In a quiet chamber within the cave mansion, Lü Yang sat cross-legged and began his breakthrough.
With the pills taking effect and half a month of uninterrupted cultivation behind him, his cultivation base surged toward its breaking point.
"Boom!"
In the next second, as if stepping onto a higher level, Lü Yang only felt a majestic flow of Qi roaring within him, surging like a great river, invigorating his spirit.
Qi Refining Second Layer!
"There are no bottlenecks before the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining — all it takes is time. But right now, time is the one thing I don't have."
The presence of Qingchen sparked a sense of crisis in Lü.
He would never forget, that in his previous life, Liu Xin had forced his way into the cave mansion. If Liu Xin could do it, why couldn't Qingchen?
The cave mansion is also unreliable!
"The only truly reliable thing is one's own cultivation and strength!"
With this thought, Lü Yang took out all the remaining pills, and swallowed them all at once. He called Yun over for dual cultivation.
Although this was somewhat wasteful, with at least thirty percent of the pill's effects being wasted, it allowed him to enhance his cultivation at the fastest pace. In Lü's view, as long as he could breakthrough to Qi Refining Third Layer, these spirit pills would have served their purpose and weren't bought in vain.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was three days and nights.
During this period, Lü Yang neither ate nor drank, finally feeling as if he had broken through a thin barrier.
"... Done!"
Lü Yang turned his senses inward, feeling the immense Qi flowing like rivers through his meridians, too vast to be further expanded.
At first glance, it seemed like his cultivation had reached perfection.
"So this is a bottleneck...."
Lü Yang didn't see this as the end, nor did he dare relax. He knew that one more step forward would be reaching the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, a leap from the Early to the Mid-phase, and even within the Stain Sect, Such cultivation would place him among the outstanding disciples, those qualified for certain sect positions.
He took out the Primal Qi.
"Continue!"
The Primal Qi circulated, and Lü Yang then manipulated his own Qi to swallow it in one gulp, then watched as the Qi surged like rivers returning to the sea, pouring into his dantian.
As the Primal Qi was continuously consumed, Lü Yang soon felt that the bottleneck, which had once blocked him like an insurmountable mountain, was being slowly eroded. Until the Primal Qi was completely exhausted, that invisible bottleneck melted away like snow and ice, collapsing in an instant!
In the dim quiet chamber, Lü Yang suddenly opened his eyes.
His gaze was sharp, lightening the whole dark room like a torch.
After another day and night, he finally stepped into the Mid-phase—and his strength was nothing like it had been merely days before.
"The gap between the Early and Mid-phase is almost impossible to bridge", Lü Yang felt his improvement, showing a joyful expression, "If the Qi at the early phase was a small river, then at the mid phase it's a vast ocean! It's increased at least tenfold! Reaching this step, one can truly be called a cultivator...."
He no longer had to worry about running out of Qi when using techniques. The Qi spent on ordinary arts could be restored in just a few breaths.
"Not bad! Not bad!"
Lü Yang walked out of the quiet chamber, took out a Flying Sword, and with a thought, the flying sword instantly split into ten rays of Sword Light, covering the entire cave mansion.
Whoosh——!
In an instant, the Sword Light howled fiercely, Lü Yang practiced the Supreme Heaven Sword Mastery, merging his body with the Sword Light, feeling an unprecedented sense of ease.
"I have to thank Liu Xin!"
"Without this Primal Qi, I would have been stuck at the Qi Refining Third Layer for years!"
"No wonder Liu Xin abandoned the Essence Exchange Cultivation Art and went to cultivate the Manual of Primal Qi."
"But unfortunately, his intentions weren't noble, treating people as materials. Who knows how much murder Liu Xin committed after obtaining it, all because of the Manual of Primal Qi."
"Such an evil skill, it should be mine to use!"
A sudden greed appeared in Lü Yang's heart.
"No rush... we can talk in the next life, there's plenty of time....."
As Lü Yang was contemplating, suddenly, he raised his eyebrows, looking towards the entrance of the cave mansion, because one of the Sword Lights he deployed had just been triggered.
"Someone's coming?"
A glint of cold light flashed in Lü Yang's eyes, along with a bit of relief. It was fortunate that he acted decisively, choosing to waste resources in order to quickly break through his cultivation.
If not, he would be in seclusion right now, completely unaware of the outside world, wouldn't that mean certain death?
"A lesson to be learned...."
Thinking of this, Lü Yang quickly suppressed the Qi fluctuations from his breakthrough, while his killing intent grew stronger, like a predator quietly waiting for prey to arrive.
....
"Click."
With a soft sound, the gate of the cave mansion was silently pried open, then three figures sneaked in one after another from outside the cave mansion.
The three were dressed in black, wearing masks, not revealing an ounce of Qi. Lü Yang, hiding in the dark, was impressed by their concealment. If he hadn't broken through, with higher cultivation, he might misjudge them as just three ordinary people.
"...."
The leader of the three in black gestured without speaking, the others understood immediately, quickly spreading out to search the cave mansion....
"Whoosh!"
In the next instant, the leading person in black only felt a flash in front of him, then a dazzling Sword Light, accompanied by a roaring sword sound, appeared right before his eyes!
"Damn!"
The man in black's face instantly changed dramatically. Unable to defend in time, he could only attempt to dodge by rolling aside, but how could he be faster than a Flying Sword?
Swish——!
The Sword Light flickered, and a column of blood shot into the air!
"Mid-phase of Qi Refining!?"
Clearly, the leader of the men in black had a discerning eye. From the power and quality of the Sword Light, he immediately recognized Lü Yang's cultivation, exclaiming in shock.
At the same time, he cursed inwardly.
Damn that Qingchen!
Was this a newly promoted disciple? An easy target?
And as for this Lü Yang..... being in the Mid-phase of Qi Refining, he could completely crush the three of them head-on, but instead resorted to ambush them?
Shameless bastard
Watching the Sword Light fly at him, the leader quickly performed a Daoist hand seal to release a Protective Light, while hastily shouting: "Misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding....."
"Boom!"
Lü Yang turned a deaf ear. The Sword Light slashed horizontally, instantly bringing the Protective Light on the brink of shattering. Meanwhile, in the darkness, another surge of Qi rolled out—roaring like an ocean wave before swelling into a giant hand, its palm lines clearly visible, as it grabbed another man.
Splurt!
In the next instant, the giant hand tightened, crushing the man to pieces—bones cracking, flesh bursting in all directions.
Such a brutal scene made the eyes of the leading man in black redden with rage.
In the dark, Lü Yang showed a satisfied expression.
"This Primal Qi Hand Seal is indeed excellent. It may not show much power against someone on my level, but against lower-realm cultivators? It never misses.""
Amid his contemplation, the Sword Light never ceased.
Dozens of sword lights roared through the cave mansion, and the White Bone Flying Sword weaved among them, giving the man in black no room to breathe.
In a few seconds, the leader was utterly exhausted. Lü Yang found an opening, slashed with his sword, and once more a column of blood shot up.
"Phew! That was really close....."
After finishing everything, Lü Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the ground littered with corpses and shredded flesh. Reflecting on the battle just now, he felt a sense of lingering fear.
Strictly speaking, this was his first time killing someone.
Even though he had rehearsed this ambush combo countless times, this was still the first time he'd ever used it in real combat.
"Honestly, my combat experience is far inferior to theirs. If we had been at the same level, I wouldn't have stood a chance against any of the three. But by ambushing them, I forced the fight into a contest of cultivation alone—one where I could overpower them with sheer cultivation advantage."
"This really proves that with a higher cultivation level, you can easily overwhelm your enemies, no matter what techniques they use."
"Lü went over the lessons he'd gained from this 'weak versus strong' battle, reflecting on what could be improved. He believed that in his next life, he would do better."