Burial Furnace

"How is that possible?" Ma Yutang said confidently. "I will definitely advance to the Golden Core stage before you. My father has given me a lot of resources."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Lu Muyao with lingering reluctance, then turned and walked out.

He closed the door behind him.

As Lu Muyao listened to his footsteps gradually fade away, the smile on her face slowly disappeared, replaced by indifference and apathy.

She walked to the bedside, sat cross-legged, took out the storage bag, and scanned it with her divine sense.

There were more than a dozen corpses lying inside.

In addition, there was a cloth bag filled with spirit stones, which was obviously for the cost of cremation.

A look of joy appeared on her face.

Hanging Ma Yutang is the right thing to do.

That way he can keep giving out benefits.

Immediately, images from last night involuntarily surfaced in her mind—the old man at the crematorium, his aged yet still handsome face, his strong hands, and so on…

I thought we'd never have a chance to meet again.

But we can meet again tonight.

I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

……

Time passed by, second by second.

Inside the cultivation chamber, Zhang Yuan and Liu Mei continued their dual cultivation.

The spiritual energy within the half-grade spirit stone flowed into Zhang Yuan's body like an inexhaustible spring, joining the great cycle.

The quantity and purity of that spiritual energy far exceeded Zhang Yuan's expectations.

In Zhang Yuan's dantian, true essence was constantly accumulating, compressing, accumulating again, and compressing again.

Finally, he encountered an invisible barrier.

It's like an invisible wall blocking the entrance to the dantian.

The true essence in the dantian could no longer increase even slightly.

But the technique was still running, and at an extremely fast speed. Every time a cycle was completed, a powerful force would impact the barrier.

Once, twice, three times...

boom!

During the third impact, the barrier collapsed with a deafening roar.

A mysterious power surged from the depths of Zhang Yuan's dantian, sweeping over his entire body.

That power was warm and strong, like the spring sunshine, shining into every corner of his body.

His meridians were expanding, his bones were strengthening, his blood was boiling, and even his soul was trembling.

Fourth level of Qi Refining.

We've finally made a breakthrough.

A surge of ecstasy welled up in Zhang Yuan's heart.

He then discovered that the Yin-Yang Rejuvenation Technique was also of great help in breaking through realms—because it combined the true essence of two people to break through the bottleneck, its power was multiplied, making it much easier than breaking through alone.

After the breakthrough, the dantian seemed to have expanded, and could hold more true essence.

He continued to circulate his cultivation technique, absorbing the spiritual energy from the top-grade spirit stone to consolidate his newly broken-through realm.

Liu Mei also sensed the fluctuations during his breakthrough and was happy for him.

The stronger the old man becomes, the better, so that he can protect himself.

In the world of cultivation, the strong prey on the weak; the weaker one is, the easier it is for them to perish.

Finally, it got dark.

The two stopped cultivating.

"Old man, thank you." Liu Mei's face was full of gratitude, her eyes filled with love and admiration. "My true energy has been completely purified. Perhaps I will be able to advance to the late stage of Foundation Establishment soon."

"You should go back now," Zhang Yuan interrupted her. "I need to start minding the shop soon."

Liu Mei nodded, glanced at him reluctantly, then walked out of the cultivation chamber, went to the balcony, and flew away on her sword.

Zhang Yuan went downstairs and came to the backyard.

I'm starting to test my strength after this breakthrough.

His strength doubled.

The speed has also doubled.

Most importantly, he can finally project his divine sense outwards.

Although it was only a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) away, it meant that he could finally perceive his surroundings with his divine sense, just like a true cultivator.

He took out three jade slips from his Shadowless Ring, which he had bought long ago—Fire Serpent Technique, Earth Spike Technique, and Lightness Technique.

With a thought, the Immortal Transformation Furnace in the cremation hall transformed into a stream of light, passed through the window, and landed in front of him. He threw all the jade slips into the furnace, where they turned to ashes.

He gained some primordial power and fully comprehended these three spells.

Then he stored the furnace in his dantian.

A thought crossed my mind.

A fiery serpent, about two meters long and as thick as a wrist, appeared out of thin air. It was entirely crimson and emitted terrifyingly high temperatures.

The fire snakes meandered through the air, scorching and distorting the air wherever they passed.

He commanded the fire serpent to pounce forward, biting into a huge blue stone, which instantly melted, emitting billowing white smoke.

Zhang Yuan gasped.

The power of this Fire Serpent Technique has been enhanced by the Immortal Transformation Furnace, making it terrifyingly powerful.

Perhaps we can kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator?

With a thought, the Immortal Transformation Furnace went back to the cremation hall and entered the furnace.

He used the Fire Serpent Technique again, but this time its power was greatly reduced.

Even stones can only be burned black, let alone melted.

He then tried the earth spike technique.

With a thought, several sharp earth spikes instantly sprouted from the ground within a ten-foot radius around him. Each spike was as thick as an arm and had a sharp tip like a spear.

Although the speed is not very fast, its advantage lies in its surprise. If the enemy is not prepared, it is easy to be pierced through.

Finally, there's the art of lightness.

He used his lightness technique, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his whole body floated up like a feather, landing steadily on the eaves of the second floor.

Looking down from the eaves, the entire courtyard can be seen.

He went to the lounge, took out a talisman pen and talisman paper, and began to draw talismans.

This time, he drew five invisibility talismans in one go before he had exhausted most of his mental energy.

He drew two more pictures than before, which shows that his mental strength has also improved significantly.

He put down his talisman brush, looked at the five shimmering invisibility talismans, and smiled.

At the fourth level of Qi Refining, with Fire Serpent Technique, Earth Spike Technique, and Lightness Technique, and using five Invisibility Talismans daily—his strength is steadily increasing.

Although there is still a long way to go before he can get revenge, at least he has already embarked on the path to revenge!

The sky was not yet completely dark; a wisp of dark purple afterglow lingered on the western horizon, like a vintage wine splashed across the heavens.

Lanterns lit up one after another on the streets of Aoki Town, their dim yellow glow swaying in the twilight and casting long, long shadows of pedestrians.

Zhang Yuan stood at the entrance of the crematorium, watching the increasing number of pedestrians on the street, and pondered for a moment.

He returned to the lounge, changed into an inconspicuous gray Taoist robe, concealed his aura to the extreme, then pushed open the back door and silently blended into the twilight.

The Spirit Artifact Pavilion is located on the most bustling street in Qingmu Town, two alleys away from the crematorium.

Zhang Yuan could see the three-story pavilion from afar, with its upturned eaves, carved beams and painted rafters, and two large red lanterns hanging in front of the door, illuminating the entire street.

The gate was wide open, and cultivators were constantly coming and going. Some wore masks, some wore veils, and some simply covered most of their faces with bamboo hats, so no one could see anyone's true face.

This is exactly the effect he wanted.

Take advantage of the chaos; the more disorderly, the better.