Chapter 45
Before long, a sense of fullness enveloped her entire body as the level in her Dantian rose to its limit.
It was time to tear down the wall blocking her path to 5th-Stage Qi Condensation.
‘Let’s take a look.’
Baek-Cheong examined her inner self and examined the Barrier obstructing her Dantian.
Compared to the massive Barrier of the minor realm she had faced when crossing from the 3rd to the 4th stage, the Barrier blocking the 5th stage was only about half as thick.
“…It’s tougher than I thought?”
She didn’t feel entirely overwhelmed, but thanks to her Dantian being tempered by the Five Elements Mutual Generation, the Barrier boasted a much sturdier and denser composition than the one at the 4th stage.
“This is seriously ridiculous.”
If an ordinary Cultivator faced a Barrier of this magnitude, they would have no choice but to borrow the power of a Barrier-Breaking Pill.
It was just that the vast majority of Cultivators either lacked the means to purchase a Barrier-Breaking Pill or refrained from consuming one due to the strong pill toxicity inherent to its nature.
“Still…”
It was at a level she could overcome if she maintained her quasi-unification and hammered at it time and time again.
However, she possessed an Ultimate Skill she had awakened to in the Nameless Forum.
“If it’s the Falling Star Style…”
Baek-Cheong focused her Divine Sense and drew up the Five Elements Qi within her Dantian.
Just like before, she manifested the quasi-unification by forcefully clumping the five energies into a round sphere.
Then, she mimicked the shape of a sword with the quasi-unification and imbued it with a single strand of a Sword Art.
“Go!”
Baek-Cheong gathered her spirit and moved the condensed energy toward the Barrier.
The energy surged forward like a falling star and pierced the Dantian wall to the 5th stage.
It was a strike forged by quasi-unifying the Five Elements Qi with Sword Intent.
And the destructive power concentrated in that single point containing the Sword Intent was beyond imagination.
CRACK - !
Thick, cobweb-like cracks spread across the sturdy wall.
Following that, an explosive expansion of energy occurred, and unable to withstand it, the Barrier shattered into pieces and crumbled down like a broken glass window.
“Huh?”
Baek-Cheong let out a baffled sound and snapped her eyes open.
It was such an anticlimactic and clean breakthrough that it completely overshadowed her grim resolve to compress and crash her energy over and over again, even at the risk of coughing up blood, just to tear down the Barrier.
“I broke through this easily?”
Beyond the breached Barrier, a massive vortex of Spiritual Qi swirled as the realm of a new stage opened up.
The exhilarating pleasure of Marrow Cleansing and Bone Transformation washed over her as her Dantian expanded beyond its limits and her body transformed to her very marrow.
At the same time, a sense of liberation bloomed in her mind, and her Divine Sense, which had been stuck at fifteen zhang, instantly stretched out to nineteen zhang.
“Based on my Divine Sense alone, it could rival the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.”
Baek-Cheong couldn’t hide her astonishment as she reeled in the massive Divine Sense that had spread in all directions.
From her Dantian to her Divine Sense, she was far beyond the scope of a normal Qi Condensation Cultivator.
But her joy was short-lived.
When she contemplated her inner self to examine her Dantian, it instantly turned into despair.
“Crazy… It doubled again?”
The size of the newly opened Dantian upon reaching the 5th stage boasted an absurd vastness, as if the great sea from her 4th stage days had been inflated to twice its size.
Because she had poured all her energy into the breakthrough, her Dantian was completely empty without a single drop of sloshing Spiritual Qi, bringing her another wave of hopelessness.
The only comforting point was that her True Qi was accumulating like compound interest every time she broke through a stage.
Even her True Qi was on a different level from standard Qi Condensation, so compared to the True Qi of another Cultivator at the 5th-Stage Qi Condensation, there would likely be a massive difference in weight class.
However, looking at a Dantian that was like a vast sea upon a vast sea upon a vast sea, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of relative deprivation.
As the amount of Spiritual Qi she needed to gather doubled with every breakthrough, she couldn’t even dare to think about filling it up completely through natural Qi Absorption without the help of pills.
“When am I supposed to fill all this space!”
Baek-Cheong tore at her hair in dismay.
Even though she practically lived with top-grade Elixirs in her mouth, the growth rate of her Spirit Root had hit a plateau and could not possibly keep up with the expansion speed of her Dantian.
It was a dilemma born from the limit of her Spiritual Qi Absorption capacity and the infinite expansion of her Dantian.
The only saving grace was that she was still young and had a bright future ahead, so there was no need to be impatient.
“Ah, whatever. Future me will take care of future problems.”
Baek-Cheong brushed off the headache-inducing thoughts and chose to escape reality.
If push came to shove, she could just consume an Inscribed Spirit Gathering Pill to fill her Dantian in an instant, and more importantly, a much more pressing issue was currently piercing her nose.
“Ugh, this smell again.”
The uninvited guest that unfailingly arrived every time she broke through a stage.
Black, sticky impurities expelled from the pores all over her body had soaked her silk clothes, emitting a terrible stench.
Even though she tempered her meridians and expelled Impure Qi every night, impurities hidden somewhere deep inside were discharged whenever she broke through a stage.
“Tempering my stage is useless. I really suffered for nothing.”
Baek-Cheong grumbled in annoyance and pulled out a Cleansing Talisman from her Storage Platform.
When she infused it with Spiritual Qi and activated the talisman, a clear light swept over her entire body, blowing away the sticky impurities and the stench into the air in an instant.
However, it was always better to be safe than sorry, so she couldn’t neglect the task of tempering her stage either.
She simply believed that if she endured, trained, and tempered her stage, it would eventually bear sweet fruit.
“Talismans really aren’t bad at all.”
Stroking her now soft and dry skin, she left the room in a good mood.
Perhaps because she had just broken through a stage, her stomach rumbled loudly like thunder.
With thoughts of filling her starving stomach with delicious food, she quickened her pace and headed toward the Mansion’s Inner Hall.
As she entered the Inner Hall, her uncle was standing there with his hands behind his back, as if he had been waiting for her to come out.
“Oh, Cheong-Yi, you’re here.”
Baek Mu-Yeong formed a bright smile upon seeing his Niece’s clearer complexion.
Even without checking her pulse, he tactfully realized that she had broken through to the next stage.
“Haha, you’ve safely broken through your stage! To think you gained enlightenment in a Sword Art and even reached the 5th stage during our outing to the Marketplace. If my elder brother hears this news, he’ll throw a grand feast.”
Despite her uncle’s praise, who was genuinely rejoicing in his Niece’s achievement, Baek-Cheong felt somewhat uneasy.
It was because her uncle’s Attire and the atmosphere in the Inner Hall were unusual.
Her uncle was neatly dressed in a silk robe meant for going out, and outside laborers were carrying luggage.
It was a bustling preparation, as if they were about to leave the Immortal City at any moment.
“Uncle, are you going somewhere by any chance?”
Baek-Cheong carefully asked, struggling to suppress her ominous premonition.
Baek Mu-Yeong replied with a good-natured laugh.
“Going somewhere? I’ve just finished preparations to return to the Main Family. I was only waiting for you to break through your stage.”
“What? Already? It hasn’t even been that long since we arrived at the Immortal City…”
She hadn’t even gotten to properly look around the Immortal City, so she had no idea this much time had passed.
Above all, if she returned to the Main Family, it was obvious she would be dragged back to that hellish Pill Refining Room.
“Cheong-Yi, it has been two whole days since you locked yourself in your Abode to begin your breakthrough.”
At her uncle’s reply, Baek-Cheong went blank, as if she had been struck in the head with a hammer.
“Two days? I was in my room for two days?”
“Yes. Since yesterday evening, the Spiritual Qi Flow around your Abode has been fluctuating unusually. Considering it a sure sign of a breakthrough, I wrapped up the Merchant Guild’s affairs early and finished preparations to leave.”
Since she had sucked in the surrounding Spiritual Qi like a vacuum cleaner with her Five Elements Spirit Root to fill her Dantian, it was only natural that it was caught by the Spiritual Perception of her uncle, who was at the Foundation Establishment stage.
“My vacation!”
Baek-Cheong felt a deep sense of self-reproach and regret at the fact that she had devoted herself to Training without realizing how much time had passed.
“I should have broken through after returning to the Main Family!”
Baek-Cheong inwardly swallowed her tears and put on a crying face.
Seeing this, Baek Mu-Yeong misunderstood his Niece’s feelings and gently comforted her.
“It seems you’re disappointed that you haven’t properly looked around the Marketplace yet. If you really want to, we can delay our departure and spend a day or two wandering the Immortal City together to look for fortuitous encounters.”
If her uncle, the Guild Master of the Merchant Guild, personally accompanied her and scoured the Marketplace, there was a high chance of scoring a truly Rare Item without being tricked by scraps of metal or poisonous herbs.
However, more than the temptation before her eyes, Baek-Cheong wanted to avoid the act of accompanying her uncle at all costs.
Above all, her thirst for fortuitous encounters had also faded.
‘He’ll just tell boring stories again.’
She recalled the short time on the Flying Dharma Treasure when she felt like calluses would form on her ears.
At least if she were concocting pills in the Pill Refining Room, it would be productive.
Besides, by tearing down the wall of the 4th stage, she had gained Sword Intent, even if it was just the shell of the Falling Star Style, and she had even acquired an abundance of spirit stones by selling the Inscribed Spirit Gathering Pill.
For her first outing, this was an overflowing harvest.
“No, uncle. Fortuitous encounters aren’t something you can get just by forcefully chasing after them.”
Baek-Cheong firmly shook her head while pretending to drip with regret.
“Father and mother must be worried, so let’s quickly return to the Main Family. I also want to go back quickly and practice a new Pill Refining Method!”
She shamelessly spat out words about Pill Refining that she didn’t mean at all, and hurried her steps out of the Inner Hall without looking back.
Baek Mu-Yeong wiped away tears of emotion at his Niece’s admirable and mature demeanor, and hurriedly followed behind her.
‘This time, I’ll just lock myself in the Cabin and browse the forums.’
However, Baek-Cheong had only hurried her steps to escape from his stuffy stories.