Breaking Through the Bottleneck

After returning to his room, Chen Fan properly put away his spoils of war, then fell straight into bed and slept. The past few days had truly worn him out. While meditation could restore him and count as rest, nothing was as relaxing as a proper, deep sleep. The poison in his body had long since ceased to be a serious concern. Even if a tiny trace remained, there was no need to meditate. One night's sleep should be enough for his body to recover on its own.

When he woke, it felt as though a lifetime had passed. He had apparently slept for a long time. Looking outside, he found that it was already the afternoon of the following day—he had slept for an entire day. Yet Chen Fan now felt incomparably refreshed, his energy and strength completely restored. It was time to examine the things he had brought back.

Chen Fan spread all the materials he had gathered across the table, comparing them one by one with the Treasure Record before experimenting according to the various refining methods. His crafting conditions were now quite complete: crushing, decocting, mixing, stirring, filtering. He directly poured some venom into small bottles, while placing some into round molds to wait for them to thoroughly combine and cool into solid medicinal pills.

After a flurry of work, he had used up all the materials. Although he had failed a few times, things had gone rather smoothly overall. If he were to prepare the same poisons again, Chen Fan was confident he could succeed nine times out of ten. There were now five small bottles and more than a dozen pills on the table. Those were his final results. Chen Fan was greatly satisfied and could not wait to test these poisons.

But on second thought, he was utterly speechless. How was he supposed to test them? Find someone at random and make them swallow the poison? Was that something a human being would do? Even if someone were willing to let him test poison on them, he had only just begun making poisons, and it was still uncertain how well he had controlled the process. What if he poisoned them to death? Besides, he had been so excited while making poison that he had forgotten to refine the corresponding antidotes. In other words, once these poisons took effect, they might be impossible to save someone from.

What was he supposed to do, then? Surely he could not test the poison on himself? Hm? Test it on himself? This seemed to have been mentioned in the Treasure Record. He immediately opened it and searched for something. Suddenly, his gaze stopped on a certain page: testing poison with one's own body? When one's poisoncraft was profound and one's grasp of toxicity had reached the finest hair's breadth, one could test poisons on oneself. Doing so allowed one to directly experience the poison's effects firsthand, helping one control its toxicity with greater precision. However, one must never attempt it lightly before having sufficient confidence. If one wished to try, one must first prepare a detoxification plan and never proceed blindly.

Chen Fan stared at those words in secret amazement. The author of this Treasure Record must have often tested poisons on himself. That was far too fierce. But then he reconsidered. Anyone capable of writing such a book could not possibly be normal. And though testing poison on one's own body looked dangerous, it was not impossible if done step by step, in proper sequence. The fact that such a thought had arisen in him now was simply terrifying. Normally, he was extremely cautious and never did anything he was not sure of. Why did he now seem to be losing his reason? Could refining poisons have driven him into deviation?

He sat there blankly, staring at the bottles and jars before him, at a complete loss for a moment. In the end, he seemed to suddenly figure something out. He picked up a small bottle and took a gulp, then immediately sat cross-legged on the bed and entered meditation, sensing the changes within his body.

Little did anyone know that he had actually been analyzing matters all along. The materials he used to make poison were all the lowest grade. Judging from how the pills he had made back then had resisted the snake venom, this poison should be weaker than that snake venom. Even if his craftsmanship was better now, taking only a small mouthful of poison should not cause much trouble. He had not suffered any major problems after being poisoned by that snake either; at worst, he would merely pass out. It was not as if it was his first time fainting. What was there to fear? Besides, he had prepared in advance. If things went wrong, he would immediately activate the Golden Wheel Scripture to expel the poison. Perhaps such a small amount of toxicity would not even be enough to knock him out.

The main reason Chen Fan dared to do this was that everything he had gone through before had given him a certain confidence in his poison resistance. It had to be said that his judgment was indeed very accurate. Before long, his Internal Qi became chaotic, his blood vessels grew somewhat obstructed, and his breathing turned rapid—the clear signs of poisoning.

However, he did not immediately circulate his cultivation to detoxify himself. Instead, he left himself some time to feel the poison's effects. After several breaths, he could already fully sense the strength of the toxicity in that mouthful of venom. Only then did he activate the Golden Wheel Scripture and use it to expel the poison. Before long, the toxicity was completely removed.

Eh? Just as he withdrew his cultivation method, Chen Fan suddenly sensed something. His heart stirred, and he went to the table, picked up the bottle, and took several more gulps before sitting cross-legged again. After sensing it for a moment, he could roughly judge the poison's potency. If he drank the whole bottle at once, it would be roughly equal to the giant snake's venom. But there was another matter that concerned him more. Just now, after circulating his cultivation method, he had actually felt that the bottleneck of his Internal Qi was faintly showing signs of breaking through. Thus, he repeated the process. Sure enough, it worked! This was simply inconceivable.

Eating poison could raise one's cultivation realm? Chen Fan still could not believe it. He did his best to remain calm. First, he did not drink any poison and directly activated the Golden Wheel Scripture, only to discover that there was no improvement at all. Then he drank another mouthful of venom and circulated his cultivation again. Sure enough, it worked once more! Chen Fan's eyes lit up, and he continued drinking. Naturally, he did not dare drink it all at once, since there was still risk involved.

After repeating the process several more times, he had finished the small bottle of venom. At this moment, with the Golden Wheel Scripture circulating, Chen Fan only felt that the Internal Qi within him was abundant. The speed at which it circulated through the heavenly cycle greatly increased, and after the spiritual energy of heaven and earth entered his body, his dantian absorbed it frantically. His capacity for absorbing qi rose severalfold as well. The bottleneck at the second level was broken through in one stroke, and he officially reached the third level.

Hoo! Chen Fan exhaled a deep breath of turbid air. The qi and blood in his meridians had been further transformed, and from then on, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within him became even purer. Feeling the changes in his physical state, Chen Fan was overjoyed. This was truly an unexpected blessing. He had gradually begun to understand his unusual body. It seemed that every time he was poisoned, as long as he did not die, his cultivation could improve. Of course, that tiny bottle of venom alone had been far from enough to allow him to advance so smoothly today. The giant snake's venom must have given him enormous benefits as well.

Chen Fan did not become carried away. He continued meditating and cultivating to consolidate his realm. After an entire night, he successfully stabilized it. If he could also make further progress in swordsmanship, then against inner court disciples at Sha Ye and Bu Shi's level, he believed he could fight one against two without falling into a disadvantage.

Yet the matter of his constitution was truly too strange. Throughout all ages, among every kind of cultivation manual, miscellaneous writing, and anecdotal record, there was probably no account of anything like this. He had heard that the sect possessed a Scripture Pavilion. If he could browse its texts, perhaps he might discover something. But that was a place only inner court disciples could enter. Did that mean he would have to wait another two years? At this point, he no longer had the slightest worry about entering the inner court. But his constitution was simply too extraordinary. If he did not find a way to understand it better, he would never truly be at ease.

Just then, someone knocked on his door. Chen Fan hurriedly put away the bottles and jars on the table before opening it.

"What are you doing? Why are you so slow?" a young girl asked anxiously.

Qin Ziyan?! What was going on? Why had she come here? "Senior Sister Qin, why are you here? I was sleeping earlier. Ever since I returned that day, I've been feeling groggy all the time. It seems to be an aftereffect of the poisoning, so I've been sleeping." This girl had obviously come to stir up trouble. Chen Fan did not want to have too much contact with her. What a joke—this was the Little Witch. And they were inside the sect; he would not even know how she played him to death.

"Ah? Are you all right? How about I ask Master to treat your injuries for you?" Qin Ziyan asked with a solemn expression.

"N-No need. I'm basically fine already. I'm just a little sleepy." This girl seemed genuinely concerned about me. And thinking of how she had said earlier that she wanted to repay me... no way. Has she come to throw herself into my arms? "Senior Sister Qin, why did you come here? How did you know where I lived?"

"What? Am I not allowed to come? And let me tell you, you're actually pretty famous in the outer court. I asked around and found out, then I came here!" Qin Ziyan said with a cheerful smile.

"What business does Senior Sister Qin have with me? Are you still going to hold onto what happened last time?" Chen Fan was naturally referring to how Qin Ziyan had said that day she would take him back to the palace for questioning on the charge of secretly learning swordsmanship.

"You really hold grudges, don't you?" Qin Ziyan suddenly puffed up her cheeks in anger. "Do I look that petty? Hmph. I had planned to come find you and take you somewhere nice, but it seems my good intentions have been treated like donkey liver and lungs."

Oh? Chen Fan's thoughts shifted, and he asked suspiciously, "What place? It isn't the back mountain or some forbidden ground again, is it?" He always felt that if this Little Witch wanted to take him out, nothing good could come of it.

"Mm... it does count as a forbidden place, but only for you. The Scripture Pavilion. Have you heard of it?" Qin Ziyan said.

Huh? This... he had searched until his iron shoes were worn through and found it without a single effort. He had just been thinking of visiting the Scripture Pavilion, and now this opportunity had fallen into his lap? Chen Fan stared seriously at Qin Ziyan's face. "Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course. Why would I lie to you?" As she spoke, her face reddened slightly, and she turned her head to one side.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Chen Fan did not care what she was plotting. As long as he could enter the Scripture Pavilion, that was enough. Proper business came first.

"The moment he heard it was the Scripture Pavilion, he became this eager. This person really is..." Qin Ziyan muttered inwardly. Then the two headed toward the inner court.

After the two left, heads popped out one after another from around the area. They were all people who had been hiding nearby to watch the show. "Who knows what kind of dogshit luck this kid has? First, Fairy Ye escorted him home, and now the little deviless Qin is accompanying him away." "That kid looks completely ordinary. How does he have such romantic luck?" "Tsk, tsk. Whether it's a blessing or a curse is hard to say. He actually dares keep one foot in two boats. Neither of those two is easy to deal with. Let's see what he does later!" The crowd discussed heatedly...

At the inner court of Swordcry Mountain, Chen Fan and Qin Ziyan stopped beneath a small mountain peak. Along the way, because Qin Ziyan was with him, no one had tried to stop him and verify his identity. Some had even deliberately avoided them from afar as soon as they saw her. Their path had been completely unimpeded. Qin Ziyan was far more useful than a disciple token.

"All right, the library is up there. I can't use my face to get you inside from there." Qin Ziyan pointed toward the mountain ahead. Not far above stood a massive three-story pavilion, which was presumably the library. The surroundings were quiet, and it was not far from the inner court. It truly was a fine place for inner court disciples to study. "Today, one of the senior brothers from my Sword Control Pavilion is guarding the place. When we reach the entrance, I'll lure him away, and then you can go in."

"That won't be necessary." After hesitating briefly, Chen Fan took out a token. He was actually in a difficult position. This token should allow him to enter the Scripture Pavilion smoothly, but if it was discovered, it might implicate Fairy Ye. Yet if he did not take it out and sneaked in, then getting caught would implicate the Little Witch instead. He could only weigh the two harms and choose the lesser. He had realized that whenever anything involved this Little Witch, matters became especially complicated, and the consequences difficult to predict.

"Eh? A token from the Sword Heart Hall? Are you really from the Sword Heart Hall? Then why didn't you take it out last time? And why are you living in the outer sect?" Qin Ziyan was greatly astonished. Just how many secrets did this young man have?

Chen Fan did not answer her. He simply walked straight toward the Scripture Pavilion, and Qin Ziyan could only follow him speechlessly.

After passing along a short mountain path and climbing more than a dozen steps, they arrived at the Scripture Pavilion's main entrance. Ordinarily, disciples from the three inner court palaces took turns guarding this place. At the moment, a young man was sitting on a long bench by the entrance, reading a book in his hands. Hearing someone arrive, he initially paid no attention, merely glancing over from the corner of his eye.

Suddenly, he stood up and tossed the book in his hands behind him. "It's Junior Sister Ziyan! This really is a sight seen once in a thousand years. Doesn't Junior Sister hate coming here the most and dislike reading? Why have you come today..." The young man had only gotten halfway through his sentence.

"Ahem, ahem." Qin Ziyan coughed twice in quick succession, signaling him to shut up. Looking embarrassed, she said, "Senior Brother Lu, don't spout nonsense, all right? When did I ever say I didn't like reading? I was simply too busy practicing swordsmanship before and had no time to come here."

The young man could hardly believe it, but he did not dare argue with her. Smiling, he said, "Then that's wonderful. Junior Sister's swordsmanship is exceptional, and now you have read extensively as well. You are truly accomplished in both letters and martial arts."

This... was that not far too humble? Were all inner court disciples like this? Chen Fan inwardly scorned him.

"Junior Sister, please enter." As he spoke, the young man gestured for Qin Ziyan to enter, his face still carrying a fawning look. But when he turned to Chen Fan, his expression stiffened. "This junior brother looks unfamiliar. Could you show your identity token?"

Chen Fan handed over the token as requested. The young man gave it a brief look but did not take it for closer inspection. After all, such a thing was basically impossible to forge, and Chen Fan had arrived with Qin Ziyan. What problem could there be? He was merely symbolically preserving the dignity of his position as the Scripture Pavilion's administrator.

"Mm, all right. You can enter as well. You know the rules, yes? Whether they are manuals, cultivation techniques, or any other books, you may borrow at most three at a time. Register your name when you leave. Each borrowing period cannot exceed one month. After a month, you must return them or renew the loan."

Borrow my ass, Chen Fan thought inwardly. The moment I register, won't I be exposed? It seemed he would have to spend some time inside and read a little longer.