"The Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique consists of thirteen layers in total. Many official Demon Hunters have cultivated this martial art to the realm of perfection.
Compared to official Demon Hunters, I still have quite a gap."
Even though he had just broken through, Shen Changqing dared not become arrogant or complacent.
Sixth layer Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique could only let him show off a bit in front of Probationary Demon Hunters. To truly compare to official Demon Hunters, he had no qualification at all.
He composed his heart.
Then he cast his gaze back to the flesh and blood inside the cell.
After confirming that the opponent could no longer provide any more Slaughter Value, Shen Changqing moved on to the next cell.
The next cell.
Imprisoned inside was also a remnant of a Demon Evil.
But unlike the previous arm and flesh, this time the cell held an eye.
A dark green eye.
The instant Shen Changqing saw the eye, he fell into an illusory realm.
A terrifying Demon Evil charged at him; endless terror surged up from the depths of his heart, wanting to force his body to flee.
But as soon as his steps lifted, Shen Changqing suddenly snapped out of it.
"The place I'm in is the Demon-Subduing Prison!"
"All the Demon Evils and Strange Monsters in the Demon-Subduing Prison are sealed, so how could a Demon Evil attack me right now!"
"Besides, if a Demon Evil really did attack, with my current strength, even if I ran, it would be impossible to escape. It's just an illusory realm, all of it is fake!"
Shen Changqing calmed himself, standing motionless, watching the Demon Evil charge toward him with eyes wide open.
Because of the close distance—
He could even see each scale armor on the Demon Evil's body, along with that wretched, nauseating stench of blood.
The scene was far too real.
Shen Changqing's heart, which had only just managed to calm down, surged again with intense fear.
Only—
No matter how terrified he felt inside, he never moved his steps at all.
In the end—
The Demon Evil pierced straight through his heart, but there was no pain at all.
The next second—
The hallucination disappeared without a trace.
Shen Changqing broke out in a cold sweat on his back, no longer daring to look straight at the Demon Evil's eye inside the cell, and instead composed himself and glanced at his own panel.
As expected.
The Slaughter Value on the panel, which had already returned to zero, now showed two points.
"Only two points?"
Shen Changqing frowned slightly.
The two previous times both gave three points, but this time only two. It's probably related to the strength of the Demon Evil.
But two is still better than getting none at all.
His furrowed brow instantly smoothed out.
Not daring to look at the Demon Evil's eye any longer, he proceeded directly to the next cell.
——
In less than an hour, Shen Changqing had finished an entire round through the third floor.
Unlike the second floor, there wasn't a single Strange Monster locked up on the third floor; all that was locked up were Demon Evil remnants.
Also, compared to the number of cells on the second floor, the third floor had fewer cells as well.
After checking the last cell—
Shen Changqing checked the panel.
The two points of Slaughter Value had now become fifteen.
The reason for this—
was that some remnants of Demon Evils only gave him one point of Slaughter Value each, and some didn't even make a whole point, so after going through the entire third floor, he had only managed to gain fifteen points.
Of course—
Being able to get fifteen points of Slaughter Value, in Shen Changqing's opinion, was already a considerable harvest.
If the requirements to upgrade the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique hadn't changed, fifteen points of Slaughter Value was enough for him to upgrade this martial art to perfection, with quite a lot left over.
Standing at the entrance to the fourth floor.
Thinking of the risk of entering the third floor, Shen Changqing didn't rush in, but stood in place and began digesting his gains.
Consume one point of Slaughter Value!
Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique upgraded to the seventh layer!
Consume one point of Slaughter Value!
Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique upgraded to the eighth layer!
Consume——
Very quickly, the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique reached the twelfth layer stage.
And then—
The defensive strength of Shen Changqing's flesh had reached a formidable level now. His passive strength and speed had also increased quite a bit.
Looking at the remaining nine points of Slaughter Value,
he didn't hesitate much and chose to upgrade directly.
Boom——
As soon as the thought settled, three points of Slaughter Value vanished instantly. Next, a tremendously powerful force surged from his body and quickly swept through his entire self.
Qi and blood boiled!
Bones crackled!
Flesh quivered!
In that moment, Shen Changqing felt that his whole body had undergone a transformation worthy of being called a spiritual rebirth.
Unlike the sharp pain that accompanied previous upgrades,
this upgrade was not painful at all; instead, it was quite comfortable.
Time flowed by.
Just as the agitation in his flesh gradually subsided, a warm current arose in his dantian, as fine and delicate as hair, soon spreading throughout all his limbs and bones.
In an instant,
the warm current returned to the dantian, and there was no more movement.
Over already!?
Shen Changqing awoke from his breakthrough state.
The very first thing,
he opened the panel for a look.
Name: Shen Changqing
Faction: Great Qin's Demon Suppression Division
Identity: Probationary Demon Hunter
Martial Arts: Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique (Thirteenth Layer, can be upgraded)
Slaughter: 6
"Hmm?"
Staring at the Martial Arts section on the panel, Shen Changqing felt a jolt of surprise.
The highest level for Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique is the thirteenth layer—he's never heard of there being a fourteenth layer.
But the "can be upgraded" note on the panel,
was clear proof that there was still room for improvement with this technique.
"Could it be—"
"Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique truly has subsequent layers?"
Shen Changqing's heart was full of suspicion.
But seeing the prompt, he still chose to upgrade.
Immediately—
Three more points of Slaughter Value were consumed, and the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique advanced from the thirteenth to the fourteenth layer.
Once the upgrade was completed—
The Slaughter Value was down to three, while the martial arts still displayed "can be upgraded."
Wanting to maximize his strength, Shen Changqing didn't hesitate for long and chose to upgrade again.
His flesh shook violently.
Slaughter Value hit zero in an instant.
Now,
checking the panel again, he saw the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique had reached the fifteenth layer, and now the "can be upgraded" label had become "cannot be upgraded."
"Fifteenth Layer Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique!"
Shen Changqing stood where he was, silently closing his eyes to feel the changes in his own body.
According to the manual, once the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique reaches the thirteenth layer, the flesh achieves a state of perfection.
Flesh perfection!
True Qi Generation!
As a tempering martial art meant to build a foundation, at true perfection the flesh will spontaneously produce a faint strand of True Qi.
Once True Qi arises,
that means one has crossed the threshold of the Body Tempering Realm and reached the next level—Pulse Condensation.
Perceiving the warm aura in his dantian, upon reaching the fifteenth layer of the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique, it was now one or two times thicker than before, when it had been only as thin as a hair.
"This must be the True Qi that's generated after Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique reaches perfection!"
Shen Changqing snapped back to attention, a smile on his face.
True Qi!
Strange Monsters have their own grade divisions—the Demon-Subduing Division's martial artists do as well.
At first, Probationary Demon Hunters; some never step into the Body Tempering Realm, while others hover at that threshold.
Official Demon Hunters—
Generally all have strength at Pulse Condensation Realm or higher.
In other words,
once one has True Qi, one's realm is no weaker than an official Demon Hunter.
Just a day ago,
Shen Changqing was still someone who hadn't even stepped into the threshold of the Body Tempering Realm. Now he's gotten Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique to perfection and has directly crossed into the Pulse Condensation Realm, equal to an official Demon Hunter.
Such a transformation—
To say he was unhappy would be a lie.
But he also understood:
Stepping into the Pulse Condensation Realm was only a new beginning; compared to the strong within the Demon-Subduing Division, the Pulse Condensation Realm wasn't much yet.
"Although the Pulse Condensation Realm is just the start, I've already left my peers in the dust."
"But advancing so far in a single day is sure to arouse suspicion; I absolutely can't reveal too much—"
Shen Changqing reined in his smile.
Advancing to Pulse Condensation within a year—that's normal talent.
Half a year, that's a genius.
Doing it in two or three months, that's a peerless genius.
If you manage it in a month, you're a monster among men.
But in a single day—
Shen Changqing shook his head—"monster among men" doesn't even come close to describing it.
While he hasn't yet grown to the point where he fears no one, he doesn't wish to become everyone's target too soon.
"But I don't need to hide too much; I'll just pick some excuse, go into seclusion for a month or two, and then show that I've broken through to Pulse Condensation."
"If you hide your strength too much, it might even hurt your development in the Demon-Subduing Division!"
One shouldn't be too astonishing—that could lead to disaster. But there's no need to hold back too much either; as long as the explanation makes sense, it's fine.
Shen Changqing believed
that if his talent was exposed, he'd get certain advantages in the Demon-Subduing Division.
After all, no monster among men is treated the same as the ordinary.
As long as he doesn't act rashly,
no one should be able to see that he's already perfected the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique.
Once he realized he'd cultivated True Qi,
Shen Changqing could basically confirm that the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique truly only had thirteen layers—the fact he could push it to fifteen was thanks to the Slaughter Value advantage.
He glanced at his now empty Slaughter Value, then looked at the entrance to the fourth floor.
In the end—
he moved on down.
Having already reaped all the Slaughter Value from the third floor, if he wanted new points, he'd have to head to the fourth floor.
As soon as he entered the fourth floor—
a terrifying cold surged forth.
In that instant,
even the powerful Qi and Blood of Shen Changqing was instantly frozen by the chill. Fortunately, his dantian produced a surge of True Qi that barely dispelled the cold.
"Hss, what a powerful cold!"
Shen Changqing took a cold breath.
Even before stepping onto the fourth floor, he'd already made some estimates about the floor's danger.
But now, he realized he'd still underestimated it.
If not for the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique having reached the fifteenth layer, stepping onto the fourth floor would have meant instant death.
Even though he can now rely on True Qi to resist the cold for the time being,
Shen Changqing felt
he could only last so long.