Promise!

Chapter 199, Golden Body

"First of all, it is the mark of the Innate True Qi Realm."

Zhuang Jin mobilized his innate true energy, and with the surge of true energy, the air within three feet of his body condensed into a solid iron plate, forming a three-foot-long wall of energy.

He secretly estimated: 'The strength of this three-foot-high qi wall would probably require more than ten Nascent Soul martial artists to unleash their ultimate techniques together, or a combined attack like the three ultimate techniques from that day, to possibly shake it. But even then, it would only be a slight movement. As long as my true qi remains undiminished, with a thought, the three-foot-high qi wall can be restored in an instant.'

'This is just basic defense. In a real attack, the difference in how innate true qi enhances and strengthens various bodily attributes compared to internal energy is like heaven and earth. Below the innate level, it's practically indiscriminate slaughter.'

Zhuang Jin plucked a petal from an orchid on the table, channeled his inner energy into it, causing its surface to glow with a silvery-white light, and then waved his hand.

Swish!
The seemingly soft petals, carrying a stream of light, pierced directly through the stone gate.

"This is the realm of the innate; even a flying flower or a plucked leaf can injure someone!"

"When innate true energy adheres to an object, its enhancement is directly proportional to the strength of the material. This is just a flower petal; imagine a sharp blade..."

Zhuang Jin turned around, took down the displayed sword, drew it, and infused it with true energy. Instantly, a layer of silvery-white halo appeared on the sword, like a lightsaber with special effects, which looked extremely magical.

"I feel that this sword, with the support of my innate true energy, is comparable to a divine weapon. For example, Ning Tongxuan's Thousand-Silk White Jade Fan probably wouldn't be able to withstand a single strike from me."

"besides,"

Zhuang Jin raised his hand, and under the stimulation of his true energy, the Black Fiend Palm directly produced a silver dragon shadow about ten feet long, which coiled and passed by, making it feel like an eight-level gale was blowing in the room.

"It's a pity. The lighting effects are top-notch, and the upward and downward attacks are excellent, but against fellow innate martial artists, it can probably only barely break through a three-foot qi barrier."

That ten-foot-long silver dragon phantom was not formed from true qi. Now, his true qi could probably leave his body three feet away from his body. It was a phantom formed by true qi mobilizing the primordial energy, airflow, and light of heaven and earth. It could be used to bully weaker opponents, but it was a bit of a stretch to deal with martial artists of the same realm. Only when he connected each move and formed a rhythm, like when he dealt with Ning Tongxuan, could he be considered to have some effect in fighting against martial artists of the same realm.

This is why a martial art like the Black Fiend Palm, which is below the Innate Realm, can still be used even at the Innate Realm when it reaches the third level of perfection.

"If we really want to achieve lethality, we still need to switch to martial arts at the innate level. However, the Black Fiend Palm and Swift Wind Step, which are currently at the third level of perfection, can hold out for now. The most important thing is the meditation method after the Black Fiend Technique is at the innate level, as well as the resources for cultivation."

When Zhuang Jin broke through to the Meridian Opening Realm, he received the meditation techniques for the first to eighth meridians of the Black Fiend Technique. Now, breaking through to the Innate Realm is his limit.

As for cultivation resources, once you reach the Innate Realm, even the best Black Yuan Powder, made primarily of fifty-year-old Black Jade Grass, is barely enough. It's best to replace it with a low-grade Black Yuan Pill, made primarily of fifty-year-old or older Black Jade Grass. However, the limit for cultivating herbs in a low-grade Azure Yuan Pot is fifty years.

"As for cultivation techniques, the Black Fiend Technique is the first version of the technique created by the immortals. It is widely circulated and I imagine that the state city, and even the Shen family, the government office, and the Medicine King Gang, all possess it. Compared to the technique, cultivation resources are a bit more troublesome, but top-grade Black Yuan Powder can temporarily provide for it. If we lower the standard, all four directions can also provide it."

"With my current innate superiority, as long as I am willing to pay the price, I have a chance to obtain it from all three parties, whether it is the state capital or the prefectural capital."

At the Innate Realm, one person can support a prefecture-level power and can have an equal dialogue with a powerful clan. Even if they go to a state capital, they will enter the top class, the absolute exploitative class, and must be taken seriously by the three great families.

It can be said that once you reach this point, you can go anywhere in the world, including the nine provinces of the Great Qian Dynasty, covering 48 million square kilometers.

"What should I do? Should I withdraw and go to the prefectural city, or stay for the time being and obtain it through the channels in Yunnan Prefecture?"

After careful consideration, Zhuang Jin made a decision: "I will go to Cangzhou City, but not now."

"In the state capital, the Innate Realm is indeed the exploitative class, but there are also a relatively large number of people at the same level, as well as the three major families. There are quite a few who can pose a threat to me."

"On the contrary, in Yunnan Prefecture, I am the true pinnacle of the pyramid. Besides Shen Xianhong, the head of the Shen family, Shi Yong, the leader of the Medicine King Gang, and Mu Yuantu, the prefect, I am the fourth person."

Despite being called the fourth person, Zhuang Jin was not afraid of these three. They were all at the same level, so who was afraid of whom? Even if he couldn't beat them, he could still leave: "Once I master the innate martial arts, with my talent, it will soon be a matter of who is stronger and who is weaker."

"So, I've walked on thin ice step by step, and finally reached this point in the prefectural city with almost no threat. I don't have a masochistic streak, so why should I be like the protagonist in a novel and be so eager to open up new maps?"

According to his plan, as long as there is still room for improvement and the resources of the prefecture city can support him, he will rely on his talent without any bottlenecks to survive and become the Sword God of Shili Slope... until there is no more room for improvement, then it will be time to go to the state city.

"Besides that, there's another point: while those with innate abilities are respected in the state capital, they are not invincible. Big shops bully their customers, so even if you can obtain cultivation techniques and resources, it will most likely be more costly than obtaining them through the prefectural capital."

"Even if I stay and obtain it through the prefectural city's channels, it's best to find a suitable entry point, seize the initiative, and strive to minimize the cost of obtaining the cultivation techniques and resources."

Zhuang Jin thought about the current situation in the prefecture, her eyes deep, and murmured softly, "There will be opportunities, no need to rush."

"Now I have jumped out of the chessboard from the chess piece and become a chess player, and a chess player who is invisible to other chess players for a short period of time... And the basic quality of a chess player is to have patience!"

……

Zhuang Jin broke through to the Innate Realm, and since there were no further cultivation methods available, he relaxed for the time being, supplementing his daily studies with things like rare and precious materials and the list of exotic beasts, or giving Chen Yun some pointers.

Chen Yun is currently stuck at the bottleneck between the sixth and seventh meridians, and he is reluctant to let her take the meridian-clearing pill. Therefore, in addition to having her drink Yunyin tea every day, he has also begun to study some knowledge about bottlenecks.

Previously, Zhuang Jin had no bottlenecks and didn't really understand this aspect. Now, after this in-depth research, he discovered blind spots, especially when connected with a past event, which seemed to reveal something extraordinary.

That book, "The Record of Stealing Heaven's Treasures"... oh, it's the diary of the Flying Rat Thief. It records how he stole the Azure Essence Liquid from that Medicine King Gang disciple, cultivated medicinal herbs on his own, and only then did he break through to the Eighth Scripture Realm.

"This Flying Squirrel Thief is a lone wolf, so naturally he doesn't have the skills to refine pills or make medicine. And the diary clearly states that the Flying Squirrel Thief didn't take the Meridian-Clearing Pill, but rather one of the main ingredients of the Meridian-Clearing Pill—the Lotus Transformation Grass!"

At the time, he only skimmed through it, and given Zhuang Jin's limited knowledge of bottlenecks, he didn't think there was anything wrong. But now, it seems like a huge problem. Lotus grass is one of the main ingredients in the Meridian-Clearing Pill, its effect being to smooth and nourish the meridians—but that's not the key point. The key point is…

To put it simply, Lin Hong, Qian Wende, and Bi Kai, when they were short of money, tried to break through the bottleneck of the third and fourth meridians by using Shuluo Pill as a single ingredient. However, the seventh meridian is another level, and Shuluo Pill, being a single ingredient, has no principal, assistant, or adjuvant herbs. Its effect is negligible, but better than nothing.

This is like building a house. If it's just a thatched hut, one person can manage to build it, but if you want to build a magnificent palace, that's impossible. You need someone to design the structure and waterways, someone to fire the bricks, someone to make the beams... everyone has their own role. At that point, the difficulty increases immeasurably for a single person.

The same principle applies to elixirs. For the first to third meridians, or at most the third to fourth meridians, one can try to break through using the main ingredient of the Shuluo Pill alone. However, this is no longer possible for the seventh meridian or above.

For example, a 20-year-old lotus grass can be used as the main ingredient in the Meridian-Clearing Pill, but under normal circumstances, it is impossible to break through the bottleneck of the seventh meridian or above with a 20-year-old lotus grass... Not to mention 20 years, even 40 or 50 years is not enough. To be on the safe side, it would take at least 60 or 70 years.

But sixty or seventy years... The Qingyuan Liquid produced by the low-grade Qingyuan Pot can only cultivate medicinal materials for a maximum of fifty years. These sixty or seventy years exceed the cultivation period limit of the low-grade Qingyuan Pot!

Zhuang Jin then thought of the nearly hundred-year-old You Tan Snow Lotus that Sikong Rui had brought to win over Fei Yuanlong, the patriarch of the Fei family: 'Was that nearly hundred-year-old You Tan Snow Lotus truly obtained unintentionally through the Medicine King Gang's own channels?'

'Or is it that the Medicine King Gang's Azure Origin Pot isn't a low-grade Azure Origin Pot at all, but a mid-grade one, cultivated by the Medicine King Gang themselves using Azure Origin Liquid?'

This is absolutely outrageous! The limit for cultivating medicinal herbs in a mid-grade Qingyuan Pot is 200 years, which is enough to form the foundation of a family!

"Is the Qingyuan Pot of the Medicine King Gang really of mid-grade quality? It doesn't seem like it. If it were truly mid-grade, the Medicine King Gang should have already completed its initial accumulation and surpassed the Shen family, instead of being so passive in every aspect now... Is the Medicine King Gang intentionally hiding its strength and putting on a show for the Shen family? Or is there some other inside story?"

Zhuang Jin pondered for a moment, then appended his own speculations to the "Record of Stealing the Heavenly Treasure" and secretly sent it to the prefectural city with utmost urgency: "This is my first move since becoming a chess player. Let's see what kind of storm I can stir up!"

……

After the incident of the struggle for the Yin-Yang Dragon in Qinghe County, Zhuang Jin's importance in the Shen family was raised to a new level, on par with the heads of various departments. Therefore, Zhuang Jin's secret report was sent to the prefectural city with great urgency and appeared on Shen Xianhong's desk. Upon seeing such earth-shattering news, Shen Xianhong naturally attached great importance to it and immediately launched an investigation.

The Shen family had been in Yunnan Province for two or three hundred years, deeply rooted and with an extraordinary network of channels. Once a target was identified, they followed the clues, thoroughly investigated historical records, and compared them with other sources... Within three days, the truth was revealed.

Zhuang Jin's guess was correct. The Qingyuan Pot of the Medicine King Gang was not a low-grade pot, but it was not a complete mid-grade pot either; it was a damaged mid-grade Qingyuan Pot. The nearly hundred-year-old You Tan Snow Lotus was indeed cultivated by the Medicine King Gang. The reason for its cultivation, as mentioned back then, was that the nearly hundred-year-old You Tan Snow Lotus was a key ingredient in the Beauty Elixir.

The Medicine King's gang cultivated the You Tan Snow Lotus in the hope of generating revenue in the state city by refining beauty pills and other products, but due to the special circumstances in the state city, they ultimately failed.

At that time, the Shen family and the Medicine King Gang were engaged in a bloody conflict in the south of the city, and their revenue-generating plan had failed, which exacerbated the Medicine King Gang's shortage of Qingyuan Liquid. This led to the Medicine King Gang robbing the medicinal materials that the wealthy families below were offering as tribute during the year.

The revenue-generating plan failed, and the cultivation of medicinal herbs was useless. The remaining nearly 100-year-old You Tan Snow Lotus was given to Sikong Rui to make use of, and was used to win over Fei Yuanlong, which led to all the subsequent events.

The origin of the broken, mid-grade Qingyuan Pot from the Medicine King Gang has also been found.

Five hundred years ago, there was a master of innate skill named Chu Yun, nicknamed "Angry Vajra" in the martial arts world. He was famous for his "Indestructible Golden Body Technique" and possessed a broken mid-grade Qingyuan Pot, which could cultivate medicinal herbs to nearly a hundred years old. Based on this, he established a force that spanned Yunnan and Donghu prefectures - the Iron Fist Society.

Later, this person was sought revenge by his enemies, was seriously injured and fled, and disappeared without a trace. The Iron Fist Society also fell apart as a result... More than a hundred years later, the Shen family of Yunnan Prefecture and the Yan family of Donghu Prefecture rose to prominence.

Looking back now, it must have been that the Medicine King Gang disciple who accidentally obtained Chu Yun's inheritance, such as the "Golden Body Indestructible Technique" and the damaged mid-grade rare treasure, the Qingyuan Pot, which was later taken by the Medicine King Gang leader.

The Shen family hadn't anticipated this because Shi Yong, the leader of the Medicine King Gang, had never displayed the characteristics of the "Indestructible Golden Body Technique," only disguising it as the "Great Vajra Technique." Even his younger brother, Shi Jie, practiced the "Great Vajra Technique," which deceived the Shen family.

And then there's the pot that was made by that immortal from eight hundred years ago.

It was said before that the immortals crafted the rare treasure Qingyuan Pot, with 256 low-grade Qingyuan Pots, 72 mid-grade Qingyuan Pots, and 9 high-grade Qingyuan Pots. Of those, only half were directly distributed to the powerful clans, aristocratic families, and wealthy clans. So, what about the other half that ended up among the common people?

Zhuang Jin once mentioned in Linji County that an immortal had traveled here, bringing down heavy rain and changing the landscape... Not only in Linji County, but also in almost every prefecture, county, and state of the Great Qian Dynasty, that immortal had passed through.

During this process, the immortals would encounter some exceptionally talented or pleasing individuals, and bestow upon them the precious Qingyuan Pot and cultivation techniques. Many of these individuals later became renowned figures in their respective regions. However, after eight hundred years, their glory was swept away by the winds and rains and buried in the dust of history.

Another part involves the immortals sealing away the Azure Origin Pot, cultivation methods, martial arts techniques, and other inheritances in secret places, such as cliffs, deep mountains and forests. Therefore, over the past eight hundred years, many lucky individuals have risen to prominence by chance.

The Shen family assumed that the disciple of the Medicine King Gang had encountered the ruins of an immortal and obtained the low-grade Qingyuan Pot.

The number of Qingyuan Pots of superior, middle and inferior grades varies greatly. Most of them are inferior grade. The treasures of the immortals in the middle and superior grades are often required to have the strength to obtain them. They are not something that an ordinary disciple of the Medicine King Gang can obtain.

It was because of all these circumstances, and the fact that Shi Yong, the leader of the Medicine King Gang, was cautious and secretive, that Shen Xianhong vaguely sensed something was wrong with the Medicine King Gang, but he never expected this.

"I see, now I understand everything!"

Shen Xianhong stood with his right hand behind his back, his white eyebrows furrowed: "Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise. The Medicine King Gang's broken mid-grade Qingyuan Pot can only cultivate medicinal herbs for a maximum of less than a hundred years. It will not be valued or fought over by the aristocratic families in the state city, but it is an opportunity for my Shen family to advance further."

"Someone, go and invite the eldest young master over!"

……

The following day, a shocking piece of bad news and a letter summoning him back to the prefectural city arrived in Linji County by express courier.

……

(End of this chapter)