Cultivation Rising in Succession

Lei Jun silently circulated his qi and breathed, all five Qi Seas within him trembling at once.

The phantom of the Purple-Gold Spirit Mushroom swayed along with them.

A vast amount of spiritual energy was continuously refined and absorbed by Lei Jun, transforming into True Qi within his Qi Seas.

The small bottleneck from before took little effort to break through this time. It was far easier and much faster than expected.

The sixth Qi Sea was newly formed!

Lei Jun opened his eyes and slowly exhaled.

His cultivation realm had risen from Qi Refining Fifth Layer to Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

As far as Lei Jun knew, cultivation in the present age was customarily divided into nine major realms, also known as the Nine Heavens.

The specific characteristics of each realm could differ according to the inherited cultivation paths of different sects, but they were all generally divided into the Nine Heavens.

For instance, the Taoist Dan Ding Sect customarily called the Nine Heavens, from lowest to highest: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Cauldron, Golden Core, Nurturing, Dao Embryo, Nascent Soul, Nascent Transformation, and Mahayana.

Celestial Master Mansion, where Lei Jun was, was the ancestral home and sacred land of the Taoist Talisman School. In its Taoist Talisman lineage, the Nine Heavens from lowest to highest were Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Dharma Altar, Origin Talisman, Dao Palace, Dao Seal, Heavenly Connection, Divine Court, and Mahayana.

Some major realms were further divided into varying numbers of minor realms.

For example, the initial First Heaven, the Qi Refining realm, was divided into twelve minor realms, called the Twelve Story Building.

The Second Heaven, the Foundation Establishment realm, was divided into four minor realms: initial, middle, high, and complete.

And so on and so forth, too numerous to list.

Celestial Master Mansion was, after all, the sacred ancestral home of the Taoist Sects' Talisman lineage. Even its most elementary foundational methods had their own unique subtleties.

Although Lei Jun had only entered the sect and begun cultivating not long ago, he had already reached Qi Refining Fifth Layer through his previous cultivation.

However, recently, he had felt the pace of his cultivation advancement gradually slowing.

On one hand, the higher one's cultivation realm, the greater the difficulty truly became, and the more time it often required.

On the other hand, the various spiritual items he used as cultivation resources were relatively limited.

Though Celestial Master Mansion had a vast estate and abundant resources, in the overwhelming majority of cases, Dao children only received a large supply of resources after participating in Chuan Du Initiation, becoming Daoists, and formally becoming True Disciples of Celestial Master Mansion.

Fortunately, this purple-gold spirit mushroom before him was practically like receiving a private supplement to his meals.

"But this is only a single resource. Once I participate in Chuan Du Initiation and become an official True Disciple, my treatment in every aspect—Dharma, Land, Wealth, and Companion—will rise across the board."

Lei Jun slowly withdrew his cultivation. "I still have to strive to participate in Chuan Du Initiation as soon as possible, leave the Dao Child Courtyard at the foot of the mountain, and head to the Main Mansion on the mountain."

Within his Dantian, the phantom of the Purple-Gold Spirit Mushroom once more dissolved into strands of golden light that dispersed throughout his Four Limbs and Hundred Bones.

Yet whenever needed, it could gather again. At ordinary times, it remained well concealed.

Upper Middle Auspicious Sign, Fifth Grade Opportunity... Lei Jun nodded slowly.

He wondered what the Middle Middle Auspicious Sign's Sixth Grade Opportunity over at Spirit Mushroom Platform was.

The next day, he attended the Morning Lesson as usual.

After the Morning Lesson, Lei Jun and the others who had escaped disaster were permitted to visit familiar fellow disciples who had been injured.

"Junior Brother Lei, you didn't go to Elder Du's Cave Abode for the selection, and you actually escaped a calamity!" one Dao child repeatedly exclaimed.

After a night had passed, all sorts of rumors began circulating through the Dao Child Courtyard.

"By the way, I heard that the spirit vein at Spirit Mushroom Platform suddenly revived yesterday too!"

"Could it have something to do with Elder Du's Dharma Altar?"

"If there was a way to restore Spirit Mushroom Platform, why wasn't it done earlier?"

"Maybe they stumbled into it by accident..."

Someone beside Lei Jun bumped his elbow. "Senior Brother Lei, have you heard? Not only did the spirit vein at Spirit Mushroom Platform revive, but a pure gold spirit mushroom was born there too!"

"A pure gold spirit mushroom?"

Lei Jun turned to look.

"That's right!"

The Dao child nodded forcefully. "I heard that because the spirit vein that had been clogged and dried up for years regained its vitality, spiritual energy reversed its course, and things turned around after reaching their extreme. That was why, at the very beginning of the spirit vein's revival, a pure gold spirit mushroom immediately grew. Whether there will be more in the future is still hard to say.

"According to old tales, before Spirit Mushroom Platform was damaged in earlier years, it once produced a purple-gold spirit mushroom, one grade higher even than the pure gold kind!

"But Spirit Mushroom Platform's revival this time is already a tremendous joy. Having a Pure Gold Spirit Mushroom newly grow is the second joy arriving at the gate. We cannot ask for too much."

Lei Jun said, "...That makes sense."

"I heard about that too, but I also heard something else." Another Dao child beside them suddenly spoke. "That newly born Pure Gold Spirit Mushroom was picked by one of our Dao Child Courtyard's senior brothers!"

The surrounding crowd was shocked. "Really or not?"

The Dao child raised his hand, gesturing as he spoke. "Really! It was a senior brother from the Eighth Courtyard. I remember his name was... Chen Yi, yes, Chen Yi!"

Rumors said that Chen Yi, the little Dao child from the Dao Child Courtyard's Eighth Courtyard, had not gone to Elder Du's Cave Abode to join the excitement that day either.

When the spirit vein revived, Chen Yi happened to be beside Spirit Mushroom Platform. He got the first prize and picked the newly born Pure Gold Spirit Mushroom.

Senior Brother Zhang, who had kept his life but was weak and listless from severe injuries, was both envious and jealous.

"There's no justice in this world! We were injured by the Dharma Altar explosion, while he picked up such a heaven-sized windfall!"

Lei Jun said, "...Exactly."

Someone said sourly, "How could such a spiritual item be picked privately? Isn't the Mansion taking it?"

The Dao child opposite spread his hands. "I heard the Mansion announced that Spirit Mushroom Platform's revival and the birth of the Gold Spirit Mushroom were an unexpected windfall sent down by heaven. Whoever encountered it was simply lucky, so they would not pursue the matter. And besides... it seems Chen Yi ate the Pure Gold Spirit Mushroom right there on the spot!"

Everyone said, "That brat really stepped in dog shit!"

Lei Jun cleared his throat. "It's getting late. Senior Brother Zhang and the others are injured and still need their rest."

"Senior Brother Lei is right." The crowd gathered around them finally dispersed little by little.

Lei Jun left the Sickbay Courtyard and walked along the road, lost in thought.

Elder Du had pulled off something huge and caused the Spirit Mushroom Platform, damaged for years, to revive. That should have been an unexpected incident, right?

That fellow named Chen Yi had timed it so precisely, catching this coincidence?

But if Chen Yi had known in advance that Elder Du would pull such a trick, why had he gone to Spirit Mushroom Platform rather than near Elder Du's Cave Abode to look for the Purple-Gold Spirit Mushroom's light phantom?

In terms of quality, the Purple-Gold Spirit Mushroom was superior to the Pure Gold Spirit Mushroom.

Setting aside whether the fortune sign was auspicious or inauspicious, the difference between a Fifth Grade Opportunity and a Sixth Grade Opportunity lay precisely here.

When Spirit Mushroom Platform revived, it could originally have formed a Purple-Gold Spirit Mushroom of the highest quality.

But fortune and disaster came together, with advantages and disadvantages alike.

Affected by the Azure Lightning, although Spirit Mushroom Platform revived, the essence of the Purple-Gold Spirit Mushroom had only just taken form before it was blasted away once again by the exploding lightning.

Thus, only a lower-grade Pure Gold Spirit Mushroom formed at Spirit Mushroom Platform itself.

The Purple-Gold Spirit Mushroom Essence transformed into a light phantom, tangled with the lightning, and flew outward amid the Light Haze's eruption, only to fall back near Elder Du's Cave Abode.

Because it had initially become entangled with the Azure Lightning, the two influences canceled each other out.

The Azure Lightning concealed the spiritual energy of the mushroom essence.

The mushroom essence neutralized the lightning's violent nature.

As the Azure Lightning gradually dispersed and the Purple-Gold Spirit Mushroom Essence was about to see daylight again, Lei Jun happened to pick up the bargain before anyone else sensed it.

Lei Jun shook his head, gathered his thoughts, and diligently completed the Dao Child Courtyard's lessons as usual.

That night, after returning to the small courtyard where he lived, he followed his own rhythm, neither hurried nor impatient, and cultivated in silence.

The essence of the Purple-Gold Spirit Mushroom continuously transformed into spiritual energy, nourishing Lei Jun's flesh and blood while pushing his progress forward.

Thus, another period of time passed.

True Qi roared through Lei Jun's body like a rushing river, and soon opened up his seventh Qi Sea.

Qi Refining Seventh Layer had been achieved as well!

"Mm, not bad, not bad."

The next morning, the Instructor looked at Lei Jun and nodded with satisfaction. "Your progress has been faster than I expected."

He had previously felt regret.

This youth named Lei Jun had decent temperament and willpower, along with some intelligence and comprehension, but unfortunately, his innate bones and talent were ordinary.

They were not terribly bad, but he could generally be considered to have Average Talent.

But this was Celestial Master Mansion, the sacred ancestral home of the Taoist Talisman School. Without question, geniuses and freakish prodigies gathered here in droves.

This Instructor himself was a bona fide True Disciple of Celestial Master Mansion.

Top-tier talent that other sects desperately sought was nothing unusual at Celestial Master Mansion.

What was more, Lei Jun had started late upon entering the sect.

Many little Dao children who had spent several years in the Dao Child Courtyard were only fourteen or fifteen years old.

Lei Jun had already been eighteen when he entered the sect.

But now, the Instructor felt that he had misjudged him before.

Lei Jun said, "I entered the Dao late, and I was no longer young when I began cultivating. I can only put in more hard work and dare not slacken in the slightest."

The Instructor was pleased. "Cultivate diligently. Although you will miss next year's Ordination Ceremony, you still have hope for the one four years from now."

In this world, Celestial Master Mansion's Ordination Ceremony—where Dao children rose to become Daoists and official True Disciples—was held once every three years.

To participate in Chuan Du Initiation, one of the basic requirements was for one's cultivation to reach completion of the First Heaven, namely Qi Refining Twelfth Layer.

The cultivation methods practiced by the Dao children contained only the foundational chapters for the Qi Refining stage.

Only by participating in Chuan Du Initiation, becoming an official disciple, and receiving the true transmission of orthodox methods could one hope to reach the Second Heaven's Foundation Establishment realm.