Chapter 115

In an instant, his arm broke into several sections, and white bone protruded from his shoulder.

"Pfft!"

Blood surged from his mouth, knocking off the mask on his face and revealing a young but vicious face.

"Ah... Senior Brother, spare me!"

The scream spread out; he roared, his face full of terror and pleading. With this level of combat power, he feared that even someone who had refined qi into steel would be no match.

He had never imagined that his cultivation at the perfection of Qi Gathering would be so easily crushed by someone at the same realm, as if he were facing not a Qi Gathering martial artist, but an expert who had already refined qi into steel.

However, the response he received was a fist wrapped in powerful strength, thrusting toward him like a great spear. Before the fist arrived, the wind from it already made him feel somewhat suffocated.

"Crack!"

Xu Yang's second punch landed on his throat. With a crack, bone fragments flew out from the back of his head, and his head folded over due to inertia, slamming heavily onto his arm.

The wind whistled, and the corpse flew backward, hitting a tree before stopping, causing a flurry of fallen leaves.

Xu Yang strode over and bent down to search, quickly finding a few silver banknotes, a medicine bottle, five contribution points, and an identity token.

This person was actually a disciple of the Purple Sun Sect; he had thought he was a martial artist from Qingyun City.

Except for the identity token, Xu Yang put everything else away.

Then he raised his foot and stomped the arm and neck into a pulp to cover up the traces of the Surging Waves Fist's force.

After doing this, he used the Flying Swallow Art to fly up like a large bird, disappearing after a few leaps.

"So ruthless!"

A while later, several figures landed here, and seeing the neck and arm stomped into pulp, everyone gasped.

"It's impossible to tell what martial art was used to kill him, but looking at this person's physique, he should only be at the perfection of Qi Gathering. The one who killed him must be a Marrow Cleansing expert; otherwise, it would be impossible to kill him so easily."

Someone stepped forward to check and found that nothing could be seen; the traces of the martial art had been completely erased.

"Truly blind, a Qi Gathering martial artist trying to rob a Marrow Cleansing expert. How unlucky must one be to run into a Marrow Cleansing expert who likes to play the pig to eat the tiger," someone remarked with wonder.

"This person is too ruthless, not having any of the demeanor of a Marrow Cleansing expert. A lesson would have been enough; why kill a fellow disciple?" someone said coldly.

"Bullshit, the other person was already trying to rob you, and you're still talking about fellow disciples? If the cultivation were insufficient, would the dead person have talked about fellow disciple feelings with him?"

Soon, the group started arguing about whether or not it was right to kill.

Xu Yang knew nothing of what happened afterward. He arrived at the mountain gate, removed his disguise, shook the blood off his hands, and after showing his identity token, he easily returned to his residence.

Lighting the oil lamp, he began to count his gains: three silver banknotes and a few pieces of broken silver, totaling less than one hundred taels.

Originally, one only resorted to robbery when one was desperately poor; no one would take such risks if they had money.

Five contribution points were worth about twenty taels.

There were two Qi-Nourishing Pills in the porcelain bottle, also worth twenty taels, making the total gain less than one hundred and forty taels.

He didn't mind; even a mosquito's leg is meat.

"With these gains, I can reach the perfection of Qi Gathering in one go."

Xu Yang immediately poured out a Qi-Nourishing Pill and swallowed it, operating his Diamond true qi to dissolve the medicinal power. Once the effect was refined, he swallowed the second one.

Since he started cultivating, he had never been so extravagant. Previously, he would take one pill and wait a few days before taking another, fearing the waste of medicinal power.

Two hours later, he had already refined four of the eight Qi-Nourishing Pills, but his true qi had not yet reached perfection.

He didn't continue refining but took off his clothes and went to bed.

Waking up the next day, he rolled out of bed and practiced the Turtle-Snake Great Stance.

Although he had a panel and had already achieved an alternative form of longevity, he still remembered Lin Cheng's words and practiced the Turtle-Snake Great Stance every morning and evening.

Stance work was the foundation of all methods. Besides storing blood and qi, tempering the physique, and prolonging life, it could also repair invisible hidden injuries. With a breakthrough approaching, he could not be careless in this regard.

Only when his blood and qi were boiling and his whole body felt comfortable did he end his morning practice.

"Today I can reach the perfection of Qi Gathering in one go. If I'm lucky, I should be able to directly refine qi into steel."

He had long since comprehended the Hunyuan Force; refining qi into steel was not very difficult for him.

"Senior Brother Sun, no mission today?"

Returning from eating at the canteen, only Sun Tao was in the courtyard; Jiang Ping, Jiang Fan, Wan Hai, and others were not there.

Sun Tao said in a muffled voice: "The previous mission has ended. I plan to rest for a few days and attempt to refine qi into steel."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yang smiled and cupped his hands: "Congratulations to Senior Brother Sun for reaching the perfection of Qi Gathering. I wish you success in refining steel qi and advancing to Marrow Cleansing."

Sun Tao smiled bitterly: "What's there to congratulate? Steel qi is too difficult. I reached the perfection of Qi Gathering around the same time as Lu Ren and have been stuck for nearly two months."

Xu Yang didn't expect Sun Tao to have reached the perfection of Qi Gathering so early, so he smiled: "Senior Brother, don't be impatient. Impatience won't get you anywhere; you must maintain a peaceful state of mind. At this realm, being stuck for three to five months is normal."

Sun Tao nodded and said: "By the way, I just received news that Qin Ze has already refined qi into steel. Aren't you going to congratulate him?"

Qin Ze has refined qi into steel?

Xu Yang was stunned, though he didn't find it surprising. Back in Qingyuan, Qin Ze was a figure second only to Cao Rong, Yun Feng, and others, and was on par with Gu Haoming and Han Xing.

Now that Gu Haoming and Han Xing had both refined qi into steel, it was reasonable for Qin Ze to have a breakthrough.

"I should go take a look." Xu Yang stood up, intending to offer his congratulations before returning to cultivate.

Being in the same alliance, it wouldn't be right not to congratulate him now that he knew.

When Xu Yang arrived at Qin Ze's courtyard, he found that many people were already there. The disciples of the Spirit Monkey Fist Hall had all come, as had Yue Gui, Chen Jiang, and Liu Qian, along with some people from Qingyuan.

A sharp aura radiated from Qin Ze; he must have just broken through and couldn't fully control his power.

"Congratulations to Brother Qin for refining qi into steel and advancing further in the martial path." Xu Yang cupped his hands.

Qin Ze was in high spirits and smiled: "I've only taken a step forward; you will all be able to catch up soon."

Yue Gui said enviously: "Being a step ahead is still a step."

He considered himself a genius of the same level as Qin Ze, with similar fame, but Qin Ze had still gotten ahead of him.