After breaking through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, Xu Changshou could draw talismans even faster, easily producing twenty-four a day.
That came to seven hundred and twenty a month.
Of course.
His required quota would also increase: eight a day. Excluding his two days off, he would have to submit two hundred and twenty-four each month.
The gap between the ninth and tenth levels of Qi Refining was a watershed, one where he would encounter a bottleneck.
Breaking through this level would probably take even longer.
He therefore needed to make more preparations and leave himself more time for secluded cultivation, which meant drawing more talismans.
Xu Changshou gritted his teeth and spent an entire year drawing over eight thousand Windwalking Talismans.
In one go, he drew enough to cover three years of quotas. After deducting the current year, he still had enough for another two years and four months.
Two years and four months should have been enough for him to break through to the tenth level of Qi Refining.
Of course, Xu Changshou had not neglected his cultivation during that year of drawing talismans. Whenever he had time, he meditated to improve it.
The higher his cultivation rose and the older he grew, the more urgently he felt time pressing upon him, and the harder he cultivated.
With the talismans finished, Xu Changshou devoted himself fully to secluded cultivation.
After a year in seclusion, Xu Changshou emerged helplessly.
By then, his cultivation had reached the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining, and he had come up against the bottleneck before the tenth.
No matter how he cultivated or refined medicinal pills, it was all futile. Xu Changshou knew he was stuck at the bottleneck.
That year, Xu Changshou was twenty-one.
He had nine years left before turning thirty. Reaching the twelfth layer of Qi Refining from the ninth level within nine years was almost impossible.
In other words, by the time he attempted to become a great Foundation Establishment cultivator, he would already have passed the golden age of thirty.
That would make things difficult.
There was an old saying in the Cultivation World: difficult at thirty, hopeless at fifty.
He had already worked so hard, unwilling to waste even the smallest sliver of time, hoping to reach the twelfth layer of Qi Refining before thirty. Unfortunately, things had gone against his wishes.
Reaching Foundation Establishment was harder than ascending to the blue heavens.
Forget it. If it's difficult, so be it. I'll do all I can and leave the rest to fate.
Breaking through a bottleneck was not something that happened overnight. Xu Changshou planned to rest for a few days before cultivating again.
Even if he used a Barrier-Breaking Pill immediately, he might not break through. He might as well balance work with rest.
He had pushed himself too hard all these years. It was time to rest for a few days.
Over the next several days, Xu Changshou climbed to the highest point of Green Ink Peak every day to drink, admire the scenery, bask in the sunshine, and watch the sun rise and set.
This continued until one day at the end of the month.
Ye Shanhua arrived, bringing good news:
"Junior Brother Xu, I've found news of the Black Antelope Thunder Ox."
"Oh! Tell me, where is it?"
Xu Changshou's interest stirred.
All these years, he had been searching for the Black Antelope Thunder Ox. Unfortunately, these beasts followed thunderstorms wherever they went and were exceedingly rare.
Even if he found one, it would not be easy to capture.
Ye Shanhua blinked. "Junior Brother Ye, I went to a great deal of trouble to find this out for you. What do I get if I tell you?"
"Oh, my dear senior sister, stop keeping me in suspense. Please tell me."
Xu Changshou smiled wryly and caught Ye Shanhua's delicate, boneless little hand.
In an instant.
Ye Shanhua's face flushed, her fair skin suffused with pink, making her especially lovely.
She shyly pulled her hand free and said, "I can tell you, but you have to agree to one condition."
"What condition?"
"Take me with you."
"What???"
Xu Changshou was startled. "You want to come with me to capture the Black Antelope Thunder Ox?"
"That's right!"
Ye Shanhua nodded and said excitedly, "I've been in the Green Immortal Sect for almost ten years, but I've never gone out to gain experience. Since you're going to capture the Black Antelope Thunder Ox, I'll tag along and gain some experience myself."
"Uh!"
Xu Changshou was speechless. He curled his lip and said, "Senior Sister Ye, my life is worth nothing. If I die, I die. But you're a precious young lady. How can you go out to gain experience so recklessly? I think it's far too dangerous."
Ye Shanhua said displeasedly, "I didn't come here to ask for your permission. I'm only asking whether you agree. If you do, I'll tell you where the Black Antelope Thunder Ox is. If not, I won't."
Xu Changshou's face darkened. "Fine, I agree. Tell me, where is it?"
Ye Shanhua grew serious. "In Thunder Marsh, in Fire Mulberry Country."
"Fire Mulberry Country? That's so far away."
Xu Changshou could not help frowning.
He was no longer a complete novice in the Cultivation World and had heard of Fire Mulberry Country. It was said to be a small country overseas.
It lay three thousand li across the water from the eastern coast of the Eastern Continent.
The eastern coast was eight thousand li from the Green Immortal Sect. In other words, reaching Fire Mulberry Country meant traveling over ten thousand li.
Fortunately, the Green Immortal Sect was already on the eastern side of the Eastern Continent's cultivation region. There were no other cultivation powers farther east, so the danger was not great.
If the place were too dangerous, Ye Shanhua probably would not have chosen to accompany him there to gain experience.
"Are you still going, even though it's so far?" Ye Shanhua asked with a smile.
Xu Changshou nodded. "Yes."
Ye Shanhua asked, "When?"
Xu Changshou replied, "The sooner, the better."
Calculating the dates, he realized today was already the last day of the month.
If they traveled to Fire Mulberry Country and back quickly, they could return before the end of next month without delaying his quota submission.
With that in mind, Xu Changshou said, "Senior Sister Ye, go back and pack. Why don't we leave tomorrow?"
Ye Shanhua frowned. "Junior Brother Xu, the Black Antelope Thunder Ox is hard to deal with. It can unleash its innate lightning. Are we really going without making any preparations?"
"Uh..."
Xu Changshou froze, inwardly blaming himself for being too impatient.
Ever since entering the sect, he had focused on raising his cultivation and had not practiced a single spell.
At present, he could not even cast a Fireball Spell. His only means of attack was the Withered Wood Palm Zhang Zhengyuan had taught him.
Taking on the Black Antelope Thunder Ox in this state would simply be courting death.
"Right, right, right. I almost forgot. We need to prepare. I was too impatient." Xu Changshou gave an embarrassed smile.
Ye Shanhua said solemnly, "The Black Antelope Thunder Ox's most powerful attack is its innate lightning. If its Innate Thunder Core hits you, death is almost certain.
"So we need to think of a way to deal with its innate lightning."
"Don't worry. I have a way to handle the Black Antelope Thunder Ox's innate lightning."
Xu Changshou spoke confidently.
He had a type of talisman called the Lightning-Attracting Talisman, which could absorb the power of lightning.
The Lightning-Attracting Talisman could not contain that power, however. Once it absorbed the lightning, it would immediately explode.
Even so, it could block the Black Antelope Thunder Ox's innate lightning.
"You really can handle it?"
Ye Shanhua looked incredulous.
Before coming here, she had discussed ways to deal with the Black Antelope Thunder Ox's innate lightning with some elders of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.
Their final conclusion was that a cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm who suffered an attack from its innate lightning would almost certainly have no path but death.
After all, the power of lightning seeped through every opening. Even if one blocked it with a weapon, the lightning would still conduct through it.
Only a great Foundation Establishment cultivator could forcibly seize and contain the lightning with supreme magical power.
She had never imagined that Xu Changshou would actually have a way to deal with that lightning.
"I can."
"Good, then. When do we leave?"
"In three days."
Before you continue