Chapter 368: A Way
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
All of them were pleased, and even deliberately organized a celebration for it.
Putting aside the breakthrough to the next major cultivation tier, after one had broken through to the Spiritual Ocean Tier, one could possibly need more than a year's time to break through to the next cultivation layer and all these minor breakthroughs were worth celebrating, so breaking through to the next major cultivation tier was naturally a day of big celebration.
Guang Yuan and Can Ye broke through simultaneously, so this was naturally a double celebration. It also increased the pressure on Liu Yu Tong and Zhu Wu Jiu. They were still some distance away from the ninth layer of the Gushing Spring Tier, so they had fallen back a bit too much. Yet Ling Han told them to try slowing down their cultivation rate as much as possible—the smartest thing to do was to strengthen their foundations as much as they could.
Only Li Si Chan was not the slightest bit anxious. She was an alchemist, so it was all right even if her cultivation rate was a bit slower as long as it did not drag down the advancement of her art of alchemy.
In the past, Guang Yuan naturally was the undeniable most powerful one of their group, but after Ling Han had broken through to the Spiritual Ocean Tier, his place as the "top spot" naturally had to be yielded to the latter. After that, even Hu Niu could easily suppress him with her superior speed.
Thankfully, he had now broken through to the Spiritual Tier and regained his top spot, which allowed him to get back a bit of his pride; he was obviously more pleased as a result.
"Duan Zheng Zhi is chasing after us?" When Guang Yuan heard the news from Ling Han, his eyes instantly became furious and his hands curled tightly into fists. He said, "I want to kill him!"
"You have just broken through. In terms of personal ability, you are not his equal, what more when he still has a Level Five Spirit Tool in his possession. If you seek him now, you would still be going to your death. The only difference is whether you die sooner or later," Ling Han said calmly.
Though these words were not pleasant to hear, they were the truth.
Guang Yuan calmed down and asked, "Young Master Han, what should I do?"
"Firstly, you must place your focus on cultivation. As long as you are able to break through to the Flower Blossom Tier, then what would a Level Five Spirit Tool count as?" Ling Han raised a finger to emphasize his point.
Guang Yuan shook his head and said, "I am well aware of my own talent. I am inferior to Can Ye and Miss Yu Tong. At most, my talent is about the same as Zhu Wu Jiu. It would be difficult for me to cross the boundary between the mortal and immortal plane! Even if I have a supply of alchemical pills from Young Master Han, I would still need a minimum of ten years."
Ten years… even though it seemed like a very long time, in truth, it was an overwhelmingly short time for a martial artist to break through to the Flower Blossom Tier. That was because merely passing through all the cultivation layers from the first layer of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier all the way to the ninth would require who knew how long? What more when he still had to break through the boundary between the mortal and immortal plane—that was the real difficulty here.
Just take a look at the Winter Moon Sect and you'd know. There were numerous people in the Spiritual Pedestal Tier and they had no lack of Sixth Tier cultivation techniques, yet why were there only so few people in the Flower Blossom Tier?
Stepping over this threshold was really too difficult!
Ten years would be enough for him to advance from the first layer of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier to the Flower Blossom Tier—if these words were heard by others, they would definitely laugh themselves to death. How could it possibly be so fast?
However, these few people in the Black Tower all looked as if this was completely natural. With an Earth Grade alchemist to support them and with innumerable Spirit Grass growing in the Black Tower, there would be no shortage of alchemical pills, so how could it not be an easy thing for cultivation to advance, breaking through to the next major cultivation tier?
On the other hand, it was strengthening their foundations that would take more time. After all, they had used alchemical pills to forcibly advance their cultivation.
Zhu Wu Jiu's face twitched, and he said, "Big Brother Guang, if you want to be modest, it's up to you. Why must you strike me a blow in passing as well? I don't think I've offended you, have I?"
The others could not help but laugh. Zhu Wu Jiu's martial arts talent was bad, he could indeed not compare two geniuses like Liu Yu Tong and Can Ye.
Ling Han pondered for a moment, then said, "If you really want to get your vengeance immediately, it's not that I don't have a way for you to do that, but this will require you to pay a very heavy price."
"As long as I can kill Duan Zheng Zhi, I am willing to pay any price!" Guang Yuan immediately declared.
Ling Han looked at the determined expression on his face and said, "I can concoct the Little Three Yang Boiling Blood Pill which will temporarily raise your ability to the ninth layer of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, whereas your battle prowess would be close to one who has half a foot in the Flower Blossom Tier."
Guang Yuan was instantly excited and said, "I should have 99% chance to kill Duan Zheng Zhi!"
Duan Zheng Zhi was only in the third layer of the Spiritual Pedestal Tier, and even if he had a Level Five Spirit Tool, it was impossible that he could compare to an opponent who had half a foot in the Flower Blossom Tier.
"However, after the effects of the medicine have passed, you will drop down a major cultivation tier, which will not recover with time!" Ling Han said solemnly. "Which means that you will have to start cultivating all over again from the first layer of Spiritual Ocean Tier."
Liu Yu Tong and the others' expressions changed slightly. For a martial artist, what was more terrifying than their cultivation falling back? Furthermore, that was a drop by a major cultivation tier. It would be like one was still a noble god today, yet would drop onto ground level the next day. How many people would be able to withstand such a massive change?
Yet Guang Yuan did not hesitate in the slightest and said, "Please help me, Young Master Han! This life of Guang Yuan will be sold to Young Master Han from now onwards! I will definitely recover my cultivation as soon as possible and serve Young Master Han!"
Falling back of cultivation was indeed scary, but if one looked at it from a different aspect, it did not mean that there was nothing to be gained.
And that was that one would be able to cultivate all over again and improve those parts that he had overlooked, thus strengthening their foundations and make them even sturdier than before. Furthermore, with the experience of having broken through, there would naturally be no bottleneck in his cultivation as long as there was an adequate supply of cultivation resources.
And this happened to be something he needed not worry about.
Ling Han nodded and said, "I will begin concocting the Boiling Blood Pill as soon as possible. You study more fully the Battle Image Fists to ensure that it would be a surefire win."
"Yes!" Guang Yuan nodded.
Ling Han did not immediately concoct the pill—mainly because he was lacking one main ingredient. Thus, he exited the Black Tower and headed towards the nearest settlement.
As he expected, Duan Zheng Zhi caught up with him not too long after. This time, Ling Han did not duck into the Black Tower, but rather used his movement technique to compete with him. Just when the latter was about to catch up with him, Ling Han arrived successfully at the next city.
The remaining dregs of the Thousand Corpse Sect were akin to gutter rats, so how could he possibly dare to expose his identity in public?
As a result, Duan Zheng Zhi only glared fiercely at Ling Han, and it was only after Ling Han's figure disappeared at the city gates that he gave a cold humph and left swiftly. Needless to say, he must have gone somewhere, waiting to ambush Ling Han.
"This perverted corpse man, if it was not for the fact that I have to leave you to Guang Yuan, I would definitely make you experience some suffering!" Ling Han said. He had the Demon Birth Sword, and even if he was not Duan Zheng Zhi's equal, there was no need for him to avoid him like he had all this while. It was only because he wanted to leave Duan Zheng Zhi for Guang Yuan to deal with that he had deliberately pretended weakness.
He had a huge shopping spree in the city. That main ingredient lacking for the concoction of the Boiling Blood Pill could not be considered too rare, but it was still a Level Five Spirit Grass after all, so the price was still extremely shocking. Ling Han had to pay more than 50,000 Origin Crystals for it.
Aside from that, Ling Han had also unrestrainedly bought other Spirit Grass—all the types the Black Tower did not have. For a large number of them, he directly purchased their seeds, intending to bring them back to be planted. With the cheating tool that was the Black Tower in his possession, ordinary Spirit Grass needed only grow for a month or so and would be ripe enough to be used in medicine.
However, after spending so much money, there was not many Origin Crystals he had left. There was even barely enough left for cultivation.
"I have to hurry and get to the Extreme Yang City, then concoct some alchemical pills to earn money. Otherwise, putting aside the purchase of the two main ingredients, even the Origin Crystals I need for cultivation would be gone." Ling Han immediately entered into the Black Tower and began to concoct the Little Three Yang Boiling Blood Pill.
The Boiling Blood Pill was a class of alchemical pills; there were still two other types called the Great Three Yang and Extreme Three Yang. However, the lowest acceptable cultivation level necessary to take these two pills were the Flower Blossom Tier and the Deity Transformation Tier, respectively. They could allow one to increase their battle prowess by close to a whole cultivation tier, but it was not possible for them to exceed the major cultivation tier.
For example, if one in the ninth layer of the Flower Blossom Tier took it, he would only be able to gain ability close to one who had half a foot in the Spiritual Infant Tier, so there was not much difference. However, the side effects were the same, and that was directly slicing off his cultivation by a whole major cultivation tier.
And if Guang Yuan were to take the Great Three Yang Boiling Blood Pill now, there would only be one result: his body would explode and he would die.
It took only about an hour, and Ling Han had concocted four Little Yang Boiling Blood Pills.