Chapter 89: Breaking Through the Concentration Realm

Crack!

Sensing that the chance to breakthrough was right before his eyes, Li Mu hurriedly chewed the Gathering Spirit Pill he was holding in his mouth.

In an instant.

The pressure that had been surging through his whole body suddenly vanished, and his body felt an indescribable lightness.

The slightly bitter liquid of the Gathering Spirit Pill slid down his throat into his stomach.

Immediately after.

A surging torrent of spiritual energy poured into his body, counteracting that intangible sense of oppression.

At the same time, his Qi and blood surged within a short time, increasing by at least eight to nine times!

Even though he had prepared in advance, after actually ingesting the Gathering Spirit Pill Li Mu still couldn't help feeling startled.

One can only say, it truly lives up to being a third‑grade pill!

There was no time to think further.

Li Mu quickly gathered his mind and began frantically absorbing the pill's power!

His true Qi and Qi‑blood simultaneously surged in a very short time, skyrocketing wildly.

Until they reached dozens of times his normal state!

Rumble...

Li Mu only felt.

The massive, domineering true Qi inside him began to charge wildly toward his dantian like a runaway horse!

Aiming to smash the great shackles!

Whether true Qi or Qi‑blood, they must become extremely robust and perfectly complete, otherwise they cannot break through the shackles' barrier!

When Li Mu first broke through to the Qi Refining Realm Great Completion, the Broken Origin Pill that Yao Mengzhen gave him played a pivotal, dragon‑painting‑dot‑eye role.

As for breaking through to the Qi Refining Realm Great Perfection, he directly used Heavenly Thunder Tempering during his cultivation of the Landmine Dao Technique, which forged his supreme foundation!

And this time, Li Mu's assault on the Concentration Realm was the same!

One time!

Two times!!

Three times!!!

Countless times...

Each time.

Whenever the true Qi inside his body struck the dantian's wall, cold sweat the size of a soybean grain seeped onto Li Mu's forehead.

However.

Just when Li Mu felt he could no longer hold on.

He suddenly heard a crisp sound by his ear, like an eggshell shattering.

It seemed as if something had broken open at that moment.

The next instant, it was like rain after a long drought.

Li Mu felt as if his entire body was undergoing a revival of all things, with no part of him feeling uncomfortable!

At that moment, a pale golden light began to continuously flow toward Li Mu's limbs, bones, organs, and viscera.

Consequently, these golden streams surged into Li Mu's body.

One could see.

Tiny black‑like impurities were constantly being expelled through Li Mu's pores.

Finally they coalesced into a golden filament that enveloped Li Mu entirely.

From a distance.

Li Mu appeared as if cloaked in a sheer pale‑gold veil, looking extremely ethereal and misty.

Under the nourishment of this golden light.

Li Mu's skin, bones, flesh, tendons, and marrow were rapidly growing and changing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Moreover.

His skin, under the same golden filament's nourishment, also underwent a massive, visible transformation.

This made Li Mu's facial features appear more three‑dimensional and more handsome.

His entire face seemed to shimmer like flowing light, radiant and sparkling, with skin smooth as a mirror.

As time slipped away bit by bit, Li Mu's muscles, bones, tendons, and even marrow consecutively emitted a crackling sound.

Everything on Li Mu's body at this moment was continuously growing and strengthening at a visible speed!

"Finally broke through the Concentration Realm!"

Li Mu let out a long sigh.

The thick black grime clinging to his body, like mud, was the impurities and toxins expelled from his body when he broke through from the Refining Qi Realm to the Concentration Realm.

Li Mu stood up and leapt straight from beneath the great waterfall!

He landed lightly into the pool below the waterfall; after washing the black grime off, a series of unread messages appeared on the System Virtual Panel before Li Mu's eyes.

【Ding!】

【System detected: Host ingested Gathering Spirit Pill to breakthrough the Concentration Realm, gaining Tenfold Heavenly Dao Blessing!】

【Ding!】

【System detected: Host cultivated Eight‑Nine Profound Skill, gaining Hundredfold Heavenly Dao Blessing!】

【Level Up!】

【Level Up!!】

【Level Up!!!】

"……"

【Congratulations, host, successfully upgraded Eight‑Nine Profound Skill to lv: 17!】

【Ding!】

【Congratulations, host, successfully broke through a major barrier to reach Concentration Realm, rewarded with one Ten‑thousand‑fold Heavenly Dao Blessing!】

Watching in front of him, byte entries kept popping up one after another.

At the same time, images of ten major breakthroughs quickly surfaced in Li Mu's mind.

"Hahaha!"

"Cool!"

"This time I really made a huge, hard‑core withdrawal!"

Li Mu's mouth corner lifted slightly.

Tenfold Harvest!

It's equivalent to smashing the major barrier of the Concentration Realm ten times!

Just like alchemy.

As long as one's luck isn't especially bad, if even one of those ten attempts succeeds, the system will only manifest that single success into reality.

Moreover, because the level increase of the Eight‑Nine Profound Skill is closely tied to one's physical strength, this time gave Li Mu a massive boost!

Directly jumped four levels, from lv13 to lv: 17.

Thus, Li Mu moved a huge step closer to unlocking another divine technique of the Eight‑Nine Profound Skill!

And because he broke through the First‑tier Concentration Realm, Li Mu fully entered the Extreme Realm of Eight Vessels United, Jade Tendons and Iron Bones!

Ordinary cultivators, when breaking from Refining Qi Realm to Concentration Realm, see their physical strength double on the spot from one hundred thousand kilograms to two hundred thousand kilograms!

But for Li Mu?

At Ten‑grade Refining Qi Realm, Li Mu's physical strength had already reached an exaggerated one million kilograms, already infinitely close to the fully perfected physical strength of the Concentration Realm!

Now that Li Mu truly reached the Concentration Realm, his physical strength will only become even more exaggerated and terrifying!

Excited, Li Mu stood up.

After breaking through the First‑tier Concentration Realm, the most immediate feeling for Li Mu was:

His body became dozens of times lighter than before; after a few bounds across the mountain stream, he easily reached the summit, feeling a torrent of power filling his entire body!

Even this mountain beneath his feet!

In Li Mu's eyes, a single punch seemed enough to crush it easily!

Li Mu looked far into the horizon, facing the endless sky and earth, and a surge of boundless ambition rose in his heart.

"Ask the vast earth, who rules the rise and fall?"

"Heaven and earth, only I, Li Mu!"

"……"

After successfully breaking through the Concentration Realm, Li Mu looked at the system page where an extra Ten‑thousand‑fold Heavenly Dao Blessing had appeared.

He pondered for a long while, feeling that there was nothing he could use it for right now.

He had already granted a Thousand‑fold Heavenly Dao Blessing to the Vengeance Blade and the Dragon‑Pattern Purple‑Gold Cauldron before.

If he gave another Ten‑thousand‑fold Heavenly Dao Blessing, wouldn't it simply overwrite the previous Thousand‑fold Blessing?

That would be a bit too wasteful of heavenly gifts, wouldn't it!

As for the Heavenly Dao Treasure Scroll?

This item is already a divine artifact, so there's even less need for it!

"Forget it!"

"Anyway, the Ten‑thousand‑fold Heavenly Dao Blessing can be used anytime, so I'll keep it for now."

"I'll use it later when the right opportunity comes; it's not too late."

"Now, it's about time to go to the Inner Peak Dojo and meet that Song Haolin!"

As the sun rose to its high noon, Li Mu clenched his fist, a faint golden flame flickering in his eyes.

Previously, Li Mu hadn't been very confident when facing Song Haolin.

But now?

In the eyes of Song Haolin and his peers, he was certainly still at Ten‑grade Refining Qi Realm.

Given the profound depth of the Eight‑Nine Profound Skill, when Li Mu was only at Third‑grade Refining Qi Realm, senior sister Zi Yuan, who was at Foundation Establishment Realm, couldn't see through his true cultivation.

In other words,

As long as Li Mu himself doesn't actively reveal his cultivation, Song Haolin could never see through it.

And then,

He could exploit this information gap to find a chance to kill Song Haolin outright!

Eradicating any future trouble!

"……"

Determined, Li Mu flickered his form and left the Great Waterfall, heading alone toward the Inner Peak Dojo.

At this moment,

The Inner Peak Dojo, once bustling with people, was not exactly empty now, but already gathered fifty or sixty people.

They were all Outer Disciples of the Inner Peak who came to take part in this assessment.

Someone shouted, "Li Mu has arrived!"

"Wow!"

Inside the inner peak dojo, a huge clamor suddenly erupted.

All the outer disciples present turned their heads in unison to look at Li Mu.

Among them, some merely glanced at Li Mu with disdain, snorted from their noses, then withdrew their gaze, their expressions full of contempt.

In the eyes of these outer disciples, Li Mu was simply a blatant connection-backed student.

He got in purely by riding on Wu Zhengyong's coattails through the back door, which is how he managed to mix into this mountain-descent demon-subjugation assessment.

Compared to those who relied on their own strength to earn assessment eligibility, the difference is like heaven and earth.

They simply had no desire to be associated with someone like Li Mu, a connection-backed student.

Besides those conceited outer disciples, many more disciples looked at Li Mu with eyes full of covetousness and fervor!

Earlier, Li Mu caused a huge scene at the auction house and had a fierce clash with Pan Wenbo; after several days of fermentation,

this had basically become common knowledge throughout the inner peak!

Especially, Li Mu produced at the auction the azure cloud purple grass, black-scaled demon python demon crystal, inner core, and crimson flame giant tiger demon crystal.

And the fifty thousand sect contribution points Li Mu snatched from Pan Wenbo's hands!

All of the above, in the eyes of any outer disciple, are nothing less than a heavenly windfall!

The key point is, Li Mu's own cultivation is merely at the tenth grade of the Refining Qi Realm.

Even if he managed to step into the Forbidden Realm, what could he possibly do?

Once down the mountain, there would be no formation restrictions like those of the Cangbaoge.

By then.

Without sect rules restricting him, Li Mu, this measly Refining Qi cultivator, mingling among those Concentration Realm cultivators—wouldn't that be crying to heaven with no answer, calling to earth with no response?

It's practically a case of a lamb walking into a tiger's mouth!

At this moment.

Already many outer disciples have begun scheming in their hearts, waiting until after descending the mountain to find a chance to ruthlessly rob Li Mu.

To get rich and make a fortune!

Right before their eyes!

However, regarding the varied gazes of all the disciples in the dojo falling upon him,

Li Mu, however, paid no heed to them; instead, he turned his attention to the center of the inner peak dojo.

He saw.

At the central position of the inner peak dojo, there stood a massive object.

At a glance.

It resembled a ship, enormous beyond compare, over a hundred meters long, with pavilions and towers rising on its deck, exuding grandeur.

On the left and right sides of this giant ship, there were twenty-six wings forged entirely of black iron, like the wings of a flying bird.

That was a Sky-Traveling Airship!

This Sky-Traveling Airship had a special large flight formation inscribed upon it by a formation master, and is powered by spirit stones.

It can travel a hundred thousand li a day with ease, belonging to a rather high-tier treasure.

Ordinary people rarely get to see this Sky-Traveling Airship!

Only sects with deep foundations and great cultivation clans, or a prosperous dynasty ruling a region, can afford to use it.

And this Sky-Traveling Airship belongs to the Ziyang Sect.

The golden, shining characters "Ziyang" on the hull are the best proof.

Beneath the airship, Song Haolin still wore the same outfit as three days ago: a cyan tight-fitting uniform, a gray cloak, a bamboo hat on his head, and a gold-backed great saber at his waist.

He stood at the gangway entrance, imposing and awe-inspiring, his aura pressing.

Because he had broken through to the Second Layer of Blade Intent: Xi, Song Haolin's overall presence continued to feel like an unsheathed sharp blade—still as still, moving as to draw blood.

Song Haolin swept his gaze over the crowd and spoke in a deep voice.

"Has everyone arrived?"

"Board the ship!"