Cultivation Advancement

Luo Yuyan's progress in cultivation was within Chen Heng's expectations.

Though she was two years younger than him, she possessed a superior-grade wind spiritual root, had become a disciple of the Violet Palace Venerable, and enjoyed the sect's full support and resources. It would have been strange if her cultivation had progressed slowly.

However, with the cultivation acceleration and improved control over true essence brought by Lu Qi's [Water-Fire Harmony], his own cultivation speed was currently not inferior to hers in the slightest.

Setting those thoughts aside, Chen Heng picked up the jade box.

The instant the lid opened, a burst of pure, biting water-aspected spiritual qi mixed with the chill of ice crystals erupted forth, seeming to lower the temperature of the entire meditation chamber by several degrees.

Resting quietly inside was a spiritual herb, dark blue from stem to tip, its long narrow leaves sharp as swords and its surface coated in frost-white crystals. It was a hundred-year-old Frost Condensing Grass.

He did not refine it immediately, instead lowering the lid partway.

"More haste, less speed." Chen Xingyun's warning before leaving echoed in his ears. "True combat power lies in one's own foundation."

Recklessly relying on rare spiritual medicine to force a breakthrough might rapidly increase one's cultivation, but it could also easily leave behind subtle hidden dangers, creating unnoticed cracks in one's foundation.

Yet Chen Heng's cultivation had steadily reached the peak of the fourth layer of Qi Refining.

He calmed his mind and focused his spirit, circulating the Water Fire Defense Scripture. After several cycles, he adjusted himself to his best possible state.

Then, without further hesitation, he took out the Frost Condensing Grass and began refining it.

Half a month later, Chen Heng sat in the cultivation chamber with his eyes closed, true essence slowly circulating within his body.

The pure spiritual qi obtained from refining the Frost Condensing Grass continuously flowed into his body, merged into his dantian, transformed into true essence, nourished his flesh and meridians, and raised his cultivation.

Then, all at once.

He abruptly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

"Fifth Layer of Qi Refining."

Delight rose in Chen Heng's heart. Sensing his own cultivation, he found that he had firmly entered the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining.

This Frost Condensing Grass was indeed extraordinary, exceptionally suited for his cultivation and refinement.

Now, he could be said to have caught up with Luo Yuyan's breakthrough pace and would not be left behind by her.

Still, Luo Yuyan had entered the Azure Profound Sect ahead of him and received the Violet Palace Venerable's guidance. He needed to cultivate all the more diligently.

His cultivation could not fall behind, and his spells and artifact-refining skills also needed continued improvement.

Thus.

During this period, Chen Heng settled down to cultivate in seclusion at Green Bamboo Lodge.

After receiving the Azure Profound Golden Token from Chen Xingyun, not only had his monthly allowance increased, but even the precious materials required for his usual artifact refinement were covered by the Lineage.

Of course, any magical artifacts he refined that he had no use for himself had to be handed over to the Lineage.

Inside the meditation chamber on the second floor of Green Bamboo Lodge, Chen Heng sat cross-legged, the dark-gold token floating above his palm.

The Azure Profound Golden Token brought more than merely a pass into the Azure Profound Sect. It also brought crushing pressure and the focus of countless eyes.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the bamboo window, falling upon the token's flowing, mysterious Dao patterns and reflecting a restrained yet imposing gleam.

His expression remained calm, as though what he held was not a ladder to heaven capable of driving countless disciples of small families mad, but merely an ordinary magical artifact.

"Two years..."

He put away the token and turned his gaze toward the artifact-refining materials piled in the corner of the meditation chamber.

These were additional resources the Lineage had allocated after he obtained the golden token. Among them were several somewhat precious metal-aspected spiritual ores that had once been difficult for him to acquire.

The cultivation of the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining circulated steadily within him. The more robust and resilient water-fire true essence gave him a deep sense of security.

The Frost Condensing Grass's effects had already been fully absorbed, helping him stand firmly at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining.

But this was only the beginning.

Luo Yuyan was on Soaring Peak within the Azure Profound Sect, receiving the Violet Palace Venerable's personal instruction and the sect's preferential resources. Her cultivation speed would only become faster and faster.

Chen Xingyun's warning still rang in his ears—"You are not allowed to rely on those mundane tricks like the Blade-Hiding Staff anymore! True combat power lies in one's own foundation!"

Chen Heng closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his sea of consciousness.

The incantations of the Water Fire Defense Scripture flowed through his heart. Previously limited by his cultivation and resources, he had been unable to thoroughly study many of the profound transformations in its first volume.

Now that his Mid Qi Refining realm had stabilized, and the lingering cool aura of the Frost Condensing Grass helped settle his mind, it was the perfect time to delve deeper into its mysteries.

"Water and fire are not absolutely opposed. What the scripture seeks is for them to stir and give rise to each other, cycling endlessly..."

The wondrous meaning of [Water-Fire Harmony] gathered by the Lu Qi seal in his sea of consciousness emerged once more, raising his control over the circulation of true essence to a new level.

He tried circulating his true essence without remaining bound to two clearly separated streams of water and fire. Instead, he guided them into contact; the faint crackling at their point of fusion transformed into a more explosive driving force.

A subtle swelling pain came from his meridians, but under the repeated washing of true essence, they gradually adapted.

"A drop of water conceals an ocean; a spark sets the prairie ablaze. To wield them lies between the smallest ripples..."

Time passed amid silent comprehension and inward cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month had gone by.

When Chen Heng opened his eyes again, the sharp gleam in them had withdrawn, and his aura was more harmonious than before.

He had grasped more than half of the core circulation method of the first volume of the Water Fire Defense Scripture. His true essence moved more swiftly and nimbly, while his foundation had become increasingly solid through repeated tempering.

At the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining, he had already caught a first glimpse of the threshold to its peak.

Yet cultivation advancement was not his only task.

He left the cultivation chamber and headed to the artifact-refining room.

Beside the artifact furnace, fire crystal stones were ignited by true essence, pure flames licking at the furnace's base.

Chen Heng did not rush to hammer the precious metal ores at hand. Instead, he took out several utterly ordinary black iron blanks.

In the path of artifact refinement, practice made perfect, and the foundation was equally important.

He closed his eyes, recalling the essence of the Water Fire Heaven-Reaching Staff Technique—fierce strength wrapped in sticky, unbroken continuity, explosive bursts concealing the flexibility of water. In his mind, the qi-circulation methods of the Water Fire Defense Scripture quietly merged with the spirit of the staff technique.

Clang!

The hammer fell, not in pursuit of ultimate hardness, but to guide the impurities within the iron blank out through a unique rhythm of vibration, while also giving the material a faint yet unyielding resilience akin to flowing water.

Purifying precious materials was itself a form of cultivation.

It required finer control of true essence, more precise command of the heat, and a profound understanding of the material's inherent nature.

Hammer after hammer, the forging sounds echoed through the chamber with a strange rhythm, as if imitating some profound and mysterious breathing.

The black iron blanks were repeatedly folded and hammered beneath flame and heavy hammer, sparks from impurities scattering and dying out.

After an unknown amount of time, an ingot of refined iron appeared in his hand. It looked utterly unremarkable, yet contained a restrained luster; it was tough to the touch and full of elasticity.

Though it was not yet a finished magical artifact, his understanding of materials and the initial forging foundation that fused the intent of water and fire were already clear proof that his artifact-refining skill had quietly advanced.

Only by solidifying his foundation and bringing his skills to harmony could he one day use those precious materials to forge magical artifacts that truly matched his cultivation method and carried his own Great Dao.

After finishing his forging, Chen Heng left the artifact-refining room and came to the window.

Jade Spring Mountain remained tranquil. The Lineage grounds below had seemingly been noisy for a time because he had obtained the golden token, but that clamor had been shut out beyond Green Bamboo Lodge.

He knew that the mountain below was far from entirely peaceful. Gazes filled with jealousy, expectation, and scrutiny had never vanished. Though Chen Minghao had obtained a servant quota, his state of mind remained uncertain.

And farther away, the Luo Family's covetous gaze had likely never ceased. That three-year challenge letter, never made public yet known by both sides, was a silent whip driving him onward.

The mountain wind brushed through the emerald bamboo grove, bringing a fresh breath and the roar of waterfalls.

Chen Heng drew a deep breath.

The calm before the storm was all the more precious.

Within this precious "stillness," he needed to accumulate strength enough to cleave open the road ahead and fear no "hardships and obstacles"—whether the wind and rain before the Azure Profound Sect's gates two years from now, or that graceful figure on the Duelling Stage, like ice and like wind.

He turned back toward the furnace, ignited the flames once more, and picked up another piece of material.

Neither cultivation nor artifact refinement allowed even a moment of slackness.

The green bamboo of Jade Spring Mountain swayed gently in the wind, its roots buried deep in the mountain rocks, resilient yet unbroken.

Still waters ran deep; only then did their grandeur reveal itself.