Failure to Break Through

"Why bother bringing humiliation upon yourself?"

From the maid, Fang Yuan learned what had happened. He couldn't help shaking his head with a laugh. Those two brothers really knew how to stir up trouble.

In the Fang Family, Fang Yuan'er's talent could be called second only to Fang Yuan's. Even across the entire Prefecture City, he was one of the few young prodigies.

But there was one problem.

The person he was up against was Fang Yuan, a peer who left everyone else in the dust.

"I've kept him down for more than ten years. If he thinks he can turn the tables now, he's still too early!" Fang Yuan said, unconcerned.

When the quarter hour of noon arrived, the Source Point on his panel would refresh again, and his strength would soon return to its peak!

"Young Master, I heard Fang Yuan'er plans to attempt a breakthrough into the Xiantian Realm in the next couple of days." Xiao Qing's beautiful eyes brimmed with worry as she reminded him in a quiet voice.

Until now, among the younger generation of the Fang Family—and even the entire Prefecture City—only Fang Yuan had broken through to the Xiantian Realm.

"Don't worry."

Fang Yuan was a little surprised, but he still didn't take the matter to heart.

An enemy defeated by his hand would never be someone he considered a rival. Even if he gave them time to catch up, they'd only be left gazing at him from afar.

"Xiao Qing, go to the medicine hall and use this list to collect some pills and medicinal herbs."

Fang Yuan handed the maid an identity token. With servants to attend to him, there were many chores he didn't need to do himself.

"You lot, go prepare some food for me. Xiao Zi, Hong Shu, come over and massage my legs and arms."

Fang Yuan gave his orders to the servants on either side, then reclined in his chair and called over his two beautiful personal maids to enjoy the good life.

There was no denying it: having money and power felt great!

Fang Yuan had read plenty of novels in his previous life. Their protagonists lived far too miserable a life.

They'd either have their cultivation crippled right at the start, get their engagement annulled, or have blocked meridians and no aptitude for cultivation. Some even had to start out as fishing hands or menial laborers.

In the meantime, Fang Zhongwu stopped by to check on Fang Yuan. He mentioned that the rare treasures needed to restore his Dantian would soon be ready.

But he didn't bring up the trouble among the younger generation.

He looked at Fang Yuan lounging around, his expression rather odd, but said nothing more before leaving, satisfied.

"Perhaps this defeat is a good thing. At least the boy won't train day and night like before."

Other parents might have been furious to see their child wasting time, but Fang Zhongwu could only feel relieved.

It wasn't that he had low expectations for Fang Yuan. On the contrary, he wanted more than anyone for Fang Yuan to see a wider world.

But not at the cost of hurting himself.

Cultivation required gradual progress. Trying to improve too quickly would only bring backlash.

Many people saw only Fang Yuan's astonishing talent, unaware that he trained harder than anyone.

Otherwise, why would Fang Zhongwu have given his own child the nickname "martial arts fanatic"?

"In my current state, I really don't need to cultivate. Getting my body back in shape is what matters most!"

Fang Yuan wasn't actually trying to slack off.

Who, after coming to this world, wouldn't want to move mountains and seas, pluck stars from the sky, and even split the heavens with a single sword to glimpse the endless road to immortality?

But with his current physical condition, cultivating external martial arts was still a stretch.

As for internal cultivation methods, he could use those to improve his cultivation, but there was no need.

All he had to do was wait until the quarter hour of noon, and he would immediately gain a year's worth of cultivation from hard training.

Why bother sweating through cultivation himself?

As the saying went, good steel should be used on the cutting edge, and limited time should be put to full use.

And so—

Though Fang Yuan seemed to be lying in his chair, basking in the sun and enjoying a massage, he was actually holding a book of ancient martial arts lore and studying it.

"Cultivation really is incredibly difficult. You only reached the Xiantian Realm at sixty..."

Fang Yuan's face darkened. He silently set the book down, then turned to the maid who had borrowed it from the Library Pavilion and spoke earnestly.

"Xiao Zi, don't borrow this kind of martial arts book again."

If you had such exceptional martial arts talent, would it take you until sixty to reach the Xiantian Realm? What could be so profound about a self-created technique like that?

The path of martial arts was divided into the Body Refining Realm, Houtian Realm, Xiantian Realm, Foundation Building Realm...

Each realm had nine layers, such as the first layer of the Houtian Realm and the ninth layer of the Xiantian Realm, and so on.

Through arduous training in the Houtian Realm, most people had a chance to become martial artists. But becoming an immortal cultivator was harder than reaching the heavens.

The common understanding was that the Body Refining Realm was merely the level of martial artists who trained their physical bodies externally. Only upon reaching the Houtian Realm, when one had true qi within and could wield all kinds of wondrous techniques, did one qualify as a cultivator.

Breaking through to the Xiantian Realm at sixty already qualified someone to become a powerful figure in Flowing Cloud County. Their talent wasn't bad.

But there was a problem.

Fang Yuan lived in the Prefecture City and was the Young Master of the Fang Family, one of the Three Great Families. He had seen more powerful figures and prodigies than he could count.

How could such people catch his eye?

"Young Master, I'm not allowed on the upper floors of the Library Pavilion," Xiao Zi said, feeling a little wronged.

The Fang Family's Library Pavilion held a rich collection of books and had five floors. The first floor contained the greatest number of texts, though their quality varied widely and was generally lower.

It was usually visited only by peripheral disciples and servants or maids who had made contributions to the Family.

"I almost forgot about that. Come with me next time," Fang Yuan said.

With his status, he could enter any of the Library Pavilion's five floors, and there were no limits on how many books he could borrow or how long he could keep them.

"It's time."

Fang Yuan sensed the moment had come and raised his head slightly. Xiao Zi used her pale, delicate hand to shield him from the direct sunlight.

"You may all leave. No one is to disturb me."

After these past few days, Xiao Zi and the others had figured out Fang Yuan's routine. When the time came, he would "go into seclusion," always using the same excuse.

They were curious, of course, but they wouldn't make wild guesses, much less ask questions. Keeping quiet was the bare minimum.

The servants and maids who attended Fang Yuan had all been carefully selected by Fang Zhongwu. There was no chance of a problem with them; they were utterly loyal.

"Add points!"

Inside the room, Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and used his Source Point on the cultivation entry.

But this time, as he had expected, he didn't break through to the Xiantian Realm.

[You trained hard for a year and attempted to break through to the Xiantian Realm many times, but lacked a sliver of opportunity. You repeatedly fell short. Your true qi grew increasingly refined, but your cultivation remained at the Houtian Ninth Layer!]

In an instant.

Fang Yuan felt the true qi in his Dantian swell. The wisps of true qi that had been there before were now as thick as strands of hair, constantly winding through his meridians.

"I didn't cross the threshold into the Xiantian Realm."

Fang Yuan rubbed his chin. He wasn't too disappointed, but he still needed to figure out why he had failed.

He had destroyed his own Dantian, which was essentially starting cultivation over. He certainly still had his insights into the Xiantian Realm, and he had thoroughly grasped the Mysterious Bright Heart Method, so neither of those could be the obstacle.

Then what was the missing opportunity?

Fang Yuan thought hard, recalling what had happened when he first broke through to the Xiantian Realm, as well as the various stages of his past cultivation.

"Right!"

"When I first broke through to the Xiantian Realm, I took a Qi Condensation Pill, which greatly increased my chances."

The Xiantian Realm was what made someone a powerful figure in their region. Strength was the best measure of that.

After reaching the Xiantian Realm, both the quality and quantity of one's true qi would rise considerably.

To give a simple example, no matter how much true qi Houtian Realm cultivators released, they couldn't remain airborne, even briefly.

But those in the Xiantian Realm could already use their true qi to escape the pull of the ground for a short time!

Often, even a hundred cultivators at the Houtian Ninth Layer couldn't produce a single one at the Xiantian Realm.

"It probably isn't a problem with my talent."

Fang Yuan quickly realized where the real issue lay.

"To break through to the Xiantian Realm, you need to be somewhere rich in spiritual energy. Otherwise, your true qi can't condense into a pillar in your Dantian."

Most of the time, it was difficult to find a place rich enough in spiritual energy to attempt a breakthrough.

The year of hard cultivation in the Heavenly Origin Earth Realm was clearly based on the environment Fang Yuan was in back in the real world.

"Although Qi Condensation Pills are rare, they're nothing special to the Fang Family."

A Qi Condensation Pill could instantly generate a large amount of true qi within the body, stimulating its potential and helping one break through in a single push.

Fang Yuan only had to call for a servant, and someone would go to the medicine hall to fetch the pill.