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

Chapter 168 The Power of One Hundred Dragons, a Physical Body Comparable to a Golden Core
For Zhong Bai, three months was the time to refine the essence of the Kui Niu.

Every day, he consumed 10,000 demon-slaying points. After a month, Zhong Bai's demon-slaying points were exhausted. However, his physical strength had also reached its peak, with a full ninety dragon powers. Zhong Bai was also relying on his own hard work to refine the essence of the Kui Niu every day to maintain the last ten dragon powers.

Time passes bit by bit...

Two months later.

Maoshan, inside Zhongbai's courtyard.

At this moment, Zhong Bai's entire body was flushed red. His physical strength had reached the power of ninety-nine dragons. He was just a little bit away from reaching the power of a hundred dragons and reaching the third level of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique.

Once you truly reach that level, your physical body will be comparable to that of a Golden Core True Monarch!
On the futon, Zhong Bai silently swallowed the last twenty drops of Kui Niu essence blood in one gulp. As his physical body grew stronger, Zhong Bai needed several drops of essence blood each time he wanted to make progress.

With a loud bang, Zhong Bai lost the ability to accelerate the refining process with the demon-slaying points. He could only rely on his own willpower to persevere. The moment the essence blood entered his stomach and was refined, it turned into countless energies that surged throughout Zhong Bai's body. In an instant, terrifying energy spread out from the center of Zhong Bai's courtyard, covering an area of ​​300 meters.

Just as the blood and qi continued to spread outwards, the ancestral tablets in the Maoshan Ancestral Hall suddenly trembled. Streams of light shot out from the ancestral tablets and landed near Zhongbai Courtyard, imprisoning the void within a hundred meters of Zhongbai Courtyard. Under the blue sky, there was a scarlet mist. Such a scene was naturally seen by the other disciples and elders of Maoshan.

Inside the Ancestral Master Hall.

One by one, a wisp of divine soul from each ancestral tablet revealed its true form. Everyone looked in Zhong Bai's direction. Clearly, even the ancestral masters found Zhong Bai's rapid cultivation of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique peculiar.

"This kid is about to break through to the third level of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique. His physical body is comparable to that of a Golden Core True Monarch. Tsk tsk tsk, amazing!"

"Haha, Meng Zu, you yourself have mastered the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique to the fourth level back then. Since even you, Meng Zu, have said so, it seems that Zhong Bai breaking through to the third level is no problem."

"However, Zhong Bai was still too reckless. If we hadn't imprisoned his space when he broke through to the third level, the sheer amount of energy he generated would have burned all the buildings within a kilometer radius to ashes. The strength of that energy is terrifying!"

They chatted away, one after another. Although these patriarchs had long since returned to the underworld to take up their posts, the wisp of their souls that remained were now laughing heartily, as if it was they, not Zhong Bai, who had broken through.

With a creak...

The doors to the Ancestral Master Hall were pushed open, and the person who entered was Ming Wanqian from the Sutra Repository.

Upon entering the Ancestral Hall and seeing the spirits of all the Ancestral Masters, Ming Wanqian was not surprised at all.

After bowing deeply, Ming Wanqian laughed and said, "The ancestors were just in time, otherwise the buildings around Zhongbai Courtyard would probably have spontaneously combusted."

"Hahaha, Wanqian, although we patriarchs usually don't care about anything, this kid Zhong Bai is interesting. He's so heaven-defying in this Dharma-ending Age. We wish we could hang on to him and see how he cultivates. It's just a pity that this position has already been occupied by the Ten Ancestors."

As he spoke, the Maoshan patriarch sighed with regret.

Just then, a surge of pure ghostly energy rose from the ground, and in an instant, the patriarch who had been talking so eloquently was stunned.

"Ten...Ten Ancestors?"

The Tenth Ancestor smiled as he looked at the surrounding divine souls and then smiled brightly.

"I heard you, Xiao Meng, calling me by my name, Xiao Meng. I don't want to keep the memorial tablet in that brat Zhong Bai's Qiankun Ring forever, but this was personally instructed by the Fourth Ancestor, so I have no choice..."

The Tenth Patriarch's words were half true and half false. The Fourth Patriarch's account was correct, but if he didn't want to, the Fourth Patriarch couldn't force him.

Meng Zu gave an awkward smile.

"Tenth Ancestor, please stop mocking me. Instead, please take a look at Zhong Bai's situation. It seems he'll soon reach the power of a hundred dragons, and his physical body will be comparable to that of a Golden Core cultivator!"

Upon hearing this, the Tenth Patriarch nodded.

"Let's all take a look together, it's been so boring in the underworld all these years..."

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

Zhong Bai was completely unaware of the situation inside the Ancestral Hall. At this moment, the blood and qi in Zhong Bai's body surged out wildly, like a powder keg that had been lit. No matter how Zhong Bai tried to suppress it, he could not bring the blood and qi back.

As his essence and blood were refined, his bones shattered and reformed repeatedly. His internal organs were circulated by a pure energy of essence, qi, and spirit, making his heart beat more powerfully.

Click!

As if breaking through his own limits, Zhong Bai's body, which had been in great pain, suddenly felt relaxed. The power of the Hundred Dragons had arrived.

Zhong Bai didn't even need to actively activate the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique; every inch of his skin was undergoing an ultimate transformation...

One day, two days, three days...

Seven days later, when the transformation within Zhong Bai's body was completely completed, the terrifying surge of his blood and qi had burned everything around him into nothingness. Slowly opening his eyes, all Zhong Bai could see was a ruin, and besides that, a blue sky enveloped his small courtyard, blocking all his blood and qi.

Understanding that this was the method of the Maoshan patriarchs, Zhong Bai was not in a hurry. Instead, he slowly got up and began to check his condition. Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, Zhong Bai felt his whole body filled with power, the power of a hundred dragons, the force of tens of millions of pounds. With a casual punch, Zhong Bai could severely injure his former self.

This involves no supernatural powers or techniques whatsoever; it's simply true physical strength!

At the same time, Zhong Bai's internal energy and blood underwent a tremendous change.

Previously, his Qi and blood were a crimson mist, but now, the moment Zhong Bai released his Qi and blood, the color had changed from crimson to dark.

It seemed as if it could coalesce at any moment, carrying a heavy, scorching aura. Zhong Bai felt that just one drop would be enough to make a ghost general wish he were dead.

Thump thump thump…

Listening to the beating of his own heart, Zhong Bai entered a state of perfect harmony with nature. Everything around him seemed to be automatically ignored by Zhong Bai. Suddenly, he had an epiphany: his tribulation was coming soon!
Suddenly opening his eyes, Zhong Bai was overjoyed.

"The tribulation is approaching. Once Tengteng Town acquires some more demon-slaying points, and after passing the tribulation and condensing the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, we can truly break through to the Golden Core stage!"
"At that time, I'll have a better chance of making it to the capital..."

Shaking his head, Zhong Bai stopped his deductions and imagination. At that moment, the blue sky disappeared completely.

Inside the Patriarch Hall.

Over the past few days, a wisp of the divine soul of the group of Maoshan patriarchs had seen almost everything that happened before and after Zhong Bai's breakthrough. However, they still couldn't understand why his improvement speed was extremely fast in the first month, but then slowed down in the following two months.

Of course, they couldn't possibly know that Zhong Bai had a demon-slaying panel, so there were only various opinions and endless speculations.

“Tenth Ancestor, Zhong Bai is strange in every way. If we weren’t disciples of Maoshan, and if we weren’t certain that he hadn’t been possessed, and wasn’t a reincarnation of a celestial immortal, we old folks would really like to capture him and study him…”

Meng Zu was the most interested. Heaven knows how much effort he put into getting the third level of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique back then, while Zhong Bai seemed to have it as easy as eating and drinking, which made Meng Zu feel somewhat unbalanced.

The Tenth Patriarch rolled his eyes at this.

“If I knew, I certainly wouldn’t have kept it from you. In short, the Fourth Ancestor allowed Zhong Bai to represent Maoshan to explore the New World. No matter what secrets Zhong Bai may have, I hope he truly possesses them and can bring them to the New World…”

When the Tenth Patriarch said this, he spoke with a heavy heart, and everyone present understood what he meant. Each of the patriarchs remained silent.

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

The blue light curtain in the sky had just disappeared when figures began to approach Zhong Bai.

Upon landing, Zhong Bai immediately recognized the visitor.

"Zhong Bai greets Master Uncle, Master, and all fellow martial uncles!"

Zhong Bai, bowing respectfully, appeared quite refined at this moment, as if he were not the one who had just broken through to the third level of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique. However, the focus of Qian Yuan Zhenren and the others was not on this.

"Haha, disciple, your physical body has made another step forward?"

Master Qian Yuan was the first to inquire. They had seen it clearly these past few days: all the buildings around Zhong Bai had turned to ashes. If the light curtain in the sky had blocked the crimson mist, it might have even spread to their courtyard.

Upon hearing his master's question, Zhong Bai nodded in agreement.

"To be honest, Master, I have made some progress."

After hearing the affirmative answer, Master Qian Yuan stopped there. He knew that progress was good enough, and it was not appropriate to ask any further questions.

The sect leader, Xuan Mingzi, coughed lightly and said, "Nephew Zhong Bai, the three-month agreement is almost up. Now that you've emerged from seclusion, you should go to Tengteng Town with your master and the others. Remember, safety is the most important thing. Young man, don't be reckless or competitive..."

Although Xuanmingzi knew that Zhong Bai was not like that, perhaps because he was taking it too seriously, he still gave Zhong Bai instructions and then gave instructions to Shi Jian and Ao Tianlong. Neither of them had much experience, so it was normal for Xuanmingzi to be worried.

"Your disciple will respectfully follow your instructions!"

Shi Jian clasped his hands together, his face showing sincerity.

The descent was quick, since those leaving Maoshan were all Foundation Establishment cultivators. As for the Qi Refining disciples, Maoshan did not intend to involve them this time.

The same applies to other Taoist and Buddhist sects. Although Tengteng Town is not that dangerous, the role that Qi-cultivating disciples can play is limited.

Rather than putting Qi Refining disciples in danger, it's better for us Foundation Establishment cultivators to clean it up.

The same scene unfolded at Longhu Mountain, where the Lingxiao Celestial Master personally led the team.

This time, he was the only Golden Core True Monarch from the Taoist sect, and more than a dozen elders came together. The scale of Longhu Mountain was even more terrifying than that of Maoshan.

(End of this chapter)