chapter 16 Seventh level of body refining!

With more than 30,000 taels of silver in his arms, Stanley once again came to the shop selling formation devices.
Because he had been hunting and fighting in Shuiwu Mountain in recent days, Stanley's clothes had many breakages, and he was incompatible with the richly dressed people who came in and out of this shop.
"Shopkeeper, bring me a first-order spirit gathering formation device." Stanley walked into the shop and said directly.
The middle-aged shopkeeper behind the counter was slightly startled, "Do you really want to buy it? The first-level spirit gathering formation costs ten thousand taels of silver."
Obviously, the shopkeeper didn't think this ragged young man could afford it.
Without saying much, Stanley took out the banknote and threw it on the counter.
Seeing the thick stack of bank notes, the middle-aged shopkeeper suddenly smiled and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes, please wait a moment, I get it for you right now."
After a while, the middle-aged shopkeeper came out holding an exquisite round wooden box and said, "Sir, this is the first-level spirit gathering formation you want."
The wooden box was opened, and inside was a disc with complex patterns engraved on it. In the center of the disc, there was a card slot. In addition, there were simple instructions for use on the lid of the wooden box.
"Use the vitality stone to open it?" Stanley frowned.
"Haha, you probably don't know that most of the auxiliary formation devices require vitality stones to be opened. Only some combat-type formation devices are a little different." The store manager said with a smile.
Snapped!
Stanley took out another note of10,000 taels of silver and threw it on the counter, saying, "Do you have any vitality stones here? Give me a few."
The middle-aged shopkeeper was overjoyed. He had no idea that the humble young man in front of him would be so extravagant, and he quickly ordered someone to fetch the vitality stone.
Soon, another wooden box arrived, containing twenty round ore stones the size of a palm, shining with a milky white halo.
Stanley took his things and was about to leave when two people walked into the shop.
The two people were a man and a woman. The man was wearing white clothes. He looked like a young man from a wealthy family, with a condescending arrogance on his brows.
The woman was wearing a blue dress, with bright eyes, white teeth, attractive red lips, slender figure, and fair skin.
Stanley was slightly startled when he saw these two people. They were Yedda and Fei.
"Stanley?" Yedda was a little surprised to see him, because as far as she knew, Stanley couldn't afford any formation device in this shop based on his conditions.
"Humph, your clothes are in such tatters, how dare you come here to embarrass yourself?" Fei snorted coldly, with disdain on his face.
However, Stanley ignored Fei and walked past them and left the shop.
Seeing that Stanley dared to ignore him, Fei's eyes turned cold and said, "Stop!"
"What's wrong with you?" Stanley looked back, frowning, a little impatient.
"Didn't you hear me talking to you?" Fei said coldly.
"Why should I hear it?" Stanley smiled disdainfully, then turned around and left.
"Bastard!" Fei was furious, but Stanley had already gone away and ignored him.
Fei wanted to teach this poor boy a lesson, but with Yedda by his side, he had to maintain his grace, so he could only endure it.
"The annual assessment is only half a month away. I want to see how you can be a match for Hugh!"
…
After walking out of the formation shop, Stanley went to the weapon shop again and sold Yun Wang's sword and Hyman Zhang's bow and arrows, getting him more than 800 taels of silver.
Immediately afterwards, Stanley went to the elixir shop and spent fifteen thousand taels of silver to buy a bottle of Qi-nourishing elixir.
However, Stanley did not return to the Martial Hall, but walked out of Qing Yun City and came to Shui Wu Mountain again.
The mountains and rivers here were beautiful and there were a lot of vegetation. For Stanley, it was more suitable to practice than in the Martial Hall.
Finding a secluded place, Stanley sat cross-legged. He took out the spirit-gathering formation disc device and put a vitality stone in the central groove. The lines engraved on it suddenly lit up and emitted a faint light. .
Stanley could clearly sense that the vitality of the nearby heaven and earth seemed to be drawn by some mysterious force and quickly gathered towards his location.
This was the magical function of the spirit gathering formation, which could condense the vitality of heaven and earth and speed up the cultivation speed of warriors within a certain range.
Stanley immediately took out Qi Nourishing Pills, and put one in his mouth, then closed his eyes, and performed the invert bone material on the meridians and acupuncture points in his body.
With the vitality of heaven and earth, the essence of plants and the power of elixirs, the pure internal energy were condensed in the body, and turned into the polar energy of life and death, then refined into the internal organs.
Unknowing to him, the sky became dark, and Stanley had been practicing here for a day.
Stanley could clearly feel that his heart was beating more powerfully, and the power contained in his body was getting stronger and stronger.
Boom!
A surging power emerged in his body, and Stanley suddenly opened his eyes with a happy face.
"Success, seventh level of Lian Ti!"
It was getting dark now. Stanley stood up and stretched his body, feeling that his strength had improved a lot.
Stanley didn't expect that it only took him one day to break through to the the seventh level of Lian Ti. As far as he knew, other people of the same age, especially those disciples from aristocratic families, had better training conditions than him, would spend half a year or even longer to achieve this step.
"It should be that the Life and Death Bead improved my body, so it doubled my cultivation speed countless times." Stanley thought this way.
This practice consumed two Qi-nourishing pills, and the first-level spirit-gathering formation consumed two vitality stones. In addition to the vegetation essence absorbed by inhalation, this power would have taken others at least several months to refine.
However, Stanley could refine it in a very short period of time, so his cultivation level could be improved so quickly.
Of course, apart from the impact of the Life and Death Bead on the body, the effect of his improved invert bone material was even better than the third-grade internal power.
In the following time, Stanley never returned to the Martial Hall. He always practiced in Shuiwu Mountain. He went out to hunt during the day, tempering himself by fighting monsters, and devoted himself to hard training at night.
Unconsciously, time passed quietly, and Qing Yun City Martial Hall ushered in the annual assessment.
Students who reached the age of fourteen in the junior grade and seventeen in the intermediate grade must take an assessment. If they passed the assessment, they would be promoted. If they failed the assessment, they would leave the Martial Hall.
In the vast martial arts performance arena, there were thousands of martial arts students gathered together, in small groups, talking and making noise.
On the three-meter-high competition stage, a table was placed in the center. There was a crystal-like sphere on the table.
This crystal ball was a formation device used to test cultivation. As long as the inner energy was poured into it, the crystal ball would emit light. Based on the brightness of the light, the cultivation level could be roughly determined.
Many students who were about to take the assessment were anxious, but those who met the requirements were calm and composed.
Stanley also rushed back from Shui Wu Mountain. He first went back to his residence to take a shower and changed into clean clothes, and then came to the assessment location.
Many Martial Hall students were naturally familiar with Stanley. It was said that as early as two months ago, he had reached the fifth level of Lian Ti and could defeat the students in the intermediate grade. Passing this assessment would naturally be no problem. .
But the fight between Hugh and Stanley had been known to everyone for a long time, so when they saw Stanley coming over, many people started talking.
"This Stanley is so courageous. Hugh is a genius in the intermediate grade. I heard that he was in retreat some time ago and has already reached the eighth level of Lian Ti!"
"Who says it's not the case? If Miss Lu hadn't protected this Stanley, Hugh would have beaten him into a disability long ago."
"I heard that Hugh has reached the eighth level of Lian Ti and should be promoted to the advanced grade. However, in order to avenge his brother, he did not plan to take part in this assessment. He waited for Stanley to advance to the intermediate class and then gave him a harsh lesson..."
"This Stanley has disappeared for a long time. He must have been scared, so he hid."
For most people, no one thought that Stanley could match Hugh.
But facing the comments, ridicules, and suspicions around him, Stanley was calm, relaxed, and comfortable. People couldn't help but wonder if this guy knew that Hugh was already at the eighth level of Lian Ti?
One at the eighth level of Lian Ti was already among the top students of the Hall. There were only a handful of people who had reached the ninth level of Lian Ti, and they were all in the advanced grade.
If one could broke through the ninth level of Lian Ti and advance to The Cultivation Realm Qi Hai to become a martial artist, he could graduate directly from the Hall, and all forces in Qingyun City would compete to win over him.
"Quiet!" At this moment, a voice suddenly came from the martial arts arena.
Everyone followed the sound and saw a middle-aged man wearing a blue robe standing on the competition stage, scanning the surroundings, "Those who participate in this year's assessment, come out!"
The mass of martial arts students stopped talking and making noise, and figures including Stanley stepped out one after another.
Among the crowd behind, cold eyes stared at Stanley's back.
"Brother, he will be a student in the intermediate grade after passing the examination. When the time comes for you to compete with him, teachers of the Hall will have no reason to intervene. You must help me teach him a lesson!" Troy said through gritted teeth.
Troy felt even more humiliated whenever he remembered that he had been severely beaten by a poor boy whom he had always looked down upon.
"Don't worry, I would rather not be promoted to the advanced grade this time, but I will definitely help you get revenge!" Hugh nodded and said.
Although it was said that one at the eighth level was already qualified to be admited to the advanced grade, Hugh was only fifteen years old this year and was not in a hurry. Even some of the benefits that the advanced grade could enjoy could be easily obtained with the background of the Zhang family.
The elder of the Hall who presided over the assessment had a list in his hand and said indifferently, "The first one, Sylvia!"
"Yes!"
A girl from the junior class came out, and stepped onto the competition stage, and placed her palm on the crystal ball.
"Buzz!"
Along with a wave of tremors, the crystal ball bloomed with brilliant light.
"Sylvia, you pass the assessment at the fifth level of Lian Ti, you can be promoted to the intermediate grade!" The elder in charge of the assessment announced with a smile and a nod.
Hearing the confirmation from the assessment elder, the girl named Sylvia breathed a sigh of relief. There were many envious eyes in the audience, especially those of students not sure of passing the assessment.
Immediately afterwards, the assessment elder read out the names one by one, and more than a dozen people came to the stage for assessment, including those from the beginner grade and some from the intermediate grade. However, there were only three people who passed the assessment, and all the others were eliminated. They had to pack their things and left the Martial Hall within three days.
The rules set by the Martial Hall were not hard for some children of aristocratic families, but for students from commoner backgrounds, it was almost impossible to reach the fifth level of Lian Ti at the age of fourteen and the eighth level of Lian Ti at the age of seventeen.
Among the students in the Hall, commoners accounted for the majority.
In the same martial arts training, there were differences in talent and qualifications. There were only a very few people with extremely high talents. For ordinary people, it might not be possible to pass the assessment in a few years.
As more and more people failed to pass the examination, the atmosphere became a little tense. Those students who failed the examination could only look sad, while those disciples from aristocratic families not far away who were keeping them separated had disdainful and schadenfreude expressions on their faces.
"Next, Stanley Luo!" On the competition stage, the assessment elder read out this name.
In an instant, countless eyes focused on the young man in black.
The name Stanley Luo was quite well known in the Hall recently. His cultivation level soared to the fifth level of Lian Ti in a short period of time, and even the students in the intermediate grade were no match for him.
Stepping onto the competition stage, Stanley looked at the crowd below and saw Hugh and Troy beside him. Behind the two stood Harry Lu and others, looking at him with eyes filled with chill.
Especially the look in Hugh's eyes was filled with arrogant disdain and indifference. For him who had already broken through to the eighth level of Lian Ti, even if Stanley could pass this test, he was destined to be destroyed by him and then be expelled from the Hall!
A sneer appeared at the corner of Stanley's mouth. He wanted to see what these guys' expressions would be like when they saw that their cultivation had reached the seventh level of Lian Ti.
He slowly raised his palm and placed it on the crystal ball, pouring the energy of life and death into it.
"Buzz!..."
A bright light suddenly lit up, more dazzling and eye-catching than the light caused by anyone before!
"The ninth level of Lian Ti?" The assessment elder suddenly stood up, his face full of shock, but then he regained his composure, "It's not the ninth level of Lian Ti, it's the seventh level!"