Breakthrough

After Su Lanyue left, Shi Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After carving a formation around the room to seal off its aura, Shi Lan sat on the bed, took out the phoenix blood and Spirit Transformation Pill, and prepared to break through to the late Earth Fiend stage.

She didn't have much time to spare. Only a little over a year remained before the two-year deadline in the system's main quest to reach the Heavenly Dipper stage.

After slowly calming her inner energy, Shi Lan placed the Spirit Transformation Pill on her lower abdomen, then took two high-grade spirit crystals from her Qiankun Bracelet. Holding them in her palms, she closed her eyes and began drawing on their vast spiritual energy to nourish and strengthen her true qi.

Practicing with high-grade spirit crystals was extravagantly wasteful, but Shi Lan didn't feel the slightest sting.

The Demon Race's vanguard was already not far from Immortal Martial City. An order could arrive at any moment, and she needed to grow stronger faster.

To enter the late Earth Fiend stage, she first had to open the Tailbone Acupoint beside the tip of her coccyx, allowing her true qi to enter her spine. Then it would climb upward like a dragon, breaking through one point after another. Opening all twenty-three acupoints in succession would bring her to the peak of the Earth Fiend stage.

Shi Lan had been at the peak of the middle Earth Fiend stage for some time. The barrier to the late stage had already begun to totter after only two waves of true qi struck it.

Bang!

A deep thud rang out from within Shi Lan, like muffled thunder. Her vertebrae stretched one after another, followed by a series of crisp crackles as her tendons and bones extended.