Heaven rewards diligence, but there are always fairies plotting against me.

An hour has passed.

Chu Chang's skin glowed with an eerie dark gold color, and the true essence within his body had been condensed to an appalling degree.

If the true essence of an ordinary Qi Refining Realm disciple is a stream, then the true essence in Chu Chang's body at this moment is a liquid lake irrigated with gold!

"Break it!"

Chu Chang let out a low roar in his heart.

boom!

It felt as if an invisible shackle within my body had been shattered.

Peak of Qi Refining Realm!

At this moment, the quality of Chu Chang's true essence and the strength of his physical body surged again, even undergoing a miraculous transformation.

It was a pure and flawless yang aura, the pure yang energy nurtured by his cultivation of the "Eight Desolations Demon Suppression Fist," an extremely yang and powerful martial art.

As he reached the peak of the Qi Refining Realm, the pure Yang Qi within his body, like a rising sun, burst forth from his dantian and instantly flowed through his limbs and bones.

However, at the very moment this pure yang energy erupted...

"Buzzing!!!"

The tranquil bathing pool suddenly began to tremble violently without warning.

Countless broken weapons stuck in the pool began to resonate wildly at that moment, emitting a low and terrifying wail.

"What happened?"

Chu Chang opened his eyes, his eyes filled with astonishment.

Before he could react, the pure yang energy within his body uncontrollably seeped into the obsidian ground below, flowing down his legs and spreading into the depths of the earth at an extremely terrifying speed.

In that instant, Chu Chang's consciousness seemed to follow this pure yang energy, extending infinitely downwards.

Ten zhang...

Fifty feet...

A hundred feet!

boom!

Chu Chang's mind exploded with a sudden burst of energy. His "vision" pierced through the thick rock layers and entered a dark, vast underground space filled with deathly silence and an evil aura.

In the center of that space stood an altar made of white bones.

Above the altar floats a bizarre heart, the size of a millstone, pitch black, and radiating overwhelming demonic energy.

The heart was still beating slowly, "thump, thump," and with each beat, it released a large amount of viscous black demonic poison, which merged into the surrounding dark currents and finally seeped slowly into the cleansing pool along the cracks in the rocks.

"This is... the Demon's Heart?!"

Chu Chang gasped, his heart churning with turbulent emotions.

No wonder!!!

No wonder the Cleansing Pool is filled with such rich spiritual energy; it turns out the sect's higher-ups set up a seal here, using this demonic creature as a source to continuously convert spiritual energy. And those so-called "high-ranking demonic cultivators" are actually using this demonic heart to undergo some kind of heaven-defying transformation!

Just as Chu Chang's pure yang energy touched the demon's heart...

hum!

Demon Heart seemed to sense its natural enemy and suddenly began to tremble violently.

An intensely yearning, greedy, yet also terrified will, following Chu Chang's pure yang energy, locked onto Chu Chang's physical body.

"Heh heh... It's actually... the Nine Yang Meridians... no, it's the Undying Pure Yang Body! The perfect vessel! The perfect body!"

A sharp, insane laugh, like that of a demon from hell, exploded in Chu Chang's mind.

Followed by.

The demonic heart trembled violently, and the vast demonic energy and pure spiritual power accumulated over hundreds and thousands of years transformed into a colossal dragon as black as ink and mixed with endless blood light. It surged wildly towards Chu Chang at the edge of the Cleansing Pool through the underground passage!

That power was so immense that it could instantly destroy ten or even a hundred ordinary Foundation Condensation stage cultivators!

The higher-ups of the demonic arts deep underground actually attempted to take this opportunity to forcibly infuse and demonize Chu Chang's physical body, refining it into their second external avatar!

"not good!"

Chu Chang's expression changed drastically.

He tried to pull away, but the terrifying suction from the ground, combined with the will of the demonic heart, held his body firmly in place, unable to move even a finger.

Rumble!

The dark red water in the washing pool turned completely black in that instant.

A violent, incomparably powerful black and red tornado of demonic energy enveloped Chu Chang completely. That evil, cold, yet extremely powerful force transformed into countless ferocious demonic snakes, frantically drilling into Chu Chang's body through his pores and seven orifices.

"ah!!!"

Even with Chu Chang's unwavering resolve, he couldn't help but let out a painful roar at that moment.

His body swelled up instantly, countless bloody cracks appeared on his skin, and his stark white bones were faintly visible under the black and red demonic light.

In his dantian.

The newly born pure yang energy and the surging massive magical energy engaged in an extremely fierce battle.

Gold and black clashed, turning his meridians into a battlefield. Every moment, countless meridians were torn apart, only to be repaired again by the powerful physical regenerative abilities of the Eight Desolations Demon-Suppressing Fist and the nourishment of the Golden Geng True Essence.

Destruction, rebirth.

Destruction followed by rebirth.

This extreme pain, which is unbearable for ordinary people, caused Chu Chang's consciousness to begin to blur.

"Am I going to die here?"

"No! I've finally reached this point, but I haven't been able to take revenge, nor have I reached the pinnacle of the cultivation world. How can I die here, becoming a demon's puppet?!"

"The tide is turning... Suppress it!"

Chu Chang roared hysterically in his heart.

hum!

On the verge of life and death, the towering golden god-demon figure in his mind seemed to sense Chu Chang's crisis and slowly opened its eyes in the void.

Those divine eyes were cold, majestic, and regarded all demons as ants.

An indescribable, terrifying, and domineering aura, capable of ruling over all heavens, erupted from the depths of Chu Chang's soul.

"Suppress! Demons!"

The third move of the Eight Desolations Demon-Suppressing Fist was a supreme technique that Chu Chang had never comprehended before. In that instant, due to the life-or-death crisis, he had a sudden inspiration and completely mastered it.

boom!

The golden pure yang energy within Chu Chang's body, which had been steadily declining, was instantly empowered by the will of gods and demons, transforming into an incomparably sacred dark golden divine fire.

The divine fire burned fiercely, flowing along the meridians and beginning to devour and refine the enormous demonic energy that had surged into the body.

"What?! This power... what kind of fist intent is this?! No!!!"

From the depths of the earth, a faint, terrified scream echoed. The will of that demonic heart discovered that the demonic energy it had sent out had not only failed to assimilate Chu Chang, but had instead become Chu Chang's perfect nourishment!

Whoohoo!

Chu Chang turned into a giant black hole.

That terrifying power, a mixture of millennia of malevolent energy, pure spiritual power, and the essence of demonic heart, was tempered by the dark golden divine fire and transformed into the purest and gentlest droplets of true essence, which frantically merged into Chu Chang's dantian lake.

His cultivation level began to surge wildly at an unreasonable speed!

Early stage of peak Qi Refining Realm...

Mid-stage peak of Qi Refining Realm...

Peak of the Qi Refining Realm!

In just a few dozen breaths, Chu Chang completed the accumulation path that ordinary cultivators would take years or even decades to complete.

However, the power within him had not yet been fully depleted.

The demonic heart that has accumulated underground for thousands of years is truly terrifying.

The golden lake of true essence within Chu Chang's body had already stirred up towering waves, and the true essence, under extreme compression, began to undergo a qualitative change.

That is the transformation from "gas" to "liquid".

That's... a sign of foundation solidification!

boom!

A deafening roar, as if the world had just begun to open, emanated from within Chu Chang's body.

Driven by an unimaginably massive torrent of true essence, his incredibly thick foundation barrier shattered like a candle in a storm after holding out for less than half a breath!

"Gather strength!"

Chu Chang formed a hand seal and let out a long roar.

hum!

Within his dantian, all the golden true essence spun and collapsed wildly in that instant.

finally.

One drop... two drops... ten drops!

It transformed into a pool of pure golden liquid!

In the cultivation world, the Foundation Condensation stage (Foundation Condensation Realm) is divided into nine levels, each corresponding to the degree of condensation of true fluid in the dantian.

One to three layers represent the early stage of matrix solidification, while four to six layers represent the middle stage of matrix solidification.

however.

Because the power of the demonic heart beneath the earth was so immense, the remaining terrifying spiritual power was still frantically transforming into true liquid the instant Chu Chang successfully condensed his foundation.

The eleventh drop...

The thirtieth drop...

The fiftieth drop!

The amount of true liquid in Chu Changdantian was increasing at an alarming rate.

His aura also began to rise rapidly after he solidified his foundation.

Foundation Condensation Realm, First Stage!

Foundation Condensation Realm, Level Two!

Third level of Ningji Realm!

There are almost no bottlenecks or obstacles.

The moment Chu Chang stepped into the Foundation Condensation Realm, he surged to the peak of the third level of the Foundation Condensation Realm.

"Not enough! Keep sucking!"

Chu Chang's eyes were bloodshot, and his body had become almost transparent due to the immense force he had endured, revealing the golden blood flowing through it like mercury.

boom!

The demonic core beneath the earth finally couldn't withstand such terrifying, pump-like absorption. With a mournful cry of resentment, it abruptly severed the passage between itself and Chu Chang.

A final surge of immense spiritual energy poured in.

In that instant, the amount of true fluid in Chu Chang's body broke through to a full "sixty drops"!

boom!

A muffled thud.

At this moment, Chu Chang's cultivation level completely stabilized at the fourth level of the Foundation Condensation Realm!

That is, the mid-stage of the Foundation Condensation Realm!

call! ! !

The raging storm subsided instantly.

The Cleansing Pool returned to its calm state. However, the originally dark red water now appeared somewhat clear, as Chu Chang alone had absorbed nearly 30% of the spiritual and malevolent energy it contained!

"Splash!"

A splashing sound rang out.

A divine weapon, entirely black with dark gold and mysterious patterns flowing along its blade, exuding a chillingly sharp aura, rose from the bottom of the pool and landed steadily in Chu Chang's hand.

It was his iron sword.

After being tempered by countless sword intents in the Cleansing Pool and infused with the immense spiritual power just now, this ordinary iron longsword has been transformed and upgraded into a mid-grade magic weapon—the Golden Geng Demon-Suppressing Sword!

Chu Chang, holding the divine sword, stood up.

He slowly opened his eyes.

In those eyes, the left eye shone with a brilliant golden light, while the right eye flashed with a black light that disappeared in an instant before turning into a deep, dark abyss.

He felt the terrifying power within his body, which was more than ten times stronger than before, and felt the golden true liquid surging through his meridians like a great river. A cold and domineering smile slowly appeared on his lips.

"Mid-stage Foundation Condensation Realm..."

"That old fellow lurking in the shadows, this 'gift' you gave me... Chu Chang, I accept it!"

He turned around and looked at the towering stone archway.