The gold and silver starlight faded, and everything fell quiet.
"Xiao Sheng, what happened with the Bloodline Curse? Did it flare up?" His parents came over and asked with concern.
There was no need to ask whether he had broken through. Anyone with eyes could see that Qin Sheng had succeeded. The spectacle had been astonishing, far beyond anything they had imagined, but the curse mattered most!
Did the Bloodline Curse strike only once, or would it return with every breakthrough?
That was the crucial question.
"The curse appeared again, but I endured it this time too," Qin Sheng said.
"Father, Mother, I discovered something about the Bloodline Curse. As long as the body or True Essence can withstand its erosion, the curse dissipates on its own."
"In other words, any Qin Clan Member who develops the most perfect God and Demon Body or Innate True Essence can survive the curse during a breakthrough. I think it's more like a means of elimination."
"The fittest survive. The strong live, and the weak die!"
Breaking through to the Innate Stage on the Body Refinement Path transformed a mortal body into a God and Demon Body. On the Qi Refinement Path, it evolved internal energy into True Essence.
The two paths were entirely separate. Breaking through on one did not automatically grant the power of the other.
True Essence was one of the foundations of a cultivator on the Qi Refinement Path. Refining magic treasures and setting up formations both required it, and its quality mattered just as much as the level of a God and Demon Body. That was why someone who reached the Innate Stage through body refinement alone could not use magic treasures. Cultivating the Qi Refinement Path as well removed that restriction.
In fact, truly exceptional cultivators followed