Chapter 30 - 30 Body Refinement and Qi Cultivation Breakthrough Together
In the morning, Yu Qingtan awoke from a light sleep.
Next to her, Shen Wanning was still asleep.
Last night, the two of them didn’t cultivate but talked for a long time, frolicked a while, and then fell asleep in each other’s arms.
As Yu Qingtan got out of bed, Shen Wanning also woke up.
She said lazily,
"Qing Tan, from now on I’m your person, you have to take responsibility."
A vein popped on Yu Qingtan’s forehead as she replied irritably, "Stop joking around, come help."
Yu Qingtan was preparing breakfast and dinner.
In recent days, Yu Qingtan had been preparing meals and placing them in her storage bag to eat together with Shen Wanning at Tianxiang Pavilion.
The preservation effect of the spatial equipment was incomparable even to the fridges of her previous life.
…
"Miss Qing Tan, I never expected this business to earn so many spirit stones, Han is very grateful to Miss Qing Tan for giving him this opportunity," Han Daniu said as he once again visited her office, dismissing the servants before handing over 613 spirit stones to Yu Qingtan.
These were the dividends from the Golden Spear Pill business.
Yu Qingtan had recently heard about the popularity of Golden Spear Pills in the outer floors, and it indeed seemed that even in the Cultivation World, such items had a market.
"It’s also thanks to Brother Han’s good management," Yu Qingtan said as she accepted the spirit stones and complimented him.
"It’s all due to Miss Qing Tan’s clever strategy. But now that the business is getting hotter, Han is actually worried about attracting covetous eyes."
Han Daniu had indeed been feeling nervous lately, and although he tried to keep it secret, it was uncertain how long such matters could remain hidden.
"We indeed need to plan ahead for such things, and the best solution is to find a backer to share enough benefits, binding their interests with ours."
Han Daniu felt a pang at the thought, but he also knew that if he didn’t make a significant sacrifice, he wouldn’t be able to keep the business.
Following Miss Qing Tan’s advice, Han didn’t know if she had anyone to recommend as a backer," Han Daniu inquired.
"Brother Han must be joking. Qing Tan spends her days inside this pavilion, where would she find anyone to recommend? This will depend on Brother Han’s means, which Qing Tan believes in. Let Qing Tan play the zither for Brother Han instead," Yu Qingtan offered.
"Haha, Han does have some considerations. However, I have missed Miss Qing Tan’s zither music for many days, longing to hear it again. Today, I will finally have my wish fulfilled," Han Daniu laughed heartily.
…
At night, Yu Qingtan let Xiao Tao out, fed him some meat, and then began to cultivate the Ice Skin Jade Bone Art.
Xiao Tao had recovered from his injuries and had grown accustomed to coming out for air while Yu Qingtan cultivated, behaving quietly without causing any disturbances.
Holding two Wasteland Crystals in her hands, Yu Qingtan followed the cultivation route to temper her physical body.
She had gotten used to enduring the pain of body refinement without breaking into a cold sweat, but now she was attempting to break through to the fourth layer of body refinement, which brought pain several times more intense than usual.
Finally, under the tempering of a faint Chaotic Power, a layer of dead skin appeared on the surface of Yu Qingtan’s skin, some starting to peel off as if she were reborn from a cocoon.
She reached the fourth layer of body refinement.
After a Cleansing Spell, the dead skin fell away, and the newly formed skin was smoother, finer, and fairer. Yu Qingtan knew that the defense of this layer of skin was now tough enough that ordinary mid-phase Qi Cultivation attacks could hardly break through it.
The breakthroughs in spiritual cultivation level also tempered the physical body, but their intensity was nowhere near that of body refinement.
Yu Qingtan’s physical strength now was comparable to an ordinary cultivator at the peak of Qi Cultivation who had not practiced body refinement.
Her height had increased slightly, and her weight had gained even more, but this was due to the increased density of her body after tempering; Yu Qingtan still maintained a slender figure.
As for strength, Yu Qingtan felt that uprooting willows should be quite easy for her to do now.
After adjusting for a while, Yu Qingtan then took out a Spirit-Condensing Pill and swallowed it, beginning to cultivate the Clear Water Technique.
The Spirit-Condensing Pill came from the assassin’s Poison Needle, an elixir suitable for mid-stage Qi Cultivators to enhance their Cultivation Level, with a market price of 60 Spirit Stones per bottle, containing 10 pills each.
With Yu Qingtan currently possessing three Spirit Roots in water, wood, and earth, and the Water Spirit Root reaching a high-quality level, combined with the relatively high concentration of Spiritual Energy in her residence and supplemented by the Spirit-Condensing Pills, Yu Qingtan was able to increase her Cultivation Progress by eleven or twelve points each day.
Very smoothly, after running her energy through several complete cycles, she felt the familiar sensation of a breakthrough and reached the Sixth Layer of Qi Cultivation.
She continued to practice for a while longer to stabilize her realm, then Yu Qingtan exhaled a breath of turbid air and opened up the System Panel.
[Spirit Root: Water 72/100; Wood 57/100; Earth 56/100; Metal 30/100; Fire 8/100]
[Cultivation Level: Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer 2/600, Body Refinement Fourth Layer 3/400]
[Cultivation Technique: Clear Water Technique, Ice Skin Jade Bone Art]
[Spells: Cleansing Spell Beginner 79/100, Water Escape Technique Grand Mastery 11/400, Water Blade Technique Beginner 23/100, Water Curtain Technique Beginner 9/100, Object Controlling Technique Beginner 2/100]
[Skills: Exquisite Dance Minor Mastery 106/200, Butterfly Dance Minor Mastery 11/200, Zither Art Minor Mastery 79/200, Chess Skill Beginner 26/100, Calligraphy Beginner 20/100, Painting Skill Beginner 15/100]
[Charm Points: 5342]
[Affection Value: 4]
[System Space: Lower Grade Spirit Stones 1005 pieces, Cherry Red Sword, 4 Wasteland Crystals, Mysterious Seed, Uninscribed Token, 1 drop of Spirit Dew, 3 Shadowless Needles, Xuan Turtle Shield]
[System Store: Primary Spiritual Root Upgrade Card 0/1 (100 Affection Value), First Order Cultivation Upgrade Card 1/3 (10 Affection Value), First Order Spell Upgrade Card 3/10 (1 Affection Value), First Order Skill Upgrade Card 2/10 (1 Affection Value)]
[Lucky Draw: 10 Charm Points for one draw (possible to do ten consecutive draws)]
After the last assassination attempt, Ouyang Wulong personally came to see Yu Qingtan, handing over the bounty for the assassin’s Poison Needle to her, but they still hadn’t found the Misty Rain Tower’s stronghold in Suichuan Immortal City, hence they weren’t able to track down the mastermind behind the attack.
Therefore, at the price of ten Spirit Stones per month, Yu Qingtan hired two late-stage Qi Cultivation Protecting Disciples to escort her to and from work.
The price was so cheap mainly because the Protecting Disciples’ duties inherently included protecting Tianxiang Pavilion and its personnel, and more importantly, it didn’t take much of their time.
Yu Qingtan also asked Steward Liao to go to Ten Thousand Laws Pavilion and buy Jade Slips of three Spells for her—Water Blade Technique, Water Curtain Technique, and Object Controlling Technique from Sun Deren.
Even with the most favorable price from Sun Deren, it still cost 1700 Spirit Stones, using up all the Spirit Stones she had obtained from the assassin’s Poison Needle and even requiring her to add some of her own.
Whether it was due to muscle memory or something similar, Water Blade Technique and Water Curtain Technique were easier to learn than Object Controlling Technique.
With Yu Qingtan dedicating an hour each morning to practice these three Spells, she had managed to enter the beginner level for all of them.
In addition, the set of mid-grade First Order Magic Artifacts Shadowless Needles and the high-grade First Order defensive Magic Artifact Xuan Turtle Shield, which also came from the assassin’s Poison Needle, had been consecrated by Yu Qingtan.
The Xuan Turtle Shield, crafted primarily from the shell of a turtle on the verge of breaking through to the Second Stage after three hundred years, was a fine product among high-grade Magic Artifacts. Yu Qingtan’s multiple Water Blade attacks only managed to leave some marks on it.
As for the two additional Affection Points, they came from a Loose Cultivator and a junior from a small family, both at the early stage of Qi Cultivation.
"Today I made a breakthrough in Cultivation, it’s time to draw some prizes to celebrate. Dao Ancestor be eternal! Ten consecutive draws!"
"Invisibility Technique Beginner, thank you for your patronage x9."
Yu Qingtan’s eyes lit up, the draw was indeed fortuitous today, as Invisibility Technique was a rare and valuable Spell not for sale even in Ten Thousand Laws Pavilion.
"Blessings from the Dao Ancestor! Let’s draw again!"
"Thank you for your patronage x10."
"No matter, I’ve already made a profit. Immortal Dao Ancestor, draw again!"
"Master Tailoring Skills, thank you for your patronage x9."
"Something came out again, this round is not a loss," Yu Qingtan said happily as she collected her prizes, then stopped the drawing.
Learning self-restraint is also an essential lesson on becoming a strong individual.
After entering the beginner level of Invisibility Technique, Yu Qingtan spent 1 Affection Point to get a Spell Upgrade Card, bringing it to Minor Mastery.
Since getting the Bra Making Skill last time, Yu Qingtan had some basics in tailoring.
With the Master Tailoring Skills she obtained this time, Yu Qingtan felt as if she could create any garment in the world with her own hands.