The night fell, the bright moon hung high, and on the rooftop balcony of an abandoned high-rise building, Wang Xu sat cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed and a calm mind.
After devouring the corpse of the Red Snake Insect Beast, Wang Xu effortlessly reached the Late Stage of Tier Four, his strength rising once again.
"...Qi Refining into the body, circulating through the meridians, drawing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, transforming the essence of all things, accommodating oneself..." Sitting cross-legged under the starry sky, with countless stars above, Wang Xu kept reciting the mantra of "Basic Flesh Body" in his heart.
After reaching the Fourth Layer of "Basic Flesh Body," every pore in the skin can open to breathe, greatly accelerating the speed of energy absorption. Once this level is reached, one can even go an entire day without breathing!
The first three layers are the most basic flesh cultivation, from bones like jade to steel bones, to flexible bones. Starting from the Fourth Layer, it progresses from the inside out to the skin, maximizing the body's potential.
What Wang Xu was muttering was still the mantra of the Fourth Layer. The mantra was obscure and difficult to understand, and Wang Xu could only cultivate to the Fourth Layer by relying on paid instructional videos online, having no concept of the mantra himself.
Taking advantage of the midnight peace, Wang Xu murmured the Fourth Layer mantra of "Basic Flesh Body," holding a trial mindset.
But as he recited it for the third time, he suddenly noticed a subtle change in his body.
An invisible energy was gathering between heaven and earth, like a transparent silk thread merging into his abdomen. Such slight changes would be hard to detect without complete calmness in mind.
"This is..." Wang Xu was stunned.
He had never heard of such a phenomenon!
He had recited the "Basic Fourth Layer" mantra multiple times, with every word ingrained in his mind. He learned entirely relying on online tutorial videos and his understanding of the body.
But now he realized that perhaps he had missed the essence of "Basic Flesh Body"!
"Qi Refining into the body... drawing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi..." Wang Xu's eyes sparkled, and his mind recalled the mantra of "Basic Flesh Body."
Suddenly, his eyes brightened!
Yes.
Qi, this invisible energy, is what is called "Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi"!
Wang Xu could understand that the "energy" they referred to in ancient times was called "Spiritual Qi" in ancient terminology!
A door quietly opened, as if Wang Xu suddenly comprehended a lot, yet he still didn't grasp the key point.
"What does this sentence mean: 'Condense Qi into a core, tempered seven by seven for Lower Grade, tempered eight by eight for Middle Grade, tempered nine by nine for Upper Grade'!" Wang Xu wondered, "Could it be saying that Qi can be condensed into a core? Seven times seven forty-nine, eight times eight sixty-four, nine times nine eighty-one, and the quality varies depending on different processes?"
It must be said, although Wang Xu's talent in cultivation realm wasn't high, his talent in ancient martial arts was extremely high, even considered top-notch!
Wang Xu guessed the meaning vaguely, but he did not immediately start tempering the so-called "core."
Among the strong ones he had encountered, he never heard of anyone tempering a "core," nor had he heard of concepts like Qi Refining into the body or condensing Qi into a core.
Was he simply ill-informed?
The invisible energy threads still continuously delivered energy to Wang Xu. To Wang Xu, this amount of energy wasn't much, not even comparable to devouring a Tier Two Insect Beast. Yet the greatest advantage was that it could be done at all times.
"Forget it, relying solely on devouring insect beasts to advance is not the best method. I'll just try and see if this method can succeed." Wang Xu made a decision in his heart.
Then, Wang Xu closed his eyes, his mind as calm as water, and it seemed as if even the air around him became thin and viscous, with the flow of time in the entire world gradually slowing down.
But inside his body, fine energy was slowly forming an invisible vortex.
The vortex constantly attracted energy, gathering them together. For every piece of energy that merged into the body, Wang Xu manipulated it to move towards the vortex, letting the vortex absorb the energy.
About two hours later, Wang Xu was exhausted and drenched in sweat. Mental fatigue was often more exhausting than physical fatigue. Fortunately, through Wang Xu's adjustments, the vortex had grown considerably, already able to autonomously absorb energy merging into his body.
Wang Xu was very tired but dared not be distracted. While relaxing his mind, he kept an eye on the formation of the vortex, not daring to slacken for a moment.
The deep night passed in a blur, the dawn broke through the thick fog, and the first light of the sun shone on Wang Xu's body.
"After a night of tempering, the energy vortex has formed, capable of autonomously absorbing energy. As for how big it will ultimately grow or whether it can condense into a 'core,' we must leave it to fate."
Standing up from the ground, Wang Xu's bones crackled. Apart from feeling a bit mentally exhausted, his body remained strong.
"Time to move on, it's time to hunt insect beasts!"
.........
In the dense forest, a slender figure swiftly dashed through the underbrush. The slender figure was quite battered; the clothes were torn, and even parts of the close-fitting armor were shattered, revealing fair skin.
This slender figure was none other than Tang Yan!
Tang Yan's lips were pale, sweat poured from her brow, and panic lingered in her eyes.
Behind her, a blue figure and a yellow figure rapidly closed in, moving at many times Tang Yan's speed, catching up to her in just a moment and blocking her path from both front and back.
"Hehe, Gary, I told you chasing this one would be more worthwhile. Look at that beautiful face. Just looking at it gives me an impulse. I can't help it, later I must have her first!" Blocking Tang Yan's path was a man in blue clothes, with blonde hair and blue eyes, possessing a handsome, gentlemanly appearance, but the lecherous intent in his eyes betrayed him.
"Brens, there's no need to worry about that, we'll take her together!"
The man called Gary, dressed in yellow, was a black man with very white teeth. His gaze was burning, like a big gray wolf spotting a little lamb, eager to pounce and take a bite.
Upon hearing this, Tang Yan's face turned pale: "You damn guys, I'm the daughter of the Tang family, if you touch me, I'll make you wish you were dead!"
"Tang family? What's that? A mere family from the Seventh Safe Zone daring to scare people, how naive!" Brens, the man in blue, said disdainfully.
"Stop the nonsense with her, quickly grab her, and after taking her, bring her back!" Gary said impatiently.
"If you dare come near me, I'll die right in front of you!"
Tang Yan was in despair, she drew out her soft sword and held it against her own neck, prepared to die to settle the issue.
Yesterday, Tang Yan followed her seniors from the Inner Courtyard, sweeping through and hunting many insect beasts, gaining quite a harvest. She thought she could safely pass this graduation trial, but unexpectedly, a formidable enemy appeared today!
The opponent's captain was called "Willens", he was incredibly strong, even though he was also Tier Five, Senior Ying Xing was no match for him at all.
Even his team members were experts, leaving the seniors with no power to fight back!
In the end, Senior Ying Xing shouted, "You guys run!" before taking a bottle of Body Enhancement Agent to hold off Willens, buying them time to escape.
Tang Yan wanted to escape, but was instead relentlessly pursued by two of them, Li Ming was severely injured protecting her, and in the end, she still couldn't escape!
Thinking of this, Tang Yan realized how naive she was before, foolishly thinking that reaching Tier Four would guarantee entry into the Genius Battle Group, and even bragging in front of the elders of her family.
But now she understood that the graduation trial was a lawless, unregulated dark zone, and the only thing she could rely on for survival was power!
Without enough power, the outcome is miserable, just like now, where she could only choose a pitiful suicide!
"Hmm? Want to die?" Gary's large hand twitched, and a dagger suddenly appeared in his hand, then with a wave, it shot out like a white flash.
Tang Yan's soft sword hadn't yet cut her neck before it was violently knocked away.
"Take action!"
Brens licked his lips, his large hand rapidly reaching out towards Tang Yan.
Tang Yan's eyes were filled with despair and unwillingness, tears uncontrollably falling, her body trembling constantly, facing the large hand rapidly reaching for her, she couldn't muster even a little strength to resist.
The two in front of her were both at the peak of Tier Four, while she was only in the early stage, before them, she couldn't even commit suicide, let alone resist?
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Suddenly, the sound of something slicing through the air whistled forth, Brens' expression changed.
Enemy assault!
He wanted to pull back his hand, but it was too late, an incredibly fast blade light sliced past his hand, severing his entire arm!
"Damn it!" Gary also reacted instantly, waving his large hand, ten daggers like streaks of white light, carved bloodthirsty arcs, stabbing towards the shadow that suddenly appeared!
The shadow in the black robe twirled his long knife, drawing a circle, all ten daggers were knocked down, not one missed.
Gary and Brens were both shocked: "Who are you?!"
"I'm here to claim your lives!"
The shadow landed on the ground, revealing a familiar face; it was Wang Xu, who had just arrived. Wang Xu's expression was solemn, his eyes icy cold, he snorted and said.
"Wang Xu!" Tang Yan couldn't believe it, she widened her eyes to stare at Wang Xu, the familiar face made her feel dizzy.
Was it a dream? Tang Yan pinched herself hard.
Not a dream, it was real!
Tang Yan, overwhelmed with joy, threw herself into Wang Xu's arms, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
Wang Xu, however, did not feel any joy at the reunion, his face still cold and filled with a murderous aura.
Earlier he was hunting insect beasts, intending to ignore the sounds from here, but happened to hear Tang Yan's loud shout: if you dare come near me, I'll die right in front of you!
Wang Xu was all too familiar with Tang Yan's voice and rushed over at his fastest speed.
Wang Xu was relieved at heart; if he had really ignored it and turned away, what would Tang Yan's fate have been?
He didn't dare to think further; he only knew one thing, the two people in front of him—they must die!