Chapter 1 Seven Layers

  He let out a long breath, Lu Ping slowly retracted his power, putting the newly broken-through Blood Spirit Power back into his blood vessels. He tossed aside the spent spirit stone in his hand and felt the powerful beating of his heart. It was as if he could hear the sound of "gurgling" of his blood flowing through his veins.

  A pair of eyes suddenly opened in the darkness, like two bright stars shining in the vast night sky. Lu Ping smiled calmly as he looked at everything in the room. Indeed, he had broken through to the seventh layer of Blood Refining, and his eyes now possessed the ability to see objects in the dark. Of course, this ability still seemed quite weak, and Lu Ping's gaze could only barely make out everything within the small room.

  He washed away a layer of dark red impurities that had been squeezed out from his blood vessels and body after the breakthrough, and Lu Ping lay on the wooden bed, finally able to get a good night's sleep tonight.

  It's been sixteen years since he came to this world, but Lu Ping didn't feel any discomfort at all. Especially after knowing the wonders of this world, Lu Ping instead sparked a strong curiosity.

  At the age of six, Lu Ping successfully ignited his True Spirit Bloodline with extremely ordinary qualifications, astonishing the Island's Immortal Elder at that time, and was subsequently accepted as a disciple by the True Spirit Branch Institute.

  For ten years, Lu Ping has been studying everything in this world. Although he is mediocre, he has worked hard to cultivate himself and finally successfully broke through to the seventh layer of Blood Refining today.

  As for their own bloodline, those immortals didn't know the reason, and they themselves were even less likely to know.

  On the second day, after the third bell rang, Zhenling Bieyuan was suddenly bustling with people. Fifty people from the seventh team of the second level quickly came out of their respective courtyards and rushed towards the seventh platform of Chaoyang Peak. Only to see that one by one, they were like wild horses running freely, extremely fast. If a martial arts master saw this, he would probably be stunned.

  Their speed may not be as good as that of top lightness kung fu masters, but there are thousands of people all over the mountains and fields, each with such agility, who knows what those martial arts masters would think. If these people were to emerge into the world, the martial arts world would definitely be in great chaos!

  Lu Ping walked at a moderate pace, neither too fast nor too slow, and appeared to be very much at ease in the crowd. When he arrived at the seventh platform, he saw from afar that there were already two figures on the platform, who must have been his senior brothers. Both of them had reached the ninth level of Blood Refining, and only needed to complete the final step of Dissolving Blood to establish their foundation, after which they would become inner disciples of the True Spirit Sect.

  Just as everyone was about to reach the platform, three more figures surpassed the crowd and jumped onto the stage. They were indeed the third, fourth, and fifth senior brothers who had reached the eighth layer of Blood Refining.

  Seeing that everyone had arrived at the platform, Master Yao Yong shouted: "Line up!" Everyone rushed to their own position as before, and in an instant, the square formation was neatly arranged. Lu Ping was in the second row, counting from the left, which means Lu Ping was the twelfth disciple of the square formation.

  "Yao Yong shouted again: 'Dissolving Blood and Bone Fist, begin!'"

  Everyone raised their hands in unison and threw a punch, shouting loudly: "Ha!"

  Dissolving Blood Fist 72 Forms, the first 36 forms refine oneself, stimulate the true spirit of blood vessels, and the last 36 forms protect oneself and kill enemies, which is a life-saving skill.

  "With one set of fist techniques, Lu Ping's body felt hot and his bones were melting, indeed the effect of the seventh layer. In the past, after practicing this dissolving blood and bone fist, he would already be sweating slightly on his forehead and panting non-stop, now it was just a warm-up."

  Lu Ping looked at his senior brother Yao Yong, and Yao Yong shouted again: "Welcome, Immortal Elder!"

  Only a red light flashed outside the present Yangfeng, and three figures had already arrived at the front of the platform on the stone stage.

  The disciples under the stage bowed in unison and said: "We have seen Liu Xianzhang!"

  A middle-aged monk standing among the three, with a majestic appearance and a faint wave of his hand, said: "No need for courtesy, your cultivation is still quite diligent. However, the True Spirit Sect's second-level disciple assessment is about to begin. If you don't want to become an outer sect disciple, you'll need to continue working hard!"

  After Liu Xianchang finished speaking, the expressions of the people in the team were different. The first three rows of people looked calm, while the last two rows started whispering to each other, with anxious, disappointed and desperate faces, all kinds of expressions were on display.

  Liu Xianchang gazed at the back two rows with an expressionless face, and immediately everyone fell silent. Liu Xianchang hummed softly and looked towards the front three rows. When he saw Lu Ping, his face lit up with joy, saying: "Good, Lu Ping, you've already broken through to the seventh layer?"

  Liu Xianchang's words suddenly made the quiet crowd **come to life**, and even the few senior brothers in the first row turned their heads to look at Lu Ping a few times.

  Lu Ping responded calmly, without any tension or excitement, and bowed formally, saying: "Thanks to the guidance and cultivation of Master Xian, I was lucky enough to break through last night."

  "Alright! After March, once the assessment of second-level disciples is complete, you can participate in the promotion tournament for second-level disciples."

  The assessment of the Zhenling Branch is to eliminate disciples who do not meet the requirements, while the Grand Competition is aimed at outstanding disciples of all levels, and the winners will receive heavy rewards and make great progress. Both are intended to motivate the disciples of the Zhenling Branch to work hard and cultivate themselves.

  The Zhenling Sect's ranking is determined by strength, and the competition is fierce. Each faction's cultivation resources are obtained through their own annual win rate and elimination rate, and the faction's guiding immortal can also receive rewards from the sect. Therefore, when Liu saw Lu Ping break through, he was quite pleased.

  A second-level disciple who has reached the seventh level of cultivation already possesses the strength to rank among the top ten in the square formation, thus undoubtedly increasing the chances of success for the seventh square formation in the grand competition.

  "I truly have a unique status in the Spiritual Academy, and Lu Ping has made a breakthrough to become my seventh disciple to reach the Seventh Layer. As is customary, Lu Ping becomes my tenth disciple."

  Lu Ping had also experienced such things several times, and now he simply walked silently to the far right of the first row. Lu Ping could clearly feel the gaze of the crowd behind him, with anger, envy, and jealousy...

  The original tenth disciple, Li Cheng, gave Lu Ping a vicious glare and walked to the far left of the second row. The original eleventh disciple, Zhang Zicheng, let out a bitter laugh and took two steps to the right, occupying Lu Ping's original position. Lu Ping ignored all these expressions, standing silently in his new position without saying a word.

  Liu Xianchang looked at Lu Ping and smiled, "According to convention, when a disciple's cultivation advances, they can challenge a fellow senior brother of the same level to occupy a higher position and obtain better cultivation resources."

  The four disciples of the Seventh Layer of Blood Refining on the left looked at Lu Ping in unison. Lu Ping bowed to Liu Xianchang and said, "This disciple has just made a breakthrough in his cultivation and still needs to consolidate it. He is not a match for all of you seniors, so this disciple gives up his right to challenge."

  Everyone secretly said: "Indeed!"

  Lu Ping has made progress in his cultivation every time, and he has never challenged a fellow disciple of the same level. If not for the annual faction ranking competition, Lu Ping would probably be the last among the disciples of the same level.

  Lu Ping doesn't provoke trouble, but that doesn't mean trouble won't come looking for him. After a few new disciples challenged him and failed, everyone knew that Lu Ping wasn't as easy to bully as they thought, so the number of people challenging him decreased.

  Lu Ping was able to rank 12th in the sixth layer of Blood Refining, mostly because others failed their challenges and he was passively pushed up.

  "So, Lu Ping is our Seventh Squad's tenth senior brother!" Liu Xianzhang said with a resounding tone.

  "Long time no see, tenth brother!"

  "Long time no see, tenth junior brother!"

  Lu Ping returned the courtesy, then Liu Xianzhang said solemnly: "Good! Miscellaneous matters are settled, all disciples start meditation and inner energy cultivation!"