Chapter 4: Sword Pill

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Qin Shu commanded the Iron Cantaloupe Tree within the Giant Banyan to fire five iron cantaloupes in rapid succession.

The Tiger-Headed Stitched Beast, a common monster in the Abyss World, was typically pieced together from several different animals—tigers, wolves, bears, or any other variety of beasts.

As it exhaled black mist, Qin Shu’s iron cantaloupes shattered the haze, sending fragments scattering downward.

He channeled Fortune Force around his body for protection.

After dispersing the black mist, the topmost iron cantaloupe lost much of its momentum. However, the second and fifth cantaloupes quickly followed suit, slamming into the first one. In an instant, they transferred their kinetic energy to the leading projectile, propelling it with renewed vigor as it crashed heavily into the Tiger-Headed Stitched Beast.

The beast was blasted away, breaking free from its perilous hold.

Qin Shu sighed in relief as the scattered black mist dissipated under the influence of his Fortune Force.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Widow Human Spider had been pummeled by successive waves of iron cantaloupes, leaving half of its body destroyed. Then, the ghostly flames of the Demonic Wutong descended like fiery palms, reducing the spider to nothing more than a pile of kindling.

The Tiger-Headed Stitched Beast finally clattered down to earth.

Without hesitation, Qin Shu wove over a dozen strands of Gold Thread Vine around it, then hurled the creature toward the Golden Skin Thorn Tree.

The tree quivered, launching a barrage of venomous thorns that pierced directly into the Tiger-Headed Stitched Beast’s eyes.

“Aroo~!”

The thorns were incredibly toxic; a single strike would cause excruciating pain. With both eyes impaled, the beast writhed in agony across the ground.

Yet, bound by the Gold Thread Vine, its anguished cries reverberated through heaven and earth alike.

Qin Shu swiftly commanded the iron cantaloupe tree to unleash another volley, striking the tiger head squarely.

Though larger than a water vat’s opening, the tiger head was still blown apart by the iron cantaloupes.

Two Foundation Establishment monsters? Talk about a nasty surprise! Qin Shu felt like he’d become the target of some cosmic joke.

Under normal circumstances, even a Mythical-tier spiritual soul would only encounter one Foundation Establishment monster in the first Abyss world.

And that was at Hell difficulty level—forget about two appearing simultaneously.

Who else could hope to survive such an ordeal?

Within the giant banyan’s encirclement, the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed grew with unchecked abandon. Beyond the golden thread vine’s reach, the earth cracked open.

One by one, the monsters rushing towards Qin Shu tumbled into the fissures.

The green flower buds swelled as the Cyan Lotus neared bloom.

Strands of jade-green light radiated from the buds, invigorating the five plants Qin Shu had brought from the Nine Provinces Holy Court.

As the Cyan Lotus blossomed, the monstrous horde arrived en masse.

A sea of creatures, dark and menacing, filled the sky.

Several new types of monsters joined the black rats and poisonous stiff corpses:

The Big Head Zombie sported a skull as large as a rice measure, its mouth splitting to the ears, tongue flicking out like a sharp sword;

The Bursting Fluid Water Demon was rotund, crawling on all fours. A single attack made it explode, spraying corrosive fluid like sulfuric acid;

The Black Carapace Zombie wore a full suit of armor, its two-meter-tall frame incredibly formidable. Even the iron cantaloupe couldn’t penetrate its defenses; only the ghost fire from the Demonic Wutong could hope to ignite it;

As the lotus blossomed, waves of jade-green radiance rippled outward.

In an instant, five plants began to grow wildly.

The Gold Thread Vine formed into balls of tendrils, latching onto the feet of the monster army and refusing to let go.

The Iron Cantaloupe Trees unleashed a barrage of firepower from their cannon-like branches. After each iron cantaloupe was fired, a new one would form within five seconds. With five cannons per tree, they achieved a rate of one shot per second.

The four trees positioned outside the Giant Banyan sent out a fusillade at four shots per second. As long as there were no black-armored zombies blocking their path, these missiles could pierce through the bodies of multiple monsters with each strike.

The Demonic Wutong accelerated its movement, transforming into a flame warrior that charged into the heart of the monster horde, sweeping away thousands with fiery palms.

Most extraordinary of all was the Golden Skin Thorn Tree, which launched indiscriminate attacks with its poisonous thorns. While not immediately lethal, they caused unbearable agony to the monsters.

The branches and leaves of the Giant Banyan formed a canopy above, creating a green shield that protected Qin Shu and the Cyan Lotus.

With the lotus in full bloom, Qin Shu turned his attention away from the battle raging outside.

He observed two lotus seeds forming within the flower’s center.

One seed appeared perfectly round, unlike a typical lotus seed, and shimmered with iridescent colors.

The other seed, solidifying rapidly, condensed the essence of nearly half the lotus plant itself, pulsing with a boundless vitality.

As each monster perished, the lotus approached the final stage of its growth.

Petals wilted, leaves withered, and seedpods swelled.

Two lotus seeds gradually ripened within their pods.

In an instant, fragments of the Abyss world began to fracture. The sky shattered like a barrier—the sign that its essence was being drained dry.

The Cyan lotus, along with the gold thread vine, iron cantaloupe tree, demonic wutong, giant banyan, and golden skin thorn tree all withered.

One of the lotus seeds plunged into Qin Shu’s sea of consciousness.

Instinctively, Qin Shu opened his mouth and swallowed the other perfectly round lotus seed.

A surge of gravitational force enveloped him, pulling him away from the Infinite Abyss and back into the present world.

Before he could even report his safe return, the reborn Cyan Lotus Dao Seed in his sea of consciousness erupted with Fortune Force.

This potent energy surged forth, washing over his body again and again, transforming his very constitution.

The surrounding vital energy rushed into him like a tidal wave, naturally advancing his qi cultivation to the fourth level.

Within his dantian, the second round lotus seed—no longer a seed but a byproduct of the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed condensing the abyssal source power—transformed into the Qingping Sword Pill.

As this sword pill refined his true qi, it imbued it with the properties of blade-like energy. Overall, it maintained a cyan hue, now radiating with multicolored brilliance.

The five elements of sword qi perfectly aligned with the lotus leaf’s elemental powers.

With this infusion, Qin Shu’s true qi circulated even faster within his body, allowing him to absorb vital energy at a much greater speed and volume.

His cultivation base surged forward like a sharp blade through bamboo, breaking through to the fifth level of Qi Refinement—already in the middle stage.

In total, there were twelve levels of Qi Refinement: the first four constituted the early stages, the next four the middle stages, and the final four the late stages.

As dusk gradually settled in, Qin Shu’s family members returned from school or work.

Dajie Qin Yu turned to her mother Wang Yurou and asked, “Mom, has little Shu still not come back?”

“No,” Wang Yurou replied, her heart echoing her words. “I heard that time flows just as it does here in the Abyss World. Little Shu must be holding on.”

“Little Shu is steady by nature; he’ll be fine,” Qin Wei reassured everyone. As the head of the household, only when he remained calm could the others follow suit.

“Listen to your dad, eat up, all of you.” Wang Yurou remembered that she had more than just Qin Shu—the eldest son—to worry about; there were six other children. She temporarily set aside her concerns for their sake.

Inside the room, as the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed ceased its eruption of fortune force, Qin Shu’s physical transformation came to an end.

His cultivation base had reached the fifth stage of Qi Refinement, with subtle signs of impending breakthrough to the sixth.

“What incredible progress!” He rose and stepped out of his room.

The sound of the opening door was unusually clear in the quiet house.

Everyone except Qin Hao froze in their movements.

“Am I hearing things?” Wang Yurou’s eyes filled with disbelief.

“I heard it too,” the five Qin siblings said in unison.

“Me too! Me too!” Qin Hao raised his hand high in excitement.

Wang Yurou’s gaze remained fixed on Qin Wei.

At that moment, Qin Shu descended the stairs into the hall. “Mom, Dad, sis, and everyone else, I’m back,” he said with a smile, looking utterly relaxed.

Wang Yurou was momentarily stunned before letting out a sobbing cry of joy. She stood up and walked towards Qin Shu, gazing at him for a moment before gently caressing his face. “I’m just glad you’re home safe.”

Qin Yu, Qin Rou, Qin Ying, and the others also breathed sighs of relief.

A smile spread across Qin Wei’s face as he suggested, “Let’s all sit down for dinner first. You must be famished after being gone all day.”

“Yes, let’s eat.” Wang Yurou wiped away her tears, smiling as she served Qin Shu a bowl of rice and placed it on the table. “Dig in!”

“Sounds good!” Qin Shu replied, taking a seat with a grin.

He was a fortunate man, born into a family brimming with love.

Thus, whether for himself or his loved ones, he had to become stronger.

One could not entrust their fate and that of their family to others.

With the Cyan Lotus Dao Seed within him, all things were possible.