Situation

In his own pill room, Chen Fei consumed a Light Spirit Pill and sat cross-legged, circulating the Suspending Force. After a full hour, Chen Fei opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

Chen Fei had yet to fully deduce the formula for the Light Spirit Pill, as he was stuck on the final step and could only grind it out slowly over time. According to Chen Fei's estimation, the formula for the Light Spirit Pill could probably be deduced in another month.

Although he had not received the formula for the Light Spirit Pill, it did not stop Chen Fei from using the pill to cultivate.

Due to the sale of the Qi Rejuvenation Pill in the black market, Chen Fei didn't make huge sums of money, but he did have small sums trickling through. A Light Spirit Pill costing fifteen taels of silver didn't cause Chen Fei any pressure when he consumed it.

With the perfect Suspending Force combined with the Light Spirit Pill, according to the feedback given by the interface, Chen Fei estimated that it would take nearly a year to advance his cultivation to the Bone Tempering Realm.

Compared to the previous year, the time required had decreased significantly.

If Chen Fei still wanted to continue to compress the time he needed to cultivate to the Bone Tempering Realm, he would either have to obtain a high-level inner strength cultivation technique or consume the Eternal Floating Pill.

High-level inner strength techniques were kept by the various aristocratic families in Pingyin County. Usually, only direct descendants could obtain them. Even if Chen Fei married into an aristocratic family, the possibility of obtaining inner strength techniques was very low.

Thus, in Pingyin County, there was a high chance that Chen Fei would not have the chance to obtain a stronger inner strength cultivation technique. He could only try his luck in the black market and obtain those cultivation techniques that could be simplified.

As for the Eternal Floating Pill, it was actually a medicinal pill for Marrow Tempering realm martial artists to consume. The Light Spirit Pill that Chen Fei currently consumed was usually only bought for cultivation by Bone Tempering Realm martial artists.

As a result, Chen Fei was actually already taking medicinal pills that crossed realms. Fortunately, the burden of the Light Spirit Pill on a martial artist's body was not great. One pill a day was completely within Chen Fei's tolerance range.

Chen Fei could probably consume the Eternal Floating Pill now. Unfortunately, there were almost no Eternal Floating Pills in Pingyin County. Even if they were available, they would be monopolized by the disciples of the various aristocratic families.

Chen Fei had never seen the Eternal Floating Pill in any of the medicine stores. Even if it appeared once or twice in the black market, it would be quickly bought out, and Chen Fei wouldn't even have the chance to make a move.

Chen Fei stood up and went to the courtyard, brandishing his long sword. Traces of sword qi surrounded the sword. As the sword light flickered, it was as if a flame had risen in the courtyard.

"Tsk!"

A moment later, Chen Fei withdrew his move. A straight ravine appeared on the ground, caused by the sword qi just now.

[Cultivation Technique: Fire Sword (Great Completion)]

It had been two days since he encountered the evil entity outside the city. Chen Fei had successfully cultivated the Fire Sword to Great Completion.

What made Chen Fei somewhat happy was that the perfection of the Fire Sword had actually brought about the growth of Immortal Way's power. Logically speaking, Immortal Way had already reached Great Completion, and its power was already fixed.

Later on, Chen Fei realized that it was his own growth that had opened up some of the limitations of Immortal Way. After all, his cultivation was only at the Body Tempering Realm, and his Sword Principle realm was relatively ordinary.

No matter how powerful Immortal Way was, it could only be displayed according to one's current conditions.

From this, one could see the immense power of the Cloud Sword Sect, where one move in a set of sword techniques surpassed all the other sword techniques Chen Fei had worked hard to combine. This also stimulated his admiration for the Cloud Sword Sect, which is truly a behemoth.

Two days ago, the Zhang family made a big move. Knowing that Sun Shu had become an evil existence and that all his hatred was directed at the Zhang family, the Zhang family was restless.

That day, the Zhang family gathered all their men, even those from the yamen, and rushed towards the forest outside the city.

Whether the two sides met in the end, no one knew, and everything was kept secret.

Chen Fei did not participate in this matter anymore. In the eyes of the public, Chen Fei was just a pill-refining alchemist in the Skin Toughening Realm. If it weren't for Zhang Yuezhen that day, Chen Fei would not have been involved in the fight.

As night fell, Chen Fei dressed up and appeared in the dark market.

"The situation in the south has been somewhat unfavorable lately. You should be careful." 

In the small hut, the smell of herbs filled the air. Chi Defeng looked at Chen Fei and smiled.

"Will the rebel army come to Pingyin County?" Chen Fei asked in surprise.

Since the imperial army suffered a major defeat, various rumors have been circulating in the county recently. Some say that the army will regroup and fight the rebel army to the death. Others say that the rebel army has surrounded the imperial army and is gradually killing them.

"I don't know yet, but the imperial army is now retreating towards Pingyin County, and it is still unclear where they will eventually station." 

"Are the rebels chasing after them?" Chen Fei asked.

"Not at the moment," Chi Defeng shook his head and said, "Those rebels have already occupied many cities and territories. They are currently trying to stabilize their rule and have no intention of continuing the pursuit."

Chen Fei breathed a sigh of relief. The battlefield was the most dangerous place for someone like him with a small build. Whether he could survive in such an environment was a question.

"Is there a way to get to the Cloud Sword Sect?" Chen Fei suddenly asked after thinking for a moment.

If one were to talk about where it was relatively safe now, apart from the large rear area of the court, it would probably be within the range of these top-notch sects. From skin refinement to organ refinement, commonly known as the Five Realms of Body Refinement. Above body refinement, there were even more advanced realms of cultivation. That was the true beginning of transcending the physical body.

In the Cloud Sword sect, there were such top-notch powerhouses. And it was precisely because of the existence of such powerhouses that the surroundings of the Cloud Sword sect appeared relatively peaceful.

There were rumors that there were wars raging throughout the court, and it was unknown where the problem lay. The only thing Chen Fei could think of at the time was to go to such top-notch sects.

As long as he raised his cultivation to a higher level, even if something happened later, he would have the ability to deal with it.

"No. The world outside was in chaos, with strange and mysterious things happening. It was difficult and dangerous to travel such a long distance," Chi Defeng shook his head and said, "It wasn't that time yet."

Chen Fei nodded with a slight furrow of his brow and began to count that day's medicinal herbs. After a moment, Chen Fei handed a herb to Chi Defeng, and Chi Defeng handed another herb back to Chen Fei from behind with an expressionless face.

Chen Fei's eye twitched slightly. The game of distinguishing between true and false had not yet ended. The key was that Chi Defeng now had no hint of shame, just a look of "Oh, you found out, great."

"By the way, if I encounter any evil entities, do you have any good ideas for survival?" Before leaving, Chen Fei suddenly asked.

Unless it were absolutely necessary, Chen Fei would not leave Pingyin County alone. But if there really was such a day, on the journey, he was not afraid of anything else, only afraid of encountering an unstoppable strange phenomenon, which would really be troublesome.

"Oh? Have you encountered something evil lately?" Chi Defeng looked Chen Fei up and down a few times, but he didn't seem to be missing any limbs.

"I went out of the city a few times and encountered some."

"How did you deal with it?" Chi Defeng asked curiously.

"I used internal energy to wear one down, and I couldn't wear down the other, so I just ran away." Chen Fei remembered that time with Sun Shu. It was too dangerous, luckily he ran fast enough.