Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

This eerie black fog forced sea monsters and sea demons to flee westward, away from its encroachment. They landed on the coast and launched attacks on the eastern coastal areas, harming the people and plundering resources, bringing heavy disasters to the eastern coastal regions of the Great Qian Empire.

Besides the vast mountains and the depths of the East Sea, the northern wilderness of the Great Qian Empire, and Wanjiang Yusu in the south, all have been invaded by the black mist. Wherever the black mist passes, all life withers away, not a blade of grass grows, and it becomes a desolate and terrifying place.

The Great Qian Imperial City is extremely far from the black mist in any direction and is not currently threatened by it. The people of the Great Qian Empire are unaware of the existence of the black mist, let alone the terrifying threat it poses. They are only troubled by the attacks of demonic beasts on the eastern and western borders, which are causing them great distress. Little do they know that a greater catastrophe is quietly approaching.

Within the imperial city, the city remained a scene of peace and prosperity, with high-ranking officials drinking and making merry, completely unaware that a crisis capable of destroying the entire Great Qian Dynasty was quietly brewing, waiting for the moment to erupt.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and soon it was February 25th.

In the past few days, Jinzi has consumed a large number of Spirit Essence Pills and more than thirty late-stage level 5 demon beast inner cores. With the help of these abundant cultivation resources, its cultivation level has broken through again, successfully advancing to the late stage of level 5. Its combat power has been greatly enhanced, and its aura has become increasingly powerful.

Just as Jin Zi broke through, the system notification sounded in Su Mu's mind again.

[Congratulations, host! Your beast son 'Gold' has advanced to a late-stage Level 5 Flying Beast. The system reward has been sent to the system warehouse. Please check!]

Su Mu was overjoyed and quickly opened the system warehouse. When he saw the rewards in the warehouse, his eyes brightened and his heart was filled with surprise—the rewards this time were also very generous, including many rare and precious items.

Leaving aside the common types of pills in the system's warehouse, most of them are commonly used pills that nourish the spirit and restore true essence. For Su Mu now, they are not of much value and can only be used as auxiliary materials.

Among them, one particular pill stands out. It is quite remarkable and is called the "Fifth Grade Dragon Essence Pill." Like the Dao Soul Foundation Building Pill, it is a high-grade Earth-rank pill with extremely high quality and potent medicinal power, far surpassing ordinary pills.

Ordinary Dragon Essence Pills are mostly only of the high-grade Xuan level, with limited medicinal power. They can only be effective for martial artists in the Innate Realm and Grandmaster Realm, but have no effect on True Martial Realm experts. However, this fifth-grade Dragon Essence Pill is of a higher grade and has a more violent medicinal power. It is effective not only for True Martial Realm experts, but also for Martial King Realm experts. It can make a martial artist's combat power surge and explosive power greatly enhanced in a short period of time, making it a life-saving artifact in desperate situations.

With Su Mu's current strength, there is simply no opponent who could force him to take a Grade 5 Dragon Essence Pill. He could easily kill a True Martial Realm genius like Situ Chengjun without breaking a sweat; at least for now, Su Mu has neither discovered nor encountered an opponent stronger than Situ Chengjun.

"Just because we don't have it now doesn't mean we won't have it in the future." Su Mu thought to himself as he looked at the Grade 5 Dragon Essence Pill. "Having a pill like the Grade 5 Dragon Essence Pill is better than not having it. If I ever encounter an opponent whose strength far surpasses mine and find myself in a desperate situation, this Grade 5 Dragon Essence Pill might come in very handy, helping me turn the tide and save my life."

While thinking, Su Mu continued to examine the good things he had obtained this time, not wanting to miss any treasures.

Besides the Grade 5 Dragon Essence Pill, there is also a mid-grade Earth-rank soul defense magic treasure called the "Worry-Free Umbrella." This magic treasure has an exquisite design, is crystal clear, and exudes a faint spiritual aura. It can not only effectively protect the owner's soul and primordial spirit from soul attacks, but also keep the owner's mind clear and free from illusions and inner demons. However, it cannot be used to launch soul attacks, so its function is relatively simple, but it is still extremely practical.

Su Mu took the Worry-Free Umbrella out of the system warehouse, squeezed out a drop of essence blood from his fingertip, and dripped it onto the umbrella to complete the blood-binding ceremony. He then put it into his inner world of consciousness and kept it safe. Soul defense magic treasures are extremely rare and can protect one's primordial spirit and soul at critical moments. They cannot be lost.

Besides that, there was another very good item that caught Su Mu's eye—it was called "Eye of Illusion," a special technique of the high-grade Earth rank. It was not an offensive technique, but it had extremely strong practicality.

This technique allows one to easily see through various illusions, illusions, and disguises, revealing the true nature of things and preventing one from being deceived by appearances. Moreover, the higher the caster's spiritual realm, the stronger the power of this technique, and the more sophisticated the illusions and disguises it can detect, even seeing through the concealment techniques of some high-level experts.

On the very night that Jin Zi broke through to the late stage of the fifth level, Su Mu decided to launch an attack on the Grandmaster realm. The imperial aura in his body and the true essence in the inner world of his Qi Sea had accumulated enough to reach the critical point for breakthrough. He was only one step away from successfully breaking through and entering the Grandmaster realm, thus beginning a brand new path of cultivation.

After a period of adjustment, Su Mu took a Spirit Transformation Pill. The medicinal power of the pill instantly surged into the vast inner world of his Qi Sea, merging with the true essence within and stirring together to form a huge liquid vortex. The violent energy surged endlessly within the inner world of his Qi Sea, impacting the barriers of the Qi Sea and preparing for his breakthrough to the Grandmaster realm.

The key to breaking through to the Grandmaster realm lies not in the amount of energy, but in condensing the Primordial Spirit. The Primordial Spirit is the core of the Grandmaster realm and the symbol of a martial artist stepping from the True Martial realm to the Grandmaster realm. Only by successfully condensing the Primordial Spirit can one truly enter the Grandmaster realm and possess the combat power of a Grandmaster.

Su Mu cultivates the "Imperial Supreme Body Technique," which is different from ordinary techniques. What he needs to condense is not an ordinary Yuan Spirit, but an Imperial Yuan Spirit. This kind of Yuan Spirit is far more powerful than the Yuan Spirit of an ordinary Grandmaster. It contains a rich Imperial Qi and its combat power far exceeds that of an ordinary Yuan Spirit. Once he successfully condenses it, his strength will undergo a qualitative leap.

As the cultivation technique rapidly circulated, the true essence within the Qi Sea spun rapidly under the influence of the liquid vortex, constantly gathering and compressing, condensing towards the form of a primordial spirit. The medicinal power of the Spirit Transformation Pill played a crucial role in this process; it accelerated the rotation speed of the true essence and generated a powerful compressive catalytic force, helping the true essence condense more quickly and increasing the success rate of primordial spirit condensation.

The medicinal power of the Spirit Transformation Pill was quickly exhausted. Without any hesitation, Su Mu took another Spirit Transformation Pill. In any case, he had a sufficient number of Spirit Transformation Pills, more than he could count. Even if he wasted some, he wouldn't feel bad. As long as he could successfully break through to the Grandmaster Realm, it would all be worth it.

Similarly, the golden true fire within his Qi Sea also plays a crucial role in the condensation of his Yuan Spirit. Ordinary martial artists mostly use their acquired essence fire to assist in the condensation of their Yuan Spirit, with limited effect. However, Su Mu's acquired essence fire has long since transformed into a domineering golden true fire, its power far exceeding that of ordinary true fire. It not only accelerates the condensation of true essence but also tempers it, making the condensed Yuan Spirit purer and stronger. This ensures that his breakthrough will proceed smoothly without any unexpected incidents.