Nightfall descended.
Drunken Ink Residence, this is Ji Chen's abode, located somewhere in the rear mountains of the Lingyun Sect, a secluded courtyard rarely visited by disciples, making it serene and quiet.
At this moment, Ji Chen sat cross-legged under a tree in the courtyard.
Looking at the Body Tempering Pill in his hand, without hesitation, he directly put it into his mouth and swallowed it down.
Soon, he closed his eyes and entered a certain state.
"Buzz..."
As time passed, more and more Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi gathered around Ji Chen's body, reaching a surprisingly dense level in less than half an hour.
If anyone were here, they would be astonished to see such dense spiritual Qi.
Because even strong cultivators in the Vein Condensation Realm or Spirit Transformation Realm could hardly gather so much Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi during cultivation, almost condensing into mist.
"Bang!"
No one knew how much time had passed when suddenly, in the deep of night, a dull sound came from Ji Chen's body.
It was as if a certain bottleneck had been broken.
At the same time, the aura on his body surged wildly.
He directly leapt from the ninth layer of the Qi Refining Realm into the first layer of the Vein Condensation Realm!
The so-called vein condensation is when a cultivator breaks through to this realm; 'spirit veins' begin to form and condense in the Primordial Spiritual Sea.
Generally speaking, ordinary cultivators can almost only condense one spirit vein.
Only some with good talent can condense two veins.
There are even some super geniuses who, upon reaching this realm, would condense three or even four spirit veins in their Primordial Spiritual Sea!
It is said that when Liu Qingcheng first broke through to the Vein Condensation Realm, four spirit veins were condensed in her Spiritual Sea.
The number of spirit veins determines a person's talent and future achievements.
It is no exaggeration to say that Liu Qingcheng, who condensed four spirit veins in her Spiritual Sea, could be called unparalleled in a thousand years among the ten countries of the Profound Domain, truly the favored daughter of heaven!
At this moment, Ji Chen, having broken through to the first layer of the Vein Condensation Realm, did not wake from his cultivation state.
Because in his Primordial Spiritual Sea, spirit veins were rapidly condensing.
In just a few breaths, a spirit vein took shape, slowly swirling in Ji Chen's Spiritual Sea like a galaxy.
But it did not end there.
Because after the first spirit vein, soon another began condensing within Ji Chen's Spiritual Sea.
After another few breaths, the second spirit vein in the Spiritual Sea also fully formed.
Because of this, Ji Chen's aura became even more astonishing.
He still did not wake, remaining seated cross-legged with closed eyes.
"Buzz buzz buzz..."
Inside, there were continuous waves transmitting.
No one knew how long had passed.
When the surging spiritual power within Ji Chen reached a certain peak, he suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing within, like a king awakened from years of slumber.
"Nine spirit veins!"
After a long exhalation, even with Ji Chen's composure, he couldn't help but feel excited at this moment.
Because, by now, in his Primordial Spiritual Sea, a full total of nine spirit veins had condensed!
This is the limit of the human body!
It is said that nine spirit veins are the maximum for anyone, and more are impossible.
Even so, throughout history, there have been very few who could condense nine spirit veins in their Primordial Spiritual Sea, as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Even in his past life, when Ji Chen broke through to the Vein Condensation Realm, he could only condense eight spirit veins, yet he was lauded as an unparalleled prodigy through the ages.
One can imagine, now with nine spirit veins, how extraordinary he is!
"So stinky!"
In his excitement, he also caught a whiff of a pungent smell.
Ji Chen then realized that after consuming the Body Tempering Pill, a large amount of impurities had been expelled from his body.
And it was precisely because of this that his cultivation broke through to the first layer of the Vein Condensation Realm.
Without hesitation, he quickly went to a cold pool behind the Drunken Ink Residence and leaped in without hesitation, washing away the impurities expelled from his body.
Moments later, Ji Chen emerged from the cold pool, using spiritual power to dry the water on his body, and changed into clean white clothes.
After confirming there was no longer an odor, he returned to the Drunken Ink Residence.
"To lead the entire Lingyun Sect to become stronger, it's not enough for only me to improve…"
He sat cross-legged under the tree in the courtyard again, mumbling to himself.
"Too weak, the strongest martial techniques in the entire Lingyun Sect are merely high-level Yellow Tier, seems I'll need to take some time to imprint higher-level martial techniques."
Martial techniques are divided by strength into Celestial, Earth, Profound, and Yellow Tiers, each further divided into beginner, middle, and high levels.
As one of the three major sects within the Chu Kingdom, the fact that Lingyun Sect's strongest martial technique is only high-level Yellow Tier is one of the reasons the sect hasn't become stronger.
With memories of his past life, Ji Chen planned to imprint some Profound Tier martial techniques; as for Earth and Celestial Tiers, although he had them, given Lingyun Sect's current situation, these levels of martial techniques couldn't possibly be practiced by anyone, so imprinting them was meaningless.
The Lingyun Sect once had its glorious days, possessing two Profound Tier martial techniques back then.
But as the sect declined and faced financial difficulty, Ji Xiaotian had no choice but to sell off these two Profound Tier techniques, which only temporarily revived the Lingyun Sect.
But such measures were tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
"I just broke through, so I'm not in a hurry to advance; I'll take these few days to imprint a few high-level Yellow Tier and a few Profound Tier martial techniques." Ji Chen told himself, not hesitating as he quickly began his work.
...
Meanwhile, in the deep of night, Elder Li Huayuan returned to the Pill Pavilion.
Wang Ping came out to meet him, noticing Elder Li's slightly furrowed brows as if he wasn't in a good mood, and asked, "Elder, did you encounter something in Yang City?"
"Don't mention it..."
Li Huayuan sighed, "The alliance's examination is about to begin. Whether I can be promoted to a Third Grade Alchemist all depends on this. Today I went to Yang City to purchase some herbs for third-grade elixirs, planning to attempt refining before the assessment…"
After purchasing the herbs, he didn't return to the Lingyun Sect immediately but found a place with a pill furnace in Yang City to attempt refining, but unfortunately failed.
It was a third-grade elixir known as the Spirit Transformation Pill.
As its name implies, it can increase a Vein Condensation Realm cultivator's success rate of breaking through to the Spirit Transformation Realm by at least thirty percent!
This is one of the elixirs offered for selection during the alliance's third-grade alchemist assessment.
Compared to other elixirs, the Spirit Transformation Pill is somewhat easier to refine, which is why Li Huayuan chose it, hoping to successfully refine it during the assessment and be promoted to a Third Grade Alchemist.
But today, while trying in Yang City, he failed. Though ruining a batch of third-grade elixir herbs wasn't too consequential.
What worried Li Huayuan was if he couldn't successfully refine the Spirit Transformation Pill before the assessment, he would surely fail during it.
After another long sigh, he dismissed Wang Ping and then entered the Pill Pavilion alone, intending to attempt refining with the other batches of herbs he had brought back overnight.