Marked

A soft, crisp sound exploded in his mind, and the barrier that had blocked him for so long was pierced like a windowpane.

In an instant, the world seemed to fall silent for a moment. Then, the surrounding Spiritual Qi surged towards him like a madman, drilling into his body through every pore. His meridians widened, and the vortex of Spiritual Power in his Dantian suddenly expanded, its color becoming more solid than before.

Qi Refinement Fifth Layer, achieved.

Shen Jingchuan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, which condensed into a white line in front of him and lingered for a long time.

He clenched his fist and could clearly feel that the Spiritual Power within his body was much stronger than before. His Divine Sense also increased accordingly, and his five senses became more acute. He could even faintly hear the voices of the guests talking in the lobby downstairs.

I felt an indescribable sense of comfort throughout my body, like someone who had been holding back for a long time finally stretching out and enjoying themselves.

By this time, the sky outside the window was already beginning to lighten.

Shen Jingchuan didn't rush to stop his practice; instead, he took out another High-Grade Qi Gathering Pill and swallowed it.

Unlike the violent and powerful Qi Condensing Pill, the Qi Gathering Pill has a gentle and mild medicinal effect, like a lukewarm spring that flows slowly along the meridians, making the places it passes through feel comfortable and soothing the restless Spiritual Power that was a bit agitated during the breakthrough.

He quietly circulated his energy for another Greater Celestial Circuit, and only after the medicinal power was completely refined and returned to his Dantian, and his newly broken through to the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer Refining was completely stabilized, did he slowly stop his practice.

Shen Jingchuan finished his practice, stretched his limbs, but still had some doubts in his mind:

This cultivation is really difficult. Climbing up level by level is so slow. I've been cultivating for a year and I've only reached the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer.

What he didn't know was that, given his foundation of Five Spirit Roots, if other cultivators with Five Spirit Roots knew about his cultivation speed, they would be so angry that they would vomit blood on the spot.

What are the Five Spirit Roots? They are the universally acknowledged Defective Spirit Roots in the cultivation world, where Spiritual Qi is evenly distributed across the five meridians, resulting in an outrageously slow cultivation speed.

Reputable sects don't accept disciples like this; they can only live Rogue Cultivators, left to fend for themselves. If they're lucky, they might get into a sect as a menial servant to make a living.

Most cultivators with Five Spirit Roots spend their entire lives cultivating, but without good Cultivation Method, they can't even get past the threshold of the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, and they die at the Early Stage of Qi Refining.

Most of the rest, without anyone to train them or provide resources, have some fortuitous opportunity, and if they can manage to reach the Qi Refining Sixth Layer through their own efforts, they're considered incredibly lucky.

Want to break through to the Qi Refining Late Stage? Unless you have a Cultivation Method, or a mountain of Spirit Stones, there's no way you can succeed.

Throughout the entire Great Qian Kingdom, only a handful of those with the Five Spirit Roots were able to break through to the Foundation Establishment; each and every one of them was nurtured through sheer resources.

Let's take a look at Shen Jingchuan.

The Cultivation Method is the Five Elements Qi Refining Instruction passed down by Xian'er. It is at an incredibly high level and is most suitable for those with Five Spirit Roots. There is no Cultivation Method of this level in the Great Qian Kingdom.

As for pills? I ate High-Grade Qi Gathering Pills, High-Grade Qi Condensing Pills, High-Grade Mind-Calming Pill pills like they were food, almost without stopping.

He also possessed Mid-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation Plate, Chaos Heaven and Earth Ring that could upgrade the grade of pills, and a Xian'er who had lived for countless years was always there to guide him.

Only when all these fortuitous opportunities come together can one reach the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer Refining in just one year of cultivation.

He still complained it was too slow; even a peerless genius with Single Spirit Root could only reach this speed.

Shen Jingchuan finished his practice and remembered that he had an auction to attend that afternoon. He still had quite a few Spirit Stones, about five thousand, but what if something good came up at the auction? It was better to have some extra money on hand.

He pondered whether he could sell another batch of the upgraded high-grade talismans and pills in his Ring, exchange them for Spirit Stones, and then buy another batch when he saw something suitable, thus making a profit from the back-and-forth exchange.

But then I thought, I just sold everything yesterday, is going again today a bit too frequent? What if someone's watching me?

He hesitated for a long time. What was he afraid of? He had the trump card of teleportation; if things really came to a head, he could simply leave, and no one could stop him.

Gritting his teeth—fortune favors the bold—he did it.

Shen Jingchuan made up his mind, got up, washed his face, and began to put on makeup. He applied a beard, applied yellow powder, changed his robe, and once he was ready, he used the Heavenly Eye Peering into Truth Instruction.

This Law Technique has two uses. One is "seeing the truth," which allows one to see through the true cultivation level of a cultivator within a major realm higher than oneself. In other words, even though he is currently at the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer Refining, the cultivation level of Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator cannot be hidden from his eyes, and he can also prevent the other party from discovering it.

The other one is "aura alteration," which can change the leakage of one's cultivation aura, causing it to fluctuate up and down by three small layers.

He is currently at the Qi Refinement Fifth Layer, but he can lower it to the Qi Refining Second Layer or raise it to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining.

Moreover, the most wonderful thing about this Law Technique is that as long as it doesn't exceed one major realm, no one can see through it—in other words, cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage simply cannot discern its true nature.

Shen Jingchuan thought for a moment. Yesterday, he had only managed to impersonate the Qi Refining Seventh Layer. With a thought, he raised his Qi to the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining. Who would have thought, hehe.

The person in the mirror wore a gray robe and had a sallow face. He had a stubble beard and a calm demeanor. He looked exactly like a rogue cultivator who had been cultivating for many years but was stuck in the late Rogue Cultivator of Qi Refining Late Stage. No one would associate him with the person from yesterday.

That morning, Shen Jingchuan weaved in and out of the market, constantly hiding. He went in and out of various shops, selling a batch of high-grade pills and talismans, and then reselling them to buy a large number of mid-grade pills and talismans, which he then stored in his Heaven and Earth Ring to continue upgrading them.

After several trips back and forth, changing clothes twice, and altering his aura several times, he was extremely careful. In the end, he calculated that he still had more than 23,000 Spirit Stones left in his Storage Ring.

That's true. Sometimes people can't resist when faced with profit. Even knowing that the more he did, the more conspicuous he would become, he still couldn't resist the temptation of making several times the profit. He was too caught up in the moment.

He was extremely careful, but little did he know that he was already being watched.

Around noon, he made his way back to the inn, taking many detours and feeling quite nervous, and had lunch with Xiao Mingshu and Huan'er.

After finishing their meal and resting briefly, the three of them took the VIP invitation and headed to the auction.

This auction was held at Drunken Immortal Tavern, the largest restaurant in Spirit Creek Market.

Upon arriving at the entrance, Shen Jingchuan presented the invitation. The doorman, seeing it was a VIP invitation, immediately became respectful, bowing as he led the three inside. As soon as they entered the lobby, Accountant Wu came to greet them, clearly having been waiting there on purpose.

"Young Master Shen, this way please." Accountant Wu smiled and led them upstairs, all the way to a private VIP room. Pushing open the door, he said, "Please, the three of you, sit here. The view is good, and it's quiet."

Shen Jingchuan thanked him and went into the room. Accountant Wu, followed him in, closed the door, lowered his voice, and took half a step closer.

"Young Master Shen, there's something I need to remind you of." He lowered his voice. "My men have reported that someone is watching your residence."