21: Chapter 21 Breakthrough! Fifth Level of Qi Refining

Over the next few days, Fang Yuan's life became very routine.

In the morning, he would first take the Magical Artifacts he had refined to exchange for contribution points.

Then he would go to work and Cultivate while idling.

At noon, he would go to Zhanchen Peak to purchase Demon Beast Corpses, buying twelve at a time.

Then, he would stop by Qiyun Peak to settle the Medicinal Pill and Spiritual Plant transactions.

Upon returning and resting, he would perform Decompose on the Demon Beast Corpses, absorb and refine the talents and Bloodline Power, and tend to his Spirit Beast along the way.

In the afternoon, he would continue to sell the Yao Beast Materials to recoup funds.

In the evening, he would return to his Immortal Cave to continue to Cultivate.

After Cultivating, he would practice Alchemy and Artifact Refining, then collapse into bed to sleep.

Days passed by like this, one after another. In the blink of an eye, a week had gone by.

On this day, inside the Immortal Cave, Fang Yuan sat with his eyes closed, refining a Top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pill.

Looking inward, he could see that the Spiritual Qi within his Dantian was fully accumulated. The fourth cloud pattern on his bones had been completely branded.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the number of Spiritual Sense strands had reached 499, and the strength of each strand was twice as strong as it had been at the beginning.

Everything was ready, and Fang Yuan chose to make his Breakthrough!

The Spiritual Qi within his body surged violently toward the Dantian barrier. With a crack, the tough Dantian barrier was torn open, creating dozens of fissures.

The Spiritual Qi inside the Dantian rushed rapidly into the fissures, expanding the Dantian to twice its size!

The Dantian barrier began to show signs of recovery. All the Spiritual Qi immediately began to pour into the fissures, continuing to expand the size of the Dantian!

"My Physical Body has already reached the Level 5 Realm in advance, and the toughness of my Dantian far exceeds what it was before; it can support me in expanding to a much larger range!"

"My Spiritual Sense has also reached the Peak of Level 4, comparable to an ordinary Level 5, which also provides a bonus to expanding the Dantian!"

"Coupled with the Perfection-level Cloud Qi Art, which seems to have a miraculous effect on expanding the Dantian, I can expand even more this time!"

Fang Yuan could see that those cloud-like Spiritual Qi currents, when hitting the gaps in the barrier, could easily inflate the barrier, just like blowing up a balloon; it was very smooth and natural.

In just a quarter of an hour, Fang Yuan expanded his Dantian by another four times on top of the original two-fold increase! Adding the 2.5-fold extra expansion from his Breakthrough to Level 4, the space of his Dantian was now 10 times larger than that of others in the same Realm!

The Dantian barrier finished reshaping. A massive suction force erupted from within his body!

Having prepared long in advance, Fang Yuan had placed a large amount of Spirit Stones around himself, along with hundreds of Top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills!

Fang Yuan opened his mouth and inhaled, and hundreds of Top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills entered his body!

The stomach, strengthened by the [Gold-Swallowing] talent, instantly refined these Qi-Nourishing Pills, directly releasing an immensely vast medicinal power.

Normally, it would be impossible to refine these Qi-Nourishing Pills in such a short time. But now, in this special period just after a Breakthrough, most of this Spiritual Qi was instantly devoured by the Dantian! It was converted into the Spiritual Qi within the Dantian!

Such a large amount of Spiritual Qi would have been enough to fill the Dantian when he was at Qi Refining Level 4, but now it only occupied fifteen percent of the space.

The remaining smaller portion of Spiritual Qi was quickly absorbed by his Physical Body and Sea of Consciousness.

Looking inward at his Sea of Consciousness, he could see that the number of Spiritual Sense strands had surged by 100 at the moment of the Breakthrough, reaching 600! The strength of each strand of Spiritual Sense had also increased by thirty percent! It was a huge improvement.

"The Breakthrough was a success!" A hint of a smile appeared in Fang Yuan's eyes. Qi Refining Level 5 was much stronger than Qi Refining Level 4.

Suddenly, he sensed someone triggering the doorbell of his Immortal Cave.

"I was sensed so quickly? Doesn't the Immortal Cave have a concealment Formation?"

Fang Yuan arrived at the entrance of the Immortal Cave and saw Li Chenggong standing there, looking up at the sky.

"You actually really broke through?" Li Chenggong looked surprised. "I sensed a clear vortex phenomenon in the Spiritual Qi above your Immortal Cave, which is a sign of a Breakthrough, so I came to check."

Fang Yuan inwardly exclaimed at what sharp perception he had. He had specifically prepared a large amount of Spirit Stones and Medicinal Pills to avoid being sensed, yet he hadn't expected to be discovered anyway.

"Thanks to Senior Brother Li's Cloud Body Art, my Cultivation speed has increased quite a bit."

Li Chenggong waved his hand and said, "I wouldn't dare take the credit. Your Comprehension Ability is too high, isn't it? You actually managed to Cultivate the Cloud Qi Art as well?"

"Just luck!" Fang Yuan smiled.

"Wait here for a moment!" Li Chenggong's figure vanished from the spot instantly.

Fang Yuan scratched his head, wondering what he had gone to do.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Chenggong reappeared with a beaming smile. He tossed a Storage Pouch in his hand to Fang Yuan.

"This is your reward for being the first to break through to Qi Refining Level 5."

Fang Yuan quickly accepted it.

"Alright, kid, keep working hard! If you have any problems, you can come find me! I'm usually fishing by that lake on Treasure Peak!"

Li Chenggong flashed away and left directly. "Farewell, Senior Brother!" Fang Yuan cupped his hands in salute.

He opened the Storage Pouch and looked inside, only to see four items: a pair of Spirit Boots approaching the level of a First-Grade High Grade Magical Artifact, a High Grade barrier-breaking pill for the Late Stage of Qi Refining, a portable defensive Formation, and a Blazing Fire Talisman with the power of a Qi Refining Perfection stage.

"Just this?" Fang Yuan muttered.

"Each item is worth about three to five thousand Spirit Stones; adding them up, it's a reward of ten to twenty thousand Spirit Stones. It's neither too much nor too little."

Fang Yuan casually put on the Spirit Boots, packed away the other items, and turned around, intending to return to his Immortal Cave.

However, he noticed a flying bird approaching rapidly from the distance. Fang Yuan paused slightly and looked over in confusion.

He saw a familiar figure standing on the flying bird. "Han Zimo?"

When Han Zimo got closer, to Fang Yuan's surprise, the fluctuation of his aura seemed to have also reached Qi Refining Level 5.

"What a coincidence?"

Han Zimo landed and stared at Fang Yuan with burning eyes. "Senior Brother Han!" Fang Yuan greeted him.

Han Zimo said in a deep voice, "I didn't expect you to break through a step ahead of me!"

Fang Yuan smiled shyly, "Sorry, this time it was just luck!"

Han Zimo looked at him strangely, "I switched to cultivating a fire-attribute top grade Cultivation Technique, and with the Cultivation speed of a High Grade Spiritual Root, combined with sufficient Medicinal Pills and Yao Beast meat, my Cultivation speed has been advancing by leaps and bounds, yet I still haven't caught up to your speed. How exactly do you Cultivate?"

Fang Yuan coughed, "Maybe my Comprehension Ability is decent. I am also cultivating a top grade Cultivation Technique."

Upon hearing this, Han Zimo's gaze sharpened, and the sword at his waist seemed to sense his intent, emitting a clear ringing sound. "Fang Yuan, I formally issue you a challenge for a spar! Do you dare to fight?"

Han Zimo's tone was filled with thick confidence, as if he could easily defeat Fang Yuan the moment he agreed.

Fang Yuan gave a wry smile, "Senior Brother Han is overestimating me. I work in the Treasure Hall, working all day, and when I go back, I just rush to Cultivate; I don't even have time to practice Spells. I am really no match for you!"

Upon hearing this, Han Zimo nodded in understanding. However, he still insisted, "Since I'm already here, let's have a fight! Regardless of victory or defeat!"