Breakthrough! The Qi Refining Stage!

With Zhang Meng dead, the trail had gone cold. Still, the other disciples of Waste Hall had been cleared of suspicion because of it.

Liu Jinhu expelled all of Zhang Meng's family from the mountain gate, and the matter was considered settled.

Next came the work of rebuilding Waste Hall.

However, it was the disciples of the sect's Moving Mountains Hall who came to rebuild Waste Hall's quarters.

Because of the construction, all work had been suspended during this period.

Li Ping'an had no waste qi to absorb.

But he was not in any hurry to absorb waste qi now. He had already reached the bottleneck of the ninth level of Body Tempering; it was time to break through to the Qi Refining Stage.

A day later,

In the temporary shantytown, Li Ping'an sat cross-legged on his bed.

His ears twitched. After confirming that the Waste Hall disciples nearby had fallen asleep and no one was paying attention to him, he finally let out a long breath of turbid air.

"Come on, Qi Refining Stage. Here I come!"

Li Ping'an muttered as he pinched a crimson pill between his fingers.

The pill emitted a refreshing fragrance that seeped into the heart and spleen. It was a Qi Refining Pill!

A pill used to assist cultivators in breaking through from the Body Tempering Stage to the Qi Refining Stage.

This pill was not particularly expensive on the market, costing roughly a hundred spirit stones. But Qingyue had given it to him, so it was practically free.

Li Ping'an solemnly swallowed the Qi Refining Pill.

Before long, he felt the pill dissolve in his stomach. The spiritual qi within it began to spread, clearing his limbs and bones, while suffusing his entire body with warmth.

Most importantly, he felt a current of spiritual power gather in his dantian, slowly guiding his spiritual power into rotation. This was where his qi sea would be.

Body Tempering cultivators had no qi sea, but upon reaching the Qi Refining realm, a qi sea came into being.

With a qi sea, one could control spiritual power and use spells, truly becoming a cultivator. It was as different from the Body Tempering realm as heaven and earth.

"Very good."

Sensing the changes within his body, Li Ping'an was overjoyed. He immediately circulated his spiritual power, gathering it into a vortex around his dantian and slowly controlling it.

Who knew how much time had passed? Li Ping'an looked inward at his dantian and saw a crystalline speck, about the size of a grain of rice, had appeared there.

This was his dantian qi sea.

Though it was as tiny as an ant for now, he had a qi sea at last and could store spiritual power.

As Li Ping'an's cultivation continued to advance, this qi sea would grow larger and larger.

Li Ping'an was bursting with excitement, his face brimming with joy. He had finally broken through to the Qi Refining Stage!

Though he was only at the first level of Qi Refining, it was already as different from the Body Tempering Stage as heaven and earth.

Now, he could finally cultivate spells.

The moment his breakthrough succeeded, Li Ping'an immediately pulled out the Taiyi Qi-Guiding Art and began cultivating according to the methods written within.

This Taiyi Qi-Guiding Art was a cultivation technique for breathing and guiding qi. Cultivating it required a tranquil and even temperament.

As an old man weathered by countless trials, Li Ping'an's state of mind was naturally far steadier and calmer than that of ordinary cultivators.

After cultivating for only a short while, he felt a current of spiritual power slowly circulating through his body. The Taiyi Qi-Guiding Art was taking effect.

"Looks like this technique truly suits me!"

Li Ping'an laughed heartily and continued cultivating with even greater focus.

As he continued cultivating according to the breathing methods of the Taiyi Qi-Guiding Art, Li Ping'an could clearly feel the spiritual power in his body gradually becoming fuller and easier to control.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Wang Steward was in his room, treating his wounds and applying medicine.

His complexion was dreadful. His formerly ruddy face had turned pale, and there were even faint traces of blood at the corners of his mouth.

He kept tossing healing pills into his mouth one after another, gritting his teeth as he said, "Damn it! That old bastard Li Ping'an hid himself deeply indeed. He actually had a rare high-grade Golden Light Talisman in his hand. This old fool—I've truly underestimated him. Damn it!"

That was right. Wang Steward was the black-clad man who had ambushed Li Ping'an at midnight.

As a Qi Refining cultivator, Wang Steward had been extremely confident. Killing a doddering old man with one foot already in the grave should have been as easy as crushing an ant, shouldn't it?

Originally, he had arranged for Zhang Meng to poison Li Ping'an, then set a fire to burn him to death.

But because of all the strange things about Li Ping'an before, Wang Steward had remained cautious. He had deliberately dressed in black and hidden near Waste Hall, determined not to rest easy until he had confirmed that Li Ping'an had truly burned to death.

Who would have thought that his suspicions had been right after all!

That old bastard Li Ping'an seemed completely unaffected by the poisoned wine and had lightly leaped out through the window.

And judging by his astonishing agility, Wang Steward, hidden in the tree, had been thoroughly startled. Was this really an old man in his seventies or eighties?

But after steadying himself, he became immensely pleased.

He was fortunate that he had been cautious enough. Otherwise, today's plan would have failed again.

So, when he saw Li Ping'an cautiously trying to find a place to hide, Wang Steward pounced down without hesitation.

At the time, in his eyes, Li Ping'an had been like a lamb awaiting slaughter. One strike of his sword would be enough to separate Li Ping'an's head from his body and kill him outright.

Then he could toss Li Ping'an's corpse into the blaze, destroy the evidence, and let everything pass without anyone noticing. The plan would have been seamless, flawless as if sewn by heaven.

Yet who would have expected that, at the instant his longsword was about to touch Li Ping'an, a burst of golden light suddenly erupted from Li Ping'an's body.

That golden light had startled him badly—a high-grade Golden Light Talisman!

Was that something an old bastard like Li Ping'an could possess?

Caught off guard, he had been blasted away by the Golden Light Talisman. Not only had he failed to kill Li Ping'an, but he had been injured himself.

"Damn it, Li Ping'an, you dog! If I, Wang, do not kill you, I swear I am no man!"

The more Wang Steward thought about it, the more stifled he felt. He was a dignified steward, yet killing an old menial had proven so difficult.

He had failed time and time again!

Thinking of this, he spat out another mouthful of old blood.

Just then, sharp sounds of wind tearing through the air flashed past outside the window, followed by the arrival of a powerful aura.

"Who is it?"

Wang Steward was startled. Then he saw a tall young man dressed in white standing in the room.

Wang Steward took a closer look and was shocked. It was Senior Brother Zhang!

"Senior Brother Zhang, you're here!"

For a moment, Wang Steward forgot all about his injuries. He hurriedly scrambled to his feet and bowed deeply to Senior Brother Zhang.

Senior Brother Zhang glanced at Wang Steward, his expression dark, but said nothing.

Only then did Wang Steward notice that Senior Brother Zhang looked travel-worn, and his clothes even bore tears, clearly showing that he had just fought someone.

"Senior Brother Zhang, what happened to you..."