Nightfall descended.
In the room, on the bed, Qi Chuan swallowed a Qi Condensing Pill, sat cross-legged, and operated the Evergreen Technique, gradually refining the attracted Spiritual Qi and the medicinal power of the Qi Condensing Pill into his own mana.
[You operate the Evergreen Technique, absorb Spiritual Qi, refine medicinal power, and convert it into your own mana, triggering a sixfold critical strike, yielding sixfold gains. Your total mana has gained a slight increase.]
After a grand circulation, Qi Chuan opened his eyes and saw the lines of text appearing before him.
Sensing within his body, he felt that his mana had increased slightly once more.
With this kind of improvement, advancing his cultivation to the peak of the Qi Refining Third Layer was just a matter of time.
However, Qi Chuan currently only had five Qi Condensing Pills, consuming one per month, which would be exhausted in five months, certainly not enough.
Therefore, he still needed to do some family tasks as a supplement.
But similarly, performing family tasks, whether doing safe internal tasks or taking some risks with external tasks, consumes time and may affect personal cultivation.
But this cannot be avoided.
To compete for an inner sect slot, this was necessary.
Putting aside these thoughts, Qi Chuan calmed his mind and continued to operate the Evergreen Technique.
After a while, a faint tingling sensation began to emit from within his meridians, indicating that his cultivation for the day had reached its limit.
Therefore, Qi Chuan had to stop improving his cultivation level and instead practiced magic.
In the midst of forming seals and chanting incantations, a red fireball larger than half a fist slowly rose in his palm, emitting a scorching temperature.
A moment later, Qi Chuan withdrew his mana, and the red fireball dissipated, with a line of characters appearing before him.
[You successfully cast a Fireball Technique and maintained it for a period, triggering a twenty-ninefold critical strike, yielding twenty-ninefold gains. Your mastery of the Fireball Technique has gained a slight improvement.]
Qi Chuan felt that his grasp of the Fireball Technique had improved slightly once more.
So he continued to strive in practicing magic.
Not only the Fireball Technique but also other basic Five Elements Magic like the Water Arrow Technique were practiced in tandem.
Time flowed slowly in this dedicated practice.
A year and four months later.
On an independent family mountain, upon a spirit field.
Qi Chuan was busy bending over, with sunlit spirit grass swaying gently around him, a single dewdrop, as clear as crystal, descending from a blade of grass, shining as it fell in the sunlight.
Moments later, Qi Chuan finished his work, straightened up, and saw the lines of text floating before him.
[You diligently tended to the spirit plants for half an hour, triggering a twofold critical strike, yielding twofold gains. Your experience and skills in tending spirit plants have gained a slight improvement.]
Looking at the characters, a faint smile appeared on Qi Chuan's lips, but he didn't pay much attention to the information.
He simply dusted off his hands, looked into the distance, a feeling of unease inexplicably rising in his heart.
"Success or failure depends on today!"
Qi Chuan murmured to himself.
In the past year, he had mostly been diligently cultivating.
In addition to occasionally performing family tasks, including safe internal tasks and some low-risk external tasks for Qi Chuan, he earned some contribution points, all exchanged for Qi Condensing Pills to accelerate mana accumulation.
Finally, at this moment, his cultivation had reached the peak of the Qi Refining Third Layer!
However, after reaching the peak of the Qi Refining Third Layer, Qi Chuan calmed down, temporarily halting cultivation, and instead spent half an hour on the spirit field outside.
To relax and relieve stress.
For no other reason than the critical bottleneck!
Once he breaks through, his cultivation can reach the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, potentially qualifying him for a place in the Wind Moon Sect's inner sect.
If he cannot break through, then there's virtually no hope.
Because the descendent of the Preaching Elder, with a Fourth Grade Spirit Root, at the time of determining the slots, would have at least reached the peak of the Qi Refining Third Layer.
And if both are at the peak of the Qi Refining Third Layer, of the same age, one with a Lower Eighth Grade Spirit Root and one with a Fourth Grade Spirit Root, the comparison is obvious, and the inner sect slot would never go to Qi Chuan.
By then, Qi Chuan would have to compete for an outer sect slot, putting him a step behind.
Although with the existence of hundredfold critical strikes, even if he's a step behind, once he becomes an Outer Sect Disciple and diligently cultivates, his cultivation will improve, and he will surely have a chance to enter the inner sect.
But entering the inner sect directly would be the best.
Yet, in actuality, the subtle anxiety in Qi Chuan's heart today isn't largely related to the bottleneck or the inner sect slot.
It is rather linked to the hundredfold critical strike and concerns about his future path of cultivation for immortality.
Because next, he will attempt to break through this bottleneck, testing the effect of the hundredfold critical strike on breakthroughs.
If it is ineffective, his future cultivation will face many difficulties and obstacles.
After all, how many large and small bottlenecks will one encounter on the path to immortality? If the hundredfold critical strike is ineffective, he would have to rely solely on his Lower Eighth Grade Spirit Root, which would be exceedingly difficult.
But if it works, it will greatly facilitate his entire path of cultivation for immortality.
"Overthinking is pointless; I must test it myself to know the result."
Qi Chuan thought inwardly.
Then, looking at the distant mountain scenery, he took a soft breath and returned to his room.
On the bed, Qi Chuan sat cross-legged.
However, he didn't immediately operate the Evergreen Technique; instead, he quietly regulated his breathing, letting his mind gradually return to tranquility.
Once his mind was as still as water, he tightly closed his eyes and began to operate the Evergreen Technique.
As the Evergreen Technique operated, the mana at the peak of the Qi Refining Third Layer in his Dantian was drawn out, flowing through his meridians along the predefined path.
This is fundamentally just a regular circulation.
After all, regarding breaking through the bottleneck, Qi Chuan had no experience, knowing nothing, everything had to be explored by himself.
However, as the Evergreen Technique operated, all his mana at the peak of the Qi Refining Third Layer was mobilized, faintly, he seemed to feel a vague sensation.
This sensation should be a form of self-perception on how to break through the bottleneck.
However, this sensation was too vague and unclear, hard to grasp.
Forcibly breaking through while in this vague state might have a slight chance of success, but it's like a blind cat hitting a dead rat, driven by sheer luck.
In most cases, impetuous breakthroughs without direction result in failure, damaging both body and mana, with severe cases seeing a regression in cultivation and potential, slowing future progress and reducing breakthrough chances.
Hoping to achieve immortality through luck? The Heavenly Dao will teach you reality.
Qi Chuan knew that the poorer the spirit root, the harder it is to break through bottlenecks; it's said that if the spirit root is good enough, one wouldn't encounter bottlenecks before core formation.
With just a Lower Eighth Grade Spirit Root, the vague inspiration he captured was likely off-mark, possibly entirely wrong and not to be easily trusted.
Therefore, Qi Chuan maintained the operation of the Evergreen Technique but did not choose to break through; he merely felt this sensation, trying to make it clearer and more defined.
While in this feeling, the Evergreen Technique completed a grand circulation, and his mana flowed smoothly back into the Dantian.
Instantly, that already vague inspiration disappeared completely.
Qi Chuan opened his eyes with a hint of helplessness; he had tried to sense and comprehend earnestly, yet eventually seemed to gain nothing. Until now, he was still at a loss for how to break through the bottleneck, utterly clueless.
"Is this what having a Lower Eighth Grade Spirit Root means? If this continues, when will I ever break through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage?"
Qi Chuan mused inwardly.
Yet just then, his gaze sharpened, for he saw a line of characters abruptly appear before him.
[You performed a grand circulation with the Evergreen Technique, attempting to capture the inspiration opportunity for breaking through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage, triggering a seventy-twofold critical strike, yielding seventy-twofold gain. You successfully captured a hint of inspiration opportunity for breaking through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage.]