Sudden enlightenment!

The wind was calm, the air gentle, the sun bright in a clear sky.

In the private courtyard of his detached residence in the Seventh Outer Prefecture, Qi Yun sat upright before a stone table in grayish-white cloth robes. A pot of plain tea simmered before him, the stove fire rising as its faint fragrance drifted through the gaps.

In such a setting, even though this was a pot of herbal tea that could not have been cheaper, it still left one feeling refreshed and at ease.

Lifting the coarse pottery cup, he took a small sip. The scalding, slightly bitter tea slid down his throat into his stomach, spreading warmth. Qi Yun slowly exhaled a long breath of white vapor, his brow more relaxed and peaceful than ever before.

Truly... I've never felt so at ease.

Two days had passed since his return from [Drifting Remains Mountain].

The moment he returned, he had collapsed onto his bed fully clothed and slept until he knew nothing of heaven or earth.

When he awoke today, his shoulders felt relaxed and his thoughts flowed freely. All the thoughts that had constantly occupied his mind and exhausted his heart had been cast behind him.

He felt as though he had shed a heavy, cold, sodden garment.

Clear and unclouded!

For a moment, Qi Yun felt as though countless currents of Qi were swirling around him. The True Qi within his Purple Mansion and Dantian stirred, spontaneously giving rise to an intense craving to draw this wandering Qi of heaven and earth into his body and refine it into one!

"Hm? Am I about to... break through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer?"

After carefully savoring this profound sensation, delight appeared in Qi Yun's eyes.

This was unmistakably the feeling of being on the verge of entering the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Could this be what they called... a rich accumulation bursting forth, rebuilding after destruction?

In contending upon the Great Dao, aptitude, comprehension, and fortuitous opportunities were all indispensable.

Recalling the murderous intent at every step on Drifting Remains Mountain, he had been drawn repeatedly into the contest between two Foundation Establishment True Persons. Only through maneuvering with his wits and the marvels of the Law Technique Panel had he pried open a sliver of survival from certain death!

Anyone else would already have tall grass growing over their grave.

That crushing pressure and tempering between life and death had actually become the opportunity to knock open the bottleneck of the Qi Refining Fourth Layer!

Qi Yun drew a deep breath, the scent of warm tea mingling with his reflections on surviving disaster.

Given the choice, he would rather cultivate peacefully, one step at a time.

Such "fortuitous opportunities," won by staking his life, were far too tormenting.

"There are still more than four months until the year-end assessment. If I can seize this glimmer of opportunity and insight, perhaps I'll have a chance to break through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

"Then I'll have a chance to contend for Triple First-Place Champion, too."

His eyes narrowing slightly, Qi Yun began to calculate in silence.

An assessment naturally meant competing for rankings.

Those at the bottom became resources. After two years at the bottom, they would be thrown into the human material market to recoup the Holy Sect's investment and nurturing.

Those at the top naturally had to be rewarded as well. Otherwise, if everyone were treated alike, where would the motivation come from?

Triple First-Place Champion was a title earned by those who ranked at the forefront of the Outer Mansion assessments.

Taking first place in an Outer Mansion assessment in the first year made one a Single First-Place Champion; taking first again the following year made one a Double First-Place Champion. If one took first in the Outer Mansion assessments for three consecutive years,

That was what was called a Triple First-Place Champion.

The Holy Sect had a rule: a Triple First-Place Champion could enter the inner prefecture directly.

Moreover, becoming a Triple First-Place Champion proved one's worth and talent. An inner prefecture Foundation Establishment True Person would certainly choose them as a personal disciple.

"That old bastard was only confined for sixty years, not killed. Once he's released, he'll be ten thousand percent certain to come settle the score with me.

"So during that time, I either have to flee to the ends of the earth and hide where he can never find me.

"Or... enter the inner prefecture openly and honorably, and become a True Person's disciple!

"Then I'll have a patron's protection. Why would I fear the Flower Moon Hall Master coming for revenge?"

Mindful of danger even in safety, and having personally experienced the demonic sect's cruelty and indifference, Qi Yun no longer harbored the slightest inclination to slack off.

"But becoming a Triple First-Place Champion won't be easy. Among these Outer Mansion disciples, there are plenty of second-generation heirs like Shen Fan and the others, supported by elders in the Inner Mansion. With the great tree of the Inner Mansion at their backs, resources and cultivation methods are theirs for the taking.

"They must be determined to claim that champion's title, too.

"So taking that title from their hands would undoubtedly be snatching food from a tiger's jaws."

At this thought, Qi Yun's gaze flickered several times before gradually growing resolute.

Raising his chin slightly, he swept his hand out. A streak of Sword Qi struck with imperious, domineering force, blasting apart the rockery that had been erected anew.

You have your elders and your entire lineage.

I have a clear Dao heart!

You have boundless talent, but I, too, hold the panel's marvels in my hands.

We contend upon the Great Dao!

Once a piece is played, there are no regrets!

I, Qi Yun, am no weaker than anyone!

Slashing apart the inferiority and hesitation in his heart, Qi Yun's eyes shone brilliantly. At that very instant, with his thoughts flowing freely and his Dao heart clear!

Through some unseen influence, the True Qi within him suddenly surged and churned, as though an invisible shackle had shattered with a crash.

The True Qi that had already been stirring now rushed like floodwaters bursting through a dam!

The blazing sun overhead, whose boundless golden radiance illuminated the world, seemed drawn by an invisible pull. Thread after thread surged into his body of its own accord.

The next instant!

The Qi of heaven and earth converged within him with a roar.

The clear rose; the turbid sank.

Yin and yang embraced, and clear and turbid returned to one.

The True Qi, having absorbed the two currents of Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth, began to react violently. Like a rough stone cast into a blazing fire, its outer impurities were continually burned away, revealing the dazzling true gold within.

The very essence of his True Qi... was soaring!

As the True Qi within his body continually transformed, Qi Yun could clearly perceive its quality rapidly increasing.

And the most immediate sensation of this transformation.

Was that he could distinctly feel himself growing constantly "heavier"!

Yes, heavier.

The transformed and enhanced True Qi was worlds apart from what it had been before.

If his previous True Qi had been a light, flowing stream, then his True Qi now was viscous, heavy mercury, containing tremendous force.

A single strand of this newborn True Qi held power comparable to ten strands of the old.

This drastic transformation came swiftly, fast as a gale. Though complex and profound to describe, it happened in no more than the blink of an eye.

Yet that very blink allowed Qi Yun to feel it clearly.

His Qi Refining Fourth Layer!

He had achieved it!

"In the Qi Refining Realm, every three layers mark a watershed. The difference between the Qi Refining Third Layer and the Qi Refining Fourth Layer is even greater than the gap between the first and third layers.

"This also means that the higher cultivators rise in realm, the vaster the gulf between them becomes.

"Within the Qi Refining Realm, Law Techniques, Law Artifacts, talismans, and various other means still offer the possibility of fighting and killing someone above one's level.

"But against the Foundation Establishment Realm, even a hundred cultivators at Qi Refining Great Perfection bound together couldn't hope to disturb a single strand of a Foundation Establishment True Person's hair.

"That's no longer a difference in strength, but a difference in level."

Having personally experienced being targeted by two Foundation Establishment True Persons, Qi Yun understood this deeply.

Silently circulating the transformed True Qi within him, Qi Yun willed it into motion. Billowing True Qi erupted from his body, forming a perfectly rounded Qi barrier, pure as glazed glass yet thin as a membrane.

And this was the ability unique to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

True Qi projection!