Tian Chu City indeed lived up to its reputation as the provincial capital of Tian Chu Province.
Its scale was more than ten times that of Xing Sha City and Jiang Nan City.
Moreover, the number of martial artists in the city was even greater, practically visible everywhere.
Qi Refining realm martial artists were as common as dirt on the streets.
Profound Gang realm powerhouses, which were rare in places like Jiang Nan City and Xing Sha City, were very common in Tian Chu City.
Within a hundred paces, one could basically encounter a Profound Gang realm martial artist.
Ling Fan even saw one or two peak Profound Gang realm martial artists as he walked along.
The Dark Martial Hall did not refer to a single hall.
Instead, it referred to a colossal entity that occupied a large area in the northern part of Tian Chu City, formed by the convergence of various complex underground forces.
Within it was a massive underground trading market. Pills, weapons, and various treasures that could not be bought from the Pill Pavilion, Spirit Weapon Pavilion, or Myriad Merchant House in Tian Chu City might be found in the underground trading market.
The underground trading market was filled with all sorts of treasures of unknown origin.
No one knew how these treasures were acquired through force and eventually circulated into the underground trading market.
Besides the underground trading market, there was also the Assassin's Hall, where assassination missions could be anonymously posted, as well as gambling arenas, beast taming halls, mercenary groups, and brothels.
Among these, the Dark Martial Hall's gambling arena was the most famous.
Every day, life-and-death battles between various powerhouses were staged for wealthy patrons to bet on and amuse themselves.
The upcoming Dark Martial Assembly was said to gather the top powerhouses from the entire Tian Chu Province to compete on the same stage.
Even extremely powerful and terrifying demonic beasts would be present!
This was what attracted countless martial artists from all over Tian Chu Province to come and witness this underground martial arts grand event.
Bai Hao, Hua Yue, and Su Long, the young masters and ladies from Hong Ze City, were here for the Dark Martial Assembly and the underground trading market.
...
In a wine house on the edge of the Dark Martial Hall area.
Ling Fan stood by the window with his hands behind his back, gazing forward.
He had basically familiarized himself with some of the situations in the Dark Martial Hall over the past day or two.
He had also heard many rumors.
As for the truth of these rumors, he did not take them lightly, and they still needed further verification.
The Dark Martial Assembly would begin in two to three days.
However, the underground trading market had already opened.
He was considering whether to visit the trading market to see if he could find any truly good items.
"My cultivation has reached the peak of the Qi Refining realm. It's time to consider breaking through to the Profound Gang realm and the path I should take after reaching it."
Ordinary martial artists, after entering the Qi Refining realm, would generally cultivate one or two types of elemental true qi through diligent practice.
Common ones included Ice True Qi, Fire True Qi, and Wood True Qi.
If one was a blade cultivator or a swordsman, they would specialize in blade qi or sword qi.
The advantage of this was that the cultivation speed would be relatively fast. As long as these one or two types of true qi or blade qi and sword qi were honed to a peak state, one could use them to break through to the Profound Gang realm.
However, true geniuses would not simply cultivate one or two types of true qi.
This was because the human body was a divine treasury. In reality, each internal organ corresponded to the power of true qi of different attributes.
Therefore, the more true qi one cultivated, the more it would nourish one's divine treasury, the more robust one's martial foundation would be, and the stronger one's physical body would become.
Only then could one accumulate strength over time and have greater potential to go further in the martial path.
In his previous life, Ling Fan had spent two to three years honing his Qi Refining realm.
He had cultivated a total of eighty-one powerful types of true qi. When he finally broke through to the Profound Gang realm, the divine treasury within his physical body emitted the roar of surging rivers.
His bloodline surged like a flowing river, and his physical body displayed various auspicious phenomena.
At that time, he was considered one of the strongest in the Qi Refining realm, capable of fighting against the Heavenly Origin realm in the Qi Refining realm.
There were almost no prodigies who cultivated more types of true qi than him.
Now, reincarnated, Ling Fan naturally intended to build an even more robust foundation in the Qi Refining realm.
"After I entered the Manifestation realm in my previous life, I obtained a Qi Refining technique from the Primordial Sacred Land, which was said to be able to refine all qi into one, forging the strongest Qi Refining realm foundation. However, at that time, I had already become a saint and it was impossible for me to re-cultivate this Qi Refining technique."
"Now is the perfect opportunity!"
Ling Fan's mind conjured that cultivation method.
Primordial One Qi Art.
A specialized cultivation technique for the Qi Refining realm.
With the foundation laid by Ling Fan's Five Elements True Qi, cultivating this Primordial One Qi Art should be twice as effective with half the effort.
Moreover, Ling Fan could also refine Primordial Pills specifically designed to complement the cultivation of this technique, collecting and refining various elemental spiritual herbs, ancient medicines, and divine fruits to accelerate the cultivation of this technique.
Having made up his mind, Ling Fan began to cultivate.
His first step was to use the Five Elements True Qi within his body as the core and initially transform it into Primordial True Qi.
...
At this moment.
In the underground trading market of the Dark Martial Hall.
This was a vast underground plaza covering a full thousand mu, with countless martial artists coming and going. Stalls were lined up on both sides.
The items on the stalls were dazzling.
Centuries-old mountain herbs.
A broken ancient long sword.
A rusty spear.
Linear martial arts techniques and cultivation methods.
Pill bottles of various sizes and shapes.
Various armor and defensive equipment that clearly possessed strong defensive capabilities.
There were also masked powerhouses selling treasure maps on sheepskin scrolls and human skin scrolls.
There were also those selling semi-petrified strange eggs and peculiar stones...
In short, if others couldn't think of it, it couldn't be found here.
Hua Yue and Su Long's eyes were almost dazzled as they looked around.
The two young women, radiant and graceful, with slender figures, exuded liveliness and vitality. They attracted many people to stop and look back along the way.
Some martial artists even cast lewd and dark, hidden glances at the two women's bodies. kuAiδugg
Those who frequented the underground trading market were naturally not good people.
However, the rules set by the Dark Martial Hall were very strict, and basically no one dared to cause trouble within the underground trading market.
Therefore, although many people coveted them from the shadows, at least they were safe within this underground trading market.
Bai Hao and the young masters and ladies from Hong Ze City did not notice anything.
They were all beaming, feeling as if they had never seen such a spectacle in their lives.
Coming to Tian Chu City this time was indeed the right decision!
It was truly eye-opening.
It was a pity that they had only brought a few million taels of funds, and the treasures they wanted to buy were too numerous...
Spirit weapons, pills, martial arts techniques, defensive gear...
They wanted to buy all of these.
Unfortunately, their purses were shallow.
They had already spent almost all their money just buying pills to help break through to the Profound Gang realm.
"What a pity, if only we had brought more money," Hua Yue said with great regret.
Bai Hao patted his chest and said, "What's there to worry about! With me here, Yue Yue, are you still afraid of not having enough money! Although I didn't bring much money, I have connections and influence! Any amount of money is just a word away."
Bai Hao's face showed an extremely proud expression, and he said mysteriously, "You guys don't know yet, but I didn't want to say anything, but now I won't hide it from you anymore. I have a backer in this underground trading market, and I can basically walk sideways in this market!"
"Young Master Bai, who is your backer?"
The young masters and ladies from the noble families of Hong Ze City immediately asked excitedly.
"I can't tell you who it is yet. In short, his status is very high, and his power is even greater! No matter what trouble you encounter, it's just a matter of his word!"
Bai Hao raised his chin, his face filled with arrogance.
"Young Master Bai is amazing!"
"Young Master Bai truly has far-reaching connections. I didn't expect you to have such a backer even in Tian Chu City. Young Master Bai, you must look out for me."
"As expected of Young Master Bai, amazing! With Young Master Bai here, we don't have to worry about getting into any trouble."
The other young masters and gentlemen from Hong Ze City were all excited and thrilled.