"Then how is our sect able to establish a foothold in the Central Continent?" Lou Yi wondered out loud.

"Our sect's cultivation technique emphasizes the later stages.

In the beginning, Grass Corpse, Walking Corpse, Spirit Corpse possess no combat power.

But once they are refined into Iron Corpse, not only are they impervious to swords and spears, the three plum blossom marks can even form an array that absorbs the spiritual qi of heaven and earth autonomously.

Refining a Copper Corpse greatly enhances its speed, making it swift as a shooting star, ordinary magical artifacts can't get near a cultivator's body, and it can also cast spells; at this stage, cultivators from our sect are no weaker than anyone.

And refining a Silver Corpse not only allows it to fly through the air but also unleash the power of mighty spells, comparable even to offensive spiritual artifacts..." Rong Xuejian explained to Lou Yi slowly.

"Can the Iron Corpse autonomously absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth?"

"That's right, Brother Lou, you have an Innate Spirit Corpse. If you feed it some more Star Iron, it can fast-track its transformation.

However, Star Iron is not cheap and requires contribution points to exchange for..."

Lou Yi shook his head after hearing this. His own contribution is barely enough; how could he exchange treasures for Lou Er?

Moreover, according to Rong Xuejian, even if his Lifebound Corpse broke through to the Copper Corpse Realm, it might not bring much change to his combat power.

He believed that with the talent of an Innate Spirit Corpse, even without any treasure, it could steadily transform into the Iron Corpse Realm.

Days later, while exterminating pests in the fields of Zone Wujiu, Lou Yi's realm changed:

[Realm: Four Acupoints Martial Artist (600/600), Iron Skin Martial Artist (394/600), Early Stage of Qi Cultivation 0th Layer (361/600)]

He envisioned a force pressing on the "+" sign behind Four Acupoints Martial Artist.

Four Acupoints Martial Artist (600/600) → Five Acupoints Martial Artist (0/600)

His true strength within boiled over like a cauldron, rushing entirely toward Lou Yi's head.

Furiously reforming the parts of the five senses: eyes, nose, mouth, ears, throat, with cells metamorphosing at thousands of times their usual speed...

All the pores on his head were emitting white mist outward, his five senses undergoing rapid enhancement, while at the same time, his sensory abilities experienced substantial amplification.

After the enhancement was complete, Lou Yi felt that the entire world was different from before.

First, his eyes: his pupils could dilate or contract freely, providing clearer vision, with the range of visibility further expanded, able to discern the texture of leaves miles away.

And the changes weren't just in his vision.

Lou Yi circulated true strength into his eyes, causing them to emit a red glow, instantly turning the world's colors before him into a dark expanse.

Plants, soil, and other inanimate objects turned gray in his vision.

But insects and other creatures hidden among plants transformed into faint shades of yellow or red, with stronger vitality reflected in more vibrant colors.

'Infrared vision?'

Lou Yi hadn't expected that fully opening the Fourth Acupoint, the Eye Acupoint, would result in such a huge transformation.

This implied that his eyes wouldn't just see forms in the future but could observe the divine.

The intensity of an enemy's aura, the strength of their qi-blood, and even the flow and change of qi within their body could be accurately detected by Lou Yi.

Thus allowing him to predict the opponent's next move in advance.

The changes in his ears were equally profound, able to capture more sounds.

He could hear the sound of earthworms moving through the soil beneath his feet, the qi-blood flowing within the birds perched in nearby fields.

He could even detect the changes in the sound of the wind and infer how far away a shift in position had occurred.

As for his nose among the senses, his sense of smell also became more acute.

He could not only sniff out the different scents on plants and insects but also imprint these smells in his brain, aiding in future identification and tracking.

Regarding changes to his mouth and throat... Lou Yi opened his mouth, his chest slightly expanding.

"Roar!"

A visibly white wave of air surged out from his mouth, fanning out like water ripples to the surrounding, almost bending various plants to the ground, while several birds dropped from the sky, unable to take flight again.

The powerful qi-blood, combined with the enhanced flesh of his mouth and throat, allowed Lou Yi to reach a realm where a mere roar could be lethal.

Even after fully opening the Eye Acupoint, though there was no significant boost to qi-blood, and his strength remained over fifty thousand pounds.

The changes in his five senses were astonishing, further elevating Lou Yi's combat capability.

His lifespan increased by four years, now reaching a total of 134 years.

The only bad news was that after the fifth acupoint, the proficiency of his Breathing Technique decreased dramatically, with only a single point added per day.

To fully open the final acupoint, the Brain Acupoint, and complete the cultivation of the Martial Artist Realm, it needed a full six hundred days.

Fortunately, a disciple at the Early Stage of Qi Cultivation need not undertake trial tasks; Lou Yi still had nearly three years of development time.

After opening the Eye Acupoint, those insects were now unable to hide under Lou Yi's gaze.

Lou Yi easily picked out and killed them one by one, gaining over a thousand points of energy in a single day.

However, due to over-hunting, the reproductive speed of the insects was affected.

In the following days, he found there were almost none left to kill.

'Forget it, better not drain the pond for fish, maintaining the original pace is enough,' Lou Yi thought.

For the next period, Lou Yi continued living a routine of two points and one line.

Every day, he would either farm and kill pests in the fields or return to the cave to cultivate martial arts and immortal techniques.

Occasionally participating in gambling on corpses to earn silver coins, or attending the elders' lectures.

Socially, he communicated the most with Rong Xuejian and occasionally with the chubby Dai Xiang.

However, his original frequent exchanges with You Qingyi were reduced to being almost nonexistent due to previous idle talk, treating each other as mere acquaintances.

Time flashed by, reaching the third newcomer quarterly assessment.

Lou Yi's realm changed to:

[Realm: Five Acupoints Martial Artist (80/600), Iron Skin Martial Artist (534/600), Early Stage of Qi Cultivation 0th Layer (466/600)]

In this quarterly exam, You Qingyi, Wang Wenbai, and Rong Xuejian all shone brilliantly, breaking through to the First Layer of Qi Cultivation.

In terms of spiritual power, which accounted for the highest proportion, they received an A rating, while Lou Yi received an A-.

Regarding field yields, Lou Yi's rating was only a B+ due to the limitations of the fields in Zone Wujiu.

Only the Corpse Control Technique and Rain Technique maintained an absolute lead.

But these two spells, other newcomer disciples had already begun catching up. Those like You Qingyi and Rong Xuejian, who made considerable progress, even received an A- rating.

Though Lou Yi's level in spells was much higher, the most he could achieve was an A rating.

Just as a college student scoring only 100 points on an elementary test because the maximum score is 100.

Consequently, Lou Yi's overall ranking dropped to third.

You Qingyi and Rong Xuejian took the top and second positions, while Wang Wenbai advanced to fourth.

Seeing this, Wang Wenbai's followers were elated and began to seize the opportunity to step on others.

Zhang Baopeng was the most active, claiming that Lou Yi only won first place in the previous two assessments by forcibly advancing his cultivation through elixirs.

But elixirs are only useful in the beginning, with later stages relying more on personal aptitude.

Without a strong spirit root, one would eventually be left far behind by the three great geniuses.

Lou Yi, however, couldn't bother to pay attention.

Thirty-three days after the third quarterly assessment, he made a breakthrough in the Skin Refining Technique, reaching the highest Black Skin Realm.

...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.