At the start of the game, you have one equipment slot; the effects of unequipping the equipment rema

"Equip the Turtle Demon Corpse!"

[Ding! The turtle demon corpse has been equipped!]

Entry: Abundant Qi and Blood, Loading!

750 strands of superior true qi appeared in the dantian.

Under Mu Yang's control, the newly generated true energy slowly moved towards the lower right corner of the dantian.

This is the opening point of the fifth major meridian, the Foot Shaoyang Meridian.

Unfortunately, the mere 750 strands of true energy had little effect, only managing to break down a thin layer.

The fastest way to open up the major meridians is to use a large amount of true qi in one go.

However, while this method is fast, it is extremely dependent on external resources.

Without the aid of external aids such as pills and precious medicines, it is very difficult for ordinary people to generate a large amount of true qi in a short period of time.

Therefore, the vast majority of martial artists at the Meridian Opening Realm open their meridians little by little, through persistent and painstaking effort.

The advantage of this method is that it is less dependent on resources.

The downsides are that it is slow and consumes a lot of energy.

If opening the meridians only requires 10,000 strands of true energy in one go, then grinding it little by little might consume 20,000 strands.

It's roughly equivalent to the difference between buying a house outright and buying it with a loan in your previous life.

"As expected, it's quite difficult to open one's meridians with the help of a fourth-tier demon."

Looking at the Foot Shaoyang Meridian, which showed almost no change after the true energy was consumed, Mu Yang thought to himself.

He wasn't disappointed, after all, he wasn't equipping the fourth-tier demon corpse for opening his meridians, but for the power boost it brought.

The blue-quality "Strong Physique" attribute granted him an additional 30,000 jin of strength.

The strength of a single arm has increased to 72 jin.

With the two basic attributes added, Mu Yang then tried out the Thick Shell and Water Jet.

Once activated, the former can condense a semi-transparent, light black protective shield on the body surface, resembling a tight-fitting bodysuit made of tiny tortoise shells.

Its defensive capabilities are quite good for a fourth-tier unit.

Mu Yang estimated that with the turtle demon's defense, if it retracted into its shell, a single wind blade might not be enough to kill it instantly.

As for the water jet capability, its power can only be described as passable.

When powered by attribute-less true qi, it barely reaches the power of the late stage of Qi Condensation Realm.

This is because his true qi is of relatively high quality, reaching the superior grade.

If it were replaced with ordinary low-grade true qi, it would probably only have the power of the early stage of Qi Condensation Realm, and its destructive power would be far inferior to that of the wind blade.

Even if it were replaced with high-grade Black Water True Qi, its power would only barely reach the fifth level, at most comparable to a martial artist who has opened one major meridian.

But this ability isn't without its advantages.

Mu Yang raised his hand, and wisps of black water true energy swirled around his palm, quickly forming a large, light black water sphere in his palm.

Although the water jet is not very powerful, it is a skill that can condense water out of thin air using only one's true qi, without relying on the surrounding environment.

As for its insufficient power?

Mu Yang had a sudden thought.

The water sphere began to tremble violently, as if it were a lump of mud being kneaded by an invisible hand, constantly stretching out.

"Sing!!"

A faint dragon's roar echoed in the cave.

A miniature dragon, ten feet long, hovered in the air.

"It really works!"

Mu Yang looked at the water dragon he had conjured with his water control ability and his eyes lit up with joy.

Water control is a very powerful ability.

Common moves, such as Howling Soul, Spider Spear, and Wind Blade (which have blue attributes), are generally limited by the quality of the demon corpse, and their power is limited, with an upper limit of mid-stage fifth tier.

This is because Mu Yang's true qi is of high quality and its attributes match, thus providing a bonus.

Otherwise, they wouldn't even reach the fifth level.

But the purple entry for "water control" is different.

Theoretically speaking, as long as his spiritual strength is high enough, this ability can even overturn rivers and seas in an instant.

Of course, this ability is not without its drawbacks.

The biggest drawback of water control is that it can only control water, not generate it.

But now, with the ability to spray water, this shortcoming has been partially mitigated.

It's okay if the water jet is weak; just repeat it a few times, and then you can control it by manipulating the water flow.

They complement each other.

After equipping the turtle demon's corpse, Mu Yang took out three pills.

Fourth-order pills: Detoxifying Pill, Miasma-Avoiding Pill, and Vision-Improving Pill.

............

[Detoxification (White): Grants immunity to specific toxins weaker than Tier 4, such as fire poison and aphrodisiacs.]

【Avoid Miasma (White): Provides immunity to specific toxins weaker than Tier 4, such as miasma in mountains, forests, and swamps】

[Bright Eyes (White): Vision has improved slightly.]

............

Needless to say, cleansing from poison and avoiding miasma are essential, and along the way, slaying demons inevitably involves going to some places with unpleasant environments.

For example, near the Southern Tiger Demon, there is a fourth-tier snake demon living in the poisonous swamp.

Furthermore, even if you don't go to such places, it would be excellent to have some detoxifying pills on hand.

After all, this world is very chaotic; it's easy to dodge a spear in the open but hard to guard against a hidden arrow.

Mu Yang himself didn't know much about the poisonous mist from the herbs, so he couldn't quickly identify what was harmful. Therefore, he could only rely on a clumsy method—stacking the numerical values!

As long as your poison resistance is high enough, no matter what fancy poison you use, it will be useless.

After equipping himself with the three pills, Mu Yang rode Xiao Hei and left the cave, heading towards Zoujia Village, a hundred miles away.

It wasn't for finding lodging; I simply wanted to find a populated place to use my Dream Weaving skill and enhance my spiritual strength.

............

【Dream Weaving (Purple): Consumes true energy to weave an illusory dreamscape that covers a specific area, absorbing the essence dissipated by beings immersed in the dream, strengthening the soul. The absorption efficiency is inversely proportional to the strength of the target's soul; the higher the target's soul strength, the more difficult it is to absorb (the dreamscape's coverage area depends on the user's own soul strength).】

............

With his current spiritual strength, he is capable of covering an area with a radius of three kilometers, which could encompass the entire Zoujia Village.

Looking at the moon rising above the branches of the night sky, Mu Yang didn't go into the village. He simply found a spot that wasn't too close or too far away, and with a light leap, landed on a branch.

He straightened his clothes, leaned against the tree trunk, and closed his eyes slightly.

Countless points of light appeared in the special field of vision.

The powerful Dream Weaver, nothing more was said that night.

..................

The next day, early in the morning.

As the villagers of Zoujia Village gradually woke up, Muyang rolled down from the tree trunk and landed on Xiao Hei's back.

"Let's go."

"Whoosh—!!"

The man and his horse quickly disappeared into the forest.

..................

In the 996th year of the Dajing calendar, the 11th year of the Ming Xuan reign, on the 18th day of the ninth month in autumn.

Within the territory of the Dajing Dynasty.

Liangzhou, Anling Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of Qinghe County.

In the southwest region, in an unnamed valley about 100 miles northwest of Zoujia Village.

First-class demon-hunting captain Mu Yang slayed a fourth-tier demon—a turtle demon.

The next day, two hundred miles outside Zoujia Village, they happened to encounter two third-tier demons.

To ensure the safety of the villagers of Zoujia Village, Commandant Mu did not hesitate and ruthlessly attacked, annihilating the demons.

His mount, Black Wind (Daimyo), devoured part of the remains of a third-tier demon, greatly increasing his demonic power and successfully advancing to the mid-second tier.

..................

In the 996th year of the Dajing calendar, the 11th year of the Ming Xuan reign, on the 20th day of the ninth month in autumn.

First-class demon-hunting captain Mu Yang tirelessly travels day and night to protect the safety of the people in the prefecture.

They rushed to Huxiao Mountain, the southern region under the jurisdiction of Qinghe County.

This place is lush with trees and bushes, and a fierce tiger demon has taken up residence here, ruling the mountain as king.

The villagers in the mountains feared the tiger's power and dared not travel this mountain path or cut down the forest. Every winter, they suffered from hunger and cold.

First-class demon-hunting captain Mu Yang, feeling the hardships of the people in this place, rode alone up the mountain and killed a fourth-tier tiger demon on the mountaintop.

Relieve the suffering of the people!