Breakthrough

"..."

Inside the hall, Wang Xi and Shen Huai were both silent, a rare occurrence...

Only after an unknown length of time did Shen Huai offer her assessment.

"The pill is round and full..."

Shen Huai murmured, "Its spiritual power is balanced and abundant... almost at the level of an Upper-Grade Pill."

"Which inner disciple made this?"

"The Dongyuan Sect actually has an inner disciple capable of refining Upper-Grade Pills?"

Both of them had ruled out the possibility of an Outer Sect Disciple without consulting each other.

Even so, Wang Xi still found it somewhat unbelievable.

He had studied the Dao of Alchemy for several years and even possessed secret treasures that could aid in alchemy. He knew very well how difficult it would be to refine an Upper-Grade Pill in just half a day, with no advance preparation, using standard ingredients and a standard Pill Furnace.

The biggest problem was...

Qi-Nourishing Pills were indeed simple and easy to learn to refine, but no one would devote themselves to studying pills of such negligible value.

That meant this disciple, who could casually refine near-Upper-Grade Qi-Nourishing Pills, could probably refine true Upper-Grade Pills if they were pills he had studied in depth.

"..."

"...Whose is this?" Wang Xi suddenly began searching for something among the rubbish-like heaps on the floor...

"The disciple's slip..."

Shen Huai caught on and helped him search.

Pills were usually submitted in a small box, along with a pill slip written by the disciple responsible, recording their information.

"This one."

Holding it, Shen Huai read the pill slip, and the two exchanged a glance.

For some inexplicable reason, Shen Huai suddenly asked, "Has anyone been chosen as the person who has to die in the Dongyuan Sect?"

"..."

Wang Xi looked at the pill in his hand, his gaze flickering. He drew a deep breath and said thoughtfully, "...Let it be him."

[Outer Sect Disciple, zero-three-nine.]

[Song Yan, Song Yesheng.]

On Outer Disciple Peak, Song Yan was sitting cross-legged in the center of his cave abode, his expression solemn.

Today, he would begin his breakthrough.

He had been at Qi Refining, fourth layer for quite some time. In another six months, he would have to undertake a sect assignment outside. With his current meager strength, he probably would not even be able to protect himself if he encountered danger.

This immortal sect did not feed idlers either...

On the stone bed, Song Yan finished regulating his breathing and took a bottle of Qi-Nourishing Pills, the formation disk for the Little Spirit Gathering Formation, and a small pile of Spirit Stones-some dozen or so-from his Storage Bag.

This was almost everything he owned.

With a stirring of spiritual power, five formation beads flew out of his Storage Bag and landed in five corners of the simple cave abode.

The patterns on the formation disk had already lit up. He took two Spirit Stones and placed them on it.

The five formation beads suddenly rose into the air.

The formation activated.

Whoosh...

Within the cave abode, invisible to the naked eye, strands of dense Spiritual Qi surged in from every direction.

Song Yan's eyes lit up. He hurriedly closed his eyes to meditate, slowly setting the Qi Condensation Chapter into motion.

This "Qi Condensation Chapter" was a fragment of the Qi-condensing portion of a cultivation method called the "Little Profound Mystery Qi Scripture."

The original scripture circulated widely throughout the cultivation world. Compared with other elementary cultivation methods and Dao Hand Seals, its greatest characteristic was its balanced, gentle nature. The Spiritual Qi and Dao essence cultivated through it were exceedingly mild.

Even if one later switched to a five-element cultivation method or some other type, refining and converting it would be quite convenient. It was the most suitable introductory cultivation method for cultivators with average or poor aptitude.

But it also had a very obvious drawback: the Qi Condensation Chapter cultivated undifferentiated essence, so its cultivation speed was naturally slow.

The Spiritual Qi was like thin mist, while Song Yan's body resembled a small whirlpool.

The Spiritual Qi in the cave abode began entering his body at a steady rate, though it looked rather slow.

Song Yan did not feel that way, however. Before he had the Little Spirit Gathering Formation, even holding a Spirit Stone, his cultivation speed had been less than thirty or forty percent of what it was now.

Formations really were wonderful things...

Not wasting this excellent opportunity, he hurriedly swallowed a Qi-Nourishing Pill.

The moment the pill entered his mouth, it dissolved into a stream of pure spiritual power, descending into the Dantian in his abdomen and flowing through his limbs and every bone.

The Qi-Nourishing Pill's effects were extremely gentle. He now felt only his meridians relaxing and warmth spreading throughout his body.

The pill's spiritual power carried the Spiritual Qi absorbed into his body along with it, surging through him. As Song Yan circulated it according to the Qi Condensation Chapter's guidance, it was gradually refined completely, finally flowing into the Qi sea within his Dantian.

When the pill's power dissipated, he swallowed a second Qi-Nourishing Pill without hesitation.

Qi-Nourishing Pills were generally used to supplement the cultivation of those drawing Qi into their bodies, or cultivators at Qi Refining, First Layer or second layer. By Qi Refining, Third Layer, their effects were already rather limited, let alone for Song Yan, who was taking them while breaking through to the fifth layer.

There was nothing he could do. He was too poor to afford any other pills.

Fortunately, Song Yan had refined this batch recently, and they held abundant spiritual power, barely enough for his needs.

Now, a third pill entered his stomach.

By his reckoning, he had spent a long time accumulating power at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, and the spiritual power in his Qi sea was already plentiful. As he cultivated, the feeling of approaching his limit grew increasingly distinct.

Until, at a certain moment, it was as though some shackles had broken. The spiritual power that had stagnated in his Dantian Qi Sea suddenly began flowing again, as though fresh water had been introduced.

Qi Refining, fifth layer came as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

"Phew..."

Song Yan exhaled a breath of turbid air. His entire body was covered in sweat, though he did not know whether it had been left by the steaming mist during his breakthrough or caused by the cleansing of his sinews and marrow afterward.

Although he had broken through, he could not waste the Little Spirit Gathering Formation.

Taking advantage of the formation's continued operation, Song Yan cultivated for several more days before ending his seclusion.

"Breaking through to Qi Refining, fifth layer drained my savings dry."

He smiled bitterly. Before him lay porcelain pill bottles scattered every which way and a floor strewn with Spirit Stones that had cracked and lost their luster.

Immortal cultivation, immortal cultivation... without resources, what was there to say about the great Dao of eternal life?

"Water Curtain Art."

Song Yan formed a Method Formula with his hands. Spiritual power swiftly gathered in the air, forming a curtain of water. He stepped through it, leaving all the grime and dust on his body behind in the curtain.

"Convenient, yes, but not as comfortable as a proper bath."

He lowered his gaze. The Little Spirit Gathering Formation's disk was covered in cracks, and its formation stones were dull and gray.

This single use he had scavenged from the rubbish heap at Fireworker Stockade had shown Song Yan clearly how powerful formations were.

Unfortunately, most cultivators simply did not have the mental capacity to delve into the four arts, and that was even more true for someone of his mediocre talent.

Even with the mental capacity to study them, one needed a sufficiently high cultivation realm to support one's Divine Sense.

"Divine Sense..."

Suddenly struck by an insight, he took the strange stone bead from his Storage Bag. But Song Yan discovered that it had actually changed from pure white to a deep black.

"Hm?"

Song Yan frowned and sent his Divine Sense inside.

There was no longer that process of his consciousness sinking into an abyss. This time, he appeared directly before the black stone stele.

The ancient characters on the stele still shone with white light.

Overhead, ink-black clouds had already begun gathering, gradually taking the shape of a giant stele.

"So fast."

Song Yan's gaze sharpened. He immediately released his Divine Sense and, when the giant stele came crashing down, easily cleaved it apart.

From the looks of it, his Divine Sense had indeed changed somewhat. Coupled with his mental preparation, he could now look around in the interval between two giant steles falling.

If the senior who had created this stone bead had only intended to pass on this nameless mnemonic, there seemed to be no need for this extra step.

Considering the falling stone steles, Song Yan surmised that the bead must have been made to test the strength of Divine Sense. In other words, it measured the strength of one's Divine Sense by the number of giant steles one could cleave apart with it.

Very clever.

But if his memory was poor and he forgot the count, where was he supposed to see his "score"?

He released his Divine Sense and cleaved apart the second falling giant stele.

Looking around, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye: beneath the end of the inscription recording the nameless mnemonic was a row of ring-shaped ink marks.

Previously, he had assumed they were merely decorative and paid them little attention.

"What are these?"

A quick scan revealed seventeen rings in total. At present, two had been filled in and were glowing white.

The third stone stele fell. Song Yan once again shaped his Divine Sense into a blade, cleaving the stele into ink.

At that very instant, the third ring lit up as well.