Chapter 629 - 624: Breakthrough to First Grade
Chapter 629: Chapter 624: Breakthrough to First Grade
Fang Han focused his consciousness inward, clearly "seeing" the swirling, mist-like mass of dark green Inner Qi in his Baihui Acupoint.
At this moment, the acupoint was filled to the brim with Inner Qi, leaving not a sliver of empty space.
As another Circulation of the Heavens completed, a fresh stream of Inner Qi flowed into his Baihui Acupoint—
HUMMM...
A faint tremor, perceptible only to Fang Han, emanated from within his Baihui Acupoint.
At that instant, the acupoint was finally and completely saturated, with not a single gap remaining.
The overflowing Inner Qi spontaneously surged toward the next acupoint—the Zifu Acupoint.
An invisible yet incredibly tough barrier suddenly materialized.
Like a transparent wall, the barrier firmly blocked the rushing Inner Qi.
’I’ve hit the bottleneck.’
Fang Han knew perfectly well that he had hit the Great Realm bottleneck between the Second and First Grades.
This was the final Great Realm barrier of the Upper Three Grades—the threshold of the First Grade.
Unlike the previous Minor Realm bottlenecks, the barrier between the Second and First Grade was far more resilient than any he had encountered before.
It was common for ordinary Martial Artists to be trapped at this stage for years, decades, or even a lifetime, unable to advance a single step.
Even for top-level prodigies, it was common to be stuck for several months or even a year.
But Fang Han remained completely unfazed.
With his Root Bone Talent currently amplified 512 times, never mind the bottleneck between the Second and First Grade; even the barrier to the Grandmaster Realm wouldn’t hold him for long.
With a mere thought, the dark green Inner Qi in his body began to compress and condense. Following the breakthrough Magic Gate of the *Cyan Wood Antitoxic Scripture*, it charged ferociously at the barrier outside his Zifu Acupoint.
BOOM—
With the first impact, the barrier shook violently, sending ripples spreading out, but no cracks appeared.
Fang Han’s expression didn’t change as he guided his Inner Qi to strike again and again at a steady rhythm.
Empowered by his 512-fold Root Bone Talent Amplification, this barrier—indestructible to others—was quite fragile to him.
Each collision added several more cracks to the barrier.
An hour passed.
Two hours passed.
Fang Han remained as still as an old monk in deep meditation, not moving a muscle. Only the aura around him pulsed faintly with each impact.
The Medicinal Power of the Earth Spirit Pill was rapidly consumed by the high-intensity assault, transforming into wave after wave of powerful Inner Qi.
After four hours, Fang Han gathered all the Inner Qi in his body and launched a final assault.
CRACK—
A crisp cracking sound, originating from the very depths of his being, echoed with absolute clarity in his perception—like the shattering of ice in spring.
The invisible barrier before the Zifu Acupoint shattered instantly.
Like a flood bursting through a dam, the immense, long-accumulated Inner Qi joyfully surged into the newly opened Zifu Acupoint.
BOOM—!
In an instant, the aura around Fang Han erupted violently, like a volcano.
Its power far surpassed the Late Stage of the Second Grade, kicking up an invisible shockwave in the Quiet Chamber that sent the cold ashes in the Sandalwood Incense Burner scattering into the air.
The window lattice rattled from the shockwave, and even the walls seemed to tremble for a moment.
Including the Zifu Acupoint, a total of twenty-five opened acupoints now formed an unprecedentedly complex Inner Qi circulation system.
The speed and volume of his Inner Qi flow increased sharply. Its color deepened, and its texture grew as viscous as mercury, generating a sense of power far greater than before.
A wondrous sensation, born from a qualitative leap in his very being, washed over him.
’Early First Grade, complete.’
Fang Han slowly opened his eyes. A glint of dark green essence swirled within their depths before gradually receding.
He gently clenched his fist, and his knuckles emitted a crisp, crackling pop.
A faint smile touched his lips as he felt the increasingly vast and powerful Inner Qi within him.
It had only taken four hours to go from hitting the First Grade bottleneck to breaking through.
’If those top-level prodigies, stuck at this stage for months or even years, were to find out, I wonder what they would think.’
’The newly opened Divine Treasure...’
After calming the excitement from his breakthrough, Fang Han focused his consciousness on the newly opened Zifu Acupoint to perceive the new Divine Treasure that had unlocked with it.
Opening the Zifu Acupoint had unlocked an entirely new Divine Treasure.
The next instant—
An unprecedented and wondrous sensation emerged from deep within his brow.
It was an intangible power—unseen and untouchable, yet undeniably real.
It was as if an invisible pair of hands was extending from within his body.
’Spiritual power interfering with reality!’
Fang Han opened his eyes, his gaze falling upon a meditation cushion several feet away.
With a mere thought, the formless power extended, attempting to lift the cushion.
The cushion didn’t budge.
He frowned slightly and took the handwritten manual for the *Void Wind God Sword* out of his Storage Ring.
He tried again.
This time, the handwritten manual trembled slightly, then wobbled its way into the air.
A flash of surprise crossed Fang Han’s eyes as he continued to channel his spiritual power.
The manual slowly rose, floating up to eye level, where it hovered with a slight tremor.
He tried to make the manual move—left, right, and then slowly circle around him.
After just a few seconds, he felt a wave of exhaustion emanating from deep within his brow, and the manual dropped to the ground with a THUD.
"I can only control objects weighing less than a pound, and the force is extremely limited. The potential, however, is immense."
Fang Han muttered to himself.
For now, this ability for his spiritual power to affect reality was still too weak. It could only briefly lift an object weighing about a pound, making it useless in direct combat.
However, its immense potential was obvious.
As his Cultivation level rose and his spiritual power grew, this ability to affect reality was bound to become stronger.
In the future, it might even be possible to use his spiritual power on himself to achieve flight.
He was certain that a Grandmaster’s spiritual power couldn’t achieve this, and he had no idea if even a Great Grandmaster’s could.
The Qingxuan Sect was, after all, only a top-level power. The Sect had never produced a Great Grandmaster, so records about them were extremely scarce, with no mention of such abilities.
’No need to overthink it. As long as I keep getting stronger, I’ll eventually be able to use my spiritual power to lift my own body and fly.’
Fang Han shook his head, putting the matter aside for the time being.
He rose to his feet, stretched his limbs, which were slightly stiff from sitting for so long, and pushed open the door to the Quiet Chamber.
The courtyard was bathed in pleasant sunlight, and the bamboo grove rustled in the gentle breeze.
Chi Huo was lying beside the backyard Cultivation Field. When it saw Fang Han emerge, it wagged its tail and trotted over to greet him.
Fang Han patted its head and walked toward the front courtyard.
When he reached the front courtyard, Qiu Lan was under the covered walkway with two Maids, sorting through tea leaves newly delivered by the Sect’s logistics department. They were chatting quietly amongst themselves.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up, quickly set down the tea canister in her hand, and bowed.
"Senior Brother."
Fang Han nodded slightly and asked,
"What’s the date today?"
Qiu Lan paused for a moment, startled, before replying respectfully,
"Senior Brother, it is June eighteenth."
"June eighteenth?"
Fang Han raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Without him realizing it, it was already mid-June.
Nearly two months had passed since he returned to the Sect for secluded Cultivation after the Martial Arts Assembly.
His thoughts turned to his plans to propose marriage to the Yun Family and the Lan Family.
It was already June, and with the second half of the year approaching, he really needed to start preparing for the marriage proposals soon.
It was a matter of proper etiquette. The betrothal gifts, the matchmaker, and the date all had to be discussed in detail with his parents. Nothing could be done carelessly.
After a moment’s thought, he said to Qiu Lan,
"I’m heading home tomorrow. Feed Chi Huo early in the morning."
"Yes, Senior Brother."
Qiu Lan acknowledged his order and turned to make the arrangements.
Fang Han stood in the courtyard, hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the rolling mountains in the distance.
His thoughts ran through his upcoming schedule: go home to discuss the engagement, prepare the betrothal gifts, and then visit the Yun and Lan Families to formally propose.
Time wasn’t exactly tight, but he still needed to act quickly.
He pulled his gaze back and turned to walk toward the Quiet Chamber.
...
「Qingxuan City.」
In the eastern part of the city, inside a perfectly ordinary inn.
In a second-floor guest room overlooking the street, a middle-aged man sat by the window. He held a cup of tea, long gone cold, his gaze fixed on the main road outside leading to Qingxuan Mountain.
The man appeared to be in his early forties, with a face so plain it was utterly unremarkable. None of his features stood out—he was the sort of person who would disappear the moment he stepped into a crowd.
With his medium build, plain gray robes, and an inconspicuous longsword at his waist, he looked like any other traveling Martial Artist.
But if one were to look closely into his eyes, they would find a faint, cold light that occasionally flashed in their depths, like an undercurrent moving beneath a sheet of ice.
His code name was Yi San, and he was from an assassin organization known as Dark Abyss.
Dark Abyss—a name that struck fear into the hearts of all who heard it in the underworld of the surrounding prefectures.
Unlike ordinary powers, it possessed no sect or territory of its own, operating entirely from the shadows.
With Grandmaster-level assassins among its members, it specialized in all manner of assassination contracts. As long as the price was right, anyone from the Sect Leader of a top-level power to an ordinary Martial Artist could become a target.
And Yi San was the third-ranked assassin among Dark Abyss’s "Yi" tier.
Over a month ago, he had accepted the contract to assassinate Fang Han, a True Inheritor of the Qingxuan Sect.
So, he disguised himself as a traveling Martial Artist, infiltrated Qingxuan City, and began waiting for an opportunity to assassinate Fang Han when he left the Qingxuan Sect.
’I’ve been waiting for a month!’
Yi San drained the cold tea in his hand, his ordinary face betraying no emotion.
He had initially thought an opportunity to assassinate Fang Han would present itself quickly, but to his surprise, Fang Han had remained in seclusion. After waiting for a month, he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of his target.
As for infiltrating the Qingxuan Sect to perform the assassination, that would be suicide.
The Qingxuan Sect was a top-level power with a resident Grandmaster. Even an experienced assassin like him would never dare to infiltrate it rashly.
The slightest misstep would alert the presiding Grandmaster, and then, forget completing the mission—he’d be lucky to escape with his life.
’If the intel is correct, Fang Han should be leaving the Qingxuan Sect very soon!’
Yi San set down his teacup, a flicker of suppressed impatience crossing his otherwise unremarkable eyes.
Even for an assassin who prided himself on his patience, waiting for over a month was starting to wear on him.
Fortunately, a piece of intelligence he’d obtained offered a glimmer of hope.
According to the intelligence, Fang Han planned to get engaged in the latter half of the year.
When that time came, Fang Han would have to leave the Qingxuan Sect, giving him the perfect opportunity to assassinate him.
Yi San slowly exhaled, forcing his impatience back down.
He picked up the teapot, poured himself another cup of cold tea, and his gaze once again fell upon the main road leading to Qingxuan Mountain.