After a round of pleasantries, everyone found a spot to sit in the courtyard. Liu Qian offered a warning, "If any of you are heading to the black market soon, you should be careful. Better yet, go with a group."

I heard from my older brother that there have been a lot of robbery-murders in the black market lately. Several people died just last night, and two of them were Outer Disciples."

Everyone was shocked to hear that two Outer Disciples had been killed.

Xu Yang’s heart skipped a beat. ’Did what happened last night really cause such a stir?’

’I killed one of them... Who killed the other? I hope this trouble doesn’t reach the Sect.’

"Who would be so audacious? Robbing people is one thing, but to actually dare kill a Purple Sun Sect disciple?" Chen Jiang exclaimed.

He had been planning to visit the black market in a while to get some cheap Qi Replenishing Pills, but now he was having second thoughts.

Qin Ze sneered. "There may be people from Cyan Cloud City at the black market, but it’s mostly filled with Outer Disciples from the Purple Sun Sect. I’m afraid it was an inside job."

"Killing our own... isn’t that too ruthless? Does the Sect not intervene?" a disciple from He Ming Boxing Hall asked.

Yue Gui laughed. "How naive. If someone gets killed in the deep mountains, who’s going to know who did it? The Sect can’t manage it even if they want to. Besides, if you go looking for trouble, who can you blame? The Sect certainly never told you to go to a dangerous place like the black market."

If it were an Inner Sect Disciple who died, the Sect would probably hunt down the killer with all its resources. But as for Outer Disciples, we’re just beasts of burden. Who’s going to care?

’Not staying put in the Sect late at night... if you die, you have no one to blame but yourself.’

Liu Qian said, "Actually, the Sect does look into it. They send people to investigate the scene, but if they can’t find any clues about the killer, the matter is just dropped."

Xu Yang was startled. ’Good thing I got rid of the traces of the Thunder Shock Fist.’

’But,’ he quickly realized, ’I’m not the only one who practices the Thunder Shock Fist. It would still be very difficult to trace it back to me.’

’And they’re probably just going through the motions anyway.’

"Big news! Big news!" Suddenly, a figure rushed in from outside.

Qin Ze stood up. "Junior Brother Zhou, what’s happened?"

The young man Qin Ze had called Junior Brother Zhou announced, "The latest news—Kong Yu has reached the Qi Cultivation Gang realm!"

Uproar!

His words were like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly sending out huge ripples. The faces of many were etched with shock.

"What? Kong Yu reached the Qi Cultivation Gang realm?"

"That’s terrifying. How does he cultivate so fast?"

"Are you sure you’re not mistaken?"

...

Many people thought they must have misheard, but Junior Brother Zhou confirmed that Kong Yu had indeed reached the Qi Cultivation Gang realm.

"As expected of a genius with a Lower A-class Root Bone, ranked third on the Ten Heroes List. To think he reached the Qi Cultivation Gang realm so quickly," Yue Gui said, his face a mask of shock.

It hadn’t even been a month since the news spread that Kong Yu had reached Qi Gathering Perfection, yet he had already broken through.

In fact, all told, Kong Yu had only been practicing martial arts for a single year.

"Lu Ren and he... they’re not even on the same level," Liu Qian sighed.

Lu Ren had reached Qi Gathering Perfection about a month before Kong Yu, yet Lu Ren still hadn’t broken through.

Qin Ze said, "My master used to say that resources were the most critical part of practicing martial arts. But now I think talent is what truly matters. Resources, hard work... they’re nothing in the face of true talent."

Even though he had reached the Qi Cultivation Gang realm himself, only he knew how long he’d been stuck. He had already reached Qi Gathering Perfection back when he was in Qingyuan.

For a moment, the joy of his own breakthrough felt diminished, and his enthusiasm waned.

The group discussed it for a while longer before the conversation finally wound down, though they still had more to say.

Liu Qian reminded him, "Brother Xu, be careful."

Xu Yang nodded. "I know."

In truth, he wasn’t too concerned. So what if Kong Yu had reached the Qi Cultivation Gang realm? He had only just broken through; his Cultivation wasn’t even stable yet. Even if it were, and even if Xu Yang couldn’t defeat someone who had just entered the realm, it would still be difficult for them to kill him.

’Besides,’ he thought, ’I’ll be breaking through soon myself.’

"You shouldn’t have turned down the Heroic Assembly!" Yue Gui sighed.

They spoke cryptically, and while the others didn’t understand, the few of them all knew that Kong Yu was looking for revenge against Xu Yang.

With Kong Yu reaching the Qi Cultivation Gang realm, everyone felt a new sense of urgency. After a bit more idle chatter, they all went their separate ways.

When Xu Yang returned to his own courtyard, he found that Zhang Yong and the others had also come looking for him. They were talking with Sun Tao about Kong Yu’s breakthrough to the Qi Cultivation Gang realm.

He greeted them briefly before ducking into his room. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Now that Kong Yu has broken through, the pressure on him must be immense," Zhang Yong sighed.

Even without knowing that Kong Yu was behind the incident with Li Rui’an, they knew that Kong Yu hated Xu Yang to the bone.

During the Martial Arts Examination, when Xu Yang killed Zhu Yang on the stage, Kong Yu and his followers had barely been able to restrain themselves from jumping up to fight Xu Yang to the death.

Given the chance, no one believed Kong Yu would let Xu Yang off the hook.

As his fame grew, so did his domineering presence. Kong Yu was beginning to develop a truly tyrannical air.

"Xu Yang is finished."

This thought surfaced in the minds of many.

Never mind Xu Yang, who was still considered slightly weaker than Lu Ren; even Lu Ren himself was no match for Kong Yu.

Sun Tao’s expression was grim, but there was nothing he could do. Kong Yu’s talent was just too monstrous—reaching the Qi Cultivation Gang realm in a single year.

For many, forget reaching the Qi Cultivation Gang realm in a year; just reaching Qi Gathering Great Success was enough to be considered a hopeful for Dragon Ascension.

Xu Yang paid no mind to the words of Zhang Yong and the others. He locked his door, sat cross-legged on his bed, and took out a Qi Replenishing Pill to continue refining it.

The Elixir dissolved into a warm current that spread throughout his entire body. Under the effects of Circulation Transport, his True Qi slowly began to swell.

As it swelled, his Vajra True Qi simultaneously nourished and tempered his physical body, and the faint silver glow enveloping him grew increasingly dense.

One Pill!

Two Pills!

After the third Qi Replenishing Pill, he felt his Dantian begin to reach a state of saturation, as if it were completely full.

But he didn’t stop. He swallowed the last Qi Replenishing Pill as well.

An hour later, both his Dantian and his meridians finally felt completely saturated. Silvery-white Vajra True Qi filled them to the brim, forming a strange, automatic cycle.