Climbing Higher to Take In the Full View

Time passed in a hurry.

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days quietly slipped away.

Everything had indeed unfolded just as Liu Dongqing had anticipated when he decisively slew that fellow disciple senior sister.

After winning two consecutive bouts, Senior Brother Zhao of Rising Mist Dao Academy seemed to have forgotten Liu Dongqing entirely, and he truly gained an exceptionally precious stretch of cultivation time.

Liu Dongqing, too, decisively seized this golden opportunity.

Aside from the necessary time spent tending the Jade Cloud Fruit, and the time spent casting the Mirror-Illuminating Cloud-Birthing Purple Rain Art to make his earlier cover story convincing, while also refining and purifying his own mana.

During the remaining hours, Liu Dongqing threw himself wholeheartedly into the frenzied progress of cycling several arts in succession.

First, he refined various crow-type demon beasts with the Crimson Crow Spirit Incantation; then, when the Demon Blood Baleful Qi surged back against his body, he used the Lesser Thought Art to sever Angry and turn it into lamp oil.

Finally, he swallowed Elixir Fruit with the Pill-Descending Art. After purging away most of the Demon Blood Baleful Qi, he continued nourishing his origin with the medicinal power, soothing his mind with the force of nature, and shortening the intervals between cultivating the Lesser Thought Art.

The three arts cycled over and over.

Even the scraps of idle time between them were filled by Liu Dongqing. Either he cultivated the original Bright Candle Sun-Scene Lesser Azure Light Incantation, or he personally commanded the crow-flock divine bearing of the Azure Flame Flying Birds, comprehending the exquisite transformations of the Killing Formation amid the wheeling, fluttering flock.

For the first time, after breaking free from the heavy burden that had weighed upon him for more than three years, Liu Dongqing felt the joy of cultivation.

Even though such an excessively packed cultivation life had stretched his mind taut, and he had even, rarely, experienced fatigue during cultivation.

What filled Liu Dongqing's heart was only the solidity of knowing that every session of cultivation brought improvement.

This unprecedented sense of security left Liu Dongqing almost dazed, as though he had fallen into an unreal dream.

Yet the changes in his cultivation reminded Liu Dongqing that everything was truly happening.

Especially the transformation in efficiency brought by the altered order of cultivation—

In the past, when Liu Dongqing cultivated the Bright Candle Sun-Scene Lesser Azure Light Incantation, he first gathered Sky Light Qi, then refined it within his body.

Not only was his cultivation time firmly confined to daylight.

The process itself involved drawing Sky Light Qi into his body and refining it layer upon layer before obtaining a wisp of Primordial Candle Flame. This was the path from outside to within; often, ten measures of effort yielded only five measures of result—a cultivation art that truly did twice the work for half the gain.

But now, the Crimson Crow Spirit Incantation, Little Thoughts, and the Pill-Descending Art formed a repeating cycle, three streams flowing side by side. Whether it was a wisp of primordial Blood Flame, Angry lamp oil, or the medicinal power of Elixir Fruit, all were cultivation essentials pointing directly toward the Primordial Candle Flame.

Thus, once the Primordial Candle Flame grew stronger, Liu Dongqing no longer even needed to deliberately cultivate the Bright Candle Sun-Scene Lesser Azure Light Incantation. Rolling Sky Light Qi would be drawn over on its own, entering his body and naturally merging into those layers of circling azure light.

This was the path from within to without; often, five measures of effort could yield ten measures of result—true cultivation efficiency that achieved twice the result with half the effort.

It was precisely under the driving force of such extraordinary efficiency that, after more than twenty days of diligent cultivation, Liu Dongqing's cultivation ascended another floor!

Outside that perfectly round Primordial Candle Flame, five solid rings of sky-azure radiance nested one within another.

And beyond those five rings of sky-azure light, a sixth, far fainter arc had already begun to flicker in and out of sight.

Yet this was not even the most terrifying part of Liu Dongqing's progress over these twenty-odd days—

Within that round Candle Flame, eight complete Fire Crow Spirit Forms formed from Fire Crow Dao Sigils had now condensed.

Upon closer inspection, their expressions were far more lively and ferocious than before. The paths along which they crossed and flew were precisely the rudimentary formation that matched the crow-flock divine bearing.

At the same time, a phantom of the ninth Fire Crow Spirit Form had already condensed.

To leap two realms in a single month—this was something I would not have dared dream of before.

All I can say is that the wondrous methods of my Mystic Sect's lofty Dao are truly inconceivable.

Of course, it also has something to do with my agreement with the steward for a twenty-day deadline. To destroy all those crow-type demon beasts before he arrived, I refined seven or eight crow demons every day.

My progress has risen, but the accumulation of Demon Blood Baleful Qi and the settling of Angry within my mind have risen along with it.

I need to slow my cultivation down for a while.

First, I'll use more Elixir Fruit to pull out some of the Blood Baleful Intent, and sever more Angry as well.

The longer I cultivate, the more obvious it becomes. Of the three arts, that senior sister's so-called self-created Lesser Thought Formula is dragging its feet in terms of efficiency...

But no matter how much I slow down, I can already clearly sense the threshold of the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. Rising another realm is merely a matter of grinding water through stone.

That bargain senior sister once said there were only three or four months left until the Dao Registry Hall assessment.

In the past, all I thought about was Senior Sister Zhang's struggle for position.

But now that I look at it, I am not far from the threshold of Late Qi Refining either.

Why wait for the five-year deadline... The longer time drags on, the more variables there will be.

Perhaps I should seriously consider entering the inner sect and joining Rising Mist Dao Academy...

Inside the bedroom.

Liu Dongqing idly pondered the path ahead in cultivation.

At the same time, he formed a hand seal and held it aloft in the air.

Before him, eight Fire Crow Spirit Forms shone through five layers of Sky Light, while forty Azure Flame Flying Birds transformed into an enormous "crow flock." As they wheeled and fluttered around one another, they fed back to Liu Dongqing the essential principles of a Killing Formation possessing even fiercer beastly savagery.

Just then.

A sudden knocking came from the courtyard gate, interrupting Liu Dongqing's thoughts.

Liu Dongqing loosened the hand seal, and the azure radiance filling the room vanished in an instant.

"Little Liu, it's me!"

The moment he opened the courtyard gate.

Liu Dongqing saw Manager Hou standing there with a frown, one hand covering his nose.

Zhang Qiwei's steward had come twice, once before and once after. Nearly a hundred demon beast carcasses had been buried deep in the field to rot into fertilizer, and the natural diffusion of Demon Blood Baleful Qi had formed a "foul odor" that was intensely repulsive on the level of spiritual perception.

But Liu Dongqing rather liked this kind of environment.

The more others disliked a place, the more it could provide him with a quiet, peaceful environment for cultivation.

He wished everyone would avoid his cultivation residence like the plague.

"Oh? Manager Hou? I thought you'd forgotten all about me. What a truly rare guest—come in, please, come in!"

As his words fell, Manager Hou stepped into Liu Dongqing's little courtyard with what was practically a hundred thousandfold reluctance.

When Liu Dongqing invited him into the house again, Manager Hou waved his hands repeatedly and refused to go any farther in.

"What do you know!

If this old man had gone looking for Junior Sister Zhang the very next day, wouldn't this so-called difficulty have looked obviously fake at a glance?

I know how to keep things within bounds!

First, I delayed for several more days, dragging what had originally been a troublesome matter for me into something I truly could not handle. Then I stirred up a little discord among the managers of the Discipline Hall, ensuring that Junior Sister Zhang would need to put in some effort to resolve it.

Only then did I go to Rising Mist Dao Academy to seek out Junior Sister Zhang.

If she could solve it too easily, how would your and my hardship and toil stand out?

Heh! Boy, you've improved, I'll grant you that—but there are still far, far more places where you need to keep improving!

Come, take a good look at the benefits this old man secured for you—"