Gulp, gulp!
The moment Ling Xiao entered the cold pool of golden liquid, he felt it seeping directly into his body through his pores, then flowing through every capillary.
The icy sensation nearly froze his blood vessels.
Startled, an image of cultivating the “Snow Lotus Qi Technique” flashed through his mind.
The gang qi produced by the “Snow Lotus Qi Technique” was ice-attributed, so this chill should be absorbable.
With that thought, he didn’t hesitate, his gang qi quickly began circulating according to the technique’s method.
The next moment, something astonishing happened, the cold qi was entirely absorbed by the “Snow Lotus Qi Technique” and condensed into gang qi.
The gang qi he’d previously lost was rapidly replenished.
Not only that, by the time he completed the first layer of the “Snow Lotus Qi Technique,” his cultivation had fully stabilized at the peak of Martial Vein Fourth Layer.
He’d been close before, but there was still a gap, yet now, in mere moments, he’d reached the peak of Martial Vein Fourth Layer.
Breaking through to Martial Vein Fifth Layer might not even be a problem.
But while the cold qi was absorbed, the golden liquid mixed into his blood made him extremely uncomfortable.
In a panic, Ling Xiao began cultivating the “Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique” at the same time.
Normally, no one would practice two martial arts simultaneously, it not only split focus but could also prevent both from advancing well.
But the situation was dire, and Ling Xiao couldn’t afford to care.
Sure enough, once the “Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique” started running, the golden liquid in his body began to be absorbed.
Marvelous!
Simply marvelous!
The cold qi fueled the “Snow Lotus Qi Technique,” greatly boosting his gang qi.
The golden liquid powered the “Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique,” vastly enhancing his physical toughness.
And his soul felt no strain at all.
It likely had a lot to do with this cold pool of golden liquid, just moments ago, entering the “soul immersion” state had left his soul exhausted.
But after entering the pool, even his soul felt nourished.
This suggested that, beyond gang qi and physique, the golden liquid could also strengthen the soul to some degree.
Too bad he didn’t have a soul cultivation secret method, or it’d be even better.
Still, one shouldn’t be too greedy, the current situation was already excellent, a tremendous stroke of luck for him.
He stopped overthinking, closed his eyes, and focused on cultivating the “Snow Lotus Qi Technique” and “Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique.”
Both were top-tier martial arts, the feeling was worlds apart from high-level ones.
As time passed, the cold pool of golden liquid rapidly dwindled, if someone were nearby, they’d notice.
In just half an hour, it had dropped at least an inch.
But in its place, Ling Xiao’s two top-tier martial arts were advancing quickly.
The cold qi and golden liquid were split roughly fifty-fifty, so the progress of both techniques was also about even.
Another half hour passed, and a look of delight crossed Ling Xiao’s face.
He sensed his realm showing faint signs of a breakthrough.
By now, the “Snow Lotus Qi Technique” had reached the third layer, achieving minor completion.
He could clearly tell his gang qi had hit a terrifying level, in terms of sheer volume, even an average Martial Vein Sixth Layer martial artist might not match him.
The cold qi’s boost to gang qi was incredible.
Meanwhile, the “Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique” broke through its barrier, advancing from the fourth turn to the fifth.
The fifth turn marked minor completion for this top-tier defensive martial art, making his body tough inside and out, impervious to blades and spears.
This minor completion raised his defense to the peak of Martial Vein Fifth Layer, perhaps even higher.
His strength increased by about three hundred jin, nearing fifteen hundred jin now.
Before, his attack power was his forte, reaching the peak of Martial Vein Fifth Layer, while his defense lagged.
Now, his defense seemed to outstrip his attack power.
As long as he stabilized the “Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique” at the fifth turn, becoming impervious to weapons should be easy.
Of course, that was just a guess, he’d need real combat to confirm.
But he didn’t have time for that now, having stumbled into this place and gained access to the golden liquid.
He didn’t want to leave so soon.
At the very least, he’d raise his cultivation to Martial Vein Fifth Layer and solidify the “Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique” at the fifth turn before departing.
With that decided, he pressed on with cultivating both techniques.
He trained from day to night, then from night back to day.
The “Snow Lotus Qi Technique” smoothly hit the fifth layer, his gang qi kept climbing, yet it still hadn’t reached the breakthrough threshold.
This showed his capacity to store gang qi far exceeded others’.
His current gang qi volume matched a peak Martial Vein Sixth Layer martial artist.
Of course, it was just quantity.
But quantity had its perks.
Many battles didn’t end quickly, victory often hinged on who had more gang qi.
No pill could match the reliability of one’s own gang qi.
Another hour passed, and Ling Xiao felt his gang qi reach saturation, it was time to advance.
In this state, he could break through to Martial Vein Fifth Layer without any pills.
But for safety, he plucked a roughly five-hundred-year-old snow lotus and ate it.
The snow lotus entered his body, its cold qi swiftly spread through his organs.
Then it quickly turned into threads of vital energy.
With this vitality guarding his heart meridians, even if the breakthrough failed or he went astray, he wouldn’t die or lose his mind.
Breaking through was a perilous endeavor for any martial artist, without heart-protecting or vein-guarding pills, you needed something else to shield your heart meridians.
Snow lotus was one such option.
Thriving in extreme cold, its vibrant life force was proof of its resilience.
Its protective effect outshone heart and vein pills by far.
Without overthinking, Ling Xiao ate the snow lotus and ran the “Snow Lotus Qi Technique” to break through.
Another day passed.
Night fell.
In the Fulong Mountain Range, many beasts stirred.
A massive Herculean Ape sat outside a strange dragon-shaped structure, beside it lay a freshly killed Level Six demonic beast.
Its dinner.
It stared intently at the building, that damned tiny human still hadn’t emerged.
It could sense the guy’s presence but couldn’t get in.
Boom!
Suddenly, a terrifying roar erupted from the structure.
The Herculean Ape leapt up, roaring in frustration.
Its intelligence rivaled humans’, so it knew, the human inside had broken through!
Though still no match for it, the ape understood there must be something valuable in that dragon-shaped building.
Its eyes blazed red, and it slammed a fist against it.
But, like every attempt before, it was futile.
