34: Advancement

After a quick tidy-up, Ji Mo, who was quite particular about his appearance, couldn't help but think:

If only I could take a good, thorough bath!

Every time after a battle, if he didn't take a bath, he always felt uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, there were no lakes or rivers in this mountain forest.

Helplessly, Ji Mo found a thin rope and tied the command token to his chest.

The command token swayed as he walked, as if openly provoking outsiders:

"Come and snatch it, come and snatch it!"

Moreover, Ji Mo rather sinisterly used his auxiliary Dantian to conceal his Spiritual Qi, only revealing an Acquired Ninth Layer Early Stage cultivation to outsiders.

Suppressing his cultivation any lower would be inappropriate; after all, others weren't fools.

An Acquired Ninth Layer Early Stage cultivation would make outsiders think he might just be lucky, and even if he had some trump cards, they would believe they had countermeasures.

It must be said that Ji Mo's mind worked quickly, and his methods were quite cunning.

He walked at a leisurely pace, and whenever he encountered a Yao Beast along the way, he would raise his hand and initiate a hunt, yielding quite a bountiful harvest.

Sure enough, half an hour later, Ji Mo really did encounter a "fool."

He saw a group of people surrounding a young Young Master.

Among the more than ten guards, the lowest cultivation was acquired eighth layer, and the highest reached Acquired Tenth Layer.

The Young Master's face was full of arrogance, and upon seeing Ji Mo, he didn't even put him in his eyes.

"Kid, if you know what's good for you, hand over your command token. This Young Master is in a good mood, and I might spare your life."

The Young Master's voice came, filled with a condescending tone of charity.

Ji Mo had no intention of responding to him; he merely stared intently at the man with the gaze one would give a fool.

The young man was instantly enraged by Ji Mo's gaze and roared furiously:

"Kid, what kind of look is that! This Young Master is being benevolent for the first time; now I'll give you another chance.

Quickly kneel down obediently, then crawl over and present the command token with both hands, otherwise, this Young Master will surely make your life worse than death!"

Those guards also chimed in:

"Kid, hurry up! Our Young Master is kind-hearted; if it were anyone else, you would have already been beaten until your Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

If you force us to act, not only will you lose your command token, but your little life will also be lost here!"

Ji Mo was truly too lazy to talk to such characters, which were common in web novels on Earth.

With a thought, the heaven and earth creation bell instantly floated out. "Clang! Clang! Clang!" After three melodious and powerful chimes, everything returned to peace.

Ji Mo calmly tidied his clothes. At this moment, the whole world seemed to have quieted down, and his ears felt much clearer.

The only change was that his Storage Ring contained more wealth, and the furnace fragments had increased by more than ten.

After tallying his gains, Ji Mo couldn't help but show a satisfied expression, feeling that this trip's harvest was truly good.

With his mood settled, Ji Mo continued on his journey.

At this moment, what he most desired to encounter was Yao Beasts.

Along the way, anyone who was foolish enough to provoke him, whether human or Yao Beast,

All became resources for Ji Mo's Cultivation, making Ji Mo exclaim that this was simply a "gift from nature."

Thus, five days passed quietly in Ji Mo's process of what was akin to "fishing for law enforcement."

However, Ji Mo's gains during these five days were enormous.

Firstly, his Realm naturally advanced to Acquired Tenth Layer Middle Stage.

The number of furnace fragments had also reached over three hundred, and the reassembled heaven and earth creation bell's power became even stronger.

Ji Mo keenly noticed that the more furnace fragments there were, the more astonishing the power displayed by the heaven and earth creation bell.

Currently, Ji Mo was primarily focused on Cultivating the Hegemonic Heaven Refining Art.

In addition to that, his strength also received a significant boost.

During these five days, Ji Mo hunted many Yao Beasts, and his strength successfully surpassed ninety thousand jin.

Compared to five days ago, his strength had achieved a qualitative leap.

Ji Mo arrived at the edge of the mountain forest, quietly waiting for the competition to end.

Other individuals or teams who had also qualified gradually arrived at the outskirts of the mountain forest.

As the competition time was nearing its end, there were many people present, and although there was hostility between them, no one acted rashly.

After all, those who had survived until now were strong, and everyone understood that acting rashly at such a time, only to be taken advantage of by others, would be too foolish.

Interestingly, Ji Mo secretly guessed that only a few dozen people would qualify for the second round this time.

After all, he himself already possessed eight command tokens, some of which were taken from teams that tried to rob him, and some were obtained coincidentally while killing Yao Beasts.

"All those who have obtained command tokens, gather immediately in front of the city gate. The rest may leave on their own."

That authoritative voice once again echoed in everyone's ears.

Ji Mo, along with dozens of others, arrived in front of the city gate, then turned to look around, finding there were only about fifty-odd people.

"First, congratulations on successfully advancing to the second round.

Secondly, this competition has a hidden reward.

For every additional command token obtained, one Spirit Stone can be exchanged.

Everyone, line up and come to me for exchange.

Those without extra gains, come here to register and await the competition in three days."

City Lord Shangguan Batian said slowly to the crowd with a smile.

Ji Mo, filled with joy, returned to his residence with seven Spirit Stones.

He was eager to study what use Spirit Stones could possibly be to him.

Ji Mo did not, like ordinary people, directly take out the Spirit Stones for conventional Cultivation; instead, he took a different approach, choosing to use the furnace fragments to absorb the energy of the Spirit Stones.

He controlled the furnace fragments to approach the Spirit Stones, and in an instant, the energy of the seven Spirit Stones surged out like a tide, being absorbed completely in the blink of an eye.

In return, the number of furnace fragments increased by more than ten.

This effect greatly satisfied Ji Mo, and he secretly planned that he must acquire more Spirit Stones to aid his Cultivation in the future if the Opportunity arose.

For the next three days, Ji Mo had no special plans, so he decided to first deal with the Materials he had harvested during this period.

He inquired about the location of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower from passersby and then walked straight there.

The previous transaction with the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower left Ji Mo with a very good impression, so he chose the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower again this time.

Upon arriving at the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower, Ji Mo explained his purpose to the attendant at the door.

The attendant, hearing this, knew it was a big business and quickly reported it to the manager.

Before long, the manager personally came to greet him and enthusiastically led Ji Mo to a private room.

Ji Mo did not hesitate and directly handed the manager a Storage Ring.

This ring had ample space and was filled with various items, including silver notes, Yao Beast Materials, and weapons and armor.

Ji Mo said:

"I want to exchange all these items for Spiritual Plant containing a large amount of Spiritual Qi. I have no special requirements for the attributes of the Spiritual Plant, and Yao Beast corpses are also acceptable."

The manager took the Storage Ring, carefully examined it, and after a brief conversation with Ji Mo, asked Ji Mo to wait a moment.

After only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the manager returned and handed Ji Mo back a Storage Ring.

Ji Mo opened it to check and found that the exchange rate this time was not much different from the last, and he was quite satisfied.

He put away the ring and returned to his residence.

Back at his residence, Ji Mo sat cross-legged, circulated his Cultivation Technique, and began to absorb and refine all the Spiritual Plant in the Storage Ring.

As the energy of the Spiritual Plant was continuously absorbed, the number of furnace fragments gradually increased, reaching nearly four hundred.

At the same time, Ji Mo's cultivation also naturally rose to Acquired Tenth Layer Middle Stage Perfection.

However, at this moment, Ji Mo felt that his Spiritual Qi cultivation seemed to have entered a Bottleneck, feeling somewhat useless.

He realized it was time to find a Martial Skill to Cultivate to further enhance his strength.

In fact, Ji Mo already had two directions in mind for choosing a Martial Skill: either saber or sword.

The saber possessed a grand, sweeping, and incomparably overbearing Aura, a bold style that Ji Mo particularly liked;

The sword, since ancient times, has been regarded as the weapon of a gentleman, and in ancient Earth, the pursuit of the sword was self-evident.

Every child on Earth, he believed, once harbored the dream of becoming a swordsman.

Ji Mo knew deeply that the choice of a Martial Skill could not be forced; everything depended on Opportunity.

During these past few days of scrambling in the mountain forest, Ji Mo truly hadn't had a chance to clean himself properly.

Now that his Cultivation was complete, he comfortably stretched his body and soaked in a steaming hot tub, his heart filled with contentment.

"This is what you call life! If only someone could give me a full spa treatment, that would be even better."

Ji Mo couldn't help but murmur to himself, his thoughts drifting back to Earth, and he couldn't help but sigh, Earthlings truly understood the art of enjoyment.