Chapter 6

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Ye Zhen easily tossed around a 1,500-pound stone lock.

After lifting a 1,800-pound stone lock for over ten times, Ye Zhen's face didn't turn red, and he didn't even pant.

A 2,000-pound stone lock made Ye Zhen slightly breathe heavily.

A 2,300-pound stone lock had yet to reach Ye Zhen's limit.

In one night, Ye Zhen's strength skyrocketed to 2,400 pounds.

Under the moonlight, on the training ground of Hundred Pine Peak, Ye Zhen looked at his hands, feeling an indescribable joy.

In Qiyun Sect, when a miscellaneous disciple's cultivation breaks through to the second level of Blood Qi, there are two signs.

One is that the Blood Qi Technique breaks through to the second layer, with blood qi surging throughout the body, reaching the internal organs. The second is that strength breaks through to 2,000 pounds.

In other words, if judged purely by strength, Ye Zhen's cultivation had already broken through to the second level of Blood Qi.

But the strange thing was that, while his strength had broken through to the second level of Blood Qi, his Blood Qi Technique had not only not broken through to the second level but had regressed to the mid-stage of the first level.

The mid-stage first level cultivation with second-level strength created a bizarre situation that left Ye Zhen puzzled.

Having stayed in Qiyun Sect for nearly a year, Ye Zhen had heard of many strange things, but he had never heard of a situation like his own.

"Or perhaps, this bizarre situation is the so-called heaven-defying aspect of the Mirage Dragon Pearl?"

Thinking about the strange phenomena when the Mirage Dragon Pearl merged with him, including the layer of foul-smelling mud that seeped out of his body, Ye Zhen became more and more convinced of this.

He just didn't know the specific effect, but Ye Zhen believed that over time, the secret of the Mirage Dragon Pearl would eventually be uncovered.

What surprised Ye Zhen was that he didn't need to wait for a long time. In the next five to six days, Ye Zhen basically figured out the effect of the Mirage Dragon Pearl.

Ye Zhen noticed that whenever he practiced the Blood Qi Technique, the blood qi it generated would pass through the Zhongzhu acupoint, as if the Mirage Dragon Pearl and the Zhongzhu acupoint had merged.

A strange phenomenon occurred: after the abundant blood qi generated during cultivation passed through the pearl, it would shrink by one-third or more.

However, when Ye Zhen carefully sensed the blood qi that came out of the Mirage Dragon Pearl, it had become very refined, and even the color of the blood qi had turned a deep red.

Moreover, Ye Zhen discovered that after the blood qi shrank, its circulation in the meridians became faster and more powerful.

This change was directly reflected in the improvement of Ye Zhen's physical condition.

After almost a night of cultivation, Ye Zhen's strength and speed had increased significantly.

Under the influence of the stone marrow spirit liquid, in one night, Ye Zhen's strength increased by fifty to sixty pounds. After four or five days, when his cultivation returned to the state of blood qi filling the meridians, his strength reached 2,600 pounds.

It's worth noting that even his roommate, Sha Fei, who had already reached the peak of the second level of Blood Qi, only had a strength of 2,700 pounds.

In other words, Ye Zhen, at the first level of Blood Qi, had the strength of the second level.

Furthermore, Ye Zhen discovered through several days of research that the effect of the Blood Essence Soup he consumed was the same as before he had the Mirage Dragon Pearl, but the amount of blood qi increased by one-third less.

All these observations led Ye Zhen to finally confirm one thing—the heaven-defying effect of the Mirage Dragon Pearl.

That was refinement!

During his cultivation, the Mirage Dragon Pearl automatically refined his blood qi, making his blood qi cultivation more refined.

To put it simply, if the blood qi generated by the Blood Qi Technique under normal circumstances was iron, the Mirage Dragon Pearl refined it into steel.

Under the same cultivation level, this allowed his blood qi to provide greater reinforcement to his body.

His current first-level Blood Qi cultivation having the strength of the second level was the best proof.

Unfortunately, although Ye Zhen confirmed that the heaven-defying effect of the Mirage Dragon Pearl was refinement, he tried to study the first level of space of the unsealed Mirage Dragon Pearl for a long time but found no clues.

This left Ye Zhen with a lingering sense of doubt and anticipation regarding the Mirage Dragon Pearl.

......

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days had passed, and there were only three days left until Qiyun Sect's annual assessment.

During these twenty days, Ye Zhen spent almost all his free time after completing his duties on cultivation.

Due to the rapid increase in his cultivation, the five hours of work he used to do daily now only took four hours.

The saved time was spent practicing the only fist technique taught to miscellaneous disciples in Qiyun Sect—the Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist.

This was an introductory fist technique used to strengthen the body and bones of miscellaneous disciples.

Strangely, when Ye Zhen practiced the three moves and nine forms of the Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist before, although he could complete them smoothly, each move and form felt very stiff.

However, after that night, when a layer of foul-smelling mud seeped out of his body, his Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist improved greatly, with the movements becoming fluid and smooth, without any stiffness.

After more than twenty days of hard practice, Ye Zhen's Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist even surpassed that of Sha Fei, who had been practicing for two years.

In addition, every night, Ye Zhen would go to the secret cave on the cliff at midnight.

At midnight, two drops of stone marrow spirit liquid would drip from the stalactites in the secret cave.

These two drops of stone marrow spirit liquid, which could cause ordinary gray rats to undergo mutations, were extremely potent. Each time Ye Zhen consumed them, his cultivation would increase significantly.

In just over twenty days, even with the refinement of the Mirage Dragon Pearl, Ye Zhen's cultivation not only broke through to the second level of Blood Qi but also reached the late stage of the second level.

His strength also reached the terrifying level of 4,000 pounds.

However, Ye Zhen was afraid that someone might discover the secret cave, so he kept his rapidly increasing cultivation hidden.

"Ye Zhen, the annual assessment is in three days. Get up and do the morning exercises," Sha Fei, who had woken up earlier, nudged Ye Zhen as the sky was just beginning to lighten.

After getting up quickly and washing up, Ye Zhen and Sha Fei found an open space at the edge of the training ground and started their morning exercises.

The morning exercises for Qiyun Sect's miscellaneous disciples involved practicing the Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist to strengthen their strength and bones.

With a low shout, Ye Zhen stretched his waist and punched out, and a series of bone-cracking sounds echoed.

Lazy Bear Stretch!

Bear King Emerges from the Cave!

Slap!

Ye Zhen's palm sliced through the air like a whip, causing a sharp whistling sound.

With each move, the wind generated by Ye Zhen's punches became stronger. When he reached the final move, Bear King Mountain-Bearing, his fists even brought a faint golden wind.

The faint golden wind generated by Ye Zhen's fists surprised Sha Fei, who was practicing nearby.

"Amazing, Ye Zhen! Your punches bring a golden wind, something I've never been able to do. How did you manage it?" Sha Fei asked, surprised.

"Isn't it because I'm forced? The annual sect assessment is coming up, and if I fail, I'll be expelled from the sect.

If I'm expelled from Qiyun Sect, my parents will be very disappointed and sad. Not only that, but I'll also face endless ridicule and mockery within the clan. My life will be basically over.

So, I have to work hard!"

Ye Zhen stood with his fists, his face not red and his breath not heavy. After breaking through to the second level of Blood Qi, the abundant blood qi could deeply nourish his internal organs, making them strong and powerful, and his breath became longer.

If it were before, after completing one round of the Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist during morning exercises, Ye Zhen would be panting and sweating profusely. But now, even after three rounds, his breath remained steady.

This was the benefit of having strong internal organs and a long breath.

Sha Fei nodded vigorously, "Yes, to avoid being expelled, we have to work hard!

I've been stuck at the peak of the second level of Blood Qi for almost a month. If I work hard, I can break through to the third level and form a qi pearl!"

After saying this, Sha Fei focused on practicing the Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist, with the wind generated by his punches becoming fierce.

"Clang!"

A copper gong sounded, signaling the end of the morning exercises.

"Everyone, gather here, I have something to say," the voice of Zhao, the overseer of Hundred Pine Peak, rang out. All the practicing miscellaneous disciples immediately stopped and gathered in front of Zhao, who was holding the copper gong.

"In three days, it will be the annual sect assessment. I want to say that even if some of you will be expelled in three days, the duties you must perform in these three days cannot be reduced in the slightest."

Zhao's gaze swept over Ye Zhen and others, with a warning intent.

Clearly, in Zhao's mind, Ye Zhen was one of the people who would definitely be expelled this year.

However, Ye Zhen's gaze did not lower as it usually did when confronted. Instead, he stared at Zhao with a burning intensity, showing no sign of backing down.

The rapid increase in his cultivation had given Ye Zhen enough confidence.

With a dissatisfied cold snort, Zhao continued, "The second thing I want to say is about the seed candidates for our peak."

Zhao bowed toward Qiyun Peak, the highest peak of Qiyun Sect, and said, "Following the sect's decree, after the annual assessment, the Fish Dragon Path will be opened once. The top ten who can successfully pass the Fish Dragon Path, regardless of their cultivation level, can directly become outer sect disciples."

Pausing for a moment, Zhao added, "However, among the hundreds of thousands of miscellaneous disciples in our Qiyun Sect, only the seed candidates from each miscellaneous peak will have the资格 to challenge the Fish Dragon Path."

Speaking here, Zhao glanced at Ma Yuanwu in the crowd, "This year's seed candidate for our peak is Ma Yuanwu. If any of you are不服, you can challenge Ma Yuanwu during the morning exercises when I am present, or after the three days when the upper envoy overseeing your assessment arrives.

The winner, who is not defeated by others, can become our peak's seed candidate."

After saying this, Zhao left with the copper gong.

"Whoever wants to challenge me, just come on! I'll beat you until you're crawling on the ground!"

In the crowd, Ma Yuanwu, who was the strongest on Hundred Pine Peak last year, rolled up his sleeves, pounded his chest, and glared at everyone with a warning intent!