Chapter 11: Sword Marks, 1st Stage of Qi Condensation Realm Strength

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Piang!

The old man caught the bag of stones, opened it and gave a couple of glances at the simply dressed young man standing before him.

He found it a bit odd for someone like him to possess such wealth, but it wasn't his job to question those who paid, so with a dry voice, he said, "You may stay within the Spiritual Pool for 21 hours. Make good use of your limited time."

Following those words, the old man tipped his farmer's hat back toward the front of his head before quickly entering a deep slumber.

"..."

Lucifer overlooked the old man's peculiar behavior and walked past him before making his way through the dimly lit, fire-engraved tunnels of the cave.

The walls were etched with a number of Elemental intent marks, likely left by those who felt compelled to record the evidence of their progress.

'4th Stage Qi Condensation Fire mark... 6th Stage Qi Condensation Fire mark... A few in the Body Refinement and Foundation Establishment Realms...'

Lucifer noticed countless Elemental Marks, however, a few stood out quite a lot to him.

The first one was the mark that was carved deep into the walls for hundreds of meters, clearly left by a Core Formation Realm expert. While the other, slim and thin like a nail, for some reason, was far more incomprehensible despite its size...

'This one must've been left behind by an expert of the Golden Core Formation Realm, or maybe even higher...'

Lucifer found himself becoming more intrigued by the skillfully carved fire mark. He couldn't recall if he had ever seen anything quite as mesmerizing since his transmigration.

He ultimately decided to return and study the mark to gain some insights after successfully reaching the Qi Condensation Realm.

He could feel that his right arm's strength had multiplied at least a few folds in the last 20 minutes, and it was this very fact that prompted him to continue refining the rest of his body.

After 50 more minutes of intense refinement, both his left arm and right leg had completely undergone a transformation under the heat of the condensed Fire Essence.

When his stay in the Fire Spiritual Pool had reached a total of 4 hours, his entire body underwent a metamorphosis, causing his pale white skin to take on a magma-like hue.

Yet, it wasn't the improvement to his complexion or appearance that marked the greatest advancement in the quality of existence, instead, it was his newfound physical prowess!

Lucifer took a cursory glance at his system interface and saw that his Battle Power had finally surpassed a critical threshold, propelling his strength into the 1st Stage of Qi Condensation!

This was a monumental accomplishment, as it signified that his strength had ascended to the ranks of a true cultivator!

Moreover, it enabled him to summon clones at the Qi Condensation Realm!

The ability to summon Clone was based on Lucifer's strength, not on his realm. This was to say that he could be far ahead in terms of Battle Power as opposed to cultivation and still be capable of summoning a Clone of his approximate strength bracket.

The thought of this topic raised his curiosity, leading him to check out the cost of a Qi Condensation Realm Clone, and let's just say that when he looked into the expansive number, poverty looked right back at him...

"100 Clone Essence to summon a Qi Condensation Realm Clone... 1000 times more than what it costs for a Peak Body Refinement Realm Clone..."

Lucifer found these prices a little exaggerated, but upon considering how much stronger he had become as opposed to pre-fire refinement, he realized that it made a lot of sense.

However, looking at the stark difference in cost between a Body Refinement and Qi Condensation Realm Clone made him wonder about how the cost of future realms would look...

'The prices will be absurd... and there is no way I can amass the potential trillions of Clone Essence needed just by killing Body Refinement Realm Existences...'

Lucifer realized that he would need to start killing higher realm entities sooner rather than later, though he never would've expected that time would come so soon.

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