Chapter 47

Beneath the jade tiger stone sculpture, Fang Ling sat cross-legged, and a blood-colored shadow gradually enveloped him.

The blood color grew increasingly intense, until finally, it completely enveloped Fang Ling in a cloud of blood.

"Ha!"

With a light exclamation, Fang Ling opened his mouth wide, and the blood clouds surged into his mouth like a tide. As the last trace of the blood cloud disappeared into his mouth, Fang Ling gently opened his eyes.

Fang Ling himself did not notice, but the moment his eyes opened, a faint blood light flashed in them.

With a light flutter, Fang Ling stood up from the ground. His body was now covered in black mud. However, at this moment, Fang Ling did not have time to deal with the mud. After a brief moment of contemplation, he suddenly exerted his strength, and a white vapor resembling armor appeared on his body.

Condensing qi into armor, the sixth level of Qi Cultivation!

By absorbing the jade tiger's blood plasma, Fang Ling had forcefully raised his cultivation to the sixth level of Qi Cultivation.

Compared to the fifth level, Fang Ling felt that his internal qi had not only condensed by more than a fold. The moment the internal qi re-entered his body, Fang Ling suddenly leaped up, as if he were a large goose soaring through the air.

"One step, two steps, three steps..."

In the air, Fang Ling took seventeen steps in succession.

The moment he finished the seventeenth step, a white Peng bird shadow, a fathom wide, appeared behind him. With the appearance of the Peng bird, Fang Ling felt his body become half as light.

It was as if he could stay in the air for a moment.

The Golden Goose Technique had reached its peak.

No, he had already surpassed the peak of the Golden Goose Technique.

Although Master Qiu Chuji left the Golden Goose Technique, his internal qi was definitely not as profound as Fang Ling's now.

With a light laugh, Fang Ling slowly descended from the air.

From the Xijiao Dusty Map, Fang Ling took out a large water vat and jumped into it. In just half an hour, the water in the vat became extremely murky.

An hour later, Fang Ling emerged from the third water vat. Looking at the three vats of extremely murky water, Fang Ling felt a bit reflective. He had never imagined that the human body could contain so much filth. Although the jade tiger's blood plasma had only raised his cultivation by one level, he truly felt that his entire body had changed.

He could not pinpoint exactly how it had changed, but the difference was real.

In the large jade basin, another thin layer of blood appeared. Looking at the jade tiger's blood plasma, Fang Ling pondered for a moment and decided to use the blood plasma to cleanse his body again.

Although he knew the effect would be reduced, any effect was better than none.

He applied the blood plasma evenly to his body again, and a burning sensation rose from his skin.

However, this sensation was much weaker and less intense than the previous time.

A day later, the blood plasma in the jade basin was completely gone, and the large jade tiger statue no longer dripped any more blood plasma.

After three body cleansings, Fang Ling felt that his essence, energy, and spirit had reached an unprecedented peak. Every movement of his body contained a hidden explosive power.

Unfortunately, apart from the first time when his internal qi broke through to the sixth level, the two subsequent absorptions, although increasing his internal qi slightly, were still not enough to break through to the seventh level of Qi Cultivation.

Why did the jade tiger have blood plasma?

Fang Ling looked at the jade tiger statue and was about to walk over.

But just as he was about to approach the jade tiger, it suddenly began to sink and disappeared into the mountains of Jingyang Ridge in the blink of an eye.

Only the jade basin remained.

Fang Ling wanted to follow and investigate, but he did not have the ability. He believed that the senior cultivators who discovered this place in the past also had similar thoughts.

Since it was difficult to explore the secret of the jade tiger statue, Fang Ling turned his attention to the strange tree.

The last time the tree entered his body, the massive amount of spiritual energy was still fresh in his memory. He wondered if this time, the spiritual energy could help him advance to the next level.

The seventh level of Qi Cultivation!

Thinking of this, Fang Ling's eyes lit up.

Advancing to the seventh level of Qi Cultivation would open up a whole new world for him.

This anticipation made his hand tremble slightly as it touched the tree.

"Boom"

The tree rose from the ground, just as Fang Ling had imagined.

A massive amount of spiritual energy, as before, poured into Fang Ling's body.

After an hour, Fang Ling opened his eyes, but a hint of disappointment appeared on his face.

The spiritual energy that flooded into his body had brought his cultivation to the peak of the sixth level, but it did not help him break through to the seventh level.

The seventh level of Qi Cultivation, where internal qi is transformed into spiritual energy that cultivators can control!

This was a qualitative change!

In addition to requiring a large amount of spiritual energy, it also depended on the cultivator's physical constitution. Many people, despite accumulating a large amount of spiritual energy, never managed to break through to the seventh level of Qi Cultivation.

When the tree entered the Jingyang Ridge Dusty Map, Fang Ling had a feeling that the spiritual energy entering his body would be enough to break through to the seventh level.

But in the end, the spiritual energy was wasted.

This result forced Fang Ling to accept a fact: his body was not suitable for cultivation.

Not suitable for cultivation!

For most cultivators, this was like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky!

Struggling to reach the sixth level of Qi Cultivation, only to be stuck at the seventh level due to poor aptitude, was a tragic and helpless situation.

This result left Fang Ling in a bad mood. He took a deep breath and pushed the negative emotions out of his mind.

Since the problem had appeared, he had to face it!

He still had the formula for the Nine-Transmutation Dao Pill!

Moreover, he had always planned to use the Nine-Transmutation Dao Pill to break through to the seventh level of Qi Cultivation.

"Whoosh"

A scroll three feet and nine inches long appeared in Fang Ling's hand. This scroll looked no different from the Xijiao Dusty Map, but its name had changed to Jingyang Ridge Dusty Map.

The entire map depicted undulating mountains, as if the entire space had been imprinted on it.

The function of this map was almost identical to the Xijiao Dusty Map. With this map, Fang Ling could enter the Jingyang Ridge space at any time.

With a lingering glance at the Jingyang Ridge space, Fang Ling unfurled the dusty map, and he disappeared from the space.

...

In the Chen family courtyard of Dingshang City, which was usually bustling, there was now a deathly silence.

However, the silence did not mean there was no one there.

In the Chen family's meeting hall, people were standing everywhere.

If someone familiar with Dingshang City were to see this, they would be shocked. The people standing in the meeting hall were all important figures.

For example, Master Zhao, City Lord Jin Shangming, and several other cultivators in Dingshang City...

The head of the Tiger Might Martial Hall, Guan Wushang, only had the privilege to stand in a corner of the hall.

These people, who could make the earth tremble with a single step, were now standing there obediently, not daring to make a sound.

Their eyes were respectfully fixed on the man sitting in the center of the hall.

At first glance, this man looked like Chen Shengnan had come back to life.

If the people standing around were replaced with the Chen family members who had been killed, it would look like Chen Shengnan was gathering his subordinates.

However, it was clear that this man was not Chen Shengnan.

Chen Shengnan did not have such great power in Dingshang City!

The man had his eyes closed and was silent, as if his soul had wandered far away. Beside him stood the only elder of the Chen family, Chen Yuanlu.

Suddenly, a flying sword shot out from behind the man, and a fierce killing aura filled the entire hall.

The cultivators in the hall, such as Master Zhao, could still stand, but the others, with lower cultivation, trembled all over.

Guan Wushang's heart was also trembling. He tried to use his internal qi to resist the pressure, but as soon as he tried, he found that his internal qi would not move.

This was the pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Guan Wushang's head lowered even more, and he did not have the strength to lift it.

The killing aura lingered in the hall for an hour before disappearing as the flying sword returned to the man's sleeve.

"Thud"

A chubby middle-aged man fell to the ground.

He tried to get up, but his hands and feet did not obey him.

The man in the center did not even look at him and instead asked Jin Shangming, "City Lord Jin, any news?"

Jin Shangming wiped the sweat from his forehead and respectfully replied, "Great Master, today I mobilized three thousand people, but we did not find any man resembling Fang Ling."

"Humph," the man's dissatisfied grunt made Jin Shangming's body tremble again.

"Great Master, starting tomorrow, I will increase the manpower to ensure that not even a bird can fly into Dingshang City."

Jin Shangming's explanation seemed to be heard by the man, who then turned his gaze to another man and asked, "Patriarch Zuo, any news from your Storm Dragon Gang?"

Patriarch Zuo, a thin and gaunt man in his fifties, also respectfully replied, "Great Master, all the disciples of the Storm Dragon Gang are searching for that man. As soon as we have any news, we will report it to you."

"All the disciples?" The man coldly snorted, and the flying sword suddenly flew toward Patriarch Zuo.

Under the pressure of the flying sword, Patriarch Zuo's face turned pale, and he shouted, "Great Master, spare my life, Great Master..."

The sword light flashed, and Patriarch Zuo's head rolled to the ground.

Strangely, his severed body did not bleed a single drop.

The man coldly laughed, "Yesterday, the Storm Dragon Gang only sent two hundred disciples to search for that man. Do you think I didn't know?"

His calm voice made everyone in the hall's faces turn even paler.

When the man's gaze fell on them, everyone's heads lowered even further.