Consolidating Cultivation

Four years passed in the blink of an eye. Wang Daoyuan never managed to sneak out again, especially since Wang Shouye, who was watching him, was the grand ancestor of sneaking out.

Every method he could think of was something Wang Shouye had already mastered. His multiple attempts to escape were instantly seen through by Wang Shouye.

He was confined and couldn't sneak out to sell Spirit Grain or medicinal herbs. He could only entrust his twelfth uncle to help him buy cultivation resources, costing him a jar of wine each time.

Wang Shouye even called these payments "emotional distress fees," "freedom loss fees," and "youth loss fees," among other things.

To earn Spirit Stones for cultivation resources, he had to admit he could refine high-grade Tier 1 Talismans. After all, high-grade Tier 1 Talismans averaged five Spirit Stones each, and any Talismans exceeding the family's quota sold for four Spirit Stones apiece.

With abundant resources forcefully applied, Wang Daoyuan's cultivation reached the peak of the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation.

The Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation was considered the Late Stage of Qi Condensation, and breaking through to it would lift his confinement.

However, the threshold of the Late Stage of Qi Condensation was the second major bottleneck in the Qi Refining Stage, and its breakthrough difficulty far surpassed that of the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation.

In four years, his cultivation had increased by nearly three layers, from the initial stage of the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation to the peak of the Sixth Layer.

This speed was far too fast for most cultivators.

However, Wang Daoyuan's cultivation wasn't solely due to elixirs; it was also the result of his own diligent practice. Coupled with his solid foundation from before, even though his cultivation speed had been too fast these past four years, his cultivation wasn't considered superficial. It just wasn't considered rock-solid.

The foundation of one's cultivation in the Qi Refining Stage determined their future achievements. With the Spirit Pearl Space, Wang Daoyuan's future was very bright, and the possibility of reaching Foundation Establishment was not small. Naturally, he had to consider his future prospects.

If his foundation wasn't solid enough and he forcefully broke through bottlenecks using large amounts of elixirs, it would lead to very serious consequences.

That is, an unstable foundation, superficial cultivation, slow improvement in the future, and greatly increased difficulty in breaking through subsequent bottlenecks.

Moreover, once this situation occurred, it was very troublesome to resolve.

There were only two methods: one was to take Spirit Medicine that could resolve the issue of an unstable foundation. Of course, such Spirit Medicine was expensive and rare.

The other was to slow down the cultivation speed, not rush to break through, and accumulate gradually, which could also completely resolve the problem of an unstable foundation. However, the time required for accumulation was unacceptable to ordinary cultivators.

Although there were various auxiliary secret arts to solve the problem of an unstable foundation, they consumed much more time, energy, and resources compared to diligently cultivating and breaking through only after sufficient accumulation.

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

Without secret arts or spiritual items, the best way to consolidate one's cultivation was through combat.

Wang Daoyuan was confined and couldn't leave the Pill Talisman Pavilion. The only opponent he could find was Wang Shouye, who was guarding him. He walked out of the cave dwelling carrying two jars of Crimson Blood Brew.

There was no other way; it was impossible to get Wang Shouye to do anything without offering wine. These wines were also bought by Wang Shouye for him, and every time he bought wine, Wang Shouye would take a commission – one jar out of every ten.

However, these wine jars were not wasted; Wang Daoyuan used them all to store the new wine he brewed himself.

The Crimson Blood Ginseng in the Spirit Pearl Space had been ready for brewing three years ago. However, he couldn't explain the origin of the wine, so he could only drink some himself and couldn't bring it out.

The earliest batch of Crimson Blood Brew had been aged for three years. Calculated by the time in the Spirit Pearl Space, it was already a thirty-year-old vintage.

Wang Shouye was dozing off in the backyard of the Pill Talisman Pavilion. As soon as Wang Daoyuan walked out of the cave dwelling with two jars of wine, he woke up and said with a smile, "You brat are never up early without a reason. What's the matter this time that you're treating me to wine? Let me say this upfront, don't even think about sneaking out."

Wang Daoyuan said obsequiously, "What are you saying, Uncle Twelve? Can't I treat you to wine for no reason? I'm already at the peak of the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation, just one step away from the Late Stage of Qi Condensation. Isn't trying to escape now like wetting the bed after waking up in the morning?"

"Alright, stop with the nonsense," Wang Shouye interrupted. "Just tell me what you need."

Wang Daoyuan smiled, "Hehe, Uncle Twelve knows me best. I'm about to break through, but my accumulation isn't enough. If I force a breakthrough to the Late Stage of Qi Condensation, my foundation might become unstable. Therefore, I've come to find you, Uncle Twelve, to be my sparring partner and consolidate my cultivation."

"I knew it. You wouldn't be this kind and give me wine for no reason. Since it's for an early breakthrough, then as an elder, I should help you. If you break through sooner, I won't have to watch you all day. These four years have driven me crazy. I'll beat you up first to vent my frustration," Wang Shouye said without hesitation.

Wang Daoyuan took out the Profound Sun Sword and performed a sword salute.

Wang Shouye said casually, "Don't bother with formalities. Just attack. You're a rookie with no experience, I can do this barehanded."

Although Wang Daoyuan had killed an assassin at the peak of Qi Refining, that was through cunning and a sneak attack, relying on the power of Talismans. It couldn't be considered combat experience. Calling him a rookie wasn't wrong.

The only gain was that his courage had been tempered. He dared to act when he needed to, unlike a true rookie who would be afraid.

Hearing Wang Shouye's words, Wang Daoyuan didn't hold back. He fully activated the Wind-Treading Boots and thrust forward with his sword.

Wang Shouye held his wine gourd in his left hand and formed a sword finger with his right, lightly tapping the sword's body. The sword was deflected to the side.

Wang Daoyuan withdrew the Profound Sun Sword and swept it horizontally again. Wang Shouye flicked his sword finger, deflecting the Profound Sun Sword upwards, past his head.

Afterward, Wang Daoyuan went through all the basic sword techniques such as chopping, lifting, poking, thrusting, and collapsing.

Wang Shouye easily parried them with his sword finger, not even moving his body, except for his right arm.

Wang Daoyuan had learned quite a bit of martial arts from the Old Daoist in his previous life, but in that society, there were no conditions for actual combat.

The martial arts he learned in his previous life were mostly self-taught. He only sparred with the Old Daoist occasionally, and at most, he would intervene in acts of injustice and fight hooligans. He had never fought against experts, so he couldn't be said to have practical experience.

After fighting for over an hour, Wang Daoyuan's spiritual power was depleted. He put away the Profound Sun Sword, sat beside Wang Shouye, picked up a jar of Crimson Blood Brew each, and drank it down in one go, then sat down to meditate and recover his spiritual power.

It had to be said that Spirit Wine was much more effective in recovering spiritual power than Spirit Recovery Pills.

After drinking the Spirit Wine, it didn't need to be refined. The spiritual energy in the wine was quickly absorbed and automatically entered the meridians. It only needed to be converted by the Spiritual Root to be fully utilized.

Spirit Recovery Pills, on the other hand, needed to be refined before being absorbed into the meridians, and then the spiritual energy converted for use, taking more than three times the time compared to drinking Spirit Wine.

However, Spirit Wine was not without its drawbacks. For cultivators who couldn't drink alcohol, a jar of wine could make them drunk for days. No matter how fast their spiritual power recovered, it would be meaningless, and using spiritual power to resolve the effects of alcohol would be more trouble than it was worth.

Even for Wang Daoyuan, drinking five jars of Crimson Blood Brew at once would render him unconscious. Wang Shouye's alcohol tolerance was about the same.

As soon as Wang Daoyuan's spiritual power recovered, he sparred with Wang Shouye again. However, the situation remained unchanged; it was still a one-sided crushing defeat.

After fighting all day, he depleted his spiritual power four or five times. Wang Daoyuan was exhausted, while Wang Shouye hadn't even broken a sweat and could have fought for several more hours.