A day in the cave, a thousand years in the world.
Nothing could have described the passing years of cultivation more fittingly. Once one immersed oneself in secluded, arduous cultivation, no amount of time ever seemed enough.
Li Qing cultivated in seclusion within the Hidden Realm. With no cycle of day and night, his sense of time had suddenly become extraordinarily vague.
Coupled with his naturally long lifespan, time within the secret realm had seemingly slowed to a crawl.
"I've more or less fully understood this True Explanation of Restrictions, but breaking these restrictions is still difficult."
Li Qing sighed, gazing at the mountains ahead, each still covered in restrictions. He felt like he could only gaze at the ocean and sigh.
These restrictions had at least been laid down by Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. To undo them, it would be best to have Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation as well.
Yet Li Qing's cultivation remained at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining. However, compared to when he had first entered the secret realm, this Sixth Layer of Qi Refining was far stronger than before.
First was the abundance of his magic power. Having tempered himself at this realm for so long, his magic power had naturally grown much more robust.
Furthermore, with the successful cultivation of the second layer of the Essence Augmentation Secret Art, his magic power now surpassed that of an ordinary Sixth Layer of Qi Refining cultivator by nearly half again!
This slight advantage was not to be underestimated. In battles of magic, it was often this extra bit of magic power that determined victory or defeat.
"Alas, the bottleneck of Late Qi Refining truly isn't so easy to break through."
"In the end, my aptitude is still too poor. Even with the aid of so many