Chapter Thirty-Six: Advancing to Martial Artist

Taking a Soul-Condensing Pill from his robe, Qin Lang swallowed it in one gulp, sat cross-legged on the spot, and began to circulate his cultivation technique.

Qin Yue and Qin Jian, who had arrived from afar, happened to witness the moment Ye Keqing detonated her martial soul. Both could not help but swallow hard. Rushing to Qin Lang’s side, they were struck by the harrowing scene of the explosion. As they looked at the wreckage, their expressions shifted to shock, and they gazed at Qin Lang as if he were a monster.

He had fought a first-tier Martial Artist for hundreds of rounds without falling behind, ultimately forcing her to detonate her martial soul, and then managed to escape such a terrifying blast! Aside from Qin Lang, what Ninth-Tier Martial Apprentice could be this formidable?

Qin Yue felt numb. From the moment Qin Lang saved her during the beast tide with his incredible speed, to his calm avoidance of the stampede, his powerful and efficient combat prowess, and finally, his victory over the first-tier Martial Artist Ye Keqing—every single event shattered her remaining composure.

A self-deprecating smile tugged at the corners of Qin Jian’s mouth. They were both Ninth-Tier Martial Apprentices, yet he could barely withstand a single strike from Ye Keqing, while Qin Lang had driven her to self-destruction. The gap between them was immeasurable.

"Why is Qin Lang starting to cultivate now? Could it be..." Qin Jian looked at Qin Lang sitting cross-legged by the massive crater and felt a sudden tremor in his heart, his lips going dry.

"He is going to break through the peak of the Ninth-Tier Martial Apprentice realm and become a Martial Artist!" Qin Yue’s pupils contracted as she swallowed hard, stunned.

Qin Jian and Qin Yue exchanged glances, both seeing disbelief in each other's eyes. At that moment, a vast amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy was drawn by Qin Lang’s technique, surging toward him like a whale inhaling water. The concentration of energy gathering around him became so dense that it shimmered with a faint, milky-white glow.

"Such rich spiritual energy!" The two muttered in awe. Under the nourishment of this white mist, Qin Lang’s aura climbed steadily, the bottleneck of his Ninth-Tier Martial Apprentice peak shattering under the pressure.

Two hours later, a crisp sound of bones popping echoed from within his body. The dense spiritual energy dissipated, and Qin Lang slowly opened his eyes, letting out a long, resonant roar.

He had finally broken through to the first-tier Martial Artist realm!

With a casual punch, he struck a thick tree nearby, piercing straight through it and snapping it in half before it crashed to the ground. Qin Lang clenched his fists, feeling a surge of excitement. Sensing strength at least ten times greater than before, he finally understood why Ye Keqing had been so confident. Though the gap between a Ninth-Tier Martial Apprentice and a first-tier Martial Artist was only a thin line, the difference was like that between heaven and earth. If he were to fight Ye Keqing with his current strength, he had absolute confidence in defeating her in a single move.

"Brother Lang, congratulations on your breakthrough to the Martial Artist realm!" Qin Yue glanced at the broken tree, her beautiful eyes shimmering with joy.

"Qin Lang, to go from a First-Tier Martial Apprentice to a Martial Artist in just over seven months—even Mo Tianji, the greatest genius of our Zongheng Empire, is far inferior! I am suddenly very eager to see the expressions on everyone’s faces when we return and they realize you have become a Martial Artist!" Qin Jian gave a thumbs up, genuinely impressed. After all, it had taken Mo Tianji a full year to achieve the same feat.

Hearing the praise, Qin Lang smiled faintly, not becoming complacent. The Spirit Martial Continent was vast, and the Zongheng Empire was but a drop in the ocean; there were plenty of geniuses more talented than Mo Tianji. Furthermore, having lost ten years of cultivation due to Ye Keqing, he still had a long way to go.

"Dead and disintegrated, leaving not even a corpse behind. You brought this upon yourself; you cannot blame anyone else." Looking at the hundred-meter-wide, pockmarked crater and smelling the faint scent of blood in the air, Qin Lang shook his head. He was about to leave when his gaze suddenly froze.

At the very center of the explosion, a thumb-sized, crystal-clear jade pendant lay quietly. Reaching out, he drew the pendant into his hand. A cool sensation washed over him; the pendant was completely undamaged.

"To remain unscathed after such a violent explosion—this pendant is clearly no ordinary object."

Suppressing the urge to investigate it immediately, Qin Lang tucked it into his robe and headed toward the exit of Tianfeng Mountain with Qin Jian and Qin Yue. The time limit for the trial was almost up; they had to return before the deadline.

At the exit of Tianfeng Mountain, the massive square was once again crowded with people. Today was the final day of the youth trial. Since the beast tide, only four participants had managed to escape in the first five days. In the last five days, not a single person had returned. The people of Qingfeng Town, who had been holding onto hope for their children, finally fell into despair, forced to accept the cruel reality.

At the front of the square, sixty-six teenagers stood gathered, filled with joy and excitement. They were the sole survivors of the trial and the lucky few. Today, they would all be admitted into the ten great sects of the Zongheng Empire, their futures limitless.

Among them, three youths led by Huang Bo were the center of attention. They held the highest scores and were the candidates for the Fengyun Sect, the number one sect of the Zongheng Empire. The Fengyun Sect held status and strength far beyond the other nine; even the imperial family had to treat its members with respect. It was the undisputed greatest power in the empire, and joining it offered far greater rewards than any other sect.

On the high platform, Huang Guang was beaming. If nothing went wrong, his son Huang Bo would be the champion of the trial. Not only would he receive generous rewards, but more importantly, he would enter the Fengyun Sect. The Huang family of Qingfeng Town would surely see their power soar, surpassing the other three major families sooner or later.

In contrast to Huang Guang’s smugness, the heads of the other three families looked grim. Ye Xuan was the most dejected; his daughter Ye Keqing had reached the first-tier Martial Artist realm at fifteen, with talent far exceeding Huang Bo’s. She had high hopes of taking first place, but due to the beast tide, her fate remained unknown.

Qin Zhanshan was equally troubled. His son, Qin Jian, had been a strong contender for the top one hundred, but he was now missing. Nearby, Qin Yue’s father, Qin Zhantian, looked equally pale—had his only beloved daughter truly perished in Tianfeng Mountain?