Breakthrough

Only after watching Xiao Yi Xian leave his sight did Lin Yuan lightly touch the spot his fingers had brushed where Xiao Yi Xian's lips had touched. He laughed despite himself and shook his head.

"Xiao Yi Xian, oh Xiao Yi Xian, you really are a clever woman. May everything go smoothly for you on this journey." Lin Yuan murmured softly, yet an uncontrollable joy welled up in his heart.

"Mm? Thought Severing... forget it. Once in a while, this is also not bad."

Sensing that his mind was slipping a little out of control, Lin Yuan instinctively prepared to activate Thought Severing, the first form of the soul secret technique he had created during this period of time, the "Pure Spirit Art," to eliminate these "distracting thoughts." But when he thought of the look in Xiao Yi Xian's eyes as she left, Lin Yuan stopped the secret technique.

The "Pure Spirit Art" was Lin Yuan's greatest research result over the past two months. It was a newly drafted secret technique and currently had two forms: the first form, Thought Severing, could sense abnormal states of his own mind and eliminate distracting thoughts, allowing him to remain in a clear-headed state at all times. It was a sharp weapon against illusory realms and illusion techniques; the second form, Empty Clarity, purified the mind and brought the practitioner into a Clear Mind State, focusing the mind completely on a single purpose, casting aside all useless thoughts, maximizing one's computational ability, and bringing out every ounce of one's strength to the extreme.

Among them, "Thought Severing" was already relatively complete, but "Empty Clarity" still had a great deal of room for improvement. Even Lin Yuan, its creator, could currently maintain the Clear Mind State for only a very short time. It consumed a tremendous amount of mental energy and could only be used at critical moments.

But even if Lin Yuan entered the Clear Mind State, he still had no way to deal with the Demonic Flame Partial Map. The gap between him and the top-level experts was still far too enormous.

In Lin Yuan's deductions, the "Pure Spirit Art" still had much room for perfection. He already had quite a few ideas, but unfortunately, his current Soul Realm and Soul Power were still insufficient. He could only wait until his Soul Power improved before continuing its perfection and deduction.

After a while, Lin Yuan calmed his mind and turned to look at Qing Lin. The girl's gaze was still somewhat vacant. It seemed she had been stunned by Xiao Yi Xian's bold move just now.

"Qing'er, come back to your senses. Your Older Sister Xiao Yi Xian has already gone far away. Go finish the daily study tasks your Older Sister Xiao Yi Xian assigned you. I'll test you in a while." Lin Yuan waved his hand in front of Qing Lin. By the end, a bit more delight had entered his tone.

"Ah, oh. Young Master, I'm going to finish my daily study tasks." Qing Lin came back to her senses, and once she realized Lin Yuan had said the word "test," her expression turned a little bitter.

Afterward, Qing Lin returned to the wooden house, her brows knitted. She took out a book and began today's studies. Apart from cultivating each day, she also had to set aside two hours to learn some general knowledge.

Seeing Qing Lin begin studying, Lin Yuan seemed to think of something and smiled knowingly, then looked up at the sky.

"It's time to make some preparations. I'll refine some Blood Spirit Pills first, then cultivate the Hundred Beast Refining Spirit Art to great completion in the next few days."

Ten days later.

On a piece of bluestone in the valley, Lin Yuan sat cross-legged on top of it. Beneath him was an exquisite azure lotus platform. His entire body was emitting majestic vitality, and azure light and blood light reflected off one another. His hands formed the final seal of the Spirit Ascension section of the Hundred Beast Refining Spirit Art.

During these ten days, Lin Yuan had refined a large amount of magical beast essence blood, and finally pushed his cultivation of the Hundred Beast Refining Spirit Art to its last step.

At this moment, inside Lin Yuan's body, endless vitality surged and compressed toward the Vitality Furnace that contained the Natal Blood Pill.

"Furnace, shatter. Blood pill, emerge!"

Accompanied by a light shout, the Vitality Furnace exploded apart and transformed into a mass of extremely pure purple-red energy, integrating into the Natal Blood Pill without the slightest obstruction. The Blood Pill instantly burst with light, devouring the surrounding majestic vitality like a black hole. In the end, it finally nurtured and formed a crystal-clear pale-red blood pill. Within the round, smooth Blood Pill, purple charm flowed, transforming into a vague dragon-shaped spiritual light.

At this moment, the Natal Blood Pill was finally completely refined. The Hundred Beast Refining Spirit Art, which Lin Yuan had cultivated for so long and spent countless resources on, had finally reached great completion.

The instant the Blood Pill took shape, an obscure fluctuation spread out in all directions with Lin Yuan as the center. The five magical beasts currently protecting Qing Lin were touched by this fluctuation and immediately prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling.

Lin Yuan looked inward at his body. The Natal Blood Pill and Lin Yuan's own vitality seemed to have become a single whole. As the vitality was absorbed, tempered, and released by the Blood Pill, it became even stronger. That powerful vitality in turn fed back into and nourished the Blood Pill, causing the Blood Pill to sublime along with the strengthening of his fleshly body and vitality.

Lin Yuan stood up and stretched both arms. The bones throughout his body sounded as if a fierce beast had awakened, letting out a series of crisp cracks. Within those sounds, there was even a faint, muffled thunder-like rumble. His entire body was filled with a sense of powerful strength. Feeling his current power, Lin Yuan revealed a satisfied smile.

"Apart from a very small number of special-bloodline magical beasts, my current body and vitality can already surpass the vast majority of fifth-tier magical beasts. And as the Natal Blood Pill continuously tempers my vitality, my fleshly body will keep growing stronger."

"Hundred Beast Refining Spirit Art. After consuming so much time and so many resources, it really didn't disappoint my expectations. A body of this level is enough to support me in using Blood God Transformation and the secret technique the Great Elder gave me at the same time. In this way, my combat strength in a short period of time will see a huge rise. Some matters can begin to be put into motion."

The Hundred Beast Refining Spirit Art had finally reached great completion, and Lin Yuan's mood was extremely cheerful. Suddenly, a faint, indistinct flash of inspiration slid across his mind, making his heart tremble slightly.

"Has it finally come? The opportunity to break through to Eight-Star Dou Wang. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Lin Yuan directly entered the Clear Mind State and captured that fleeting inspiration. Following it, he took out the Azure Lotus Platform and sat cross-legged, forming cultivation seals with his hands. The dense energy in the valley slowly began to gather toward him. The flesh and blood inside his body, which had originally been nearly saturated, began greedily absorbing the energy. His meridians became even tougher, and his aura began to rise slowly and steadily.

The energy fluctuations continued for an entire day. When the last wisp of energy entered Lin Yuan's body, the valley returned to silence.

Not long after, Lin Yuan opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid qi. A gleam flashed through his eyes. He stood up, his body straightened like a long spear, and a sharp aura swept out.

"Eight-Star Dou Wang. Done."

Lin Yuan raised his palm and clenched it in front of his eyes, feeling his formidable fleshly body and abundant Dou Qi. A bit more fullness filled his heart. Lin Yuan clenched his right hand into a fist, gathered strength, and punched, all in one smooth motion. The powerful fist wind blasted a huge hollow into the dense mist in the distance.

Lin Yuan looked at the hollow in the distance with satisfaction, his face brimming with a smile. "This feeling of being filled with power really does put one at ease."

Afterward, Lin Yuan took out the Dou Spirit Pill he had refined earlier. After thinking for a moment, he still put it back into his storage ring. "Now that I've already broken through to Eight-Star Dou Wang, it isn't suitable to use the Dou Spirit Pill immediately after just breaking through. I should consolidate for a period of time before using it."

"What I needed to do here has already been finished. The person I've been waiting for all this time should be arriving soon as well. It's time to go out."

"It's time to go see Qing'er's recent cultivation progress. While I'm at it, I'll check how she's done with her study tasks." Thinking of this, a subtle and delighted smile appeared at the corner of Lin Yuan's mouth, and he walked in Qing Lin's direction.

At the same time, a long convoy passed through Ghost Suppressing Pass under the respectful gazes of many soldiers and entered the Jia Ma Empire. It was precisely the Jia Nan Academy recruitment team. This year's Jia Nan Academy recruitment activities in the Jia Ma Empire had begun.

Thank you, everyone, for your votes, tips, collections, and continued reading support. The book has entered the recommendation stage. Please don't stockpile chapters; please keep following along. This is tied to advancing to later recommendation slots and is an extremely critical period for this book's results. I'll have to trouble everyone to lend a hand.