days later, they arrived at Qingyun City, located just outside the Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts.
"Old Immortal, this is Qingyun City. The Forest of Ten Thousand Beasts lies a hundred miles to the east of the city," Boss Zhao explained.
"Understood," Li Taixing acknowledged.
"Thank you, Old Immortal, for your help. Here is your reward," Boss Zhao said, holding out a payment.
Li Taixing shook his head. "There's no need for that. Consider it a free ride."
At this point, Li Taixing was well-off and didn't care about a bit of extra silver.
Boss Zhao was visibly relieved and quickly retrieved another item—a small identity card. "Old Immortal, since you don't want money, please accept this. It's from the Zhao Chamber of Commerce, and you may find it useful."
Li Taixing inspected the card briefly before accepting it with a nod.
Seeing this, Boss Zhao smiled widely, a heavy burden lifting from his shoulders.