Inside the mountain cave, Xu Yan sat cross-legged, with three jade bottles placed before him, all filled with Qi Gathering Pills.
He had originally planned to refine second-tier pills before attempting a breakthrough, but an unexpected stroke of fortune had brought him a Millennium Fire Lotus, saving him considerable effort.
The Millennium Fire Lotus primarily strengthened a cultivator's body. Xu Yan was far from certain whether the spiritual energy now hidden throughout his flesh could help him advance.
That was why he had taken out all the Qi Gathering Pills in his Storage Bag.
After suppressing every distracting thought, he slowly began circulating the Taiyi Five Elements Art.
As he slowly circulated the cultivation method, a soft radiance shone through his entire body. Threads of scorching heat rose within his flesh, gradually becoming a warm current that surged toward his dantian.
The Millennium Fire Lotus was, after all, a Tier Four spirit medicine. The spiritual energy remaining in his flesh rivaled that of an ordinary second-tier spiritual pill.
Streams of magic power arose from the hundred acupoints throughout Xu Yan's body and surged toward his dantian like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.
As more and more magic power gathered, his aura gradually strengthened, until at a certain moment, a thunderous rumble rang out from his dantian, and heaven and earth spiritual qi descended in an unending stream.
A short while later, an even more powerful aura emerged within the mountain cave.
Xu Yan sank into a state of void clarity. Surging magic power gushed from his dantian, passed through the hundred acupoints throughout his body, then returned to his dantian. A sense of seamless harmony arose within him.
His face, which had looked weathered from using the Bloodfiend Shadow-Escaping Steps, now returned completely to normal.
"Now that I've