Chapter 73: Opening

Three months had passed; Li Zhen had finally experienced a rare period of stability.

Twenty days ago, his spiritual energy reached sixty, marking the peak of the third level in Qi Refining.

Since then, he’d been stuck at the bottleneck between the third and fourth levels. If not for the sensation of his inner spiritual energy growing denser with each cultivation session, he would have been tempted to consume that ‘Boundary Breakthrough Pill.’

Advancing from the third to the fourth level in the Qi Refining stage was a crucial breakthrough, signifying the transition from early to mid-Qi Refining.

One must not underestimate the difference between early and mid-Qi Refining. The early stage focuses on laying the foundation, while upon reaching mid-Qi Refining, a cultivator experiences significant enhancements in all aspects, making them vastly more powerful than their earlier self.

Li Zhen isolated himself in his bedroom, waiting for this moment he had anticipated for quite some time.

In December last year, Yunxi County suffered an attack by monstrous beings. Li Zhen acquired three storage pouches from the Nine Heavens Group’s auction. Now, the spiritual imprints on these pouches had finally dissipated.

In truth, his cultivation base was too weak; if it were stronger, he could have actively used his own spirit to erase the imprints from the storage pouches.

Li Zhen, however, did not dare to reveal the pouches, knowing that both the pouches and their spiritual contents could potentially be traced by the Nine Heavens Group.

Despite the recent tranquility in Yunxi County, with everything seemingly back on track, the investigation into that event never ceased.

The Nine Heavens Group, in particular, suffered greatly from the disrupted annual auction and the theft of priceless items. Their reputation, once so solid, now lay in tatters.

When cultivators entrusted their treasures to the Nine Heavens Group for auction, it was a testament of trust. Yet, the group had woefully betrayed that trust.

Only because it was just a county-level auction did the repercussions not echo more profoundly.

Li Zhen understood this well; he wouldn’t dare casually remove the spirit artifacts from the storage pouches.

His mind delved into the first storage pouch, and he was instantly astounded by the contents.

He’d seen his fair share of treasures, having acquired many through luck and force. The quality and quantity of the spirit artifacts he possessed far exceeded what one should expect at his cultivation stage.

But the sight of the artifacts within thestorage pouch still shocked him—it was truly a startlingly rich collection.

Then again, considering these were items meant for an annual auction, such abundance and high quality were perhaps to be expected.

Armed with the detailed catalog from the auction, he could guess the nature of the artifacts. Yet, the reality of seeing them with his own eyes was far more impactful than any description could convey.

Rather than immediately inventorying them, he transferred all the spirit artifacts from the first storage pouch into the Dragon’s Heart Space. He repeated this process for the second and third pouches.

In the Dragon’s Heart Space, he allocated a separate area to store these newly acquired items.

The collection was devoid of any low-grade tier-1 magical items, and even the mid-grade ones were of exceptional quality—only such artifacts were deemed worthy of an auction.

Li Zhen began by searching for the most precious pieces. Despite the quantity and overall high quality, few items truly caught his attention.

“Only two ‘Broken Vein Pills’ here,” Li Zhen muttered to himself with a resigned shake of his head. “Looks like the rumor of a ‘Foundation Establishment Pill’ at the auction was false!”

He knew he was being greedy, but this greed was inevitable.

He was well aware of the difficulty for Qi Refining cultivators to reach Foundation Establishment without a ‘Foundation Establishment Pill’. Attempting this ascension without the aid of such a pill was akin to courting certain death.

The Foundation Establishment Pill not only increased the likelihood of a Qi Refining cultivator breaking through to Foundation Establishment, but it also protected them from severe injury or death during the perilous transition.

Thus, the ‘Foundation Establishment Pill’ was considered the most precious medicinal pill for qi refiners, with no close second. Due to the scarcity of its raw materials, the ‘Foundation Establishment Pill’ could never meet the demand of the top-tier qi cultivators in the Xian Nation, leading to a situation where it had value but was virtually off the market.

Of course, the ‘Broken Vein Pill’ wasn’t bad either. Just look at how few late-stage qi refiners there were in Yunxi County—each one held a prestigious position within the county.

The primary reason for the scarcity of late-stage qi cultivators was the incredibly difficult bottleneck to overcome when ascending from the sixth to the seventh layer of qi refining.

In theory, even those with low-grade spiritual roots could ascend to the late-stage qi refining, but the probability was very low, even with the help of the ‘Broken Vein Pill’. Without assistance from the ‘Broken Vein Pill’, the chances of ascending from low-grade spiritual roots to the late-stage qi refining were less than one-in-ten, and failure had even more severe consequences.

Those with mid-grade spiritual roots fared somewhat better, but ascending to the late-stage qi refining still presented a bottleneck. Without ‘Broken Vein Pill’ assistance, breaking through the bottleneck in a reasonable time was uncertain.

While the ‘Broken Vein Pill’ wasn’t on par with the ‘Foundation Establishment Pill’, it was still highly sought after by qi cultivators. Li Zhen had obtained two, ensuring he wouldn’t face issues breaking through to the late-stage qi refining.

Naturally, if Li Zhen could avoid relying on pills altogether, he’d prefer not to use the Pill Boundary Breakthrough to advance his cultivation realm. At this stage, he was at full capacity within the early Foundation Establishment phase, acutely aware of the changes occurring within his body—a boon for his cultivation practice.

Having spent recent days stagnating at his current plateau, his understanding of the Seventeenth Edition of the Foundation Qi Refining Technique had significantly deepened. This had led to marked improvements in his command over both wood and metal spiritual energies.

If he were to consume the Pill Boundary Breakthrough now, forcing himself past this threshold, he’d miss out on these valuable insights gained during his bottleneck. Moreover, the pill’s inherent spirit medicines could induce resistance, potentially affecting his eventual transition into the Foundation Establishment realm.

Though any such resistance developed from the Pill Boundary Breakthrough would have a negligible impact on the Pill of Foundation Establishment, even the slightest influence during this critical juncture could prove fatal.

Li Zhen shook his head, carefully putting away the two Broken Vein Pills.

In his search, he discovered yet another tier-1 high-grade magical artifact. Among this batch of spiritual treasures, six such artifacts were classified as tier-1 high-grade; however, five of them were mass-produced models.

These commercially available, tier-1 high-grade magical artifacts came bound to identity bracelets. Using one within the Xian Nation would be a clear giveaway of his status, making it all too easy for his presence to be detected.

As for using these artifacts in another world, due to the unique nature of mass-produced artifacts from the Xian Nation, he would avoid using them there to prevent any trouble.

The first-grade high-quality magical item he chose was a needle-shaped artifact, also the only custom-made item among his selections.

Needle-shaped artifacts were primarily used for sneak attacks, with few cultivators employing them in direct combat.

The drawbacks of needle-shaped artifacts were clear: their small size made them easily defendable in direct combat. However, this same small size was their advantage, allowing for more secretive attacks and making them highly practical for sneak attacks.

This particular needle-shaped high-quality magical item was called the ‘Armor-Piercing Life Pursuit Needle’. He decided to keep it for himself.

Unfortunately, with his current cultivation base, he couldn’t yet use the ‘Armor-Piercing Life Pursuit Needle’. He’d need to at least reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining before he could effectively utilize it.

On the bright side, he might only be a few days away from reaching the mid-stage of Qi Refining. At that point, he’d have a suitable offensive magical item at his disposal.

The reason why ‘Armor-Piercing Life Pursuit Needle’ was considered suitable was that, generally speaking, high-grade magical items require a cultivator in the late-stage of Qi Refining to fully harness their power.

Even for a mid-stage cultivator of Qi Refining, the spiritual energy required by ordinary high-grade magical items could not be sustained for long, and overuse in battle could lead to dire consequences.

However, the needle-shaped elite magical device was different due to its small size, which consumed significantly less spiritual energy. It was perfectly suitable for mid-Qi Refining stage cultivators.

Li Zhen sifted through the pile of mystical items and found the cultivation aid pills. There were high-grade ‘Qi Nourishing Pills’ and mid-grade ‘Yellow Sprout Pills’. The ‘Qi Nourishing Pills’ came in six bottles of sixty pills each, while there was only one bottle of ten ‘Yellow Sprout Pills’.

The ‘Qi Nourishing Pills’ were cultivation aids for mid-Qi Refining stage cultivators. Sixty pills might seem like a small quantity for Yunxi County, but these were unique pills meant for the auction. As high-grade quality, they were incredibly rare.

The ‘Yellow Sprout Pills’ were cultivation aids for late Qi Refining stage cultivators, even harder to come by in Yunxi County.

Next, he found the ‘Five Elements Qi Gathering Array Disk’ he had been seeking, which could greatly enhance his cultivation speed.

Li Zhen then examined the talismans in the pile of mystical items. Among those meant for the auction, there were some mid-grade talismans in bulk, as well as several high-quality ones.

His eyes gleamed at the sight of the high-quality talismans, knowing they would provide tangible benefits to his cultivation.

For instance, a high-grade ‘Fireball Talisman’ would typically allow another cultivator to create a powerful, one-use fireball attack.

But in his hands, by swallowing the high-grade ‘Fireball Talisman’ using Dragon Heart Space, he could significantly enhance his understanding of the ‘Fireball Spell’.

To create such a high-grade ‘Fireball Talisman’, the talisman maker must be at least a first-class high-grade craftsman, having mastered the ‘Fireball Spell’ to a level beyond mere comprehension.