6 Superior Cultivation Technique's Strength

The system made it sound like the Qi from beyond the Heavens was nothing but cabbages, causing Zhang Baichi to frown. This was far from what he was expecting… Because this meant that the Black Heaven Scripture was seemingly a lot less heaven defying than he originally thought.

He frowned, yet before he could say something, the system gave him the answer without him asking first.

[Ding! The Black Heaven Qi is different from ordinary Qi from beyond the Heavens. Black Heaven Qi is refined time and time again by the cultivator, and has an incomparably higher quality and purity.]

"I see…", Zhang Baichi said, his expression still betraying his suspicions, as he simply didn't understand the difference with his still limited knowledge. "Alright then, I'll give it a try. Give me a vial with ten of the Blood Pills."

The system acknowledged his command and a small glass vial filled with ten blood-red pills appeared in his hand. He opened the vial and a metallic, bloody smell emerged, like he had just opened a bloodbag… "System, are you sure these are edible? What are they even made of?"

[Ding! Displaying information as instructed:]

[Blood Pill

Peak Mortal-Class Cultivation Resource

Created by combining 6 Mortal-Class Natural Treasures with the Blood and Qi of Creatures from beyond the Heavens. The exact recipe cannot be deduced.]

The description was short and lacking information, again, but it was enough for Zhang Baichi to understand, that resources and creatures from beyond the heavens were actually quite normal. At least they were normal as far as the system was concerned.

'There's no way that they're actually normal for the likes of the disciples of the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect. They… seem to be too low level for knowledge like that, especially considering their inferior cultivation techniques. If they had those resources, they should have better techniques as well.', Zhang Baichi mused to himself.

However, this wasn't any of his concern. He had the system, which meant that being part of this sect was nothing but a formality to him. They had done nothing for him, nor for the old Zhang Baichi, who was treated like trash. In fact, an Elder even noted down his fight with Ji Jian, sealing his fate to be killed.

Zhang Baichi shook his head and decided to ignore those things for now. He took one of the red Blood Pills out of the glass vial and threw it into his mouth, swallowing it at once. The metallic taste coated his tongue instantly and the pill began to dissolve, unleashing its strong medicinal properties.

Not waiting any longer, Zhang Baichi began to cultivate according to the Qi circulation methods of the Black Heaven Scripture, only that he didn't try to pull in Qi from beyond the Heavens by himself but used the medicinal properties of the Blood Pill instead.

It took him nearly an hour to refine the first pill and he breathed out a mouthful of foul air. After stretching his arms and back, he flexed his muscles with an expression of surprise – He had become stronger. Much stronger. His body fully absorbed the effect of the Blood Pill, strengthening his physique as a whole, while the Qi from beyond the Heavens contained in the pill was used to fuel his cultivation.

"Another two or three Blood Pills and I should be able to reach the 1st Layer of the Body Forging Realm… With a normal cultivation method, I would only need one pill to reach the 1st Layer, but I would still be weaker than I am now… The Black Heaven Scripture really deserves its name as a Supreme-Class technique.", Zhang Baichi clicked his tongue in amazement.

If his guess was correct, he should be as strong as the old Zhang Baichi was at the 4th Layer of the Body Forging Realm before he even reached the 2nd Layer with the Black Heaven Scripture. His lips rose into a smile and he popped another Blood Pill into his mouth. "Let's not waste any time, there's still 99 Blood Pills to go."

Hours passed and Zhang Baichi refined one pellet after the other, only stopping to check the time with the system and whenever he broke through to a higher layer.

The next morning, Zhang Baichi finally stopped to cultivate. He had big dark bags under his eyes, as he didn't sleep at all, but his eyes shone brightly. In this one night, he had reached the 3rd Layer of the Body Forging Realm and still had about 70 pellets.

"System, what's my strength now compared to the sect disciple around here?", he asked with a smug expression. The Zhang Baichi from one day before and the Zhang Baichi now couldn't be compared at all; He had reached a completely new level of strength and already knew, that he was much more powerful than when he was as the 4th Layer before.

[Ding! The strength of Hosts body is comparable to 7th Layer Body Forging cultivators. Hosts Black Heaven Qi is superior to 10th Layer Body Forging cultivators and comparable to cultivators of a higher cultivation realm.]

"Comparable to someone of a higher realm? Already? Then, what if I reach the 6th or 7th Layer? Or the 10th? Will I be able to compare to people two realms higher?", stumped for a second, Zhang Baichi started to rapid-fire questions at the system, excited by this sudden news.

[Ding! Hosts strength will increase exponentially with every breakthrough, as is the case for every cultivator. There is no further information available.]

The system poured a bucket of cold water over his head and he instantly deflated like a balloon. Zhang Baichi looked annoyed and spoke in a wronged tone again. "Of course there's no information. Why did I even ask… System, make sure to inform me when there's someone surpassing the Body Forging Realm nearby. And tell me how I compare to them when the time comes."

[Ding! Understood.]

Before Zhang Baichi could say anything else, someone knocked on the door of his thatched cottage.

It was still early morning and Zhang Baichi hadn't eaten anything the whole day, so he quickly remembered who this should be. The Fleeting Storm Sword Sect puts the most emphasis on cultivation and to make sure their disciples could focus at all times, servants and slaves would take cake of menial tasks such as cooking or cleaning.

Zhang Baichi took a quick look around and frowned. He had forgotten about the glass vial he broke and the poisoned Blood Pills on the ground. The latter couldn't be left laying around and shouldn't be seen by other people, so he quickly picked them all up and tossed them into his inventory, then finally opened the door.

Outside, a young man with an expressionless face and tidy yet simple clothes was about to turn around when the door opened. Zhang Baichi looked at him with a nonchalant expression and gave him a nod. The young man quickly turned towards him and bowed his head.

Zhang Baichi stretched his body as if he had just woken up and looked around. Quite a few disciples were already on the move and busying themselves, though he just turned back to the young servant. "Sorry for the trouble. I just need some food for today. You can send someone to clean tomorrow."

"It's no trouble at all, not trouble at all. Young sir, do you need anything else?", the young man spoke in a flattering tone, but Zhang Baichi just waved him off, inwardly a bit vexed; How could he keep any random servant close by, when he had to keep the system a secret? That would just be courting death.

The young man didn't ask anything else and only left the food for Zhang Baichi behind before bowing once again and excusing himself. Zhang Baichi then saw him walk to the next cottage over, delivering food for the next person and sending cleaners to them, if the need arises. 'If I didn't take over this body, this world's Zhang Baichi would have ended like that at best…'

The Fleeting Storm Sword Sect was fawned over the talented and disregarded the ones without talent. Because of that, they had much fewer disciples than comparable sects, but every inner disciple would be an elite, and every core disciple a genius. Thus, their reputation among cultivators and regular folk was superb. After all, no one saw the miserable ones that didn't make the cut.

Among the disciples, the Outer Sect was the most miserable, while the Inner Sect was the most competitive. The whole sect was centered around a towering mountain peak, with the Outer Sect at the foot of the mountain having to fend of wild beasts by themselves, while those that joined the Inner Sect and ascended the mountain would have to fight for their right to remain up there.

Only Core Disciples, Elders and the Sect Master were allowed at the mountain's peak, where life would be better…

"For now, let's make the mountain peak my goal. After that… We'll see what comes after that when it comes to that.", Zhang Baichi nodded to himself, then continued to look around the Outer Sect. Other than the path leading up the mountain, the most notable place would be the training fields where disciples practised their swordsmanship. 'Right, this is a sword sect… I need to work on my swordsmanship if I want to climb to the top.'