Chapter Twenty-Two: Crisis Arrives

Suyi Zhao’s face was pale as death, lost and despairing. The cessation of the Creation Technique was a minor matter—at worst, his cultivation would slow. The true disaster was that the mysterious energy flooding into his body no longer entered his dantian, but instead surged into his chest.

With a ripping sound, he tore open his Daoist robe and stared at his chest. There, the eight-trigram-shaped mark was slowly expanding. Once no larger than a fingernail, it had grown two or three times in just a dozen breaths. The consequences were dire.

Suyi Zhao’s eyes were fixed upon the eight-trigram mark. If the mysterious energy here could not satisfy it, the energy in his dantian would be depleted bit by bit, and the energy absorbed from outside would never be stored in his dantian. Ultimately, he would again be reduced to having no cultivation. This was a hidden danger that could take his life and destroy his Dao at any moment.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, all the mysterious energy converted by the frail cultivator had vanished. The eight-trigram mark now reached the size of a fist.

“No, no!” Suyi Zhao murmured, staring at the mark. The amount of energy at the mid-Four Mysteries Realm should, by the previous experience, make the mark grow to the size of a palm. Once it reached that size, it would detach from his body. But now?

“Could it be that this mark also has realms?” Suddenly, an absurd idea flashed through his mind. If it truly had realms, it meant that the Creation Technique he had practiced last time was no longer suitable, which explained its sudden halt. So, despite its heaven-defying nature, this technique had its limits.

Good! If a technique is too heaven-defying, it would constantly make him question his parents’ identity and cultivation, and urge him to seek his origins. He breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and looked toward the depths of the mine.

Ahead was darkness; if he entered, he would be transported to the second level. The first level had brought him face-to-face with the Four Mysteries Realm—would the second level be the Five Gods Realm? He might have a slim chance against an ordinary Five Gods Realm, but against a soul cultivator of that realm, he had no confidence at all.

He had plenty of mysterious stones in his storage pouch; there was no need to take unnecessary risks. It would be better to convert them into strength and return later. So, he turned and walked out.

To become a gold-ranked disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall, not a single failure was permitted. He had never tried anything uncertain, a habit he maintained rigorously.

He softly recited the incantation, and the mist obscuring his dantian slowly dissipated.

“You—so soon?” Passing the doorway, the voice was no longer languid.

“Was I?” Suyi Zhao retorted.

“To advance a full realm so quickly?”

“Haha, then let me be even quicker!” Suyi Zhao flew off, and from the cultivation tower, four or five message talismans shot out in all directions.

“How much for the Sword Flight Art, Fiery Explosion, Profound Ice Spike, Transposition Technique, and Ice Shield?” Suyi Zhao asked, unaware that his feats had spread throughout the sect.

To pass the first level at the mid-Three Mysteries Realm had never happened before. Passing the first level was remarkable enough, but to leap to the mid-Four Mysteries Realm was unheard of.

“Sword Flight Art, one hundred ten thousand mysterious stones; the others, seventy thousand each! Total, three hundred ninety thousand mysterious stones!”

So expensive?

Suyi Zhao silently cursed, but obediently handed over the stones. He knew bargaining was forbidden in the sect.

The path of cultivation grew harder the higher one climbed—not only requiring talent, but wealth as well. Of course, if one’s talent was truly extraordinary, the sect would nurture them freely. If one could apprentice under a powerful master, more resources would be provided. But his talent had not yet reached such heights.

After collecting the techniques, he bought eight inferior-grade flying swords. Just as he was about to leave, the disciple lowered his voice: “Junior brother, interested in buying the Soul Profound Technique?”

Suyi Zhao’s heart tightened, his gaze fixed on the man.

“Seeing you have some wealth, I’ll tell you quietly. If you can’t afford it, forget it.”

His heart pounded. The Central Continent had three major cultivation systems, each with its strengths and weaknesses. What if one cultivated all three?

His right hand rubbed his storage pouch, inside which lay a technique called the Profound Body Art.

“I can’t afford it!” Suyi Zhao abruptly turned and left.

Cultivating all three was formidable, but no cultivator was foolish. If he could think of it, why wouldn’t others? Yet he had never met anyone cultivating two systems, let alone three. Clearly, there was a hidden catch.

Returning to his wooden hut, he laid out the various techniques, excitement surging within him.

What power did a fourth-grade Sword Flight Art possess? And what about when it reached perfection?

“Investigate thoroughly!”

The Profound Qi Sect occupied thirty thousand miles. At that moment, in a grand hall atop a mountain ten thousand miles away, a middle-aged man’s voice rang out, heavy with authority.

“One Wu Qinwu being killed is not important, but damaging the Wu family’s prestige is. We must not become a laughingstock, unable to find the murderer!”

“Yes, Patriarch, we already have some information!”

“Tell me. I want to see what kind of person the killer is—whether the Wu family would