This humble Taoist priest, Qianhe, begins his quest for immortality by slaying demons and monsters.

Chapter 140 The Power of Twenty Dragons, Upon Reaching the Perfect Foundation Establishment

However, now is not the time for cultivation.

Zhong Bai didn't want to spend ten years living a life of hardship.

Looking around, Zhong Bai saw a vast expanse of lush green bamboo groves.

"Let's build a bamboo hut as a cultivation cave first. Tsk, it's good that I can abstain from food after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, otherwise I would have been forced to survive in the wilderness."

After making a few jokes, Zhong Bai got to work.

In just three days, Zhong Bai's bamboo house was completed.

Sitting cross-legged inside the bamboo house, Zhong Bai spent the last few days not only building the bamboo house, but more importantly, cultivating his essence, energy, and spirit to the extreme. This was the first time Zhong Bai had used the essence blood of the Kui Niu, and he was somewhat apprehensive.

At this moment, Zhong Bai took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and took out a drop of Kui Niu essence blood from the jade bottle and swallowed it directly.

Immediately following, 10,000 Demon Exorcism Points were used to accelerate the refining of the Kui Niu's essence blood to enhance the physical body.

[Consume 10000 Demon Extermination Points to exchange for 10000 days of cultivation time for the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique]

With such terrifying enhancement, even a single drop of essence blood made Zhong Bai feel as if his body was exploding, his flesh and bones turning red. The essence blood of the Divine Transformation Kui Niu was incredibly terrifying. Back then, Zhong Bai was able to break through to the power of a dragon by refining the essence blood of the Golden Core Demon King. Now, just a single drop of Divine Transformation Kui Niu essence blood made Zhong Bai feel as if his body was about to burst.

Fortunately, with the blessing of the demon-slaying point, Zhong Bai was refining this drop of blood essence at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Time passes bit by bit...

Even with the help of the Demon Exorcism Points, it took Zhong Bai three hours to refine this drop of Kui Niu essence blood. Without using the Demon Exorcism Points, Zhong Bai felt that refining the essence blood would take far too long, and he couldn't even risk swallowing it directly; he would need to dilute it before using it.

As his blood and qi surged through his body, Zhong Bai's discomfort gradually disappeared, replaced by a powerful aura that bloomed within him.

The lightning crackled and hissed. This was the essence blood of the Kui Niu, which itself contained a trace of lightning origin. As Zhong Bai refined the Kui Niu essence blood to strengthen his physical body, a pure lightning origin surged into the lightning seal in his dantian. The lightning seal, which was not very solid to begin with, actually became a few shades darker.

This was an unexpected surprise for Zhong Bai.

"The power within my body has increased by about one dragon's worth, and this is only a drop of essence blood. Although the consumption of essence blood will increase as time goes on, there are at least a thousand drops of Kui Niu essence blood in this jade bottle. Even if I cannot use the Demon Extermination Points to refine it in the next ten years, after leaving the blessed land, as long as I harvest enough Demon Extermination Points, my physical body can continue to improve rapidly!"

Zhong Bai was excited. He knew he couldn't possibly use up all the Kui Niu's essence blood in the blessed land. The reason was simple: he didn't have enough demon-slaying points.

Zhong Bai arrived at the blessed land with 500,000 demon-slaying points, with 300,000 being the limit for cultivating the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique.

Zhong Bai intended to use the remaining energy to enhance the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique, aiming to improve both his physical body and cultivation level—this was the goal he set for himself.

Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Three years have passed, and Zhong Bai has spent all 300,000 demon-slaying points and refined a total of fifty drops of Kui Niu essence blood.

His physical strength has increased from one dragon's strength to twenty dragon's strength. The second level of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique has made Zhong Bai's physical strength comparable to the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. Zhong Bai even has a feeling that when his physical strength breaks through one hundred dragon's strength, when he reaches the third level of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique, he will be able to smash a Golden Core True Monarch with just his physical body!
For the past three years, Zhong Bai has not cultivated any other techniques or supernatural abilities; he has only focused on the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique.

Now, Zhong Bai understands that without the blessing of demon-slaying points, the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique will improve too slowly. It's time to focus all his efforts on the Shenxiao Five Thunder Technique.

"I still have 200,000 Demon Extermination Points left. I wonder if that's enough to get close to the Golden Core stage..."

Zhong Bai smiled and shook his head.

Bringing his thoughts back, what he needed to do now was to refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

[Consume 20000 Demon Extermination Points to exchange for 20000 days of Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique cultivation]

The moment Zhong Bai began to channel the demon-slaying power into the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique, the already abundant spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged towards him like a mighty river.

In no time, Zhong Bai began refining it rapidly.

......................................................

In the Palace of Ten Thousand Blessings in the Nine Heavens.

At this moment, on the jade surface of a palace rooftop, two old men are playing a game of chess, one black and one white.

"Sixth Brother, I knew Tenth Brother wouldn't lie to us. This kid hasn't cultivated the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique for three years because he wanted to strengthen his physical body first. Tsk tsk tsk, look at that surging spiritual energy. I have to say, if this kid hadn't cultivated the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique, he could very well have broken through to the Golden Core True Monarch in ten years."

"The Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique... has its advantages and disadvantages. The Golden Core True Monarch is a threshold for the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique. Many of the proud sons of the Divine Firmament Sect were stuck at this point and exhausted their lifespan without being able to break through."

The one speaking was naturally the Fifth Patriarch of Maoshan, while the one responding to his chess game was the Sixth Patriarch.

"Fifth Ancestor, the Tenth Brother's words are usually not very reliable, but this time he is relatively trustworthy. However, is it feasible to send this kid to the newly discovered world? The Fourth Ancestor seems to be a bit too eager on this point."

Upon hearing this, the Fifth Patriarch placed the white piece in his hand.

"Sixth Brother, you've lost..."

In an instant, the Sixth Patriarch understood the Fifth Patriarch's strategy.

"Sixth Brother, live life to the fullest."

As the strongest Maoshan master in the underworld, the Fourth Patriarch and the higher-ups of the underworld in this world are all wise men. The dissipation of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth means that there will be no revival for the next few hundred years. We will need to hide in this blessed land for several hundred years.

We are fine with it, but the Immortal Realm needs fresh blood, and the Underworld also needs to expand.

Zhong Bai is a special case; his cultivation seems to have no bottlenecks. Although the reason is unclear, sending him to the new world will surely allow him to gain a foothold in the short term. With the combination of internal and external forces, he can break through the barriers between worlds, and then neither of us will need to continue to eke out a living in this blessed land..."

The Sixth Patriarch shook his head.

"It's not that simple. However, the Fifth Ancestor was right. Zhong Bai is a special case. Look, in just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, his true essence is already enough to attempt to break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment."

Upon hearing this, the Fifth Patriarch smiled faintly.

"Never mind him, let's continue..."

Zhong Bai had no idea that his every move was being watched by the two patriarchs in the blessed land. At this moment, Zhong Bai finally understood what it meant to have a cheat code. The blessed land, rich in spiritual energy, allowed Zhong Bai to improve his Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique without restraint. Originally, 20,000 Demon Extermination Points might only be enough to stabilize the mid-stage Foundation Establishment realm in the outside world, but now Zhong Bai showed signs of breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

"Such speed might even be possible for a Golden Core True Monarch..."

As Zhong Bai pondered this, time passed day by day...

Six months later, Zhong Bai broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage without using any Demon Extermination Points.

A year later, Zhong Bai used 80,000 Demon Extermination Points to break through to the peak of Foundation Establishment.

Three years later, Zhong Bai reached the peak of Foundation Establishment with 100,000 Demon Extermination Points.

After exhausting his 200,000 Demon Extermination Points, Zhong Bai's cultivation speed gradually slowed down.

However, Zhong Bai wasn't unable to cultivate even without demon-slaying points. With four years left before leaving the blessed land, Zhong Bai felt he had a chance to break through to the Golden Core realm.

However... when Zhong Bai wanted to further enhance the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique after achieving Foundation Establishment Perfection, he discovered something was wrong. The true essence in his dantian stopped increasing and instead flowed into the Thunder Seal.

Zhong Bai initially thought this was a sign that the Thunder Seal was about to solidify, but two years later, the Thunder Seal no longer received any true essence, and the true essence in his dantian also failed to increase. Zhong Bai was dumbfounded. "Why is this?"

Zhong Bai was completely baffled.

However, just as Zhong Bai was wondering, a streak of light landed in front of him.

"Disciple Zhong Bai pays respects to the Fifth Patriarch. May the Fifth Patriarch enjoy boundless blessings and peace!"

Zhong Bai was somewhat surprised. He had been in the blessed land for eight years, and apart from meeting the Fifth Patriarch when he first arrived, he had not met any of the other Maoshan patriarchs. This was only his second time meeting the Fifth Patriarch.

"Get up..."

The Fifth Patriarch spoke in a neutral tone, shaking his head as he looked at Zhong Bai's somewhat melancholy expression, and said, "You're not worried about why you can't continue to improve the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique, are you?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Bai was stunned for a moment, but then he thought that his situation was transparent to the Fifth Patriarch, so it wouldn't be difficult for him to know.

"Alas, Fifth Ancestor, I have been trying for two years. At first, I could refine spiritual energy into true essence and pour it into the Thunder Seal, but now, even the Thunder Seal has stopped absorbing true essence and solidifying."

The disciple was puzzled.

Nodding, the Fifth Ancestor looked at Zhong Bai and said quietly, "Zhong Bai, when you chose the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique, you should have known the characteristics of this unique skill of the Divine Firmament Sect, right?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Bai immediately recalled the events.

"The initial progress was rapid, but later..."

Zhong Bai slapped his forehead. How could he have forgotten?
To break through to the Golden Core True Monarch level using the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique, one needs to solidify the Thunder Seal beforehand, and solidifying the Thunder Seal requires possessing the Purple Firmament Divine Thunder.

The Purple Heaven Divine Thunder is relatively rare among heavenly thunder. If Zhong Bai wants to break through to the Golden Core stage, he must first solidify the Thunder Seal. He must wait until he leaves the blessed land and waits for the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder to descend, which is the tribulation!
“Generally speaking, there is no tribulation of lightning when breaking through to the Golden Core stage. However, your cultivation method is too special. Fortunately, your Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique is progressing well, so I don’t need to worry about you being struck by lightning and killed…”

Zhong Bai breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the Fifth Patriarch's teasing.

"Your disciple kowtows to thank the Fifth Patriarch for his reminder."

"Well, you'll have to leave this blessed land in two years. In these two years, whether you want to improve your physical body or cultivate other supernatural abilities, just don't keep worrying about the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique."

Even I, the patriarch, can't stand it; he's truly a fool.

Shaking his head, the Five Ancestors disappeared, leaving only Zhong Bai taking a deep breath and looking at his hands, muttering, "Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Tribulation... I'll use the remaining two years to strengthen my physical body. Even without the acceleration of demon-slaying points, my current physical body is already able to directly absorb essence blood without dilution."

Two years have passed in the blink of an eye.

In two years, Zhong Bai only refined five drops of essence blood to increase his dragon power, which is a significant difference compared to having a cheat code like Demon Extermination Points.

Of course, Zhong Bai didn't feel slow because of this; after all, once he left the blessed land, he could easily harvest demon-slaying points.

Zhong Bai is leaving...

Before leaving, Zhong Bai went to the Jiuxiao Wanfu Palace once again.

Upon entering the Nine Heavens Palace of Ten Thousand Blessings, Zhong Bai encountered a different scene than the first time he had seen it; last time, he had only been able to see the Fifth Patriarch.

But now, as far as Zhong Bai could see, there were hundreds of Maoshan patriarchs sitting on both sides, while the Fifth Patriarch sat cross-legged in the center.

"That's Zhong Bai? Tsk tsk tsk, the disciples of the Enforcement Hall are really something, his talent is truly terrifying!"

“Who can disagree? I heard that the Fifth Patriarch bestowed upon him a bottle of the essence and blood of the transformed Kui Niu.”

"Hahaha, Lao Xie, you've been eyeing the Five Ancestors' Kui Niu essence blood acid for a long time, haven't you?"

As the group of Maoshan patriarchs chatted and laughed, Zhong Bai slowly walked from the entrance. He sensed that the aura emanating from each of the Maoshan patriarchs was unfathomable, with even the lowest being dozens of times more terrifying than Ming Wanqian.

"Disciple Zhong Bai pays respects to all the ancestral masters!"

Zhong Bai arrived with three bows and nine kowtows, and all the Maoshan patriarchs stopped joking around.

While everyone turned their gaze toward Zhong Bai, they were also waiting for the Fifth Patriarch to speak.

"Get up, Zhong Bai..."

After the Fifth Patriarch finished speaking, Zhong Bai stood up straight.

"Don't be nervous. All those present here are former elders and sect leaders of Maoshan. For thousands of years, they have been cultivating in this blessed land. Ten years ago, when you came, I didn't let you see them because at that time you needed to cultivate diligently rather than be ambitious. Now I have them come here so that you can see the depth of Maoshan!"

There is no place in the world that Maoshan cannot go, and no one that Maoshan fears. Zhong Bai, you are about to leave this blessed land. I am somewhat aware of the situation outside.

"If possible, you should be the one to end this chaotic world completely!"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Bai was somewhat stunned. Was he alone?

Seemingly sensing Zhong Bai's disbelief, the Fifth Patriarch smiled gently.

"This is not just the will of our ancestor, but also the will of the underworld. In short, you not only have us ancestral masters as your backing, but also the underworld and the Three Mountains Talismans."

Are you... confident?

Zhong Bai took a deep breath.

"I have confidence!"

"Hahaha, good!"

With a wave of his hand, the spirit sword Blue Cat on Zhong Bai's back was instantly unsheathed and landed in the Fifth Ancestor's hand.

"As we part, I have nothing to give you. You are not yet at the Golden Core stage, and you cannot control overly powerful spiritual treasures. So let me help you refine this spiritual sword!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a bolt of lightning appeared in the palm of the Fifth Ancestor, and several dark-colored refined golds were added to it. In less than half an incense stick's time, the spirit sword, which was originally just a Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure, was completely renewed, and the blade changed from azure to a deeper shade.

"The Golden Core spiritual treasures are enough for your use for now."

As he spoke, the Fifth Ancestor tossed the spirit sword, which instantly landed steadily in the scabbard on Zhong Bai's back.

"Alright, you can leave now..."

Zhong Bai nodded and smiled as he bid farewell to the group of Maoshan masters.

Only after leaving the main hall did Zhong Bai look at the Jiuxiao Wanfu Palace in front of him with some reluctance.

"Zhong Bai, don't stop, keep moving forward, you will come back one day!"

He secretly cheered himself up, knowing that Zhong Bai was about to leave the blessed land.

(End of this chapter)