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Dark green corpse flames still licked at the crumbling walls and shattered ruins.

The air was filled with the stench of char and rot, along with the chaotic fluctuations produced by pure Yin Qi being violently torn apart.

The defensive array that once gathered countless Resentful Souls around the stronghold’s perimeter was now completely gone.

All that remained in its place was a massive, scorched black crater with vitrified edges.

A figure approached from the distance, moving as if borne by the wind, and stepped into this domain of destruction.

’It drained ninety percent of my True Qi. The power is decent, but it’s too slow. It can only be used against large, stationary targets...’

Surveying the Yellow Springs Netherworld stronghold, now reduced to ruins, Qi Yun silently summarized this rare experience.

As he ventured deeper, any remaining resistance had all but vanished.

The auras of the living were pathetically faint; what lingered most was the pervasive Blood Essence, Primordial Qi, and chaotic soul fragments.

He finally arrived at the very center of the stronghold.

What should have been a grand hall for controlling the array had been obliterated by the earlier explosion, flattened to the ground.

Only a deeper, wider crater remained, along with a few shattered stone pillars, cracked but still standing precariously.

He paused, coming to a slow stop, sensing the True Essence within him. It was slightly depleted from the successive spells and the great battle, yet it was also stirring restlessly, nourished by some unseen power.

With a flicker of his Heart Thought, Qi Yun formed a spell with his right hand.

BUZZ!

The eighty-one White Bone Skeletons, which had been utterly annihilated in the devastating explosion, had already reformed.

In an instant, ghostly wails filled the air once more!

The eighty-one skulls, burning with Glowing Green Ghost Fire, were like a school of piranhas that had scented blood. They let out excited, cackling laughter and transformed into streaks of ghastly green Flowing Light, shrieking as they dove toward every corner of the ruins!

They precisely located the remains of the Yellow Springs Netherworld cultivators—whether they had been killed by the shockwave, burned to a crisp, or were still clinging to their last breath—and hovered above them.

The Ghost Fire in their eye sockets flared, emitting an invisible, powerful suction!

WHOOSH—!

Strands of crimson, blood-like, condensed and pure Life Essence Qi, mixed with the not-yet-dissipated origins of their souls, were forcibly extracted from the corpses. Like a hundred rivers flowing to the sea, they formed red streams that poured ceaselessly into the mouths of the greedy skulls.

The Divine Technique, [Devouring Essence], activated at full power!

At the same time, the distorted shadow at Qi Yun’s feet began to ripple as if it were alive.

The [Stealing and Swallowing Gu] sensed the impenetrably dense aura of death, the dissipating Yin Sha Power, and the wild Dao Essence left behind by the explosion...

All of this chaotic yet potent energy became its finest sustenance!

An incorporeal but immense suction force emanated from the shadow, like an invisible vortex, frantically plundering and devouring all the chaotic energies in the surroundings.

Actively plundering the blood and souls of living beings!

Passively devouring the embers of Heaven and Earth!

The two divine abilities, one overt and one covert, complemented each other perfectly.

BOOM—!

Qi Yun’s body trembled slightly. He felt an unprecedentedly vast energy, like a bursting flood, surge violently into his Dantian Purple Mansion.

The misty vortex of True Essence, which already occupied eighty percent of his Purple Mansion and was slowly rotating, visibly swelled and expanded under the frenzied infusion of this new power.

Eighty-five percent!

Ninety percent!

Ninety-five percent!

The True Essence churned like a boiling sea of clouds, swiftly devouring and assimilating the last remaining traces of pure True Qi that had yet to be converted!

Finally—

RUMBLE!!!

A colossal boom, like the one that heralded the birth of the cosmos, erupted deep within Qi Yun’s Purple Mansion!

Within his Dantian Purple Mansion, the last wisp of True Qi completely vanished. In its place was a vast True Essence, overflowing, and condensed to the absolute pinnacle of purity.

The entire space of his Purple Mansion was now completely filled with dense True Essence, unable to hold even a fraction more!

The change in quantity triggered a change in quality.

The opportunity for a breakthrough.

It was here!

A moment of insight struck Qi Yun. Without hesitation, he began to circulate the Innate Qi Heart Method, guiding the overflowing True Essence to assault the formless barrier of the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

VMMMM—!

The aura around him surged violently. His robes whipped about as if in a strong wind, flapping loudly.

A powerful pressure erupted from him, spreading outward in all directions.

It pushed away all the fine gravel and dust on the ground, forming a clean circle around him.

Inside his Dantian Purple Mansion, the overflowing True Essence was no longer tranquil; it began to rotate and compress violently.

The entire space of his Purple Mansion trembled slightly, its edges seeming to be widened and reinforced by an unseen force.

At the same time, the foundation originally built from True Qi underwent a new round of transformation as it was steeped in True Essence.

The color of his True Essence deepened, and as it circulated, it took on a texture that was as heavy as mercury and moved with Perfect Harmony.

Qi Refining Seventh Layer—True Essence Fills the Mansion.

’Success!’

The moment his Realm stabilized, Qi Yun snapped open his eyes. Deep within them, a seemingly tangible glint of light flashed and vanished.

The vast and fierce aura surrounding him was now more than twice as strong as before.

He slowly raised his hand, feeling the majestic and boundless power within him that seemed endless. A satisfied smile finally graced his lips.

"Qi Refining Seventh Layer... a natural success."

In just one year, he had achieved what would take an ordinary person ten years of hard work!

Though his Realm had just stabilized and the surging True Essence in his body still carried the heat and tremor of the breakthrough, Qi Yun didn’t waste a moment savoring the joy of his advancement.

Time was short. A counterattack from the Yellow Springs Netherworld could come at any moment.

He had to make full use of every second to grow stronger.

He reached into his Storage Magic Bracelet. With a flash of light,

a map that was neither silk nor paper, cool to the touch and imbued with a hidden starlight, appeared in his hand.

The Qi Refining Eighth Layer was called Hundred Acupoints Spirit Communication.

This Realm could no longer be broken through by simply accumulating True Essence.

One had to use True Essence as a guide to find the naturally formed positions of Celestial Spirits and Earth Fiends within Heaven and Earth.

Then, one must absorb the unique Gang Sha Qi from these locations to open and connect the corresponding one hundred and eight key acupoints within the human body one by one.

The Thirty-Six Celestial Gang Acupoints and the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Acupoints.

Only when the Hundred Acupoints are connected and a Spiritual Mechanism is born can one truly grasp the essence of the Qi Refining Late Stage.

This lays the most solid foundation for future Foundation Establishment.

Without guidance, a Cultivator could only wander like a headless fly, wasting countless years trying their luck amidst the vast mountains and rivers—an inefficient and perilous process.

And what Qi Yun now held in his hand was the key to solving this very problem—the Secret Manual of the Northwest Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends!

This atlas was a secret creation of the Holy Sect. It not only marked the precise locations of most of the known Celestial Spirit and Earth Fiend positions in the Northwest Territory,

but also included a brief analysis of their aura characteristics, surrounding environment, potential risks, and the difficulty of absorption.

With this map in hand, he could follow its guidance and save himself from countless futile journeys and unknown dangers.

This was the confidence that came with being a Major Disciple.

It was also a resource that disciples of smaller sects and Loose Cultivators could only dream of.

"This one map drained three years of my savings and put me twenty thousand Holy Essence in debt..." Qi Yun gave a helpless, wry smile as the pad of his finger traced the cool edge of the atlas.

’I hope it’s truly worth the price.’

This soft sigh encapsulated the reality he had faced since entering the Inner Mansion.

Once upon a time in the Outer Mansion, with his Talisman-Making Technique and "reasonable" resource allocation, he had considered himself a wealthy man.

But ever since his promotion to the Inner Mansion, he had truly come to understand the meaning of "there is always someone better, and a heaven beyond the heavens."

The True Cultivators of the Inner Mansion started at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. Which one of them hadn’t clawed their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood?

They had long since graduated from the elementary stage of Outer Mansion disciples, who toiled like beasts of burden to accumulate Holy Essence.

They either possessed unique skills in Alchemy, Artifact Refining, or Array Formation, or had long ago become disciples of a Foundation Establishment Master, giving them access to all sorts of secret resources and ways to earn wealth.

Their business networks even extended beyond the Holy Sect itself.

They had intricate connections with the major Marketplaces and merchant guilds.

He still clearly remembered the shock of stepping into the Inner Mansion’s Treasure Market for the first time.

The treasures there were truly dazzling, far surpassing the Outer Mansion. From astonishingly powerful fragments of Ancient Magical Artifacts to rare Spirit Pills that could bring the dead back to life, from tamed Exotic Beasts to Magic Jade Scrolls recording bizarre and powerful Divine Techniques... it had everything.

But corresponding to all this were price tags that made one’s jaw drop.

Any item that caught his eye would likely require him to bankrupt himself to afford it.

That trip to the Treasure Market was like a bucket of cold water dumped over his head, completely extinguishing the trace of arrogance that had been growing from his smooth-sailing journey.

It also made him realize that on this path of cultivation, he was still just a novice, playing catch-up.

However, the mission to leave the mountain and carry out the extermination was imminent.

Knowing full well that opportunity and risk went hand in hand, Qi Yun understood that he had to seize this chance to operate outside the sect and increase his strength as much as possible.

Cultivation would always be his number one priority!

This was especially true after witnessing the monstrous might of a Fierce Demon like Situ Huaji and indirectly sensing the power of the Sect’s Foundation Establishment Masters—a power as deep as an abyss, capable of moving mountains and toppling peaks with a wave of their hand.

The yearning in his heart for a higher Realm had become more fervent than ever before.

It was just as the saying went.

’Before you cultivate, seeing me is like a frog in a well seeing the moon; you know it is large, but not how far away it is.

’Once you cultivate, seeing me is like a mayfly seeing the heavens; only then do you realize the vastness of the cosmos, and your own insignificance.’

This craving for power, combined with a sober understanding of the difficult road ahead, was what ultimately pushed him to grit his teeth and make the decision to go into debt to buy this copy of the Essentials.

’You have to spend money to make money.’ Qi Yun focused his Heart and Spirit, his gaze becoming firm and sharp.

He slowly sank his Divine Sense into the atlas in his hand.

In an instant, a miniature, star-dusted projection of the Northwest region, with the faint outlines of mountains and rivers, appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.

Countless points of light, some bright and some dim, were embedded in this map like stars.

Beside them were dense runic annotations, marking their attributes and details.

And Qi Yun’s gaze quickly fell upon several points of light that were relatively close to his current position.

...