Chapter 7: Breaking Through to the Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation

Chapter 7: Breaking Through to the Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation

Outer Sect Disciples no longer needed to attend Morning Class, only heading to their assigned spirit fields in the afternoon.

Xiao Chen woke naturally from sleep, then opened the Yang Qi Tuna Method to begin practicing.

He first ran through a small cycle of the Basic Breathing Technique to get a feel for it, then followed the new heart method to draw heavenly qi into his body and attempt to condense mana.

Unexpectedly, the moment the spiritual energy began flowing, Xiao Chen felt as though he’d entered an entirely different world.

Massive waves of qi surged into his meridians, overwhelming and sudden.

“This effect is incredible!”

For the first time in his life, Xiao Chen felt the surrounding heavenly qi was so abundant—ten times more than before.

Even more crucially, the speed at which the qi moved through his meridians was unusually fast.

Despite being his first attempt at this new method and unfamiliar with the pathways, he completed a full small cycle in just a quarter of the time originally needed.

He even sensed this wasn’t his limit—once proficient, he could likely cut the time by another third.

In other words, this lightweight enhancement multiplied his cultivation speed tenfold, letting him complete ten cycles of the Yang Qi Tuna Method in the time others finished one.

“This reinforcement is straightforward to the point of brutality.”

In this high-speed cultivation state, Xiao Chen could clearly feel his progress.

By the afternoon, he had already cycled through the Yang Qi Tuna Method over a hundred times, fully mastering the new technique and converting all his original mana.

“I heard senior sect brothers usually need ten days to complete such a transformation.”

“But I did it in half a day—twenty times faster.”

“Could I actually be a genius?”

Feeling his revitalized mana, Xiao Chen struggled to believe it.

It wasn’t until he headed to the spirit field in the afternoon that he realized the reason—Outer Sect Disciples had heavier workloads.

Servant Disciples only managed two mu of spirit field alone due to their limited capacity.

Each Outer Sect Disciple, however, had to cultivate five mu of spirit field, producing Spirit Rice and low-grade medicinal herbs for the sect.

Only when they became Inner Sect Disciples could they abandon these chores and focus entirely on cultivation.

Disciples at the fourth stage of Lian Qi typically had only six channels of mana.

Using the Minor Cloud Rain Technique five times would nearly deplete it all, making progress painfully slow and affecting daily cultivation.

But now, with tenfold speed, Xiao Chen gained a critical time advantage—his work no longer hindered his cultivation efficiency.

In fact, he gained benefits far beyond a tenfold increase.

After spending an hour tending his five mu of spirit field, Xiao Chen sat down to recover his mana.

As expected, his accelerated absorption rate also sped up his mana recovery.

This hex’s side effect proved far more powerful than its description suggested.

For the next two months, Xiao Chen immersed himself in cultivation, losing all track of time.

Unlike other disciples who wasted hours managing spirit fields and recovering mana, Xiao Chen’s time efficiency was terrifying.

Even during brief breaks while patrolling the spirit fields, he’d squeeze in another round of practice.

Under these conditions, he felt tangible progress daily, becoming so engrossed he neglected to interact with fellow disciples.

Thus, when Steward Chen gathered everyone for a routine heart-to-heart session, Xiao Chen was surprised to find the Second Sub-Academy housed many more people than he’d realized.

“Today marks our Sub-Academy’s regular summer exchange meeting. Feel free to discuss any cultivation issues.”

Young and capable, Steward Chen served as both instructor and administrator for the Second Sub-Academy.

He’d proactively changed the semiannual public lectures into quarterly academy-wide exchanges to accelerate disciples’ progress and earn sect rewards through stronger cultivators.

Xiao Chen had planned to learn diligently at his first such meeting.

But as discussions continued, he realized something was off.

Many issues hadn’t even occurred to him until other disciples raised them.

For instance, the problem of qi dissipation—cultivation was like rowing upstream; stagnation meant regression.

The heavenly qi absorbed into one’s dantian on the first day would dissipate almost entirely by morning if not refined into the meridians.

Re-refining it wasted precious time.

To address this, disciples devised various methods to balance absorption and refinement.

But Xiao Chen was different—he could fill his dantian in fifteen minutes, then focus entirely on refining.

Most issues were similar.

In short, his efficient cultivation process eliminated nearly all transitional problems.

After listening for hours, Xiao Chen realized none of the techniques applied to him.

Others advanced ten zhang daily but suffered five zhang of regression at night, agonizing over the loss.

He advanced a hundred zhang daily—losing ten zhang at night still left him far ahead.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen didn’t leave empty-handed.

Near the meeting’s end, a senior sect brother shared his success using Nourishing Qi Pills to breakthrough cultivation barriers and introduced a better absorption technique.

Coincidentally, Xiao Chen still had some Nourishing Qi Pills obtained from the Jiang family.

Returning to his quarters, he followed the senior’s method, consuming the pills with noticeable results.

Though he didn’t experience the rumored threefold increase in efficiency, Xiao Chen felt mild disappointment.

However, on the ninth night, while running the Yang Qi Tuna Method before sleep, inspiration struck—he successfully broke through to the Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation with the pills’ assistance.

He’d achieved what normally took cultivators two and a half years in just two and a half months.

Another two and a half months passed.

Xiao Chen not only stabilized his cultivation realm but also sensed he was nearing the Sixth Layer of Foundation Building.

He then visited the Merit Hall, spending five spirit stones—a steep price—to exchange for a bottle of Nourishing Qi Pills.

Afterward, he headed to the evening autumn exchange meeting.

Xiao Chen had no intention of hiding his breakthrough, partly because he hadn’t yet mastered the art of concealing his aura.

As he entered the Sub-Academy hall at the Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation, Steward Chen—a Foundation Building cultivator—detected his presence immediately.

He abruptly stood, exclaiming, “Xiao Chen! When did you break through?!”

“How did you manage it?!”

“No, wait—I meant to ask, how could you breakthrough so fast? Did you also find some heavenly treasure?”

Steward Chen’s outburst drew all disciples’ attention.

They stared, mouths agape.

This Xiao Chen, who’d introduced himself as a newcomer at the last meeting, had broken through to the Fifth Layer of Qi Condensation in just half a year?

Stunned, they scrutinized him from head to toe, as if beholding a monster.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end