Qi Refining Level 5

When Chen Xing saw Li Chengjie agree, the smile on his face deepened, as though he had already seen another cumbersome task smoothly handed off.

Without wasting any time, Chen Xing led Li Chengjie to the wooden racks where the herbs were stored. Pointing at several medicinal ingredients of different colors and shapes, he began explaining.

"Watch carefully, Chengjie. These are the main ingredients needed to refine Blood-Stopping Powder: Red Berry and Earth Root Vine." Chen Xing picked up a shriveled, dark-red fruit the size of a fingernail, then pointed to several grayish-brown roots nearby that still carried the scent of soil.

"The Red Berry must have its hard pit removed, with only the outer flesh retained. Simmer it carefully over a gentle flame to extract its blood-clotting essence. The Heat Control must never be too fierce, or the medicinal properties will become harsh and harmful instead."

"The Earth Root Vine needs to be scraped clean of its outer skin, then pounded into a pulp. Its vitality promotes wound healing. Be careful during processing: its juice is thick and can easily scorch at the bottom of the pot, so keep a close eye on the Heat Control and stir often..."

Chen Xing spoke rather quickly, roughly going over the steps and key points. After demonstrating the herb-processing technique once, he impatiently pushed a portion of ingredients in front of Li Chengjie.

"Come, Chengjie. Your talent is extraordinary; I'm sure you've already grasped it all. Give it a try. Start by processing this batch of Red Berries." Chen Xing's eyes shone with anticipation, though hidden deep within was a faint, almost imperceptible ache—these had all been bought with Spirit Stones!

Li Chengjie calmed his mind and recalled Chen Xing's explanation, combining it with his own understanding of fire-attribute Spiritual Power and Herb Processing before picking up a Red Berry.

A thread of spiritual power emerged from Li Chengjie's fingertips as he tried to split open the fruit's skin precisely, just as Chen Xing had shown him, and remove the tiny hard pit.

Yet theory and practice were ultimately separated by a thin veil.

The skin of the Red Berry was tough, while its pit was brittle and hard. If his force was even slightly uneven, either too much flesh would be damaged and its essence lost, or the pit would not be fully removed, leaving impurities behind.

Li Chengjie was exceedingly careful, but his movements were inevitably clumsy. By the time he finished processing one berry, a faint sheen of sweat had appeared on his forehead, and his speed was painfully slow.

Watching from the side, Chen Xing gradually began to frown.

When he saw Li Chengjie pick up the second berry, his technique still stumbling, and then squeeze one Red Berry so hard that juice splattered everywhere and it was ruined on the spot, Chen Xing's mouth twitched. At last, he could not help but speak.

"Stop! Stop for a moment!"

Chen Xing's voice carried obvious heartache and a trace of irritation. He snatched the mangled remains of the Red Berry from Li Chengjie's hand and cried bitterly, "My little ancestor! Red Berries may not be worth much, but that doesn't mean you can waste them like this! Look at how much flesh you've thrown away! Less than one part in ten of the essence remains! And your force—gentle, precise! At this rate, out of ten portions of ingredients, you'd be lucky if three remained usable!"

The more Chen Xing spoke, the more worked up he became. Pointing at the pile of Earth Root Vines, he continued, "And this! Do you think scraping the skin means chopping firewood? You used so much force that you destroyed the fibers inside! The medicinal effect is drastically reduced! Ah, my heart is bleeding..."

Li Chengjie lowered his head, concealing the flash of understanding in his eyes. With just the right amount of shame in his voice, he said, "Furnace Master, please calm your anger. This junior is dull-witted and failed to grasp the subtleties, wasting such precious herbs."

Seeing Li Chengjie's respectful attitude, Chen Xing could not vent all the anger in his chest. He could only force it down, let out a heavy sigh, and wave his hand. "Forget it, forget it! It seems Blood-Stopping Powder is not fated for you yet. Focus on refining Qi Condensation Pills for now. As for this Blood-Stopping Powder... this old man will handle it himself, or perhaps I'll see how Little Bean is doing..."

Chen Xing truly could not bear to see those "wasted" herbs.

Li Chengjie's refinement of Qi Condensation Pills was guaranteed profit, but Blood-Stopping Powder was different. If the success rate was too low, the initial cost of materials alone would make his heart ache terribly.

After weighing the matter, it was safer to keep this "genius" in the most profitable position.

"Yes, this junior will certainly work hard and live up to Furnace Master's expectations." Li Chengjie went along with it smoothly, without much disappointment in his heart.

Li Chengjie had never expected to immediately master another type of pill, and Chen Xing's reaction had been within his expectations. That old fox was more calculating than anyone when his own interests were involved.

The minor incident with the Blood-Stopping Powder passed just like that, and Li Chengjie's life once more returned to the daily refinement of Qi Condensation Pills.

Time slipped by quietly, and another month passed.

Over that month, Li Chengjie became increasingly adept at refining Qi Condensation Pills.

His success rate remained steadily high, while the number of pills formed generally stayed between seven and eight.

The number of pills Li Chengjie turned in remained within the range expected of an "excellent apprentice," but the qualified Qi Condensation Pills he secretly kept for himself brought him a steady, reliable income of Spirit Stones.

His Storage Bag had quietly grown much fuller.

That night, deep into the night.

The bustle of the Pill Hut had long since fallen silent, leaving only the occasional faint hum from the Earth Fire Array.

Li Chengjie had not gone to sleep. Instead, he sat cross-legged in his crude side room.

Li Chengjie's eyes were slightly closed, with a Low-grade Spirit Stone clasped in each hand. The Mysterious Flame Art circulated slowly within him, guiding pure spiritual power through a set route along his Meridians in cycle after cycle.

The Spiritual Energy within the Spirit Stones was drawn out in fine threads and merged into his own spiritual power flow, continuously tempered and compressed before finally returning to his Dantian Qi Sea.

More than four months of pill refining had not only improved his alchemy. The intense expenditure and recovery of spiritual power had also been the finest tempering for his cultivation level.

Li Chengjie could clearly feel that the barrier between the fourth layer of Qi Condensation and Qi Refining Level 5 had become as thin as a cicada's wing, trembling on the verge of collapse.

Tonight, Li Chengjie would break through it in one stroke!

As the cultivation art ran to its limit, the spiritual power in his Dantian grew fuller and more restless, like a flood held back and ready to burst. That barrier obstructing his advance stood clearly before him.

Li Chengjie's thoughts shifted. He hesitated no longer, mobilizing all the spiritual power in his body and sweeping up the surging energy drawn from the Spirit Stones, transforming it into a blazing torrent that slammed fiercely into the barrier!

"Boom!"

A Muffled Roar seemed to ring out within his Sea of Consciousness.

The barrier shook violently, countless fine cracks spreading across it, yet it did not immediately shatter.

Li Chengjie's face turned slightly pale as the recoil from the impact sent his Qi and Blood Surging. But his gaze remained firm. Without the slightest discouragement, he gathered an even more powerful current of spiritual power.

Once, twice...

Sweat soaked through his clothes, and the glow of the Spirit Stones in his hands dimmed further.

Finally, after who knew how many impacts—

"Crack!"

A crisp sound, like glazed glass shattering, came from deep within his body. The solid barrier burst open with a crash!

In an instant, spiritual power far more abundant and pure than before surged like floodwaters through his widened Meridians, finally pouring into a Dantian Qi Sea that seemed to have been expanded. An unprecedented sense of strength and control welled up within him.

The pores across his body seemed to open, greedily drawing in the thin Spiritual Energy in the air. His entire being was invigorated!

Qi Refining Level 5!

He had succeeded!

Li Chengjie slowly opened his eyes. The sharp glint within them was restrained, but the joy deep in his gaze could not be hidden.

Feeling the ceaselessly surging spiritual power within him, far surpassing what it had been before, a solid sense of strength filled his entire body.

Li Chengjie lowered his head to look at the two Low-grade Spirit Stones in his hands. Their Spiritual Energy had been completely exhausted, leaving them gray-white and ordinary. He casually set them aside, with little heartache on his face.

In the past, using Spirit Stones so "extravagantly" to assist a breakthrough would have made his heart bleed. But now...

Li Chengjie sent his divine sense into his Storage Bag once more.

In one corner lay twenty-seven Low-grade Spirit Stones!

This was everything he had accumulated bit by bit over more than four months, through secretly selling some of the Qi Condensation Pills he had kept back, along with Chen Xing's "meager" monthly payment of one Spirit Stone!

Twenty-seven Spirit Stones!

To the Li Chengjie of the past, this was an unimaginable fortune!

It was enough to sustain his cultivation for a long time without needing to worry about Spirit Stones.

Sure enough, possessing a skill was the foundation for gaining a foothold in the Cultivation World.

The profits brought by alchemy were far beyond what could be earned from setting up a stall on the outskirts of the Marketplace.

With his cultivation level breaking through to Qi Refining Level 5 and his Spirit Stone Reserve reaching an unprecedented height, a trace of lofty ambition rose in Li Chengjie's heart. The road ahead no longer seemed quite so confusing or difficult.

With a thought, he summoned the Golden Finger panel he had not looked at in a long time:

---

Name: Li Chengjie

Cultivation Level: Fifth Level of Qi Refining

Cultivation Art: Mysterious Flame Art (Entering the Hall 93/100)

Available Replication Points: 0

Replication Count: 0 (Cooling Down, Remaining Time: approximately eight months)

Replication Point Recharge: One Low-grade Spirit Stone = One Replication Point

---

The cultivation level field had updated as he wished.

His cultivation art proficiency had also increased by 6 points. The next realm no longer seemed far away.

The Replication Count was still cooling down, but only around eight months remained until his next opportunity.

As for Replication Points, they were still a glaring "0."

Twenty-seven Spirit Stones might seem like a lot, but even if he recharged them all, he would only obtain twenty-seven Replication Points. (Someone calculated it, and I know it too, but it's written this way mainly so the value of Spirit Stones doesn't collapse. Please understand.)

Replicating Chen Xing's Low-grade Alchemist experience required 20 points, which was more than enough.

But what about replicating higher-level experience?

For instance, Zhang Gui's first-rank Mid-grade Alchemist experience required 100 points, while Chen Xuan's Geng Metal Sword Qi Art required 150 points...

It was still but a cup of water against a burning cartload.

"It seems that relying only on keeping back a few Qi Condensation Pills is still far too slow." Li Chengjie stroked his chin, his eyes glimmering with thought. "I have to find a way to open up new sources of income, or... seek targets of higher value that can rapidly accumulate a large number of Spirit Stones."

Li Chengjie's gaze involuntarily returned to the few replication options on the panel that had once left him staring at the ocean and sighing.

Chen Xing's experience was worth 20 points and within easy reach, but it no longer seemed to be the best choice. Zhang Gui's experience was worth 100 points, and Chen Xuan's cultivation art was worth 150 points...

The gap remained enormous, but with Qi Refining Level 5 cultivation and a stable source of Spirit Stones, his mindset had already changed.

Li Chengjie no longer considered those goals unreachable. Instead, he began calmly analyzing and planning how to approach them step by step—and eventually achieve them.

"Eight months... there's still time." Li Chengjie murmured softly, closing his eyes again and consolidating the cultivation level he had just broken through to.