Chapter 10: Moonless Night of Killing
Chapter 10: Murder Under Moonless Night
Inside the cave dwelling, within a quiet chamber.
Lü Yang sat cross-legged, beginning his breakthrough attempt.
With the spirit pill ingested and the continuous dual cultivation with Yun Miaoqing over the past half-month, his cultivation quickly reached a state nearing its limit.
Boom!
The next moment, as if stepping onto a new tier, Lü Yang felt a surge of vast true qi roaring through his body, rushing like a mighty river, invigorating his spirit.
Qi Refining, Second Layer!
"Before the fourth layer of Qi Refining, there are no bottlenecks. With enough resources, one can grind through with time... But it seems I don't have that luxury now."
The presence of Qing Chen Fairy had ignited Lü Yang's sense of crisis.
He wouldn't forget—in his previous life, Liu Xin had openly stormed into his cave dwelling and killed him. If Liu Xin could do it, couldn't Qing Chen Fairy do the same?
Even the cave dwelling wasn't safe!
"The only true reliability lies in one's own cultivation and strength!"
With this thought, Lü Yang gritted his teeth and took out all the remaining spirit pills, swallowing them hastily. Then, he summoned Yun Miaoqing again.
Though this was somewhat wasteful—at least thirty percent of the pills' efficacy would be lost—it allowed him to elevate his cultivation at the fastest possible speed. In Lü Yang's eyes, as long as he could break through to the third layer of Qi Refining, these pills would have served their purpose and not been bought in vain.
Time flew by—three days and nights passed in the blink of an eye.
During this period, Lü Yang neither ate nor drank and nearly drained Yun Miaoqing to exhaustion. Finally, he felt a thin barrier shatter within him.
"...Success!"
Lü Yang inspected his body internally, sensing vast true qi flowing through his meridians like rivers. Though it seemed boundless, he knew he couldn't advance any further.
At first glance, it appeared as if his cultivation had reached perfection.
"This is the bottleneck..."
One step further would bring him to the fourth layer of Qi Refining—a leap from the early to mid-stage. Even in the Saint Sect, reaching this level would qualify him as an outstanding disciple eligible for certain positions.
Lü Yang didn't pause or relax. He immediately took out the Innate Primordial Qi.
"Continue!"
The Innate Primordial Qi circulated, and Lü Yang guided his own true qi to engulf it. His true qi surged violently, converging into his dantian like rivers returning to the sea.
As the Innate Primordial Qi was gradually consumed, Lü Yang soon felt the bottleneck that had once seemed insurmountable—like an unyielding mountain—begin to weaken bit by bit. By the time the Innate Primordial Qi was fully depleted, that intangible barrier melted away like snow, collapsing instantly!
In the dim quiet chamber, Lü Yang abruptly opened his eyes.
His gaze was sharp, illuminating the darkness.
A blink later, another day and night had passed. Yet from this moment onward, Lü Yang's strength was worlds apart from what it had been just days before.
"Mid-stage Qi Refining feels nothing like the early stage." Lü Yang sensed the changes within him, a pleased expression on his face. "If early-stage true qi was like a small river, mid-stage is a vast ocean! The difference is more than tenfold! Only at this stage can one truly be called a cultivator..."
In the early stage of Qi Refining, true qi was limited, forcing frugality in the use of spells and divine abilities.
But after advancing to the mid-stage, such concerns were largely unnecessary. Ordinary spells could be cast effortlessly, and expended true qi could be replenished in just a few breaths.
"Excellent! Excellent!"
Lü Yang stepped out of the quiet chamber and retrieved a bone flying sword. With a thought, the sword instantly split into ten sword lights, enveloping the entire cave dwelling.
Whoosh—!
In an instant, the sword lights howled with ferocity. Lü Yang executed the Divine Firmament Sword Control True Formula, merging his body with the sword lights. He felt an unparalleled sense of exhilaration.
"I owe this to Liu Xin!"
"Without this perfectly compatible 'Innate Primordial Qi,' I could never have broken through—I would've been stuck at the third layer of Qi Refining for years!"
"No wonder Liu Xin abandoned the Ode of Yin-Yang Great Bliss to cultivate that Innate Dao Book."
"Unfortunately, his approach was twisted—using humans as medicine. Who knows how many lives he took after obtaining it? All of it stemmed from the Innate Dao Book."
"Such an evil art... It deserves to be mine!"
A surge of greed suddenly arose in Lü Yang's heart.
"Not now... Patience... There will be time in the next life..."
Just as Lü Yang was lost in thought, his eyebrows suddenly lifted as he turned toward the cave dwelling's entrance. One of his sword lights had just been disturbed.
"Someone?"
A cold glint flashed in Lü Yang's eyes, mixed with a hint of relief. Fortunately, he had acted decisively, willing to waste resources for a swift breakthrough.
Otherwise, if he had been in seclusion, oblivious to the outside world, wouldn't death have been inevitable?
"A lesson to remember..."
With this in mind, Lü Yang swiftly concealed the aura of his recent breakthrough while his killing intent intensified—like a hunter silently awaiting his prey.
......
Click.
With a soft sound, the cave dwelling's door was silently pried open. Three figures slipped in one after another, clad in black robes and wearing masks, their true qi completely concealed.
Hidden in the shadows, Lü Yang watched with admiration. If he hadn't already broken through and attained higher cultivation, he might not have discerned their true strength—they appeared no different from ordinary mortals. Their ability to suppress their auras was truly exquisite.
"......"
The leader of the three gestured silently, and the others immediately dispersed, beginning their search of the cave dwelling...
Whoosh—!
The next moment, the foremost black-robed figure felt a blur before his eyes—a dazzling sword light, accompanied by a piercing hum, shot toward him!
"Bad move!"
The black-robed man's expression changed drastically. With no time to defend, he could only roll sideways to evade. But how could a human outpace a flying sword?
Slash—!
The sword light flashed, and a pillar of blood erupted skyward!
"Mid-stage Qi Refining!?"
The leader clearly had keen eyes—from the sword light's power and quality, he instantly recognized Lü Yang's cultivation level and cried out in shock.
At the same time, he cursed inwardly.
Damn that Qing Chen!
Is this a newly initiated disciple? A soft target?
And this Lü Yang... With mid-stage Qi Refining, he could easily overpower all three of them head-on. Yet he chose to deceive and ambush them?
What a dog!
As the sword light flew toward him, the black-robed leader hastily formed hand seals, conjuring a protective barrier while shouting, "Misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding—"
Boom!
Lü Yang ignored him. The sword light slashed horizontally, nearly shattering the black-robed man's protective barrier in an instant. Meanwhile, from the darkness, another surge of true qi unfurled like raging waves, coalescing into a massive palm—several zhang in size—with clearly defined lines. It seized the second black-robed figure.
Squelch!
The next moment, the palm clenched violently, crushing the second black-robed man into a bloody pulp—bones shattered, flesh torn—splattering red and white everywhere.
The brutality of the scene made the leader's eyes bulge with fury.
On the other hand, Lü Yang looked pleased.
"This Innate Primordial Qi Palm Seal is quite impressive. Though it doesn't show much power against opponents of the same realm, it's perfect for crushing those below."
While pondering, his sword lights didn't stop.
A dozen sword lights howled through the cave dwelling, with the bone flying sword teleporting among them, leaving the leader no chance to catch his breath.
After just a few exchanges, the leader was exhausted. Lü Yang seized the opening, slashing with his sword—another pillar of blood erupted skyward.
"Phew! That was dangerous..."
Only after finishing them off did Lü Yang finally relax. Surveying the corpses and scattered flesh on the ground, he felt a lingering fear recalling the battle.
Strictly speaking, this was his first time killing.
Though he had rehearsed that seamless ambush countless times in private, this was his first real combat experience.
"To be fair, my combat experience is far inferior to these three. In a fair fight at the same realm, I might not even defeat one of them, let alone three. But by ambushing them and forcing them into a contest of raw power, I could easily suppress them with my higher cultivation."
"This is why battling spells is inferior to battling divine abilities, and battling divine abilities is inferior to battling cultivation depth..."
While reviewing the valuable experience of this cross-realm challenge, Lü Yang pondered areas for improvement—knowledge he believed would surely prove useful in his next life.