Chapter 32: Tempering

  The Misty Mountains are home to a thriving community of demonic cultivators, which also proves that this place is not barren, and the density of spiritual energy must be very high. If the lower limit is lowered a bit, it can barely be considered a blessed land.

  After entering the Misty Mountains, Fang Li felt refreshed and invigorated, and couldn't help but take a few deep breaths. If he were to cultivate here with a clear mind, his true energy would definitely increase at a faster rate than outside.

  Fang Li moved forward slowly, and the first thing that caught his eye was a vibrant spring scene. The lush green trees covered the mountain, birds and beasts frolicked, and insects chirped softly. Further away, peak after peak of majestic mountains rose into the sky, some flat, others steep and precarious, like a thousand-foot screen unfolding. Moreover, the mist-shrouded mountains were always enveloped in mist, adding an air of mystery to the scenery.

  It was a lush and vibrant scene, but Fang Li knew that beneath this beautiful landscape, danger lurked everywhere, and at any moment, a ferocious beast could jump out and tear him to shreds before swallowing him whole.

  Although Fang Li held a powerful artifact and his cultivation was not low, he still did not dare to be careless. If he encountered a sixth-grade or lower demon beast, it would be fine, and Fang Li could still cope with it. However, if he met a seventh-grade or higher demon beast, the only option would be to flee.

  As Fang Li delved deeper, the surrounding trees grew taller and more majestic. Occasionally, a few low-ranking demonic beasts would appear, but they were just rabbits and squirrels that had grasped some of the ways of absorbing spiritual energy. However, to Fang Li, they were still too weak and insignificant, not worth his attention.

  "Ssh, ssh, ssh", Fang Li suddenly heard a faint sound, and immediately stopped in his tracks. He turned his head to look, and found that a large python was coming this way. The python's body was emitting green gas, and wherever it passed, the grass and trees withered and died, clearly highly toxic.

  "The emerald python, capable of reaching the strength of a fifth-tier demonic beast, must have lived for over a hundred years." Fang Li's eyes narrowed, and he immediately judged the snake's strength and species, his heart becoming vigilant.

  This python is only a fifth-grade demon beast, and if it's just about cultivation, it's still one level higher than Fang Li. However, Fang Li still doesn't dare to be careless. If he accidentally gets poisoned by the toxic gas on its body, he fears that he won't be able to withstand it. Moreover, demon beasts are generally stronger and have an innate advantage over humans.

  "If I haven't broken through to the Seventh Realm of Qi Refining, I won't be able to control objects, and can only engage in close combat with it. It's a bit dangerous." Fang Li furrowed his brow, muttering to himself.

  "'Yù wù' is an ability that can be used after one's true energy reaches a certain level, allowing for remote control of weapons, magical artifacts, and people against enemies. Techniques such as flying sword techniques and sword-controlling techniques belong to this category. Unfortunately, cultivators must break through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining before they barely possess the 'Yù wù' ability. If only it were possible now, remotely controlling the Xuan Tie Sword would kill the green python, without having to worry about being contaminated by its poisonous gas."

  "But it's just a beast with unopened spiritual wisdom, I, Fang Li, will not be intimidated!"

  In an instant, the emerald python had already cheated its way to his front, its stinky big mouth open, directly biting towards Fang Li's head. Although it looked massive in size, but that bucket-like python body twisted and turned with a speed as fast as lightning, if not for Fang Li's strong spiritual awareness, he would have discovered its existence earlier, and for the time being, he might not have reacted in time.

  But there aren't that many ifs in the world. When the green python bit down, its heart was immediately exposed. They say "seven inches to kill a snake", and pythons are no exception. Fang Li's eyes lit up instantly, and the black and red light of the Xuan Tie sword surged upwards, transforming into a shooting star that pierced into the python's body in an instant.

  The python, in pain, unexpectedly triggered its ferocity and, disregarding everything, continued to bite towards Fang Li's head. If the bite was successful, those green-glowing poisonous fangs would likely directly pierce into Fang Li's brain, leaving no chance of survival.

  Fang Li's heart had long been prepared, and with a sudden "puff" sound, the twelve true energy vines suddenly burst out of his body, all shooting towards the python's huge mouth, not only firmly blocking it but also piercing its throat with several vines, causing blood to splatter everywhere.

  The python was in agony, its massive body thrashing about violently, and it still tried to use its body to wrap around Fang Li.

  Fang Li's expression didn't change, true energy poured into his right arm, grasping the Xuan Tie sword that had pierced into the emerald python's body, suddenly twisting it, intense flames and icy aura burst out, actually cutting the emerald python into two segments.

  Unable to avoid being tainted by the toxic gas, Fang Li quickly retreated and coldly watched as the python's life force gradually dissipated.

  The emerald python's two sections of body twisted a few times, and soon there was no movement.

  Fang Li let out a sigh of relief; this was his first battle in the Misty Mountains, and fortunately, he hadn't suffered any injuries.

  He glanced at the body of the green python, and his eyes suddenly lit up. Although this green python was not a particularly powerful demon beast, its toxicity was among the best. If he could collect some and put it on his body, it would also serve as a killer move.

  Fang Li thought for a long time, finally choosing to pull out the two venomous fangs of the emerald python. Then, he tore off a piece of cloth from his clothes and gently wrapped the fangs inside. With a flicker of his mind, he stored them in the Qiankun bag.

  Don't underestimate these two poisonous fangs. If Fang Li's estimation is correct, the poison of this emerald python may be enough to take the life of a Seventh-Order Cultivator, and even an Eighth-Order Cultivator will lose some combat power if they come into contact with it. If used properly, these two poisonous fangs are absolutely lethal weapons.

  With a heart full of joy, Fang Li continued to explore the Misty Mountains, and before he knew it, a month had passed.

  After beheading the fifth-order demon beast Emerald Python, Fang Li encountered hundreds of big and small demon beasts. As long as they were fifth or sixth-order demon beasts, Fang Li would go forward and fight with them. Although he narrowly escaped death several times, Fang Li's actual combat experience grew rapidly.

  Perhaps due to his strong divine sense, Fang Li can now quickly find the weaknesses of the demon beasts as soon as he faces them, and then kill them with one strike. His killing technique has become so mature that even Fang Li himself is somewhat unbelievable.

  Although his cultivation had not improved much, Fang Li knew that his strength had increased by more than just a little. If he were to meet his self from a month ago now, he might even be able to kill him with one blow. The improvement in actual combat ability was something those family children who were like flowers in a greenhouse could never understand.

  During this time, Fang Li also encountered several 7th and 8th rank demonic beasts. At first, Fang Li didn't believe it, and he even tried to fight against the 7th rank demonic beast for a few rounds. However, he discovered that the 7th rank demonic beast was much stronger than the 6th rank one, not only in terms of cultivation but also because it had grasped its innate divine ability.

  Just like the white-browed tiger that had clashed with Fang Li, at first Fang Li was able to withstand it for a moment or two, but then it suddenly let out a roar, as if in harmony with some natural law, and Fang Li's mind suddenly fell into a brief blank. The outcome of the battle was decided in an instant, not to mention when his head was in a complete daze, Fang Li was completely despairing at that moment, almost becoming the tiger's prey.

  Fortunately, the mysterious Bodhi tree suddenly burst forth, immediately waking up Fang Li. Although he was still injured by the tiger's paw on his shoulder, with the help of the previously set-up rattan grass trap array, he blocked the white-browed tiger for a moment and managed to escape unscathed.

  This also reminded Fang Li of something, that the seventh-order demonic beasts would all activate their own innate divine abilities, and that roar was clearly the innate divine ability of the White-browed Tiger, if he remembered correctly, this innate divine ability seemed to be called "Tiger Quake".

  After suffering this loss, Fang Li no longer dared to provoke the Seventh-Order Demon Beasts. Every time he discovered them, he would detour far away. As for those even more powerful Eighth-Order Demon Beasts, Fang Li was even less willing to mess with them.

  In a hidden cave, Fang Li sat cross-legged, at this time he was not cultivating, but sorting out the actual combat experience gained in the past month.

  Compared with a month ago, Fang Li's eyes had an additional hint of determination and his personality was much more stable.

  "A month of actual combat has made me much more proficient in the use of True Qi Thorn Grass, and I can quickly detect the enemy's weaknesses during battle. Unfortunately, my techniques are too lacking, and although I have a sword that can cut through iron like mud, it's hard to bring out its maximum power." Fang Li suddenly stood up, his eyebrows furrowed tightly.

  Although he had always used a sword, he had only learned the most basic foundational sword techniques. Apart from the basic thrusts, parries and ripostes, there were no other exquisite skills. Many times Fang Li Ming clearly saw the weaknesses of the demonic beast, but because his sword moves couldn't keep up, he missed the opportunity time and again.

  After this experience, Fang Li naturally discovered his weakness, which made him regretful and blamed himself for not studying a set of sword moves carefully before. If it weren't for that, his combat power could have been improved by another level. Even without using formations, he might have been able to defeat the number one genius of Yanjing City - "Hongfen Sword" Wei Yurou.

  But now it's too late to say these things, only half a month is left before the Four Clans' Convention, even if Fang Lian's talent is high, it's impossible to cultivate a set of sword moves to perfection in such a short time.

  However, the fact that Jianzou was lacking in sword moves was remembered by Fang Li. Fang Li planned to go back and take a look at the family's Gongfa Pavilion to see if he could find a suitable one for himself to cultivate.

  Jianqu belongs to the category of forms, and Gongfa is a completely different system. Gongfa trains "qi", while forms train "shape". If you insist on distinguishing between them, forms belong to external work, while Gongfa belongs to internal work.

  Of course, internal power and external power are not necessarily to be separated so clearly. There are many secret manuals that have both techniques and methods of practice, such as the Spiritual Snake Sword Method that Fang Li once bought for his sister, which belongs to this category, having both sword moves and methods of practice.

  However, Fang Li's cultivation of the Wu Xiang Jue was purely a skill manual, without any moves. In the past, Fang Li believed in the power to defeat ten wills and didn't pay attention to it. Now that he has been training in the Misty Mountains for so long, he finally realized the importance of moves. If we talk about Fang Li's gains from this training, then realizing his own sword moves were insufficient was one of them.

  With a decision made in his heart, Fang Li also stopped thinking too much, patted the dust off his body and prepared to leave the cave.

  They had hardly gone a few steps when Fang Li heard the sound of swords clashing outside.

  "A fight has broken out!" Fang Li was taken aback, a hint of puzzlement flashing in his eyes.