Who didn't want to charge straight into the Qi Condensation Stage? Qi Refining was the beginning of the Immortal Path; the Martial Path was just for laying a foundation.
And that foundation was even optional.
Some scions of great lineages could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper their bodies from birth. They started at the Qi Condensation Stage, skipping Body Tempering altogether.
At noon, Yun Shu stopped cultivating.
He had finished reviewing everything he needed to, and now he planned to enter Qi Refining.
Although he had only just reached the Extreme Realm of Body Tempering and hadn't fully consolidated it yet, Body Tempering and Qi Refining didn't conflict. His Qi and blood had already stabilized, so he could naturally advance.
To enter the Qi Condensation Stage, all he needed was a cultivation method.
There was no need to go to the Training Ground again.
"Cultivating inside the sect seems like it could expose some of my trump cards at any moment." On his way back, Yun Shu couldn't stop thinking about it.
There was nothing he could do about it. Before, he could use his abilities freely at the Outer Sect's Training Ground. But some things were mysterious, and after entering the Inner Sect, they couldn't escape the Transmission Elder's notice.
Yun Shu hated attracting a crowd's attention.
His aptitude was mediocre. Even if he had some other means of advancement, he still had to rely on external help. And most of the time, he couldn't reveal those trump cards.
The most treacherous thing in the Cultivation World was the human heart, and the hardest thing to understand was also the human heart.
The human heart was never satisfied.
He wasn't strong enough yet, and his trump cards couldn't protect him. He was far behind the Female Protagonist. Just the heaven-defying fortune surrounding her was enough to make him envious.
So he ought to work even harder at cultivation.
There weren't any mandatory missions or activities for everyone in the Inner Sect in the near future, so Yun Shu planned to go out and gain experience for a while.
He wouldn't wander aimlessly, either. He planned to take a few more missions from the Fat Steward. The Fat Steward had told him before that he could still accept missions over there, so Yun Shu wouldn't stand on ceremony.
Body Tempering Realm missions would do. The Inner Sect's missions were still a bit too difficult for him.
The lowest-level Inner Sect missions required Fourth Layer of Qi Refining, after all. Even if Yun Shu could just barely manage to complete one, the odds wouldn't be in his favor.
Yun Shu had even noticed that some of the Outer Sect and Inner Sect missions overlapped.
That meant some missions were posted in both the Outer Sect and Inner Sect. Those were the so-called A-grade and B-grade Missions in the Outer Sect.
If there wasn't much difference between the Outer Sect and Inner Sect, why bother with the Inner Sect?
Aside from the large Inner Sect missions he couldn't avoid, there was no need for him to keep struggling here. He was suited to leveling up alone. As long as he had resources, he could improve at a breakneck pace. The sect was just a platform.
Even with a master, Yun Shu didn't feel all that safe.
Only when his own strength rose would he have the right to speak while standing tall.
As for entering the Inner Sect ahead of schedule—
He simply wasn't cut out for it, all right?
At least, not for now.
He decided that once he reached the Qi Condensation Stage, he would go take on missions.
The only difficulty before him now was entering Qi Refining.
Yun Shu returned to his residence.
There was no need to go to the Training Ground for the small matter of breaking through to Qi Refining.
His Body Cultivator training had already pushed the Body Refining Technique beyond its limits. He had pretty much reached perfection in the Body Tempering Realm, at least to his own satisfaction.
The limits of Body Tempering didn't end there. He could go even further, and it wouldn't conflict with Qi Refining.
He had laid a foundation with the resources available to him. Beyond this, everything was unknown.
Yun Shu returned to his room and shut the door.
This was the Inner Sect. Every room even had some Formation Arrays and Talismans. He had to admit, in the Cultivation World, as long as you had the strength, you could obtain the status to match.
Yun Shu used a Soundproofing Talisman in the room. With the Formation Array briefly sealing the space off, no one outside could hear anything happening in here.
Then he sat cross-legged on the bed.
He carefully studied the three Spirit Arts.
This was the first step in cultivation; he couldn't afford to be careless.
Normally, he was supposed to choose one as his primary cultivation method, and use the other two to balance out his Spiritual Root.
But to Yun Shu, every art was a gift. After all, he'd gotten them for free. Buying them himself would be no easy feat.
So he couldn't waste them.
He would cultivate all of them. Wasn't he supposed to achieve Five Elements Balance?
Of course, Five Elements Balance here referred to balancing the Five Elements of the Spiritual Root within his body.
At that moment, Yun Shu even found himself wishing he had Five Spiritual Roots. Then he'd truly be balanced.
Once he cultivated all five Spirit Arts, he might not be far from invincibility among those at the same level.
The trouble was, his Spiritual Root was better than the worst but worse than the best.
Ordinary Five Spiritual Roots progressed extremely slowly in order to keep the Five Elements in balance.
But they did have an advantage. After reaching the Golden Core Stage, they would advance by leaps and bounds. Once they passed the Golden Core Stage and truly stepped onto the Immortal Path, Five Spiritual Roots were no longer a shackle. On the contrary, the Five Elements gave rise to and overcame one another in an endless cycle, making for an excellent cultivation physique.
Like his Senior Brother.
With Five Spiritual Roots, his progress early on had been painfully slow. So even though one of his Spiritual Roots was exceptionally outstanding, he could only take the path of a Body Cultivator.
The key was that his talent for Body Tempering was also so high. That was what made him invincible.
No wonder he could follow the Female Protagonist. He really was one of a kind!
As for Yun Shu's Triple Spiritual Root, even after he reached the Golden Core Stage, it would still be a Triple Spiritual Root. Nothing would change, so he would have to cultivate slowly.
Yun Shu spent two hours memorizing the three obscure and difficult Spirit Arts.
He felt ready.
He began adjusting his state, preparing for Qi Induction into Body.
Three streams of energy began to circulate through Yun Shu.
The three Spirit Arts worked in concert, generating and overcoming one another. Yun Shu didn't circulate all three at once; he wasn't capable of that.
That was something only people at the peak of Qi Refining, who had mastered their Spirit Arts, could do.
These were the most basic Spirit Arts, so their requirements weren't especially demanding. But for Yun Shu, who was still in the Body Tempering Realm, they still required the utmost care.
"Ding, you circulated the Flowing Gold Art once. Proficiency +1." "Ding, you circulated the Spirit Wood Art once. Proficiency +1." "Ding, you circulated the Water Control Art once. Proficiency +1. You have reached the Qi Condensation Stage!" "..." "Ding, you circulated the Spirit Wood Art once. Proficiency +1." "..."
Even this kind of repeated circulation was beyond what an ordinary person could manage. With the system to grind proficiency for him, Yun Shu was able to circulate the Five Elements within his body in balance.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth continuously washed through Yun Shu's meridians, allowing them to store more of it.
The benefits of Body Tempering showed themselves at that moment. Countless streams of Qi and Blood Power in his meridians locked the spiritual energy firmly in place. The energy could widen his meridians without disturbing it in the slightest. It washed through his limbs and bones, then finally gathered in his dantian.
Three-colored spiritual energy could be clearly seen surrounding Yun Shu's dantian.
"Ding, you circulated the Flowing Gold Art once. Proficiency +1. Current proficiency: 10. You have reached Minor Mastery." "Ding, you circulated the Spirit Wood Art once. Proficiency +1. Current proficiency: 10. You have reached Minor Mastery." "Ding, you circulated the Water Control Art once. Proficiency +1. Current proficiency: 10. You have reached Minor Mastery." "..." "Ding, you circulated the Water Control Art once. Proficiency +1. You have reached the Second Layer of Qi Refining! You don't have enough Energy Points. Please replenish them!"
Yun Shu opened his eyes.
The first time he circulated the three Spirit Arts, he had already entered the Qi Condensation Stage.
He slowly breathed out a mouthful of stale air. Qi Refining really was difficult.
The hardest part of Qi Refining wasn't balancing the circulation of the Five Elements within his body, nor was it the final breakthrough to the Second Layer of Qi Refining.
The hardest part was getting started.
Only by circulating a cultivation method for the first time could he earn his first point of proficiency. Then he could keep building up his proficiency without stopping.
Fortunately, his comprehension was decent.
He'd succeeded in one try.
It had been the same with Sword Intent back then. Everything was hard at the beginning.
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