Burial Furnace

Warm sunlight streamed through the window into the room, spreading a golden patch of light across the floor.

Zhang Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes closed, his hands forming a mudra, fully activating the Evergreen Technique.

The true energy in his dantian surged like a tidal wave, flowing through his meridians and undergoing the Great Circulation again and again.

He could clearly feel that his cultivation had reached the peak of the second level of Qi Refining.

The true essence in his dantian had reached its limit, like a container filled with water that could no longer hold even a single drop.

An invisible barrier stood before him.

Zhang Yuan took a deep breath, held his breath and focused his mind, controlling all the true energy in his dantian, frantically circulating it through the Great Heavenly Circuit, completing 72 cycles in a row, and also breaking through the invisible barrier 72 times.

"Click—"

A crisp cracking sound rang out inside his body.

That invisible barrier has finally collapsed!

In an instant, a brand new power surged from his dantian, like a flood bursting its banks, sweeping over his entire body.

Qi Refining Level 3.

We've finally broken through!

Zhang Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a glint of shrewdness flashing within them.

He looked down at his hands, clenched his fists, felt the surging power within him, and a satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

He went to the backyard and couldn't wait to test it out.

The protective qi at the third level of Qi Refining is several times stronger than that at the second level.

Ordinary swords and blades are no longer enough to harm him.

Even attacks from low-grade spiritual weapons could barely withstand for a while.

At the third level of Qi Refining, his true essence and spiritual power increased many times over, allowing him to cultivate two powerful spells—Fireball and Water Arrow.

He had already bought the relevant jade slips from the bookstore and burned them in the Immortal Evolution Furnace.

The cultivation methods and insights were deeply imprinted in his mind.

He raised his right hand, a thought forming in his mind.

A fireball the size of a fist appeared out of thin air in his palm.

The orange-red flames leaped and radiated scorching heat, distorting the surrounding air.

Zhang Yuan tried throwing the fireball.

The fireball whistled out and struck a blue stone ten feet away with pinpoint accuracy.

"Bang—"

With a muffled thud, a shallow crater was blasted into the surface of the bluestone, and fragments of stone flew everywhere.

"The power is okay, but the speed is too slow."

He tried a few more times and found that the fireball's flight speed was indeed very slow, about the same as an ordinary person running.

Although he can control the fireball to change direction, his control is very poor, and if he is not careful, the fireball will deviate from the target.

"At this speed, it's impossible to hit a cultivator, and even if it does, the damage is limited because the temperature isn't very high."

Zhang Yuan was somewhat disappointed.

But he soon discovered an astonishing phenomenon—as long as the Immortal Transformation Furnace was in his dantian, the temperature of the fireballs he released would surge to a terrifying level!

He tried placing a fist-sized rock on the ground and then casting a fireball.

The moment the fireball touched the stone, there was a "whoosh" sound, and the stone turned to ashes!

It didn't even melt; it just vaporized!

Zhang Yuan's eyes widened, and he gasped.

"My god... this temperature, it could probably melt even a low-grade magic weapon!"

However, the fireball's speed remained very slow, without any improvement.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter if it's slow. As long as it hits and has enough power, that's fine," Zhang Yuan consoled himself.

He then tried his water arrow technique.

A water arrow, as thick as a thumb, shot out from his fingertip and struck the wall ten feet away, leaving a shallow dent.

Its power and speed are both average.

"It seems I still need to practice magic a lot," Zhang Yuan muttered to himself.

He then tried his art of manipulating objects.

The ability to manipulate objects at the third level of Qi Refining is significantly improved compared to the second level.

He can now manipulate small stones or throwing knives to attack targets within ten feet, and they can also bend. Of course, their power is not as great as magic, but they are still effective for ambushing or interfering with enemies.

Finally, he tried to draw an invisibility talisman.

Spread out the talisman paper, pick up the talisman brush, dip it in the talisman ink, hold your breath and concentrate all your mental energy on the tip of the brush.

The pen tip falls.

His wrist was steady and powerful, and the tip of the pen glided smoothly across the talisman paper, leaving behind mysterious rune trails.

True essence flowed into the talisman ink from the tip of the brush, leaving lines on the talisman paper that emitted a faint glow.

As the runes were completed, a faint light flashed across the talisman paper before fading away.

Invisibility charm successfully created!

Zhang Yuan was overjoyed, but then he felt a strong wave of fatigue wash over him, as if all his energy had been drained.

His vision went black for a moment, his body swayed, and he almost fell.

He quickly grabbed the table for support, panting heavily.

"That was close..." He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling a wave of lingering fear.

Drawing an invisibility talisman consumes too much mental energy; with his current cultivation level, drawing just one is already his limit.

After finishing the drawing, he would fall into a state of extreme weakness.

"If an enemy attacks now, I won't even have the strength to run away," Zhang Yuan thought to himself, keeping a close watch on things.

It seems that invisibility talismans cannot be drawn easily.

He stored the invisibility talisman in his Shadowless Ring, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep instantly.

When he opened his eyes, it was already completely dark.

A crescent moon hung in the night sky, casting its cool moonlight.

Zhang Yuan sat up, stretched his limbs, and felt much more refreshed.

He was about to go to the kitchen to get something to eat when he suddenly heard the shop door being pushed open.

"Squeak—"

A night breeze carrying a faint scent drifted into the shop.

The smell was faint, but Zhang Yuan still keenly detected it—it was the smell of blood, mixed with sweat and the scent of the earth, like someone who had just come down from a battlefield.

Immediately afterwards, a tall figure walked in.

The man wore a black cloak and a bronze mask that revealed only his deep-set eyes.

He closed the door behind him and bolted it.

Then, he looked at Zhang Yuan and said in a low, hoarse voice, "I have a body to deal with."

"OK."

Zhang Yuan agreed and led him to the backyard.

The man took the corpse out of the storage bag, but actually took out a long sword. The sword flashed like lightning and stabbed straight at Zhang Yuan's throat!

Zhang Yuan was taken aback.

With a light tap of his toes, he retreated rapidly, and at the same time, a bluish-gray longsword appeared in his hand—the very same low-grade magic weapon he had seized from Wang Hu.

"bite--"

The blades clashed, sparks flying.

Zhang Yuan felt a powerful force coming from the sword, which made his arm go numb and caused him to stagger back several steps.

That person's cultivation level was at least the third level of Qi Refining!

"Damn it, why did you kill me? What grudge do we have?" Zhang Yuan shouted angrily.