He would die if he did not undergo the Realm Breakthrough, and he would still die afterward.
The difference was that refusing meant dying immediately, while undergoing the Realm Breakthrough meant he could wait for Ruan Meizhen to attempt her own breakthrough first. At least his death would be delayed.
Perhaps there might even be a sliver of hope for survival in the meantime.
Zhao Changfeng naturally knew which choice to make.
Thus, beneath the ill-intentioned gazes of that pack of jackals, he immediately chose to make a second assault on the barrier between realms.
The Four-Eared Sand Fox at his feet still contained considerable beast blood essence. He intended to use it like a spirit stone during his breakthrough, replenishing the rapid depletion of his sea of spiritual qi.
"Don't!"
Chi Jingchen, the most "kindhearted" of them all, hurried over.
He laid his treasured spirit stones beside Zhao Changfeng one by one, explaining with an air of reproach at his recklessness, "When breaking through, you must never use spirit beast blood to replenish your spiritual power! Absorbing beast blood breeds an even greater Killing Urge! Once it mingles with the evil thoughts already inside you, your mind will collapse immediately!"
Zhao Changfeng's expression changed, and he promptly abandoned the idea.
The greatest flaw in his first attempt had been his failure to anticipate the explosive eruption of the Killing Urge. While struggling to break through, he had also needed to divert his attention to suppressing the evil within, bringing all his efforts to ruin.
If he used the Four-Eared Sand Fox to plug the leak in his sea of spiritual qi and unleashed an even fiercer surge of murderous thoughts, he would be caught unprepared and repeat his failure.
"A Spiritual Qi Pill. For you."
A petite senior sister of average beauty seemed to treasure every word like gold. From a distance, she tossed a wax-yellow pill toward Zhao Changfeng.
Then she turned and left.
"Xiao Mei, how generous of you. You actually parted with the pill you were saving for your own breakthrough."
Chi Jingchen chuckled in surprise.
He reached out to catch the pill, walked over to Zhao Changfeng, and pressed it into his hand. "Junior Brother Zhao, make sure you don't disappoint everyone's expectations!"
Holding the Spiritual Qi Pill, Zhao Changfeng felt as though it were burning his hand. He laughed dryly. "Thank you. Thank you all for your kindness."
Chi Jingchen was truly a fine fellow. He had offered the Four-Eared Sand Fox, warned him to be careful during his breakthrough, and even thoughtfully arranged his treasured spirit stones beside him.
The unnamed senior sister was warmhearted too, contributing even the Spiritual Qi Pill she had saved for her own Realm Breakthrough. The care of his fellow disciples filled Zhao Changfeng with emotion.
Everything was ready. All that remained was his Realm Breakthrough. How could he dare refuse?
"Junior brother, may you win victory the moment you raise your banner!"
Seeing that he had begun his preparations, Chi Jingchen smiled and departed with easy grace, concealing both his deeds and his name.
Beneath the cold moon, Zhao Changfeng sat as straight as a sword, exuding a sharp, chilling austerity.
He concentrated, settled into position, and began his second attempt at a realm breakthrough. Everyone watching him like hungry tigers vanished from his mind.
A mind free of distractions was the basic state required for the Realm Breakthrough.
Much as during his first attempt, thunder and raging fire suddenly erupted within the miniature world of his lower dantian, and his sea of spiritual qi quietly began to change.
The furious tornado reappeared, sweeping up red mist and bloody hues as it carried the power of his spirit sea skyward once more.
Countless streaks of light and fiery radiance obeyed his will, frantically charging the gateway to the qi-blood sea in his middle dantian. Their assault never paused, flowing with extreme violence.
Gradually, the mysterious wall blocking his qi-blood sea began to show faint signs of tearing.
Seeing the first light of hope, Zhao Changfeng was about to press his advantage when an endless Killing Urge erupted, washing through his heart like floodwaters bursting through a dam.
An unbearable stabbing pain filled his middle dantian. The bloodlust in his heart advanced like a blade splitting bamboo, threatening to overwhelm his mental defenses.
He gritted his teeth. Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his resolute, stern face, and wisps of red mist escaped uncontrollably from his chest.
Crack!
He crushed a spirit stone in his hand.
"The Spiritual Qi Pill! Hurry!"
Chi Jingchen shouted urgently.
Ruan Meizhen drew a deep breath. Her beautiful eyes brimmed with anxiety, and she looked even more nervous than Zhao Changfeng.
Zhao Changfeng hastily swallowed the Spiritual Qi Pill. He immediately felt abundant spiritual power spread through him, replenishing more than half the deficit in his sea of spiritual qi in the blink of an eye.
What a pill!
He exclaimed inwardly and seized the momentum, striking while the iron was hot. He keenly sensed a feeling in his chest as though something sharp were about to pierce it.
Yet as the Spiritual Qi Pill dissolved, an extremely impure, chaotic aura spread through him. It stirred his Killing Urge, making it burn all the fiercer.
Kill! Kill them all!
The thought was so savage and overwhelming that Zhao Changfeng could no longer suppress it with his own reason. Under everyone's eyes, he abruptly rose and glared at them with bloodthirsty eyes.
His desire to slaughter everyone seemed frighteningly imposing, yet none of the jackals practicing Demonic Cultivation Arts showed any fear. Instead, they all shook their heads and sighed.
The moment he stood, his attempt at a breakthrough had come to nothing. He had failed again.
"I was so close! Just a little more!"
Zhao Changfeng's eyes, seemingly stained with blood, finally settled on the petite senior sister named Ling Mei. Radiating murderous intent, he shouted, "There was something wrong with your pill!"
Chi Jingchen, who had maintained a gentle, false smile throughout, suddenly appeared before Ling Mei. A killing intent even fiercer than Zhao Changfeng's burst from his eyes. "Ling Mei! What are you trying to do?!"
Whoosh!
Ruan Meizhen arrived in a flash.
Her sole arm, snowy white and tender as a lotus root, darted out like a venomous snake. She clamped Ling Mei's neck in an iron grip and slowly lifted her.
That white arm instantly turned a bruised purple. Tiny points of emerald, deep blue, and pitch-black light flickered quietly at the fingertips gripping Ling Mei's neck.
Zhao Changfeng's Realm Breakthrough directly concerned her. She was angrier than anyone else.
"S-senior sister..."
"I-I meant well."
"I-I really didn't know there was anything wrong with the Spiritual Qi Pill."
Struggling to breathe, Ling Mei gasped in broken bursts. Pain and fear surfaced on her palm-sized face as she pleaded laboriously, "I took it off a rogue cultivator. I was going to save it... for myself."
"How would I dare ruin... dare ruin your plans, senior sister!"
Ling Mei struggled to explain.
"Senior Sister Ruan, she probably really didn't know. Doing this wouldn't benefit her at all."
Chen Haoming gave a light cough from a distance and tried to smooth things over. "Junior Sister Ling has no reason to sabotage Junior Brother Zhao's breakthrough."
Ruan Meizhen stared into Ling Mei's eyes, seething with murderous intent. After scrutinizing her for a while, she casually flung the petite woman far away.
As though throwing away garbage.
"Everyone, give Zhao Changfeng all the first-rank spirit beasts you haven't refined yet. I'll give him one last chance."
Ruan Meizhen steadied herself and looked across at Zhao Changfeng, who still seemed indignant. She said flatly, "If he fails again this time..."
She left the rest unsaid, but everyone understood her meaning, Zhao Changfeng included.
She had already waited too long. Her patience was almost exhausted.
Several first-rank spirit beasts, spirit stones, and a Spiritual Qi Pill-Zhao Changfeng had already consumed far too many resources and far too much time.
She did not care about low-grade Spirit Materials. What truly concerned her was time. Especially at this perilous moment, with Demon Spirits lurking all around, she genuinely could not afford to wait.
Only Ling Mei and Zhao Changfeng knew whether there had really been something wrong with the Spiritual Qi Pill. After calming down and thinking it over, she too felt that Ling Mei had no reason to harm him.
Before dying, Hong Xian had whispered something to Zhao Changfeng. She suspected that Hong Xian had revealed the truth and that Zhao Changfeng now knew what she intended.
Thus, she suspected that Zhao Changfeng had deliberately failed his Realm Breakthrough to waste everyone's time.
But she did not care. If Zhao Changfeng dared refuse to submit obediently, she would tear off her false mask and force him.
That was what she thought. After a little consideration, the others also suspected that Zhao Changfeng knew what awaited him after his Realm Breakthrough and was deliberately delaying it.
Thus, when everyone looked at Zhao Changfeng again, their eyes held even deeper malice.
"This is the assistance your fellow disciples are offering you. Do your best, and don't waste everyone's time again."
Chi Jingchen came before Zhao Changfeng once more.
He arranged all the beast carcasses, each with little blood remaining, in front of Zhao Changfeng. The false smile had vanished from his face as well. "You won't get another chance."
Zhao Changfeng nodded silently to show he understood.
Before Chi Jingchen left, he first used the Essence-Devouring Demon Art to inspect every spirit stone, making sure there was nothing unusual inside them. Only then did he begin replenishing his sea of spiritual qi with the spirit beasts.
His sea of spiritual qi had been expanded once by a gift from the Heavenly Cauldron from Beyond the Heavens. In theory, his spiritual power reserves were greater than an ordinary person's, and his chances of a successful breakthrough should have been correspondingly higher.
His first failure had come from inexperience. He had been utterly unprepared for the sudden eruption of the Killing Urge, and all his efforts had ultimately come to nothing.
His second failure had been entirely due to that defective Spiritual Qi Pill!
Without that unexpected factor, with cracks already appearing in the gateway to his middle dantian, he would have had an excellent chance of breaking through.
The fourth night was agonizing.
Step by step, Zhao Changfeng used his fellow disciples' contributions to refill his sea of spiritual qi. With ample experience now, he knew that replenishing the depleted sea would not generate an intense thirst for slaughter.
The murderous thoughts would settle, only to erupt suddenly when he attempted his breakthrough.
Soon, he had amassed enough power and filled his sea of spiritual qi once more. He immediately began his third attempt.
With the experience of two failures behind him, his third attempt went exceptionally smoothly, almost in one uninterrupted surge.
Crack!
It was as though he heard the faint, crisp sound of glass striking the ground. The seemingly indestructible gateway to his middle dantian finally shattered.
Within the miniature world of his middle dantian, his qi-blood sea emerged, though at first it was completely dry.
At the same time.
Within the miniature world of his lower dantian, the boundaries of his sea of spiritual qi began spreading outward. In an instant, it expanded to three times its former size!
His middle dantian had been opened, and the limits of his lower dantian had been broken. Now he was a genuine yuanqi stage cultivator, formally set apart from ordinary mortals.
Though he felt no obvious change, his lifespan had also increased by a hundred years in that instant. He could now live for two hundred years.
"It worked."
Zhao Changfeng opened his eyes, immediately fixing his gaze on Ruan Meizhen. He said calmly, "I have not failed you."
Unnoticed, the sky had brightened. The cold moon had quietly given way to the blazing sun, and the fourth chilly night had passed.
Yet a deep shadow lingered over Zhao Changfeng's heart.
The Realm Breakthrough meant that he was finally qualified to become the one who would bear Ruan Meizhen's calamity in her stead.