Chapter 23: Practice Qi Level Six

Inside the Water Abode, Chen Mobai sat upright on a meditation cushion.

His face radiated the light of the five elements, which flashed one by one before finally settling into a deep earthy yellow.

This signified a full cycle of the Five Elements Art. It then shifted to a platinum color, followed by metal generating water… the five elements cycled ceaselessly, supporting each other. After nine such grand cycles, a bead of sweat appeared on Chen Mobai’s forehead.

After a month of cultivation, nurtured by the second-tier spiritual energy of the Water Abode, his Five Elements Art finally reached the peak of the fifth layer.

The timing was ripe; it was time for a decisive breakthrough.

This was according to Revered Master Qingping’s teachings. Chen Mobai now held every word from the Nascent Soul master as sacred. Without hesitation, feeling he was on the verge of a breakthrough, he swallowed a Purple Fire Pill he had held in his mouth.

Although this barrier-breaking pill had only a twenty to thirty percent efficiency for breaking through to the sixth layer of Qi Cultivation, it was the best Chen Mobai could acquire.

The Immortal Sect offered thousands, if not tens of thousands, of elixirs and spiritual waters, but those that helped cultivators overcome realm barriers were always the most sought-after.

Ordinary pharmacies simply didn't sell such pills. Even if they did, at most, they would only boost the success rate by half a percent or one percent.

For ordinary cultivators seeking high-quality items, the only hope lay in the premium elixirs periodically released by major pharmaceutical companies or the Immortal Sect's official flagship stores.

The Purple Fire Pill was one such example.

Upon ingesting the pill, its outer sugar coating was instantly dissolved by spiritual energy, and a gentle wave of Yang energy spread rapidly throughout his entire body.

Chen Mobai’s Five Elements Art, which he had been circulating to its utmost, was suddenly pushed forward, sharply advancing him to the sixth layer.

However, this didn't mean his breakthrough was complete.

Breaking through a realm was easy; what truly mattered was stabilizing the realm afterward to prevent regression.

A faint wisp of purple energy subtly emerged from his glabella.

The purple energy gently ascended, like a wisp of smoke, but it seemed on the verge of dissipating at any moment.

This indicated that the pill’s efficacy was waning, and the grand cycle of the Five Elements Art was only partially complete. Failure to fully circulate the art would mean this breakthrough attempt was unsuccessful.

But Chen Mobai remained calm. He steadied his mind and placed his hand on a spirit stone beside him.

Although it was his first time refining a spirit stone, he had researched extensively on the cultivation assistance software, so he was well-versed in the key points and prohibitions.

With the aid of the spirit stone, Chen Mobai’s cultivation realm, which had been on the verge of slipping, stabilized once more. He even completed a grand cycle with ease.

Qi Cultivation Layer Six, success!

Opening his eyes, Chen Mobai, whose face was usually serene, couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter.

His month of hard work had not been in vain.

Certainly, while multiple factors contributed to his breakthrough to the sixth layer of Qi Cultivation, he knew that the greatest credit for achieving it within a month belonged to Revered Master Qingping's lecture videos.

A mighty figure of the Nascent Soul realm, with their profound insights, explained the Qi Cultivation section of the Five Elements Art with unparalleled clarity.

For the past month, Chen Mobai had spent his days watching the master's videos at school and his nights applying the knowledge in the Water Abode. Combined with the spiritual energy of this second-tier treasure land, and the assistance of the Purple Fire Pill and spirit stones, he felt it would truly be his own folly if he couldn't break through.

“Should I prepare to switch cultivation arts?”

After a period of excitement, Chen Mobai quickly calmed down and returned to reality.

The Immortal Sect had a regulation: any cultivator, upon commencing Qi Cultivation, must practice the Five Elements Art. However, upon reaching the seventh layer of Qi Cultivation, they could choose to either continue with the Five Elements Art or switch to a different cultivation art.

The Five Elements Art had clear advantages and disadvantages. For cultivators with ordinary spiritual root attributes, it ensured their cultivation speed wasn't slow, but their combat ability was generally average. However, the adaptive spiritual energy of the Five Elements Art allowed for seamless conversion to any elemental cultivation art.

Chen Mobai’s mother, Tang Pancui, cultivated the Five Elements Art and had been stuck at the sixth layer of Qi Cultivation for many years, though she had a very positive attitude.

Chen Mobai’s father, Chen Xinglan, had switched to a "Melting Flame Art," which he had self-funded to learn at the Crimson Cloud Academy. He was now at the eighth layer of Qi Cultivation, working in a magical artifact factory workshop. The company provided dormitories with first-tier high-grade spiritual energy for its employees for free, and to save money, he mostly lived at the company.

The Immortal Sect's National Library housed an artificial elemental spirit that, upon entering one's spiritual root attribute, would automatically match the most suitable cultivation art or Daoist scripture.

This function could be tried for just one point.

Chen Mobai had tried this feature before out of boredom, and the artificial elemental spirit’s result was the Five Elements Art, which made his face turn green with dismay on the spot.

This indicated that although he possessed a true spiritual root, it was essentially no different from a pseudo spiritual root.

But now, things were different.

Thinking of this, Chen Mobai opened his phone and launched the Immortal Sect National Library application.

However, he immediately realized his phone had no signal.

“I almost forgot,” he muttered, “only the ‘Cultivation Assistance’ software, which is proxied by Guibao, has a signal here in the Water Abode…”

Chen Mobai checked the time. Although it was still early, he decided to return soon.

After breaking through with a Purple Fire Pill, there was usually a period when one couldn't cultivate, and instead had to nourish the meridians with Qi Nurturing Art. However, Chen Mobai had used the pure spiritual energy from a spirit stone for the latter half of his grand cycle, which seemed to have completely neutralized the pill’s fiery Yang effects. He didn't feel the same full, distended sensation in his meridians as he did when breaking through to the fifth layer of Qi Cultivation.

It was as if the sixth layer of Qi Cultivation was already completely stable, requiring no further nurturing.

Nevertheless, to be safe, Chen Mobai decided not to continue cultivating today.

There was no need to rush; cultivating immortals also required a balance of work and rest.

Just as he put away the depleted spirit stone, a sudden pop-up appeared on his phone screen.

"Enable proxy?"

"Huh?"

After a brief moment of surprise, Chen Mobai recalled the immense help he had received from Revered Master Qingping’s lecture videos and was about to tap 'Yes'.

However, just as his finger was about to press down, a sudden flash of insight struck him. He remembered the fifth-tier aura he had gained after being proxied through the 'Cultivation Assistance' software, and his face instantly turned pale.

His hand trembled, and in fright, he immediately tapped 'No'.

This was the National Library, the very foundation of the Immortal Sect, not some software from a small workshop.

If he were to become a fifth-tier user of this National Library, the Immortal Sect’s Three Grand Halls would search every corner of the entire Terrestrial Star to find that person.

Yet, giving up this proxy felt like a great pity to Chen Mobai.

He quickly opened the Guibao software and found the proxy button highlighted and raised, indicating it was usable. He breathed a sigh of relief.

How exactly was this function triggered?

Chen Mobai thought of his recent breakthrough to the sixth layer of Qi Cultivation. Could it be that each breakthrough activated it once?

But last time, he had waited for several days.

Was it because this breakthrough was perfect and his realm stable?