While cultivating at night, Shen Xiang swallowed four marrow cleansing pills and began operating his Taiji Divine Art to absorb the medicinal power. At dawn, he hurried to the Danxiang Herbal Estate to purchase twenty sets of materials for refining Qi Condensation Pills.
At this point, Shen Xiang had almost run out of spiritual money, having continuously invested everything. However, once Dan King Pavilion opened and started selling pills, his earnings would skyrocket.
During the day, Shen Xiang stayed inside his room refining Qi Condensation Pills. Each batch was effortless, yielding six pills per batch. In just half an hour, he finished refining two furnaces, and within five hours, he had finished processing all twenty sets of materials, producing a total of 120 Qi Condensation Pills! Even at the lowest price of 5,000 spirit coins per pill, that amounted to 600,000 spirit coins, while the materials only cost around 100,000 spirit coins. This showed just how profitable alchemy was.
Uncle Meng, not knowing how to recognize the artifact by blood, never truly gained ownership of the Flame Dragon Treasure Furnace. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given it to Shen Xiang. Feeling somewhat guilty about this, Shen Xiang quietly gave Uncle Meng a Gold Spirit Fruit and a small piece of Hell Spirit Mushroom, which made him feel much better.
That night, Shen Xiang took the batch of Qi Condensation Pills to the forest outside the city and swallowed ten pills in one go, as casually as if he were eating beans. If anyone saw this, their jaws would surely drop in shock.
Shen Xiang operated his Taiji Divine Art, refining the medicinal power and stimulating the strange spirit energy within the pills, slowly sensing the strands of Qi within them.
Every night, Shen Xiang consumed ten pills to cultivate his true energy, while during the day, he practiced the Azure Dragon Divine Art and Vermilion Bird Divine Art from the Four Symbols Divine Art. As for the White Tiger Divine Art, it required an environment thick with killing intent, and the Black Tortoise Divine Art was water-attributed, requiring a body strength above the Ninth Layer of the Mortal Martial Realm to practice.
In the blink of an eye, the King City Martial Arts Tournament was only three days away.
At night, under the clear moonlight and starry sky, Shen Xiang absorbed a vast amount of spiritual energy while cultivating in the forest, continuing to consume Qi Condensation Pills. Over the past days, he had consumed a huge number of pills, compensating for the lack of spiritual energy in his environment.
Shen Xiang's body was now enveloped in a faint mist of white light, emitting a strange energy. Fallen leaves touching this light would immediately disintegrate into fragments.
This white mist was "Qi Condensation." Now, Shen Xiang had mastered how to transform his true energy into Qi. However, transforming energy into Qi consumed vast amounts of true energy, requiring an immense reserve to continuously unleash "True Qi" in combat.
At dawn, in the forest outside the city, a bare-chested, muscular youth was repeatedly punching a solidified stone mountain wall. His punches generated a whistling wind and waves of air pressure. The mountain's rocks shattered and flew apart even before his fists made contact, emitting explosive sounds. Such solid stones crumbled as if they were mud in the face of his Qi-wrapped fists.
"This is the power of the Seventh Layer of the Mortal Martial Realm. Now, I can effortlessly transform my true energy into Qi!" Shen Xiang clenched his fist and stomped hard on the ground. The rocky surface beneath him instantly cracked, and the scattered stones were pulverized into dust by his overwhelming Qi.
Shen Xiang felt that his strength had increased several times compared to when he was in the Sixth Layer. But he knew that this level of power was nothing within the major sects. Only by reaching the Ninth Layer of the Mortal Martial Realm or beyond could one gain a foothold in those sects, which was why Shen Xiang never let his strength make him arrogant. He understood well the saying, "There is always a sky above the sky."
The addition of Uncle Meng, the Dan King of the Southern Martial Kingdom, had raised the prestige of Dan King Pavilion tremendously. Even though it had not yet opened, many people were eagerly anticipating its launch, with crowds gathering daily at the shop's entrance to inquire about its opening date. Naturally, Uncle Meng's involvement worried the Yao Family greatly. They feared that the Shen Family, bolstered by the Dan King Pavilion, might threaten their dominance in the kingdom's pill industry.
Danxiang Herbal Estate was less affected since they primarily sold herbs and only a few pills. In fact, they had even formed a cooperative relationship with Dan King Pavilion.
After dressing, Shen Xiang returned to the capital, contemplating the opening date for Dan King Pavilion. On his way back, he suddenly sensed something amiss—there were people hiding in the surrounding forest.
"Come out, stop hiding!" Shen Xiang's voice was cold, filled with murderous intent. Ever since his conflict with the Yao Family, he had become extremely vigilant, having survived assassination attempts from them before.
As soon as he spoke, a "whoosh" sounded. Shen Xiang moved with lightning speed, catching the arrow aimed at him. Then, he darted swiftly through the forest, moving agilely and quickly.
Shen Xiang arrived beneath a large tree, gathering his Qi. With a loud explosion, he punched through the tree, shattering it with a blast of force. A scream followed from behind the tree as the person hiding there was killed by the ferocious punch.
Frowning, Shen Xiang extended his senses, noticing the movement around him. Having recently broken through to the Seventh Layer, his spiritual awareness had expanded significantly. In an instant, he sensed a rain of arrows heading his way.
He raised one hand, and a wall of azure Qi materialized in front of him. The storm of arrows struck the Qi barrier, but none could penetrate it.
"Three hundred arrows, three hundred people! It seems you're determined to kill me!" Shen Xiang's face turned cold, his heart brimming with murderous rage.
"If that's the case, then I won't hold back." As his voice rang out, an overwhelming killing intent accompanied by a gust of chilling wind swept through the forest.
The White Tiger was the God of Slaughter. After cultivating the White Tiger Divine Art, one could generate a strong killing aura that would both intimidate the enemy and enhance one's own strength. Currently, Shen Xiang was employing the basic skill of the White Tiger Divine Art, the "Heart of Slaughter." Mastering this would pave the way to learning the more advanced techniques within the White Tiger Divine Art. The best and quickest way to cultivate the "Heart of Slaughter" was through killing.
Shen Xiang released his powerful spiritual awareness, quickly detecting the presence of numerous individuals hiding in the surrounding trees. Although they were well-concealed, they couldn't escape his perception.
"Hmph, don't think sheer numbers will be enough to kill me!" Shen Xiang snorted coldly. His figure became a blur as he sped through the forest, so fast that the archers hidden in the trees couldn't lock onto his position. Even when an arrow occasionally hit its mark, it was blocked by the Qi surrounding Shen Xiang's body.
With his fists glowing with azure light and crackling with lightning, Shen Xiang dashed to the side of a large tree and punched its trunk.
Boom!
The entire tree crackled with azure lightning, the trunk splintering open, releasing bursts of flame and electric light. The crown of the tree turned black and smoldered, while six charred corpses fell from its branches.