Long Chen saw that his blood has almost turned transparent symbolizing that the first level of foundation is done. Now he would be tempering his viscera or skin.

After stabilizing his cultivation base Long Chen went through all the top heaven grade cultivation methods in his memory.

Long Chen selected the Nine-Headed ice serpent method as his primary cultivation method. It had 9 layers and had an inherent battle art along with it.

The Nine-Headed Ice Serpent and Nine-Headed Poison Serpent were the 2 cultivation methods he found in immortal ruins.

The wielder cultivated both of these methods as he had a natural Ice Poison Body.

Although most people chose to cultivate one type of method depending on their bodies.

The Method Allowed Long Chen to cultivate Ice Type essence with each layer he could conjoin an ice snake spirit around him which would be around 50% of his strength along with a few battle arts to come.

The Spirit can also be converted into a clone that shares all its senses with Long Chen. The number of heads would increase and so would the corresponding strength and versatility with each layer.

At the qi condensation layer, the type of cultivation method matters very little so he did not spend much time comprehending it.

After Selecting a cultivation method Long Chen focused on selecting some battle skills for himself.

At qi condensation, Long Chen could at most perform top yellow grade battle arts so he selected 4 of them 2 for offense 1 for movement, and 1 for defense.

Asura claw in this art he would cover his arm with qi in the form of a claw. A very versatile method could be used practically anytime.

To practice this method Long Chen vibrated the qi in his arms. This was an application of a qi utilization method.

The moment the degree of vibration reaches a certain level this method converts qi to nether qi and attacks in the form of a claw from asura.

Long Chen got tons of huge bricks to practice this move. He fiercely attacked those stones to practice this method.

In the beginning, His palms and fingers got bruised and he had to constantly take in healing pills as well as apply some cleansing liquid

Because Long Chen did not practice any nether qi method it was difficult to convert qi into nether qi.

The only reason he could succeed was that he had a nether-related bloodline.

It took a while for him to reach minor accomplishments and at this level, he could just crush a stone by holding it while doing a minimal movement.

Flying Saber this art would focus on utilizing 2 sabers with qi with movement styles resembling an eagle going for its prey.

Long Chen tied 2 sabers to his hands and pictured an eagle hunting.

He familiarised himself by using the most natural method.

The art emphasizes fluidity and it was fairly easy for Long Chen to pick up.

It consisted of 3 moves.

Eagle King's Wrath

This move emphasized on destruction it was unleashed from a higher altitude

Wind Slicer

This move emphasized versatility it could be unleashed from any position.

Talon whip.

This move emphasized sneak attacks and malignantly attacked on the vitals.

Demon fairy step this art would focus on stealth while moving at a very fast pace. In this art for everyone step, a certain number of steps can be taken by catapulting through the air.

The number of those steps that depict mastery 9 could be considered as basic mastery. Long Chen practiced this underwater in his pond for maximum efficiency.

Iron body using qi to protect his body. A simple yet effective way to maximize the defense. Long Chen constantly hit himself using various weapons both sharp and blunt. He made his body's qi instinctively use this method whenever he takes a hit.

For this, he had to train his nerves and be exceptionally familiar with this art.

Even for Long Chen who has a super-strong body, he took a lot of damage, and the process of healing and then destroying his body was unpleasant, to say the least.

Since Long Chen is using an ice attribute cultivation method his qi would be of icy nature although unless he breaks through essence transformation it would be hard to tell the difference.

It took Long Chen the entire night to familiarise himself with the methods and the arts.

Long Chen used asura claw to break bricks and hit himself with an iron rod to train his iron body. Also, he set up a few simple formations and used his demon fairy steps to bypass them.

'I don't have a proper weapon'

Long Chen informed his butler that he wants to got out to buy weapons. Long Chen also told a servant to inform the Bei family he wouldn't come over today.

After having his breakfast Long Chen went to have a long bath.

"Young master you have come " Said Tang Xue happily

"Oh my you all look awfully excited today"

Of course, it's our pleasure to serve the young master.

Both Tang Xue and Tang Yan were wearing almost see-through dresses

When Long Chen entered the pool they started rubbing his body with all sorts of oil and fragrances meanwhile their bodies were rubbing against Long Chen.

In a few breaths of time, the original bathing time became a hot and steamy session.

When Long Chen came out Long Bai was waiting for him with an incredibly respectful expression.

Seeing Long Chen's progress Long Bai had sworn to serve him from the bottom of his heart.

Long Chen departed for the weapons store with his entourage which includes Long Bai his personal butler and 2 personal guards.

Speaking of Long Bai he would often be envious of other young masters butlers as they get to strut around freely be he had to  Always fear that he might be exected as an apology on behalf of his master whose prospectives were in the dumpsters.

Their destination this time was Qiang stores which was a local store run by the Qiang clan.

The Qiang clan was one of the 9 first-rate clans in Southern Phoniex city all of which had an essence gathering expert at their helm as either the patriarch or the ancestor.

All top clans within the Southern Phoniex City namely Bei, Long, and Ling had 8-9 experts in essence gathering realm cultivators with one or 2 at mid-layers and the rest at the initial layers.

Most of these first-rate clans would have paid allegiance or would be in some sort of alliance or trade with the top 3 clans.

The Ling Clan has been playing all sorts of tricks to make most if not all clans submit to them. Which varies anywhere from bribery and marriage to threats

Long Chen entered the store and was greeted with the sight of a 4 story building with Slanted slopes on all its floor laid with strong tiles giving the vibe of a general going to war.

It had thick walls and was beautifully decorated in crimson red items.

Seeing Long Chen enter the store a lot of people present there made way.

"Young master Chen how can I help you today "

The attendant quickly bowed to him and asked nervously

"I am looking for a pair of sabers"

"Any special requests ?"

"Yes, they should be as heavy as possible."

The attendant quickly brought Long Chen to the top floor where the best weapons were he was introducing various yellow ranked weapons to him.

This shop did not have any black ranked weapons they were scarce even in the top 3 clans so how could their little clan afford them.

There was nothing really too remarkable for Long Chen to select just when he was about to settle on a seemingly ordinary saber he saw a pair of pitch-black sabers with a white hilt.

'A top-grade black grade weapon'

For most people, it looked no different from an ordinary saber but for Long Chen, he could sense a bloody aura leaking from it.

"How about that ?"

"Young master that is a top yellow grade weapon it's quite difficult to use due to its lack of mobility and bluntness"

"I want that one"

The attendant was sweating bullets as he didn't wanna sell a bad weapon to Long Chen.

'What idiots!!!  top-grade black weapons need essence to be activated '

Black ranked weapons were rare as phoenix feathers in the entire Xia Empire.

Only the top clans of the imperial city would have those and top-ranked weapons could only be found in the imperial clan heirloom.

Holding the sabers in his hand Long Chen gave it a swing.

'swish' 'swish'

Long Chen was satisfied with its weight and mobility.

Still, as Long Chen was at qi condensation he couldn't utilize them properly so he bought one more pair along with it. Fully satisfied Long Chen was walking towards his home when he saw something disturbing