A few days had gone by since Li Qingmu's breakthrough in that chamber at the Flower Garden Tavern. Now he was back in his own abode deep within the sect, a modest yet elegantly arranged courtyard dwelling surrounded by ancient pines and flowing spirit streams.
He sat cross-legged atop his lotus platform, eyes closed as his golden core slowly rotated in his dantian like a small blazing sun. Spiritual energy circulated through his meridians to steadily polish his foundation. He could have swallowed a high-grade Nascent Soul Pill and forced the breakthrough in a single night; the sect's treasury held several. But Li Qingmu knew better. Pills of that sort, no matter their quality, would leave hidden flaws in the nascent soul… cracks that might shatter his path when he tried to reach Heavenly Nascent Soul or beyond.
