Chapter 17: Rapid Increase in Cultivation Level

"There are many great Grandmasters in the world, but there is indeed one who is widely recognized as the strongest!"

That is Master Zhang Quanyi of the Zhen Wu Sect, who is ninety-nine years old and has been unbeaten throughout the world in his time.

Lu Yuan's spirits were lifted.

"Back then, when the disciples of the Sun and Moon Demon Sect killed one of his disciples, Elder Zhang single-handedly went up to the Sect's Main Headquarters. He went on a killing spree, turning the Blue Mountains red with blood, leaving the Demon Sect members trembling in fear, beheading Sect Leaders, and killing Elders, almost exterminating them. Thus, the Demonic Sect was gravely weakened and has laid dormant ever since."

Apart from him, there are also the Chunyang Master of the Chunyang Sect, the Lengyue Fairy of the Lengyue Palace, Sword God He Yiming of the Divine Sword Villa, the contemporary Sect Leader Yang Kaitai of the Sun and Moon Demon Sect, and Wang Wudi, the overseer of the Six Gates who sits in the court. They are all acknowledged as powerful Grandmasters.

"I believe that the Dalin Temple should also have a Grandmaster, and I even suspect that there is more than one. As for the others, it's hard to say."

In the small courtyard, Lu Yuan sipped his wine, and then counted on his fingers, finally unable to resist asking, "Shouldn't you already know this stuff?"

"I have always been in seclusion, so I know very little about the outside world. Brother Lu, we hit it off right away, so let's drink three hundred cups together, please!"

"Haha, please!"

The two men drank and chatted with each other.

Jiang Ming saw Second Brother Hu coming over and said to Lu Yuan, "Brother Lu, as a righteous Grandmaster, you must have quite a few friends, right?"

"Of course! I am known as the dashing and charming man with a reputation that spans across the world of martial arts, and am considered the most passionate and chivalrous person. The Chunyang Sect, the Zhen Wu Sect, the Dalin Temple, and the Six Gates, each with my friends."

"Brother Lu is well-connected, I admire that!" Jiang Ming gave a thumbs up and said, "I am going to go down the mountain to make friends through martial arts and battle the world. But I cannot set my mind at ease about the village. In the past, this place used to be a bandit's den, but after I subdued it, its nature has changed, and now the people on the mountain only want to lead a good life. But I'm afraid that once I leave, it will bring trouble. Brother Lu, could you help me out a bit, to relieve my worries? I'll owe you a favor."

Upon hearing this, Second Brother Hu couldn't help but be moved and even more grateful.

They were trying to secure the village's future.

He looked at Lu Yuan with hopeful eyes.

"Brother Jiang is truly passionate!" Lu Yuan thought about it for a while, "However, given your strength, if you publicize tonight's battle, who would dare to be presumptuous? But your concerns are also reasonable, we should be afraid of villains, not gentlemen. Let me think, as for the village... Generally, it would fall under local jurisdiction but the Six Gates would also oversee it. How about this, I have some connections with Wang Wudi of the Six Gates, I can send him a letter asking him to take care of this place."

"Thank you, Brother Lu, now I can set my worries aside!" Jiang Ming bowed with his hands clasped.

"Brother Jiang, I am very curious, with your strength, you shouldn't be hiding here, and I haven't heard of your name either. Could it be that you are from a hidden family?" Lu Yuan asked again.

"I come from the sky!" Jiang Ming pointed to the sky.

Lu Yuan was speechless, showing a resentful expression.

Two days later.

On the official road to Mount Dependence City, there was a large carriage, driven by an old coachman. Despite the two horses in front, he controlled them with remarkable skill.

By his side, there was another horse, on which Lu Yuan lay. He mumbled, "Brother Jiang, this is too slow."

"The slower it goes, the more we can appreciate the beauty of the mountains and rivers!" Jiang Ming's voice came from inside the carriage, and he rolled up the curtain as well.

Also in the carriage was Lan, who took care of their daily needs.

In his words, life is meant to be enjoyed, so why bother riding fast and sleeping in the wilderness.

"Oh, give it a rest!" Lu Yuan sat upright, "I'll go ahead first and wait for you at a resting place."

"That's fine." Jiang Ming nodded, "Brother Lu, can you lend me some more Qi?"

"Don't even dream about it. The Master-level Realm is achieved by personal comprehension, not by understanding the different quality of someone else's Qi. If it were that easy, powerful Grandmasters would be everywhere!"

Nonetheless, Lu Yuan shot out a strand of Qi before galloping off.

Jiang Ming captured the Qi in his hand, carefully sensing its differences from his own.

"It doesn't work for others because they are not me!"

He closed his eyes, feeling it carefully.

Lan sat quietly beside him. Seeing that there was nothing for her to do, she prepared to start her own cultivation when she felt Jiang Ming's aura suddenly change.

Faintly but undoubtedly, it gave her a sense of shock and awe.

"Has Young Master made another breakthrough?" Lan's pretty eyes were filled with astonishment.

At this moment, Jiang Ming had an epiphany.

"The Third Layer of Martial Arts, Qi Transformation."

There are actually two paths to take: one is to truly perceive the change in the quality of Qi; the second is to compress the Qi in the Dantian within the Sea of Qi and break it down by force, which is extremely dangerous. If one is not careful and the Dantian explodes, it will be completely over.

However, he was now perceiving another person's Qi, thus through analogy and inference, he had a direct enlightenment.

Inside his Sea of Qi, his Dantian.

At this moment, Jiang Ming's Qi suddenly collapses and transforms, causing a chain reaction within the vast sea of Qi and stirring up an invisible storm.

Transformation was intense and swift.

At the same time, it refined his body, purifying his internal organs and bones.

Jiang Ming's breath continued to rise unabated.

The carriage moved forward slowly without stopping, and no one disturbed them.

As noon approached, a tea house appeared in front of them, and only then did Jiang Ming open his eyes and reveal a smile.

"Success!"

"In the Main World, I am at the Third Layer of Gang Qi in Martial Arts."

"In this world, I have achieved the master-level realm!"

Even he himself didn't expect to progress so quickly.

In his Dantian Sea of Qi, the True Qi had decreased to one-third of its original level, but its power had greatly increased, and its connection with Heaven and Earth had become even closer.

He raised his hand, and a point of light condensed on his fingertip.

That was Sword Qi.

Substantial Sword Qi.

"One manifestation of Gang Qi is to condense Qi into weapons or to materialize True Qi!"

As Jiang Ming thought, waves of True Qi surged out and wrapped around his arm, eventually covering his entire right arm, like armor.

Whether condensing Qi into weapons or wrapping Gang Qi, they required a long time of polishing to succeed, but his True Qi was too thick and his comprehension too defying of the heavens.

As a result, he mastered it directly after Breaking Through.

"If I were to fight against Tan Feng now, I could kill him with a single punch!"

"Even against Quan Wuer, if I were to use my full strength, one punch might not kill him, but two definitely would take his life."

"Awesome!"

Jiang Ming gave himself a thumbs up.

"Congratulations to the Young Master!" Lan happily said, "Young Master is mighty!"

Jiang Ming couldn't help but laugh.

Suddenly, he frowned; this time during his breakthrough, the system didn't grant him any talents.

"Is it because of uncertainty?"

Jiang Ming couldn't help but ponder, after all, everything he gained here might not truly belong to himself. If he didn't achieve the corresponding accomplishments, once he left here and returned to teh Main World, his cultivation level and the corresponding memories obtained here would be erased.

The carriage slowed to a stop.

"Young Master, there's a tea shop ahead, and Hero Lu is waiting for you. Should we stop?"

"Old Ma, let's stop and take a break!"

The coachman's surname was Ma; he was an old man from Black Wind Village who was good at driving the carriage and had a solid cultivation level. He came out with them this time.

Lu Yuan, who was drinking tea, saw Jiang Ming and couldn't help but narrow his eyes. He suddenly stood up in disbelief, "Brother Jiang, did you...did you Break Through?"

"It was by chance, just by chance!" Jiang Ming smilingly walked over.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Lu Yuan was somewhat disoriented.

Even without knowing his age, one could guess from his face that he was around twenty years old, and he had already defied the heavens by killing two Grandmasters.

Through analyzing the True Qi of Grandmasters, he made a breakthrough in just two days?

This was simply ridiculous.

However, the unique aura emanating from him due to his recent breakthrough told the whole story.

A twenty-year-old Grandmaster?

Before the breakthrough, he could kill veteran Grandmasters, so what about now?

Comparable to a Great Grandmaster?

Lu Yuan was disoriented.

He became even more self-absorbed.

After eating something simple, they continued on their way.

Lu Yuan sat on the horse, beginning to cultivate.

As Jiang Ming polished his True Qi, he also studied the subsequent changes of the Longxiang Dominator Body Skill, pondering the changes and perfecting it to prepare for cultivation.

Two months passed in a blink of an eye and they were not far from Mount Dependence City.

He received a message from Chang Qing.