His first breakthrough! Another reward

The Myriad Medicine Clarity Body informed Chu Zhou that he could swallow and refine the drop of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid before him directly without damaging his meridians.

This was an Emperor Tier physique rewarded by the Firmament Ledger. Chu Zhou had already verified its miraculous ability to identify medicines by taste, so he naturally had no doubts.

"Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid to help with my very first cultivation session? What kind of royal treatment is this?"

Chu Zhou went over to the bed and sat cross-legged, tilted his head back to swallow a drop of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, then formed the cultivation hand seal.

Perhaps because his soul perception was strong enough, Chu Zhou sensed the surrounding Heaven and Earth Energy rapidly gathering toward him after he formed the seal. It poured into his body through his acupoints, transformed into Dou Qi, circulated through his meridians, and finally flowed into his Dantian.

Internal vision was supposed to be an ability one could only master after breaking through to Dou Zhe.

Sensing Heaven and Earth Energy of the same attribute in the outside world was an ability reserved for a Dou Wang.

Yet Chu Zhou had already mastered both abilities. His talent was truly extraordinary.

At that moment, however, his attention was drawn to the images that suddenly appeared in his mind: the process of Yao Lao refining Spirit Medicine into Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, clearly imprinted on his soul.

The process was like a video in his mind. Unless he opened it, it remained out of sight. He could play it whenever he wished, rewind or fast-forward it, slow it down, and zoom in...

“How incredible!” Chu Zhou was secretly astonished. He finally had a concrete understanding of the Myriad Medicine Clarity Body's ability to analyze everything about a pill simply by consuming it.

In the future, all he needed to do was obtain and swallow pills refined by powerful Alchemists, and he could watch their entire refining process countless times.

If he could consume every pill Yao Chen had ever refined, it would be like standing on Yao Chen's shoulders to learn Alchemy. In the end, he would surely surpass his teacher.

This also meant that as long as his cultivation and Soul Force met the requirements, he could consume a few pills of the corresponding tier and advance to that Alchemist tier as quickly as possible.

I'll know whether that's true once I break through to Dou Zhe and start refining pills. Right now, the most important thing is to cultivate and raise my strength.

Chu Zhou immersed himself completely in cultivation.

Time flew, and seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

Over those seven days, Chu Zhou diligently cultivated until his meridians began to ache faintly. The rest of his time was spent studying Pill Formulas and roaming the Auction House with Ya Fei under the noble pretext of learning. As for things like his three daily meals, bathing, and changing clothes, servants took care of everything.

Before each cultivation session, he swallowed a drop of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, amounting to one-seventh of the bottle.

Today, he took the last drop and became completely absorbed in cultivation.

Suddenly, he felt a bottleneck within his body shatter.

His Dou Qi crossed a critical threshold and reached another level.

Fourth Stage of Dou Qi!

Xiao Yan had once cultivated to the Dou Zhe level. His cultivation had later regressed, but the effects of tempering his meridians remained. Even with the help of higher-quality Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, he had needed half a month to advance from Three-Stage Dou Qi to Four-Stage Dou Qi.

Chu Zhou had completed that step in just seven days, a clear testament to the power of the Myriad Medicine Clarity Body.

[Firmament Ledger announcement: Chosen One "Chu Zhou" is the first to advance his cultivation during the Dou Qi stage. Reward: Hundred Meridians Fully Connected.] ×3

Before Chu Zhou could explore how Four-Stage Dou Qi differed, an ancient, majestic voice that sounded somewhat familiar rang out in his mind.

Immediately afterward, he felt a stream of energy appear out of nowhere in his Dantian. It circulated through his body, opening and strengthening every part of him.

It came and went quickly, but Chu Zhou could clearly feel the change.

If his previous cultivation had been like building a container while filling it with Water Attribute,

then now, he already possessed a Yellow Grade container and only needed to fill it with Water Attribute.

"If I had enough Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid now, I feel like I could cultivate straight to the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi, or even break through to Dou Zhe." Chu Zhou was delighted.

He had never expected that being the first to make a cultivation breakthrough would also earn him a reward from the Firmament Ledger.

Now he had to think about claiming a few more "firsts."

Chu Zhou opened the Chat Channel in his mind.

[Chu Zhou, Chu Zhou again! Could he be the same person from before?]

[Of course he could. He got a Firmament Ledger reward for unlocking a secondary profession earlier, that Myriad Medicine Clarity Body or whatever. Based on my twenty years of reading fantasy novels, it must give him top-tier cultivation talent. Get ahead once, stay ahead every step of the way.]

[Where did this rich and powerful Chu Zhou come from?]

[I think Chu Zhou is the Firmament Ledger's own beloved son.]

[Who said you could just call him Chu Zhou? Call him God Chu! God Chu, I'm from Magic City. I have a home, money, savings, and a 36D bust. Hit me up.]

[I'm numb. I've already died three times in seven days, while Chu Zhou got a special physique and made a cultivation breakthrough.]

[I've had it even worse. I haven't died, but I'm slaving away as a stablehand and suffering every day.]

[Aaaah, I give up! I've died four times and still keep spawning in the Black-Corner Region. What the hell is this place? Look at someone a second too long and you get killed. Take an extra breath and you get killed. You can get killed just walking down the road minding your own business.]

[Experts have already found evidence proving Chu Zhou is one of us Koreans, imnida.]

[Baka! This Chinese man called Chu Zhou has already signed his own death warrant.]

[Piss off, Japanese troll.]

[...]

The Chat Channel was buzzing.

Chu Zhou had expected as much.

If he were in their shoes and saw someone else so far ahead, he would have posted a comment too.

What he was more curious about, though, was how those who had started from a better position than him were feeling now.

"Shit!"

In Sacred Pill City, in the Central Region of the Central Plains, a Korean "player" could not help cursing aloud.

His randomly assigned identity was a collateral descendant of the Bai Family, one of the Pill Tower's five affiliated great families. A direct descendant had chosen him to serve as a medicinal assistant.

After all manner of groveling, he had finally been accepted as an alchemist's apprentice yesterday. That made him deeply jealous of Chu Zhou, convinced that this Chinese man had stolen his opportunity.

But he had another opportunity as well. He had successfully received a reward from this direct-descendant Alchemist of the Bai Family: some Grade Two Pill, Body Tempering Liquid, the man had previously refined, an extremely rare medicine that could accelerate cultivation during the Dou Qi stage.

He had firmly believed he would be the first Chosen One to break through to the Four-Stage Dou Qi, only for Chu Zhou to beat him to it "again."

"How dare you!"

Suddenly, a powerful palm strike swept toward him along with an angry shout.

The Korean had no time to react before he was sent flying into a wall, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Only then did he abruptly realize that his outburst had disrupted his master's pill refining.

“You made me add the wrong Spirit Medicine and ruined this Grade Four Pill. How will you answer for that?”

A young man in robes walked up to the Korean and raised his palm.

"Forget it. Trash like you can only atone with your death."

"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"

The Korean shook his head desperately, but he still could not escape being killed.

Meanwhile, in the world of Blue Star, the name Chu Zhou once again caused a stir among the upper echelons of every nation.

Once could be a coincidence. Twice suggested that Chu Zhou might be hiding a secret.

They had to contact him and investigate!