C17 He Broke Through at Lightning Speed.

In the secluded Pill Refining Courtyard, Loong Jiaoyang sat cross-legged, immersed in the cultivation of the Righteousness Mantra. Amidst excruciating pain, he elevated his mastery of the mantra to the Great Completion Period of the Human Stage. Within him, his Qi Sea and Pubic Region expanded yet again, this time by fivefold.

His meridian capacity had long surpassed that of the Human Stage, having reached at least the expansion level of the Earth Stage's Middle Period.

With the painful advancement behind him, Loong Jiaoyang threw himself into a frenzy of pill refining. The courtyard, where Gao Chuan resided, held fifty batches of herbs for the Spirit Gathering Pill. Before entering his intense period of seclusion, Loong Jiaoyang had also arranged for Guo Liangren to procure ten batches for the Life-Prolonging Pill.

Loong Jiaoyang devoted every moment outside of his basic needs—cooking, eating, and resting—to the art of pill refining. The success of his complete recovery from the injuries to his Qi Sea and meridians hinged on his ability to produce a third-grade Vein Pursuing Pill.

His obsession with pill crafting, coupled with the finest Pill Refining Furnace, propelled his skills forward dramatically. The Spirit Gathering Pills he produced had evolved from third to fourth grade.

Each Four Transformation Spirit Gathering Pill fetched a staggering eighteen million gold coins. Yet, their true worth transcended mere gold; they had the power to rapidly advance the cultivation of those who had plateaued for an extended period. Alas, their most significant impact was on Earth Stage cultivators, offering little benefit to those at the Heaven Stage or beyond, which if not for this limitation, would have made them even more valuable.

Once his technique was perfected, Loong Jiaoyang ceased the production of Spirit Gathering Pills and shifted his focus to the healing Vein Pursuing Pill. On that very day, as Gao Bing emerged from his secluded cultivation amidst a thunderous tribulation, he ascended to the Great Completion of the Earth Stage and broke his seclusion.

"If I don't slay Loong Jiaoyang, I'll renounce the name Gao!" Gao Bing bellowed into the sky, swearing a fierce oath upon learning of Gao Chuan's fate. The one-month deadline loomed, with a mere five days remaining.

The entire Profound Girl Sect was abuzz over the impending battle, with numerous elders emerging from their deep meditations to witness the event.

"Dad, will you not seek out Gao Bing today? Are you content to watch Loong Jiaoyang meet his end?" Zi Shan demanded, her voice tinged with anger as she confronted her father, Zi Chongyang, a man of imposing stature and a long, solemn face, within the Sect Master's residence.

Zi Chongyang, his sparse eyebrows knitting together in a frown, turned his back to Zi Shan and gazed at a scroll depicting the Profound Girl Peak. "The landscape is like a painting, seemingly flawless and impervious. Yet, with the slightest touch, it can be punctured, instantly transforming into a worthless piece of paper."

"Father, I have no desire to discuss art with you. Please, go to Gao Bing. I cannot bear the thought of Loong Jiaoyang dying."

"Zi Shan, Gao Bing is our Holy Son. You may show him disrespect with no consequence, but if I were to intervene, it would provoke the Gao family to revolt. The most I can do is ensure their duel is fair and impartial."

Zi Shan's anger flared. "Father, as the leader of the Profound Girl Sect, why should you fear the Gao family? Your word is law; you should not be cowed by any threats!"

"Zi Shan, within the dominion of Heavenly Talisman City, there are formidable forces like the Tian Yin Sect and the Yama Devil Sect. While I do not fear the Gao family, pushing them into the arms of these factions over an outsider would be a loss too great to justify," Zi Chongyang explained.

"Loong Jiaoyang is a skilled alchemist; he's crafted the third revolution Spirit Gathering Pill. Bringing him into our Sect would surely be an asset, wouldn't it?"

"Zi Shan, remember this: Gao Bing is the Holy Son of our Sect, and you are destined to be his wife. You must cease your involvement in this affair," Zi Chongyang declared, turning to face her with an air of irrevocable authority.

"You're not my father!" Zi Shan cried out in a mix of rage and sorrow before fleeing in tears.

"The agony in my Sea of Qi and Pubic Region has vanished, and the obstructive sensation of breaks within my meridians is gone. My injuries are finally healed!"

After silently channeling his Spirit Power for a complete cycle, Loong Jiaoyang opened his eyes, brimming with excitement.

Four days had passed, during which Loong Jiaoyang dedicated himself to refining seven batches of herbs. At last, he succeeded in creating the third-tier Vein Pursuing Pill. This single pill would fully restore the damage to his Qi Sea, Pubic Region, and meridians.

"Tomorrow, I face Gao Bing in battle. My only option is to use the Spirit Gathering Pill for a swift breakthrough. After I've repaid my debt, I'll depart from here," Loong Jiaoyang resolved, retrieving the Four Transformation Spirit Gathering Pill.

"What's the real difference between a fourth-tier Medicine Pill and one of the second tier?" he pondered aloud. He recalled the time he had consumed a second-tier Spirit Gathering Pill to break through from the Great Completion of the Human Stage to the early Earth Stage.

Loong Jiaoyang swallowed the Spirit Gathering Pill in one go, invoking the Righteousness Mantra in his mind to saturate his Qi Sea, Pubic Region, and meridians.

As soon as the Four Transformation Spirit Gathering Pill dissolved, he instantly felt its potent effects. The pill's essence transformed each pore into a conduit for spiritual energy, drawing in the essence of the world around him.

The spiritual energy within the pill itself was like a colossal stone plunging into a full water tank, infusing Loong Jiaoyang with overwhelming power. His Spirit Power surged through his Qi Sea's Pubic Region and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, forging new paths and expanding his capacity.

With a thunderous howl, Loong Jiaoyang's internal Spirit Power raged, aggressively carving through his Qi Sea's Pubic Region and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, signaling another expansion of his spiritual reservoirs.

The Four Transformation Spirit Gathering Pill, akin to an inexhaustible Spirit Stone, enveloped Loong Jiaoyang with the absorbed celestial energy. This energy infused the Vast Qi Heavenly Monument, which in turn activated its own potent Spirit Power, driving the expansion of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and harnessing the ceaseless influx of the heavens' spiritual essence.

As Loong Jiaoyang's Eight Extraordinary Meridians expanded fivefold, the Four Symbols Divine Beasts emerged atop the eight trigrams encircling him. The Vermilion Bird Divine Beast, associated with the Li Fire position, began to glow with a soft red light, nourished by the Li Fire itself.

Crack!

Out of nowhere, a thunderbolt cleaved the clear sky, striking Loong Jiaoyang in a flash. Prepared for this moment, he channeled all his strength into the Li Fire, directing it into the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast.

The Vermilion Bird Divine Beast took form as a tiny bird the size of a palm, chirping defiantly as it soared to meet the heavenly lightning.

Boom!

The diminutive Vermilion Bird shuddered and cried out as lightning struck, causing Loong Jiaoyang's body to quake in tandem. The heavenly lightning's force, filtered through the Divine Beast, hit him with diminished strength, leaving him relatively unscathed.

Three successive bolts of lightning later, Loong Jiaoyang had firmly stepped into the early phase of the Earth Stage. Remarkably, the Spirit Gathering Pill within him continued to exert its influence, swiftly replenishing his expanded meridians and the Sea of Qi Dantian, prompting yet another breakthrough.

Astonished, Loong Jiaoyang mused, "Is this the might of the Four Transformation Spirit Gathering Pill? It's incredibly potent, enabling back-to-back breakthroughs!"

Without a moment's delay, he formed his fingers into a lotus shape, his mind as lucid as a polished mirror. He commenced the Righteousness Mantra, further expanding his Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and began his progression toward the Earth Stage Middle Period. This phase unfolded more slowly, as the potency of the Spirit Gathering Pill waned.

Roughly an hour later, Loong Jiaoyang once again beckoned the thunder, enduring five strikes this time. The Vermilion Bird Divine Beast, perched upon his Eight Trigrams, had transformed from palm-sized to the size of a human head. Loong Jiaoyang's meridians expanded yet again, more than quintupling in size, while the power of the Four Transformation Spirit Gathering Pill was finally spent. His vastly enlarged meridians now felt eerily empty.

The power of the Vast Qi Heavenly Monument far exceeded that of the Evil Blood Demon Base, stirring restlessly, eager to eradicate the malevolent core nestled within the Qi Sea of the Pubic Region.

Loong Jiaoyang, left with no alternative, continued to ingest Spirit Gathering Pills. He began to harness and consolidate his immense Spirit Power, invoking the Great Devil Heart Meridian. With the Evil Blood Demon Base, he once more expanded his meridians, bracing himself for the tribulation.

Upon the successful expansion of his meridians, Loong Jiaoyang's body had achieved a level of strength capable of containing Spirit Power that not only reached the pinnacle of the Earth Stage's Great Completion but also surpassed it. The capacity of his Sea of Qi within the Pubic Region to store Spirit Power had become even more formidable than that of the Great Completion phase of the Earth Stage.