Chapter 100: Farewell to Lin Qing Again

The spirit vessel sailed through the clouds as everyone unconsciously glanced back at the increasingly distant Mount Beiya. Some wondered when they might return to visit again. Others reminisced about the wondrous scenes of the Flower Festival. Yet Song Yan’s thoughts lingered on that night—facing the yellow-robed demonic cultivator Cong Yuanzhen, and that seemingly unimpressive sword strike.

“That demonic cultivator, like Senior Cong, was also at the Foundation Establishment stage,” he mused. “And there was the ghostly aura protecting him... yet Senior Cong cut him down with a single sword...” He quietly pondered that if it weren’t for Senior Brother Lu Ziye informing him that the opponent was a renowned aberrant spiritual root cultivator from the Sheyang Sect, he might have truly believed he had encountered a fellow sword cultivator.

“One day, will I be able to forge such a sword strike myself?”

...

Two days later.

The gate of the Dongyuan Sect came into view. Though Mount Beiya was magnificent, the familiar Entry Plateau brought a comforting sense of home. Leaving the three outer disciples at the Entry Plateau, Lu Ziye headed ahead to the inner sect’s Taiping Peak to report back.

From here, both Qingye Peak, where the outer disciples resided, and Lianyou Peak were quite close. Gu Qingqing bid farewell to her two senior brothers and returned to Lianyou Peak.

“Qingfeng, I have some matters to attend to in the marketplace. You should head back first.”

“Alright.”

Returning to the cave dwelling now would only be for rest; better to first visit Granny Qin, and perhaps inquire about the breakthrough pills.

In the Lingyuanze Marketplace, at the Worry-Relieving General Store, everything was as usual.

“Granny Qin~”

Hmm?

The door was unlocked, but upon entering, Granny Qin was nowhere to be seen inside the shop. A note lay on the table:

“Yesheng, Granny has gone back to the clan for a few days. If you return from Mount Beiya, cultivate on your own, and do not delay your training.”

“Qin Xijun.”

Clan? Granny Qin had a family backing her, yet she had never mentioned it before. But that was her personal matter; Song Yan had no right to interfere.

As night fell, leaving behind some floral tea cakes brought from Mount Beiya, he returned to Qingye Peak.

This trip to Mount Beiya had lasted over ten days. Returning to his cave dwelling, a gentle sense of relaxation washed over him.

...

Immediately, Xiao He ran to her “toy area,” both to check for any theft and to add the new toys acquired from Mount Beiya.

She shed her clothes and stepped into the pool. The slight fatigue was instantly erased.

Moonlight outside the cave flowed slowly through the courtyard. Gazing afar, except for the low-lying Wendao Gorge, the main peaks of the Dongyuan Sect were faintly visible. Occasionally, streaks of retreating light flashed across the clouds in the night sky.

With eyes closed, Song Yan’s restless heart gradually calmed.

His foremost task now was to find a breakthrough pill to help him surpass the Qi Refinement stage.

At the late Qi Refinement stage, regardless of layer, the barriers to breakthrough were difficult to overcome.

Perhaps some cultivators in this world could break through solely with their own spiritual power, without relying on pills.

Song Yan was not confident in this.

Under the fusion of supreme spiritual objects and formless spiritual intent, the seed of the sword path was absorbing spiritual energy at a rate approaching that of dual spiritual roots—a commendable level.

But he believed he was still far from being able to break through the late Qi Refinement stage unaided.

Typically, when ordinary cultivators reach the bottleneck of late Qi Refinement and prepare to break through, without external assistance, they can only rely on their own spiritual power to shatter the barrier.

If they fail, though they won’t regress in realm, their resolve and spiritual vitality will decline to varying degrees, making subsequent breakthroughs increasingly difficult.

Especially at the ninth layer of Qi Refinement, each failure gradually raises the difficulty of breaking through.

As for the tenth layer of Qi Refinement, it’s more a colloquial term representing the extreme accumulation of spiritual power at the ninth layer; there is no bottleneck there. If there is any, it would be the Foundation Establishment stage.

Song Yan’s plan was simple: to prepare thoroughly for all three barriers of late Qi Refinement and succeed in one breakthrough!

Breaking through the seventh layer of Qi Refinement would allow him to enter the inner sect.

A rough estimation told him that the sword qi contained in the flying sword “Intertwined” and the useless sword box had saved him more than half a year of hard cultivation.

Now he only needed to steadily refine his spiritual power and await the right moment for a breakthrough pill.

Besides the daily-used Yellow Bud Pills, he also had three Condensation Spirit Pills sent by the Xuanyuan Sect.

These weren’t true breakthrough pills, but Song Yan intended to keep them. If, upon taking a breakthrough pill, his spiritual power still fell short, these could serve as a remedy.

Breakthrough pills came in many varieties and could appear at auctions in the Lingyuanze Marketplace or at the Lingxi Market—though it was a matter of luck.

The sect itself also stocked similar pills as exchange items, redeemable with contribution points.

Since entering the sect, he had accumulated quite a few points; including this trip to Mount Beiya, he had about one hundred ninety or so.

However, these special pills were usually snapped up quickly once released by the sect.

Some older disciples, who had little hope of breakthrough, exchanged contribution points to support their families.

Others, already at the tenth layer of Qi Refinement and beyond the need to break through minor Qi Refinement boundaries, exchanged points to auction the pills for spiritual resources, supporting their future Foundation Establishment stage.

Only a small fraction were cultivators actively striving for breakthrough, constantly monitoring updates in the sect’s treasure vault.

Now, chances of exchange were slim, but he still planned to try his luck the next day.

...

The next day, at Lingquan Peak in the inner sect.

Song Yan stepped out of the treasure vault’s side hall.

As expected, not a single proper breakthrough pill remained, not even Condensation Spirit Pills. Only some pills with negligible breakthrough effects were left.

He was somewhat disheartened.

“If I place all my hope on the Lingyuanze Night Market or the Lingxi Market outside the sect...” He felt like a headless fly.

Originally, he could have asked the miraculous Granny Qin, but she was currently visiting her hometown.

Among those close to him in the sect, only a few existed.

Neither Qingfeng nor Qingqing had reached late Qi Refinement; even if they heard of breakthrough pills, they wouldn’t inform him, avoiding unnecessary competition.

Helpless, he thought of someone.

“Senior Brother Lin Qing... might he have information on this?”

Although Lin had not yet reached the ninth layer of Qi Refinement himself, it wouldn’t hurt to ask casually.

At worst, he could wait for Granny Qin’s return; she was resourceful and knowledgeable.

Following the path to Senior Brother Lin’s inner sect dwelling, Song Yan couldn’t help but marvel at the comfortable living conditions of inner sect disciples.

Upon arriving, he pressed the spirit light to the sound transmission talisman.

After a moment, the dwelling’s spiritual array slowly opened.

A slender figure stepped out.

Lin Qing’s complexion was poor.

Song Yan was startled and briefly scanned with his divine sense.

Though Lin’s realm had not fallen, his spiritual fluctuations were unstable.

It was as if...

He was just recovering from a severe injury.

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