Chapter 321: Rapid Progress

Three fires illuminate the six palaces, four fires shine upon the seven palaces, five fires brighten the eight palaces!

At this moment, the six illusory Heavenly Palaces beneath Xu Qing's Life Mist emitted a hazy glow, forming the power of a noble rank, lifting his cultivation base in one leap from the Foundation Establishment level and stabilizing it within the Golden Core realm.

Within the Life Mist, the seventh and eighth illusory Heavenly Palaces, though shrouded by mist, still shone brilliantly. However, compared to these eight palaces, the ninth palace at the very top was the truly peerless one, radiant to the extreme.

That ninth palace was formed by the Seven-Colored Wind-Chanting Lamp; its light was blinding, piercing through the Life Mist and illuminating the four directions.

With the Seven-Colored Wind-Chanting Lamp sitting within, it formed a terrifying fluctuation, turning into an astonishing pressure. This single palace alone already possessed the power of six fires.

At this moment, as Xu Qing raised his second Life Lamp, a thunderous roar erupted within his sea of consciousness, as if gods were screaming and all things were howling. The fluctuations stirred up outside his body, causing the winds and clouds in all directions to change color.

Next, the Great Black Umbrella traversed everything and appeared above the ninth palace in the Life Mist. There, it suddenly flashed with dazzling light. The roaring continued, and as the light swept through everything like an ocean, Heavenly Palaces rapidly formed around this Great Black Umbrella Life Lamp, standing tall and visible to the naked eye.

Not illusory, but substantial.

This was the tenth palace!

Unlike the seven-colored glow swirling around the ninth palace, this tenth palace was pitch black, with infinite black fire burning inside, making this palace resemble a hellish underworld palace.

While shocking to behold, a formidable power also radiated from within, causing Xu Qing's combat strength at this moment to advance by leaps and bounds, far exceeding what it once was!

Not only did he ascend to Golden Core, but he also formed two Heavenly Palaces in a single step!

In the Eastern Wanggu Continent, a Tiangong Golden Core is a watershed for cultivators. Below Golden Core, all are low-rank cultivators, focusing on foundations. Once they step into Golden Core, the foundation is set, and subsequent cultivation will have a qualitative leap.

Especially someone like him, who upon ascending already surpassed many Golden Core Dharma Protectors of the Alliance; such a thing is rare in the current age.

Even someone like Prince Sima Ru had not completed the construction of a second Tiangong after many years.

From this, one can see the importance of Life Lamps.

And Xu Qing's combat strength was not just limited to this; he also had the Imperial-rank technique currently undergoing transformation.

Taken as a whole, Xu Qing's combat strength had already surpassed that of an ordinary cultivator with two Heavenly Palaces.

Not to mention his Poison Core.

What lay before Xu Qing now was to form his third Tiangong as quickly as possible, suppressing the Poison Core within it, causing his own cultivation and combat strength to erupt once more.

Afterward, he would transform all the remaining Heavenly Palaces from illusory to real existence. By that time, with ten Heavenly Palaces upon him, his combat strength would reach a terrifying level that would shock cultivators of the same realm.

This process would not be very long, because his Golden Core technique was different from others.

Xu Qing's eyes suddenly opened. The imprint formed in his mind by the Ghostly Seclusion Dao-Seizing Art taught by his Master spread out at this moment, merging into his heart and spirit, while his right hand slowly became transparent.

As if existing between the virtual and the real.

Xu Qing lowered his head and looked at his right hand. He could feel a terrifying aura contained within it, and even more, an endless sense of the uncanny.

This hand could reach into an enemy's sea of consciousness, break open their Tiangong, grab the Golden Core within, and forcibly plunder it. Not only that, but in Xu Qing's perception, this right hand of his was also full of deterrence toward the uncanny.

"Master once said that if this technique is cultivated to the extreme, my entire body can exist in a state of virtual-real transformation, and thus I can avoid the vast majority of dangers." Xu Qing murmured in his heart, his eyes revealing determination.

He was eager to improve himself, wanting to become stronger.

After a long while, Xu Qing took a deep breath. He knew he had to work harder than before. At this moment, with a thought, his right hand instantly returned to normal.

Xu Qing stood up with a calm expression and bowed respectfully to the Peak Master of the Third Peak who was guarding the Dao for him in the sky.

"Thank you for your trouble, Third Uncle."

During this opening of his Dharma Apertures and his ascension, Third Uncle had been watching from the sky the whole time. Even though Xu Qing knew this was because of his Master, he was still very grateful.

In the firmament, the Peak Master of the Third Peak's eyes revealed a strange light as he glanced at Xu Qing. He did not hide his admiration for Xu Qing in his eyes. In his view, Xu Qing could be said to be one of the most stunning and brilliant disciples within the Seven Blood Eyes in these years.

"Stay alive. In the future Eastern Wanggu, there will be a place for you." The Peak Master of the Third Peak spoke slowly.

Xu Qing bowed again.

The Peak Master of the Third Peak waved his hand, the formation around them dissipated, and his figure also vanished from the sky.

Xu Qing looked at the place where the Peak Master of the Third Peak had disappeared, then glanced at the vast bronze ancient mirror high in the sky. After a long time, he took out his Dharma Ship, stepped onto it, and with a thought, the ship's artifact spirit let out a roar, suddenly emitting power comparable to a Golden Core, and headed straight toward the distance.

Its speed was so fast that in an instant, it brought Xu Qing to the harbor. Without stopping, he leaped away and charged into the Forbidden Sea.

When he came, he was a four-fire Foundation Establishment; when he left, he was a two-palace Golden Core.

The difference in combat strength was like a chasm.

During this rapid flight, Xu Qing gazed into the distance, and after a long while, he suddenly spoke.

"You Lingzi."

"Master!" In the next instant, the black iron skewer appeared beside Xu Qing. The figure of the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor manifested within it. Fear still lingered on his face as he knelt on the ground and spoke tremblingly.

"Your combat strength is a bit weak. Once you can't keep up with my pace..." Xu Qing did not finish, looking at the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor with a deep gaze.

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's body trembled. He immediately raised his head, patted his chest hard, and spoke loudly.

"Master, rest assured, this little one has been preparing for this for a long time and was just about to report to Master. At most six months, no, at most three months!

This little one's Thunder Spirit body will ascend once more, transforming from spirit into soul!"

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's eyes were a bit red; he was also giving it his all.

In reality, he was still far from a breakthrough, but now there was no other way. He felt that if he didn't exert countless times more effort, then given Xu Qing's current state, he would definitely become cannon fodder.

But to break through in three months, he needed a lot of nutrients. So, after hesitating, the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor spoke in a low voice.

"Master, actually I can also absorb souls. Before, when ascending to Thunder Spirit, I needed to absorb magic tools. Now, to ascend to Thunder Soul, I need a large amount of souls..."

"Good."

Xu Qing glanced at the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor. He had originally intended to say that if the other party couldn't keep up, he planned to let him go; after all, the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor had done things that satisfied him over these past few years.

But since the other party had said so, Xu Qing thought about it and didn't bring it up.

At the same time, the Shadow, seeing this scene, also became a bit anxious and spontaneously emitted emotional fluctuations.

"Three... same!"

"Fragment... I... three... break!"

There was no need for the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor to translate. After hearing this, Xu Qing understood. The Shadow was talking about the taboo magic treasure fragment he had obtained from Prince Sima Ling back then.

Before, Xu Qing felt that he couldn't give it easily; the Shadow's instinct for backlash could easily cause trouble.

But now that he had stepped into Tiangong Golden Core, the situation was different. So, Xu Qing nodded, waved his hand, took out the fragment, and threw it onto the Shadow on the ground.

In the next instant, the Shadow cheered, rapidly spread over, shrouded it within, and began to greedily absorb it.

Several days later, Xu Qing saw the harbor of the Eight Sect Alliance from afar. This time, his entire journey took over half a month, which was not very long. But for the restoration of the sect, under the efforts of the entire Alliance, one could basically no longer see the traces of the catastrophe.

The heterogenous matter had been dispelled to the extreme, and the remaining traces were almost imperceptible amidst the permeation of the Immortal Spirit Qi of the Guyue Zhonghui River. At the same time, the sect had also built some formations specifically for dispelling heterogenous matter, which were kept on at all times.

All buildings had also been fully repaired. Except for the oppression and silence in the city area that could not dissipate in a short time, everything else was as usual.

Xu Qing's return was only notified to his Master; he didn't tell anyone else.

After returning, Xu Qing continued to sit cross-legged and cultivate at his berth, familiarizing himself with his Tiangong Golden Core state while studying the Ghostly Seclusion Dao-Seizing Art in his mind.

At the same time, he was also adapting to the techniques that had changed in power due to his cultivation breakthrough.

Whether it was the Profound Ghost Finger, the Nine-Fold Sea Roar, or the Beneath the Nine Springs, Xu Qing was re-exploring them all.

Besides this, his Life-Bound Long Jing also underwent changes after his breakthrough.

As the spirit within his Life-Bound Dharma Aperture, if not for the Poison Core and the Tiangong of Life Lamps, it would have become the first Golden Core Xu Qing was to refine, suppressed within the first Tiangong.

Regarding this, Xu Qing would not give up. He prepared to nourish the Poison Core and this Life-Bound Golden Core together.

"As for the Golden Crow Refines Ten Thousand Spirits, it still needs to be swallowed once more before it can ascend to the second stage." Xu Qing closed his eyes, feeling his Imperial-rank technique, and became thoughtful.

Time passed day by day as Xu Qing adapted to the Golden Core realm. With the recovery within the Alliance, the intensity of the search for intelligence on Zhu Zhao also increased.

Especially the Seven Blood Eyes, where Seventh Uncle personally took charge of intelligence matters, searching for traces of Zhu Zhao.

Whether it was the Eight Sect Alliance or the Seven Blood Eyes, they all needed a slaughter to vent this oppression. Xu Qing needed it too, so he was waiting.

However, the search for intelligence and the verification of peeling the cocoon required time. No one would underestimate Zhu Zhao at this time, and they had to be wary of falling into traps.

Therefore, while the intelligence here had not yet been confirmed, the Seven Blood Eyes had a visitor. The visitor came from the Dongyou Island of the Forbidden Sea, and there were quite a few cultivators within, numbering in the hundreds.

The leader was Venerable Dongyou and his granddaughter, Yan Yan.

As a close ally of the Seven Blood Eyes, the events that happened to the Seven Blood Eyes this time naturally attracted the attention of Dongyou Island. This time, they came to work with the Seven Blood Eyes to arrange a series of plans and revenge against Zhu Zhao.

Almost the moment they arrived, during the meeting between Xue Lianzi, Seventh Uncle, and Venerable Dongyou, Yan Yan secretly ran out.

She was clearly very concerned about and understood the Seven Blood Eyes, especially Xu Qing.

So there was no need to ask where Xu Qing was; she arrived at the location of Xu Qing's berth for the first time.

"Brother Xu Qing, Yan Yan misses you so much."

Outside the Dharma Ship, Yan Yan stood there and spoke softly. ===== CHAPTER 322 =====

Outside the magic ship, Yan Yan stood there and spoke softly.