Su Qin’s Strength

In the restricted area of Rear Mountain, Su Qin sat cross-legged on the ground. His aura appeared steady like that of an ordinary person's. However, if a first-rank grandmaster was present, they would have noticed that the area up to ten meters around Su Qin was filled with a faint unknown type of force field.

Even if a first-rank grandmaster entered the force field, their strength would have been suppressed dramatically. The suppression would only have increased to an even more terrifying level the closer they approached Su Qin.

'I finally found a way to transform my Internal Force…' thought Su Qin as he opened his eyes. A smile appeared on his face.

Over the past year, Su Qin once again went around the Shaolin temple, searching through every crack and cranny to see if there might have been any place that he missed out on signing in.

In the end, Su Qin discovered with much joy that after a certain period, he would have been able to return to the Rear Mountain to sign in again.

Apart from the Demon Buddha Armor technique, he went on to obtain the Evil Intent Parasite technique, the Burning Demon Fire technique, the Nine Strike Demon Buddha technique, and various other magical arts styles that belonged to Demon Buddha.

The Evil Intent Parasite technique was the technique used by the Demon Buddha to abandon his physical body and use his Evil intent to continue to survive in the world. Even though the technique could only be used by a Luohan. However, Su Qin was deeply aware of the terrifying aspects of the technique.

Someone who achieved the unbeatable Luohan status would only be able to live up to 500 years at the most. However, with the Evil Intent Parasite technique, the Demon Buddha was able to cling to life for more than a thousand years. That was the lifetime of two Luohans!

Despite that, Su Qin had no interest in the Evil Intent Parasite technique. Unless he had no other options and was forced to do so, he would never willingly become like the Demon Buddha who was neither ghost nor a man.

Compared to the Demon Buddha, Su Qin had unlimited potential. So, why would he need to use that technique to lengthen his lifespan?

Of course, Su Qin had no intentions of abandoning his physical body. However, there were concepts within the Evil Intent Parasite technique that was worth borrowing and learning from.

Apart from the Evil Intent Parasite technique, the Burning Demon Fire technique was the best thing that Su Qin obtained.

That magical art allowed one to use Spiritual Sense to start a Demon Fire. A Demon Fire had no form or substance but it burned off all the impurities within a person's Internal Force to give the result of purifying one's Internal Force.

'With the Burning Demon Fire technique, I can purify my Internal Force. At that speed, I should be able to complete the transformation of my Internal Force within five years!'

Su Qin's eyes lit up in excitement. Without the Burning Demon Fire technique, he only relied on slowly undergoing harsh training over time to achieve the transformation of his Internal Force. With that method, he would have needed at least decades of tough training to achieve that.

The Burning Demon Fire technique managed to reduce the time he needed by more than ten times. If one of those first-rank grandmasters who were out there undergoing harsh Internal Force training learned about it, they would have been envious.

Of course, Su Qin did not care about the opinions of any first-rank grandmasters. With the strength he had, dealing with any number of first-rank grandmasters was as easy as taking candy from a baby.

'It's a shame that all the power from the Rear Mountain seal has been used to subdue the Demon Buddha. Otherwise, I would've liked for my physical body to transform once more.'

Su Qin swept the area with his eyes. His expression was one of ruefulness. Even though he relied on the gold Buddha in the depths of his brow, Su Qin still had absolute control over the Rear Mountain seal.

However, Su Qin was aware of the seriousness of the matter. If he did use the seal and released the Demon Buddha, the losses suffered would have surely outweighed the gains.

Apart from that, Su Qin's current physical body was at its limit. Even if he did undergo another transformation, it might not have improved his physical strength that much. 

'After five years, once the transformation of my Internal Force is complete, I should be ready to attempt breaking through into the Luohan realm.'

Su Qin slowly got to his feet and started to head out of the Rear Mountain area. He sneaked past the warrior monks who stood guard and returned to the Miscellaneous Court in no time.

'I wonder how my current strength compares to Zhang Zhenren of the Wudang Sector who's the master of the Mengyuan Dynasty?' thought Su Qin to himself.

Both of those legendary warriors were the most powerful top first-rank martial artists in the world. An ordinary first-rank martial artist would not have dared to act impudently in front of them. Su Qin was curious to know where those two legendary warriors ranked within the top first-rank. 

After all, once a warrior achieved a transformation in any one of the three which consisted of Spirit, Internal Force, or their physical body, they could be called a top first-rank. They would be known as a top first-rank whether they achieved one, two, or three out of three transformations. 

Su Qin achieved a transformation in only two, namely in his Spirit and his physical body. However, with the terrifying strength that he achieved with merely his physical body, he would not have felt the slightest bit of fear even when faced with someone who achieved the transformation in all three aspects.

Even though Su Qin's current power was already one of the tops in the world, there was not a trace of pride or arrogance in him. That was because Su Qin felt that if he wanted to be truly unbeatable in the world, being a top first-rank was not going to cut it. He needed to be at least a Luohan before he even remotely met the requirements to be truly unbeatable.

To be honest, Su Qin felt that even if he attained the Luohan status, he would not have been unbeatable. After all, how did Luohan Tuo A of the Shaolin temple meet his end? Was it not because he had a battle to the death with the Demon Buddha and was forced to use the Buddha Palm technique to subdue him? That led to his injuries and died soon after.

What would happen if another Demon Buddha appeared in his generation?

The next day, Su Qin headed to the Bodhi temple to carry out his sweeping duties.

'System, sign in,' thought Su Qin silently.

[Congratulations, host! Your sign-in is successful. You have obtained the Troop Countenance Pill.] 

A cold robotic voice rang beside Su Qin's ear.

'The Countenance Preservation Pill?' Su Qin was slightly stunned. He never expected to obtain the Countenance Preservation Pill from signing in this time. 

It was because the Countenance Preservation Pill was not useful at all for someone like Su Qin. It would have been better if he obtained a Lesser Elixir Pill so he could have sucked on it like a sweet. Of course, some women considered the Countenance Preservation Pill a fine treasure because it helped them keep their youthful looks. 

'Oh well, I'll just keep it for now. There might be some use for it in the future.'

Su Qin returned the Countenance Preservation Pill into the system. After he signed in, Su Qin lifted his head to look at the Bodhi Court.

'Abbot Hui Wen's been in Closed-Door Meditation for a full year now. Why isn't he done yet? Did something happen?' wondered Su Qin.

He recalled that he faced no difficulties when he advanced from the second-rank to the first-rank. It was as easy as pie and as natural as a river flowing into the sea.

Abbot Hui Wen deliberately chose to attempt his breakthrough in the Bodhi Court because he wanted to take advantage of a large number of pills and elixirs there to increase the likelihood of success. Logically, there should not have been any problems.

'I'll have a look just in case.'

Su Qin opened his Truth Seeing Eye and looked toward the inside of the Bodhi Court. The Truth Seeing Eye observed traces of aura. At that moment, there were dozens of auras in the Bodhi Court that appeared within Su Qin's field of vision.

Su Qin quickly focused his Truth Seeing Eye on the aura belonging to abbot Hui Wen. After being in the Shaolin temple for over ten years, Su Qin was able to recognize abbot Hui Wen's aura with ease even though they barely interacted.

'Huh? Why's his aura so weak? Is he having a Qi Deviation?' muttered Su Qin under his breath as he frowned.