Consolidating Cultivation

Four years passed in the blink of an eye. Wang Daoyuan never managed to sneak out again; after all, Wang Shouye, the man watching him, was the grandmaster of sneaking out.

Every method Wang Daoyuan could think of was something Wang Shouye had already played to death. His many attempts to slip away were all seen through by Wang Shouye in an instant.

Confined as he was, he could not secretly go out to sell spirit grain and spirit herbs. He could only ask Twelfth Uncle to buy cultivation resources for him, paying the price of a jar of wine each time.

Wang Shouye even grandly called them "mental distress fees," "loss-of-freedom fees," "loss-of-youth fees," and so on.

To earn Spirit Stones for cultivation resources, Wang Daoyuan had no choice but to admit that he could refine Tier One High-Grade Talismans. After all, the average price of a Tier One High-Grade Talisman was five Spirit Stones, while any talismans beyond the Lineage's allotted quota could be sold for four Spirit Stones each.

With abundant resources piled on by brute force, Wang Daoyuan's cultivation reached the peak of the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation.

Qi Refining Layer Seven counted as the Late Stage of Qi Condensation. Once he broke through to Qi Refining Layer Seven, his confinement would be lifted.

Yet the threshold of the Late Stage of Qi Condensation was the second great bottleneck of the Qi Refining realm, and breaking through it was far more difficult than reaching Qi Refining Layer Four.

In four years, his cultivation had risen from newly entering Qi Refining Layer Four to the peak of the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation—an increase of nearly three layers.

For most cultivators, this speed was far too fast.

However, Wang Daoyuan's cultivation had not been built entirely on pills. It also came from his own arduous training, and his previous foundation had been solid. Though his cultivation speed over these four years had been too rapid, his cultivation was not yet floating and unstable—though neither could it be called firmly rooted.

One's cultivation foundation during the Qi Refining realm determined future achievements. With the Spirit Pearl Space, Wang Daoyuan's future was bright, and his chances of Foundation Establishment were not small. Naturally, he had to consider his future prospects.

If one's foundation was not solid enough, relying directly on a large number of pills to forcibly break through a bottleneck would bring severe consequences.

That meant an unstable foundation and superficial cultivation. Future advancement would slow, and when another bottleneck appeared, the difficulty of breaking through would increase dramatically.

Moreover, once such a problem arose, it was extremely troublesome to resolve.

There were only two methods. One was to take spirit herbs capable of solving the problem of an unstable foundation. Of course, such spirit herbs were expensive and rare.

The other was to slow one's cultivation pace, refrain from rushing a breakthrough, and gradually build up one's accumulation. This could also completely solve the problem of an unstable foundation. But the time required for such accumulation was something ordinary cultivators could not accept.

Although there were various auxiliary secret arts for resolving unstable foundations, compared with cultivating honestly and breaking through only after accumulating enough, they consumed far more time, effort, and resources.

For the sake of his future, it was better to accumulate enough before breaking through.

Without secret arts or spiritual treasures, the best way to consolidate one's cultivation was battle.

Wang Daoyuan was confined and could not leave the Pill Talisman Pavilion. The only opponent he could find was Wang Shouye, who was guarding him. Carrying two jars of Crimson Blood Brew, he walked out of the cave abode.

There was no helping it. If he wanted Wang Shouye to do something, there was simply no getting it done without wine. He had also asked Wang Shouye to buy these wines for him. Every time he bought ten jars, Wang Shouye took one as commission.

Still, those wine jars had not gone to waste. Wang Daoyuan used all of them to hold the new wine he brewed himself.

The Crimson Blood Ginseng in the space had been usable for brewing wine three years ago. But since he could not explain where the wine came from, he could only drink some himself and could not take it out.

The earliest batch of Crimson Blood Brew had already sat for three years. By the time within the Spirit Pearl Space, it was already a thirty-year vintage.

Wang Shouye was dozing in the back courtyard of the Pill Talisman Pavilion. The moment Wang Daoyuan stepped out of the cave abode carrying two jars of wine, he woke up and said with a smile, "You little brat never rises without profit. What are you asking me to do this time, treating me to wine? Let me make this ugly truth clear first: don't even think about sneaking out."

Wang Daoyuan fawned, "Listen to yourself. Can't I show filial respect to Twelfth Uncle even if I don't need anything? I'm already at the peak of the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation, only one final shiver away from breaking through to the Late Stage of Qi Condensation. Running away now would be like wetting the bed after dawn, wouldn't it?"

"Enough, quit talking nonsense." Wang Shouye cut him off. "Just say what you want."

Wang Daoyuan smiled. "Heh heh, Twelfth Uncle really knows me best. I'm about to break through, but my accumulation still isn't enough. If I force my way into the Late Stage of Qi Condensation, my foundation might become unstable. So I came to ask you, Twelfth Uncle, to be my sparring partner and help me consolidate my cultivation."

"I knew it. There was no way you little brat would be kind enough to bring me wine for no reason. Since it's for the sake of breaking through sooner, then as your elder, I ought to lend you a hand. The sooner you break through, the sooner I won't have to watch you all day. These four years have practically suffocated me. Let me beat you up first to vent some steam." Wang Shouye agreed without a moment's thought.

Wang Daoyuan drew the Profound Sun Sword and performed a sword-bearing salute.

Wang Shouye said carelessly, "Cut out that empty formality. Just attack. For a rookie with no real experience like you, I can do this bare-handed."

Wang Daoyuan had indeed killed an assassin at the Qi Refining Peak, but he had succeeded then by playing tricks and launching a sneak attack, relying on the power of Talismans as well. It did not count as combat experience at all, so calling him a rookie was not wrong.

His only gain was that he had tempered his courage. When it was time to strike, he dared to strike, and he would not be frightened like a true rookie.

Hearing Wang Shouye's words, Wang Daoyuan did not stand on ceremony. He fully activated the Wind-Treading Boots and thrust forward with his sword.

Wang Shouye held a wine gourd in his left hand and formed sword fingers with his right. He lightly tapped the blade, knocking the sword aside.

Wang Daoyuan drew back the Profound Sun Sword and swept it horizontally once more. Wang Shouye flicked upward with his sword fingers, sending the Profound Sun Sword high over his head.

After that, Wang Daoyuan used every basic sword move—chopping, lifting, pointing, thrusting, snapping, and more.

Wang Shouye received them all easily with his sword fingers. Aside from his right arm, he did not even move his body.

Wang Daoyuan had learned quite a bit of martial arts from the old Daoist in his previous life, but that society had simply offered no conditions for life-and-death combat.

The martial arts he learned in his previous life had largely been like building a cart behind closed doors. He only sparred with the old Daoist from time to time. At most, he had acted when he saw injustice and fought hooligans and the like. He had never fought true experts in deadly combat, so he could not be said to possess actual combat experience.

After fighting for more than two hours, Wang Daoyuan's spiritual power was exhausted. He put away the Profound Sun Sword and sat beside Wang Shouye. Each of them picked up a jar of Crimson Blood Brew and drained it in one gulp, then sat down where they were to meditate and restore their spiritual power.

It had to be said that Spirit Wine was much better than Spirit Recovery Pills when it came to restoring spiritual power.

After drinking Spirit Wine, there was no need to refine it. The spiritual qi in the wine was rapidly absorbed and automatically entered the meridians. It only needed to be transformed through the spiritual roots before it could be fully used.

Spirit Recovery Pills, on the other hand, had to be refined before they could be absorbed into the meridians and transformed into usable spiritual qi. They took more than three times as long as drinking Spirit Wine.

Yet Spirit Wine was not without flaws. For cultivators who could not drink, one jar of wine could leave them drunk for days. No matter how quickly their spiritual power recovered, it would be meaningless; using spiritual power to dispel the drunkenness was more trouble than it was worth.

Even Wang Daoyuan would lose consciousness after drinking five jars of Crimson Blood Brew at once. Wang Shouye's tolerance was about the same.

The moment Wang Daoyuan's spiritual power recovered, he sparred with Wang Shouye again. But the battle remained unchanged, still a one-sided crushing defeat.

They fought for an entire day. Wang Daoyuan exhausted his spiritual power four or five times and was left utterly spent, while Wang Shouye had not shed a single drop of sweat and could even keep fighting for several more hours.