After walking less than a score of paces, his spiritual sense detected that Li Zhe behind him had completely lost control of his true energy, his entire body igniting like a torch.

None of the people nearby could offer assistance. The Oath of the Inner Demon sprang from the heart itself; outsiders could do nothing to help. They more or less understood what Li Zhe's earlier words truly meant.

Zong Shou couldn't be bothered to pay it any mind, instead turning with a smile to the person beside him: "Have you gained anything?"

Beside him was Zong Yuan. This battle had yielded little that was spectacular. Although his own strength was somewhat lacking, the primary reason was that the majority of this man's concentration had been focused on observing his every move.

"A little gain!"

Zong Yuan nodded slightly, his eyes flashing fleetingly: "Though the Profound Dragon Sword Intent differs greatly from the Thunder Dragon Sword, there are many points of intersection. I have gained much enlightenment this time, but it is not enough for me to break through to the Seventh Tier yet!"

In truth, the greater portion of his focus had been dedicated to observing Zong Shou's ability to break through formations. The insights he gained from this were far greater than those concerning martial intent.

Especially when sparring with Mu Lingzi and Tai Lingzi, the shifting interplay of vital energy and will was an eye-opening experience.

Zong Shou also smiled with satisfaction. He hadn't expected Zong Yuan to achieve an immediate breakthrough.

In the cultivation of both martial arts and spiritual techniques, the hurdle between the Third and Fourth Tiers was significant, and the one between the Sixth and Seventh Tiers was another major barrier.

Cultivating up to the Sixth Tier was easy, but crossing this threshold into the Seventh Tier was another matter entirely. Some people might need two to three years, while others might struggle for more than a decade without success, remaining stuck at this stage, wasting precious time.

This was precisely why the three of them—Xuan Ye and the others—were so valued by the Sect. Only after reaching the Seventh Tier were there generally no major obstacles until one stepped into the path of the Immortals.

Zong Yuan’s comprehension of the Thunder Sword Intent had already reached a profound level; breaking through would not be difficult. However, for the sake of establishing a firm foundation, the optimal time for his breakthrough would be five months from now.

As for Ruoshui, her foundation was already sufficient. Under his recent guidance, her practice of the Obscuring Shadow Sword Art had also progressed rapidly. If it weren't for the lingering poison not yet completely purged, she could have broken through by now.

Zong Yuan paused, hesitating for a moment before speaking tentatively: "My Lord, among those Azure Dragon Warriors of the Common People, one of them seems... rather abnormal—"

His voice was kept extremely low, condensed into a line by true energy.

However, Zong Shou showed no surprise. He had already noticed that among the Azure Dragon Warriors who entered the city with the three from Xuan Ye, the auras of two of them felt amiss.

Their intrinsic strength was not Seventh Tier, but by utilizing some secret technique, they could reach that level at any moment.

It was natural that the Sect, having sent out so many elite disciples into such dangerous territory, would have contingency plans for their safety.

But this was something to be aware of internally; there was no need to point it out. The previous hiding place was no longer tenable. Fortunately, the Way of the Common People understood the wisdom of the cunning rabbit having three burrows.

Led by Xuan Shu, they maneuvered through the mountains, and after thoroughly shaking off the scouts following them, in just over two hours, they arrived at an underground cavern.

Although it was a backup hideout, this location was merely situated slightly farther from Yan City Pass. Inside, it was far more spacious and equipped with spiritual arrays that could provide each person with their own room.

The stores contained within were even more abundant. Because it was far from Yan City Pass, these supplies could be transported in.

Zong Shou inwardly gasped. Truly worthy of being one of the birthplaces of terrorists; both these locations had the air of those modern terrorist strongholds.

Upon entering this place, Zong Shou immediately resumed his seclusion. This time, for twenty consecutive days, no one disturbed him.

In the battle east of Lewu City, quite a few of his Azure Dragon Warriors had sustained serious injuries. He himself was completely unscathed; the strength of those few Seventh Tier experts had been borne entirely by his cavalry unit. As for himself, protected by inner armor and further shielded by his exoskeleton, though he was the vanguard's blade, he remained unharmed. This battle had been won extremely easily, and no latent potential had been stimulated.

Yet, even without the arousal of life potential, Zong Shou's speed in gathering the tenth True Talisman remained extremely rapid.

Around the twentieth day, a resounding boom echoed again from within Zong Shou’s primordial spirit.

Another rune ascended from the ocean of soul power, hanging high in the void.

Without hesitation, Zong Shou forcefully pulled down the Earth Character Heavenly Talisman Seed from the periphery and merged it fiercely with this 'Earth' rune.

The storm of soul power took a full half an hour to settle down.

At this moment, within his primordial spirit, the ten True Talismans—Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder, Fate, Devour, Purity, Overlap, Illusion, and Earth—hovered above the sea of his soul. Among them, five were exceptionally large, their colors clear and bright, seemingly having already reached the level of Heavenly Talismans.

However, Zong Shou felt a slight sense of astonishment. His primordial spirit was vast; these ten True Talisman Spiritual Restrictions were far from filling it.

"It is rumored that a Spirit Master’s soul power is closely linked to the physical body. Thus, many Spirit Masters, even if they do not cultivate martial arts, try every means to strengthen their physique and increase their vital essence. Now it seems this is indeed true—"

A typical Spirit Master could gather more True Talismans after the ninth one. Usually, managing to coalesce the tenth was considered exceptional, and gathering the twelfth marked extraordinary talent. Only one in an age could condense the thirteenth True Talisman, yet Zong Shou felt that within his current primordial spirit, not only were the twelve he had initially projected achievable, but even fourteen would not saturate it; it was far from full.

"It appears I am not necessarily restricted to merely perfecting these Five Element True Talismans alone—"

Zong Shou’s heart stirred. This was a good thing, but truly filling his primordial spirit would likely delay his advancement to the Seventh Tier.

Yet, this cost was worth it; others would probably covet such an opportunity beyond measure.

Using his spiritual sense to observe the vortex of the soul sea again, he felt that his soul power had increased considerably. Although its purity remained the same as before, it had grown by about twenty percent overall.

The base of soul power he now possessed was already immense; even this mere twenty percent increase was equivalent to that of an ordinary Sixth Tier Spirit Master.

"Although it has increased, it is far less than initially anticipated. It seems that achieving another qualitative change in soul power can only happen when I truly break through to the Day Roaming Realm! However, with the Soul Mirroring Art of the Heavenly Mirror, in a few more months, my primordial spirit will be completely transformed to Yang essence—"

He remained joyful internally. The two-tenths increase in soul power gave him even greater dexterity in controlling Han Xi and the Thunder Winged Flood Dragon.

His connection with the former had become firmer, allowing him to subtly suppress the counter-reaction from this naturally born aberrant species.

After another period of quiet cultivation spanning about two days, once this new state was completely stabilized, Zong Shou finally had time to turn his attention elsewhere.

When his spiritual sense swept across the cavern, he noticed that most people were in deep seclusion, diligently cultivating. Many had already achieved breakthroughs.

The number of people had also increased significantly, totaling four hundred. This must have been reinforcements from the Sect—a full four hundred Azure Dragon Warriors, and one more Heavenly Martial Ancestor, whose strength was roughly on par with Xuan Shu’s.

In this small cavern, there were now a staggering nine hundred Sixth Tier experts!

Zong Shou smiled, understanding that this must be the result of Xuan Shu's request being approved by the Way of the Common People. He was secretly curious about the reaction of the Grand Spirit Sect: would they retreat now, or would they fight them again?

Based on his estimation, it would likely be the latter.

Reaching into his Qiankun Pouch, Zong Shou retrieved four small Qiankun Pouches within moments.

These were obtained from killing Tai Lingzi and the talisman-wielding Mu Lingzi.

Five Seventh Tier experts in a row had either died or been injured by his hand. It was a pity that the Heavenly Martial Ancestor from the Great Shang army was exceedingly poor, not even possessing a single spatial artifact. The items he carried were naturally very few.

After a cursory glance, they seemed to contain mostly elixirs and talismans, along with a few copied manuscripts of the Grand Spirit Sect's secret techniques.

Not only was the Purple Cloud Sword included, but the Grand Purity Wind-Riding Sword was there as well. Unfortunately, they were incomplete copies, only allowing cultivation up to the level below the Heavenly Rank.

Aside from that, there were materials collected by these individuals, and spirit weapons and magical artifacts; although their grades were high, there was nothing particularly outstanding.

However, there were quite a number of Beast Cores and Spirit Stones; when combined, they amounted to the equivalent of one hundred and sixty Seventh Tier Beast Cores—a small windfall.

Zong Shou had anticipated this result; if these people truly possessed any extraordinary treasures, they would have used them already to turn the tide or escape.

It was only when he reached Tai Lingzi’s Qiankun Pouch that he let out an exclamation of surprise.

Flipping his palm, four pills appeared. Half gold and half red, the surfaces of the pills seemed to depict shadows of dragons and tigers, circling and fighting.

"Could these be the legendary Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pills of the Grand Spirit Sect?"

Zong Shou scrutinized them carefully for a moment, then unhesitatingly swallowed one.

The very next instant, the bones throughout his body emitted a grating sound, as if buckling under excessive weight.

A surge of vast and potent power erupted suddenly between his spleen and stomach. It did not coalesce into a single force charging outward, but instead spread outwards like an iron wall, filling his entire body and exerting immense pressure.

It then subtly divided into two distinctly different medicinal powers. Fighting and clashing within Zong Shou's body, he forcibly endured, straightening his back and sitting upright, striving to let his thoughts sink into a state of utter blankness.

He could not tell if a day or two had passed. When Zong Shou regained clarity, the medicinal power had finally receded.

However, a thin layer of black sludge coated the skin all over his body.

"The Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pill truly lives up to its name of tempering the body. It was as if two near-Seventh Tier experts were battling within my body, a true clash of dragons and tigers. If one's tendons, bones, or flesh were even slightly insufficient, they would not have survived."

He casually threw a punch, and indeed, he felt that his already formidable strength had increased further.

More importantly, his physical body had also become significantly sturdier. It was indeed worthy of being called a spiritual elixir rumored to lay the foundation for the Heavenly Rank with just three pills.

Glancing at his own body again, Zong Shou couldn't help but smile wryly: "It seems there is still so much poison and impurities within my body, even now."

After cleansing his body with the Debris Removal Art, just as Zong Shou was about to swallow another Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pill, he sensed the auras of several people gathered outside the door.

Zong Shou sighed, knowing that his period of leisurely ascetic cultivation had temporarily come to an end.