Night gradually descended upon Cloud Mist Market.
The flow of cultivators throughout the streets had not decreased despite the late hour. Lanterns fueled by spirit stones illuminated the roads while flying artifacts occasionally streaked through the sky above.
Within his residence, however, silence prevailed.
Lin Sheng sat cross-legged inside his cultivation room.
Several Magnetic Thunder Pearls rested before him.
Faint arcs of lightning occasionally flickered across their surfaces.
The Chip continuously scanned and recorded every fluctuation.
Since obtaining the first batch of pearls, the amount of information stored regarding magnetic fields, lightning properties, and energy interactions had increased dramatically.
Naturally—
The greater benefit wasn't the weapon itself.
It was the data.
Within his mind, countless lines of information flowed continuously.
The Chip's greatest advantage had never been simple calculations.
Its true value lay in analysis.
Substitution.
Optimization.
Deduction.
Especially when dealing with alchemy.
Although Lin Sheng possessed only a limited understanding of ancient pill formulas, the Chip had already demonstrated something remarkable.
Replacement.
Many ancient medicinal herbs no longer existed within the current era.
Some had gone extinct.
Others had become impossibly rare.
Yet medicinal properties themselves followed rules.
If sufficient information existed, the Chip could analyze similarities between ingredients and propose substitutes.
Major replacements.
Minor replacements.
Compatible replacements.
All of it depended on one thing.
Information.
Without enough information, the calculations became meaningless.
The Chip wasn't omnipotent.
It could only build upon existing foundations.
This was why Lin Sheng occasionally felt frustrated.
His greatest limitation wasn't cultivation talent.
Nor resources.
It was knowledge.
The amount of information available to him remained insufficient.
The mortal city libraries beneath Dragon Yuan Mountain contained many records.
Yet most were basic.
General history.
Common cultivation knowledge.
Beast records.
Geographical maps.
Useful.
But limited.
The truly valuable information remained locked away within the Lin Family itself.
Naturally, Lin Sheng had thought about accessing the family archives before.
Unfortunately—
He possessed no suitable reason.
Most martial techniques available to younger generations were already stored within the Training Center.
Any direct request to access higher-level archives would immediately attract attention.
A Xuan Gang junior suddenly seeking information beyond his authority?
People would naturally become suspicious.
Fortunately, the trips to the mortal city library hadn't been entirely wasted.
After all—
That was where he met Old Liang.
Thinking about it now, Lin Sheng still found the encounter somewhat amusing.
What were the chances?
Out of everyone beneath Dragon Yuan Mountain, he had randomly met an elder capable of guiding him toward Martial Concept.
Sometimes luck truly existed.
His gaze shifted toward the distant mountain range visible beyond the window.
Dragon Yuan Mountain.
The heart of the province.
The seat of the Lin Family.
A true Rank-4 Golden Core power.
The difference between the Lin Family and the Qian Family wasn't simply strength.
It was foundation.
Accumulation.
History.
The Qian Family had existed for several centuries.
The Lin Family had existed for over a millennium.
A thousand years.
Generation after generation.
Countless experts.
Countless inheritances.
Countless records.
Even if their current Golden Core Ancestor was only around five hundred years old and still firmly within his prime, the family's overall history stretched much further back.
According to records, the Lin Family had experienced multiple rises and declines.
At times becoming a Rank-3 Purple Palace Family.
At times rising back to Rank-4.
Yet regardless of those fluctuations, they had survived.
And survival itself was proof of strength.
A millennium family naturally possessed knowledge far beyond ordinary forces.
If he could access those archives...
The amount of information available to the Chip would increase exponentially.
Unfortunately, such matters couldn't be rushed.
Lin Sheng withdrew his thoughts.
His attention returned toward the Magnetic Thunder Pearls.
Several moments later, he picked one up.
Tiny arcs of lightning danced across his fingertips.
Dangerous.
Yet strangely beautiful.
According to his calculations, the current batch already possessed sufficient power to threaten Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Perhaps even kill weaker ones.
As for stronger opponents—
Severe injury remained highly possible.
The principle behind the pearls was surprisingly simple.
Magnetic disruption.
Lightning destruction.
The magnetic polarity directly interfered with energy circulation.
Meanwhile, the resulting lightning explosion caused devastating damage.
Of the two effects, lightning remained the greater threat.
After all—
Lightning had always occupied a special position within the cultivation world.
Martial artists cultivated True Qi.
Then Gang Qi.
Their bodies continuously underwent tempering throughout the process.
Meridians strengthened.
Acupoints strengthened.
Physiques strengthened.
As a result, their resistance to many forms of damage increased significantly.
Lightning was different.
Its destructive nature targeted both body and energy simultaneously.
A sufficiently powerful lightning strike could directly disrupt a martial artist's Gang Qi Field.
The same principle applied to immortal cultivators.
Although they primarily refined spiritual energy, they too remained vulnerable.
Perhaps even more vulnerable.
Cultivation itself was a process of defying heaven.
A journey against natural order.
Like swimming against a raging river.
Each advancement challenged the limits imposed upon mortal beings.
Naturally—
The heavens responded.
Tribulations.
Tests.
Calamities.
Various names existed.
Yet everyone knew the most famous among them.
Lightning Tribulation.
When cultivators advanced into sufficiently high realms, heavenly lightning would descend from above.
Each strike represented judgment.
A test.
A destruction meant to separate the qualified from the unqualified.
Many failed.
Many died.
Those who survived emerged transformed.
This was why lightning possessed such a fearsome reputation.
And why lightning cultivators were often regarded as overlords among their peers.
Their attacks mimicked one of heaven's greatest weapons.
A force feared by countless cultivators.
Lin Sheng lightly tapped the surface of the pearl.
The lightning gradually settled.
His thoughts drifted elsewhere.
Toward another group even more familiar with heavenly tribulations.
Demonic cultivators.
Many outsiders assumed demonic cultivation existed solely because of greed.
Power.
Cruelty.
That wasn't entirely wrong.
Yet reality proved more complicated.
Demonic cultivation progressed quickly.
Resources were easier to obtain.
Requirements were lower.
Many methods didn't even require high-grade spiritual roots.
For ordinary people born without opportunities, the temptation became enormous.
Naturally, the price was equally severe.
Demonic cultivation directly attracted heavenly hostility.
At any moment—
Tribulation might descend.
No warning.
No preparation.
No mercy.
Countless demonic cultivators died beneath heavenly lightning before reaching higher realms.
Yet despite this danger, the path continued attracting followers.
Because desperation often outweighed caution.
A person nearing death rarely cared about future consequences.
A person trapped without prospects rarely worried about heavenly judgment.
Thus the cycle continued.
Of course, not everyone fully embraced the demonic path.
Many treated it as a secondary cultivation method.
A supplementary path.
Using selected techniques while maintaining their primary cultivation.
Such practices were common enough that most major powers simply turned a blind eye.
As long as limits weren't crossed.
Lin Sheng slowly rotated the pearl between his fingers.
The cultivation world remained far more complicated than many younger cultivators imagined.
While absentmindedly fiddling with the Magnetic Thunder Pearls, Lin Sheng remained seated in the lotus position.
Outwardly, nothing seemed unusual.
Yet inside his body—
A transformation was unfolding.
The twelve acupoints he had painstakingly opened throughout the Xuan Gang Realm now shone like miniature stars within his body.
Each one contained Gangqi.
Dense.
Pure.
Stable.
The final acupoint had reached its limit moments ago.
Now—
The last strand of Gangqi slowly settled into place.
Buzz.
The twelfth acupoint trembled.
For an instant, all twelve acupoints resonated simultaneously.
A strange feeling surged through his body.
Hunger.
Not physical hunger.
A craving that originated from every cell within his body.
Energy.
His body wanted energy.
No—
It demanded it.
Before Lin Sheng could fully react, the twelve acupoints began circulating automatically.
Gangqi flowed from one acupoint to another.
Completing a perfect cycle.
The moment the circulation formed, the Chip's notifications exploded across his vision.
---
[Detected: Complete Twelve Acupoint Circulation]
[Lifeform Evolution In Progress]
[Energy Consumption Increasing]
[Cellular Activity Rising]
[Estimating Quantitative Increase...]
---
Lin Sheng's expression changed slightly.
He immediately activated the Rank-2 Spirit Gathering Formation within the room.
The surrounding Spiritual Qi surged toward him.
Yet even that seemed insufficient.
His cells absorbed the incoming Spiritual Qi almost greedily.
Every strand that entered his body was rapidly devoured.
The sensation felt similar to a drought-stricken land finally receiving rain.
His muscles.
Bones.
Organs.
Blood.
Everything seemed to be undergoing subtle refinement.
Crack.
A faint sound echoed from within his body.
Then another.
And another.
Not damage.
Growth.
The impurities hidden deep within his physique were being continuously expelled and refined.
At the same time, the circulating Gangqi became increasingly active.
Lin Sheng quickly entered a deeper state of observation.
His perception followed the movement of his Gangqi.
Then—
His eyes widened slightly.
Something unexpected appeared.
The secondary meridians.
Back during the Acquired Realm, he had spent considerable effort opening and tempering numerous minor meridians throughout his body.
Most martial artists viewed them as auxiliary pathways.
Useful.
But not particularly important.
Yet now—
As the Gangqi circulated through the twelve acupoints, streams of energy automatically branched into those secondary channels.
Not randomly.
Purposefully.
Like rivers following predetermined routes.
The more he observed, the more surprised he became.
Every martial technique he had cultivated seemed connected to specific hidden pathways.
The Eight Step Cicada.
The Chaoyang Heavenly Radiance.
The Rising Sun Palm.
Even ordinary Gangqi circulation.
All of them relied upon networks of smaller meridians hidden beneath the primary system.
The finer meridians acted almost like roads guiding power toward specific regions.
Legs.
Arms.
Organs.
Bones.
Every destination possessed countless subtle pathways.
Previously his cultivation had been insufficient to perceive them clearly.
Now—
The breakthrough allowed him to see more.
Far more.
Within his mind, the Chip immediately began recording everything.
---
[New Meridial Network Detected]
[Mapping In Progress]
[Secondary Meridian Quantity Exceeds Previous Estimates]
[Recalculating Martial Art Circulation Routes...]
---
Line after line of information appeared.
Lin Sheng ignored them for the moment.
His attention remained focused inward.
The twelve acupoints continued circulating.
The hunger gradually weakened.
Yet the transformation persisted.
The acupoints themselves seemed brighter than before.
More stable.
More complete.
If before they resembled reservoirs.
Now they felt more like stars.
Each acupoint continuously emitted waves of Gangqi that nourished the surrounding body.
The benefits became immediately obvious.
His physique was strengthening.
Not dramatically.
But continuously.
Steadily.
The process felt natural.
As though reaching this stage had unlocked a new function hidden within the martial path.
Another wave of Spiritual Qi entered his body.
This time the sensation felt noticeably smoother.
The transformation was stabilizing.
Then the Chip finally completed its calculations.
---
[Analysis Complete]
[Host Has Reached Mid Stage Xuan Gang Realm]
[Estimated Lifespan Increase: +18 Years]
[Physical Strength Increase: 12.4%]
[Gangqi Capacity Increase: 21.8%]
[Meridian Efficiency Increase: 15.6%]
---
Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes.
A faint glow flashed within them before disappearing.
The room had already become noticeably dimmer.
Hours had passed without him realizing it.
He lowered his gaze toward his palm.
Then clenched his fist.
Boom.
A muffled explosion sounded.
The air within his grasp compressed instantly.
A smile appeared on his face.
Mid Stage Xuan Gang.
Finally.