Chapter 7: 3 Months, Breakthrough to Qi Cultivation Layer 4
Chapter 7: Chapter 7: 3 Months, Breakthrough to Qi Cultivation Layer 4
Three months went by. Every day during that time, just as the sky began to lighten, the clicking sounds of Lu Zhao working on his puppets would ring out across the bluestone slabs of the Market West District.
Each day as the sun rose, newly crafted Cyan-striped Mouse Puppets would appear on his animal hide, the flowing Spirit Patterns on their claws frequently causing Demon Hunters to stop and look.
At such times, Lu Zhao would have the puppet suddenly flip over to reveal its sharp fangs. Sometimes, he would even cast a spell, having the puppet shatter a Water Curtain Technique he had just conjured on the spot.
Once a crowd had gathered, he would smile, form a hand seal to recall the puppet, and then explain its uses in detail. Through this routine of ’demonstration and explanation,’ he successfully attracted many customers.
Old Huang would always be off to the side, muttering sourly, "If I’d known, I would’ve learned Puppetry too. Unlike me, having to sell my talismans at a discount."
By the time the sun reached the bronze beast heads on the rooftops, the crisp sound of Lu Zhao’s Spiritual Pickaxe striking the rock wall would invariably echo from deep within the mine.
Whenever Lu Zhao felt exhausted and leaned against the rock wall, he would recall the piece of "Cold Spirit Jade" he had found hidden in a seam of Cold Iron Ore.
It was a fist-sized, Tier One Middle-Grade Companion Spiritual Object that glowed with a faint, cold blue light. When tapped with a knuckle, it produced a resonant hum, like an echo in an empty valley.
It was the first Tier One Middle-Grade material he had mined in three years. He’d turned it in for two Spirit Stones, and though it wasn’t much, the reward had still brought him joy.
Besides mining, he also hunted packs of Spirit-Devouring Rats daily. Whenever Lu Zhao cornered a pack and they lunged at him in unison, he would cast three Water Bombs with a flick of his wrist. The resulting vapor would instantly condense into an Ice Mist, freezing the rats into frost-covered statues. Lu Zhao would then collect them one by one, placing them in his Storage Bag.
He recalled that during his last hunt of the final month, quite a few cultivators had been watching him with probing eyes. After all, he had killed dozens of Spirit-Devouring Rats that month alone.
When dusk fell and he returned to the cellar of his small courtyard, he would begin refining puppets. Shavings of Cyan Pattern Wood would invariably cover his workbench. While his attempts at refining a Puppet Core often ended in failure, he had his share of successes as well.
Still, whenever he looked at a finished Mouse Puppet, Lu Zhao’s heart would fill with satisfaction. Since gaining insight into the Hundred Refinements Technique, he could carve a Puppet Core from just four pieces of Cyan Pattern Wood. He was even able to repurpose the scraps from his failures, successfully refining them into seven new Puppet Guards.
At the end of the month, Lu Zhao collected his monthly stipend of Cold Jade Pills and Spirit Stones. He then carefully calculated his finances from the past three months:
Salary as a Zhou Family’s Guest Minister Elder: three Spirit Stones. Income from the Companion Spiritual Object: two Spirit Stones. Sale of three Mouse Puppets: thirty Spirit Stones. Income from Puppet Guards: two Spirit Stones. Expenses for Cyan Pattern Wood and Ice Condensing Stones: seven Spirit Stones. Over three months, he had saved thirty Spirit Stones.
Inside Lu Zhao’s Storage Bag now lay thirty neatly stacked Spirit Stones. He also had four taels of Cold Iron he had mined.
The three Cold Jade Pills he had been given were stored carefully beside them. Each pill was worth seven days of hard cultivation for an Early-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator.
After three months of diligent effort, the bottleneck to the Mid-stage Qi Cultivation realm had worn as thin as a cicada’s wing.
One day, as he came to the Cold Pool to cultivate as usual, he suddenly had an epiphany.
As the mist over the Cold Pool condensed into ice crystals that fell with a soft rustle, the three tangled strands of Magical Power in his Dantian suddenly trembled.
He realized that his efforts over the past three months had not been in vain. Mining, demon hunting, puppet refining, and grinding away at his bottleneck—each time his Spiritual Power was depleted and then restored, his meridians had been imperceptibly widened.
Now, the Little Spirit Rain Technique circulated smoothly. The Spiritual Qi no longer rampaged through him but flowed as gently as a spring stream meandering over pebbles. Even the usual stabbing pain in his meridians had softened and was no longer unbearable.
Lu Zhao made a snap decision, swallowing one Cold Jade Pill and one Vessel-Protecting Pill. The moment the Cold Jade Pill’s medicinal power dissolved, a vast surge of Spiritual Qi flooded his Dantian. At the same time, the Vessel-Protecting Pill acted as a steadfast guard, protecting his meridians.
The Spiritual Qi then began to circulate on its own, following the path of his cultivation technique and merging with his three strands of Magical Power. The external Spiritual Qi he was drawing from the air was like an undercurrent beneath a sheet of ice that had finally found an outlet; it coalesced into a mist and surged toward him.
By the pool’s edge, several stalks of Ice Frost Grass stirred, though there was no wind. From a distance, Lu Zhao himself looked like a man carved from ice.
CRACK!
Lu Zhao wasn’t alarmed; he was delighted. ’This is the sign of a breakthrough, just as my cultivation technique described!’
Sure enough, the Spiritual Qi was drawn in by an unseen force, swirling into a vortex centered on his Dantian. Like a hundred rivers flowing to the sea, it poured into his body.
He felt his meridians become glacial riverbeds as a majestic Spiritual Power surged through, scouring his meridians, skeleton, and muscles until they all trembled.
"Break!"
Following his sharp cry, Lu Zhao turned his senses inward. Within his Dantian, the three original, tangled strands of True Qi had expanded, and a brand-new fourth strand was slowly taking form.
Wisps of Spiritual Qi began to perform a Circulation of the Celestial Cycle on their own, flowing through his meridians, which were now thirty percent wider.
The Cold Qi from the Cold Pool now dissipated on contact with his skin. The needle-like pricks from before were gone, replaced by a feeling of being immersed in a warm, gentle, jade-like liquid.
He had finally broken through to the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer.
After a long night, Lu Zhao briefly consolidated his new cultivation realm before leaving the Cold Pool and returning to his courtyard.
Back in his cellar, the Puppet Bead’s interface flashed before his eyes.
Name: Lu Zhao
Lifespan: 23/120
Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer (Middle-Grade Water Spirit Root)
Main Cultivation Method: Little Spirit Rain Technique (Incomplete · Lower Grade)
Magic: Water Bullet Technique, Water Curtain Technique, Ice Cone Technique, Breath Concealment Technique, Water Mist Technique
Supporting Skills:
Puppetry (Tier One Lower Grade):
Cyan-striped Mouse Puppet (Success Rate: 33%)
Lu Zhao had maintained a disciplined routine for the past three months. Not only did he break through in his cultivation, but his puppetry skills also advanced by leaps and bounds. He could now successfully craft the core for a Cyan-striped Mouse Puppet one out of every three tries, and his success rate for refining the other components was nearly ninety percent.
As for materials for his other puppets, he had already purchased three Ice Condensing Stones from the Zhou Family for the Ice Mouse Puppet. Just yesterday, he had also traded for a pigeon-egg-sized piece from a hunchbacked old cultivator at the Black Market.
He had already prepared the Wind Pattern Stones required for the Flowing Cloud Sparrow puppet and had acquired a few bird carcasses over the past few months. He had also gotten news from Wang Yun that a large number of Cyan Feathered Sparrow nests had been found on the North Slope of the Celestial Cloud Mountain Range. ’If I can get some of their carcasses,’ he thought, ’I won’t have to worry about this material anymore.’
After considering his puppet-related affairs, Lu Zhao’s thoughts returned to his cultivation. ’I plan to reach Mid-Stage Qi Cultivation Perfection before I turn thirty, so I can’t be lacking in pills.’ He divided his Spirit Stones into three portions: fifteen to purchase pills, twelve for puppet materials, and the remaining three to cover any emergencies.
’The remaining Cold Jade Pills are useless to me now that I’m in the Mid-stage of Qi Cultivation,’ he mused. ’I should probably sell them. As for new pills, I’ll be able to receive one per month after I exchange my old Guest Minister Token for a new one.’
If he wasn’t mistaken, the pill he would receive would be the Ice Jade Pill.
’With the pills from my stipend and the income from selling puppets,’ he calculated, ’I might be able to reach the threshold of the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer within two years.’
Just as Lu Zhao was lost in his ambitious thoughts, a familiar sound broke the silence. Footsteps echoed from outside—the Night Patrol Cultivators were passing by his courtyard. Instantly, one of the vigilant Puppet Guards swiveled its head toward the noise. This was due to the ’Early Warning Formation’ Lu Zhao had recently learned from the Hundred Refinements Technique. His new Puppet Guards were more agile than the previous ones, with a more sophisticated ability to assess threats and even determine their general direction.