Fang Yun already knew what the Dan Cloud Pavilion's Steward had said.
One Upper Grade Qi Radiance Pill was just about enough for a Cultivator with Five Spirit Roots.
Even two Middle Grade Qi Radiance Pills would give a Five Spirit Roots Cultivator a seventy to eighty percent chance of breaking through to the middle stage of Qi Refining.
It was only because Fang Yun had Spirit Stones on hand that he could be so meticulous in preparing for his breakthrough to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.
Among the Hundred Skills of Cultivation, Alchemy Masters were highly sought after, and those with good talent were often quite wealthy.
Two Middle Grade Qi Radiance Pills cost fifty Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
For a Qi Refining Third Layer Loose Cultivator outside the Celestial Cloud Sect who scraped by renting a Spirit Field, it would take at least three years of forgoing food and drink and sleeping in the wilderness to save up that many Spirit Stones.
Of course, forgoing food and drink was impossible, and housing also required rent.
Without a place to live, one wasn't allowed to linger at the foot of the Celestial Cloud Sect's mountain.
Therefore, for such a Qi Refining Third Layer Loose Cultivator with no family, it would take about ten years of saving to afford the three most cost-effective Lower Grade Qi Radiance Pills to aid their attempt at breaking through to the middle stage of Qi Refining.
Before attempting the breakthrough, Fang Yun steadied his state of mind.
This was also beneficial for breaking through the Realm.
As time passed and he continuously circulated his Cultivation Technique, Fang Yun's aura began to grow unstable.
At the critical moment of breaking through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, he immediately consumed an Upper Grade Qi Radiance Pill.
A stream of pure medicinal power spread through his body. Under his guidance, this pure power gathered in his Qi Sea, helping him expand it and break through to the next Realm.
CRACK.
It was as if something had shattered. Fang Yun's unstable aura changed, and after the change, it began to stabilize.
This was the aura of a Qi Refining Fourth Layer Cultivator!
Fang Yun had succeeded in his breakthrough, smoothly entering the middle stage of Qi Refining.
At this point, the medicinal power of the Upper Grade Qi Radiance Pill was not yet fully depleted. After stabilizing his new Realm, Fang Yun forced the remaining power out of his body.
Wisps of clear smoke rose from his body.
Different pills have different effects; one couldn't just absorb any medicinal power haphazardly.
"Done!"
Fang Yun let out a breath of turbid air, feeling more refreshed and invigorated than ever.
He had gone from the Qi Refining Third Layer to the Fourth Layer in less than seven months. To put that in perspective, it had taken him nearly three years to go from the First Layer to the Second.
For a Cultivator with Five Spirit Roots, this was undoubtedly an incredibly fast breakthrough speed.
The transition from the Qi Refining Third Layer to the Fourth Layer marked the breakthrough from the initial stage to the middle stage. His Qi Sea doubled in size, and the quality of his Spiritual Power rose by a level.
The quality of Spiritual Power multiplied by its quantity represented the total amount of Spiritual Power.
Cultivators who entered the middle stage of Qi Refining could easily use Middle Grade Magical Artifacts.
In the subsequent Qi Refining Fifth and Sixth Layers, the quality of Spiritual Power didn't change compared to the Fourth Layer. The change was in the expansion of the Qi Sea, allowing it to hold more Spiritual Power.
Not long after breaking through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, once he had stabilized his Cultivation, Fang Yun took out an Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pill and consumed it.
He closed his eyes and began to refine and absorb it for his cultivation.
Just a single two-hour period passed before he finished.
'Compared to when I was at the Qi Refining Third Layer, my refining speed for Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pills at the Fourth Layer is nearly twice as fast. The refining effect has definitely changed.'
The Qi Nourishing Pill was, after all, a pill suited for Cultivators in the initial stage of Qi Refining.
However, since they were Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pills, the refining time was fast enough to meet his needs.
Taking out another Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pill, Fang Yun once again began to refine and absorb it.
Taking one Qi Nourishing Pill a day on average meant thirty a month. This was considered consuming a large quantity in a short time. Most cultivators with some funds to spare used Lower Grade Qi Nourishing Pills to aid their cultivation, usually taking one every three to four days.
Fang Yun had been doing this for three consecutive months. However, he hadn't been taking thirty Qi Nourishing Pills a month, but rather around twenty, which was considered consuming a medium quantity over a long period.
Another two-hour period passed, and he finished refining another Qi Nourishing Pill.
Fang Yun carefully sensed the changes in his Qi Sea, assessing how much his Cultivation had increased from refining and absorbing two Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pills.
'For each of the coming months, I need to take at least forty Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pills. At that rate, I can reach the peak of the Qi Refining Fourth Layer in about half a year...'
This would be an extraordinarily large amount of Qi Nourishing Pills over a long period.
Fortunately, he was using Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pills, so the impact on drug resistance was minimal.
Half a year would require about two hundred and forty Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pills, which converted to nearly one thousand Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
Fang Yun currently had over one hundred and forty Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pills on hand. He still needed about a hundred more, so refining another fifty batches of Qi Nourishing Pills would meet his cultivation needs for the next six months.
It was currently March. He would strive to break through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer by September!
Fang Yun set a more short-term goal for himself.
His short-term goals were to become an Inner Sect Disciple and reach 10% influence in the sect, while his long-term goal was naturally to become the Sect Leader of the Celestial Cloud Sect.
It was still too early to plan for the long term, but short-term planning was much easier.
Fang Yun looked at the bottles of Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pills in his Storage Pouch and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"It's good to have backing!"
Even just by collecting leftover Spirit Medicine from the sect at the Disciple Marketplace and refining them into pills, it was enough to satisfy his current cultivation needs.
He currently had seventeen sets of materials for refining Qi Nourishing Pills left. After he finished refining them, he would go to the Disciple Marketplace two or three more times to buy the remaining thirty sets of materials.
There was a reason for going to the Disciple Marketplace multiple times.
Visiting the Disciple Marketplace frequently would help boost his reputation, thereby increasing his influence within the sect, earning him more Talent Points, and ultimately speeding up his talent upgrades.
None of his actions were superfluous; every step had its purpose.
According to the game guide, a "commoner" blank-slate account like his couldn't afford to make any unnecessary moves.
His cultivation session officially ended.
Checking the time, he saw it was about time to tend to the Purple Corn.
Before long, the Purple Corn he was tending would be ready for harvest. This was also the first task he would complete within the sect.
Stepping into his Light Spirit Shoes, Fang Yun appeared on the three-acre Spirit Field he was tending to at top speed.
"Junior Brother Fang... huh? Junior Brother, you're already at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer? Congratulations, congratulations!" Tian Ruifeng exclaimed as soon as he saw Fang Yun and noticed the change in his aura.
"Breaking through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer really wasn't easy."
Thinking of the resources he had consumed, Fang Yun genuinely felt that way.
"The Qi Refining Fourth Layer is just the beginning; there's still a long road ahead." Although Tian Ruifeng still felt that Fang Yun should have focused on planting, he had to admit that Fang Yun's choice was the right one.
At the very least, he also had great Alchemy Talent.
Without accumulating enough resources, he wouldn't be seeing a Qi Refining Fourth Layer Fang Yun today.
"Senior Brother Tian, how is your breeding program coming along?"
"It's progressing well. I should be able to start planting Purple Crystal Rice on a large scale around the beginning of April."