Geniuses and Monsters Are Indeed Two Different Species

The sixteenth day of seclusion.

Inside the cultivation room, a thick layer of shattered spirit stones covered the floor.

The residual spiritual energy in the air remained thick and heavy, refusing to dissipate.

Su Yun sat upright on a meditation cushion, his eyes tightly shut, his breath as steady as a mountain.

For ten full days, he had engaged in saturated, grueling cultivation.

Massive amounts of spiritual energy had washed over his meridians, filled his dantian, and tempered his physical body day after day.

At this moment, the spiritual power within him was filled to the absolute limit.

His dantian sea of energy had expanded to its maximum capacity, the golden spiritual power condensing into a near-solid state.

He had firmly touched the threshold of the tenth level of Qi Refining.

From the ninth level to the tenth.

It seemed like only a small realm apart.

Yet, the difficulty involved was beyond what outsiders could imagine.

In the perception of ordinary cultivators, the ninth level of Qi Refining was the end.

Anything beyond the ninth level belonged to the realm of extreme cultivation that transcended convention.

This barrier was terrifying.

The difficulty, the demand for spiritual energy, and the requirements for physical endurance.

They were in no way inferior to the breakthrough from the ninth level to Foundation Establishment.

Su Yun took out twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones and stacked them neatly around himself.

A massive pile of spirit stones rose up, their spiritual light soaring into the sky, illuminating the entire secret chamber.

Everything was ready.

"It can begin."

Su Yun settled his mind, no longer hesitating.

In an instant, he pushed the Golden Spirit Art to its limit.

Hum—!

A dull tremor erupted from within Su Yun's body.

The air around him was instantly sucked dry.

A massive vortex of spiritual energy formed, centered on his body.

Dense torrents of spiritual energy surged into him frantically from all directions.

The low-grade spirit stones stacked nearby dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

One.

Ten.

A hundred.

The spiritual energy inside the stones was drained in an instant.

The originally translucent, white spirit stones turned into gray, useless rocks in a second, shattering with a crash.

The speed of spiritual energy consumption was terrifying to the extreme.

This was not cultivation; it was plunder.

It was a whale-like gulp!

For ordinary cultivators, absorbing one or two spirit stones at a time was already the limit.

At this moment, Su Yun was draining a hundred spirit stones simultaneously.

Massive amounts of pure spiritual energy rushed violently into his incredibly wide meridians.

Golden spiritual power surged, collided, crushed, and scoured through his meridians at high speed.

Twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones were being consumed in a continuous, frantic frenzy.

The vast majority of his spiritual power concentrated, slamming relentlessly against the barrier that stood between the ninth and tenth levels.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Deep within his body, faint sounds of shattering echoed continuously.

That heavy barrier, comparable to the bottleneck of Foundation Establishment, crumbled under the continuous bombardment of massive spiritual energy.

It cracked, collapsed, and disintegrated bit by bit.

The torrent of spiritual energy continuously broke through obstacles, opening up brand-new meridian channels and expanding the capacity of his dantian.

His physical body, bones, and flesh continued to transform, strengthen, and sublimate under the tempering of the extreme spiritual energy.

Boom—!

The final barrier within his body shattered completely!

A golden spiritual energy, vast as the sea, instantly flooded his entire dantian!

Tenth level of Qi Refining! It was done!

Su Yun slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

His eyes snapped open, a flash of golden light flickering in their depths before vanishing.

The breakthrough was perfect, his foundation as stable as a rock.

He turned his gaze inward, his heart filled with shock.

After breaking through to the tenth level, his body had undergone a heaven-defying transformation; his meridians had widened by nearly double.

He was even more formidable than the vast majority of cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

His dantian's sea of energy had expanded several times over, and the total volume of stored spiritual energy had surged exponentially.

Su Yun estimated.

As of now, his pure spiritual energy reserves completely crushed those of the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

He was comparable to a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!

Azure Cloud Hall.

At dusk.

Li Mofan had finished handling all the sect's affairs.

The hall returned to silence.

He sat upright in the main seat, rubbing his temples to relax his mind.

Suddenly, a figure flashed through his thoughts.

Su Yun.

Since this disciple had been accepted into the sect, received his cultivation techniques and resources, and moved into the Cloud Abode, he had only visited once. He hadn't shown his face for over a month since.

Li Mofan felt a slight sense of bewilderment.

Other disciples, even the geniuses of the inner sect, would come to seek guidance from their master every few days to polish their techniques and correct the flow of their meridians.

They were all terrified of suffering from Qi deviation or making mistakes in their cultivation.

Only Su Yun.

He hadn't shown his face even once.

Could it be that this kid's cultivation journey is so smooth that he hasn't encountered a single bottleneck?

Or is he... slacking off in his abode, wasting his cultivation time?

Li Mofan was uncertain.

He pondered for a moment, then turned to look outside the hall.

"Chu Fan."

A figure immediately stepped into the hall and bowed in salute.

"Sect Master."

Li Mofan asked.

"In this past month, has Su Yun come to you to ask for advice on his cultivation?"

Chu Fan shook his head slightly and replied truthfully, "Reporting to the Sect Master, he has not."

Upon hearing this, Li Mofan became even more curious.

"Go to the Cloud Abode."

"Bring him to the hall; I want to ask him myself."

"I want to see exactly what this brat has been doing, holed up in his courtyard all day."

"Yes, Master."

Chu Fan acknowledged the order, turned, and walked away quickly.

Outside the Cloud Abode.

Two servant disciples stood guard at the entrance.

Seeing Chu Fan approach, they hurriedly bowed in salute.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Chu."

Chu Fan nodded and asked casually, "Is Senior Brother Su in the abode? The Sect Master has summoned him."

The handyman disciple hurriedly replied, "Reporting to Senior Brother, Senior Brother Su has been in secluded cultivation the entire time."

Chu Fan nodded, walked to the door of the stone cultivation chamber, and called out in a loud voice:

"Senior Brother Su, please come out. The Sect Master has summoned you."

Inside the stone chamber.

Su Yun, who was preparing to regulate his breathing and continue pushing toward the eleventh level, stopped his movements upon hearing the voice.

With a flicker of thought.

He activated the Breath Concealment Art to its full extent.

His aura plummeted.

Ninth level, eighth level, seventh level...

It finally settled at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Having finished, Su Yun stood up and raised his hand to dispel the restrictions on the stone chamber.

The stone door slowly pushed open.

He stepped out with long strides.

Chu Fan subconsciously swept his divine sense over him.

The next instant.

His entire body froze in place, his pupils dilated in shock.

Qi Refining... fifth level?!

Did I see that right?!

How long has Su Yun been in the sect?

In less than two short months, he went straight from an ordinary person to the fifth level of Qi Refining!

This speed... is absurd!

He's a freak!

It's simply inhuman!

An ordinary genius.

One level a month is already enough to sweep through the entire younger generation of the Azure Cloud Sect.

But he?

He's doing more than two levels a month!

Chu Fan drew a sharp breath in his heart.

At this rate... within half a year, he might really be able to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Shocked as he was, Chu Fan quickly regained his composure on the surface.

"Senior Brother's cultivation has progressed with astonishing speed, truly a joyous occasion. The Sect Master is waiting in the main hall, follow me."

"Sorry for the trouble, Junior Brother."

The two said no more, walking one after the other toward the main peak hall.

Along the way, Chu Fan's heart remained unsettled.

Geniuses and monsters are truly two different species.

Azure Cloud Hall.

The two stepped into the hall.

Su Yun bowed in salute: "Disciple Su Yun greets Master."

"So you remember how to come?"

"I haven't seen you for over a month."

"You didn't come to ask about the Dharma, you didn't come to seek guidance, and you didn't come to pay your respects."

"I thought you were slacking off in your courtyard, wasting your cultivation."

He had meant it as a casual joke.

As soon as he finished speaking, he habitually released his divine sense, lightly sweeping over Su Yun's body.

The next second.

Li Mofan's figure jolted violently.

He stood up abruptly from his seat!

His expression shifted instantly from relaxed to shocked!

"You... you're at the fifth level of Qi Refining?!"

Su Yun nodded calmly.

"Reporting to Master, for this past month or so, this disciple has remained in closed-door cultivation, never slacking, and has luckily broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining."

"Good! Good! Good!"

Li Mofan said the word "good" three times in a row, unable to hide the joy on his face.

He was filled with delight, his heart blooming with happiness.

"Worthy of being a Heavenly Spirit Root! Worthy of being my, Li Mofan's, disciple!"

"At this rate, within half a year, you will steadily step into the ninth level of Qi Refining, without a shadow of a doubt!"