Chapter 100: Farewell to Lin Qing
The spirit vessel cut through the clouds, and everyone simultaneously turned to gaze at the increasingly distant North Watch Mountain. Some wondered when they might return to visit.
Others recalled the wondrous spectacles of the Hua Zhao Grand Assembly.
But Song Yan was thinking of that night, when Cong Yuzhen faced the yellow-robed demonic cultivator with that seemingly unremarkable sword.
“That demonic cultivator was at Foundation Establishment, just like Senior Cong.”
“Moreover, he had ghost qi protecting his body… yet Senior Cong cut him down with a single sword…”
He muttered to himself. If Senior Brother Lu Ziye hadn’t informed him that the other party was a renowned extraordinary spiritual root cultivator from the Sun-Shooting Sect, he would have truly believed he had encountered a fellow sword cultivator.
“Someday, will I also be able to forge a sword like that?”
…
Two days later.
The gates of Eastern Abyss Sect came into view.
North Watch Mountain was pleasant, but the familiar Entrance Plaza put one’s heart at ease.
The three outer disciples were left at the Entrance Plaza while Lu Ziye needed to report back at the Inner Sect’s Taiping Peak first.
From here, it was close to both Green Leaf Peak where outer disciples gathered and Lotus Tranquility Peak.
Gu Qingqing bade farewell to the two senior brothers and returned to Lotus Tranquility Peak.
“Qingfeng, I have business at the market. Go on ahead.”
“Alright.”
Returning to the cave dwelling now would only mean resting. Better to visit Granny Qin first.
He could also ask about the Boundary-Breaking Pill.
Spirit Source Marsh Market, Worry-Free General Store.
Same as always.
“Granny Qin~”
Hm?
The door was unlocked, but when he pushed it open, Granny Qin was not inside the shop.
However, a note sat on the table.
“Yesheng, Granny has business and has returned to the clan for a few days.”
“If you’re back from North Watch Mountain, just cultivate on your own. Don’t neglect your practice.”
“Qin Xijun, left.”
The clan?
Granny Qin also had a family supporting her from behind…
How had he never heard her mention it before?
But this was her family affairs, and he had no right to interfere.
The sky had grown late. He left the flower tea and small cakes brought from North Watch Mountain and returned to Green Leaf Peak.
This trip to North Watch Mountain had lasted over ten days.
Returning to his own cave dwelling, a gentle sense of relaxation washed over him.
Xiao He immediately ran to her “toy area,” partly checking whether anything had been stolen, partly adding new toys obtained from North Watch Mountain.
He removed his clothing and stepped into the pool.
The faint fatigue was erased.
Moonlight from outside the cave dwelling flowed down through the skylight.
Looking into the distance, apart from the low-lying Dao Inquiry Gorge, the various main peaks of Eastern Abyss Sect were faintly visible.
In the night sky, occasional streaks of light from flying swords crossed the clouds.
In the pool, Song Yan’s eyes closed, and his previously restless mood gradually calmed.
The first priority before him now was finding a Boundary-Breaking Pill that would allow him to break through Qi Refining.
In the late stages of Qi Refining, regardless of which level, the barrier to breakthrough was difficult to overcome.
Perhaps there truly existed cultivators who could break through relying solely on their own spiritual energy, without any pills.
Song Yan had no such confidence.
Now, with the fusion of the Supreme Spirit object and the Formless Spiritual Intent, the speed at which the seed of Sword Dao absorbed spiritual qi had begun to approach that of a dual spiritual root.
It could be called a decent level.
But he suspected it was still far from enough to break through the late stages of Qi Refining without external assistance.
When ordinary cultivators reached the bottleneck of late-stage Qi Refining and prepared to break through, without external aid, they could only use their own spiritual energy to assault the barrier.
If they failed, although their realm wouldn’t regress, attempting the breakthrough again would result in varying degrees of decline in both morale and spiritual energy activity.
Especially at the ninth level of Qi Refining.
Each failure gradually increased the difficulty of breakthrough. As for the tenth level of Qi Refining, it was actually just a common saying.
It represented the spiritual energy accumulation of the ninth level reaching its limit. There was no bottleneck here.
If there was one, it would be Foundation Establishment.
Song Yan’s thinking was simple: the three barriers of late-stage Qi Refining must all be fully prepared for, so he could break through in a single attempt!
Breaking through to the seventh level of Qi Refining would allow him to advance to the inner sect.
After rough estimation, the sword energy contained within the flying sword “Lianli” and the Useless Sword Box had saved him at least half a year of bitter cultivation.
Now he only needed to diligently refine his spiritual energy and wait for the right moment to obtain a Boundary-Breaking Pill.
Apart from the Yellow Sprout Pills used for daily cultivation, he also had three Condensing Spirit Pills sent by the Profound Abyss Sect.
These couldn’t be considered Boundary-Breaking Pills, but Song Yan planned to keep them.
If he took the Boundary-Breaking Pill and his spiritual energy was still insufficient, these could serve as a remedy.
Boundary-Breaking Pills came in many varieties. Whether at the Spirit Source Marsh Market auctions or at Lingxi Market, they might appear.
But this depended on luck.
Actually, the sect also had pills with similar effects as exchange items, requiring contribution points to redeem.
Since joining, he had accumulated quite a bit. Including this trip to North Watch Mountain, he should have around one hundred and ninety contribution points.
But for such special pills, they were usually snatched up as soon as the sect released them.
Some were exchanged by older disciples with no hope of further breakthrough, who then gifted them to their families.
Some were exchanged by cultivators at the tenth level of Qi Refining who no longer needed to break through minor Qi Refining stages. They would then sell them at auction to obtain spirit resources for their future Foundation Establishment.
The remaining small portion was true cultivators facing breakthrough, constantly watching the sect treasury for updates.
Going to exchange now had almost no chance of success, but he still planned to try his luck tomorrow.
…
The next day. Inner Sect, Spirit Spring Peak.
Song Yan walked out of the treasury’s side hall.
No surprise—let alone a proper Boundary-Breaking Pill, even items like “Condensing Spirit Pills” were nearly gone.
And those that remained had barely any breakthrough effect.
He felt a slight bitterness in his heart.
“If I place all my hope on the Spirit Source Marsh Night Market and Lingxi Market outside the sect…”
It was like being a headless fly…
Originally he could have asked the mysterious Granny Qin, but she had returned to her hometown to visit relatives.
The few people he was close to in the sect were limited.
Qingfeng and Qingqing had not yet reached late-stage Qi Refining. Even if they had news of Boundary-Breaking Pills, there was no need to tell him—it would only add competition.
In helplessness, he thought of someone.
“Senior Brother Lin Qing… might know something about this…”
Although Senior Brother Lin had not yet reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.
But asking along the way wouldn’t cost much effort.
If all else failed, he could wait for Granny Qin to return. She was extraordinarily capable—just ask her.
Following the location of Senior Brother Lin’s inner sect cave dwelling, Song Yan couldn’t help but marvel at how well inner sect disciples lived.
Arriving before Senior Brother Lin’s cave dwelling.
“Hummm~”
Spiritual light infused the voice transmission talisman.
After a moment, the cave dwelling’s formation slowly opened.
A thin figure emerged.
Senior Brother Lin’s complexion was terrible.
Song Yan was startled, his divine sense sweeping slightly.
Although his realm hadn’t dropped, his spiritual energy fluctuations were extremely unstable.
As if…
He had recently recovered from a serious injury.