Failure

In the courtyard, visible ripples spread through the still air. The Dou Qi permeating the atmosphere seemed drawn by some force, continuously flowing into Qing Lin's body and forming a visible vortex of energy.

She sat cross-legged on the ground, her tiny body like a bottomless pit greedily absorbing the surrounding energy.

Why had such a phenomenon occurred? Naturally, it was because Qing Lin was breaking through to become a Fighter.

Yes, you heard that right. In just half a year, Qing Lin had gone from a complete novice who knew nothing to the point of advancing to Fighter.

Such terrifying cultivation speed, if word got out, would be enough to shake the entire Jia Ma Empire.

Yet at this moment, Qing Mo was the only one in the courtyard. He watched Qing Lin before him with a hint of nervousness.

Qing Lin was drenched in sweat, which slid down her delicate cheeks and dripped onto the ground.

The intense pain of Dou Qi swelling through her meridians twisted her little face, squeezing her originally adorable features into a knot.

Qing Mo's heart rose with it. So advancing to Fighter was such a difficult thing?

The system had directly granted him his Fighter cultivation, so he did not know.

He had previously thought that, with Qing Lin's talent, it should not have been difficult. It seemed he had underestimated the hardship of breaking through to Fighter.

Fighter was the most crucial beginning stage of a martial practitioner's cultivation. At this stage, one needed to combine one's own Dou Qi with the Dou Qi of heaven and earth. It concerned one's future development, so naturally it was no simple matter.

Countless people across the Dou Qi Continent were trapped at the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi and unable to break through for their entire lives. This was because they could not successfully fuse their own Dou Qi with the Dou Qi of heaven and earth, nor could they condense a stable Dou Qi vortex within their bodies.

Even Xiao Yan had made many preparations when breaking through to Fighter. He adjusted his mindset, used Gathering Qi Powder, and had once reached Fighter before, giving him experience.

But even so, he had not dared relax. Even the Child of Fortune had been so cautious, let alone Qing Lin, a completely inexperienced newcomer to cultivation.

"Qing Lin is too anxious..."

Qing Mo felt worried. This breakthrough would probably not go as she wished.

He knew Qing Lin wanted to become stronger sooner and no longer be a burden to him. But the more that was the case, the less she could rush for quick results. Cultivation required following the natural course; haste made waste.

But there was no point saying any of this now. Qing Lin had already begun her breakthrough, and there was nothing he could do to help her.

All he could do was silently guard her from the side and hope she could endure it through her own determination.

Meanwhile, inside Qing Lin's body, she wrapped the incoming Dou Qi with her own Dou Qi, assimilating it into her own and increasing the amount of Dou Qi she possessed.

As Dou Qi filled every meridian in her body, it swelled to a critical point.

Intense pain surged from every part of her body, as if countless tiny insects were gnawing at her flesh and blood.

Qing Lin bit her lip and endured it desperately. Her face turned pale, veins bulged on her forehead, and her small body began to tremble violently.

Enduring the pain, she began forming hand seals, compressing the Dou Qi into the dantian in her lower abdomen.

This was the final step in breaking through to Fighter, and also the most dangerous one.

Only by compressing all of her Dou Qi and forming a stable vortex could she truly enter the Fighter realm.

Qing Mo watched from the side, his heart clenched with worry. He could sense that the Dou Qi within Qing Lin's body was circulating in an extremely unstable manner and could collapse at any moment.

Sure enough, Qing Lin's body began trembling. The trembling grew from faint to violent, until a dull sound erupted from within her body.

Qing Lin suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. It splattered across the ground like a blooming blood-red rose.

Her face was bloodless, and her aura instantly withered. The energy vortex that had surrounded her also scattered in an instant, vanishing into nothingness.

She had failed.

"Qing Lin!"

Qing Mo hurried forward and gathered her into his arms.

"I-I failed. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Brother Qing Mo..."

Qing Lin looked up, her voice choked with tears.

"It's all right. As long as you're all right." Qing Mo gently patted her back to comfort her.

He reached out to examine Qing Lin's body, then gave her a Recovery Pill.

Although she had fallen back to the Eighth Stage of Dou Qi, there was otherwise nothing seriously wrong.

"I'm sorry, Brother Qing Mo. I-I shouldn't have hidden this from you and tried to break through in secret." Qing Lin said tearfully, her face full of guilt.

Qing Lin had secretly forced this breakthrough to Fighter without telling Qing Mo.

Brother Qing Mo had already done too much for her. She did not want him to worry about her anymore. She only wanted to catch up to Qing Mo sooner, to become someone who could share his burdens rather than a burden who only held him back.

But now, she had failed her breakthrough. She had let down Qing Mo's expectations, and while she berated herself for being useless, a trace of fear also rose in her heart.

Would Brother Qing Mo dislike her because of this? Would he think she was too willful, that she had ignored his advice and taken such a risk alone?

The thought was like a needle piercing deeply into her heart, filling her with boundless terror.

"Brother Qing Mo, I..."

"Don't say anything!" Seeing Qing Lin still lost in wild thoughts, Qing Mo raised his hand and flicked her forehead with his bent middle finger.

"Silly girl, how could I possibly dislike you?"

Qing Mo spoke gently as he lightly wiped the blood from Qing Lin's lips and the tears from her face with his sleeve.

"You're my family. More than seeing you succeed in breaking through, I want you to be safe and sound."

"I-I only wanted to..." Qing Lin choked out.

"I know. But you were too anxious. Cultivation is not something achieved overnight. Listen to Brother Qing Mo—don't ever do this again, understand?"

Qing Mo cut her off, his tone rarely stern.

This little girl had been far too reckless. She had tried to break through without preparing anything. Even with extraordinary talent, she would find it difficult to succeed with the wrong state of mind.

He was both angry and heartbroken. He was angry that she had disregarded her own safety, but even more than that, he ached for the pain and self-blame she had suffered.

Originally, Qing Mo had planned to let her break through after some time, once he had prepared the necessary materials.

At first, he had wanted to buy Gathering Qi Powder. It was said to guarantee a breakthrough to Fighter, but after looking into it, he learned that it was far too expensive.

The gold coins he had were nowhere near enough, so he planned to use the method mentioned in the Jade Serpent Divine Art. The cultivation technique contained a secret method that could increase Qing Lin's chances of breaking through to Fighter.

The secret method did not require many things, but it did require a Magic Core from Serpentine Magical Beasts. A Second-Order Wood-Attribute Magic Core would be best.

After observing her for the past half year, Qing Mo had also confirmed that Qing Lin's Dou Qi attribute was wood.

A second-order Magic Core could raise the success rate by fifty percent, while a first-order Magic Core could only raise it by ten percent.

Magic Cores of the third order and above contained too much energy, which would instead lower the success rate.

For the past two days, Qing Mo had been searching the market for a suitable Magic Core. There were many Serpentine Magical Beasts in the Tagore Desert, including plenty at the first and second orders, but wood-attributed serpentine magical beasts were unusually rare. Qing Mo felt it was probably related to the environment of the Tagore Desert.

Perhaps because he had neglected to pay attention to Qing Lin these past two days, she had found the opportunity to attempt a breakthrough in secret.

"You won't cultivate today." Qing Mo gently helped Qing Lin up from his embrace and wiped the tears from her face. "Come on, Brother Qing Mo will take you out for a walk. It'll help clear your mind."

"Mm."

Qing Lin lowered her head, still looking somewhat dejected. She kept feeling that she had caused Brother Qing Mo trouble, and her heart remained immersed in failure and self-reproach.