Madness! Refining Thirty-Five Qi Pills

After leaving the cave, Xia Chun arrived at a place filled with black trees, dark soil, and several mountains that looked like they were made of coal. This was the Black Mountain Range, also known as the forbidden zone. It was rare for any form of life to appear in these desolate lands.

Observing the gloomy scenery, Xia Chun cursed the princess for bringing him there.

'At least it's close to the Xia Empire...'

He comforted himself with that thought and placed his hand on his head, searching his memories for the geographical map of the area.

In the royal family, from a young age, princes were taught the geography of the Mortal Heaven, etiquette, customs, and the Spiritual Heaven. Learning all of this was mandatory.

After searching through his memories, Xia Chun discovered that the Xia Empire was to the left of the Mountain Range.

From his current position, it was difficult to determine where he was, besides the cave, but then he turned his head to the left of the entrance and moved forward, trying his luck.

After walking among the black trees for an hour, he began to lose patience. There was nothing around.

Even so, he kept walking without stopping until he spotted a dirt road. Four hours later, he sighed in relief.

'I'm not lost!'

Feeling glad to have finally found a path, he ran to the road.

Upon arrival, he looked in all directions but saw nothing but a barren land.

"Damn! I've reached the Sand Desert... This place is far from my empire!"

He muttered through gritted teeth, cursing the princess even more.

The Sand Desert also bordered the Black Mountain Range. It was vast, connecting four regions. To the west was the Xia Empire, to the north the Sand Desert itself, to the south the Zhou Empire, and to the east the Dark Dynasty (the most mysterious of all, as strangely, no one had ever entered it due to an inexplicable barrier).

'Damn... If I leave here on foot, it will take six months to reach the Xia Empire! This will delay my path to immortality!'

Annoyed, he had no choice but to look for a solution in the Sand Desert, where there was no dominant nation. The people there lived in tribes. Additionally, fugitive bandits had formed a dangerous guild in that desolate land.

'What a hassle! Especially if I encounter those wanted bandits from the Xia Empire. Or mercenaries who might use me as bargaining material. Even though I'm at half-step, I'm still just a normal human. If many people surround me, I'm done for.'

Xia Chun's mind raced, searching for a way to return to the Xia Empire as quickly as possible while also thinking of a way to avoid having his identity recognized.

'My current appearance is all messed up because of my torn clothes! If I dirty my face, I can disguise myself as a beggar! If I can get into the Guild, I can quickly return by taking the air vehicle.'

'This will be difficult... and dangerous!'

Xia Chun, who wanted to practice cultivation step by step, realized that was not possible at the moment.

'If I want to infiltrate, I need strength! If something goes wrong, I need to be able to fight against superior numbers or even face the potential threat of encountering cultivators who have opened their meridians. If I'm very unlucky, I might even encounter a demonic cultivator who descended to the Mortal Heaven. The probability of this happening is less than one percent, but it's not zero.'

'Even if this possibility occurs, I'll still have a chance of survival because of the laws governing the Mortal Heaven.'

With these thoughts, which lasted only a moment, he returned to the Black Mountain Range. To be precise, he went back to the cave. It was annoying to retrace his steps, but there was no other choice.

Back in the cave, he removed the jade bed and sat cross-legged. Then, he took a vial of white pills and threw them all into his mouth at once.

Xia Chun was crazy...

He took this extreme action because he trusted his physique. If he could endure the pain, the cyclone would do the rest.

After swallowing all those pills, a torrent of Spiritual Qi descended upon his body, causing a series of cracks in his skin, unable to withstand the impact.

"Endure it!"

He gritted his teeth and, using his willpower, remained still. He was waiting for the cyclone to absorb all that Spiritual Qi pouring into his body.

As Xia Chun had anticipated, the cyclone had no trouble refining all that energy, but that was only the beginning.

When he transformed that Spiritual Qi into golden energy...

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Xia Chun screamed as his belly began to swell like a balloon.

"Damn it!"

He cursed but quickly locked his mouth shut and closed his eyes. Executing the Hegemonic Yin Yang Art, he tried to control all that energy.

It was difficult due to the unbearable pain, but he endured it and began channeling all that energy into the golden vortex, which, upon receiving it, started spinning like lightning, distributing the Spiritual Qi throughout his body.

This is the function of the dantian: besides storing Qi, it is responsible for distributing it throughout the body.

Feeling the energy spreading, Xia Chun used it to break through an invisible point in his body.

On the first attempt, the barrier didn't break; the Qi was insufficient. On the second, even with more energy, it still wasn't enough. Not until the tenth attempt did the barrier shatter.

A force surged through his body, his senses becoming even sharper. But it wasn't over yet. Xia Chun had consumed thirty-five Qi pills.

The vortex continued to send a massive amount of Qi, which he used to break through the second point. After twenty attempts, the barrier shattered, doubling his previous strength.

After breaking through the second meridian, Xia Chun didn't continue but used the remaining Qi to expand the vortex, which, in the end, grew by a centimeter.

Xia Chun's madness paid off. Thirty-five pills were used to open two meridians. An astronomical number! For ordinary people, just one pill is enough to open a meridian.

In return, Xia Chun's strength became immense. A person at the first meridian has a punch strength of 80 kg; he has 250 kg. With the second meridian open, he exerts 500 kg of force, while someone at the same realm exerts only 180 kg.