27: Chapter 27 Breaking Through the Realm

"Good stuff! Truly good stuff!"

The old man took a deep breath of that strange, exotic fragrance. "Fellow Daoist, how much for this medicine?"

"For the items I asked for earlier, plus five more Spirit Stones," Gu Shen made an outrageous demand.

For two lumps of red blood essence glue, he was directly asking for twenty-five Spirit Stones.

The old man frowned. "Fellow Daoist, your medicine is good, but its origin is unclear. Twenty-five Spirit Stones is too much."

"The items worth twenty Spirit Stones, plus four Spirit Stones." Gu Shen took a step back. With a wave of his hand, the two lumps of essence glue were about to be withdrawn back into the bottle. "If you won't trade, I'll go elsewhere."

"Wait!"

The old man gritted his teeth. "Deal!"

He turned and retrieved a palm-sized, earth-yellow Formation Plate and a small white porcelain bottle from a hidden compartment behind him. These, along with four Low-Grade Spirit Stones, were all pushed towards Gu Shen.

"Thick Earth Array Formation Plate. With three Spirit Stones embedded, it can withstand the full-force assault of a Late-Stage Qi Refining cultivator for half an hour. Five Medium Grade qi gathering pills." The old man stared fixedly at the two lumps of essence glue.

Gu Shen swept his Divine Sense over the Formation Plate and the Medicinal Pills, confirming they were correct.

With a wave of his hand, the two lumps of red blood essence glue fell into the old man's grasp. Simultaneously, he swept all the items on the stone table into his storage ring.

Transaction completed.

Gu Shen didn't linger for a moment longer. He turned and strode out of the tent.

The moment he left the tent, he sensed two faint Divine Senses locking onto him from behind.

Wealth stirs men's hearts. The old man from the Blood Toad Tent was clearly unwilling to let it go and had sent trackers.

Gu Shen sneered coldly.

He didn't head directly back to the inn. Instead, he deliberately sought out the most crowded, most labyrinthine alleys within the black market.

The dark light of the shadow shoes at his feet flickered, devouring his footsteps and aura. After navigating seven consecutive forks in the road and blending into a crowd of drunken, rowdy robber cultivators, the two pursuing Divine Senses finally lost their target like kites with severed strings.

Half an hour later.

Gu Shen returned silently to the A-17 Stone Cave.

The pile of rubble behind the stone door remained untouched.

He let out a long sigh of relief and immediately took out the newly purchased 'Thick Earth Array' Formation Plate. He embedded three Low-Grade Spirit Stones into its three grooves.

*Hum—*

A thick, earth-yellow light barrier instantly expanded, firmly protecting the entire interior of the stone cave.

This light barrier not only possessed astonishing defensive power but also completely isolated all external Divine Sense probing.

"Now, it's truly foolproof."

Gu Shen walked to the stone bed and sat down cross-legged.

He extended his Divine Sense into his storage ring and retrieved the bottle of Medium Grade qi gathering pills he had just bought.

He pulled out the stopper and poured out five pale green pills.

The surface of the pills faintly bore a few gray, fibrous patterns. Those were the fire poison and plant Impurities that couldn't be completely removed during Alchemy—the so-called pill toxins. If an ordinary Loose Cultivator took five of these consecutively, even if they were lucky enough to achieve a Breakthrough, their Meridians would be clogged by the pill toxins, making further progress in cultivation difficult for a long time.

But Gu Shen wasn't afraid.

"Refine."

With a thought, the five Medium Grade qi gathering pills were instantly cast into the [Heaven and Earth Furnace] within his Sea of Consciousness.

Ethereal flames rose.

The wisps of gray pill toxins were mercilessly stripped away and incinerated by the flames of rules. The five pills decomposed and fused together at the bottom of the Great Furnace, finally condensing into a single, crystal-clear, flawless green treasure pill the size of a soybean.

Top-Grade qi gathering pill (Pure).

Gu Shen opened his eyes, caught the treasure pill emitting a rich medicinal fragrance, and without the slightest hesitation, tossed it into his mouth and swallowed.

*Boom!*

Unhindered by pill toxins, the top-grade treasure pill transformed into a torrent of extremely pure spiritual power, racing unimpeded along his broad Meridians.

Gu Shen's cultivation had already been stuck at the Perfection of Qi Refining Stage 4. This pure spiritual power was like the final straw that broke the camel's back.

If it were an ordinary Five Elements mixed Spiritual Root, the Meridians would have already burst from this surge of spiritual power. But Gu Shen was different. His Meridians, washed time and again by high-purity White Dew, had long become incredibly tough and broad.

A surge of spiritual power, vaster and purer than any before, like a bursting river, violently scoured through his Meridians.

The Longevity Art operated frantically.

Gu Shen tightly guarded his mind, guiding this immense spiritual power to charge against the barrier of Level 5 Qi Refining.

Once, twice, three times...

There was no Bottleneck, no stagnation. It flowed naturally to its course.

Accompanied by a faint, porcelain-cracking sound from within his Dantian.

The originally thick, fog-like spiritual power vortex suddenly collapsed inward, then erupted with a powerful force of feedback. Spiritual power circulated throughout his body; his muscles, bones, and internal organs all emitted sounds of greedy delight.

Level 5 Qi Refining!

Gu Shen abruptly opened his eyes.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the range covered by his Divine Sense surged once more, easily penetrating the stone walls, reaching a radius of twenty zhang. The Soul-Shocking Spike lurking deep in his Sea of Consciousness also became more condensed and sharp.

He raised his hand. A wisp of pale green spiritual power danced at his fingertip.

Whether in purity or quantity, it was a significant leap stronger than during Qi Refining Stage 4.

"Finally, I have a bit of capital to protect myself in this chaotic world."

Gu Shen clenched his fist, feeling the doubled growth of magical power within his body.

He glanced at his storage ring. Supplies were ample, defense was solid.

Next, he wouldn't need to run around anymore. He only needed to stabilize his cultivation in this stone cave and, incidentally, go to the Spiritless Ruins to deal with that Tier 3 Cursed Corpse that had forced him to retreat.

Inside the A-17 Stone Cave, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Gu Shen sat cross-legged on the stone bed, a faint layer of cyan spiritual light swirling around him. With his long, steady breaths, this spiritual light seeped into his skin like a tide, eventually converging in his Dantian.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes.

"Level 5 Qi Refining is stabilized."

Feeling the magical power within his body, several times more robust than before, a flash of sharp light passed through Gu Shen's eyes. The increase in magical power meant he could sustain more powerful Spells, and his confidence in deploying the Soul-Shocking Spike was greater.

He stood up, his gaze falling on the Thick Earth Array Formation Plate blocking the stone door.

That Tier 3 Cursed Corpse entrenched in the main hall of the Ancient Sect ruins remained a thorn in his side. A Tier 3 evil entity, its Physical Body comparable to a Late-Stage Qi Refining Body Cultivator. Even though he had now reached Level 5 Qi Refining, a direct confrontation would be no different from seeking death.

But evil entities were, after all, evil entities. Their intelligence was nascent; they didn't understand flexibility.

"A direct assault is not feasible. I must trap it with a Formation."

Gu Shen had already settled on a strategy in his heart.

He walked forward and pried out the three Low-Grade Spirit Stones embedded in the grooves of the Formation Plate. Deprived of spiritual power, the earth-yellow light barrier enveloping the stone cave instantly dissipated.

Gu Shen stored the Formation Plate and the Spirit Stones into his storage ring.

The stone cave itself had the small maze Formation and warning Restrictions provided by the inn. Since he was now going to physically infiltrate the Spiritless Ruins, and his Physical Body wouldn't be in the cave, leaving the Thick Earth Array here would be a waste. Better to take it along as a cage for the hunt.

All preparations were complete.

Gu Shen gripped the resentful bone flute in his left hand and rested his right hand on the hilt of the gold-severing saber at his waist. With a thought...

Gray mist swirled, and his figure vanished.