In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
The Mass Burial Grounds.
Chen Yu opened his eyes.
The sky had gone completely dark. As usual, dense yin qi began to spread, and an overwhelming sense of danger gripped Chen Yu's heart. Although no sound came from the depths of the Mass Burial Grounds, sometimes silence-especially deathly silence-was even more chilling.
Chen Yu had a powerful intuition that if he stayed here any longer, or tried venturing deeper, he would die.
So he rose to his feet and checked his current panel as he left the Mass Burial Grounds.
[Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: mortal (0/10).] [Spiritual root: false spiritual root.] [Martial Skill: none.] [Cultivation art: "Qi Guiding Art"] [Current experience available for allocation: 81.36003.]
Eighty-one experience points, Chen Yu calculated. If my earlier deduction was right, these eighty-one points are already enough for me to reach the third layer of Qi Refining.
But having learned his lesson last time, Chen Yu was in no hurry to allocate his experience to his level.
After all, once he broke through, it would be difficult to keep gaining experience rapidly through yin qi.
He had previously overheard two Dao Sect Outer Disciples talking and learned that, after reaching the third layer of Qi Refining, he would still need to defeat an Outer Sect disciple to advance. To maximize his chances of victory, Chen Yu did not want to waste even the slightest opportunity to gain experience before the very last moment.
The assessment was the evening after tomorrow.
That day and a half would be enough for him to gain at least twenty experience points.
After leaving the Mass Burial Grounds, Chen Yu headed straight for the Stone House.
From a distance, he saw his Dao companion, Yun Miaozhen, standing outside the Stone House with a wooden sword in hand.
The bright moon hung overhead.
Beneath its cool light, Yun Miaozhen moved with graceful agility.
Thrust,
cleave,
tap,
sweep,
flick...
She practiced the Basic Sword Forms over and over. Each move looked simple, yet carried tremendous sharpness.
Last night, Yun Miaozhen had gained an insight and finally broken through to the third layer of Qi Refining.
Judging by this, she clearly knew something about the assessment. Rather than continue cultivating after her breakthrough, she had only briefly consolidated her cultivation before finding this wooden sword somewhere and beginning to practice.
Chen Yu stopped to watch quietly.
As Yun Miaozhen swung the wooden sword, her spiritual power circulated with it. Threads of light occasionally burst from the blade, and when she finished her final move, the wooden sword suddenly flared with light. Though it was not blinding, it was still dazzling.
When the light faded, Yun Miaozhen was still standing there, but the wooden sword in her hand had vanished without a trace.
Chen Yu froze at the sight.
Meanwhile.
The third layer of Qi Refining, plus these Basic Sword Forms, should be enough to enter the Dao Sect's Outer Sect, Yun Miaozhen thought, the taut string in her heart loosening a little. It's a pity I can't reveal certain moves. Otherwise, I'd be even more certain.
Just as she was thinking this, a voice suddenly reached her ears. "Aren't cultivators in early Qi Refining unable to release spiritual power outside their bodies? That light just now was..."
Yun Miaozhen turned to look.
It was Chen Yu.
As he approached, the corners of Yun Miaozhen's lips lifted slightly. She explained, "Indeed, we cannot release spiritual power externally. That light came from me gathering a large amount of spiritual power into the blade in a single instant."
"Oh..."
Chen Yu looked thoughtful.
"So as long as you gather a large amount of spiritual power in an instant, it can produce a burst of light?"
"Exactly." Yun Miaozhen was in a good mood. Though she did not understand his intent, she answered patiently, "But not every material can withstand that power. The wooden sword just now, for instance, could not bear the spiritual power and shattered into fragments in an instant."
Chen Yu glanced at the wood fragments on the ground, unconcerned.
Watching her sword practice had sparked a few ideas, but he still needed to test them.
While Chen Yu was thinking, the fingertips of Yun Miaozhen's right hand had somehow come to rest lightly against his chest. They slowly slid from left to right before finally taking his hand.
"My dear, it's late..."
She drew Chen Yu along.
With light steps, she headed toward the Stone House.
Since the experience he had gained had yet to be converted into levels, Chen Yu had nothing to fear.
A day later.
As usual, Chen Yu arrived at the Mass Burial Grounds early. On his way to the mountain hollow, he discovered that the skeleton was gone.
It was the skeleton of the person who had been refined alive into spirit essence during the Dao Sect elder's lecture a few days earlier, then discarded here by those two Dao Sect disciples. It had vanished without a trace.
Chen Yu looked around.
Perhaps some wild beast roaming the Mass Burial Grounds at night had carried it away?
The thought flashed through his mind, and he gave it no further consideration.
Sitting cross-legged in the familiar mountain hollow, Chen Yu began cultivating again.
Settling into meditation...
Drawing in qi...
This cultivation session continued until eight in the evening, when he was forced to stop.
It was not because he had encountered anything unexpected. Rather, Chen Yu discovered that once his accumulated experience reached one hundred points, it would not increase by even a single point, no matter how he circulated the Qi Guiding Art.
The information panel appeared:
[Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: mortal (0/10).] [Spiritual root: false spiritual root.] [Martial techniques: none.] [Cultivation art: "Qi Guiding Art"] [Current experience available for allocation: 99.]
Immediately afterward,
a notification suddenly appeared:
[The cultivation art has reached its limit. You can no longer gain experience through the "Qi Guiding Art".]
"The cultivation art... has reached its limit?"
Chen Yu was startled at first, then nodded.
"That makes sense. The Qi Guiding Art is ultimately just the most basic cultivation art. At most, it can support cultivation up to the third layer of Qi Refining. To cultivate further, I'll need a more advanced art."
"Since my experience has already reached the limit..."
Chen Yu began to grow excited.
"System, allocate points!"
"Put thirty experience points into my level first!"
The moment he finished speaking,
the panel refreshed:
[Experience allocated!] [Attributes updated!] [Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: second layer of Qi Refining (0/30).] [Spiritual root: false spiritual root.] [Martial techniques : none.] [Cultivation art: "Qi Guiding Art"] [Current experience available for allocation: 69.]
"I was right! Breaking through to the third layer of Qi Refining really does require thirty experience points!"
Having confirmed his earlier guess,
Chen Yu continued converting all his remaining experience into levels.
A feeling of utter exhilaration swept through his entire body.
"That feels amazing!"
As his experience was converted at a furious pace, he could clearly feel spiritual power surging through his body like a tide, his strength rising higher and higher!
The panel changed again:
[Experience allocated!] [Attributes updated!] [Name: Chen Yu.] [Age: 18.] [Level: third layer of Qi Refining (39/40).] [Spiritual root: false spiritual root.] [Martial techniques: none.] [Cultivation art: "Qi Guiding Art"] [Current experience available for allocation: 0.]
"The peak of the third layer of Qi Refining!"
Chen Yu stood and stretched his arms, feeling the surging power within his body.
For tomorrow evening's assessment, he had already raised his cultivation to the utmost. There was no room left to improve it.
If he wanted to further increase his chances of passing the assessment, he could only work on something else.
"I'd better hurry and get ready..."