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

"Hmm? Skipping directly to the mid-stage of level six and breaking through to the late-stage of level six in one step?"

Su Mu raised an eyebrow slightly, feeling quite surprised.

Ordinary demon beasts face immense difficulties in cultivation, with thick barriers to their realms. It often takes several years or even decades to break through a small rank, and it is almost impossible for them to break through two ranks in a row.

Jinzi's leap across two minor realms in one step is nothing short of astonishing.

After a moment's thought, Su Mu suddenly understood and realized that it made perfect sense.

Jin Zi's foundation far surpasses that of other demonic beasts of the same level. He had previously devoured the inner cores and essence of countless high-level demonic beasts, and even absorbed the spiritual bodies and profound bodies of powerful alien races, making him incredibly fortunate.

Most importantly, it had consumed a few drops of Su Mu's Imperial Body essence blood. The two were connected by blood, and Su Mu's Imperial Body essence blood was an unparalleled treasure, greatly aiding the transformation of the gold, far surpassing ordinary rare and precious materials.

It is precisely because of this gradual accumulation that this leapfrog breakthrough has been achieved.

Su Mu got up and left the room, personally feeding Jinzi several high-grade pills and demon beast cores, allowing it to soar freely in the sky, stretch its body, and fully adapt to its soaring cultivation and new physique.

After settling the gold, Su Mu returned to his room, opened the system warehouse, and tallied up the generous rewards.

Inside the warehouse, treasures were plentiful and elixirs were piled up, the harvest far exceeding expectations.

Aside from a host of common elixirs, there were countless rare treasures.

Thirty top-grade Earth-rank Profound Spirit Creation Pills can temper and transform a cultivator's Profound Spirit, nourish their Primordial Spirit, and are priceless.

Thirty pills of the Sixth Grade Nirvana Pill, for healing injuries, strengthening the body, and reshaping the body through Nirvana, with endless wondrous uses.

Two hundred Xuanlu Nourishing Spirit Pills are top-notch medicines for daily cultivation, stabilizing one's realm, and restoring spiritual power.

Furthermore, there are ten brand-new top-grade earth-rank pills—Sixth-Rank Dragon Essence Pills.

The previous fifth-grade Dragon Essence Pill and the high-grade Earth-rank Dragon Essence Pill have little effect on Su Mu now, but this sixth-grade Dragon Essence Pill is of extremely high quality and contains a powerful source of dragon power. When he swallows one pill when fighting an enemy, his combat power will instantly increase dramatically, with an extremely strong amplification.

Besides the elixir, there are two other top-tier treasures.

Firstly, a brand new Earth-rank top-grade Ink Gold Puppet.

The previous high-grade Earth-rank Ink Gold Puppet could only restrain early-stage Martial Emperors and was powerless against mid-stage Martial Emperors. This top-grade Ink Gold Puppet, however, is made of harder material and has more domineering combat power. In a head-on one-on-one fight, it can easily suppress early-stage Martial Emperors, rival mid-stage Martial Emperors, and even forcibly restrain late-stage Martial Emperors with its immortal puppet body. It is of great help to Su Mu now.

Secondly, a top-grade Earth-rank talisman for warding off evil.

Exorcising talismans are specifically designed to counter evil and malevolent spirits; the higher the grade, the stronger the power. This top-grade talisman can unleash a powerful exorcising pressure even against a powerful evil spirit in the late Martial Emperor stage, intimidating the opponent and preventing them from approaching. Even if the opponent launches a forceful attack, the talisman's power can gradually dissipate the attack and resist the evil spirit's power.

"This talisman is perfect for subduing the Black Mist Monster Clan!"

Su Mu's eyes gleamed with excitement; he was extremely satisfied with his gains.

Compared to the current rewards, he was more looking forward to the future gains—the system rewards for Chang Wei's breakthrough to the Martial Emperor realm were already within reach, and they would surely be even more generous and incredible.

Inside the Yangxin Palace, Xiao Yunshang looked up and saw Jinzi soaring in the sky with its wings spread and its aura surging. She understood that Jinzi had already undergone a breakthrough and transformation.

However, she did not go to the library to disturb them, but quietly waited for news from Su Mu. She knew that when the time was right, Su Mu would come to find her, and together they would go to the East City to wipe out the Ghost Clan.

Su Mu remained calm and did not rush into action.

There was still one crucial matter on his mind that he had not yet accomplished.

That night, Su Mu sat alone in his room and took out the top-grade earth-rank fire crystal gem that he had treasured for a long time.

To ensure absolute safety and prevent any accidents during cultivation, he first swallowed a sixth-grade Dragon Essence Pill, instantly bringing his overall condition to its peak, stabilizing his physical body, spiritual power, and primordial spirit.

After making thorough preparations, Su Mu then activated his cultivation and drew upon the Fire Crystal Gem.

In an instant, pure, domineering, and boundless fire-elemental energy surged forth from the fire crystal gem, flowing into Su Mu's meridians and body.

This fire-elemental energy contains the immense power of heaven and earth, far surpassing ordinary true fire. Only energy of this level can support true fire to break through its constraints and transform into mystical fire.

With the invincible body tempered by the Black Dragon's essence blood and the added protection of the sixth-grade Dragon Essence Pill, Su Mu's physical body was strong enough to withstand the extremely violent fire elemental source.

The extreme fire energy both scorched and tempered his physical body and meridians, while continuously merging into his purple-gold true fire.

The raging fire surged violently, undergoing layer-by-layer transformations, and embarking on its ultimate advancement.

A night of arduous practice passed in the blink of an eye.

The next day at dawn, as the sky began to brighten.

Su Mu's body trembled with flames, all the shackles were broken, and the true fire successfully completed its transformation, advancing into a true profound fire!

His Xuanhuo still retains its unique purple-gold color, its origin is domineering and its power is unparalleled, far surpassing ordinary Xuanhuo in the world.

However, having just broken through, it has not yet been refined and matured. Compared to its original True Fire advantage, it is now only slightly stronger than ordinary Profound Fire, and there is still a great deal of room for growth and improvement.

After completing the breakthrough, Su Mu did not rush into action. Instead, he spent an entire morning carefully comprehending and thoroughly mastering the newly born Xuan Fire, stabilizing his state completely.

At noon, the sun blazed down, shining brightly on the earth.

Su Mu moved swiftly and headed straight for Yangxin Palace. He found Xiao Yunshang, and without exchanging a word, the two leaped into the air and landed outside the east gate of the Great Qian Imperial City in an instant.

Now, a thick black fog has spread throughout the eastern part of the city, and the city gates have long been completely sealed off, cutting off all movement of people. The soldiers and guards who used to garrison the city walls have all withdrawn, leaving the city empty and desolate.

Ordinary people and low-level cultivators dare not approach the black mist area. If they get too close, they will be disturbed by the strange murmurs and mind-altering sounds coming from the black mist, lose their reason, rush into the black mist, and eventually be devoured and killed by the ghost race.

Su Mu raised his hand and summoned a high-grade Earth-rank Ink Gold Puppet, ordering it to be the first to break into the black mist to investigate the enemy's situation.

He did not infuse the puppet with the newborn Xuan Fire. The high-grade puppet's material was limited and could not withstand the domineering power of the Xuan Fire. Forcibly infusing it would only destroy it instantly.

The puppet still contained the true fire and true spirit power that Su Mu had previously infused into it, and its combat strength remained considerable.

The moment the puppet plunged into the pitch-black mist, the entire mist suddenly churned violently, instantly alerting countless hidden monsters within, who then launched a frenzied attack.

The purple-gold flames surrounding the puppet rapidly dimmed and teetered on the brink of collapse under the erosion of the black mist.

Wielding a mid-grade Earth-rank longsword, it fought back fiercely. The sword light was sharp, and each strike could pierce through the illusory body of the Ghost Clan, but it was difficult to cause fatal damage.

Only the power of true fire surrounding his body can restrain the Ghost Clan; touching it will cause the Ghost Clan's body to shrink and its power to weaken.

Su Mu had already figured out the characteristics of the Ghost Clan. Thunder and fire power and soul attacks were the two most effective ways to kill the Ghost Clan.

The Ink Gold Puppet only possesses the power of lightning and fire attacks and cannot unleash soul attacks. Faced with a large and continuous number of Ghost Clan members, it is extremely difficult to completely kill even one Ghost Clan member.

Within the black mist, the Ghost Clan is uniquely endowed, as all damage they suffer is greatly reduced. At the same time, they can use the power of the black mist to rapidly repair their bodies and restore their combat strength, making them extremely difficult to completely annihilate.

This is the fundamental reason why human warships always suffered heavy losses when they ventured into the Black Mist region.

Those warships were all made of special materials and engraved with countless runes and formations. They were originally good at resisting the invasion of evil spirits and weakening the attack of the ghost race. However, even so, they still suffered heavy losses.

As long as the warship is damaged, the runes are broken, and the formation is ineffective, the Ghost Clan can break into the warship without restraint, slaughtering cultivators and destroying the warship.

"I'll go in and help too!"

Xiao Yunshang spoke in a deep voice, her figure flashed, and she plunged into the dark mist with a silver whip in her hand.

With the Mo Jin puppet drawing most of the Gui Clan's firepower, the attacks she faced upon entering the arena were greatly reduced, and the pressure on her was significantly lessened.

She was dressed in a top-quality white robe, surrounded by lightning and burning with silver true fire, her aura of extreme strength and yang spreading wildly.

Although she was a newly promoted Martial Emperor in the early stage and had not yet broken through to the middle stage, and her True Fire had not yet transformed into Profound Fire, she possessed the Innate Profound Thunder Body, a gift of extraordinary talent.

His profound spiritual power and true fire contain the power of supreme yang thunder, which perfectly counters evil and treacherous spirits, making him extremely lethal and deterrent to the ghost race.

Entering the depths of the black mist, Xiao Yunshang held nothing back, directly activating her innate martial soul. The dazzling and magnificent Thunder Phoenix Martial Aspect manifested in the air, hovering within the black mist, exuding divine might.

The sacred and domineering aura of the Thunder Phoenix swept across the surrounding area, causing all the surrounding demons to show fear and dare not approach easily.

Su Mu stood at the edge of the black mist, not in a hurry to enter.

He had not yet fully grasped the overall strength of the demon race in this black mist, nor did he have any experience fighting against the demon race. Therefore, he stopped to observe and wait for an opportunity to act, carefully investigating the overall situation.