After sending off Li Qianren, Gu Qingfeng closed the door and went back to sleep. After all, being interrupted by Demon Pu in the middle of his nap had severely affected his sleep quality.
He slept until the sun was high in the sky, and after waking up, he went out for a hearty meal.
Returning to his residence, Gu Qingfeng decided to flip through the books Li Qianren had given him. However, after barely glancing at a couple of pages and memorizing one book, he felt drowsy again.
As everyone knows, the Chinese habit of taking a midday nap is ingrained in their very souls, and even after crossing over to another world, this tradition couldn’t be abandoned.
So, Gu Qingfeng went back to sleep.
Squeak, squeak, squeak~
When he woke up again, it was already dark outside, and he felt refreshed.
He took out the alchemy books and continued reading. Thanks to his photographic memory, he read incredibly fast and with great efficiency. Just as he was getting into it, there was a knock at the door.
Knock, knock, knock...
"Master Gu, let's go."
"Go?" Gu Qingfeng was puzzled. "Go where?"
Wang Fatty pushed the door open and said, "Master Gu, have you forgotten? After drinking last night, didn’t you reject the request from the beauties to stay the night and tell them you’d visit them today?
It’s already dark now, and someone from the Heavenly Fragrance Tower just came to remind us. The ladies are waiting for you."
Gu Qingfeng slapped his forehead. He had been so drunk that he’d forgotten the important matter.
Looking at the alchemy book in his hand, it suddenly didn’t seem as appealing anymore.
People say that books hold the allure of beauty, but the problem was that a group of beauties were waiting for him at the Heavenly Fragrance Tower. He knew which was more important.
Gu Qingfeng tossed the book aside and quickly got out of bed.
"Let’s go, Wang Fatty. A man must keep his word. Although I don’t feel like going, since I promised, I can’t break my promise."
"Master, you are truly noble."
As Gu Qingfeng was about to leave, Wang Fatty hurriedly called out, "Master Gu, Master Gu, your shoes! Your shoes!"
Gu Qingfeng quickly put on his shoes and changed the subject. "Where’s Xu Daizi?"
"He went ahead to book a private room."
......
After a night of revelry, Gu Qingfeng returned to his residence in the dead of night.
Lying in bed, he found himself unable to sleep for some reason.
Thinking that he shouldn’t waste even a moment of cultivation time, he got up and began his training.
Following his usual routine, he took out a True Essence Pill and frowned slightly as he looked at it. "I’m already comparable to a grandmaster. How can I still be taking such low-grade pills? At the very least, it should be a Rising Essence Pill."
So, he switched to a Rising Essence Pill.
The Cultivation Foundation Pill is suitable for warriors in the Internal Qi Realm, the True Essence Pill for those in the True Qi Realm, and the Rising Essence Pill for those in the Tough Qi Realm.
One could imagine how potent the effects were.
Normally, a warrior in the Qi Gathering Realm would explode from consuming a Rising Essence Pill, but Gu Qingfeng wouldn’t.
His physique was too strong. If others were balloons, he was a metal ball. Trying to inflate a metal ball to the point of bursting was nothing short of a pipe dream.
Of course, although the Rising Essence Pill was potent, Gu Qingfeng couldn’t fully absorb its medicinal power, and most of it would dissipate.
However, this dissipation wasn’t a waste, as the excess energy would be absorbed by his Black Dragon Immortal Body. That’s why Gu Qingfeng chose to take the Rising Essence Pill.
As soon as the Rising Essence Pill entered his stomach, a vast and pure surge of energy flooded Gu Qingfeng’s body, making him feel as though he were soaring in an ocean of elemental energy.
He began circulating the Dragon God Technique, focusing his mind and immersing himself in his cultivation.
At that moment, a Demon Eliminator who had just finished his training in the practice room was walking back. As he passed by Gu Qingfeng’s residence, he couldn’t help but take a second look.
While all the other residences had their lights turned off, Gu Qingfeng’s was still lit.
The dim candlelight cast a flickering shadow on the window, showing someone sitting cross-legged on the bed, deeply engrossed in meditation.
The Demon Eliminator couldn’t help but feel moved. He had thought that training for a whole day made him a diligent and hardworking individual, but he hadn’t expected someone to be cultivating through the night.
Indeed, you should never think you’ve worked hard enough, because there will always be someone working harder than you.
Inspired by this display of dedication, the Demon Eliminator decided to forgo sleep and continue his training.
Unaware that his diligent cultivation had become an inspiration to others, Gu Qingfeng focused all his attention on the energy within his body.
Because his energy had mutated.
It was sudden. He hadn’t done anything differently, just cultivating as diligently as he had countless nights before, but the energy within him had inexplicably changed.
Previously, the energy cultivated through the Dragon God Technique was a pale black, but this time it had turned into a pitch-black color, as if it could swallow all light like a black hole.
This ink-black energy, like a living creature, appeared and immediately began devouring the surrounding pale black Dragon God energy, like a shark entering a school of fish.
Gu Qingfeng’s cultivation, which had reached the sixth level of the Qi Gathering Realm, began to waver under the devouring force of the ink-black energy, teetering on the edge of falling.
Fortunately, the Rising Essence Pill was powerful enough, releasing an endless stream of pure energy to replenish the loss, stabilizing his cultivation level.
And so, one devoured while the other replenished. The ink-black energy grew increasingly bloated and massive, eventually consuming all the pale black energy.
From then on, all of Gu Qingfeng’s energy had turned into the ink-black variety.
Once the transformation was complete, the ink-black energy seemed to unleash an intense gravitational pull, greedily absorbing the energy continuously released by the Rising Essence Pill, growing stronger by the moment.
"What on earth is going on? This energy is so domineering!" Gu Qingfeng thought to himself, alarmed. He had always considered the Dragon God energy to be overbearing, but this mutated ink-black energy was even more ruthless, almost tyrannical.
Am I going berserk?
Wait, does going berserk count as becoming a demon?
Gu Qingfeng considered stopping his cultivation, but when he felt his cultivation level rapidly climbing, nearing the seventh level of the Qi Gathering Realm, he decided to continue.
After all, his physique was incredibly strong. Even if this energy exploded within him, it wouldn’t harm him. At worst, his cultivation would reset to zero, but it wouldn’t affect his actual strength.
As he continued cultivating, the energy within him grew stronger, and a deep sense of comfort spread through his limbs.
After a long while...
Pop!
A faint sound came from within Gu Qingfeng’s body, as if a thin membrane had been pierced.
His aura surged, unmistakably reaching the seventh level of the Qi Gathering Realm!
Although it was the seventh level, his aura felt more solid, profound, and weighty than that of an ordinary seventh-level cultivator.