Cultivation Breakthrough

The Minor Five-Element Breathing Art slowly began to circulate.

Threads of suction emerged from his right palm, drawing out the warm, gentle spiritual energy contained within the Spirit Sand bit by bit and channeling it through his meridians into the spiritual power vortex within the qi sea of his dantian.

As he circulated the technique, he absorbed fresh spiritual energy from the Spirit Sand while using his will as a spindle, continuously compressing and refining the originally thin, scattered spiritual mist within the qi sea vortex.

One cycle.

Two cycles.

When the third cycle was complete, two lines of tiny golden words suddenly appeared deep within Wang Mengde's consciousness.

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[Minor Five-Element Breathing Art +1]

[Spiritual Power +1]

Almost the instant the words appeared, threads of insight flooded his mind.

They were realizations about how to circulate the Minor Five-Element Breathing Art more efficiently and compress spiritual energy with greater precision.

Subconsciously following those realizations, he adjusted the rhythm of his breathing and the force with which his will guided the energy.

Deep within his dantian qi sea, that vortex of spiritual mist indeed became somewhat more solid.

The edges of its misty form grew clearer, and its rotation became smoother and more natural.

The dantian qi sea space containing the vortex also seemed to expand outward by a small measure.

Wang Mengde's heart surged with excitement. He steadied his mind and continued circulating the technique.

Four cycles, five cycles.

The luster of the Spirit Sand in his palm dimmed, its texture changing from warm and smooth to dry and rough.

He opened his eyes. The Spirit Sand, no bigger than a soybean, had lost all its spiritual energy and become an ordinary little pebble.

Without pausing, Wang Mengde took out a second grain of Spirit Sand from his robe, held it in his palm, and closed his eyes again.

Six cycles, seven cycles... ten cycles.

Yet this time, after cultivating for five cycles in one breath and completely absorbing the spiritual power within the second grain of Spirit Sand—

The golden words in his mind still did not appear.

Wang Mengde did not grow anxious and continued cultivating.

Twenty cycles, thirty cycles...

After cultivating for forty cycles in one breath, the spiritual mist in his dantian qi sea became a little more solid, and its rotation grew increasingly steady.

Yet the golden words in his mind never appeared.

Wang Mengde slowly opened his eyes. Just as he was about to take out more Spirit Sand, a clearly audible rumble came from his stomach.

He froze, then instinctively looked toward the window lattice.

Through the gaps in the window paper, the sky had already darkened.

So he had been cultivating for several hours.

After dinner.

He told his sister-in-law that he was going into seclusion to charge toward the Second Layer of Qi Refinement, then returned to his room and continued cultivating.

Spirit Sand in hand, eyes closed, technique circulating.

Time slowly passed.

Forty-one cycles, fifty cycles... eighty cycles.

Whenever one grain of Spirit Sand was exhausted, he immediately replaced it with the next.

The spiritual mist vortex within his dantian qi sea slowly but steadfastly changed under the continuous injection of fresh spiritual power and ongoing compression and refinement.

That mass of mist grew increasingly solid, and the spiritual radiance it gave off as it spun became ever clearer.

When the one hundred and third cycle ended, two lines of golden words finally appeared in his mind once more.

[Minor Five-Element Breathing Art +1]

[Spiritual Power +1]

Immediately after.

A vast wave of realization surged into his heart.

Almost instinctively, Wang Mengde rapidly adjusted the circulation route of his technique according to that realization's guidance.

The path of every cycle became smoother and more complete than before.

Within his dantian qi sea, that spiritual mist vortex solidified at a visible rate.

And nourished by the increasingly dense spiritual mist, the qi sea space also expanded outward at a visible rate.

A quarter of an hour.

Half an hour.

After an hour, the changes in his dantian qi sea finally stabilized.

The spiritual mist within the qi sea had become a full thirty percent denser than before the breakthrough.

The qi sea space had also expanded by a full thirty percent.

His cultivation had broken through to the Second Layer of Qi Refinement.

His breathing steady, he summoned that golden panel once more.

[Host: Wang Mengde]

[Fate: Heaven Rewards Diligence (Success Is Inevitable)]

[Qi Refinement Cultivation: Second Layer of Qi Refinement (1/200)]

[Physical Cultivation: First Layer of Body Tempering (62/100)]

[Technique: Minor Five-Element Breathing Art, Second Layer (1/200)]

[Spells: Spirit Eye Technique (Minor Mastery) 0/200; Fishing Technique (Beginner) 98/100; Entwining Silk Technique (Beginner) 99/100]

His qi refinement cultivation had broken through to the second layer.

His technique had broken through to the second layer.

Even his physical cultivation had increased by a full ten points.

Wang Mengde slowly opened his eyes.

He stood and slowly paced a few steps around the cramped room.

An unprecedented sense of fullness spread from his dantian through his limbs and bones.

Those additional ten points of physical cultivation had also made his muscles, bones, skin, and flesh somewhat firmer than before. When he clenched his five fingers into a fist, he could clearly feel strength settling into his wrist.

This feeling was excellent.

It was like someone who had spent years wearing a soaked old cotton coat through winter finally changing into a dry, thick new one.

Wang Mengde took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.

His heart brimmed with exhilaration. This young master—

Gurgle, gurgle...

A rumbling roar came from his stomach.

A fierce hunger swept over him like a tidal wave, scattering that smug satisfaction into seven pieces and eight fragments.

After all that spiritual power intake, his breakthrough in cultivation, and the changes to his body, he naturally needed corresponding nourishment.

What he had eaten before was merely ordinary food without spiritual energy. It did not stave off hunger at all.

Later, he would have to find a way to get some Spirit Rice.

But Spirit Sand was a major problem.

Last night, he had refined a full twenty-one grains of Spirit Sand in one go.

Now, he only had two grains of Spirit Sand and fifty Blood Copper Coins left on him.

He lacked Spirit Sand.

He desperately lacked Spirit Sand.

Repaying debts required Spirit Sand, rent required Spirit Sand, food required Spirit Sand, and cultivation resources required even more Spirit Sand.

Suppressing his intense hunger, he pushed open the door.

The blazing noon sunlight hit him full in the face, making him squint.

The sky was a deep azure, and the blazing sun hung high overhead.

In the small courtyard, Shen Qingyue sat on a stone stool. A sewing basket rested beside her, but she was not mending anything. She was merely quietly watching the direction of his door.

At the sound of the door opening, she stood up almost immediately.

Her gaze swept quickly across Wang Mengde's face, and irrepressible hope welled up in her beautiful eyes.

She pressed her lips together and cautiously, softly called out, "Brother-in-law?"

Wang Mengde looked at her and nodded.

The next instant, an incomparably brilliant smile bloomed across his sister-in-law's face. It was as though that smile had risen from the deepest depths of her heart, impossible to suppress.

Then her eyes began to redden, though she desperately held back the tears.

Life was becoming more and more hopeful.

Wang Mengde said, "Qingyue, hurry and get me something to eat."

"It's already ready. I'll heat it up right away." His sister-in-law swiftly wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, turned, and ran toward the stove, her steps as light as a sparrow's.

Before long, the food was brought out.

There were four dishes and a soup, and three of the dishes were meat.

One plate of braised pork glistened red with oil; one plate of steamed sea fish was sprinkled with emerald-green scallions; and there was also a bowl of golden steamed egg custard, topped with a small spoonful of lard and soy sauce, its fragrance drilling straight into his nose.

He lifted his rice bowl and shoveled down mouthful after mouthful of rice and food, wolfing it down. He truly was starving.

His sister-in-law sat across from him, constantly serving him food.

"Brother-in-law, eat this."

"Brother-in-law, the fish has few bones. Eat more."

"Brother-in-law, the egg custard is still hot..."

Her movements were gentle yet quick. She was afraid of disturbing him while he ate, yet she could not help wanting him to eat a little more, then a little more.

Wang Mengde quickly ate his fill and set down his bowl and chopsticks. "I'm going fishing by the nearshore waters."

The weather was good today, with blue skies washed clean.

Most importantly, there was no wind.

The Golden-Thread Spirit Trout Liu Haiwen had mentioned sold for one grain of Spirit Sand per pound while alive. Catching one would mean an income of twenty or thirty grains of Spirit Sand.