No hope for eternal life

Seeing Mu Changsheng's hesitation, Mu Xun said again: "Don't forget that we still have the Nine-Transformation Golden Pill. With the Nine-Transformation Golden Pill, you can directly break through to the Golden Pill Realm. Besides, I don't want to take advantage of your realm. After you break through to the peak of the foundation building realm, we will have a formal competition in the palace examination."

"Okay, we'll have a formal competition then." Mu Changsheng agreed. He was not a indecisive person. After accepting the Soul-Sacrificing Fruit, he also kept this friendship in his heart.

When Shatongmo saw that Muxun actually took the initiative to give the Sheling Fruit to Mu Changsheng, he couldn't help but frowned slightly, but didn't say much. If he spoke again at this time, his intention to target Mu Changsheng would be too obvious.

Not long after that, Mu Xun and Xu Lingxi also picked out the treasures they wanted.

What Xu Lingxi wanted was a rare third-grade spiritual medicine, which seemed to be used for alchemy, while what Mu Xun wanted was a fourth-grade spiritual medicine, which could help Nascent Soul cultivators speed up their cultivation, and therefore was also a relatively precious item. Mu Xun chose this item, on the one hand, intending to keep it for his own future use, and on the other hand, if he was short of spirit stones in the future, he could also sell the spiritual medicine for a good price for emergency use.

Shatongmo stood still, took the things the three wanted out of thin air, and passed them to Mu Changsheng and the other two.

Afterwards, Mu Changsheng and the other two left the county mansion. Mu Changsheng and Mu Xun parted ways with Xu Lingxi at the gate of the county mansion and went in different directions because they both had to go to the gambling den where they had placed bets before.

Mu Xun bet that he would be among the top three and staked two thousand medium-grade spirit stones. The odds were 1:1. After deducting the principal, he earned two hundred medium-grade spirit stones.

Mu Changsheng also bet on himself to be in the top three and also bet two thousand medium-grade spirit stones, but the odds were a staggering three to one, so he made a huge profit of four thousand medium-grade spirit stones, which was considered some extra money.

During this period, the gambling den owner had an unwilling expression on his face when paying out the spirit stones, because of the attacks on Guiyang County and Qihua County, the ranking of this county examination was very different from what they had predicted, causing him, the dealer, to become the one who lost money.

Finally, Mu Changsheng and the other person returned to the third villa and went back to their rooms. Mu Changsheng could not wait to start his retreat and prepare for a breakthrough.

In the room, Mu Changsheng took out the egg-sized emerald green spirit fruit, feeling a little excited.

Ever since he left Qingliu Town and saw the outside world, Mu Changsheng had always felt that he was too weak. He had cultivated through nine realms, and now he was only at the second realm. This made him feel insecure, especially after being attacked by the demon tribe, the feeling became even stronger.

Although Yang Wuque's Qingshen Talisman saved his life, it was ultimately an external object. Only by practicing and breaking through the realm could Mu Changsheng truly feel some sense of security. Therefore, Mu Changsheng was somewhat obsessed with this Sheling Fruit.

However, Mu Changsheng did not take the Sheling Fruit in a hurry, but took a medicinal bath first.

Mu Changsheng used the secret technique of blood and qi transformation three times during the county examination. Although his strength was fully restored after rest each time, the lost qi and blood were not fully recovered. Now, with the help of the special medicinal bath, he can recover the lost qi and blood better and faster.

Mu Changsheng wanted to restore his condition to the best first, and then use the Sheling Fruit to break through to the peak of foundation building. Moreover, he also wanted to try to impact the third transformation of the physical body - muscle transformation - at the same time as his cultivation breakthrough.

If this goal can be achieved, Mu Changsheng's strength will undergo a tremendous leap, and he will be able to achieve better results in the upcoming palace examination.

Mu Changsheng spent three days in medicinal baths and cultivation before he completely replenished his lost energy and blood. His condition had now completely recovered to its peak, and it was time for a breakthrough.

Mu Changsheng first changed a bucket of new potion and sat in the barrel. Before taking the Sheling Fruit, Mu Changsheng first took a pill called Red Blood Pill. The breakthrough of the physical body requires a trigger, and this Red Blood Pill is the trigger he needs.

After taking the Red Blood Pill, Mu Changsheng's blood seemed to boil, and his entire body began to frantically absorb the medicinal power of the potion, helping Mu Changsheng to impact his muscles.

At the same time, Mu Changsheng swallowed the Sheling Fruit in one gulp. The juice kept bursting out in his mouth. Mu Changsheng didn't dare to waste any of it and swallowed it all into his stomach.

As soon as the Sheling Fruit entered the stomach, it turned into extremely pure and special spiritual power. What Mu Changsheng had to do was to refine all the spiritual power of the Sheling Fruit.

Under the dual effects of the Red Blood Pill and the Soul-Sacrificing Fruit, Mu Changsheng's cultivation and physical body are slowly improving, and he is waiting for an opportunity to break through.

Three hours later, Mu Changsheng finally completely refined the Sheling Fruit, and the spiritual foundation in his dantian, which represented his cultivation, also underwent tremendous changes as he wished.

Originally, Mu Changsheng's spiritual foundation in the late stage of foundation building only occupied most of the space in Dantian, but now it filled the entire Dantian, which showed that his cultivation had officially broken through to the peak of foundation building.

After his cultivation level broke through, Mu Changsheng was somewhat happy at first, but he soon frowned and finally sighed: "It's a pity that the feedback from the breakthrough of a small realm is too weak after all."

Mu Changsheng's dream of breaking through to the muscle transformation in one fell swoop was shattered. Even though he had broken through two small realms in succession since his physical body reached the perfection of the iron bone transformation, the feedback from the breakthrough of the small realm was still not enough to support him to break through to the muscle and tendon transformation.

In fact, at this moment, Mu Changsheng's physical body is not far from breaking through to the third transformation. Normally, after soaking in the medicinal bath for another month or two, he would be able to break through again. Unfortunately, what Mu Changsheng lacks most now is time.

Mu Changsheng was somewhat helpless. He could not rush to achieve a breakthrough in his physical body, otherwise his foundation would be unstable. He could only proceed step by step.

"Alas." Mu Changsheng sighed again and then consoled himself in his heart: "Although I failed to break through to the muscle transformation this time, my body has made considerable progress compared to the county exam, which can be regarded as a bit stronger."

Afterwards, Mu Changsheng continued to practice to consolidate the breakthrough he had just made.

……

Two days later, Mu Changsheng officially came out of retreat and left the Third Courtyard. Time was of the essence, and Mu Changsheng was going to find a training room to refine the third-grade Lihuo Talisman again.

Since his physical body has not reached the third transformation, he can only rely on the Lihuo Talisman to win in the palace examination. After all, the palace examination is related to the Nine-Transformation Golden Pill that he has always dreamed of. He must do his best and make the most adequate preparation.

Just like last time, Mu Changsheng found an inn, looked for a Jindan realm training room, and paid four days' worth of spirit stones, because there were only four days left before leaving for the capital.