Breakthrough to the Qi Gathering Realm!

Ye Feng sat before the stone table in the small courtyard, his fingers brushing over the yellowed pages of Azure Origin Art, his expression unusually grave.

Compared to the Wind Shadow Sword Art, which he had easily mastered yesterday, he valued this cultivation art even more now.

It was not that martial skills were unimportant, but that his cheat—the "Date Modification System"—was fundamentally tied to his cultivation realm.

"Martial skills can raise combat power, but cultivation arts determine the upper limit of one's realm. More importantly, the system's permissions are locked behind one's realm." Ye Feng murmured softly, tapping the tabletop with his fingertips.

"Without breaking through to the Qi Gathering Realm, I can modify at most ten years forward or back. I haven't even brought out half of the system's capabilities. If I can enter the Qi Gathering Realm, not only will the modification limit rise to a hundred years, but there'll be more things I can modify as well... I have to break through as soon as possible!"

With his mind made up, Ye Feng hesitated no longer and spread Azure Origin Art open across the stone table.

Compared to the five minutes it had taken him to memorize Wind Shadow Sword Art, this time Ye Feng spent a full quarter of an hour engraving the art's incantation and energy circulation route into his mind.

A cultivation art concerned the operation of the Dantian and the foundation of spiritual energy absorption. There was no room for the slightest carelessness.

"System, modify Azure Origin Art to ten years later."

As the thought arose, Ye Feng felt his mind explode with a roar. Countless insights into cultivating Azure Origin Art surged into him like a tidal wave.

How to adjust his breathing to allow spiritual energy to enter his body more smoothly, the optimal route for True Qi to circulate within the Dantian, the bottlenecks to avoid when breaking through each layer...

It was as though Ye Feng had devoted an entire ten years to hard training with this cultivation art.

Ye Feng immediately sat cross-legged and activated the cultivation art according to the insights flooding his mind.

The faint sensation of Qi within his Dantian instantly boiled over. Spiritual energy poured into his body from all directions, rapidly circulating along the route of Azure Origin Art.

In less than half an incense stick's time, Ye Feng abruptly opened his eyes, a flash of realization passing through them. "Azure Origin Art... has directly reached the Perfection Realm of the Third Layer!"

One had to know that no matter their grade, Human-grade cultivation arts had only three layers at most. Perfection was their ultimate limit.

As Ye Feng circulated the art, his rate of spiritual energy absorption was more than three times faster than when he had first obtained it, while the True Qi in his Dantian grew increasingly condensed.

"Sure enough, with the system's assistance, failing to reach perfection in ten years would mean one's comprehension is simply too poor." The corners of Ye Feng's lips lifted as he casually retrieved a porcelain bottle from his storage pouch.

It contained the Top-grade Qi Gathering Pill he had bought earlier at the Outer Court market.

When he pulled out the stopper, a rich medicinal fragrance rushed toward him.

Ye Feng tipped his head back and swallowed the pill. The instant it entered his mouth, it melted into an incomparably pure stream of energy that slid down his throat. As it flowed through his limbs and bones, his entire body grew hot.

"Circulate Azure Origin Art and refine it!"

The perfected cultivation art now displayed terrifying efficiency. The moment that violent energy spread through his body, it was swept up by the flood of True Qi from Azure Origin Art, swiftly broken down and converted.

Ye Feng could clearly feel the True Qi in his Dantian growing at a visible pace. The originally scattered sensation of Qi gradually condensed into droplets.

After a while, Ye Feng suddenly raised his hand. A ball of deep blue True Qi appeared from thin air above his palm, condensed without dispersing and radiating an aura that was warm and smooth, yet powerful.

Feeling the surging power within his body, Ye Feng revealed an uncontrollable smile. "I did it! The Qi Gathering Realm!"

At the very instant Ye Feng broke through, a system notification suddenly rang out in his mind. It was not a tangible sound, yet its message came through with perfect clarity: "Realm breakthrough: Qi Gathering Realm. System permissions refreshed. Modification time limit raised to one hundred years. Range of modifiable items expanded."

"A hundred years!" Ye Feng's pupils contracted sharply, before wild delight flooded his face.

A ten-year modification had allowed Ye Feng to bring a Sword Technique to perfection in ten minutes. What could a hundred-year modification bring?

Ye Feng immediately suppressed his excitement and began with the martial skill he knew best.

"System, modify Gale Sword to one hundred years later!"

Another flood of memories, even more vast than before, poured into his mind. This time, they contained not only techniques for wielding the sword, but also an understanding of the essence of sword moves.

How to borrow the force of the wind when drawing his sword, how to make Sword Qi sharper through minute adjustments, how to predict an enemy's movements and change moves in advance.

Ye Feng instinctively grabbed the wooden sword in the courtyard and gave his wrist a light flick. The blade traced a string of afterimages through the air. Every swing precisely avoided the resistance of the airflow, and his sword moves had already reached the Micro-Realm.

What delighted Ye Feng even more was that as he digested a hundred years of insights into the Gale Sword, the Sword Intent within him became increasingly clear. His original one-tenth Sword Intent had forcibly risen to nearly two-tenths.

"Sword Intent truly is difficult to comprehend. Even a hundred years of insight couldn't bring it fully to two-tenths..." Ye Feng sighed softly, though the joy in his eyes was impossible to conceal.

Next, Ye Feng turned his attention to Wind Shadow Sword Art. "System, modify it to one hundred years later!"

This impact of memories was even more intense than that of Gale Sword. Ye Feng seemed to spend a hundred years continuously polishing and optimizing this Sword Technique.

He stripped away redundant motions from its sword moves, integrated his own understanding of Sword Intent, and even completed the originally missing finishing move.

When he wielded his sword again, faint Azure Sword Qi appeared over the wooden blade. The sword moves were graceful and unrestrained, yet carried an elusive, formidable might.

"This is... Profound-grade Low-tier?!" Ye Feng halted, staring at the sword in his hand in shock.

He could clearly sense that Wind Shadow Sword Art had risen from Human-grade Peak-tier to Profound-grade Low-tier. It had also retained the Perfection Realm, and its combat power had surged more than tenfold compared to before!

Even more unexpectedly, as the Sword Technique's grade rose, the Sword Intent within him also broke through in turn, steadily reaching two-tenths.

"The gap between Human-grade and Profound-grade truly is like a vast chasm!" Ye Feng's heart churned with emotion. This was a cross-grade advancement, far more precious than a mere breakthrough in realm.

Without stopping, he continued using his hundred-year permission to modify his other cultivation arts and martial skills.

"Modify Azure Origin Art to one hundred years later!"

The already perfected Azure Origin Art evolved once more. Its grade rose to Profound-grade Low-tier, its layers increased from three to four, and it was directly cultivated to the Perfection Realm.

At this moment, Ye Feng absorbed spiritual energy three times faster than when he had first broken through to the Qi Gathering Realm, while the True Qi in his Dantian was astonishingly abundant.

"Modify Shadow Step to one hundred years later!" This Movement Technique, originally Human-grade High-tier, directly rose to Human-grade Peak-tier.

Ye Feng tried to perform it. His body flickered throughout the courtyard, leaving behind one blurry afterimage after another. His agility increased dramatically, and he nodded in satisfaction.

At last, Ye Feng's gaze fell on Vajra Fist. He had not held out much hope, yet it unexpectedly brought him the greatest surprise. "Modify Vajra Fist to Hundred Years Later!"

A hundred years' worth of insights into Fist Intent surged into his mind. Ye Feng felt his blood and qi churn throughout his body, and he instinctively threw a punch. A muffled explosive boom actually rang out in the air.

He lowered his head to look at his fist, his eyes filled with shock.

Not only had Vajra Fist leapt from Human-grade High-tier to Profound-grade Low-tier, but he had also comprehended one-tenth of Fist Intent from it!

"I never thought I could even comprehend Fist Intent. It seems my talent isn't all that poor after all." Ye Feng laughed at himself, though his heart was brimming with delight.

At this moment, Ye Feng took stock of his gains:

Profound-grade Low-tier cultivation art: Azure Origin Art

Profound-grade Low-tier martial skills: Wind Shadow Sword Art and Vajra Fist

Human-grade Top-tier martial skill: Shadow Step

All of them had been cultivated to perfection, on top of two-tenths Sword Intent and one-tenth Fist Intent.

With such a lineup, let alone newly inducted Inner Sect disciples, even among the veteran powerhouses of the Feiyun Sect's Inner Sect, there was no equal!

Yet just as Ye Feng was overcome with excitement, a faint prick of pain suddenly came from his fingertips.

Lowering his head, he discovered that when he had modified Vajra Fist just now, the True Qi within his Dantian had actually become slightly sluggish.

Ye Feng frowned and carefully examined himself inwardly, but found no other abnormalities. He only vaguely felt that this large-scale Hundred Years Later modification seemed to have left behind an inconspicuous hidden danger.

For the moment, he suppressed his doubts, and his gaze sharpened once more.

With strength like this, he finally had enough confidence to gain a foothold in the Feiyun Sect's Inner Sect.