My Martial Arts Level Never Drops

Chapter 429: Chapter 199: Going Further

This gave him pause. After a moment’s thought, he frowned in resignation and made his way to the entrance of the Cold Cave.

Standing at the entrance, he tentatively sensed the energy, holding back from absorbing it just yet.

However, he found that just outside the entrance, he couldn’t sense any Ultimate Yin Primordial Power at all.

He pursed his lips and had no choice but to step into the Cold Cave.

Then, he closed his eyes and cautiously circulated his Cultivation Technique, sensing the world’s Ultimate Yin Primordial Power.

And this time... the Ultimate Yin Primordial Power was instantly dense!

...It was a difference of a single step.

How could there be such a drastic change?

Qin Fang was alarmed.

It only made him feel that the Cold Cave was even more extraordinary.

’Just as I thought. Like the Treasure Plant deeper inside, it’s something truly special.’

’Good. The Ultimate Yin Primordial Power at the entrance is about three to four times denser than it is at midnight... but for now, I can barely withstand it.’

With that thought, Qin Fang began to tentatively absorb the Ultimate Yin Primordial Power...

As the Ultimate Yin Primordial Power entered him, but before it could be put through Refinement, patches of frost appeared on Qin Fang’s body.

Qin Fang shivered violently.

But soon, after his True Essence surged, the Ultimate Yin Primordial Power was refined and absorbed by it...

Qin Fang let out a long sigh of relief...

The Ice Cold sensation in his body receded. He could just about bear it.

’The Second Layer is the Primordial Stream Realm. Its purpose is to polish the Primordial Stream and widen the meridians, allowing True Essence to flow more smoothly. Simultaneously, I must use my True Essence Nature to nourish my physical body, helping it to better adapt to the Nature of my True Essence...’

The key points of the Second Realm surfaced in Qin Fang’s mind.

He then closed his eyes, began the Contemplation of the Profound Nether Realm-Breaking Awl, and entered a state of cultivation.

His True Essence began to circulate, following the method of the Second Layer’s Root Skill...

In cultivation, days and months blur into one.

The days of seclusion were both fulfilling and tedious.

The Cold Cave was truly a cultivation paradise for Qin Fang. After arriving, his proficiency in the ’Profound Nether True Water Scripture’ skyrocketed!

Back at the Sect, he could barely manage one point a day.

But here in the Cold Cave... he gained at least 15 to 18 points per day!

It might not seem like much, but the results were more than ten times better!

...And this was only at the entrance of the Cold Cave, in the first section.

If he went deeper inside... the speed would likely be even faster!

However...

’If I do that, my body probably won’t be able to take it...’

’If I end up frozen solid again... I might not be as lucky as I was the first time.’

Qin Fang thought to himself.

He didn’t want to risk it; it was better to take things slow.

While he was in seclusion, he let Xile roam the deep mountains on its own. Xile had lived here for over a year and had its own haunts, so Qin Fang didn’t bother to supervise it.

「In the blink of an eye, three months passed.」

His cultivation progress was gratifying.

Gaining over ten points a day, his ’Profound Nether True Water Scripture, Second Layer’ broke through to ’Minor Achievement’, and its proficiency reached 449...

If he continued at this pace...

’Three years... just to reach Perfection?’

This made Qin Fang frown slightly.

But he could only follow it with a soft sigh...

...There was no helping it. Cultivation in the True Essence Realm was just this slow.

’The main issue is the lack of True Essence Pills... Although the Heaven and Earth’s Ultimate Yin Primordial Power here is dense, allowing me to cultivate nonstop, it’s ultimately not as fast as directly replenishing large amounts of True Essence with a True Essence Pill...’

The Primordial Power replenished by a True Essence Pill is neutral and gentle, carrying no specific Nature.

This Primordial Power isn’t volatile and is easy to absorb. In a very short time, it gets converted by one’s own True Essence Nature, greatly speeding up the ’accumulation’ process...

That’s why the True Essence Pill is the preferred cultivation Elixir for most Martial Artists in the True Essence Realm.

It can generally boost cultivation efficiency by two to three times.

If Qin Fang had an unlimited supply of True Essence Pills, he estimated he could break through to the Third Realm in a little over a year.

’Both my Void Spiritual Eyes and the Deep Stream Returning Technique have reached Minor Achievement... Next time I return to the Sect, I just need to exchange for the resources to reach Great Success. As for Perfection... I’ll just cultivate that slowly. I should trade all my other resources for True Essence Pills and strive to break through to the True Essence Third Realm within a year...’

Qin Fang mused.

「Another month passed in the blink of an eye.」

Qin Fang decided it was time to make a trip back to the Sect.

He had used up all his resources for Leaf Skills.

Before he left Old Ox Back, he had promised his senior sister and the others that he would bring back more honey and Bee Meat. So, just like last time, Qin Fang took some bamboo tubes and entered the hive.

With his prior experience in honey gathering, this time was much easier.

He saw that the meter-long section of honeycomb he had taken last time was already more than halfway restored. ’Excellent,’ he thought. ’These workhorse bees are diligent laborers.’

He took another large piece, once again disturbing some of the Giant Bees.

It was just as well, since he needed Bee Meat anyway.

Not as many died this time. He had used his chilling aura to repel them from the start, so in the end, only about a hundred Giant Bees were frozen to death.

After spending two days processing everything, Qin Fang mounted Xile and headed back to the Sect.

This time, Qin Fang didn’t follow a fixed route. Instead, he traversed mountains and crossed ridges, since he knew the general direction of the Sect anyway.

...He expected to travel to and from Old Ox Back frequently in the future, so he needed to constantly vary his route.

This applied not only to leaving the Sect but to returning as well.

He couldn’t always make landfall at Qingmu City; otherwise, people might deduce that he was always traveling to and from the direction of True Martial County.

It wasn’t certain that anyone was tracking him.

But...

...what if they were?

He couldn’t risk Old Ox Back being exposed.

Therefore, he planned to spend about half a month crossing several tributaries of the Great Cloud Marsh and taking a roundabout route to Lanyang City.

「Five days later.」

Qin Fang no longer knew his exact location, but he was certain he was far from True Martial County.

The mountain range was rugged and perilous, showing few signs of human passage. The distant mountains were mostly covered in primeval forests, their foliage a deep green that was nearly black. Within the woods, vines tangled over thick piles of dead leaves, which gave off a damp, humus-rich odor.

Though it was afternoon, the light in the mountains was already dim. In the deep and secluded canyons, only the gurgling of streams and the occasional, unidentifiable shriek of a beast or cry of a bird echoed.

In some shaded rock crevices, one could even see patches of snow that never melted year-round.

Qin Fang rode Xile, racing through the mountains. Though Xile couldn’t fly, True Essence surged within its body, allowing it to run on water. Thus, as it ran through the mountains, it did so mostly by bounding across the treetops.

As they were running, Xile suddenly stopped dead on a treetop. Its nose twitched as it looked in a specific direction and let out a soft whine.

Qin Fang paused, stunned for a moment. But his brow quickly furrowed as he looked in the same direction as Xile.

"What is it?"

Qin Fang asked Xile, confused.

But before the words were fully out of his mouth, a gust of wind blew past. Then... Qin Fang, whose senses were exceptionally keen, caught the thick, nauseating stench of blood and rot drifting faintly from the distance...

His brow tightened, and he looked up.

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