Starting with the consumables of the Demonic Sect, one can barely achieve immortality.

Yan Cheng actually wanted to appear more ethereal and otherworldly when he made his move, burning his opponent to death with a flick of his finger, so that he would look like a celestial cultivator with wondrous skills.

Unfortunately, the commotion caused by Shangyin Xingyan was too great, and at this moment, countless people were paying attention to it.

He had no choice but to resolve the matter as discreetly as possible.

In any case, with his mid-stage physique and strength, defeating two early-stage opponents would be a matter of one punch each.

However, when he dragged the corpses into the main hall and threw the two mangled bodies with their heads blown off in front of the Heavenly Child Throne, a moment of surprise still flashed across the other's face.

The corpse cultivator first glanced at the two corpses, then stared at Yan Cheng, his handsome face expressionless.

Yan Cheng met his gaze without flinching, until Tian Tong's lips slowly curved upwards:

"Junior brother has succeeded!"

"He entered the palace in less than three months and has already refined the middle elixir, reaching the mid-stage. It's incredibly fast."

"If it weren't for the unmistakable aura of death emanating from you, I would have almost suspected that you were a living genius sent in by those righteous sects in the south to infiltrate the hall."

He gently patted his head:

"It was wrong of me, brother. On your joyous day of breakthrough, why bring up the dead and the living?"

"Since Senior Sister Huang called on all fellow disciples who had reached the initial stage of perfection to go into seclusion, I was the first to respond and the first to break through and achieve success."

"I will inform my senior sister about my junior brother's breakthrough later. She is always generous and will surely reward him handsomely if she knows that he has responded so positively to her policies."

Tian Tong glanced at the two headless corpses at his feet and said with a bright smile:

"What's more, you even took care of two unruly little mice for her!"

Yan Cheng wanted to laugh when she heard Huang Tong's usual generous remarks.

He understood the principle of spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones. No matter how stingy Huang Tong was usually, he wouldn't hesitate to reward her this time in order to set an example of daring to break through.

I never expected that the conflict between Huang Tong’s faction and the lenders’ faction would become so public.

Even more shockingly, Tendo openly claimed that killing the other party's person was a meritorious act!

Thinking of this, Yan Cheng immediately wanted to find a few more loan sharks to kill.

No matter how comprehensive their configurations are, compared to their own maximum stats, it's practically free!

Tian Tong seemed to see through his thoughts, shook his head and chuckled:

"Do you think the Holy Maiden is one of those brainless villains in a storybook? That she'd keep sending obviously weaklings to you for practice on?"

"Since she has tested your strength, she will not make any rash moves in the short term."

"Moreover, she doesn't have many mid-stage cultivators under her command; the few she has are all skilled in cultivation but have ordinary combat abilities."

"What you should be wary of are their schemes and tricks, not their magical abilities."

Saintess?

Yan Cheng keenly grasped the key words in Tian Tong's words.

He had never heard anyone mention this title before, but in this godforsaken place, what kind of good person could be called a saintess?

He's definitely the worst of the worst!

Tiantong, however, had no intention of delving too deeply into this topic, and simply smiled and said:

"Junior brother, do you know how to cultivate after entering the mid-stage?"

Yan Cheng naturally knew this; his "Shangyin Heaven Corpse Path Chapter" contained the complete content for the Qi Refining stage, enough for him to cultivate all the way to the peak of Qi Refining.

Unlike this dog sect's "Yin Sha Xing Sha Jue," which breaks a single Qi cultivation technique into several parts before distributing it.

But he said:

"Please give me your guidance, senior brother."

Tian Tong was quite satisfied with his attitude and said leisurely:

"The cultivator condenses his true energy and rushes through the Jiaji Pass to form the middle elixir. The true energy in his body is then dispersed into the two Qi Palaces."

"Although the efficiency of cultivation has improved, there is also one more Qi Palace that needs to be filled."

"The first step in the mid-stage of Qi Refining is to cultivate the lower and middle Dantian Qi Palaces to perfection."

"And then..."

He paused, then smiled and said:

"It involves channeling true qi into the eight extraordinary meridians, thereby cultivating one's physique to the limit of the Qi Refining stage."

"The first stage of Qi Refining consists of Qi cultivation in the early stage, body refinement in the middle stage, and spirit refinement in the later stage."

"If this physical body is not cultivated to its ultimate potential, it will be unable to withstand the immense impact of true energy striking the space between the eyebrows during the opening of the upper dantian, and will inevitably fail and perish!"

Yan Cheng's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this, but he still sighed to himself:

"We, the corpse cultivators, are in the yin body, so our qi circulation is not as smooth as that of the living. It is no easy feat to cultivate the middle and lower dantian."

"Now we still need to open up the eight extraordinary meridians, but who knows how long or how many months it will take?"

Tiantong said:

"Otherwise, where do you think all the mid-stage cultivators in the Hall of Longevity have gone?"

"Most of them lock themselves in their caves and stay inside all day."

Even so, the difficulty of the middle stage of cultivation is still far greater than that of the early stage. There are many pitiful people who have broken through and cultivated for many years without making any progress.

"Although I've reached the middle stage of cultivation, I've finally proven that I still have some value to the palace."

"Even if one's cultivation stagnates for many years, one will not be easily turned into a corpse puppet."

Yan Cheng listened to his eloquent words and naturally knew in his heart that Huang Tong was keeping those whose cultivation had stagnated for reasons other than kindness.

Cultivators who can reach the middle stage are far rarer than corpse cultivators who are only at the initial stage of perfection, and they can produce more Yin Corpse Fiends.

Even if one were to successfully create a corpse puppet, its combat power might not necessarily surpass that of a corpse-eating Yin puppet created using early-stage, fully-fledged corpse cultivators as raw materials.

From the perspective of the hall, this is a waste of resources, which greatly violates the immortal sect's style of making the best use of everything and everyone.

The child celestial being said softly:

"That's true, but anyone with even a modicum of ambition, having already overcome the hardships of the mid-term, how can they not dream about what the later stages will be like?"

"Without any pressure from the palace, mid-stage cultivators will spontaneously devote all their attention to cultivation."

"Many people just don't understand that at this stage, it's not enough to rely solely on one's own diligent cultivation; ultimately, one still needs to rely on external forces to make progress."

He stared at Yan Cheng:

"Therefore, the key to cultivation for mid-stage cultivators lies in whether they can guarantee a stable source of malevolent energy."

"Exploiting the lower classes is one path, taking on responsibilities is another, and exploring the hidden mysteries is yet another."

"Mastering craftsmanship and trading with others is also a viable path."

"As long as enough Yin Corpse Qi can be obtained, any action is permissible, and any method is allowed!"

This was the first time Yan Cheng had ever seen such a pure and resolute heart for seeking the Dao in him. He couldn't care less about his usual complaints and simply responded with his gaze in silence.

Tian Tong immediately withdrew the resolute look from his eyes and resumed his usual carefree, smiling expression.

"I will explain the specifics at the Dharma assembly in half a month."

"Junior brother, please focus on your cultivation these days. Once you receive my message from the Golden Crane, you will proceed to the fourth floor."

"By then, other fellow disciples should have completed their cultivation, so you can meet them."

"Junior brother, you must remember that now that you have reached the mid-stage, every mid-stage cultivator in the hall is a fellow disciple who will help and love you and walk the path together."

"Never again should we cling to the old mindset of deceit, scheming, and vying for dominance, or we will perish very quickly."

After saying that, he added with a light laugh:

"Of course, those loan sharks under the Holy Maiden's command are an exception; we'll take them down one by one if we can!"