Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

After dinner, Jiang Yuexin cleared away the dishes, while Yi Yang went back to his room alone.

He bolted the door, pressed his fingertips against it, and a thin layer of cyan-green true energy enveloped the entire room, isolating it from both inside and outside sounds.

After doing all this, he sat down on the prayer mat and began to tally up the gains of his trip.

He stretched out his finger and tapped it lightly on the table.

Splash!

A pile of crystal-clear stones lay on the table, reflecting a faint halo under the light of the oil lamp.

Spirit Crystal.

There are a total of sixty-seven pieces.

The twenty-one items were confiscated from the treasure trove of the Wu family, a family with a history spanning centuries; it was the family fortune accumulated over several generations.

The thirty-six pieces were obtained by selling the two unusable treasure-level weapons of the Wu family through the channels of Youquan Division, and some fragments were obtained from other True Qi Realm enemies.

Yi Yang picked up a spirit crystal and twirled it between his fingers.

This thing is a hard currency in Suining Prefecture, more useful than silver and gold notes, and mainly circulates within the small circle of True Qi Realm experts.

One spirit crystal can be exchanged for 50,000 taels of silver on the black market, but it is usually available but not traded.

Because once you reach the True Qi Realm, ordinary gold and silver have no meaning anymore.

What they need are precious medicines that can aid in cultivation, higher-grade pills, or custom-made magical artifacts.

All of these items require spirit crystals to trade.

Yi Yang recalled a rumor he had read in the dossier: in Qingzhou Prefecture, spending five spirit crystals would allow a courtesan with True Qi Realm cultivation to play the zither and sing for you all night long, not to mention the unspeakable services that followed.

"They really know how to have fun."

Yi Yang pursed his lips and put the spirit crystal back into his bronze ring.

He has no interest in listening to music now. These sixty-odd spirit crystals are his capital for breaking through to a higher realm in the future, and he must use each one wisely.

Next, he took out the storage jade pendant he had obtained from Zhao Xunge, the sect leader of Cangwu Mountain—or rather, from the body inhabited by the "Yin Qi".

It's unclear whether this belongs to the sect leader of Cangwu Mountain or to Yin Qi.

Probe with your divine sense.

Yi Yang frowned slightly.

The space inside the jade pendant was small and empty, with only a dozen or so spirit crystals lying forlornly in the corner.

Besides this, there was nothing else; it seemed to be the storage jade pendant of Yin Qi.

"Poor wretch."

Yi Yang couldn't help but curse.

A Nine Evil Cult elder at the Tongxuan Realm, an old monster who has been hiding for over a decade, and this is all he has to offer?

On second thought, he realized it made sense.

After being beaten half to death by Lu Quan'an and suppressed in the Demon-Subduing Cave for more than ten years, it's no wonder that "Yinxi" couldn't have accumulated any wealth.

These ten or so spirit crystals were probably scraped off Zhao Xunge's body.

Yi Yang also took all the spirit crystals.

He currently has over seventy spirit crystals, plus the century-old ginseng, several demon cores, and the spirit weapon Xuan Yuan.

He roughly estimated his net worth.

If we exclude Xuan Yuan, all of his possessions, converted into spirit crystals, would be worth around one hundred and twenty or thirty.

Within the True Qi Realm circle of Sui Ning Prefecture, this is already considered a huge sum of money.

At least if we go to Qingzhou City to listen to music, we can have the whole place to ourselves.

Yi Yang shook his head, trying to shake off these random thoughts.

His divine sense swept through Zhao Xunge's storage jade pendant again, preparing to make sure nothing was missed.

Just a moment before his consciousness was about to withdraw.

He "saw" a corner deep inside the jade pendant.

There was a box there.

A dark gold box weighing about a pound, square in shape, with no patterns on the surface, yet it felt quite heavy in the hand.

I had completely overlooked it when I scanned it with my divine sense before.

The box itself has the property of preventing detection.

Yi Yang's heart skipped a beat, and he took the box out of the jade pendant.

The dark gold box felt cool to the touch; it was made of neither gold nor iron, and I had no idea what it was made of.

The lid fits perfectly without any latches.

Yi Yang tried to push it with his true energy, but he couldn't move it.

He then mobilized his divine sense, and that invisible mental force wrapped around the lid of the box, lifting it upwards.

"Click".

With a soft click, the lid came off.

An indescribable odor wafted out from the crack.

It's neither fragrant nor foul.

It was a smell that mixed sandalwood, blood, and some kind of metallic corrosion, which entered Yi Yang's nose and made his temples throb twice.

He held his breath and completely opened the lid of the box.

The box was small, and the inside was lined with a layer of dark red silk.

On the silk, a statue of a deity, about the size of a palm, was soaked.

The liquid used to soak the statue was not water, but pale golden blood, viscous, warm, and emitting a faint sweet fragrance.

That statue had three heads and six arms.

Three faces: one compassionate, one angry, and one smirking.

The six arms are in different mudras, some lifting, some pressing down, and some holding up flowers.

The statue is made of some kind of dark wood, and the carving on the surface is so exquisite that every single hair is clearly visible.

The moment Yi Yang's gaze fell upon the statue.

The three faces of the statue have three pairs of tightly closed eyes.

They opened their eyes at the same time.

"boom--"

Yi Yang's mind felt as if it had been struck by an invisible hammer.

The entire sea of ​​consciousness was in turmoil.

A voice resounded directly in the depths of his mind.

The voice was indistinguishable between male and female, young and old, carrying an ancient and grand echo.

"Kneel down."

Two words, devoid of any emotion, yet containing an irresistible authority.

Yi Yang's knees went weak uncontrollably, and his body wanted to kneel down.

In his mind's eye, the nine-foot-tall golden-haired giant ape that sat cross-legged suddenly opened its three eyes and roared to the sky.

"Who are you?" Yi Yang's consciousness asked in his sea of ​​consciousness.

"I am the true god of spirit and blood, granting you eternal life and supreme power."

The voice continued, carrying a seductive power.

"What do you seek? Power? Authority? Or protection?"

"I can give you anything."

"All you need to do is... offer your loyalty."

Yi Yang's breathing became rapid.

He recalled Jiang Yuexin's smiling face, Lu Quan'an's unfathomable strength, and Song Qing Daoren's abyss-like and imprisonable [Heavenly Might].

Become stronger.

He needs greater power.

Only by being strong enough can one protect those they want to protect and explore the ultimate truth of this world.

A trace of greed rose from the deepest part of my heart.

If... if kneeling would give me everything...

"That's right, that's exactly it."

The voice carried a hint of laughter.

"Give up the futile struggle, accept God's grace, and you will become the new master of this world."

"Your enemies will grovel at your feet, and your loved ones will enjoy eternal peace because of you."

Yi Yang's eyes began to glaze over.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, the roar of the golden-haired giant ape gradually weakened, and a faint layer of blood appeared in its golden pupils.

Just before his will was about to be completely distorted.

He remembered that afternoon in Sanmu Village when Jiang Yuexin ran back from outside crying, her clothes disheveled and her face full of terror.

I remembered Yang Er's lewd face.

He recalled the resolute determination he had shown when he chopped the wood-chopping knife into Yang Shuqing's skull.

No.

Yi Yang clenched his teeth tightly.

The power he sought was earned through his own hands, punch by punch! It was the destiny of an old horse still eager to run, gained through sixty years of his life!

It's not based on the charity of some bullshit god!

"roll!"

A roar exploded from the depths of Yi Yang's consciousness.

The golden-haired giant ape, about to be swallowed by the crimson light, suddenly opened its third eye.

A beam of pure, golden divine light burst forth from it.

The second stage of divine consciousness: Breaking through illusion!

An invisible force of thought transformed into a large golden hand, which grabbed the seductive voice in the sea of ​​consciousness and squeezed it hard.

"Bang!"

Yi Yang slammed the dark gold box shut in his hand.

He was breathing heavily, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his clothes on the back were soaked with sweat.

The room returned to silence.

That ancient and grand aura vanished, as if it had never existed.

Yi Yang looked down at the box in his hand, still feeling lingering fear.

What the hell is this thing?

How could a Nine Evil Cult elder at the Tongxuan Realm possess such an evil object?

That statue, that will, absolutely surpassed the level of the Profound Realm.

Why carry "Yinxi" on your body? Is it to borrow its power?

Yi Yang dared not think any further.

He quickly retrieved the dark gold box into the deepest part of his bronze ring, determined never to touch it again until he possessed the strength to rival Lu Quan'an.

He sat on the futon and regulated his breathing for a full half hour before he could suppress the feeling of palpitations.

Tonight's events have given him a fresh perspective on the world.

It seems that the secrets hidden behind the Nine Evil Cult are deeper than he imagined.

But that so-called "True God of Spiritual Blood" is probably the real trouble.

Yi Yang exhaled a breath of stale air, shaking off his chaotic thoughts.

Thinking about it more won't help.

Ultimately, it comes down to a lack of strength.

If he had Lu Quan'an's strength today, he wouldn't be in such a sorry state.

He took out the century-old ginseng that Pei Zongyue had given him from the ring, and also took out the demon core that had not yet been refined.

It's time to take another step forward.

He looked at the two items on the table, his eyes regaining their resolve.

The True Qi Realm is at its peak.

I am coming.