Body Tempering Realm, Seventh Heaven

But before that,

he should cultivate first!

Shen Mo sat on the bed, cross-legged, and took out the last Qi Gathering Pill on him. "By my reckoning, a month has passed since I last took a Qi Gathering Pill."

"It's time to take another!"

According to Uncle Chen, the best interval between doses of the Qi Gathering Pill was one month.

For one thing, the pill's medicinal power was too potent for his Body Tempering Realm, sixth heaven cultivation. He couldn't absorb it all in a short time and needed to wait a while before he could fully refine its power.

For another, every medicine had its share of poison.

Cultivation medicines like this, which directly increased one's cultivation, couldn't be taken too often or too frequently. Not only would the body develop a resistance, but they would also have a negative effect on a cultivator's foundation.

So Shen Mo had held his patience in check and waited until today!

"Gulp!"

Without hesitation, he swallowed the Qi Gathering Pill.

Its medicinal power gradually spread, and a searing heat began to burn through his body.

"Absorb it with the Heaven Origin Technique!"

Shen Mo murmured, his cultivation method already circulating within him.

The vast medicinal power coursing through his body was gradually guided by the technique, absorbed and refined by Shen Mo.

[You absorbed the potent medicinal power of the Qi Gathering Pill and converted it into your own qi and blood. Your cultivation has increased.]

[As the Heaven Origin Technique circulates, your understanding of it deepens. Heaven Origin Technique experience +1.]

Shen Mo paid no attention to the successive notifications that kept appearing.

He simply immersed himself in cultivation, his mind free of distractions.

This session of seated cultivation lasted about four hours.

When he opened his eyes again, a glint of light shone in them.

[After a long period of cultivation, you finally broke through the bottleneck and successfully advanced to the seventh level of the Body Tempering Realm.]

"I broke through!"

The seventh heaven of the Body Tempering Realm!

Feeling the surge of strength within him, Shen Mo was filled with joy. "The road to immortality is long, but I've crossed another pass!"

With a thought, the Destiny Panel soon appeared, displaying all his information.

[Destiny Holder: Shen Mo]

[ cultivation: Body Tempering Realm, seventh heaven]

[Technique: Heaven Origin Technique, Minor Accomplishment (450/500)]

[Martial Skill: Supreme Clarity Sword Technique, First Glimpse of the Path (95/100).]

"Not only has my cultivation improved, but after circulating the Heaven Origin Technique constantly these past days, my understanding of it has reached a new level as well!"

Shen Mo's gaze settled on the technique column.

Half a month ago, he had accumulated enough experience to raise the Heaven Origin Technique from First Glimpse of the Path to Minor Accomplishment.

After the upgrade, the Heaven Origin Technique had become much better at drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

That had also made Shen Mo's cultivation speed a little faster.

Now, his experience was nearly full again.

"At most, it'll take a few more days for the Heaven Origin Technique to reach its next stage. When that happens, my cultivation speed should increase even more!"

A trace of anticipation stirred in Shen Mo's eyes.

Perhaps because he had an experience bar, there didn't seem to be any bottlenecks at all when it came to improving his cultivation techniques.

Other cultivators weren't so fortunate. When their techniques hit a bottleneck, breaking through often required the right opportunity or a stroke of luck, and they had to wait patiently.

Once Shen Mo's experience points were full, he could advance directly to the next stage.

This gave him a huge advantage over ordinary cultivators in cultivating techniques, immortal arts, and the like.

However, Shen Mo still couldn't be certain whether he would be free of bottlenecks with every cultivation technique, no matter how far he advanced it. He hadn't been at it for long, and the Heaven Origin Technique was his only example.

And he had only cultivated it to Minor Accomplishment.

He would have to wait and see.

After a brief bout of wandering thoughts, Shen Mo turned his attention to another value on the data panel.

[Destiny Points: 1.]

"Another Destiny Point?"

Seeing that his Destiny Points were no longer at zero, Shen Mo's face brightened with delight.

He scrolled back through the information and, sure enough, found the glimmer hidden among last night's many notifications.

[You practiced diligently and triggered a special effect. Destiny Points +1]

"This time, I have to use my Destiny Points carefully. I mustn't waste them!"

Shen Mo thought to himself.

The last time he'd used Destiny Points had been three days ago!

After saving for a month, he had finally scraped together 10 Destiny Points. He'd been eager to improve his aptitude once more, hoping to raise it from Superior Aptitude to the level of a martial arts prodigy.

But the result had been disappointing: the attempt failed.

His 10 Destiny Points had been wiped out on the spot. All his effort had gone down the drain, and he had gained nothing.

After learning his lesson the hard way, Shen Mo decided that the next time he earned Destiny Points, he wouldn't keep fixating on his aptitude.

Aptitude was undeniably crucial to an immortal cultivator.

But the odds of improving it were too low, and he still had plenty of other shortcomings he could use Destiny Points to address.

Good steel had to be used on the blade.

[Physique: Robust Physique]

[Aptitude: Superior Aptitude]

[Fortune: Mediocre Luck]

[Appearance: Plain]

[Wisdom: Naturally Dull]

[Destiny: ???]

[Lifespan: ???]

He opened the Basic Fate Disk and hesitated for a while. In the end, he still decided against trying to improve any of its attributes.

"The Basic Fate Disk must be very difficult to improve. The failure rate is probably quite high."

Shen Mo thought it over. "The only reason I managed to raise my aptitude to the green grade in just two tries was because I got lucky."

"Rather than improving these attributes, I might as well explore special Destinies."

With that, Shen Mo opened the Destiny Vault again.

Two Destiny Slots appeared before him.

One was occupied by the equipped special Destiny, [Robust (White)], while the other empty slot stood out sharply.

"Destiny Points should be exchangeable for a special Destiny."

"Let's give it a try!"

Shen Mo focused his thoughts on the special slot and gave a slight mental nudge.

In an instant, his remaining Destiny Point dropped to zero.

At the same time, countless dim special Destinies in the Destiny Vault, previously unavailable for use, began to shine with dazzling light.

"Is this a draw?"

"Can I spend Destiny Points to draw a special Destiny from the vault?"

Watching this, Shen Mo tried to make sense of it.

"I wonder what kind of special Destiny will appear."

As the light in the Destiny Vault swelled to fill it, a Destiny entry wrapped in flowing light slowly emerged.

Shen Mo held his breath, his heart filled with anticipation.

"Give me purple, give me orange—better yet, give me gold!"

He had looked through the Destiny Vault. Though all the Destinies within it were dim and unusable, he could still check their base attributes and bonuses.

Although the Destiny Panel hadn't told him the exact tiers of Destinies,

Shen Mo had pieced together a system of his own based on the various Destiny stats and colors he'd seen.

Gray, white, green, blue, purple, orange, and gold: seven colors, seven grades.

Gray was the lowest grade, with only the most basic attribute bonus.

Gold, on the other hand, offered the highest Destiny bonus.

"Buzz!"

At last, under Shen Mo's gaze, the Destiny entry slowly emerged.