"Very good. Tell me the location of the 'Primordial Spirit Fruit.' If what you say is true, you won't have to take off your clothes."
Luo Tian looked at the petite girl with an approving gaze.
Actually, when Luo Tian had mentioned taking off her clothes, he only meant her outer garments.
Hearing this, the girl looked as if she had been granted amnesty and quickly told Luo Tian the location of the Primordial Spirit Fruit.
Coincidentally, the Primordial Spirit Fruit was located among the vines on a nearby stone cliff.
"It really is a Primordial Spirit Fruit."
Luo Tian plucked a crystalline, plump, cyan fruit from the cliff face. It was about the size of a baby's fist.
Originally, the fruit wouldn't have fully ripened until dawn, which was the optimal time to harvest it.
However, because Luo Tian had opened his Divine Vein, he had drawn in the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, causing the fruit to ripen ahead of schedule.
The moment he plucked the "Primordial Spirit Fruit," the Celestial Book in his mind abruptly unfolded, unleashing a powerful suction.
'Stop!'
Luo Tian's expression changed. With a single thought, he willed the open Celestial Book to close, and the suction stopped.
PHEW!
Luo Tian broke out in a cold sweat, relieved that the Celestial Book could not defy its master's command.
A Primordial Spirit Fruit was far more valuable than Spiritual Grass. It could significantly raise the Cultivation of someone in the Meridian Opening Realm, and if their foundation was strong enough, it could even help them break through an entire layer.
"Get lost."
After gathering his spoils, Luo Tian sent the resentful Gao Xuan flying with a kick.
The pair fled, looking battered and disheveled.
'I can't stay here any longer.'
Luo Tian was suddenly struck by a bad premonition, so he got up and left.
The Creation Technique he practiced made his senses for the ebb and flow of fate far sharper than an ordinary person's.
At higher levels, he would even be able to perform Divination on his own fate.
Luo Tian had only been gone for a short while.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Several figures with powerful auras drifted onto the scene.
"The recent anomaly in the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi originated from here," said the leading Martial Artist, who was dressed in black.
After searching for a while and finding nothing, they grew disappointed.
Hmph!
The Martial Artist in black, displeased, threw a punch from a distance.
BOOM! CRACKLE!
A millstone-sized golden fist shadow, crackling with electricity, smashed a massive crater four to five meters in diameter into the cliff face, sending rock chips flying everywhere.
The area around that cliff face was the very spot where Luo Tian had been cultivating earlier.
...
「Three days later.」
In a small mountain hollow within the Black Demon Ridge.
Luo Tian sat cross-legged, circulating his True Qi as the aura around him grew increasingly powerful.
Within his body, a thick, dragon-shaped Qi Vein was filled with surging True Qi that roiled without end.
'My first Qi Vein is two-thirds developed.'
Luo Tian opened his eyes, which shone as brilliantly as stars.
When he had first entered the Meridian Opening Realm, he had only hastily opened his Qi Vein, so his Realm was unstable.
Over these three days, he had not only stabilized his Realm but had also developed his Qi Vein by two-thirds.
When the first Qi Vein is developed to its limit, one reaches the Peak of First Layer.
The Meridian Opening Realm has nine layers. For each additional Qi Vein one opens, their Cultivation rises by a layer, and the quality and quantity of their True Qi increase dramatically.
'Although the Spiritual Qi in the Black Demon Ridge is abundant, it's also fraught with danger.'
Luo Tian prepared to go home so that Xueyao wouldn't worry.
The Black Demon Ridge was the territory of Demon Beasts, and even the weakest of them had Cultivation comparable to the Meridian Opening Realm.
It was said that deep within the Black Demon Ridge, there were Spirit Level Demon Beasts comparable to the Spirit Sea Realm, and many powerful Martial Artists had lost their lives there.
...
That day, Luo Tian returned to Qingchang City but didn't rush home.
He planned to take the spoils he had seized to the "Martial City" to trade.
The Martial City was a district that provided a place for Martial Artists to trade all sorts of resources.
One could not only trade here, but also gather intelligence and interact or spar with other Martial Artists.
It was Luo Tian's first time visiting the Martial City.
This was because the minimum requirement for entry was to have the Cultivation of a Martial Artist.
BANG! BANG!
In the Martial City's "Martial Arts Arena," two Martial Artists were sparring on a platform, unleashing impressive bursts of power.
Both Martial Artists had a Second Layer Cultivation in the Meridian Opening Realm.
A moment later, one of the Martial Artists was victorious, claiming a prize of one thousand taels of gold.
Luo Tian was lost in thought.
Wagered duels were one type of sparring offered in the Martial Arts Arena.
"Tsk, tsk. The caliber of the Martial Artists in this Martial Arts Arena is getting worse and worse."
An arrogant, grating voice called out from the spectator stands.
'Who was that?'
The blatant mockery angered some of the Martial Artists.
The owner of the voice was a young nobleman in a brocade robe, with a fat head, large ears, and a greasy face.
"Shh! That's Young Master Du, Du Yuncheng!"
Many people lowered their voices.
"He's Du Yuncheng? He's that ugly?"
"Keep your voice down. In Qingchang City, not many people can afford to offend him."
The nearby Martial Artists, initially angry, soon showed expressions of apprehension and fear.
'Du Yuncheng!'
Luo Tian's expression turned grim, and rage surged within him as he stared at the large-eared, fat-faced young man in the brocade robe.
A month ago, it had been this very Du Yuncheng who had taken a liking to Xueyao at first sight and used both coercion and persuasion to force the "marriage agreement."
Fortunately, now that Luo Tian was a Martial Artist, gathering twenty thousand taels of gold within two months was no longer an impossible task.
The spoils he had taken from Gao Xuan, including a sword and some jewelry, were probably worth several thousand taels of gold.
A gasp rippled through the onlookers.
An uproar had broken out at the Martial Combat Platform.
Du Yuncheng himself had stepped onto the stage to fight a Martial Artist.
"Golden Yuan Palm!"
Du Yuncheng struck out, his palm unleashing a golden aura. The Palm Force was immense and domineering.
"No! You're at the Fourth Layer of Meridian Opening..."
The Martial Artist let out a piercing scream as the palm strike sent him flying. He coughed up blood, several of his ribs broken.
This Martial Artist was at the Peak of Third Layer of Meridian Opening, yet he was defeated in a single blow.
'So strong!'
Some of the Martial Artists watched in awe and fear.
"That Du Yuncheng is so shameless. Hiding his Cultivation to bully those weaker than him."
Everyone was angry but dared not speak.
"HAHAHA..."
Wild laughter echoed from the Martial Combat Platform.
Du Yuncheng went on to defeat two more opponents from the Fourth Layer of Meridian Opening Realm in quick succession.
"Let's go to the Black Market. This place isn't exciting enough."
Du Yuncheng grinned, then swaggered away with a few of his lackeys.
'The Black Market?'
An idea sparked in Luo Tian's mind.
The spoils he had acquired were of questionable origin, so he also needed to go to the Black Market to fence them.
With this in mind, he went out and bought a black robe and a mask.
The Black Market was an underground trading area, and some people wore masks upon entry to hide their identities.
Of course, there were also people like Du Yuncheng, who were powerful enough to have nothing to fear.
Dressed in a Black Robe and a mask, Luo Tian was difficult to recognize. Coupled with the fact that opening his Divine Vein had recently transformed his physique, making him taller and more imposing, even someone who knew him well would have trouble identifying him.
He entered the underground Black Market.
Everything was dim, but his vision was unaffected.
Luo Tian found a shop and sold the sword and various pieces of jewelry he had obtained from Gao Xuan.
In total, he made three to four thousand taels of gold.
'I'll save the Primordial Spirit Fruit for my breakthrough to the Second Layer of Meridian Opening Realm.'
Luo Tian calculated silently.
The agreement with the Du Family was to pay off the debt within two months.
The higher his Cultivation, the greater his earning power. Luo Tian had confidence in himself.
ROAR!
Just then, Luo Tian heard the roar of a beast, followed by the cheers of a crowd.
'Could there be Demon Beasts in the underground Black Market?'
Luo Tian walked closer to take a look.
It turned out that the Black Market housed an underground Beast Fighting Arena.
"AHH!"
A blood-curdling scream echoed through the arena.
ROAR!
A giant, three-meter-tall Water Buffalo Battle Beast with sharp spikes growing from its back tore a Martial Artist from the Second Layer of Meridian Opening to pieces and swallowed him whole.
The gruesome scene sent a chill down Luo Tian's spine.
Yet, the crowd in the Beast Fighting Arena erupted into cheers and shouts.
"Another failure."
Some people around the Beast Fighting Arena sighed in disappointment.
"Anyone at or below the Third Layer of Meridian Opening who can defeat my Battle Beast, the 'Iron Spike Water Buffalo,' will be rewarded by this Young Master with a Mortal Level Upper Grade Martial Skill."
An arrogant, grating voice called out.
Luo Tian froze in his tracks.
That grating voice came from a fat-faced, large-eared youth. Who else could it be but Du Yuncheng?
'That Battle Beast... belongs to Du Yuncheng?'
A cold glint appeared in Luo Tian's eyes from behind his mask.
'Celestial Book.'
Luo Tian closed his eyes, and his consciousness entered the Creation Celestial Book in his mind.
A few days prior, the Celestial Book had devoured several stalks of Spiritual Grass, filling it with the power of "Half a Page."
But now, the cyan-gray light on the first page of the Celestial Book was eighty percent full, thirty percent more than before.
This extra thirty percent was the power the Celestial Book had restored as he practiced the Celestial Destiny Creation Technique.
'Celestial Book, can you perform an Inference on this Iron Spike Water Buffalo?'
'Yes.'
An ancient character materialized on the page.