A thick, dragon-like qi vessel surged with abundant true energy, rolling endlessly.

"The first qi vessel has been opened up by two-thirds."

Ryan Lawson opened his eyes, his gaze shining like the stars.

When he first entered the Qi Vessel Opening Realm, he had only hastily opened his qi vessel, and his cultivation was unstable.

Over these three days,

he not only stabilized his cultivation, but also expanded his qi vessel by two-thirds.

When the first qi vessel is opened to its limit, that marks the peak of the first level.

There are nine levels in the Qi Vessel Opening Realm; with each additional qi vessel opened, one's cultivation rises by one level, and both the quality and quantity of true energy increase significantly.

"Although the Black Demon Ridge is filled with spiritual energy, it is also riddled with danger."

Ryan Lawson prepared to return home, lest Emily worry.

The Black Demon Ridge is the territory of demon beasts, and even the weakest among them are comparable to the Qi Vessel Opening Realm.

It is said

that deep within the Black Demon Ridge, there are spirit-level demon beasts as strong as those in the Spirit Sea Realm, and many powerful martial artists have lost their lives there.

……

That day,

Ryan Lawson returned to Qingchang City, but did not rush home.

He planned to take his spoils of war to the "Martial Market" for trade.

The Martial Market is an area that provides all kinds of resources for martial artists to trade.

Here, one can not only trade, but also gather information, interact with other martial artists, and spar.

It was Ryan Lawson's first time at the Martial Market.

Because the minimum requirement to enter the Martial Market is to be a martial artist.

Bang! Bang!

In the "Martial Arena" of the market, two martial artists were sparring on the stage, their energies clashing with impressive power.

Both were at the second level of the Qi Vessel Opening Realm.

A moment later,

one of them won and took a bet of one thousand taels of gold.

Ryan Lawson was thoughtful.

Gambling duels are one form of sparring in the Martial Arena.

"Tsk tsk, the quality of martial artists in this arena is getting worse and worse."

From the stands came an arrogant, grating voice.

Who was it?

This open mockery sparked anger among some of the martial artists.

The speaker was a young master in a brocade robe, fat-faced and big-eared, his face shiny with oil.

"Shh! That's the young master of the Du family, Charles Duke!"

Many people lowered their voices.

"That's Charles Duke? He looks that ugly?"

"Keep your voice down. In Qingchang City, there are few who can afford to provoke him."

The nearby martial artists were first angry, then showed fear and wariness.

"Charles Duke!"

Ryan Lawson's face turned cold, anger rising as he looked at the fat-faced, big-eared young master in the brocade robe.

A month ago,

it was this Charles Duke who took a fancy to Emily at first sight, and through both coercion and persuasion, forced the "marriage agreement."

Fortunately,

now that Ryan Lawson had become a martial artist, gathering twenty thousand taels of gold within two months was not too difficult.

The spoils he had taken from Henry Gale, including a sword and some jewelry, were estimated to be worth several thousand taels of gold.

Wow!

There was a commotion on the martial stage.

They saw

Charles Duke personally step onto the stage to fight a martial artist.

"Golden Yuan Palm!"

Charles Duke struck with his palm, releasing a golden aura, his palm force powerful and domineering.

"No! You're at the fourth level of the Qi Vessel Opening Realm…"

The martial artist screamed, sent flying with a single palm, coughing up blood, several ribs broken.

This martial artist was at the peak of the third level, yet was instantly defeated with one blow.

So strong!

Some martial artists were amazed and fearful.

"This Charles Duke is so shameless, hiding his cultivation to bully those with lower cultivation."

The crowd was angry but dared not speak out.

"Hahaha…"

On the martial stage, wild laughter erupted.

That Charles Duke then went on to defeat two more martial artists at the fourth level.

"Let's go to the black market, this place is boring."

Charles Duke grinned, leading a few followers swaggering away.

"Black market?"

Ryan Lawson was intrigued.

The spoils he had obtained had unclear origins and needed to be fenced at the black market.

With that in mind,

he went outside and bought a set of black robes and a mask to wear.

The black market is an underground trading area; some people wear masks to conceal their identities.

Of course, there are also people like Charles Duke who act with impunity.

After changing into black robes and putting on a mask, plus the fact that Ryan Lawson had recently awakened his divine vessel and his physique had changed greatly, becoming tall and upright, even those familiar with him would have trouble recognizing him.

Entering the underground black market,

he found the place dim, but visibility was not affected.

Ryan Lawson found a shop and sold the sword and several pieces of jewelry he had taken from Henry Gale.

He made a total of three to four thousand taels of gold.

"The Vitality Spirit Fruit can be saved for when I break through to the second level of the Qi Vessel Opening Realm."

Ryan Lawson calculated in his mind.

The agreement with the Du family was to pay off the debt within two months.

The higher the cultivation, the greater the ability to earn money, and Ryan Lawson was confident in himself.

Roar!

At that moment, Ryan Lawson heard the roar of a beast and the cheers of a crowd.

"Is there a demon beast in the underground black market?"

Ryan Lawson went to take a look.

It turned out there was an underground beast-fighting arena in the black market.

"Ah!"

A scream rang out.

Roar!

A giant water buffalo battle beast, three meters tall with spines on its back, tore a martial artist at the second level of the Qi Vessel Opening Realm to pieces and swallowed him whole.

The bloody scene made Ryan Lawson's heart chill.

Yet inside the beast-fighting arena, there was a burst of cheers and shouts.

"Another failure."