Ling Han withdrew his sword and said, smiling, “Will you tell anyone of what has happened here today?”
“Of course not!” Liu Dong and the rest quickly shook their heads.
“It’s all right, then. None of us present here will say anything, so who would find out that Hang Zhan and his lackey died here?” Ling Han said.
However, Liu Dong and his companions were still unable to let go of their worries. After all, the name of “Stone Wolf Sect” was much too intimidating; based on its power, the sect could easily eliminate their respective clans a hundred times. With such feelings, they dared not linger here for too long, fearing that Ling Han would kill them too to ensure their silence. Moreover, they each possessed a Green Spiritual Fruit in their hands, adding on to the unsettled feelings in their hearts.
They soon bid farewell to Ling Han and set off, quickly disappearing from his sight.
Killing the eyewitnesses… Ling Han naturally had no such plan, for his little female attendant was the princess of the Liu Clan of the Imperial City. Against such a noble existence, what did an insignificant Hang Zhan count as? If the Stone Wolf Sect found out that Hang Zhan actually dared to bear evil intentions towards Liu Yu Tong, they might even personally behead Hang Zhan as an apology.
Just as how Liu Dong and his group felt immeasurable fear towards Stone Wolf Sect, what did an insignificant Stone Wolf Sect count as in the eyes of the Eight Great Clans?
‘I’ll take one Green Spiritual Fruit first. Once I reach the peak of the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier, I’ll take the second one,’ Ling Han thought. Although he had already walked through all the nine tiers on his way from the Body Refining Tier all the way to the Heaven Tier, this did not imply that he could easily step over the gulf between the two tiers.
That was because, aside from the comprehension and understanding accumulated within a given tier, breaking through the bottlenecks between tiers was an endeavor that required a vast amount of energy to support it.
Where did this energy came from?
Spiritual medicine, alchemical pills, treasures obtained from demonic beasts, spiritual fluids found in nature could all be used as the source of this energy. Unfortunately, these materials were extremely rare and hard to find.
This was the reason why the higher the tier, the fewer martial artists there were that could achieve it. Without these kinds of supporting materials to provide the additional energy for martial artists to break through to a higher tier, the only thing they could do was depend on themselves to slowly accumulate the energy required for the breakthrough. Some would be able to succeed in breaking through, while some may cause themselves to explode from over-accumulation of energy.
If he had not had the Green Spiritual Fruit, Ling Han may have needed to accumulate about ten plus days worth of Origin Power to reach the peak of the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier, and then break through to the Element Gathering Tier in a spurt of energy. But things were different now. When he reached the barrier between Body Refining and Element Gathering Tier, Ling Han only needed to take the Green Spiritual Fruit, and it would be smooth sailing all the way.
Ling Han liberated all the valuables from the bodies of Hang Zhan and Elder Yu. Because the two of them had been on a journey, they obviously had not kept too many valuables on them, so all he managed to find were some money and a book on some secret martial art.
The sum of money came up to a total of about one hundred thousand coins, which could not be considered a small sum. Meanwhile, the book was titled “Detonation Arts”, and it was a rather unique skill. Basically, it allowed a martial artist to inject his Origin Power into something which would cause the item to detonate. It would be difficult for someone to defend against such a skill.
Elder Yu should have just obtained this secret arts manual and had yet to start mastering it. Otherwise, if Liu Yu Tong had been surprised with such an attack in the midst of battle, then she would definitely have suffered quite a bit.
The two of them moved to a new location. After all, there were two dead bodies in their previous location; just looking at the two corpses would spoil their mood.
Ling Han sat down in a cross-legged position. He then took out a Green Spiritual Fruit and washed it with a bit of clean water. Then, he quickly consumed it in large bites.
It really did deserve the name of a Spiritual Fruit born from nature. Even though its level couldn’t really be considered high, it was still extremely delicious and, within a few bites, Ling Han had already finished eating it. He felt extremely dissatisfied, and really wanted to take out the other fruit and eat it too.
He quickly suppressed this impulsive urge, and quietly waited for the medicinal effects to play out.
In but a short moment, a powerful and intense medicinal effect was released, transforming into innumerable tiny particles, entering his bloodstream and spreading throughout his entire body.
Ling Han circulated Five Elements Heaven Grade Skill. The Spirit Base in his Dantian gave out a shimmering light like a lotus flower of the Dao, guiding the medicinal effects to nourish every piece of flesh, every bone, and every vein in his body.
His cultivation rate was already very fast to begin with. Before he had consumed the Green Spiritual Fruit, he had already reached the middle period of the seventh layer. Now that he had obtained the support of the Spiritual Fruit, his progression rate was naturally even more terrifying.
The late period of the seventh layer of the Body Refining Tier… the peak of the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier!
He accumulated some Origin Power and, in one breath, broke through to the eighth layer of Body Refining Tier. At this time, the medicinal effects of the Green Spiritual Fruit had not been completely exhausted yet, and were still continuously improving his cultivation. They were finally exhausted once Ling Han made it to the middle period of the eighth layer of Body Refining Tier.
‘Very good, it saved me about six days’ worth of time.’
Watching all this, a strange thought rose up in Liu Yu Tong’s heart–it was the first time that she had not been shocked by the quick ascent of Ling Han’s cultivation level. After all, this time should be considered normal, as he had eaten a Green Spiritual Fruit.
The two of them continued journeying around the mountain. Ling Han continued to refine his sword skills, hoping to achieve three flashes of Sword Qi before he broke through to the Element Gathering Tier.
After another eight days, Ling Han had reached the peak of the eighth layer of Body Refining Tier. After storing up one night’s worth of Origin Power, he began the process of breaking through to the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier. By the time morning came and the sun had risen, he stood up, the corners of his lips lifting slightly upwards in a smile.
The ninth layer of Body Refining Tier.
‘Very good, I need around another ten days’ time and I will reach the peak of the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier. At that time, I will consume the second Green Spiritual Fruit, and in one breath break through to the Element Gathering Tier!’
Liu Yu Tong was naturally already numbed. Should Ling Han be able to break through to the Element Gathering Tier on the morrow, she might very well not feel surprised. Otherwise, if she still became shocked every time this guy did something surprising, she really might die an early death.
Ten days passed very quickly and Ling Han, as per his expectations, had already reached the peak of the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier.
He took out the second Green Spiritual Fruit, and smiled, saying, “Today is my last day in Body Refining Tier… ai, it really has been a very long time!”
Liu Yu Tong could not help rolling her eyes in response. She had been by Ling Han’s side since the time when he was only in the second layer of Body Refining Tier. How many days had it been? Just one month! This was “a very long time” he was talking of! But when she recalled how Ling Han had been stagnant for a number of years in the second layer of Body Refining Tier previously, his rueful feeling could be considered quite logical.
She started cultivation when she was thirteen, and achieved the Element Gathering Tier when she was fourteen. This point alone did make it seem that her cultivation progress had been much faster when compared with Ling Han’s.
After Ling Han swallowed the Green Spiritual Fruit, he started to break through to the Element Gathering Tier.
He did not rush it. Instead, he only started to gather the medicinal effects within his body.
Usually, when a martial artist began the process of breaking through, even if they had the support of medicinal effects, they had to batter against the barrier repeatedly until it had somewhat loosened to be able to breach it. However, Ling Han had absolute confidence that as long as he had stored up enough energy, he’d be able to successfully break through this barrier on his first attempt.
Half an hour later, his body was brimming with Origin Power, and he felt as if his whole body was inflated.
This was of course but a misconception. It was just that he had stored too much energy within his body, causing him to have this kind of an “inflated” feeling. But should he still not break through or unleash this energy somehow, his body really might explode because of this accumulation of energy.
It was like a water pouch that had already been filled to the brim. If the pouch was not punctured to make a hole to release some water, or if the water wasn’t transferred to a bigger pouch, then the only result would be that the pouch would explode.
‘It’s about enough,’ Ling Han thought. ‘Now all that’s left is to guide this boundless energy towards the Dantian and batter against the barrier.’
Body Refining Tier meant to store Origin Power in every bit of blood and flesh, and so it was actually very limited in quantity. As for Element Gathering Tier, it meant to open up one’s Dantian, and form a strange space within one’s body.
Everyone possessed this kind of a small universe, or a small world, in their bodies. In terms of martial arts, this kind of small world was thought to exist within one’s Dantian.
“Hong!”
Under the fierce barrage of energy, a slit-like hole appeared in his Dantian. For anyone else to break through, they would have to depend on a continuous, repeated barrage to endlessly widen and enlarge this hole or slit. However, Ling Han was different. The energy he had accumulated was more than enough for him to immediately begin breaking through.
Opening up the Dantian was only the first step. The next step was the most important one.
That was, to solidify the Origin Power into a high-speed revolving nucleus.
This was something like installing a motor in one’s Dantian. With a mental command, the origin nucleus revolving at high speeds would generate energy that would erupt with a horrifying attack.
How was it that the Element Gathering Tier could easily crush the Body Refining Tier? That was because once the origin nucleus was formed, energy would gush out like a flood from it. Even if two fighters had accumulated equal amounts of Origin Power, the one who had actually formed the origin nucleus would have faster, stronger attacks, possessing an overwhelming advantage over his opponent.