Spring passed and autumn came.
In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.
On an ordinary morning in May of the fourth year of Great Image, spiritual energy gathered into a visible vortex inside an underground secret chamber beneath a secluded yet magnificent courtyard estate in the western outskirts of Celestial Pivot City.
Yang Wenqing sat cross-legged at the center of the formation, his hands resting on his knees in a fixed hand seal, his breathing so long and slow it was imperceptible. Over these three years, he had spent almost his entire fortune and gathered enough materials for two more Yellow-Swan Creation Pills, refining and absorbing another twelve Creation Pills in total.
Of the 365 spirit apertures in his body, he had now opened 364, leaving only the last one sealed. This morning, he was attempting to break through that final barrier. Once every spirit aperture was open, he would have completed most of the first step, "Golden Core Qi Refining."
All that remained would be to sit in meditation and refine Qi. Even if he slowly ground away at it for a sixty-year cycle, he might complete the first step. By then, his Primordial Spirit would surely have reached perfection with the aid of the Sage's blessing, and he could proceed directly to the third step, "Spirit Body Metamorphosis." Once he had cultivated a Spirit Body, he would enter the late Third Realm.
Ordinary cultivators would need at least several hundred years of bitter effort for this step, but thanks to the convenience of not needing to refine away medicinal toxins, Yang Wenqing had accomplished it in only a few years. Crucially, he now had sufficient financial resources to support him.
At this moment, all 364 spirit apertures throughout Yang Wenqing's body stood open. Immortal Qi