45. 3rd Level of Qi refinement

Fang Yang didn't even feel the prickling of ice cold needles that was synonymous with his cultivation art, instead, the medicinal power brought on by the Qi ascending pill overwhelmed it.

The pure Qi from the pill surged through his meridians like raging lava as his skin turned red, forcing him to exhale a mouthful of streaming hot air.

Fang Yang's brows furrowed as he concentrated hard, causing fine beads of sweat to drip down his forehead.

The Qi in his dantian began to swirl and under Fang Yang's deliberate manipulation, was forced to pass through the meridians used in the Ghost River Cultivation Art, causing them to swell and become fully saturated.

Just as Fang Yang thought he was going to burst, there was a sudden sound in his mind

'Click!'

After that, it was like a switch had been flipped and the floodgates had been opened.

Suddenly Fang Yang felt a liberating sensation as a warm wave of energy spread through his entire body, bringing it to an entirely new level.

Breakthrough!

He had broken through to the 3rd level of Qi refinement!

Fang Yang suddenly shot up as an unsettling ghostly black light flickered from his eyes.

Fang Yang clenched his fist, allowing his Qi to run through his meridians, and a small smirk appeared on his face.

He could clearly feel the increase in his strength as well as the quality and quantity of his Qi.

He had done in just a few weeks something that would have taken the previous Fang Yang several years.

Of course, he had much better conditions than his predecessor with his Battle Saint Corpse puppet and system, but even so. For Fang Yang, this was still important.

It was a complete solidification and confirmation of his beliefs.

He and the previous Fang Yang were not the same. He would never live the same pathetic life as him. Even if he still had the worst quality root bone, he would still defy fate!

With a few more treasures like a Qi ascending pill, what would be the difference between him and a Top quality root bone?

Of course, such treasures were rare and even if they were found, they would never be acquired easily, but for the current Fang Yang, it was a path and a direction that he could follow.

Even if it was desperate, it was better than resigning to the fate of his root bone and eventually turning into a pile of ash.

As Fang Yang was inspecting his new body and familiarising himself with his newfound strength, he suddenly remembered something.

He still had the three space bags of the brothers that he had killed in the mines.

After escaping the mines and receiving the Qi ascending pill, his mind had been so tunnel visioned he completely forgot about the spoils he had won.

But now that he had broken through and adjusted to his newfound strength, now would be a better time than any to check them out.

A few minutes later, the three space bags had been completely emptied with all their contents out in front of Fang Yang.

The three brothers were all mid stage cultivators, and they weren't too affluent either, so the contents weren't too amazing, but there was still a substantial haul.

The first thing he put aside were the three swords that the brothers had each used. Their quality was much better than Fang Yang's steel knives, with each one reaching the level of a Rank 1 treasure. They were not world breaking treasures but they at least had proper materials and arrays that allowed for a proper per conduction of Qi so they would benefit much more form Qi strengthening than regular weapons and also allow for the proper conduction allowing the wielder to produce things like sword lights without directly shattering their weapon.

Fang Yang could still use one sword, but he had no need for the other two and they could be sold for a decent amount of spirit stones.

Speaking of spirit stones, Fang Yang managed to pull a total of 80 spirit stones from the pockets of the 3 men when added up.

When Fang Yang saw this, he was not only surprised but also filled with regret.

If these guys had so many spirit stones laying around, then the other people he had robbed and exhorted probably had the same.

He should have increased the amount he took back then!

Feeling green with regret, Fang Yang still managed to console himself because there was still a good fact in this.

With the 80 spirit stones added to his current total, the amount Fang Yang had saved was enough to pay back the debt he had. He even still managed to have a few spirit stones left over.

But even with this amount of spirit stones, that wasn't even Fang Yang's biggest gain from the space bags.

His biggest gain would have to be the small rectangular piece of paper that occasionally flickered with a faint green glow.

A talisman!

And what made things better is that it was identical to the talisman that the man that he had first fought used to drastically increase his speed.

For Fang Yang, this was the best result.

He still prefers the speed increasing talisman over the fireball one.

Sure the fireball had amazing firepower, but besides firepower, what Fang Yang found to be the most important was life saving ability.

And his speed, in particular, was his greatest weakness. With this, his wealth had increased and his greatest flaw had been made up for, even if it was only temporary.

After finding the talisman, there was nothing really noteworthy left inside other than some Qi replenishing pills and some healing pills.

Fang Yang quickly organised everything and stored them all in his personal space bag, which was becoming more and more full by the day.

But after taking stock of his new resources, Fang Yang didn't want to rest.