A month passed quietly within the Cloud Mist Training Center.
During this period, Lin Sheng spent most of his time either inside secluded cultivation or occasionally guiding the others regarding the Innate breakthrough process.
Of course, he never revealed too much.
Only basic things such as stabilizing the meridians, maintaining mental clarity during spiritual qi infusion, and preparing enough food rations beforehand.
Even then, his experience alone was enough to greatly help the others.
After all, an actual successful Innate martial artist explaining the process personally was vastly different from merely reading manuals.
Within this month, several major changes occurred among the inner courtyard trainees.
The first to reach Acquired Peak was Lin Xiaolu.
That result surprised no one.
Among the current batch, her talent, comprehension, and work ethic were all top tier.
Especially after obtaining the Feather Sword Technique from the library, her cultivation speed had become increasingly terrifying.
The sword technique itself emphasized lightness, precision, and spiritual synchronization with movement.
Combined with her naturally calm personality, the compatibility was extremely high.
Soon after reaching Acquired Peak, she selected an Innate Realm cultivation scripture and entered secluded breakthrough cultivation.
The second person, however—
Surprised almost everyone.
Zhao Feng.
But Lin Sheng was not surprised.
Normally, Zhao Feng appeared lazy, playful, and completely unreliable.
Yet somehow, his cultivation progress never slowed.
In fact, after entering the Acquired First Rate Realm, his speed became even faster.
Lin Sheng had already suspected that Zhao Feng deliberately concealed a large portion of his true ability.
Now that suspicion was basically confirmed.
The fellow was definitely hiding many things.
As for the third person—
Lin Shou.
Lin Shou cultivated almost obsessively.
Every day.
Every night.
Training.
Meditation.
Combat practice.
He pushed himself continuously.
Too continuously.
Lin Sheng had actually warned him indirectly several times about excessive forced cultivation.
But Lin Shou clearly carried too much obsession inside his heart.
Revenge.
Hatred.
Humiliation.
Those emotions continuously drove him forward.
Still…
Even Lin Sheng did not expect him to reach Acquired Peak this quickly.
Meanwhile, Lou Han had not yet reached Acquired Peak.
Because of that, many rumors gradually began spreading among the trainees.
"Looks like Lou Han's talent wasn't that high after all."
"He only won because Gu Fei underestimated him."
"How can an inner courtyard member still remain at First Rate after this long?"
"Seems the position should belong to someone else."
Whispers spread everywhere.
Especially among outer courtyard trainees hoping to challenge for inner courtyard positions.
But Lou Han himself did not care at all.
He ignored every rumor completely.
Then—
During the next ranked competition—
He silenced everyone.
Once again.
This time, the one challenging him was surprisingly Gu Fei.
After recovering from his injuries, Gu Fei immediately challenged Lou Han again publicly.
Clearly, he wanted revenge.
The entire arena atmosphere became tense instantly.
Everyone expected a fierce battle.
And the result…
Was Lou Han winning again.
Even more decisively than before.
This time, there were no schemes.
No surprise attacks.
Pure frontal suppression.
After the fight ended, Lou Han calmly announced his cultivation realm publicly.
Acquired Peak.
The entire audience was shocked.
Even many Grade A trainees showed surprise.
After all, Lou Han had deliberately hidden his realm beforehand.
Only now did everyone realize that he had already quietly caught up.
Inside the audience seats, Lin Sheng merely shook his head slightly.
"There was no need to be this high profile…"
In the cultivation world, excessive attention was rarely a good thing.
Especially for people without strong backing.
Still—
Lou Han clearly did not care.
Or perhaps…
He simply wanted everyone to stop underestimating him.
As for Lin Sheng himself—
His cultivation had also progressed considerably during this month.
Currently, he had already stepped into the Innate Inner Strength Early Stage.
Equivalent to a Qi Refinement Fourth Layer immortal cultivator.
However, through the optimized Hidden Breath Technique created by the chip, the aura he displayed externally remained only at Innate Inner Energy Peak Stage.
Just enough to remain believable.
Inside his body, the true qi circulating through his meridians had become increasingly dense.
More importantly—
He had already opened six acupoints.
Three more than ordinary Innate martial artists of the same stage.
This meant that as long as he accumulated enough true qi, he could directly advance rapidly through the Innate Realm without needing to reopen additional acupoints later.
In simple terms—
His foundation was already far ahead of everyone else.
…
At this moment.
Inside one of the secluded breakthrough rooms.
Lin Shou sat cross legged atop the meditation cushion.
Sweat continuously dripped down his face.
The surrounding spiritual qi surged violently into his body through the opened acupoints.
Normally, this process should gradually transform internal energy into true qi smoothly.
But currently—
Something was wrong.
Inside his body, the spiritual qi rampaged through his meridians aggressively.
Lin Shou gritted his teeth forcefully.
His face had already turned pale.
The spiritual qi flooding into his body continuously struck against his meridians.
And slowly—
Cracks began appearing.
During the Acquired Realm, Lin Shou had repeatedly forced cultivation breakthroughs and overtrained his meridian system.
At lower realms, the damage remained hidden.
But now—
During the Innate breakthrough—
The hidden problems finally erupted completely.
One of the main meridians suddenly tore slightly.
A wave of violent pain instantly spread throughout his body.
"Urghhh!"
Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
Inside the meridian, spiritual qi began leaking outward uncontrollably.
The situation immediately became dangerous.
If this continued—
The meridian could collapse completely.
A failed breakthrough would already be disastrous.
But meridian collapse during spiritual qi infusion could permanently cripple a martial artist.
If an elder witnessed this scene, they would probably sigh in pity immediately.
Too many martial artists ruined themselves exactly this way.
Lack of patience.
Overtraining.
Forceful cultivation.
The consequences usually erupted during the Innate breakthrough.
Lin Shou's breathing became chaotic.
The pain continuously intensified.
His vision blurred slightly.
Yet even then—
He still tried desperately maintaining circulation control.
Because he knew—
If he lost focus now—
Everything would end.
Then suddenly—
A strange warm energy spread outward from his chest.
The blood jade necklace hanging around his neck glowed faintly.
At first, the light was extremely weak.
Then gradually—
It intensified.
A crimson wave of energy slowly entered his body.
The energy moved smoothly through his meridians.
Gentle.
Warm.
Yet strangely powerful.
Wherever the crimson energy passed, the violently damaged meridians gradually stabilized.
The torn sections slowly healed.
The weakened pathways strengthened continuously.
Even the leaking spiritual qi gradually became stable again.
Lin Shou's eyes widened slightly.
"What…?"
But before he could think further, the crimson energy reached the damaged main meridian directly.
Then—
It wrapped around the damaged section completely.
The tearing stopped instantly.
The meridian stabilized.
The spiritual qi infusion process resumed smoothly once more.
Lin Shou gritted his teeth and immediately seized the opportunity.
Using the stabilized circulation, he forcefully continued the breakthrough.
The internal energy inside his body rapidly fused with spiritual qi.
Transformation began.
True qi formed.
The first acupoint opened successfully.
Then the second.
Finally—
The breakthrough stabilized completely.
Innate Realm.
Inner Energy Stage.
Success.
The moment the process ended, Lin Shou's body collapsed backward weakly.
Although the mysterious crimson energy had protected his meridians—
The earlier pain and mental strain had nearly broken him completely.
His consciousness faded rapidly.
Soon—
He fainted.
…
Darkness.
Endless darkness.
Lin Shou slowly regained awareness.
But when he opened his eyes—
He was no longer inside the breakthrough room.
Instead, he stood within an unknown space.
The surroundings were covered in strange crimson energy.
The entire area felt ancient.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
At the center of the space floated a massive red orb.
The orb pulsed slowly like a living heart.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Each pulse caused the surrounding crimson energy to tremble.
Lin Shou unconsciously walked forward.
But the closer he approached—
The heavier the pressure became.
The surrounding gravity intensified terrifyingly.
Every step became difficult.
Ten meters away—
His body already trembled violently.
Five meters away—
His bones creaked faintly.
Three meters away—
The pressure felt mountain-like.
Sweat poured down his face.
Yet Lin Shou still continued walking.
Step by step.
His expression twisted painfully.
But his eyes remained stubborn.
Unyielding.
The closer he moved toward the red orb, the more terrifying the suppression became.
Eventually—
His body finally reached its limit.
Bang!
A terrifying pressure exploded outward.
Lin Shou was thrown backward instantly.
The crimson space shattered around him.
Then—
Everything disappeared.
…
Lin Shou suddenly opened his eyes.
He was back inside the breakthrough room.
His breathing was rough.
Sweat covered his body completely.
For several moments, he simply stared blankly upward.
Then slowly—
He sensed the changes inside his body.
Within his opened acupoints flowed streams of crimson true qi.
The aura carried violent heat.
Explosive power.
Almost like flowing flames.
Lin Shou's eyes narrowed slightly.
He immediately recognized it.
Scorching Flame True Qi.
During the selection process, he had chosen the Scorching Flame Innate Scripture.
Among all the Innate manuals, it possessed some of the strongest offensive capabilities.
Explosive.
Violent.
Domineering.
Perfectly suited for frontal combat.
More importantly—
It matched his personality and meridian pathways extremely well.
Lin Shou slowly clenched his fist.
A faint heat spread from his palm instantly.
The surrounding air distorted slightly.
His expression gradually became complicated.
Then slowly—
He lowered his gaze toward the blood jade necklace resting against his chest.
The necklace had already returned to normal.
As if nothing had happened.
But now—
Lin Shou finally understood.
This necklace…
Was definitely not ordinary.