From Fanwu to Xinghai

Chapter 23 Breakthrough in 7 Days

The initiation ceremony was simpler than you might imagine.

They worshipped the ancestral master's image, received their waist tokens, and were assigned rooms.

Lin Chen received a gray iron-colored waist tag with the words "Outer Gate" engraved on it and a number: No. 37, Class B.

More than eighty people were assigned to the outer sect with him. The remaining dozen or so were either rejected because their spiritual roots were of poor quality, or they were assigned to the menial service courtyard.

Only three people were directly assigned to the inner sect.

One is the son of the Prime Minister's family, with a first-class gold spiritual root. The other is the daughter of the General's family, with a first-class wood spiritual root.

There's another one, recommended by Xiao Yan.

"Although that kid's spiritual root is only grade B, his combat awareness is extremely strong." Xiao Yan stood outside the main hall, pointing proudly at a taciturn young man. "I fought him when I was in the outer sect, and I was almost killed by him."

The boy looked younger than Lin Chen, around fourteen years old, with dark skin and a gloomy gaze. He glanced at Xiao Yan, said nothing, and turned to leave.

"...What's his name?" Lin Chen asked.

"Qin Mo." Xiao Yan shrugged. "Don't let his quiet demeanor fool you, he's a fierce fighter."

Lin Chen silently memorized the name.

The outer courtyard was much larger than the guest courtyard, consisting of a cluster of stone houses built against the mountain, with two people living in each house. Lin Chen's assigned roommate was a boy named Zhang Hao, from Liucheng in the north, with a C-grade spiritual root and at the seventh level of the Body Tempering Realm.

Zhang Hao is outgoing and talkative; he starts rambling on as soon as you meet him.

"You're also at the Spiritual Cultivation Realm? Impressive! I heard that the Spiritual Cultivation Realm is the highest level among this batch of newcomers. But I also heard that there's a fifteen-year-old genius in the inner sect who's already at the ninth level of the Qi Induction stage of the Spiritual Cultivation Realm. Can you guess who it is?"

"Xiao Yan," Lin Chen said.

"You know him too?" Zhang Hao's eyes widened. "I heard he entered the Qingyun Sect at the age of twelve, making him the youngest inner disciple in thirty years!"

Lin Chen didn't respond. He wasn't interested in Xiao Yan's background; he was interested in time.

Seven days.

Seven days later, the Tian Shu Secret Realm will open.

He must improve his cultivation level as much as possible within seven days.

"Aren't you going to take a break?" Zhang Hao asked curiously, seeing Lin Chen sitting cross-legged on the bed. "You're a beginner, you don't need to push yourself so hard, do you?"

"No." Lin Chen closed his eyes. "I want to break through to the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage before the trial."

Zhang Hao opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

He could tell that his new roommate wasn't joking.

first day.

Lin Chen spent his days in seclusion, cultivating his skills.

The spiritual energy concentration in the Qingyun Sect far exceeded that of the outside world, but the bottleneck of the sixth level of the Qi Induction stage was much tougher than expected. The spiritual energy vortex in his dantian spun faster, expanding with each rotation, but it always fell just short of the critical point of breakthrough.

He tried to activate the Time River Imprint to see if he could accelerate his cultivation by slowing down time. However, the imprint only heated up slightly and did not give any response.

Time manipulation can be actively activated in battle, but it cannot be interfered with during cultivation.

That makes perfect sense! If time manipulation could accelerate cultivation, then the cultivation system would be meaningless.

Lin Chen was not discouraged. He adjusted his breathing and used the most traditional method to break through the bottleneck.

One hour. Two hours. Three hours.

He didn't stop to recover until late at night when his spiritual energy was completely depleted.

The bottleneck remains.

the next day.

Lin Chen changed his strategy.

He went to the outer sect's scripture pavilion and borrowed cultivation manuals about breaking through to the Qi Refining stage. The scripture pavilion was small, with only three floors; outer sect disciples could only enter the first floor.

The first level of cultivation techniques are mostly the most basic. Lin Chen flipped through more than a dozen books and finally found useful information in an ancient book called "The Qi-Guiding and Meridian-Opening Technique".

"The key to breaking through the Qi Refining stage lies in the resonance between spiritual energy and meridians. It's not that spiritual energy is insufficient, but that the resonance has not yet been achieved."

resonance.

Lin Chen closed his eyes and carefully considered the meaning of the sentence.

Spiritual energy flows through the meridians, like water rushing through a river. If the river is not wide enough, the flow of water will be restricted. But if the river and the water reach a certain harmony and resonance, the water can naturally break through the bottleneck.

The key is not to increase the amount of spiritual energy, but to broaden the meridians.

Lin Chen returned to the stone house and went into seclusion again.

This time, he didn't rush to break through the bottleneck. Instead, he guided his spiritual energy into his meridians, gradually widening those tiny channels.

This process is very painful.

The widening of the meridians means tearing apart old tissues and then allowing spiritual energy to repair them. Each tear is like a cut on the body, but after each repair, the meridians become wider and stronger.

On the first night, Zhang Hao was startled by the cold sweat seeping from Lin Chen's forehead.

"Are you alright? Should I go call the doctor...?"

"No." Lin Chen's voice was hoarse, but his tone was firm. "I'm fine. Continue."

The next morning, Lin Chen opened his eyes.

His cultivation level was still at the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage—but his meridians had widened by 30% compared to yesterday.

Day three.

Lin Chen continued to expand his meridians. This time, he had adapted to the cycle of tearing and repair, and his efficiency had greatly improved.

By the evening of the third day, he felt that the meridians in his body had expanded by almost twice as much.

The spiritual energy flowed freely through the wide meridians, and the vortex of spiritual energy in the dantian also spun noticeably faster.

The tipping point for a breakthrough is just around the corner.

But Lin Chen was not in a hurry to break through.

He still needs to wait for an opportunity.

On the third night, Chen Xuanfeng sent someone to tell Lin Chen to go to the sanatorium.

The sanatorium is located in the northwest corner of the Qingyun Sect. It is a cave built against the mountain, and the interior temperature is kept constant all year round, which is suitable for the recovery of the injured.

When Lin Chen entered the cave, Chen Xuanfeng was leaning against the stone bed. His complexion was much better than it had been on the spirit boat, but he was still weak.

"Uncle-Master." Lin Chen sat down next to him.

"Don't call me 'Uncle-Master'," Chen Xuanfeng waved his hand. "Just call me Uncle Chen."

Lin Chen nodded.

"I called you here for two things," Chen Xuanfeng said. "The first is about your cultivation level."

"My cultivation level?"

"You're currently at the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage," Chen Xuanfeng said, looking at him. "Breaking through to the sixth level within seven days isn't a problem, and you might even be able to push towards the seventh. But what you truly need to break through isn't your cultivation level, but your mental state."

"State of mind?"

"For the breakthrough in the Qi Refining stage, the accumulation of spiritual power is the foundation, but the state of mind is the key." Chen Xuanfeng's voice was slow and clear. "You have too many distracting thoughts in your mind! The hatred for your parents, the safety of your mother, the life and death of Murong Xue, the undercurrents of the Qingyun Sect... These distracting thoughts will become shackles on your cultivation."

You need to learn to let go.

Lin Chen fell silent.

The word "let go" is easy to say but hard to do.

How could he possibly let go?

With his father murdered, his mother imprisoned, and Murong Xue's fate unknown, these were all sharp blades hanging over his head. How could he possibly ignore them?

But Chen Xuanfeng did not make him "forget".

"Letting go doesn't mean forgetting," Chen Xuanfeng seemed to see through his thoughts. "It means turning these things into motivation, not a burden."

"What your parents want to see is not a son consumed by hatred, but a monk strong enough, clear-headed enough, capable of making the right choices."

Lin Chen's breath hitched slightly.

He looked into Chen Xuanfeng's cloudy eyes, and something was subtly changing in his heart.

"And the second thing?" he asked.

Chen Xuanfeng hesitated for a moment.

"Be careful of Xiao Yan during the trial."

Lin Chen frowned.

Why?

"Xiao Yan's affinity for fire spirit root is Grade A, indicating extremely high talent," Chen Xuanfeng said. "However, the Qingyun Sect has records showing that every genius with Grade A fire spirit root undergoes a drastic personality change within three years of joining the sect."

"A dramatic change?"

"Became... paranoid." Chen Xuanfeng's expression turned serious. "The last genius with a first-class fire elemental root joined the sect more than forty years ago. He went berserk during the sect's grand competition three years later, burning two fellow disciples to death, and was eventually expelled from the Qingyun Sect."

"The Qingyun Sect suppressed this matter, but I still remember it."

Lin Chen's brows furrowed even more.

Xiao Yan's smiling face appeared in his mind, but this time, it seemed that something he couldn't see through was hidden behind that smile.

"You mean... Xiao Yan might also lose control?"

"I'm not sure," Chen Xuanfeng shook his head. "I'm just reminding you to be careful. In the Trial Realm, the human heart is more dangerous than demonic beasts."

Fourth day.

Lin Chen returned to the stone house and continued his cultivation.

But this time, his mindset was different.

"lay down."

He extracted those distracting thoughts one by one from his mind, not by forgetting them, but by organizing them.

The father's hatred became the driving force for moving forward.

His mother's safety became his motivation to become stronger.

Murong Xue's life or death transformed into a sense of urgency to complete the trial as soon as possible.

The undercurrents within the Qingyun Sect transformed into a habit of constant vigilance.

Distracting thoughts are no longer shackles. They have become fuel.

Late night of the fourth day.

Lin Chen sat cross-legged on the stone bed, circulating his spiritual energy to its maximum.

The vortex of spiritual energy in his dantian spun wildly, and spiritual power surged like a tide within his wide meridians. At the center of the vortex, a faint light was slowly gathering—a signal of a breakthrough.

"Now."

Lin Chen took a deep breath and gathered all his spiritual power into his dantian.

The vortex of spiritual energy suddenly expanded, and then shattered with a deafening roar.

The shattered spiritual energy transformed into streams, flowing into the body's meridians and resonating intensely with them. This resonance triggered a violent tremor…

"boom……"

An invisible wave of energy erupted from Lin Chen's body, causing the doors and windows of the stone house to vibrate.

Zhang Hao woke up with a start and was stunned to see a faint spiritual light emanating from Lin Chen.

"You...you broke through?!"

Lin Chen slowly opened his eyes.

The sixth layer of the air-induction period.

But he didn't stop.

The momentum of the breakthrough was still there, and the vortex of spiritual energy in the dantian was re-condensing at an unprecedented speed, becoming larger, denser, and stronger than before.

The bottleneck on the sixth level should have been stable, but at this moment, under the aftershocks of that resonance, it was as fragile as a thin sheet of paper.

"The second level..."

Lin Chen gritted his teeth and once again channeled his spiritual power.

This time, he paid a much higher price. The spiritual energy in his meridians was almost completely drained, and the vortex of spiritual energy in his dantian spun to its limit.

"boom……"

Another shockwave erupted.

The seventh layer during the air intake period.

The door of the stone house was blown open by the blast of air, and Zhang Hao scrambled to the corridor, staring dumbfounded at the stone house inside.

"Breaking through two levels in a row?! Has he gone mad?!"

Several disciples next door were also alerted and peeked out to see what was going on.

Lin Chen sat on the stone bed, drenched in sweat and pale-faced. His spiritual energy was exhausted, and his body was trembling slightly.

But a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The seventh layer during the air intake period.

He was ready for the seven-day trial.

Day .

Day .

Lin Chen did not continue to attempt to break through the bottleneck of the eighth level; that would be too risky. Breaking through two levels in a row had already put a tremendous strain on his meridians. He needed time to consolidate his cultivation.

He did three things in the past two days.

First, he familiarized himself with the terrain of the Qingyun Sect. He used his walks to explore the entire outer area, memorizing the location of every road and building. He paid particular attention to the road leading to the forbidden area, taking a glimpse of the mountain shrouded in black mist and silently memorizing its location.

Secondly, I checked the information about the Heavenly Pivot Secret Realm in the Scripture Pavilion. The Heavenly Pivot Secret Realm is an independent space opened up by the founder of the Qingyun Sect three thousand years ago. The concentration of spiritual energy inside is a hundred times that of the outside world, and it grows a large number of spiritual herbs and medicines that have disappeared from the outside world. The secret realm opens once every hundred years, and each time it lasts for three days.

The trial rules are simple: enter the secret realm, collect spiritual herbs, and hunt demonic beasts. The one with the highest score after three days will be directly promoted to the inner sect.

Third, observe Xiao Yan.

In two days, Xiao Yan came to see Lin Chen three more times. Each time it was very natural, as if he was just passing by, chatting casually for a few minutes before leaving. The questions he asked were also very casual—Lin Chen's cultivation methods, martial arts background, impressions of the Qingyun Sect—but each time, his gaze would unconsciously fall on the mark between Lin Chen's eyebrows.

On the third occasion, Lin Chen decided to test the waters.

"Do you ever feel that your fire elemental root... is sometimes a little out of control?"

Xiao Yan's smile froze for a moment.

It was only for a moment, so brief as to be almost imperceptible.

But Lin Chen saw it.

"What do you mean?" Xiao Yan asked, his tone still relaxed.

"It's nothing," Lin Chen shook his head. "Just asking."

Xiao Yan looked at him for a few seconds, then smiled, turned and left.

But as he left, Lin Chen noticed that his right hand was slightly clenched.

Seventh day.

The Celestial Pivot Secret Realm is now open.

At dawn, the bell tolls three times.

All the disciples participating in the trial—including Lin Chen and ninety-seven new disciples, plus twenty inner disciples—gathered in the central square of the Qingyun Sect.

Zhao Yuanzhen stood in front of the main hall, with the other five elders behind him.

"Rules of the Heavenly Pivot Secret Realm Trial." Zhao Yuanzhen's voice echoed in the hall, "The secret realm contains a large number of spiritual herbs and demonic beasts. Each spiritual herb and each demonic beast has a corresponding number of points. Three days later, the top ten with the most points will enter the inner sect, and the one with the highest points will be a candidate for the head disciple."

"Flying swords and magical artifacts are prohibited in the secret realm; only one's own cultivation and physical weapons are allowed."

"in addition……"

His gaze swept over everyone.

"Deep within the secret realm lies a forbidden area. This forbidden area is protected by an ancient formation, and no one is allowed to enter. Violators will be immediately eliminated and their cultivation will be abolished."

Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat.

It's another forbidden area.

Are the forbidden areas of the Tian Shu Secret Realm and the forbidden areas of the Qing Yun Sect the same?

"Now, enter the secret realm."

With a wave of his hand, Zhao Yuanzhen conjured a massive vortex in the center of the plaza. The vortex emitted a ghostly blue light, and within its depths, a vast and desolate forest could be vaguely discerned.

The disciples stepped into the vortex one by one.

Lin Chen took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The next instant, his vision blurred.

When I opened my eyes again...

He was standing in a vast primeval forest.

Towering ancient trees blocked out the sun, and thick fallen leaves covered the ground. The air was filled with a rich spiritual energy, several times richer than that on Qingyun Sect Mountain.

In the distance, the faint roars of monstrous beasts could be heard.

Tian Shu Secret Realm.

The trial has begun.