A Small Bottleneck

Xu Chunniang shook her head. The grand examination was still far off; she should stick to her own study plan.

Besides, one of the secondary purposes of the grand examination was to select attendants for inner sect disciples. Of course, those unwilling to become attendants could simply refuse.

She had practiced her techniques well enough already. Next, she needed to focus wholeheartedly on cultivation and raising her cultivation level.

She had already mastered the Hidden Spirit Art, so she could try cultivating the Manifesting Spirit Art next.

The Manifesting Spirit Art could make her cultivation level appear one layer higher than it actually was.

If she encountered a Qi Condensation cultivator with higher cultivation in the future and could not defeat them, she could at least put on a show of strength.

Xu Chunniang smiled faintly, sat down cross-legged, and began cultivating.

Time held no meaning in cultivation. Once Xu Chunniang entered a cultivation state, aside from her unwavering two hours of sleep each day, she spent all her remaining time meditating and cultivating.

Spirit Soil brought enormous benefits to cultivation. With the dual assistance of spiritual dew and Spirit Soil, Xu Chunniang's cultivation rose swiftly. Before long, she crossed the initial stage of the third level Qi Condensation and reached the middle stage.

After her cultivation improved, Xu Chunniang did not pause in the slightest. Every day remained a dull, repetitive cycle of meditating and absorbing spiritual energy.

Other than going to the Dining Hall to replenish her Grain Abstinence Pills whenever she used them all up, she hardly stepped out of her cave even once.

Winter passed and autumn came. The immortal mountain showed no changes of season, yet time flowed as it always did, neither hurried nor slow.

In the blink of an eye, another year had passed.

After her cultivation reached the peak of the third level Qi Condensation, no matter how Xu Chunniang cultivated, her spiritual energy no longer increased.

Xu Chunniang finally stopped cultivating. She knew this was the first bottleneck on the path of cultivation.

Stepping onto the path of cultivation was not difficult. Anyone with spiritual roots could cultivate. But walking far down that path was no easy matter.

The Qi Condensation stage alone had three minor thresholds.

The first was the fourth level Qi Condensation, the second was the seventh level Qi Condensation, and the third—also the hardest—was the step from the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment.

Countless extraordinarily gifted Qi Condensation cultivators had been trapped at the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation, unable to achieve Foundation Establishment for their entire lives.

The threshold Xu Chunniang faced now was the easiest of those three.

Without unexpected complications, most cultivators could pass this threshold smoothly. The only difference was how long it took each person.

Xu Chunniang let out a soft breath. Since cultivation could no longer increase her cultivation level, she would set it aside for now.

Though she had two hours of rest every day this past year, she had always felt a sense of urgency in her heart that kept her from daring to slack off.

Xu Chunniang had been at the Carefree Sect for more than two years. She had been eight and a half when she entered the sect, and she was now eleven.

Nourished by spiritual energy, she had grown much taller, while her formerly sallow, thin skin had gradually become fair and radiant. Only the red birthmark beneath her right eye remained as conspicuous as ever, marring her delicate little face.

Now that her cultivation had reached a bottleneck, Xu Chunniang simply stopped meditating. She planned to take a look around the outer sect.

Having come to the Carefree Sect so long ago, Xu Chunniang had been busy cultivating all this time and had yet to visit many places in the sect, especially the Treasure Pavilion on the outer sect's Main Peak.

She had heard that the Treasure Pavilion contained many Spiritual Artifacts and medicinal pills that could only be taken in the middle and later stages of Qi Condensation. Even if she bought nothing, it would be good to broaden her horizons.

With that thought in mind, Xu Chunniang headed toward the Main Peak, making straight for the Treasure Pavilion.

The Treasure Pavilion was a shop operated by the sect. Besides selling goods, it also purchased all sorts of raw materials from disciples.

Whether medicinal herbs, pills, talismans, or anything else, as long as the quality passed muster, the Treasure Pavilion would accept it.

The Treasure Pavilion was enormous, yet it was still packed with people and bustling with activity. From time to time, it rang with disciples bargaining, much like a market day in the Mortal Realm.

The Treasure Pavilion had three floors. The first floor mostly sold low-grade medicinal herbs, Low-grade Talismans, and relatively poor array materials.

Those lingering on this floor were mostly disciples in the initial and middle stages of Qi Condensation.

Xu Chunniang examined the items one by one. Most of the goods sold in the shop were unfamiliar to her. She could barely identify only a small number that she had seen in Common Knowledge Class or the Encyclopedia of the Cultivation World.

After making a round, Xu Chunniang went up to the second floor of the Treasure Pavilion.

There were fewer people on the second floor than on the first, simply because the items sold here were worth considerably more.

Most of those coming and going were cultivators in the middle and later stages of Qi Condensation. There were not many in the initial stage.

Xu Chunniang saw several rare medicinal herbs and special talismans, as well as refining and array materials she could not identify at all. It was almost too much to take in.

At the final counter, she even saw low-grade Spiritual Artifacts being sold.

Xu Chunniang walked to the cabinet selling Spiritual Artifacts and examined them carefully.

"Golden Light Shield, low-grade Spiritual Artifact. Once activated, it creates a golden protective barrier capable of withstanding one strike from a cultivator in the mid Qi Condensation stage."

Xu Chunniang drew in a sharp breath, her eyes shining as she stared at the low-grade Spiritual Artifact called the Golden Light Shield. Being able to withstand one strike from a cultivator in the mid Qi Condensation stage meant its defensive power was already quite impressive.

However, once she saw the Golden Light Shield's price, Xu Chunniang's excited heart instantly calmed. It actually cost a full eighty spirit stones!

At the beginning of the year, she had received the spirit stones from her final year of sect subsidies. Adding the seven spirit stones left from last year, she had nineteen spirit stones in total—nowhere near enough to buy the Golden Light Shield.

Xu Chunniang shook her head, her gaze falling upon a flying sword on the other side that was also a low-grade Spiritual Artifact.

Yet the flying sword cost half again as much as the Golden Light Shield, selling for one hundred and twenty spirit stones...

"No wonder the other disciples were so shocked and envious when Qi Haozhi and the others brought out Spiritual Artifacts during the year-end assessment. Spiritual Artifacts really are incredibly expensive."

Xu Chunniang felt somewhat dispirited. The few spirit stones in her possession could probably only buy cheap items like low-grade medicinal herbs or talismans.

In the end, Xu Chunniang bought nothing and left the Treasure Pavilion empty-handed. Still, the trip had not been entirely without gain. At the very least, she had broadened her knowledge considerably.

She had once thought that as long as she focused on raising her cultivation and practiced her techniques well, she would be able to establish herself in the outer sect. Now, it seemed there was still much she needed to learn.

Setting aside other specialties, the profession of a Spiritual Plant Cultivator alone required mastering a great deal of knowledge about medicinal herbs.

Xu Chunniang headed straight for the Merit Pavilion.

Besides its many techniques, the Merit Pavilion also contained introductory books for various specialties, each priced at five spirit stones.

She intended to buy a book on spiritual plants, then see whether there were any suitable offensive techniques.

Most of the techniques Xu Chunniang currently knew were support techniques. Her only offensive technique was the Spirit Blast Technique evolved from the Spring Growth Technique. In actual combat, that would likely not be enough.

Xu Chunniang first took a copy of the Complete Guide to Level One Spiritual Plants, then began making her selection.

Since her water spiritual root had the highest purity, she ultimately decided to choose a water-element technique.

A technique like the Water Arrow Technique was actually much the same as the Fireball Technique. Since she had the Spirit Blast Technique, she did not need that type of technique. She could choose one leaning toward control to coordinate with the Spirit Blast Technique.

After thinking it over, Xu Chunniang took a copy of the Water Bind Technique from the bookshelf.