The entrance of the fourth layer of the Earth Fire Demon Cave.

He Yichao led his subordinates to ambush by the entrance connecting the third layer to the fourth layer. More than a dozen senses were spread throughout the entrance, ensuring that not even an ant could pass unnoticed.

Anyone passing through the entrance could feel multiple senses scanning them. Feeling displeased internally, they had to suppress their annoyance and quickly leave in the face of so many Sea of Qi Realm experts.

So many Sea of Qi Realm experts blocking the entrance between the third and fourth layers must have a purpose. A great battle might erupt at any moment, so it's best to avoid it.

To prevent the situation where Lu Yu had already left the fourth layer, and even the third layer, rendering their half-day watch fruitless at the fourth layer's entrance, there were people monitoring the entrance to each layer.

A Sea of Qi Realm Martial Cultivator monitored the entrance to the third layer, while the second and first layers were watched by Essence Condensation Realm Martial Cultivators, with the main fighting force positioned at the entrance to the fourth layer.

Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief when he reached the exit. There were too many monsters inside the Earth Fire Demon Cave—too dangerous. It was better to leave such a perilous place early.

After cultivating in the Forest of White Bones for three days, Lu Yu's Qi Blood increased to 2200, and his total Spiritual Power limit surpassed 8000.

There wasn't much change in his Ice Spiritual Power, now still only 3800. However, his Fire Spiritual Power increased significantly in the three days of training, now reaching 4500.

After his Fire Spiritual Power broke through 4000 points, Lu Yu consumed 3.6 million experience points to upgrade his Cultivation Technique, and simultaneously improved his realm.

During this time, he went to grind through the Tower of Ascension every day, advancing from the ninetieth to the ninety-third floor, gaining over 10 million experience points. After consuming 3.6 million experience points, he still had 8.4 million experience points left.

If he wasn't worried about raising his realm too quickly and encountering issues like those in the Qi Cultivation Realm, Lu Yu would have already elevated his realm.

Upgrading from Essence Condensation Realm level four to level five required 5 million experience points. For the time being, due to his Spiritual Power cultivation, Lu Yu did not advance his realm.

Moreover, the Celestial Spirit Profound Qi Technique was nearing its limit. It had twelve levels, and he had already reached the eleventh level during Essence Condensation Realm level four. After breaking through to level five, he would need to choose another Cultivation Technique to continue cultivating.

The Celestial Spirit Profound Qi Technique had powerful defenses; once cultivated to the extreme, it could even withstand a full-force attack from an Essence Condensation Realm peak stage. Unfortunately, it wasn't significantly meaningful for Lu Yu. The next technique he should choose should come with supportive abilities.

Or perhaps, he could continue layering armor; thicker armor could always serve some purpose.

This thought flowed through Lu Yu's mind for a moment before being swept into a corner of his consciousness.

"In such a dangerous place, I cannot become distracted by these questions." Lu Yu collected his thoughts and walked towards the fourth layer's exit.

He thought of how those who had been ambushing in the third layer for several days without catching him must have been quite aggravated, and couldn't help but smile knowingly.

"After so many days, since they haven't caught me, they must have given up by now!"

Lu Yu thought this as he walked into the inclined passage leading to the third layer.

After taking a few steps, he noticed something amiss in the surroundings. The passage entrances were favorite ambush points for poisonous creatures and small monsters, and every time he traversed the passages between layers of the Earth Fire Demon Cave, he'd feel movements in the surrounding soil.

But here, after spreading his senses, Lu Yu surprisingly felt nothing, as if all the poisonous creatures and small monsters had vanished.

Just when Lu Yu wanted to retreat, several unchecked senses swept over. The senses quickly scanned over Lu Yu's body, and half a second later, they swiftly returned, enveloping him.

As the number of senses on him kept increasing, Lu Yu understood he might have fallen into an ambush.

Instinctively, he executed his first escape plan, the Earth Spirit Pearl appearing in his hand, and the Earth Escape Dharma Seal rapidly formed within his body.

The Earth Escape Dharma Seal, usually executed flawlessly, suddenly collapsed without warning at the last moment, as though disrupted by something, unable to complete properly.

In the third layer, Master Long stroked his beard with a smile, looking at the Array Plate in his hand, saying, "Young Master He, the area is sealed. No one can use Secret Techniques."

He Yichao's face lit up with joy, exclaiming, "Good! Send a message, have the people below encircle us, and don't let Lu Yu escape."

"Yes," responded the Essence Condensation Realm Martial Cultivator responsible for communications beside him.

"Everyone else, come with me, let's catch Lu Yu!" He Yichao led the way, followed by eight Sea of Qi Realm Martial Cultivators into the cave leading to the fourth layer.

In the fourth layer, two Sea of Qi Realm Martial Cultivators who had received the message also emerged from hiding, blocking the passage exit.

Their senses fully extended, blanketing the entire passage as they headed upwards.

After failing to form the seal twice, Lu Yu put away the Earth Spirit Pearl, understanding that his opponent was well-versed in his methods and immediately blocked his escape.

The only unknown was who the opponent was.

Lu Yu retreated towards the fourth layer; Earth Escape was unusable here, likely due to his opponent's methods. As long as he exited the area, he could use Earth Escape to leave.

He hadn't used Earth Escape to leave the Earth Fire Demon Cave before because many monsters were also hidden underground within the cave. Using Earth Escape, Lu Yu's combat strength would significantly decrease, rendering him defenseless against the underground monsters.

In this kind of crisis situation, there's no time to care about the monsters in the ground.

Just as he took two steps back, Lu Yu felt a heavy pressure cover his body. This pressure kept increasing, and eleven pressures from the Sea of Qi Realm pressed down on the Spiritual Power within Lu Yu's body, rendering it completely immobile.

The ground around him seemed to have a faint tendency to sink.

The eleven Sea of Qi Realm pressures were enough to affect the Spiritual Qi in the air, thereby affecting reality.

Lu Yu's whole body shook, the flow of Qi Blood sped up, and the pressure caused by the Spiritual Power on his body disappeared, but the Spiritual Power within his body was still locked and unable to flow.

Perceiving the number of strong opponents above, Lu Yu rushed towards the fourth level.

Unable to mobilize his Spiritual Power, he couldn't use the Heaven's Edge Ruler Step, and his second escape plan was also snuffed out in the cradle.

Seeing Lu Yu's figure, two Sea of Qi Realm practitioners revealed expressions of excitement, as if the frustration of the past three days was being released at this moment. Before capturing Lu Yu, they would harshly teach him a lesson to vent the resentment accumulated over those three days.

They had reached the Sea of Qi Realm, considered as high-level power in Yunhai City, capable of enjoying a comfortable life there, with a status above thousands of people.

But because of Lu Yu, they came to this hellish place, endured the dry temperature of seventy to eighty degrees, staying in the third level of the dark and dayless Earth Fire Demon Cave for three days, doing nothing but ambush a small Qi Cultivation Realm.

This really stifled them.

Perhaps before reaching the Sea of Qi Realm, they had endured harsher environments, but after becoming Sea of Qi Realm Martial Cultivators, becoming worship elders of the He family, becoming honored guests of the He family, their daily life became extremely comfortable.

Returning to the hardships of the past, it was hard for them to accept for a while.

They strived hard in cultivation not just to enjoy the luxuries and glory that come with power, right?

The vast majority of ordinary people don't train to become stronger for the so-called pursuit of the greatest strength. It's fair to say they are short-sighted, but indeed most Martial Cultivators are stuck at the bottleneck from Qi Cultivation Realm to Sea of Qi Realm, from Sea of Qi Realm to Core Formation Realm.

They might stay as Qi Cultivation Realm, Sea of Qi Realm, unable to advance further all their life, naturally not aspiring to a vague and distant strongest form, they neither have the ambition nor the capability.

Sea of Qi Realm cultivation is enough for a Martial Cultivator with no high ambitions to get the life they want, enough to let the allure of comfort and idleness corrode their drive to improve.

For ordinary Martial Cultivators, each level of advancement in Qi Cultivation Realm is measured in years, and to advance a level in the Sea of Qi Realm takes six to seven years.

For Martial Cultivators lacking aptitude and resources, Sea of Qi Realm is practically the end.

The two Sea of Qi Realm experts currently blocking Lu Yu's path are both over 50 years old, having entered middle age.

In the observation of the Fire Demon Eyes, both of them are at the peak of the third stage of the Sea of Qi Realm. Their Spiritual Power has already surpassed the extreme limit of the third stage, 39999, but their realm is still the third stage of the Sea of Qi Realm.

Their aptitude is lacking, and the grade of the Cultivation Technique they practice is not high enough. Without a fortuitous opportunity, they might remain stuck at the third stage of the Sea of Qi Realm for life.

Cultivation Techniques of fourth to sixth grade can support Martial Cultivators in reaching the Sea of Qi Realm, and a sixth grade Cultivation Technique can support them in reaching the peak of the Sea of Qi Realm. They are limited by the low grade of their Cultivation Technique, stuck at the low-grade peak of the Sea of Qi Realm, unable to break through.

Even though they can't cultivate to the Core Formation Realm due to being limited by their Cultivation Technique, they can rely on their own ability to break through minor realms within the Sea of Qi Realm. Unfortunately, they lack this ability and aptitude.

Without enough aptitude, they can only rely on serendipity. If they had the opportunity to hear Li Qiuyang's teachings, perhaps they might have a chance to break through their limits.

This underscores the importance of having a master, especially one who is powerful enough.

Even though not every master will allow their disciples to understand their cultivation experiences, even verbal hints are enough for Martial Cultivators stuck at minor realms to break through their bottlenecks.

Limited by their own aptitude, having only reached the third stage of the Sea of Qi Realm in middle age, they harbor a kind of prejudice born out of jealousy towards someone like Lu Yu with limitless potential.

"As long as we capture him alive, it doesn't say he has to be unharmed. Isn't accidental injury in battle the most normal thing ever?" The two simultaneously harbored this thought.

Their Spiritual Power surged outward, transforming into a long spear and a wolf's head attacking Lu Yu. They deliberately avoided Lu Yu's torso, targeting his legs and feet, under the guise of disabling his mobility, retaliating against Lu Yu to vent their resentment.

Facing the incoming attacks, Lu Yu sank his body and punched toward the wolf's head.

Seeing Lu Yu's counterattack, the Sea of Qi Realm practitioner smirked with disdain. The wolf's head widened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, preparing to crush the fist that Lu Yu had offered, and then continue shredding Lu Yu's arm up to the shoulder.

Bang! Boom!

Lu Yu's arm surged with Qi Blood, his punch shattered the wolf's head's teeth, and smashed the wolf's head in the direction of the spearhead. It looked as if Lu Yu wore the wolf's head like a glove, punching and shattering the spearhead. Fresh chapters posted on novel⦿fire.net

The two attacks annihilated each other upon collision, the corridor bursting with radiant Spiritual Power glow, and the two Sea of Qi Realm experts showed expressions of shock.

Whoosh! The wind stirred by the Spiritual Light swept to the sides, and a figure burst out from the explosion, a bright saber light slashing towards the two. The Demon-Breaking Saber shone with brilliance, displaying its added attribute "Thousand-Jin" pushed to its limit.

The thousand-jin Demon-Breaking Saber slashed down towards them; the air compressed with its violent force, causing white mist to rise on both sides of the saber.