The proof of Emperor Wu began with daily rewards for diligence.

Reflecting the inner self

When the old man handed four Soul Nourishing Pills with two patterns to Jiao Fengchun, he was completely dumbfounded.

"No? This is just a first-tier pill? You're treating it like a miracle cure?"

"Second-stage Golden Core cultivator, with that skill, wouldn't it be better to refine some higher-level pills?"

Chen Jue ignored Jiao Fengchun's ramblings. This old man had practically laid bare his plan to trick him into joining the group with a second-tier alchemy technique. It would be a miracle if he even bothered to talk back.

As usual, after selling the Spirit Sprout Pills he had accumulated over the past few days, Chen Jue accepted Jiao Fengchun's request for ten "Body Tempering Pills" and then leisurely left.

He took the opportunity to visit Wu Nanyuan on Cuihu Street.

The girl finally figured it out. She rented an 18th-floor duplex apartment in the neighborhood closest to Cuihu Street and installed a second-hand telescope on the roof.

She usually works here, cultivating her skills while secretly observing the situation on Cuihu Street.

"The Fire Cult has already conducted two hundred-person sacrifices on Green Lake Street in the past few days, using homeless people who can be found anywhere on the street—"

"And this trend is accelerating. They might kill tens of thousands of people on Cuihu Street before the 100-day memorial ceremony—"

Wu Nanyuan's voice was chilling.

Previously, she decided to stay at her post because of the garrison's monthly salary of 10,000 yuan.

Now, seeing how utterly depraved the Fire Cult is, I'm starting to feel a little scared.

However, this fear was quickly shattered by reality.

She needs to become stronger, and becoming stronger requires money. Martial artists fight for their lives, and reality doesn't allow her to back down.

"I bought the Body Tempering Pill you listed on the local website."

"You're a martial artist too. You must know how beneficial it would be to take a top-grade Body Tempering Pill, right?"

Chen Jue, unusually kind-hearted, spent 300,000 to buy back the Body Tempering Pills he had used to spur Wu Nanyuan on distributing the pills.

He knew Wu Nanyuan's idea: after selling the Body Tempering Pill, he could use the money to buy more and cheaper cultivation resources.

But after he did that, he became really strange!

It's like some rich guy is keeping a mistress!

Chen Jue was convinced. He shook off the filthy images in his mind and left Cuihu Street.

He took some time to stroll around the nearby community.

In short, the grand ceremony of the Shi Huo Sect is in full swing. Occasionally, some wandering martial artists come to cause trouble, but under the joint suppression of powerful families and the Shi Huo Sect, they cannot make too much of a fuss.

That's really ruthless, especially in the southern outer city.

Even with powerful families of the second or third rank in charge, organizations like the Red Bandits, outlaws, and divine exorcists still destroyed altars and wreaked havoc in this area.

Chen Jue even saw members of the Medicine King Sect colluding with the Fire Sect, engaging in battles between several third-realm martial artists, turning an entire block into ruins.

However, the main family and the royal family, who were able to decide everything, never came to a conclusion.

If Chen Jue hadn't known that the South and West Foreign Languages ​​were within their respective spheres of influence, he would have almost thought that these two families had nothing to do with the Shi Huo Sect and were two pure white lotuses emerging from the mud unsullied.

Back in the inner city, Chen Jue continued his diligent cultivation until midnight.

Pei Lingyu had something to do today, so she didn't say hello or come.

But diligence is rewarded by Heaven, and one should never be late.

[—Meditate for 10 hours, practice the Six Harmonies Blade Technique, the Heavenly Will Blade, and the Dragon Diving into the Abyss Step 20 times each, complete the Five Elements Body Tempering Treatise once, absorb one burst of soul power, and consume—]

[Today's evaluation: Diligent practice day and night, reward index 3.]

Double rewards

[————True Qi realm increased to True Qi level 7 (2.48%)]

[————Qi and Blood Value increased to (215.79%)]

[————Six Harmony Knife Technique Proficiency Increased to (8550/10000)]

[————The proficiency of the Heavenly Will Blade has been increased to (320/10000)]

【————The proficiency of the Dragon's Dive Step has been increased to (6922/10000)】

【————Hidden Spirit Technique Proficiency increased to (9200/10000)】

[Gain double the Soul Power.]

As Chen Jue settled into a stable cultivation routine, the rate at which spirit stones were consumed finally began to slow down. He no longer had to spend hundreds of spirit stones without getting a corresponding improvement.

A golden book of rewards for diligence hangs above his head; golden raindrops seep into Chen Jue's limbs and bones.

Chen Jue sat cross-legged on the futon, his internal energy, at the sixth level of true qi, surging like a mountain stream, rapidly colliding within his meridians, attempting to expand the boundaries of his meridians once again.

Chen Jue focused his mind and calmed his breath, continuously circulating the true energy within his body that had evolved from his talent of diligence, merging it strand by strand into the increasingly turbulent flow of his meridians.

The Five Elements True Qi is inherently much heavier than the True Qi of other two or three attributes.

When it surges forward, its kinetic energy is far greater.

The meridians within Chen Jue's body, which were originally only able to accommodate the flow of mountain streams, were forcibly torn apart and stretched open after being rapidly impacted by the Five Elements True Qi.

The effects of the Body Tempering Pill began to take hold, rapidly repairing and strengthening these damaged meridians, making them more resilient and able to channel more true energy.

Then comes the continuous expansion, repair, and strengthening.

Until Chen Jue's meridians began to ache and swell, even his internal organs were affected, and a slight tremor was felt.

The surging and violent Five Elements True Qi within his body finally came to a stop at the precipice and gradually calmed down.

After this ordeal, the originally constricted flow within Chen Jue's body suddenly widened several times over, transforming into a vast and expansive river.

The five elements of true energy flowed in the river, circulating throughout the body via the meridians, stable and powerful.

A faint wisp of five-colored true energy rippled across Chen Jue's body, indicating that he had advanced from the mid-stage of the True Qi Realm to the advanced stage.

He reached the late stage of the True Qi Realm.

The difference between the sixth and seventh levels of the True Qi Realm is no longer just a matter of the quantity of True Qi, but a qualitative change.

With just a small difference in cultivation level, the strength of one's true energy increases by more than 10% out of thin air!

No wonder some people say that only when a martial artist enters the late stage of the True Qi Realm can they truly distance themselves from others of the same realm. Every small step they climb after that is equivalent to the sum of all their previous efforts.

For example, Chen Jue currently has 3278 units of true qi in his body.

To advance to the eighth level of True Qi, he would need 6400 strands of Five Elements True Qi.

Chen Jue slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, which transformed into a white arrow of energy and dissipated in the quiet room.

He opened his eyes, his gaze sparkling like stars.

The improvement in the quality of his true qi made the five elements of true qi within his body even more substantial.

When dealing damage to the enemy, both power and endurance are greatly enhanced.

After the internal energy changed, Chen Jue's soul sea, hidden deep in his consciousness, also began to bubble up.

Chen Jue's second "Shadow Divine Power" began to be colored, and a spirit pattern called "Malice Perception" appeared at the bottom.

The effect is simple: it senses external malice towards the host and marks the entity that generates the malice.

This is yet another rather useless support soul skill.

However, Chen Jue couldn't quite manage a smile upon seeing this soul skill appear.

It should be understood that the so-called "Myriad Transformations of Shadows and Gap Divine Power" is a reflection of the strong desire in the heart of the Shadow Demon.

For example, if a certain Shadow Demon desires to plunder the souls of living beings, then the soul skill it awakens is very likely to be of the Soul Devouring type.

For example, if a certain Shadow Demon craves combat and killing, then the Soul Skill he awakens is likely to be a powerful Soul Skill such as "Shadow Pressure" or "Soul Impact".

The awakening of "malicious perception" more or less reflects Chen Jueyi's inner turmoil, which is both willing to choose to believe and afraid of betrayal.

The light in the quiet room fell on Chen Jue's handsome face, making it half bright and half dark.

Chen Jue was just a twenty-year-old boy, and he couldn't understand his own conflicted feelings.

Therefore, he chose to seek help from Ms. He Yin, who was outside the venue.

"Young Master!? Don't you want to see what time it is? Aren't you going to sleep at night?"

Ms. He Yin was very grumpy when she woke up, and she complained constantly.

Chen Jue told Ms. He Yin about his own inner conflict.

To everyone's surprise, my mother just smiled dismissively and revealed the key point.

"Son, you're doomed!"

"The more you care about something in this world, the more you worry about losing it."

"You're not just cold-hearted by nature, you're a yandere, the kind who would commit a crime of passion after a breakup."

"————" Chen Jue, who had learned from his elders' experience, was struck dumb.

Me? Chen Jue! A yandere?

Bullshit! I have absolutely no potential to become a lunatic!