Successive Breakthroughs

Tribulation cultivators used cruel methods, inciting outrage among both men and gods.

In the name of being allies, the Qiu Family sternly condemned them with righteous indignation, swearing to avenge the Chen Family's blood-deep hatred.

Sure enough, they slaughtered a group of tribulation cultivators and set up an altar in the Chen Family compound, using the heads as offerings for three months.

Afterward, they simply remained at Purple Maple Bay, showing not the slightest sign of leaving.

The Xu Family had originally prepared their forces to seize the place, only for this incident to happen first.

Moreover, rumors spread outside that the Xu Family had exterminated the Chen Family, refusing to spare even the old and weak.

The higher-ups gritted their teeth in fury and cursed the Qiu Family.

The Qiu Family had most likely deliberately guided public opinion and smeared mud over them. The two families had clashed for a long time already; they claimed the tribulation cultivators had been disguised Xu Family members, while the Qiu Family had acted on Heaven's behalf.

After a round of deduction, the Xu Family concluded that this group of tribulation cultivators had most likely been masquerading Qiu Family members, crying thief while playing thief and using revenge as a pretext to occupy the Chen Family's territory.

Former allies could turn their faces at the drop of a hat. That was the brutal underlying hue of the cultivation world.

In truth, that was indeed the case.

The reason the Qiu Family had been moved by the Chen Family was because the Chen Family had promised to give them seventy percent of the spiritual land in the valley.

Later, when they rushed out to assist, they encountered the Liu Family, a family with two Foundation Establishment cultivators. After a brief standoff, they simply left.

They had only intended to fight a battle with the wind at their backs, a crushing battle. Faced with a family whose foundations ran deeper than their own, they did not even have the slightest intention of making a move.

They immediately abandoned their promise and left, watching coldly as the Chen Family fell.

Yet the Qiu Family's members were deeply displeased. After all their preparations and bustle, they had gained nothing.

So they set their sights on Purple Maple Bay and staged this entire performance themselves.

With the overall situation settled, the few unexpected twists did not stop the entire Xu Family from being filled with the joy of victory.

Although they had fought bitterly throughout, they had ultimately handed over half the gains for nothing.

The feeling was awful, but they could only grit their teeth and accept it.

A Qi Refining Realm family's foundations were ultimately still lacking.

Next came the valley's major development period. However, according to the rules of the higher sect, the Xu Family still had to send cultivators to continue maintaining the land reclamation and exploration.

Yet the Xu Family's focus remained on the valley, while their exploration would retain a cautious style.

Lin Changheng could not help but let out a breath of relief. The atmosphere of gathering wind and rain had finally calmed.

Then, sensing something, he hurried back into his room and activated the [Spirit Gathering Array]. Threads of spiritual qi gathered at the center of the formation, like smoke and mist.

He then sat cross-legged in meditation and felt the opportunity for a breakthrough!

At the same time, he gripped two spirit stones in his hand.

The Departing Fire Night-Illuminating Guide, which had advanced from the proficient stage into [Mastery], immediately began to operate. The dense spiritual qi within the formation poured into his meridians like a great whale drawing in water.

Guided by this incomplete high-grade cultivation technique, his spiritual power surged like rivers and torrents, circulating through the heavenly cycle and being refined thread by thread.

This continued until the sun sank westward.

Lin Changheng tightened his grip, shattering the spirit stones. The spiritual power within them was swiftly drawn out, turning into two streams of light that burrowed into his body.

Suddenly, a crisp crack sounded from within him, as though some kind of shackle had been broken.

The spiritual qi within the Spirit Gathering Array also began to boil at once, forming a small vortex that enveloped him.

Lin Changheng felt his spiritual platform become utterly clear. The magical power accumulated within his dantian surged greatly, and his five senses instantly became extraordinarily sharp. He could even clearly make out the paths of falling leaves outside the room.

"I did it!"

Fifth layer of the Qi Refining Realm!

Delighted, Lin Changheng still drained the spirit stones in his hand completely before slowly ending his cultivation and rising to his feet.

At thirty-six, nearly thirty-seven, he had only just broken through to the fifth layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

Overall, the pace was far too slow. Yet in terms of the breakthrough speed for this individual realm, it was no longer considered slow.

It was only that, during the first thirty years of his life, he had squandered and wasted too much time due to various reasons—comprehension, Spirit Root, depleted essence blood, and more.

But it was not too late yet!

Although he could not reach the late Qi Refining Realm before the relatively favorable age threshold of forty, Lin Changheng was still not overly flustered.

On one hand, panic was useless.

On the other hand, once he mastered the [Life Extension Talent] of some turtle-type demon beast, his lifespan would increase to a certain extent...

Lengthening the span of life, in a sense, also represented a reverse increase in youth.

Could the middle-aged stage of a hundred-year lifespan and the middle-aged stage of a two-hundred-year lifespan really be the same age?

Theoretically, that was true, but it still required concrete verification in practice.

Lin Changheng had always been exceptionally steady.

In truth, the Departing Fire Night-Illuminating Guide had been stuck at the proficient stage for a long time before breaking through into mastery, thanks to the comprehension boost from the [Origin Treasure Seed: Second Layer].

About three months earlier, the [Origin Treasure Seed], which Lin Changheng had long awaited, had finally succeeded in Spirit Snatch once more.

[Origin Treasure Seed: Second Layer]

[Spirit Snatch: 6/100]

It had also accumulated six new points of progress.

Its effects had therefore transformed.

[Refined: Enlightenment Boost: Heavenly Gift of Spiritual Light]

[Effect: Occasionally enter a state of enlightenment, gaining insight into beginner-level techniques and skills]

He did not even need to deliberately test it; the effect had already appeared.

The difficult bottlenecks in the Departing Fire Night-Illuminating Guide that had kept it outside [Mastery],

He merely studied the original text of the cultivation technique from beginning to end, sorting through it once, and they were soon all resolved as easily as a knife through butter. It was a marvelous feeling of understanding without needing to be taught.

"As expected, the gap in comprehension between person and person is even greater than the gap between a person and a raised beast."

"No wonder some people exhaust the classics until their hair turns white and still cannot glimpse the path, while others have a flash of inspiration and step through the hall into its inner mysteries."

With a sigh of emotion,

when he removed the jade slip from his forehead, the remaining leaves of the old tree in the courtyard were rustling in the night wind, like clear notes ringing out to mark his ascent.

Not only that, when he tried refining the mid-grade pill [Water Ganoderma Pill] once again, Lin Changheng suddenly entered a wondrous state. He did not awaken from it until a strange fragrance drifted from the furnace...

The pill that had long refused to form had actually succeeded this time.

"Could this be the 'enlightenment' mentioned in the effect?"

Lin Changheng quickly understood.

He immediately calmed his mind and tried to capture that feeling, that state, committing it firmly to memory before analyzing it, trying to understand it, and reproduce it.

Five days later.

The pill formed once more.

This also meant that Lin Changheng had completely mastered the method of refining the [Water Ganoderma Pill], stepping into the realm of a first-rank mid-grade alchemist.

"What a pity I wasted more than twenty batches of [Water Ganoderma Pill] ingredients..."

Most importantly, the formula for the [Water Ganoderma Pill] did not involve demon beast essence blood, which was why this had happened.

Otherwise, he could have added another type of treasure seed.

Moreover, the Secret Notes of Taihe Alchemy only recorded this one pill formula.

"I really do have to make a trip outside."

Lin Changheng sighed.

He truly did not want to leave, but he had to—the mid-grade alchemy path needed to be put to use, while he also had to avoid exposing himself.

On top of that, there were the accumulated pills in his possession to sell, new mid-grade pill formulas to acquire, new demon beast essence blood...

All in all, there was much to deal with.

Fortunately, his cultivation had now reached the fifth layer. He had many high-quality talismans, a mid-grade magical artifact for protection, the Fire Bullet Art enhanced by [Fire Control Art: Mastery], two low-grade offensive magical artifacts for attacking, and [Earth Escape Art: Path Glimpse] for fleeing.

The outside world had also become somewhat more stable, with no powerful enemy like the Chen Family watching them from all sides.

He could try leaving with a Xu Family merchant caravan.

The risks were still controllable.

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