Breakthrough, Wanxiang True Person

It was the same tall, ancient hall, and the massive prayer mats scattered across the floor remained exactly as they had been placed hundreds of millions of years ago.

Whoosh!

A handsome youth in black robes appeared out of thin air in the center of the hall, a persistent smile gracing his face.

"I'm back." Lei Zhan looked around, his eyes immediately landing on his master, Immortal Juhua, and the Yellow-Haired Great Bear, the spirit of the Water Mansion's treasures.

Lei Zhan bowed respectfully. "Lei Zhan greets Master, and greets Senior Great Bear."

"Purple Mansion perfection?" Immortal Juhua looked at Lei Zhan, a hint of expected amusement in his eyes. "Not bad at all. To advance the Qi Refining Path from the early Purple Mansion stage to perfection in less than four years is quite an achievement."

Though the gap between the early and perfect stages of the Purple Mansion might seem insignificant, Immortal Juhua knew the difficulty involved. Beyond daily cultivation, Lei Zhan had to engage in life-and-death struggles to seize the vast quantities of elemental liquid required.

An average Wanxiang True Person would be lucky to scrape together a few hundred catties of elemental liquid by selling off all their magical treasures. For a cultivator at the Purple Mansion stage to find a way to acquire such a massive amount... it was incredibly difficult.

"That incomplete Qi refining technique you found somewhere is truly wicked. Just advancing from the early Purple Mansion stage to perfection requires over a thousand catties of elemental liquid..." The Yellow-Haired Great Bear shook his head. Over the past few years, he had personally examined the Nine Directions Fragment and naturally discovered its anomalies.

As the treasure spirit who had once followed the True God Daoist Sanshou, his standards were exceptionally high. While Immortal Juhua had never seen a Qi refining technique of the Pure Yang or even Daoluo level in his entire life, the bear had his own vague suspicions.

"Master, Senior Great Bear. My cultivation speed... is indeed a bit slow." Lei Zhan nodded. "However, I have returned this time prepared to break through the Qi Refining Path to the Wanxiang True Person level! I have already gathered all the elemental liquid and treasures needed for the breakthrough."

"Oh?"

"What?"

Immortal Juhua and the Yellow-Haired Great Bear were both stunned. Immortal Juhua quickly looked at Lei Zhan. "For your breakthrough to the Wanxiang True Person level, the treasures are easy enough, but the elemental liquid required is over ten thousand catties. If you want to build a solid foundation..."

"If you want to build a truly solid foundation, you will likely need around sixteen thousand catties of elemental liquid," the Yellow-Haired Great Bear added.

Sixteen thousand catties of elemental liquid was a fortune that would make even a Primordial Spirit Daoist green with envy, let alone a low-level cultivator like Lei Zhan.

"Disciple has everything prepared." Lei Zhan smiled slightly without further explanation. "I ask that Master and Senior Great Bear guard me!"

As he spoke, Lei Zhan found a nearby prayer mat and sat down cross-legged.

Although Lei Zhan asked for protection, the Water Mansion was perfectly safe. Without the consent of the treasure spirit, the Yellow-Haired Great Bear, even the Celestial Gods and True Immortals would have to spend endless ages trying to forcibly refine the Water Mansion just to enter.

As Lei Zhan sat on the mat, he immediately felt a sense of ethereal clarity wash over his soul, making his thoughts swift and sharp.

Whoosh.

Without hesitation, Lei Zhan flipped his hand, and a yellow-skinned jade gourd appeared out of thin air.

The gourd opened automatically, and streams of elemental liquid turned into mist, rushing toward him and causing the ambient elemental energy in the surrounding space to thicken instantly.

"It seems this little fellow wasn't joking!" Immortal Juhua and the Yellow-Haired Great Bear exchanged glances, both seeing a flicker of satisfaction in the other's eyes. Regardless of how Lei Zhan had obtained this elemental liquid, the fact that he could produce it proved his capability.

"Juhua, this disciple of yours..." The Yellow-Haired Great Bear nodded, secretly transmitting his voice. "Even if you fail to survive your upcoming Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, this disciple of yours is enough to grow up in these perilous Three Realms and become a renowned powerhouse throughout the entire world!"

"Oh?" Immortal Juhua raised an eyebrow. This treasure spirit was always arrogant, so such praise was rare indeed.

"Hmph!" The Yellow-Haired Great Bear couldn't be bothered to argue with Immortal Juhua and stood to the side, watching Lei Zhan in silence.

After Lei Zhan sat down, the communication between Immortal Juhua and the Yellow-Haired Great Bear was conducted entirely through voice transmission, and Lei Zhan, immersed in his cultivation, remained completely unaware of it.

"Hoo!"

Lei Zhan opened his mouth, and the emerald-green elemental liquid flowed into him like nectar.

The moment the liquid entered his body, it instantly transformed into a massive surge of elemental energy, rushing into the Purple Mansion space within him.

The elemental energy piled up like clouds above the sea of his Purple Mansion, and soon, bean-sized droplets began to fall, quickly turning into a torrential downpour.

The Purple Mansion space within Lei Zhan began to refine the energy frantically, and the entire sea of his Purple Mansion expanded wildly.

Continuing...

Expanding...

The elemental liquid in the yellow-skinned jade gourd steadily decreased.

Five hundred catties of elemental liquid!

One thousand catties of elemental liquid!

Two thousand catties of elemental liquid!

Lei Zhan continued to refine it.

Hmm? In three years, I have refined over eight thousand catties of elemental liquid, and combined with the daily accumulation of breathing in elemental energy, it's comparable to another thousand catties, Lei Zhan thought to himself. My Purple Mansion sea has already refined what I estimated to be sixteen thousand catties... and it still hasn't reached its limit?

It's a good thing that Pishui White Shark demon lived for thousands of years and accumulated countless treasures, along with the contributions from the other members of the Demon Race.

Then let me see!

Let me see just how far this Purple Mansion sea of mine can expand. Lei Zhan did not hesitate, continuing to refine the elemental liquid in a steady, endless stream.

The sea of his Purple Mansion within him constantly spread, encroaching upon the surrounding void, growing larger and larger, while the entire Purple Mansion space became increasingly dense and solid.

A long time passed.

"Hoo!" Lei Zhan exhaled a breath of stale air. After refining another six thousand catties of elemental liquid, leaving only a thin layer at the bottom of the yellow-skinned jade gourd, he finally sensed that his Purple Mansion sea had reached its limit.

Including what I accumulated before, I've actually refined over twenty-two thousand catties of elemental liquid... Lei Zhan clicked his tongue. If he had to rely on raiding the Demon Race for more, he would have to start targeting those at the Primordial Spirit Daoist level.

However, every Primordial Spirit Daoist in the Great Xia World could be considered a pillar of strength, and almost all of them had intricate connections with major powers...

Lei Zhan shook his head, then stopped thinking about it.

With a thought, he immediately put away the jade gourd. With a wave of his hand, a battle blade radiating powerful fluctuations appeared in the air.

"This battle blade is the best magic treasure I obtained after sweeping through hundreds of Wanxiang Great Demon lairs, large and small. According to the appraisal at Tianbao Mountain, it is at the peak of the Earth-rank." Lei Zhan's gaze swept over the streamlined blade in his hand, his fingers tapping lightly against it.

"Rise!"

Suddenly, a faint ripple stirred through the vast and ancient hall, as if a stone had been cast into a calm lake.

In an instant, with a "whoosh," it was as if an invisible hand in the air had grabbed the blade from Lei Zhan's hand, causing it to hover directly in mid-air.

Lei Zhan's thoughts shifted. The contents of the Qi-refining technique, Nine Directions Fragment, were already etched into his mind. His vigorous Yuan power, shimmering with a golden-purple luster, surged like raging waves, intertwining and weaving together to form countless complex, archaic runes that enveloped the blade in the air.

His movements were practiced, flowing like clouds and water, as if he had rehearsed them countless times.

"Merge!" Lei Zhan pointed from afar, and the peak Earth-rank magic treasure, which had been radiating a powerful aura, melted in an instant like ancient ice into a pool of purple-gold liquid, matching the color of his Yuan power.

As his Qi-refining technique followed his will, the pool of purple-gold liquid was immediately swallowed by Lei Zhan.

Rumble...

Thunder roared within his Purple Mansion space, as if the world were being created. The moment the purple-gold liquid entered, it seemed to trigger a violent chemical reaction.

The myriad phenomena began anew.

The vast sea of the Purple Mansion surged, and massive stars condensed, hanging densely in the endless heights.

Following that, the turbulent waves of the Purple Mansion sea continued unabated.

A bright moon rose over the sea...

The morning sun ascended in the east...

Inside the Purple Mansion space, the three great visions of breaking through to the Wanxiang level appeared one after another.

Just then.

Suddenly, a massive amount of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi from the surroundings rushed madly toward Lei Zhan. The speed of the influx was astonishing, and the aura radiating from Lei Zhan's body became incredibly formidable as the vast amount of Yuan Qi poured in.

A moment later.

Lei Zhan opened his eyes, his handsome face filled with irrepressible joy.

"Little fellow, you've reached the Wanxiang level!" The Yellow-Haired Great Bear's eyes held a smile. "I just saw you frantically refining Yuan liquid. I wonder how much it cost to break through from the perfection of the Purple Mansion to the Wanxiang level?"

Immortal Juhua, standing to the side, also looked at Lei Zhan.

"From the early stage of the Purple Mansion to its perfection, it took about fifteen hundred jin of Yuan liquid. From the perfection of the Purple Mansion to the early Wanxiang stage, it took over twenty-two thousand jin." A bitter smile appeared on Lei Zhan's face.

"Over twenty-two thousand jin?" Immortal Juhua clicked his tongue in secret.

Even though he had lived for millions of years, this was the first time he had ever heard of needing over twenty thousand jin of Yuan liquid to break through to the Wanxiang level.

One had to know that a top-grade Heaven-rank magic treasure sold at Tianbao Mountain usually cost around ten thousand jin of Yuan liquid. If it were a low-grade Heaven-rank, it would only cost about one thousand jin. That amount was enough to buy over twenty Heaven-rank magic treasures.

And this was just for breaking through to a Wanxiang True Person. If it were for a Primordial Spirit Daoist, or a Return to Void Earth Immortal, how much would that require?

Street-Pavement Diary

The street-pavement author says nothing, only blindly updates!

Thanks to Yingyan112 for the Qidian coin tip.