Chapter 18: The Eleventh Layer of Pure Yang Technique

True Qi washed through his physical body.

Under the impact of the vast True Qi, his previous injuries were recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Once the True Qi calmed down and returned to the dantian, Shen Changqing discovered that some of his less severe injuries had already mostly healed. Even for the more serious wounds, the lingering icy aura had been completely expelled; though some traces remained, they no longer had a significant impact.

"Ninth Layer of the Pure Yang Art... I have now officially broken through to the peak of the Meridian-Opening Stage!"

Shen Changqing calmed his mind. The True Qi in his dantian was so profound that it had reached a level of qualitative change. Seeing this, he was very satisfied.

"However—"

"The advancement from the eighth to the ninth layer of the Pure Yang Art consumed five Slaughter Points. With the remaining points, I won't be able to increase it much more," Shen Changqing mused.

Undoubtedly, the cost of perfecting the Pure Yang Art was higher than that of perfecting the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong because the former martial art was inherently more powerful. If martial arts were divided into grades, the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong could only be considered a basic martial art, whereas the Pure Yang Art was an advanced martial art, one level higher than the former.

"Having slain the evil spirits here, once I return to the capital, I will be an official Demon Slayer. A Yellow-rank Demon Slayer is qualified to enter the second floor of the Library, which must contain records of even more powerful martial arts. But looking at the current situation, it might not be the best choice to save my Slaughter Points to study higher-level martial arts upon my return. Instead, it might be better to use them now."

Shen Changqing stood in place, lost in thought.

According to the panel, he had ten Slaughter Points remaining. Based on the consumption of his two current martial arts, he could roughly estimate that if he were to upgrade higher-level martial arts, the cost would certainly increase accordingly. Even if each level only required a single point of Slaughter, he would, at most, only be able to raise a high-tier martial art to about the third layer.

Regardless of how profound a martial art was, it was not necessarily stronger than a low-tier one until one truly reached a very high level. In other words, the third layer of the Pure Yang Art would absolutely lose to the fifteenth layer of the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong.

Therefore, rather than saving Slaughter Points to study new martial arts, it might be better to commit to his current path; he might encounter unexpected gains.

"Besides, if my strength increases and I am still performing Yellow-rank Demon Slayer missions, my safety margin will undoubtedly increase significantly. Since Zhao Fang and his lot dared to collude with evil spirits, there might be powerful experts backing them. Thus, increasing my own strength will provide better security!"

Thinking this, Shen Changqing made a decision. He focused his mind on the panel. After breaking through to the ninth layer, the Pure Yang Art was still in a state where it could be upgraded.

"Upgrade!" Shen Changqing commanded mentally.

Instantly, his dantian felt as if it were being tossed by a stormy sea, as if a great sun were rising from within. An incredibly powerful and scorching force swept through his entire body, while simultaneously, his blood and qi began to wane.

At that moment, Shen Changqing's skin turned a faint red, as if something were about to burst through his flesh. Immediately after, the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong erupted. His blood and qi vibrated, and a luster flashed across his physical body. No matter how that scorching force attempted to impact him, it was forcibly suppressed.

After several cycles, the scorching force finally settled down, circulating normally through his body before eventually returning to the dantian to remain still.

"Phew!"

Once the Pure Yang True Qi had settled, Shen Changqing let out a long breath. Even a simple exhale sent a faint wave of air through the space, causing the withered leaves on the ground to fly up.

After calming his mind, he began to observe the changes in himself.

"The Pure Yang Art has broken through to the tenth layer, and the Pure Yang True Qi seems to be undergoing some kind of transformation. Its temperature is much higher than before. If my physical body weren't strong enough, I might not have failed the upgrade, but I likely would have been injured. Furthermore, my blood and qi have depleted somewhat—"

Shen Changqing frowned. He had originally thought that as long as he had Slaughter Points, he could upgrade indefinitely. But looking at it now, certain martial arts could not be upgraded recklessly. During an upgrade, one's physique had to keep pace; otherwise, the body simply could not contain that much True Qi.

Not only that, but as the Pure Yang Art upgraded, his blood and qi depleted. It was evident that True Qi did not appear out of thin air; it was the conversion of blood and qi into True Qi. This was somewhat different from the way the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong upgraded.

However, the depletion of his blood and qi had now reached a noticeable degree. Of course, the fifteenth layer of the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong had made Shen Changqing's physique incredibly powerful, so even the tenth layer of the Pure Yang Art had not caused too much of an issue. Moreover, he was far from reaching his limit.

At this moment, five Slaughter Points had been consumed. Just as he had suspected, the cost of breaking through the limit of the Pure Yang Art was higher than that of the Thirteen Grand Protectors Hard Qigong—the latter costing three points per layer, while the former cost five.

Fortunately, he still had five Slaughter Points left, which was exactly enough to upgrade one more layer.

With that thought, his Slaughter Points were completely emptied. Immediately, his blood and qi began to deplete at a frantic speed. As his blood and qi waned, the Pure Yang Art in his dantian grew at a visible rate. This ebb and flow caused Shen Changqing to enter a state of weakness, even as his body felt as if it were filled with surging power.

In the next instant, the transformation of the Pure Yang Art was complete. Then, as if out of control, it began to crash violently through his body, breaking through meridians and acupoints one after another—

*Rumble!!*

His physical body vibrated wildly, as if an ancient giant beast were rampaging inside him. But no matter how much the force crashed and raged, it could not break the constraints of his physical body.

Gradually, the force of the impact subsided. Many meridians in his body had been opened during the preceding struggle. When the Pure Yang True Qi finally returned to the dantian, if one could see inside Shen Changqing's body, they would notice that the opened meridians and acupoints were now flickering with a faint light, gradually connecting with one another.

The moment they connected, an invisible membrane was birthed. As the membrane emerged, a moment of enlightenment rose in Shen Changqing's mind.

Astral Qi!

"Innate Astral Qi!"

He whispered the words, sounding as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

When physical tempering reaches its peak and True Qi is naturally generated, one can step into the Meridian-Opening Stage. The Meridian-Opening Stage focuses on nourishing True Qi and opening the meridians. Once the meridians are opened to a certain extent and can complete a Great Circulation, Astral Qi will naturally form within the martial artist's body.

This Astral Qi is also known as Inner Astral Qi. A martial artist who reaches this step has officially crossed from the Meridian-Opening Stage to the Innate Stage.