Looking at the words appearing in his vision, a hint of joy emerged in Qi Chuan's eyes.
Hundredfold Critical Strike had an effect on breaking through the bottleneck, as expected!
At the same time, some new information emerged in Qi Chuan's mind, including insights on how to break through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage.
This is what is known as an Inspiration Opportunity.
However, these Inspiration Opportunities were not many.
After all, Qi Chuan had only operated the Evergreen Technique for one Grand Circulation before, so his Inspiration Opportunities for breaking through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage were extremely low.
Therefore, even after experiencing a Seventy-twofold Critical Strike, the increase was still not apparent.
To use this to break through the middle stage bottleneck was clearly not enough.
However, Qi Chuan believed that as long as he continued to utilize the Hundredfold Critical Strike to repeatedly obtain these Inspiration Opportunities, eventually achieving Perfection, he would naturally be able to break through effortlessly.
Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Qi Chuan's face.
"Next, I will continue to operate the Evergreen Technique, continuously attempting to sense these Inspiration Opportunities, and then use the Hundredfold Critical Strike to gather benefits."
Thus, Qi Chuan once again began to operate the Evergreen Technique, mobilizing his mana, but not breaking through, simply trying to sense the Inspiration Opportunity for a breakthrough.
However, not every attempt was fruitful.
[You operated the Evergreen Technique for one Grand Circulation, attempting to capture the Inspiration Opportunity to break through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage, triggered a Tenfold Critical Strike, gained tenfold benefits, but you gained nothing.]
After one Grand Circulation ended, Qi Chuan opened his eyes with a somewhat helpless expression.
This time, he failed to sense any Inspiration Opportunity.
Because there was no initial gain, even after a Tenfold Critical Strike, there were still no gains.
However, Qi Chuan believed that not every attempt would be like this, and although his way of sensing Inspiration Opportunities was simplistic, there would eventually be results, as it was merely a small bottleneck from Qi Refining Early Stage to Qi Refining Middle Stage.
Moreover, he didn't need a very clear sense, as even a trace of insight, when supported by the Hundredfold Critical Strike, would be quite remarkable.
So Qi Chuan closed his eyes again and operated the Evergreen Technique once more.
[You operated the Evergreen Technique for one Grand Circulation, attempting to capture the Inspiration Opportunity to break through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage, triggered a Twentyfold Critical Strike, gained twentyfold benefits, but you gained nothing.]
[You operated the Evergreen Technique for one Grand Circulation, attempting to capture the Inspiration Opportunity to break through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage, triggered a Thirtyfold Critical Strike, gained thirtyfold benefits, and successfully captured a trace of Inspiration Opportunity to break through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage.]
...
Compared to Qi Chuan's previous progress in cultivation and practice of magic, this method of gaining Inspiration Opportunities appeared rather metaphysical.
Sometimes, continuous operation of the Evergreen Technique for ten Grand Circulations could not trigger it.
Yet at times, several consecutive attempts could capture a trace of Inspiration Opportunity.
Qi Chuan couldn't ascertain these odds, as they fluctuated greatly, but with his persistent efforts, his sense of Inspiration Opportunities for breakthroughs increased in quantity and clarity.
At this rate, achieving Perfection was just a matter of time.
However, this method of comprehension still involved operating the Evergreen Technique, mobilizing all his mana, flowing through his meridians, with a daily limit.
Therefore, upon reaching a certain point and feeling a slight sting in his meridians, Qi Chuan had to stop his contemplation and practice magic instead.
Fireball Technique, Water Arrow Technique, Golden Skin Technique, Earth Wall Technique, Wood Vine Technique—he practiced all of them.
Hence, even during this push towards the Qi Refining Middle Stage, Qi Chuan's Basic Five Elements Magic continued to steadily improve.
Suddenly, three months passed.
[You operated the Evergreen Technique for one Grand Circulation, attempting to capture the Inspiration Opportunity to break through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage, triggered a Hundredfold Critical Strike, gained a hundredfold benefits, and successfully captured a trace of Inspiration Opportunity to break through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage. Your Inspiration Opportunity for breaking through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage reached Perfection.]
On this day, when Qi Chuan once again operated the Evergreen Technique for one Grand Circulation and opened his eyes, he saw such a line of words.
Then, another trace of insight into breaking through the bottleneck emerged in his mind.
With this final insight, it was like drawing a perfect circle; Qi Chuan could clearly perceive the strange fluctuation from his Dantian's mana and an inspiring feeling arose within him.
Sensing this state, Qi Chuan smiled slightly, knowing that he could attempt a breakthrough at any time and would surely succeed in advancing to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.
In reality, Qi Chuan had had the opportunity to break through for some time.
After all, with his efforts over the past three months, his comprehension of Inspiration Opportunities for breakthroughs had increased, making the sense of breakthrough increasingly clear.
During this process, Qi Chuan often felt an impulse within, wondering whether to attempt the breakthrough immediately, as he might succeed.
Ultimately, however, Qi Chuan restrained this impulse.
Because he knew that attempting a breakthrough before the Inspiration Opportunity reached Perfection might still lead to failure, although the chance of failure was decreasing as Inspiration Opportunities increased.
Yet, if he continued to strive and let the Inspiration Opportunity reach Perfection, the breakthrough would be a guaranteed success, so why not wait a bit longer?
So, Qi Chuan waited until now.
"Now that it's complete, let's go ahead and break through."
Feeling that incredibly strong sensation, Qi Chuan smiled softly, then operated the Evergreen Technique, mobilizing all his mana from his Dantian and letting it flow through his meridians.
This time, although the operating route was generally the same as usual, there were some subtle differences, and mana even flowed through some meridians it had never passed before.
If it had been three months ago, Qi Chuan wouldn't have dared to do something so risky, as a single mistake could result in serious consequences.
But now, as the mana circulated, not only were there no negative anomalies, but Qi Chuan's aura became increasingly powerful.
Whoosh!
In the void around his body, streams of Spiritual Qi appeared, pouring into Qi Chuan through his mouth, nose, and all his apertures, circulating within and being rapidly refined, as drops of mana eventually entered his Dantian.
Originally, at the peak of Qi Refining Third Layer, no matter how he cultivated, the mana in his Dantian had reached a limit and couldn't increase further; now it was steadily increasing.
After a whole hour, this increase gradually ceased.
When the last Grand Circulation of the Evergreen Technique concluded, and all the mana returned to his Dantian, Qi Chuan finished his practice, remained silent for a moment, then slowly opened his eyes.
Swish.
A sharp light flashed briefly in his eyes, an indescribable majesty radiated outward.
His body seemed to emit a never-before-seen aura, distinct from his previous state, due to the stronger Spiritual Pressure from the increased mana.
Sensing the strong feeling from within, Qi Chuan smiled slightly, then closed his eyes again, focusing his consciousness inward. He clearly perceived every detail of his internal organs, skeleton, muscles, and blood vessels.
This was the Spiritual Sense possessed by a Qi Refining Middle Stage Cultivator. With Spiritual Sense, one could introspect the physical body.
And when the Spiritual Sense swept over his Dantian, it was the first time Qi Chuan clearly sensed the total amount of his mana, rather than a vague perception or feeling as before.