Breakthrough
Medicine King Ridge stretched for a thousand li, its lofty mountains and towering peaks everywhere. The deeper one went, the denser the Spiritual Qi became.
Fang Yu flew on a cloud platform through the mountains for several days before finding a peak where the Spiritual Qi was exceptionally dense.
"The Spiritual Qi on this peak is more than three times as dense as on Flaming Mountain. It's a cultivation holy land, no doubt about it. I'll cultivate here for the time being!"
Fang Yu studied the terrain atop the mountain, then floated over to a cliff face and activated the Fire Cloud Ring. A huge cloud of fire appeared at once, settling against the cliff and burning it.
He had wanted to explore all of Medicine King Ridge and find the place with the densest Spiritual Qi, but his Law Power was limited. No matter how little Cloud Soaring consumed, he could only keep it up for three days. If he flew for another three days, his Law Power would run dry, so he could only settle on this place for now.
Under the fire cloud's terrifying heat, the rock of the cliff turned white and brittle. Fang Yu took out his golden hammer and approached. With one blow, a section collapsed.
"Bang... bang... bang..."
Blow after blow, he spent just one day carving a cave the size of a single room into the cliff face. After adding a stone door, it became a cave abode.
Standing on the small platform outside the entrance, roughly one zhang across, he glanced at the sheer precipice below and the mist drifting between the cliffs. He pondered for a moment.
"I'll call this place Cloud Mist Peak, and the cave Cloud Mist Cave!"
After naming his cave abode, Fang Yu sat cross-legged on the small platform and circulated his Cultivation Method, the Crimson Firmament Profound Craft Canon.
"Exhale... inhale..."
As he breathed, a breeze seemed to rise around him. Specks of Spiritual Qi visible to the naked eye drifted in on the wind, gathering into white mist that poured into his mouth and nose, making him look as though he were swallowing clouds and breathing out mist.
The days passed. After an unknown length of time, Fang Yu suddenly opened his eyes. A spark appeared in each of them, and the corners of his mouth spread into a grin.
"I've broken through to the Qi Ingestion Second Layer!"
Fang Yu could hardly believe it. He closed his eyes again and looked inward at his heart meridian, where he saw two streams of crimson Law Power coiled within it. With each beat of his heart, they spread throughout his body before returning to the heart meridian.
He had reached the Peak of the First Layer of Qi Ingestion ten years ago, but had never been able to break through to the second layer. The root cause was a shortage of Spiritual Qi, which left him unable to break through the bottleneck. To advance, he needed to accumulate a large quantity of Metal Fire Stones to assault the next realm.
Here on Medicine King Ridge, where Spiritual Qi was so dense, it was as though he had a great quantity of Metal Fire Stones. With no shortage of Spiritual Qi at all, he had broken through to the Qi Ingestion Second Layer in one go.
"This is wonderful! Now that I've broken through to the Qi Ingestion Second Layer, I should be able to shave another day off the time it takes to forge a Metal Fire Stone. I'll only need five days per stone. That means I can forge seventy-three in a year. After taking away forty-nine, I'll still have twenty-four left. That's a full twice as much income as before."
"Jie jie jie..."
At the thought, Fang Yu was so delighted that he laughed aloud. But the next moment, he sprang to his feet.
"Oh no..."
The next moment, his figure vanished.
Flaming Mountain. Cave abode, Metal Fire Chamber.
Fang Yu glanced at the date on the immortal calendar: the twelfth day of the third month. He went to the workbench, placed a Metal Fire Blank on the anvil, raised his golden hammer, and began forging a Metal Fire Stone.
Cultivating on Medicine King Ridge was truly absorbing. More than three months had passed in the blink of an eye. If he had remained absorbed for a little longer, even with his breakthrough to the Qi Ingestion Second Layer, he would not have been able to forge the forty-nine Metal Fire Stones needed to repay this year's cave abode loan.
The Flowing Flame Fire in the cave flowed into his heart meridian with his breathing and was filtered into Spiritual Qi. Before it could be converted into his own Law Power, it was injected into the Metal Fire Blank, causing the blank to gradually turn red, as though it had been placed in a fire.
Five days later, Fang Yu successfully forged the Metal Fire Blank into a Metal Fire Stone. He tossed it into a stone box and began forging the second.
My Qi-gathering speed really has increased by a lot. It only took five days to forge one, saving me a day compared to before. If my cultivation keeps improving, my efficiency will surely continue to rise, and by a great deal, too.
I've heard that disciples who advance to the third layer only need three days to forge a Metal Fire Stone...
As Fang Yu thought about the good things that would come with a higher cultivation in the future, he could not help grinning again. The next moment, a thought surfaced in his mind:
That's right! The Spiritual Qi on Medicine King Ridge is so dense. If I used it to forge Metal Fire Stones, I'd surely be faster. Maybe I could already forge one in three days.
At that thought, the golden hammer in his hand paused, and he looked at his seal.
No, I'd better not rashly use the Spiritual Qi over there to forge Metal Fire Stones.
Although both were Spiritual Qi, and the Spiritual Qi on Medicine King Ridge was purer, it was precisely because it was too pure that it lacked the abundant fire Qi carried by the Flowing Flame Fire's Spiritual Qi. That would inevitably make the Metal Fire Stones forged with it give off the wrong presence.
Under the layers of inspections and examinations by the Metal Stone Immortal Sect's stewards, they would surely notice something amiss. If they asked about it then, how would he explain himself?
It's better to just cultivate over there!
Once he finished forging this year's Metal Fire Stones, he would be able to free up more than three months for cultivation the following year.
At that thought, Fang Yu brought his golden hammer down hard and continued forging the Metal Fire Stone.
Once there was something to look forward to, time always passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, another year had passed.
When the immortal calendar turned to the first day of the first month of the 2,051st year of the Near Ancient Era, under the watch of Encampment Fire, Fang Yu took the fifty-eight stones he had forged that year to Fire Cloud Cave to pay his annual tribute.
"Fellow cultivator Fang, you actually broke through to the Qi Ingestion Second Layer!"
"Congratulations! Congratulations!"
"Who would have thought fellow cultivator Fang would break through without a sound? You've really made us envious!"
"Hahaha, I merely built up my foundation over time before making a sudden advance!"
"You must treat us to a celebration at the Divine Maiden Pavilion today!"
"Naturally! Today, it's my treat..."
"..."
Along the way, Fang Yu ran into fellow disciples from time to time. Upon sensing his Qi Ingestion Second Layer presence, every one of them was green with envy, leaving Fang Yu feeling rather on top of the world...
Just as in previous years, after paying forty-nine stones in annual tribute at Fire Cloud Cave, he had only nine Metal Fire Stones left over. After spending another five on his treat, he was left with just four.
It was only after he returned to his cave abode from the Divine Maiden Pavilion the next day that his heart began to ache.
"I absolutely can't be so free with my spending in the future. That was five Metal Fire Stones!"
Fang Yu lamented for a while and silently warned himself never again to treat people at the Divine Maiden Pavilion after a round of flattery. Only then did he return to his quiet chamber and connect with the Yuanchen Pearl.
The next moment, his figure vanished.