Chapter 76

From past experience in cultivation,

Martial arts only increase their consumption when they reach the Perfect stage or break through their limits.

Before that,

All consumption remains at an average level.

In other words,

The Unbreakable Body Technique had the same consumption for each level up to the fifteenth level.

The fifth level of the Unbreakable Body Technique was already stronger than the thirteenth level of the Thirteen Bodyguards' Hard Qi, and the sixth level completely surpassed that martial art.

Although it consumed twenty slaughter points during the fusion,

In the long run,

The fusion after breaking through the limit was undoubtedly not a loss.

"Sky Martial Yang Qi consumes eight slaughter points for each level when breaking through the limit. The Unbreakable Body Technique, without breaking through the limit, has the same consumption as Sky Martial Yang Qi.

This martial art has already surpassed Sky Martial Yang Qi in rank!"

Having had the panel for a long time, Shen Changqing had gained considerable understanding.

The most direct way to determine the rank of a martial art is to look at the amount of slaughter points consumed during advancement.

Since the Unbreakable Body Technique consumes more, its rank is naturally much higher than Sky Martial Yang Qi.

Silently sensing the surging qi and blood in his body,

Shen Changqing's attention turned to Sky Martial Yang Qi.

The Unbreakable Body Technique is strong, but internal cultivation is still the main focus. Unfortunately, from the current situation, it seems that internal cultivation cannot be fused.

However,

As long as he has slaughter points, whether internal cultivation can be fused or not will not have a significant impact.

It doesn't matter.

He can just use slaughter points to boost it.

"Only those who possess the True Intent of Martial Arts can be called Grandmasters. So, when I advance Sky Martial Yang Qi in the future, will it only increase the total amount of true qi, or is there a possibility of also comprehending the True Intent of Martial Arts?"

Looking at the martial arts on the panel, such thoughts arose in Shen Changqing's mind.

No one has stipulated that the True Intent of Martial Arts cannot be comprehended through internal cultivation.

However,

He was not sure if he could comprehend the True Intent of Martial Arts when Sky Martial Yang Qi reaches a higher level.

Putting aside distractions,

Shen Changqing began the next round of advancement.

Slaughter points were consumed.

Sky Martial Yang Qi directly transformed from the thirteenth level to the fourteenth level.

At the moment of transformation, the surging qi and blood in his body rapidly depleted, converting into liquefied true qi in his dantian.

The depletion of qi and blood,

Even with the Unbreakable Body Technique breaking through to the sixth level, Shen Changqing found it hard to bear.

He immediately grabbed a bottle of Qi and Blood Pill and swallowed it.

One Qi and Blood Pill can replenish all the qi and blood of a Body Tempering Realm martial artist.

If it were an ordinary person, they would not dare to take it recklessly.

But for Shen Changqing, eight Qi and Blood Pills only partially filled the void caused by the depletion of qi and blood.

Soon, he grabbed another bottle and swallowed it.

After a long while,

The commotion gradually subsided.

Shen Changqing exhaled heavily.

"It's over!"

The advancement of Sky Martial Yang Qi to the fourteenth level consumed much more than he had expected.

Even with the higher rank of the Unbreakable Body Technique, advancing to the sixth level could not fully balance the consumption.

If it were the Thirteen Bodyguards' Hard Qi, it would take at least two levels to achieve the same effect.

"Forty-two bottles of Qi and Blood Pills, a total of ninety-six pills. I just consumed twenty pills. It seems the consumption of internal cultivation will increase as I advance. Balancing the consumption with the qi and blood boosted by external cultivation alone will be quite challenging.

Unless I advance several levels of external cultivation at once, then advance one level of internal cultivation, which could balance it out.

But doing so would consume more slaughter points, and the increase in strength would be much less."

Shen Changqing frowned.

Advancing external cultivation does not significantly increase strength, far less than advancing internal cultivation.

Feeling the body still somewhat depleted,

This time, he did not use Qi and Blood Pills but swallowed a few Fullness Pills, then used true qi to break them down, converting the energy of the pills into qi and blood.

Soon, Shen Changqing compared the differences.

"Fullness Pills can also convert into qi and blood, but the amount is very small. One bottle of Fullness Pills cannot match one Qi and Blood Pill, and the conversion of qi and blood takes time, unlike Qi and Blood Pills, which can directly replenish qi and blood for the body to absorb.

During breakthroughs, there is no time to waste, so using Fullness Pills to offset the depletion is not feasible."

"On the contrary—"

"During the advancement of external cultivation, Fullness Pills can be taken to offset the consumption caused by the advancement."

The effects of the two types of pills were as Shen Changqing had expected.

Qi and Blood Pills are mainly used for internal cultivation to replenish qi and blood consumption.

Fullness Pills are mainly used for external cultivation to replenish physical consumption.

Of course,

If there is a qi and blood deficiency in daily life, Fullness Pills can also be used to balance it, but not during breakthroughs using slaughter points.

"Using Fullness Pills for daily cultivation is fine, but when it's time to advance, Qi and Blood Pills should be used. After all, one bottle of Qi and Blood Pills costs forty taels of silver. Even with over twenty thousand taels, it cannot sustain long-term extravagance."

Shen Changqing calculated his various expenses, including the previous thousand taels of silver.

Thirty thousand taels.

Only twenty-eight thousand taels remained.

"Indeed, the poor study literature, and the rich practice martial arts. The consumption is not something an ordinary person can bear."

Shen Changqing shook his head.

Pulling out the long saber he had discarded, he slashed his palm again. There was only a cold sensation, but no small wound like last time.

The Unbreakable Body Technique had advanced,

Enhancing his physical defense to a new level.

However,

He did not use the Cold Moon Saber to test it.

That was a genuine saber that could cut through iron like butter. The sixth level of the Unbreakable Body Technique could not withstand it.

Unless the Unbreakable Body Technique reached perfection, Shen Changqing would not attempt it.

"The twelfth level of Sky Martial Yang Qi marks the entry into the Innate External Yang stage. When I reached the thirteenth level, I was almost at the peak.

Now, advancing to the fourteenth level, I am officially at the peak of the Innate stage.

I wonder if advancing another level could break through the Innate barrier and reach the level of a Grandmaster."

At the fourteenth level of Sky Martial Yang Qi, he was confident he was at the peak of the Innate stage.

After all, the twelfth level was already the Innate External Yang stage.

Advancing two more levels, the concentration of true qi in his dantian was much stronger than at the twelfth level.

Saying he was at the peak of the Innate stage might even be an understatement.

If not for the lack of comprehension of the True Intent of Martial Arts, Shen Changqing suspected he could already rival a Grandmaster.

"I still fall short of matching a Grandmaster, but dealing with ordinary Innate martial artists should not be a problem.

Unfortunately, I only have seven slaughter points left, so I cannot advance further."

—

After the advancement, Shen Changqing left the courtyard and headed to the library.

His purpose this time was not to cultivate martial arts.

Martial arts are valuable in their refinement, not in their quantity.

With his current state, the martial arts he mastered were sufficient. The rest was about how to become proficient.

As for martial art fusion,

With the limited slaughter points, Shen Changqing had no plans to fuse.

Therefore,

His purpose this time was to look up information about Mo Zijin.

Shen Changqing had seen many demons and evil beings, but none as bizarre as Mo Zijin.

Entering the library,

He did not go to the second floor but stayed on the first floor.

The second floor contained martial arts, while the first floor had both martial arts and records of demons and evil beings.

Recalling his memory,

Shen Changqing walked to a bookshelf and pulled out a book.

Flipping through the pages, he read the content.

"In the 132nd year of the Great Qin Dynasty, a demon wreaked havoc, launching a large-scale attack on Guangyuan Prefecture. The Demon Suppression Bureau sent strong warriors to suppress it, but due to human betrayal and collusion with the demon, the Demon Suppression Bureau suffered heavy losses.

Seven Demon Suppression Commanders were killed, and countless Demon Suppression Warriors died.

The demon broke through twenty-one cities, and countless civilians died at its hands. The Demon Suppression Bureau, regardless of the heavy casualties, finally managed to either kill or drive away the demon, resolving the crisis in Guangyuan Prefecture.

That battle caused numerous civilian deaths, with bodies piled high, eventually leading to an epidemic that infected many.

The epidemic lasted four years, until the 136th year of the Great Qin Dynasty, when the last infected civilian died, finally ending the disaster.

According to statistics, during the four years, nearly a million civilians in Guangyuan Prefecture died, with over a hundred thousand dying from the epidemic, and the rest from the demon's hands."

Shen Changqing read the text.

One could imagine the impact of the demon disaster in the 132nd year of the Great Qin Dynasty and the subsequent epidemic.

He did not know the total population of the Great Qin Dynasty, but nearly a million deaths were undoubtedly a significant loss.

In the past,

Shen Changqing had accidentally come across this information. At that time, he only glanced at it and put it back, so he only remembered part of the content.

Now, after reading it again, he fully understood the situation.

Unfortunately,

He still found no information about Mo Zijin.

Putting the book back,

Shen Changqing continued to browse other books.

—

For the next three days, Shen Changqing stayed in the library, constantly reading books to expand his knowledge of demons and evil beings.

In those books,

He learned a lot about demons and evil beings, filling in the gaps in his knowledge.

However, there was no information about Mo Zijin or similar demons.

"Researching books is unreliable. I can only ask Jiang Zuo!"

Shen Changqing put down the book, stood up, and looked at the spacious first floor of the library, feeling quite helpless.

The library was too large,

With countless books stored.

Relying on his own strength to find what he needed was undoubtedly a difficult task.

After three days, Shen Changqing completely gave up on solving the mystery on his own.

Leaving the library,

He returned to the Yellow Department Exorcist Academy and knocked on the steward's door.

Knock, knock!

Soon, the door opened.

Jiang Zuo looked at the visitor and turned back.

"Come in and talk!"

PS: It's not that I don't want to update in a burst, but I feel that a burst update would consume too much of your subscription at once, so it's better to update gradually, right (?°???°)?