The old man laughed heartily and pointed in the direction Yu Quanzhen had left, saying, "I knew this guy was a master at attacking people's minds, and now he's using this trick again."
Ming Qi, Mo Changli, and the others weren't interested. They knew that as the Lord of Shaxing City, Yu Quanzhen must have a purpose for lowering his status to be so polite to an unknown newcomer to Shaxing City. His expression was simply measured and tactful.
After the old man finally stopped laughing and caught his breath, he said to Ming Qi, "Good boy, I came to you to ask for your help. I'm not like that guy, beating around the bush. If you help me, you'll certainly get a lot of benefits."
"Oh?"
Ming Qi's expression shifted. Since this old man was so close to Yu Quanzhen, he was obviously quite powerful. Under normal circumstances, it seemed out of place for a cultivator at the first level of the Xiantian realm to ask for help. However, he still asked calmly, "I wonder what you can do for me, sir? If I can, I'd be happy to help."
"Haha, okay!"
The old man narrowed his eyes, a smile plastered across his face, as if Ming Qi's answer was quite to his liking.
"Nothing else, I just wanted to borrow your Golden Heavenly Fire."
"Golden Heavenly Fire?"
Ming Qi pondered rapidly. Anyone who could use Heavenly Fire was most likely refining an elixir. Yu Quanzhen had just mentioned the old man's alchemy, so he assumed the old man was borrowing the Golden Heavenly Fire to refine some kind of elixir.
After a moment of contemplation, Ming Qi said, "It's not impossible for me to borrow the Heavenly Fire, but I'm still a little rusty in controlling this Golden Heavenly Fire. Could you please wait a little longer?"
Ming Qi's words were true. The Golden Heavenly Fire was connected to the Devouring and Fusion Power he had just awakened from the Supreme Diagram. He was quite unfamiliar with this power, and the energy consumption of this technique was horrific. With Ming Qi's current strength of the First Level of the Innate Realm, it was simply impossible for him to operate it smoothly.
"Hmm..."
The old man paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, then please hurry. I need it urgently. It's a matter of life and death."
"Okay, I understand."
Ming Qi nodded. Borrowing the Golden Heavenly Fire wasn't a big deal. As long as his realm improved, it would be easy for him to easily produce a few Golden Heavenly Fires for his own use.
Receiving the promise, the old man's face lit up with a smile: "Young man, if you help me, I will definitely reward you handsomely! You can come find me in East City anytime."
With that, the old man bowed to Ming Qi and flew away.
"Who is this man?"
As the old man walked away, Mo Changli turned and asked Wei Silong.
Wei Silong had been in Shaxing City for a long time, so it was impossible for him not to know someone who was so familiar with Yu Quanzhen.
However, Wei Silong shook his head.
"I only know he's an alchemist, nothing more."
Alchemist!
Ming Qi smiled slightly. It seemed his suspicion was correct. The old man was trying to refine some high-level elixir, but he couldn't find high-grade fire. Now, he happened to have encountered someone who could wield the Golden Heavenly Fire, so he naturally wouldn't miss it.
If even Wei Silong didn't know, how could anyone else?
The group then left the Lower City District.
After a series of twists and turns, Ming Qi arrived back in Killing Star City and settled in a large restaurant. Today's battle had been thrilling, and Ming Qi, already exhausted, set up some defensive mechanisms and fell asleep.
Ming Qi slept soundly. In a dreamlike trance, the image of the stunning woman in white reappeared, still filled with endless mystery and beauty.
The next morning, Ming Qi rose early and had breakfast. Mo Changli and Wei Silong also rose, and the three of them gathered together.
"What are your plans next?"
Ming Qi asked the two women. Their original purpose for coming to Killing Star City to find Wei Silong had been achieved, and logically, they could leave. However, because Ming Qi had agreed to the old man's request, he planned to stay for a while. As for the two women's intentions, he didn't know.
"I want to go home..."
Mo Changli thought for a moment, then spoke softly.
"Going home?"
Ming Qi was stunned. Wasn't that what they had just said?
Before Mo Changli could respond, Wei Silong quietly tugged at his sleeve and said to Ming Qi, "I want to reorganize the mercenary group."
Ming Qi naturally didn't notice Wei Silong's subtle gesture, but hearing her plan to reorganize the mercenary group seemed like a good idea. He nodded and smiled, "Sure! Killing Star City is a world of immortal mercenaries, so forming a mercenary group is a great option."
Seeing Wei Silong and Ming Qi actually chatting about the mercenary group, Mo Changli pouted. It seemed like the idea of going home wouldn't be realized, so he agreed to Wei Silong's suggestion.
After seeing the two women off, Ming Qi left the restaurant and headed straight for the outskirts of Killing Star City with Dabai.
To achieve a breakthrough, one must choose a secluded and safe place. Although the Killing Star City Lord was kind to Ming Qi, Killing Star City was a hive of good and bad people, so one had to be careful.
Arriving outside the city, Ming Qi sprinted directly toward the distant mountains.
Dabai followed, and the man and tiger quickly disappeared into the forest.
After running for about an hour, feeling a full hundred miles from Killing Star City, Ming Qi stopped to search for a suitable location.
Soon, he found an abandoned cave. It wasn't deep, but fortunately, the entrance was overgrown with weeds and tall trees, making its location difficult to discern from the outside.
After surveying his surroundings and giving Dabai a few instructions, Ming Qi ducked down and slipped into the cave.
The cave was dark and slightly damp, but that didn't bother him. He immediately activated his innate energy to drive away the poisonous insects nearby. Ming Qi sat down on the ground, flicked out a dozen mid-grade Yuan Crystals, and roughly arranged a magic circle. He then pulled out a dozen pills of various colors from his ring, and finally, he took out all the remaining thousand-year-old crimson pearl vines.
This thousand-year-old crimson pearl vine had already brought him countless benefits. With less than a third remaining, it was perfectly suitable for advancing his realm.
After preparing everything, Ming Qi took a deep breath, then exhaled a stream of Yuan Qi to envelop the crimson pearl vine and began to refine it.
The crimson pearl vine possessed potent medicinal properties and could stimulate potential, bringing unexpected improvements with each advancement. If every realm advancement could be stimulated by the crimson pearl vine, the ultimate strength would be unimaginable.
Having reached the Xiantian realm, the refining speed of the crimson pearl vine naturally increased significantly. In less than an hour, one-third of the crimson pearl vine was completely refined.
Only when he felt the powerful medicinal energy within his body begin to circulate frantically, gradually merging into his bloodstream, did Ming Qi begin to gather Yuan Qi to serve as his bloodstream.
Reaching a realm can be described as a process of tempering one's blood and body. While daily practice constantly nurtures and refines one's blood and body, relatively speaking, daily practice is merely a quantitative accumulation, while reaching a realm is a qualitative leap.
Without quantitative accumulation, there can be no qualitative leap, and Ming Qi is well aware of this.
When one's physical condition is at its peak, and one's Yuan Energy is at its peak, it's the perfect time to reach a new realm. Ming Qi had prepared the necessary prerequisites. At the outset of his breakthrough, he concentrated all of his Yuan Energy and launched an attack on his blood vessels.
Instantly, Ming Qi's body became a battlefield.
The powerful Yuan Energy circulated rapidly, washing over every tiny meridian point throughout his body, even the finest veins receiving a thorough cleansing.
The advancement from the first to the second level of the Xiantian realm is relatively simpler than the transition from the acquired to the Xiantian realm.
To advance from the acquired realm to the innate realm requires not only strength but also considerable luck. The advancement from the first to the second level of the innate realm is essentially dependent on one's own strength level. The greater the strength, the greater the degree of physical training, the more vigorous the blood vessels, the thicker and stronger the tendons, and the greater the relative strength of the Yuan Qi. This is also the reason for the different levels within the same realm.
Ming Qi built a solid foundation in the acquired realm, and when he advanced to the innate realm, he refined the rare and precious elixir, the thousand-year-old Crimson Pearl Vine, to maximize his potential. Therefore, even at the first level of the innate realm, he displayed a formidable combat power that was completely out of proportion to his realm. Now, with his realm advancing, he is further aided by the Crimson Pearl Vine, and in addition to the Crimson Pearl Vine, he also has a considerable number of medicinal elixirs. As a result, upon reaching the second level of the innate realm, Ming Qi's strength will be greatly enhanced again.
Time slowly passed, Yuan Qi flowing throughout his body. As Ming Qi continued to thrust and circulate, the flowing Yuan Qi gradually took on a fiery red hue, a sign that Gang Qi was forming.
As this Yuan Qi surged and flowed, Ming Qi would occasionally pick up a pill and swallow it.
The formation of Gang Qi signifies a close approach to comprehending the Five Elements and other elements. Generally, Xiantian cultivators don't remain in the second level of the Yuan Gang Realm for long, as once Gang Qi is formed, it signifies the beginnings of elemental understanding. Entering the third level of the Xiantian Five Elements Realm represents another significant leap forward. Mastering true elemental power allows one to selectively absorb the specific elements needed from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, significantly concentrating and strengthening one's Yuan Qi and magical powers. Thus, even a casual attack imbues one with elemental power, a level comparable to the basic Yuan Qi of the first level of the Xiantian Realm.
"Yuan Gang Condensing!"
Amidst the silence, Ming Qi suddenly let out a low cry. He saw the now-incomparably dense Yuan Qi rapidly condense around his body. In the blink of an eye, a suit of armor shimmering a faint fiery red condensed upon his body.
Completing this step of Yuan Qi Condensing meant truly entering the Second Level of the Xiantian Yuan Gang Realm.
"With the Yuan Qi taking shape and entering the Second Level of the Xiantian, I wonder what changes will occur within the Supreme Diagram?"
As Ming Qi entered the Second Level of the Xiantian, an inexplicable feeling stirred within him, and he extended a wisp of his divine consciousness to the Supreme Diagram.
"Hmm?"
As soon as his divine consciousness touched the Supreme Diagram, Ming Qi was incredulously surprised. He sensed that, as soon as his divine consciousness touched the Supreme Diagram, a force silently transmitted from the Supreme Diagram along with his divine consciousness!