Chapter 54: Third Level of Qi Condensation, Consolidation

Of course, along the way, Lin Hao continued to ask numerous questions about cultivation. Yet every time Ming Chen offered advice, he would be met with Lin Hao’s endless flattery; though Ming Chen felt helpless inside, he couldn’t help but feel pleased as well. Only when night had deepened and the outer grounds were nearly empty of fellow disciples did the scholarly Lin finally, albeit reluctantly, see Ming Chen off.

The two ceased their wandering and made their way slowly toward the cave dwellings of the Western Peak.

“Besides the monthly ration of pills from the sect, is there any other way to quickly raise one’s cultivation?” As they neared the cave, Lin Hao suddenly turned to Bai Li and asked.

“Other than seizing what belongs to others, I fear the only option is to hunt the demon beasts in Black Mountain. But those creatures are extremely fierce, and few choose that path…” Bai Li replied slowly after some thought. Lin Hao nodded slightly at these words and fell silent.

After returning to his cave, Lin Hao did not immediately sit in meditation, but instead focused his attention on the peculiar aura within his dantian.

“It seems… it can be controlled…” Lin Hao murmured, his brow furrowed. With a single thought, the mysterious energy in his dantian vanished and, quite abruptly, manifested before him.

“This…” Lin Hao stared in surprise at the orb of light before him. As he tried to discern what lay within it, the luminescence swiftly dissipated, revealing a floating pool of silvery-white liquid.

What was eerie was that within this liquid, countless crimson threads could be vaguely seen, making it appear strangely sinister.

The scholar’s face darkened. Having broken through two stages in a single day, Lin Hao’s senses had grown far keener. He could now perceive that those blood-red strands within the unknown silvery liquid were, in fact, his own blood.

Suddenly, a flash of white light erupted before Lin Hao, and in an instant, the scene around him transformed!

When he regained his senses, he found himself in what could only be described as a vision of hell—blood-soaked earth, anguished screams, the sounds of slaughter and howling. Lin Hao’s pupils contracted sharply as he witnessed a giant, nearly a hundred feet tall, hurling a massive spear that radiated a power akin to the wrath of the heavens—straight at him, closing in within a heartbeat!

In the blink of an eye, the spear pierced through Lin Hao’s chest, stopping just before a young man standing a short distance behind him.

Trembling, Lin Hao quickly checked himself and, realizing he was still alive, felt some of the terror ebb away. Looking closely, he saw the young man gripping a dagger, its entire body silvery-white, inscribed with blood-red patterns—identical, save for its form, to the object birthed from the stone bead within Lin Hao.

“Shatter!” the young man uttered, and with a jolt of his hand, the colossal spear before him crumbled inch by inch.

“Judgment,” the youth intoned softly, and the dagger in his hand suddenly melted into that silvery liquid veined with crimson. In the blink of an eye, the liquid reformed into a battle halberd, from which a murderous aura erupted, fierce beyond measure.

Lin Hao gazed, dumbfounded, at the scene before him, shaken to his core. Never could he have imagined that such an astonishing artifact would be hidden within a humble stone bead.

Most incredible of all, this miracle was now his.

It took Lin Hao a long while to calm the tremors in his heart. At last, his voice trembling, he murmured, “This is… a divine artifact…”

When the vision faded, Lin Hao’s body was still shaking uncontrollably; for someone just beginning on the immortal path, the scene he had just witnessed was simply overwhelming.

Two hours passed before Lin Hao could steady his emotions. With a grave expression, he looked at the strange liquid before him and muttered, “This thing is too extraordinary… If it’s revealed, it will surely draw covetous eyes…”

After a long period of contemplation, he willed the pool of liquid to transform once more into a stream of light, which then returned to his body.

“Now that I’ve reached the third layer of Qi Condensation, I can begin practicing some basic techniques…”

With this thought, Lin Hao retrieved the Qi Condensation scroll from his storage pouch, found the section on recorded techniques, and began to practice.

Half a month slipped by in a flash.

During these two weeks, Lin Hao diligently practiced the spells recorded in the Qi Condensation scroll. As his spiritual energy was repeatedly consumed and restored, it became more refined, but his cultivation seemed to have hit a bottleneck, showing not the slightest progress.

Fortunately, through constant practice, the instability in his foundation caused by two consecutive breakthroughs and the lingering sense of emptiness within gradually vanished.

Throughout this period, the scholar rarely stepped beyond his cave, immersing himself wholly in cultivation. When idle, he would study the invisible barrier at the cave’s entrance, and finding that even with his third-layer Qi Condensation strength he could not break it, he felt somewhat reassured.

At the root of it, the scholar’s heart was uneasy, for he possessed a precious treasure but lacked the strength to protect it. After much deliberation, he concluded it was safest to remain within the confines of his cave.

Yet whenever he thought of his stagnant cultivation, his heart filled with bitterness.

Night fell.

“No, this won’t do! There are countless disciples in the outer sect whose cultivation surpasses mine. If I remain at this level when the sect distributes pills again, I’ll inevitably become the target of others’ greed!” Sitting cross-legged in his cave, Lin Hao’s bloodshot eyes flickered as he muttered to himself:

“I can’t go on like this. The last of the steamed buns I brought are gone, and there’s no more food in the cave. Killing for treasure is not something a scholar should do. With my strength at the third layer of Qi Condensation, I should be able to hunt some demon beasts at the edge of Black Mountain without trouble…”

“Perhaps… this is my only option…”

Lin Hao had considered returning to the chores hall, but anyone who broke through to the first layer of Qi Condensation was, by sect rules, forbidden to return; besides, he had no connections within the sect and no hope of becoming a supervisor in the chores hall. After a full day of deliberation, Lin Hao made up his mind.

He would go to Black Mountain.

After stepping past the cave’s protective array, Lin Hao glanced toward Bai Li’s cave. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided not to inform him. After all, he was venturing out alone and could not predict what dangers he might encounter. If he were forced to use the divine weapon, Bai Li would surely discover it. It wasn’t that he distrusted Bai Li, but this concerned his very life, and caution was best.

Black Mountain was not far from the Western Peak where Lin Hao resided—just a single ridge away. After his breakthrough, Lin Hao’s body had grown much stronger, and with all his focus on the journey, he reached the foot of Black Mountain in about half an hour.

Black Mountain was not a single peak, but an expansive forested region, home to demonic beasts that possessed spiritual power and, naturally, demon cores within their bodies. Meat and demon cores—these were the goals of Lin Hao’s venture.

“There shouldn’t be any trouble…” Lin Hao muttered, swallowing nervously as he gazed at the ominously dark forest ahead. Tension coiled in his heart, and spiritual energy surged faintly about him, ready at any moment to summon forth the divine weapon.