Under the effects of ten Small Revitalizing Pills, Lin Li's wounds quickly scabbed over, and his inner injuries healed. Even the problems caused by the ultrasonic vibrations had fully recovered.
Although on the surface Lin Li still looked a bit battered, he had already returned to his peak condition!
And!
At this moment!
The energy feedback from Ye Fan had not yet stopped!
A continuous flow of energy was being fed from Ye Fan's sword into Lin Li's body, making Lin Li, who was already at the peak of Foundation Establishment Stage 3, feel as if his spiritual liquid was filling up more and more, creating the illusion that it was about to "burst."
Sensing this, Lin Li quickly began to operate the Xuantian Wuji Sword Qi Technique.
Under the circulation of this technique, the spiritual liquid in his dantian started to transform into a pale golden liquid, which circulated continuously within him.
Gradually, Lin Li's dantian expanded under the pressure of the circulating pale golden spiritual liquid. At the same time, his meridians, strengthened by the golden liquid, not only became more resilient but also took on a faint golden hue, exuding an otherworldly divine quality.
With the golden hue infused in his meridians, Lin Li's body was increasingly aligned with the metal attribute.
Additionally, as the golden spiritual liquid flowed through the golden-tinted meridians, it grew stronger.
Foundation Establishment Stage 3 breakthrough!
Lin Li had reached Foundation Establishment Stage 4!
He had successfully advanced from the early stage to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment!
The key difference between the early and mid-stages of Foundation Establishment lay in the transformation of the meridians. In the transition from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, the spiritual energy liquefies.
However, advancing from the early to mid-stage means that the meridians absorb the attributes of the cultivator's primary cultivation technique!
Once a cultivator reaches the mid-stage, their spiritual liquid flows from the dantian into the meridians, where it receives a boost from the meridians' attributes.
Now, Lin Li could feel that as his metal-based spiritual liquid circulated through his metal-based meridians, it gained approximately a 10% boost in power!
Though 10% may not sound like much, for Lin Li, this meant that even without using any additional techniques, his every move, every strike, was now 10% stronger.
If he added the Jinghong Sword, its power would increase even more!
And!
At this moment!
The feedback energy from Ye Fan had not yet ceased! Which meant Lin Li's cultivation was still...
Continuing to rise!
However.
Before Lin Li could fully immerse himself in the changes brought by his breakthrough, a disturbance occurred.
Five Demon Sect disciples, three dressed in black robes and two in blue-green attire, came rushing toward Lin Li.
As they ran, they shouted, "You damned sword cultivator! You must be at the end of your rope now, right?!"
"Hahaha! Blame your bad luck for running into us!"
…
Hearing their shouts, Lin Li couldn't help but laugh.
"Since you've come to me, then don't think about leaving," Lin Li muttered as he stood up.
"Huh?!"
The five disciples were startled, seeing Lin Li stand up so easily. "Wait, how come he doesn't look seriously injured?"
"Doesn't matter! We're already committed! Let's go!"
"Alright!"
With that, the five disciples summoned two green-haired zombies, and the three beast tamers unleashed a horde of centipedes, three demon wolves, and a swarm of gu insects.
Faced with this, Lin Li smiled lightly and shook his head.
"Jinghong Sword!"
This time, Lin Li didn't condense the sword energy but instead allowed the Jinghong Sword to spread outward.
The centipedes, demon wolves, the swarm of gu insects, and the two green-haired zombies were shredded to pieces in the storm of sword energy, as if they had been thrown into a shredder!
[You have killed a Qi Refining Stage 2 Demon Centipede, gained 25 evolution points!]
[You have killed a Qi Refining Stage 5 Demon Wolf, gained 65 evolution points!]
[You have killed a Qi Refining Stage 7 Green-Haired Zombie, gained 356 evolution points!]
...
"What?!"
"He still has enough strength to unleash the Jinghong Sword?!"
"This is impossible!"
The five Demon Sect disciples were utterly terrified.
However.
The relentless storm of sword energy showed no mercy!
[You have killed a Qi Refining Stage 7 Beast Tamer Disciple, gained 732 evolution points!]
[You have killed a Qi Refining Stage 5 Beast Tamer Disciple, gained 200 evolution points!]
[You have killed a Qi Refining Stage 8 Corpse Controller Disciple, gained 888 evolution points!]
[You have killed a Qi Refining Stage 6 Corpse Controller Disciple, gained 566 evolution points!]
[You have killed a Qi Refining Stage 9 Beast Tamer Disciple, gained 872 evolution points!]
All five Demon Sect disciples were instantly slain!
From a distance.
The other Demon Sect disciples, who had wisely chosen not to attack Lin Li when they thought he was seriously injured, now gulped nervously and sighed in relief, thankful they hadn't made the wrong choice.
"Thank goodness we didn't go after that sword cultivator!"
"Otherwise, it would've been us lying dead now!"
As these Demon Sect disciples whispered among themselves, the air was suddenly filled with earth-shaking roars!
Boom…
Boom, boom, boom—!!!
Suddenly.
A group of disheveled, robe-clad cultivators burst out from the depths of the Demon Sect's branch, fleeing in panic!
Chasing after them was a massive green toad, leaping hundreds of meters with each bound!
Every time it landed, the ground rippled like water, forming massive craters in the earth!
Behind the toad were waves of Demon Sect disciples, all dressed in either black robes or blue-green attire.
"That's…!"
Lin Li squinted his eyes. "The team that went inside earlier!"
He could clearly see that the cultivators were all wounded, and their numbers had dwindled from the original eleven.
Now, only eight were left being chased by the Demon Sect.
This meant that three had already perished!
At that moment!
The giant green toad leaped into the sky!
Its tongue shot out like a missile, swiftly lashing toward the rearmost member of the fleeing team, a disciple from Tianjue Mountain wielding an umbrella-shaped magic weapon!
The tongue, as large as the disciple's head, pierced through the disciple's body with unstoppable force.
It continued forward for more than ten meters before crashing into the ground.
Boom!!!
Another deafening explosion echoed!
Dust filled the air!
In the next moment, the ground had been gouged out by the green toad's tongue, leaving a massive crater!
"Guardian Beast!"
The remaining Demon Sect disciples, who had witnessed Lin Li easily slaughter the five disciples earlier, now saw the "achievement" of the green toad and cheered in excitement.
"Hurry! Kill that damned sword cultivator!"
"He killed so many of our people!"