7: 100,000 jin of strength, protective energy.

The back hall of the County Office.

A whirl of wind landed, transforming into a beautiful woman.

It was precisely Bai Ling, the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox.

Her eyes filled with tears as she rushed toward the green willow in the courtyard.

"You old bastard, Mother is dead!"

The bark squirmed, revealing an old, wrinkled face.

"Dead..." the old face murmured, falling silent for a moment.

"The killer is still in the city, and you're just going to watch?" Bai Ling said hatefully.

"The Longevity Fruit is not yet ripe; we cannot fail at the last moment." The old face's tone was cold.

"You heartless wretch! When the Ancient Demon of the Suspended Mountain appeared, you were gravely injured and dying, and Mother saved you! Fine, if you won't go, I will!" Bai Ling turned, intending to leave.

Willow branches wrapped around her legs like chains.

"This Sovereign owes Thirteen Mother a debt, so naturally, I won't let her daughter die needlessly," the face said.

The next moment, a crack appeared in the trunk, and spring-like sap lifted an infant-shaped fruit.

"This is the Small Longevity Fruit. Taking it can stimulate your Bloodline and help you enter Qing Qiu. As for that person... This Sovereign will handle them."

Bai Ling stared at the fruit; the fragrance entered her nose, making her Bloodline restless.

"Once you enter Qing Qiu and your Cultivation advances, if that person is still alive later, it won't be too late to seek revenge."

Bai Ling hesitated briefly, swallowed the fruit, and transformed into wind, departing.

The old face watched her retreating figure, a meaningful smile appearing in its dim eyes.

The tree trunk completely split open, forming a hollow. An elderly man with white hair and beard, wearing the official robes of the Yongning County Magistrate, stepped out, the emerald willow branches on his head falling away.

"Slaying Demons? Then let him slay to his heart's content."

Demon Slaying Platform.

The fox corpse melted, and a basin of Body Tempering Treasure Fluid was placed before him, emitting a faint fragrance.

"A Dao-Grade Body Tempering Treasure Fluid is quite effective even for Martial Artists in the Xiantian Realm. Perfect, I'll first raise my Cultivation to the Peak of the Xiantian Realm."

Li Jiangchen closed his eyes. The Demon on the panel was rapidly absorbed.

[Year 1: You absorbed the Dao-Grade Body Tempering Treasure Fluid. Your body refined ten streams of Innate True Qi, and your Cultivation reached the Peak of the Xiantian Realm Early Stage. You vaguely sensed a layer of Barrier.]

[Year 2: You attempted a Breakthrough but gained nothing.]

...[Year 5: You grasped a sliver of Inspiration, and your Cultivation broke through to the Xiantian Realm Middle Stage.]

Li Jiangchen opened his eyes. The originally emerald Body Tempering Treasure Fluid was now as clear as water, devoid of Spiritual Qi.

"As expected, external environment and resources also affect the speed of Cultivation progress; the efficiency is much higher than relying solely on the grinding of time."

Under his perception, ten streams of Innate True Qi converged into a cluster in his lower Dantian, like a gushing Spring.

Ten streams formed one Spring. Not only did the quantity increase, but the quality of the Innate True Qi also improved significantly.

"Continue."

Li Jiangchen closed his eyes again.

[Year 6: Under the nourishment of your body, you slowly refined Innate True Qi.]

[Year 7: You refined a wisp of Innate True Qi.]

...[Year 50: You broke through to the Xiantian Late Stage.]

...[Year 120: You broke through to the Xiantian Peak.]

Li Jiangchen opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing across them.

Under his perception, fifty-four Springs of Innate True Qi surged in his Dantian, filling his Meridians like rivers.

At this point, there was no further progress possible without breaking through to the next Realm.

With a thought, a trace of Innate True Qi wrapped around his fingertip.

Whoosh—

Li Jiangchen blew lightly, and the Innate True Qi converged into a Sword Qi that swept past the nearby weapon rack.

Clang—

Accompanied by a grating sound, the fine iron weapon rack snapped into two pieces, and the swords and blades placed on it scattered across the floor.

Seeing this, a smile touched Li Jiangchen's lips: "Xiantian Realm Peak. True Qi has increased fifty-fourfold, and its quality has improved tenfold.

If I meet that fox Demon again, I can slay it with a single sword strike."

He glanced at the panel. Six hundred years of Demon remained, which was perfect for opening his dark meridians.

[Year 121: You searched for the dark meridian within your body but found nothing.]

...[Year 132: You opened the fifty-sixth Meridian, increasing the total volume of True Qi in your body.]

...[Year 133: You opened the fifty-seventh Meridian, increasing the total volume of True Qi in your body.]

...[Year 725: You opened the one hundred and first Meridian, condensing one hundred and one Springs of True Qi within your body.]

In an instant, Li Jiangchen's body erupted with crackling sounds like frying beans. The Qi And Blood inside him were thick like mercury, surging through his blood vessels.

Each Meridian opened adds one thousand jin of strength.

One hundred and one Meridians allowed Li Jiangchen's current strength to reach a formidable one hundred and one thousand jin.

Most importantly, with a hundred Meridians established, a Divine Body is within reach!

In the future, if he finds a Cultivation Technique to condense a Divine Body and successfully condenses it, surpassing the first generation Giant Spirit Divine General will not be a problem.

Furthermore, for every Meridian opened, the total amount of Innate True Qi it can hold increases.

Compared to ordinary Martial Artists who break through to Xiantian with twenty Meridians, the total volume of True Qi in Li Jiangchen's body is five times greater.

"However, exactly how many dark meridians does the human body have?"

Even after opening one hundred and one Meridians, Li Jiangchen still felt far from reaching his limit.

However, once the number exceeds one hundred, the dark meridians become increasingly difficult to locate, and the difficulty of opening them increases greatly.

It took a full twenty years just to open this one hundred and first Meridian.

"With one hundred thousand jin of strength, I can now Cultivate the Giant Spirit Gang Yuan Body."

Li Jiangchen took out the Single-horned Yang Deer from his embrace, used its edge to cut his palm, and let the blood seep in. Immediately, the Single-horned Yang Deer visibly melted, transforming into a mass of Geng Metal Qi that merged into his Qi And Blood.

The qi force within his body intertwined with this mass of Geng Metal Qi, converging into a golden droplet that faintly emitted a unique aura.

The first layer of the Giant Spirit Gang Yuan Body is complete!

Li Jiangchen spread his palm. The golden droplet covered it, forming a nail-thick layer of gold plating.

He took out the dagger he carried from his sleeve and used thirty percent of his strength, yet he couldn't even leave a scratch on his palm.

He continued to exert force.

Fifty percent.

Sixty percent... Eighty percent.

Crack—

The fine iron dagger snapped instantly, breaking into two pieces.

A hint of pleasant surprise shone in Li Jiangchen's eyes.

"As expected of the Giant Spirit Gang Yuan, known for its defense. It has this level of defense just by completing the first layer.

Legend says that when the first generation God General cultivated this technique to profound depths, his body was surrounded by Gang Yuan Protective Armor, allowing him to charge in and out of Demon Tides repeatedly without suffering any harm. It truly lives up to its reputation."

Thinking of this, Li Jiangchen felt a surge of excitement.

Cultivating the Giant Spirit Gang Yuan Body was not difficult; the only requirement was an extremely high threshold for strength.

For every layer advanced, the strength threshold increases by one hundred thousand jin.

But once the strength requirement is met, coupled with Heaven And Earth Treasure, it can be quickly mastered, with no Bottleneck whatsoever.

Just then, Shen Honglian ran up, her face anxious.

"What's the panic?" Li Jiangchen asked.

"We're in deep trouble. Sir recently slew a group of Demons, and the common people have been complaining about the harm caused by the Demons, reporting it to the County Office and the Demon Suppression Division.

To make matters worse, the Wind Demons have been rampant lately, and many women outside the city have been kidnapped. The County Magistrate has declared that the Demon Suppression Division must slay the Wind Demons and rescue the kidnapped women within three days.

However, the North Cliff Wind Demon are a pack-dwelling type of Demon, and their leader is an Dao-Grade Demon skilled in Wind Escape Dao Arts. Even if Commander personally went, he might not be able to retreat unscathed."

"The County Magistrate..." Li Jiangchen raised an eyebrow, recalling the strangeness of Military Guard Commander Chen Yi.

The original body and the County Magistrate had an unspoken understanding regarding concealing the rampant activity of the Demons.

If Yongning County was peaceful, both of them would naturally receive merit in their records.

Now that he had continuously slain Demons, he had clearly broken the rules.

"Heh, does he want to put me on the spot?"