Chapter 8
Baek-Cheong rolled around on the bed, continuously stroking her bulging belly.
The last reply left by Dao Friend (718.44) swirled dizzily in her mind.
The sophistry that spiritual roots could grow, as if mocking the common sense of the Cultivation World.
She tried to brush it off as the nonsense of an attention-seeking pathological liar, but the sudden wave of anxiety did not easily fade.
“What if they really are an Ascendant…?”
Ascension was the ultimate method of reaching the Summit in the Lower Realm, overcoming countless heavenly tribulations, and rising to the Upper Realm.
If Dao Friend (718.44)'s words were all true, it meant they were a legendary figure who had achieved ascension through Five Elements Mutual Generation and Spiritual Root Growth, despite having the worst Talent of five spiritual roots.
Baek-Cheong jumped up from her Seat.
“I need to check.”
Unable to endure the nagging feeling, Baek-Cheong focused her Divine Sense and brought up the Nameless Forum.
She carefully pushed the words [Spiritual Root Growth] into the search bar at the top of the Chat Board.
As soon as she pressed the search button, a massive chunk of spiritual energy gathered in her Dantian, along with a layer of her Divine Sense, was torn away.
“Ugh.”
Enduring the pain that made her head ring, she examined the results window.
However, fishing out useful information from the Chat Board was harder than finding a needle in a haystack.
The limitations of the search function were clear, unable to keep up with the countless nonsense posts, meaningless mockery, and the sheer speed of updates.
The pressure of her Divine Sense depleting every time she turned a page was also a headache she couldn’t ignore.
Left with no choice, Baek-Cheong made a decision.
Grasping at straws, she exited the Chat Board and moved to the Information Board tab.
It was a space where Cultivators of the Lower Realm shared their personal know-how and fortuitous encounters.
Thanks to this, unlike the Chat Board, the Information Board’s update speed was very slow.
The number of new posts uploaded in a day could be counted on one hand.
Naturally, it was a much easier environment to explore past records by turning to the next page.
“Let’s see.”
Baek-Cheong slowly checked the information posts one by one.
The problem was that even the posts on the Information Board rarely contained proper content.
“Dao Friend (11.23): Efficient breathing method for a Heavenly Spiritual Root Holder.”
“Dao Friend (45.9): Sharing Training methods for Earth spiritual root with Fire Element.”
Even when she occasionally spotted nutritious information that seemed helpful for Training, most of it was a Secret Method that could only be used by those with blessed talents like heavenly or Earth spiritual roots.
For Baek-Cheong, who had five spiritual roots, it was no different from a Pie in the Sky.
“Dao Friend (331.4): How to overcome inner demons when transitioning from the Nascent Soul stage to the Soul Formation stage.”
“Dao Friend (99.1): True Essence Compression Rate to watch out for during Core Formation.”
Some information contained profound and esoteric content that could only be understood from impossibly high realms like the Foundation Establishment stage, Core Formation stage, or even the Nascent Soul stage and above.
Baek-Cheong, who was merely at the Qi Condensation Stage, 1st Level, had no way of understanding what they meant even if she read the posts.
Fortunately, the burden of her Divine Sense chipping away as she turned the pages was less than searching the Chat Board.
This was thanks to the reduced amount of Divine Sense occupied due to the fewer number of posts.
Exercising her patience, Baek-Cheong continued to trace back to the pages of the past.
“Huh?”
After turning dozens of pages, a familiar Interface Number entered her line of sight.
“Dao Friend (718.44): Spirit tea brewing method to control inner demons during Training.”
It was a trace left by Dao Friend (718.44), whom she was half-convinced was an Ascendant.
Although it wasn’t related to Spiritual Root Growth, confirming the fact that Dao Friend (718.44) was also active on the Information Board was a harvest in itself.
She felt certain that if she kept turning the pages and tracking their past activities, she would be able to discover important information about Spiritual Root Growth.
“Just a little more!”
Just as she was about to move to the next page, swelling with anticipation.
Her mind flashed white, and her vision began to spin.
Her Divine Sense had hit rock bottom, causing a fierce backlash.
“No!”
Like a ghost, her Divine Sense fell short, preventing her from accessing the next page.
To travel far back in time and peer into the deep abyss of the Nameless Forum, a much vaster and stronger Divine Sense than she currently possessed was required.
A Secret Art or spiritual elixir that forcibly expanded one’s Divine Sense was extremely rare, treated as a legend even in the Cultivation World.
Even in the Nameless Forum, a sea of information and fortuitous encounters, methods to increase Divine Sense were not easily mentioned.
Even the rumors that occasionally popped up were either dangerous gambles risking one’s life or absurd lies.
Baek-Cheong quietly exited the Nameless Forum and heaved rough breaths.
Waiting for her headache to subside, she calmly faced reality.
The most realistic method she could take right now to dig up the information she wanted.
Ultimately, it was simply to raise her own realm.
“If I reach 2nd-Stage Qi Condensation, my Divine Sense will increase along with it.”
With a resolute gaze, Baek-Cheong looked at the ornate jade box placed on the table.
It was the box containing the Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill given by her grandfather.
A supreme-grade pill condensed with highly pure spiritual energy.
She judged that if she digested the Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill and completely stored it in her Dantian, she would be able to break through her realm.
“Training is the only answer.”
Without delay, Baek-Cheong sat in the Lotus Position on the bed and opened the box.
She took out a Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill emitting a brilliant light and tossed it into her mouth.
As soon as the pill touched her tongue, a refreshing and powerful energy spread throughout her entire body.
She immediately closed her eyes and focused on the cycle of the Five Elements Mutual Generation.
Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal.
The five energies interlocked and circulated, beginning to ravenously absorb the massive spiritual energy spewing from the Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill.
* * *
From that day on, Baek-Cheong’s grueling Training began.
She completely cut off her daily routine of logging into the Nameless Forum and enjoying her forum browsing.
Finding even meal times to be a waste, she consumed fasting pills and locked herself in her room all day.
Consuming one Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill a day, she endlessly filled her Dantian.
Nearly ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
A massive change was taking place inside Baek-Cheong.
Her Qi Condensation Stage, 1st Level Dantian, which had expanded as wide as the ocean and showed no bottom, was finally packed to the limit with spiritual energy, thanks to the power of the Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill and the cycle of the Five Elements Mutual Generation.
The sloshing spiritual energy fluctuated precariously, as if it would tear down the walls of her Dantian and overflow into the next realm at any moment.
“Hmph!”
Baek-Cheong furrowed her brow, gathering her energy into one spot and forcefully striking the wall of her Dantian.
It was an attempt to smash the wall to cross over to 2nd-Stage Qi Condensation.
However, the wall was thicker and sturdier than she had imagined.
The Dense Spiritual Energy bounced back, delivering a dull shock that twisted her internal organs.
“Ugh…”
A streak of red blood trickled down the corner of her mouth.
It wasn’t a minor Boundary like crossing from 3rd Stage Qi Condensation to the 4th, nor was it a major Boundary like crossing from the 10th stage to Foundation Establishment.
She never dreamed that the initial wall of merely crossing from the 1st level to the 2nd would be this solid.
“Heavens!!!”
Baek-Cheong wailed at the top of her lungs in frustration.
It had no effect, but she felt as though her frustration was relieved.
She couldn’t tell the cause - whether the terrible aptitude of five spiritual roots was holding her back, or if it was a side effect of her Dantian growing abnormally large due to the Five Elements Mutual Generation.
No matter how much she rammed into it, she couldn’t see a clue for a breakthrough.
“Should I ask father and take a realm-breaking pill at least?”
The realm-breaking pill, a special pill that forcibly smashed the walls of a realm, desperately came to mind.
But Baek-Cheong soon shook her head.
Demanding a precious realm-breaking pill from her father just to reach 2nd-Stage Qi Condensation was an act that would cause her to lose face.
Not only did she lack justification, but it was like wielding an ox cleaver to kill a chicken, carrying a high risk of drawing unnecessary suspicion and worry from her Family.
“I have to break through on my own.”
Baek-Cheong wiped the blood from her mouth with her sleeve and pondered a method.
The Nameless Forum, which she hadn’t entered for a long time, flickered in her mind.
The place where all the knowledge and fortuitous encounters of cultivation breathed.
“Nameless-Emon!”
With a desperate cry, Baek-Cheong logged into the Nameless Forum she had forgotten about.
It was her first login in 10 days, but the Forum Board was still noisy and lively.
Baek-Cheong headed to the Marketplace Board first.
It was due to the expectation that there might be a Dao Friend selling a realm-breaking pill cheaply.
While quickly scanning down the board, she found the item she wanted.
“Dao Friend (515.2) Selling: Low-grade Realm-Breaking Pill. 100 spirit stones.”
It was a reasonable price that she could easily afford with the spirit stones inside her Storage Platform.
However, Baek-Cheong hesitated just as she was about to make the purchase.
The memory of the terribly tasteless Black Goat Jerky she had bought with spirit stones a few days ago brushed past the tip of her tongue.
‘The Nameless Forum Marketplace can’t be trusted.’
Unable to ignore the nagging premonition, Baek-Cheong exited the Marketplace Board without lingering attachment.
Instead, she pivoted to finding the answer through the method she was most confident and familiar with.
Returning to the Chat Board, she began to write a Provocative Post to draw aggro with practiced skill.
“Dao Friend (913.14): If I just pass the major Boundary nine times, is it Qi Condensation Grand Perfection?”
[And if I just pass the Great-Great Realm, is it Foundation Establishment?]
It was an ignorant question that miserably trampled on the basic common sense of the Cultivation World, and a malicious nonsense post that mocked the Dao Friends pouring their blood and sweat into Training.
As soon as she uploaded the post, notifications poured in.
Replies piled up with countless curses and criticisms.
[Dao Friend (11.23): Do you think a major Boundary is your neighbor’s dog’s name?]
[Dao Friend (88.4): What Cultivation World’s language is a Great-Great Realm? Your intelligence is truly a Death by a Thousand Cuts.]
[Dao Friend (401.7): Just hold your breath and do some Meditation.]
Piercing through dozens of curses, Baek-Cheong’s gaze stopped exactly on one reply.
It was the appearance of a serious Dao Friend who corrected the ignorant question while subtly leaking high-level information.
[Dao Friend (55.19): There are cases where you get blocked like a major Boundary every time you break through a Minor Stage. It’s even more terrible when you experience a real minor Boundary or major Boundary later on. But if you take a realm-breaking pill at a Minor Stage, you’ll build up a tolerance for when it’s really important, and then there’s truly no answer.]
Baek-Cheong’s eyes flashed and shone.
It was a perfect and accurate diagnosis of the solid wall of the Qi Condensation Stage, 1st Level that she was experiencing.
If so, there was a high possibility that they also knew the solution.