Primordial Core

A year later.

Morning dew clung to the carved latticework of the Quiet Chamber window, refracting specks of light.

As the first ray of dawn pierced the clouds, Bai Ye, seated cross-legged within the Quiet Chamber, slowly concluded his cultivation.

His fingers twitched slightly, and the last wisp of Spiritual Energy circling his body slipped back inside like a swimming fish.

In an instant, an overwhelming wave of Spiritual Energy burst outward. The Spirit Gathering Array patterns on the Quiet Chamber's four walls flared to life, emitting a faint hum!

The force of that wave was so immense that fine cracks spread across the blue stone floor!

Yet after no more than a breath, Bai Ye forcibly suppressed that astonishing aura back into his body, as though it had never appeared.

"Peak of the Sixth Level of Primordial Core..."

He slowly exhaled a breath of foul air. The stream of breath resembled a dragon, lingering before his nose for a moment before dispersing.

A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes, brighter even than the morning sun beyond the window. As his fingers traced the meridians at his wrist, he could clearly feel the Spiritual Energy flowing within him, now like a surging river—vast and condensed!

For an entire year, he had practically locked himself inside this Quiet Chamber. Aside from essential supplies and a few special circumstances, he had not stepped beyond the courtyard gate even once.

Such bitter, motionless cultivation had brought about an earth-shaking transformation in his cultivation.

His cultivation had risen all the way from the Peak of the Second Level of Meridian Condensation when he first arrived, breaking through realm after realm until he now stood firmly at the Peak of the Sixth Level of Primordial Core!

The Primordial Core Realm was a threshold many cultivators could exhaust half their lives without ever reaching.

Within the Azure Cloud Sect, ordinary outer sect elders were merely at the Early Primordial Core stage, while inner sect elders were mostly at Mid Primordial Core. Only those elders who held great authority over the sect's inner division had any hope of entering Late Primordial Core.

In other words, in terms of cultivation alone, Bai Ye was now already capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with the strongest inner sect elders of the Azure Cloud Sect!

"Still... Late Primordial Core is no small hurdle." He stroked his chin, his brows knitting slightly. "With Ten Thousand Times Comprehension, seeing through the Realm Barrier won't be difficult. The hard part is the spiritual energy needed for the breakthrough."

He spread open his palm. A low-grade spirit stone the size of a pigeon's egg lay in it, the spiritual glow on its surface already more than half dimmed.

During this year of secluded cultivation, he had nearly exhausted all the resources sent by the Bai family and the sect.

Over a hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones, large quantities of Spirit Nurturing Grass, and dozens of bottles of Body Tempering Potion—there were now pitifully few items in his Storage Bag that could still be called "major resources."

"No matter how great your talent is, you still need rice in the pot." Bai Ye sighed softly, flicking the spirit stone with a finger. "Looks like it's time to go out and find a solution."

The thought had barely arisen when he quickly suppressed it again.

His gaze swept toward the pot of spiritual plant in the corner of the Quiet Chamber, long since withered.

He had planted it himself when he first arrived last year. Its leaves were now charred black, evidently scorched by Spiritual Energy that had leaked out during one of his cultivation sessions.

"I can't expose too much anymore," he warned himself inwardly.

Over the past year, in order to obtain more cultivation resources, he had occasionally displayed his cultivation talent to the outside world.

Not long ago, the cultivation he had revealed to outsiders was the Eighth Level of Meridian Condensation.

To others, Bai Ye had advanced from the Peak of the Second Level of Meridian Condensation to the Eighth Level of Meridian Condensation in a single year. That was undoubtedly the cultivation speed of a genius, yet not so startling as to be unbelievable.

More eyes had begun to follow him within both the sect and the family.

For instance, Uncle Bai Mingyuan came to visit every few days, while the Head of Bai Family had repeatedly sent people bearing rare medicinal herbs, his words brimming with the gratified pride of seeing a child of his family come into his own.

That level of attention was just right—it could earn him a greater share of resources.

But this was already the limit.

If he revealed any more of his cultivation talent, what it attracted might not be increased resources.

In this fantasy world, body possession and soul refinement were hardly rare. If a disciple who had once been ordinary suddenly experienced a massive surge in talent, it would inevitably draw the suspicion of old monsters who had lived for centuries.

Though his own situation was not all that different from body possession.

Half an hour later, Bai Ye changed into a moon-white robe, tied up his long hair with a jade hairpin, and pushed open the door to leave the Quiet Chamber.

The weeds in the courtyard had already been cleared away by the attendants, while the emerald bamboo in the corner had grown much sturdier than it had been last year.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled patches of light and shadow across the blue stone slabs.

He took a deep breath of air carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees, then decided to visit the Scripture Depository Pavilion first.

According to Azure Cloud Sect rules, Inner Disciples could freely enter the Scripture Depository Pavilion and select martial skills below Earth Grade. However, they could only choose one at a time, and had to cultivate it to Minor Mastery before selecting another.

His last visit to the Scripture Depository Pavilion had been two months ago.

Based on the talent he had shown publicly, bringing a Profound Grade Martial Skill to Minor Mastery within two months was a genius-level feat, but not an abrupt one.

But only Bai Ye himself knew that the last skill, the Profound Grade Mid [Sky Burning Fist], had reached Peak Mastery less than half an incense stick after he obtained it, even drawing down a Heavenly Dao Boon in the process.

Over the course of the year, counting that occasion with [Sky Burning Fist], he had triggered Heavenly Dao Boons five times in succession.

His innate physique had been forcibly enhanced by more than three times compared to when he had first arrived!

In terms of innate physique alone, he was now a genius who ranked among the younger generation of the Azure Cloud Sect!