Minor Bottleneck

Xu Chunniang shook her head. The grand examination was still far off, so she would stick to her own study plan.

Besides, the secondary purpose of the grand examination was to select followers for the Inner Sect disciples. Of course, if one didn't want to be a follower, they could simply refuse.

Her sorcery was almost mastered. Next, she would focus wholeheartedly on cultivating and improving her cultivation.

She had already grasped the cultivation of the Hidden Spirit Art. Next, she could try cultivating the Manifesting Spirit Art.

The Manifesting Spirit Art could make one's cultivation appear one level higher than their actual cultivation.

In the future, if she encountered a Qi Condensation cultivator with higher cultivation and couldn't defeat them, she could at least put on a bluff.

Xu Chunniang smiled slightly, sat down cross-legged, and began to cultivate.

Time flies when cultivating. After entering a state of cultivation, Xu Chunniang, apart from the unchangeable two hours of sleep each day, spent all her remaining time in meditation and cultivation.

The benefits of spiritual soil in cultivation were immense. With the dual assistance of Spiritual Dew and spiritual soil, Xu Chunniang's cultivation advanced rapidly. She soon surpassed the early stage of Qi Condensation Layer Three and reached the middle stage.

After her cultivation improved, Xu Chunniang did not rest. She continued her monotonous and repetitive meditation and absorption of spiritual Qi every day.

Except for replenishing Grain Abstinence Pills when they were depleted and going to the Dining Hall, she hardly left her cave.

Winter turned to autumn. The immortal mountain did not experience seasonal changes, but time flowed as usual, neither rushed nor slow.

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

After her cultivation reached the peak of Qi Condensation Layer Three, no matter how much Xu Chunniang cultivated, her spiritual Qi no longer increased.

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

Embarking on the path of cultivation was not difficult; as long as one possessed a spiritual root, they could cultivate. However, walking a long way on the path of cultivation was by no means easy.

The Qi Condensation stage alone had three minor checkpoints.

The first was Qi Condensation Layer Four, the second was Qi Condensation Layer Seven, and the third, and most difficult, was the step from Qi Condensation Layer Nine to Foundation Establishment.

Countless astonishingly talented Qi Condensation cultivators were stuck at Qi Condensation Layer Nine, unable to reach Foundation Establishment in their lifetime.

What Xu Chunniang was facing now was the easiest of these three checkpoints.

Barring any accidents, most cultivators could smoothly pass this checkpoint. The only difference would be the amount of time it took, which varied from person to person.

Xu Chunniang let out a soft sigh. Since cultivation could no longer increase her cultivation, she would pause for now.

Although she had two hours of rest each day over the past year, she always felt a sense of urgency mentally, which made her dare not slack off.

Xu Chunniang had been in the Carefree Sect for over two years. She was eight and a half years old when she entered the sect, and now she was already eleven.

Nourished by spiritual Qi, her stature had grown considerably, and her previously sallow skin had become increasingly fair and lustrous. Only the red birthmark below her eye on her right cheek remained as conspicuous as ever, marring her delicate, pretty face.

With her cultivation at a bottleneck, Xu Chunniang stopped meditating. She decided to visit the outer sect.

Having been in the Carefree Sect for so long, Xu Chunniang had been busy cultivating, and she hadn't visited many places in the sect, especially the Treasure Pavilion on the main peak of the outer sect.

She heard that the Treasure Pavilion had many spiritual artifacts and pills that could only be consumed in the middle to late stages of Qi Condensation. Even if she didn't buy anything, it would be great to broaden her horizons.

Xu Chunniang thought to herself, then walked towards the main peak, heading straight for the Treasure Pavilion.

The Treasure Pavilion was a shop opened by the sect. Besides selling goods, it also collected various raw materials from disciples.

Whether it was herbs, pills, talismans, or other items, as long as the quality was up to par, the Treasure Pavilion would accept them.

The Treasure Pavilion was built very large and was still crowded with people, bustling with activity. The sounds of disciples bargaining could be heard from time to time, resembling a market fair in the mortal world.

The Treasure Pavilion had three floors. The first floor mainly sold low-grade herbs, low-grade talismans, and poorer formation materials.

Most of the disciples circulating on this floor were in the early to middle stages of Qi Condensation.

Xu Chunniang looked at the items one by one. Most of the goods sold in the shop were unfamiliar to her. Only a few, which she had seen in Common Knowledge Class or in the "Encyclopedia of the Cultivation World," could she barely recognize.

After browsing around, Xu Chunniang went up to the second floor of the Treasure Pavilion.

There were fewer people on the second floor of the Treasure Pavilion compared to the first floor, as the items sold on the second floor were much more valuable than those on the first.

Here, most of the cultivators were in the middle to late stages of Qi Condensation; there were not many in the early stages.

Xu Chunniang saw some rare herbs and special talismans, as well as some artifact refining and formation materials that she couldn't identify at all. It was almost dazzling.

When she reached the last counter, she even saw low-grade spiritual artifacts being sold.

Xu Chunniang walked to the counter selling spiritual artifacts and examined them carefully.

"Golden Light Shield, low-grade spiritual artifact. When activated, it can generate a golden light shield that can withstand one blow from a cultivator in the middle stage of Qi Condensation."

Xu Chunniang took a deep breath, her eyes shining as she stared at this low-grade spiritual artifact called the Golden Light Shield. Being able to withstand one blow from a cultivator in the middle stage of Qi Condensation meant its defensive power was already quite impressive.

However, after seeing the price of the Golden Light Shield, Xu Chunniang's excited heart instantly calmed down. It cost a full eighty spirit stones!

At the beginning of the year, she had received the last year's sect subsidy of spirit stones. Combined with the seven spirit stones left from last year, she had a total of nineteen spirit stones, which was not enough to buy the Golden Light Shield.

Xu Chunniang shook her head and her gaze fell on a flying sword, which was also a low-grade spiritual artifact, on the other side.

However, the price of the flying sword was half as much again as the Golden Light Shield, costing one hundred and twenty spirit stones...

"No wonder when Qi Haozhi and others took out spiritual artifacts during the year-end assessment, the other disciples were so shocked and envious. Spiritual artifacts are truly expensive."

Xu Chunniang felt a bit disheartened. The few spirit stones she had were probably only enough to buy cheap items like low-grade herbs or talismans.

In the end, Xu Chunniang bought nothing and left the Treasure Pavilion empty-handed. However, this trip was not entirely without gain; at least she had broadened her horizons considerably.

She had originally thought that as long as she focused on improving her cultivation and mastering her sorcery, she would be able to establish a foothold in the Outer Sect. Now, it seemed there was still much she needed to learn.

Putting aside other specialties, just for the Spiritual Plant Cultivator profession alone, there was a significant amount of herbal knowledge she needed to master.

Xu Chunniang decided to head to the Merit Pavilion.

Besides a large number of sorceries, the Merit Pavilion also housed introductory books for various professions, each priced at five Spirit Stones.

She planned to buy a book on the Spiritual Plant profession and then look for suitable offensive sorceries.

Most of the sorceries Xu Chunniang currently knew were auxiliary. Her only offensive sorcery was the Spirit Blast Technique, which evolved from the Spring Growth Technique. In actual combat, it was likely not enough.

Xu Chunniang first went to get a copy of the "Complete Guide to Level One Spiritual Plants" before she began her selection.

Given that her water-element Spiritual Root had the highest purity, she ultimately decided to choose water-element sorceries.

Techniques like the "Water Arrow Technique" were actually quite similar to the "Fireball Technique." Since she already had the Spirit Blast Technique, she didn't need this type of sorcery. She could opt for something more control-oriented to complement the casting of the Spirit Blast Technique.

Xu Chunniang pondered for a moment and then took a book titled "Water Bind Technique" from the bookshelf.