Chapter 203: The Great Xu Dynasty No Longer Exists

Chapter 203: The Great Xu Dynasty No Longer Exists

September 17, 2024

While Gu Qingfeng was in seclusion and the Guangyang Army was conquering Qingyun Province, the situation in Zhongzhou was also becoming increasingly turbulent.

For half a month, intelligence from Zhongzhou kept pouring into Gu Qingfeng’s hands. He was initially surprised to learn that Ji Chunqiu had reached the Half-Step Divine Realm, but he quickly came to terms with it.

During this time, the information panel kept updating with new messages.

...

"Your offspring 'Gu Yang' has received guidance from a Grandmaster, and his cultivation has improved slightly!"

"Your offspring 'Gu Yang' has received guidance from a Grandmaster and has broken through to the peak Bone Tempering Realm!"

"Reward: 100 Improvement Points!"

"Reward: 100 Bone Tempering Pills!"

"Reward: 100 Marrow Cleansing Pills!"

"Reward: 10 Viscera Tempering Pills!"

"Your offspring 'Gu Yang' and his Guangyang Army have captured several cities, greatly enhancing their reputation!"

"Your offspring 'Gu Yang' has been attacked by six Grandmaster-level martial artists!"

"Your offspring 'Gu Yang' has received guidance from a Grandmaster, and his cultivation has improved slightly!"

"Your offspring..."

...

When Gu Qingfeng saw that Gu Yang had broken through to the peak Bone Tempering Realm, his expression didn’t change much. After all, Gu Yang had access to a large amount of resources and had received guidance from a Grandmaster, so it was only natural that his cultivation would improve.

On the contrary, if Gu Yang had made no progress at all, that would have been truly surprising.

Now that Gu Yang had broken through, Gu Qingfeng used the extra 100 Improvement Points to enhance his Pure Yang True Body technique.

In an instant, this Grandmaster-level cultivation technique was refined from the initial stage to the peak stage.

"Pure Yang True Body, peak stage!"

"Physical body at Pure Yang Level 4!"

"This cultivation technique is indeed extraordinary!"

After reaching the peak stage of the Pure Yang True Body, Gu Qingfeng felt the terrifying Pure Yang blood energy within his body and was somewhat surprised.

If another person were to cultivate this level of Pure Yang blood energy, even if it didn’t transform their life essence, it would still make their blood energy far stronger than that of an ordinary Grandmaster.

This clearly showed that the powerful cultivator who created the Pure Yang True Body had extraordinary vision and strength.

Unfortunately, since it didn’t transform the life essence, the Pure Yang True Body was still just an ordinary Grandmaster-level technique, albeit a powerful one. It hadn’t yet reached the higher realm of transformation.

Nevertheless, reaching the peak stage of the Pure Yang True Body had significantly condensed Gu Qingfeng’s blood energy. Although it hadn’t yet reached the level of a peak Supreme Grandmaster, it was still stronger than before.

"To break through to the peak Supreme Grandmaster, I still need some accumulation."

"However, with enough Grandmaster-level techniques, it shouldn’t be too difficult to improve my cultivation at this stage."

Gu Qingfeng mused.

A normal Grandmaster-level technique could be refined from the initial stage to the peak stage with just 200 Improvement Points. While 200 points weren’t insignificant, they weren’t overly excessive either. At the current rate, it would take about one to two years to accumulate enough points.

The biggest problem was that higher-level techniques were difficult to obtain and could only be enhanced through breakthroughs.

Breaking through a technique required resources that couldn’t be measured by normal standards. For example, a normal Grandmaster-level technique required just 50 Improvement Points to enhance, but breaking through it would require ten times that amount.

This level of consumption was significant.

Afterward, Gu Qingfeng’s gaze fell on the collection of martial techniques in the Weapon Refinement Hall.

Since the destruction of the Heavenly Yang Sword Sect and the Guangyang Army’s conquest of Qingyun Province, Gu Yang had been continuously seizing martial techniques and transporting them here. However, because Gu Qingfeng only wanted Grandmaster-level techniques and above, the techniques sent by Gu Yang were mostly Grandmaster-level.

These Grandmaster-level techniques included sword techniques, knife techniques, internal cultivation methods, and body tempering techniques.

However, most of these techniques didn’t catch Gu Qingfeng’s eye. If he were to cultivate them, they would be placed at the bottom of his list.

After a long while, Gu Qingfeng’s gaze landed on one particular technique.

The Blood Refinement Canon!

A Grandmaster-level technique!

This was a truly top-tier martial technique that Gu Yang had obtained after destroying the Heavenly Yang Sword Sect. Similar to the Pure Yang True Body, the Blood Refinement Canon focused on refining blood energy. The two characters "Blood Refinement" in its name referred to the condensation of a martial artist’s blood energy, granting them extraordinary power.

According to the Blood Refinement Canon, if a martial artist could condense their blood to an extremely high level, they could even achieve the ability to be reborn from a single drop of blood.

However, the concept of "rebirth from a single drop of blood" was just a fantasy of the creator of the Blood Refinement Canon. After all, even if a Grandmaster-level technique were refined to its peak, it was impossible to truly achieve such a feat.

"Rebirth from a single drop of blood. The creator of this technique had a vivid imagination, but expecting to achieve this with just a Grandmaster-level technique is a bit unrealistic. However, if a Grandmaster can’t do it, perhaps a cultivator at a higher realm can. Nothing is absolute."

Gu Qingfeng thought of the drop of blood that gave birth to the Nine-Curved Dao Evil Buddha.

A single drop of blood had such divine power, so it was possible that such a powerful being could indeed achieve the rebirth from a single drop of blood as the creator of the Blood Refinement Canon had imagined.

But these matters seemed too distant for Gu Qingfeng.

After all, if one truly reached the point of being reborn from a drop of blood, they would likely have already transcended the mundane and reached the supreme realm of immortals and deities.

Subsequently,

Gu Qingfeng meticulously studied the Blood Refinement Canon, committing its profound and intricate techniques to memory.

A moment later,

Gu Qingfeng checked his attribute panel and saw that the Blood Refinement Canon had been successfully added.

The Blood Refinement Canon was divided into eight levels.

The first four levels corresponded to the four stages of a Grandmaster from novice to perfection.

The last four levels corresponded to the four stages of a Great Grandmaster from novice to perfection.

In essence,

The Blood Refinement Canon was a true pinnacle martial art of the Great Grandmaster level.

After all, while some Great Grandmaster martial arts could only help one reach the novice stage, others like the Blood Refinement Canon could directly propel a martial artist to the perfection stage of a Great Grandmaster.

Undoubtedly,

The higher the upper limit of a martial art, the more precious it was.

"The Heavenly Sun Sword Sect must have obtained this top-tier martial art by defeating the Great Grandmaster who created the Blood Refinement Canon."

"Even a top-tier martial Great Grandmaster cannot match the profound heritage of these immortal sects!"

Gu Qingfeng took a deep breath, his heart calming down.

A single step off,

Leads to being off by many steps.

In this world, martial arts were inherently flawed, which meant that martial artists were inferior to sorcerers.

Inherent flaws made it incredibly difficult to compensate for them later on.

The Five Realms of Body Refinement,

In Gu Qingfeng's view, were the most crucial steps in cultivation.

Only by laying a perfect foundation in these five realms could a martial artist advance further.

Similarly,

The depth of one's foundation directly determined the combat strength of martial artists at the same level.

For example, two martial Great Grandmasters, one who had perfected the Five Realms of Body Refinement and another who had flaws, the latter would naturally find it hard to match the former.

Moreover,

The former could easily crush the latter.

This was the fundamental difference between a solid and a weak foundation.

With a thought, Gu Qingfeng's attention returned to the severed finger.

As he continuously pondered the undying blade intent on the severed finger, Gu Qingfeng gained new insights into his self-created Heavenly Blade Technique. The Twelfth-Level Heavenly Blade True Intent also became much stronger than before.

Gu Qingfeng believed,

Given more time, the Heavenly Blade True Intent could break through to the Thirteenth Level, creating a truly top-tier Great Grandmaster blade technique.

As his thoughts delved into the undying blade intent, a powerful and domineering blade aura emanated from him.

In an instant,

The entire Grinding Hall was enveloped by a terrifying blade intent.

The Evil-Slaying Blade, which had been returned by Gu Yang, trembled slightly under this blade intent, emitting a powerful aura that intimidated all divine weapons.

—

Central Continent.

The capital city had fallen.

It was now a complete wasteland.

Countless corpses littered the ground, including those of imperial soldiers and rebel troops.

At this moment,

A terrifying aura erupted from within the imperial palace.

After a while,

The aura subsided.

Emperor Ji Chunqiu, his imperial robes stained with blood, glared with cold, murderous eyes at the gathered strong figures from various immortal sects and noble families.

Grandmaster Tai Xuan held the head of a Ji Family Imperial Grandmaster in his hand, his expression cold as he looked at Ji Chunqiu.

"Ji Chunqiu, you have already lost. If you surrender now, I can spare a branch of the Ji Family. If you persist, the Ji Family will be utterly eradicated from this day forward."

"Why so many words? Even in defeat, I will make you pay a price!"

Ji Chunqiu's expression remained cold, showing no reaction to Grandmaster Tai Xuan's words.

Surrendering,

Was out of the question.

Even if a branch of the Ji Family were spared, they would likely become prisoners of others from this day forward.

If that was the condition for preserving the bloodline, it would be better for the Ji Family's bloodline to be completely extinguished.

Hearing this,

Grandmaster Tai Xuan's expression turned cold, and he suddenly tightened his grip, causing the Grandmaster's head to explode, leaving a headless corpse to fall to the ground.

"Kill!"

Seeing this, a wave of murderous intent erupted from Ji Chunqiu's eyes. The terrifying power of the malevolent spirit shook the heavens, and the once powerful physical body now showed signs of cracking, as if it would shatter at any moment.

This transformation was a sign of the malevolent spirit's imminent awakening.

Ji Chunqiu paid no heed.

He had not expected to survive this battle.

So,

Even if the malevolent spirit awakened, what did it matter? Ji Chunqiu had only one thought: to slay all the invaders and die alongside the Ji Family's bloodline.

Seeing Ji Chunqiu charge forward, the powerful aura made the gathered experts all tense up.

Grandmaster Tai Xuan roared, "What are you waiting for? Kill him, and the Great Tai Xuan Dynasty will be no more!"

With that,

Grandmaster Tai Xuan was the first to attack, engaging Ji Chunqiu in battle.

The other experts from the sects and noble families exchanged glances and simultaneously joined the fray.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end