Three days passed in a flash.
Inside the main hall of Yuandan Pavilion.
Lin Xuan and Sun He sat at the head seats.
Sun He gave Lin Xuan his share of the day's profits, and after they chatted for a while,
Sun He suddenly sighed and said, "Elder Lin, it seems our cooperation may have to end here."
"Oh? Why is that?"
Lin Xuan's expression shifted in surprise.
"Because the pills you refine, Elder Lin, all have cloud patterns and are of exceptionally high quality. They've snatched away a significant portion of the fifth-tier pill business in Fengyun City in no time. This has drawn dissatisfaction from other major shops. Now, the Fengyun Pill Pavilion, backed by the City Lord's Mansion, has started pressuring me. My Yuandan Pavilion is just an ordinary shop, not on the same level as the Fengyun Pill Pavilion—there's no comparison at all. So..."
Sun He explained with a dejected look. Having finally made a good profit, only to be forced back to square one in a few days, how could he be happy?
"Hmm? Is that so?"
Lin Xuan's expression turned peculiar. He hadn't expected that it was because the pills he refined were too high in quality. He felt a bit speechless.
Then, Lin Xuan replied calmly, "In that case, Pavilion Master Sun, let's temporarily end our cooperation."
In three days, including this latest batch, he had already earned five hundred low-grade spirit stones. Lin Xuan estimated that this would be enough for him to cultivate at the Condensing Vortex realm, and even break through to the Spirit Opening realm. If they couldn't continue cooperating, so be it. He had achieved his goal for this trip anyway. As for opposing the Fengyun Pill Pavilion on behalf of Yuandan Pavilion, that was completely out of the question. His purpose in cooperating with Yuandan Pavilion was simple: to earn some spirit stones. Now that the goal was met, both sides had profited, and neither owed the other anything. As for other matters, they had nothing to do with him. Improving his strength was still his top priority.
...
Afterward, Lin Xuan left Fengyun City and, after a few hours, smoothly returned to Liuyun Sect.
He entered the cultivation chamber.
Sitting cross-legged on a cushion, he took out low-grade spirit stones and began closed-door cultivation. Compared to Fengyun City, it was clearly much safer and more convenient within Liuyun Sect. Since his goal was achieved, there was no need to linger. So he returned to this Liuyun Sect pavilion.
Of course, choosing to return to Liuyun Sect at this time wasn't the only reason. Another was that the Inner Sect Ranking Competition was about to begin, with only a few days left. With Lin Xuan's current strength, claiming the top spot on the ranking list was a simple matter. And this ranking competition was a great opportunity to earn a large amount of energy points, along with the sect's reward of cultivation resources. He couldn't afford to miss it.
Time passed slowly.
Lin Xuan's aura grew increasingly surging.
Unknowingly, a few more days went by.
...
Inside the cultivation chamber.
A majestic force like rolling waves slowly spread out, then quickly dissipated.
On the cushion.
Lin Xuan opened his eyes, exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, and gazed at the void before him.
Whoosh!
"Divine Copy System."
"Host: Lin Xuan."
"Realm: Condensing Vortex, Eighth Layer."
"Talents: Xuan-grade cultivation talent, Xuan-grade alchemy talent, Supreme-grade talents (Speed, Strength, Blade Dao, Sword Dao), Supreme-grade elemental talents (Sharp Metal, Verdant Wood, Heavy Water, Crimson Fire, Thick Earth, Gale Wind), Top-grade elemental talents (Frost Ice, Lightning)."
"Martial Arts: Golden Scale Elephant Art (Unknown, Incomplete, Beginner), Chaos Art (Eighth-grade Lower, Minor Success), Sunrise Blade Technique (Seventh-grade Upper, Minor Success), Wind-Fire Sky-Shaking Sword Art (Seventh-grade Upper, Minor Success), Overwhelming Force Fist (Seventh-grade Upper, Minor Success), Ten Thousand Fold Surging Wave Palm (Seventh-grade Upper, Minor Success), Sky-Splitting Leg (Seventh-grade Upper, Minor Success), Shadow-Tracing Art (Seventh-grade Upper, Minor Success), Flame Manipulation Art (Seventh-grade Upper, Minor Success)."
"Intent: Four-tenths Blade Intent, Four-tenths Sword Intent, Four-tenths Wind Intent, Three-tenths Metal Intent, Five-tenths Fire Intent, Three-tenths Earth Intent, Five-tenths Wood Intent, Two-tenths Water Intent."
"Energy Points: 678,000."
"Personal Space: 489."
Looking at the drastically changed attribute panel before him, Lin Xuan nodded slightly with a smile in his eyes: "Consuming three hundred low-grade spirit stones, I finally broke through to Condensing Vortex, Eighth Layer in one go."
Lin Xuan murmured to himself. Over these days, he had been in closed-door cultivation, using low-grade spirit stones to train. The cultivation effect was significant, and the speed of improvement was far beyond before. However, he still underestimated the massive demand for cultivation resources from the Golden Scale Elephant Art. Also, after his talent was upgraded to Xuan-grade, the need for resources surged again. As a result, while a few dozen low-grade spirit stones would normally allow a martial artist who had just broken through to Condensing Vortex to smoothly reach Spirit Opening, he had only gone from Condensing Vortex, Third Layer to Eighth Layer. Moreover, Lin Xuan could sense that the remaining two hundred low-grade spirit stones wouldn't be enough to break through to Spirit Opening, showing how terrifying the demand was.
Still, there were benefits. His strength had at least multiplied several times over.
"One hundred fifty thousand jin of force—I wonder if a Spirit Opening, Mid Layer can withstand it?"
Lin Xuan clenched his fist.
Whoosh!
Instantly, a howling gale swept through the entire cultivation chamber. A flash of light neutralized most of the force.
Indeed, this time, the Golden Scale Elephant Art still hadn't reached the beginner stage. But his strength had increased again, reaching a staggering one hundred fifty thousand jin. A single punch thrown out would be something even an ordinary Spirit Opening, Mid Layer wouldn't dare to take head-on. Additionally, combined with his various martial arts and intents, and the vastly increased quantity and quality of true qi in his dantian, if he went all out, he could even fight an ordinary Spirit Opening, Late Layer.
Lin Xuan showed a satisfied expression.
Then, his gaze swept over the attribute panel from top to bottom.
"Talents, martial arts, intents—all have improved quite a bit."
Lin Xuan muttered to himself. These were all copied from the Alchemist Guild's president, Chen Anran. They now ranked at the top of the entire Liuyun Sect, even the entire Cangyuan Kingdom. Enough for him to be unmatched at the same level and challenge those above.
Lin Xuan nodded slightly.
"Energy points seem low. Next, I'll go earn a big batch."
Lin Xuan let out a long breath, dismissed the attribute panel, stood up, and walked out of the cultivation chamber. After checking the time, his expression changed.
"Not good, it's already this late!"
He hadn't expected that while in closed-door cultivation, he lost track of time and ended up at this hour. By now, the ranking competition had probably already started for a while. During cultivation, the pavilion would automatically activate a protection mechanism to prevent outside disturbances. Even the steward couldn't alert him.
"Master Lin, you've come out of seclusion! The ranking competition started half an hour ago! You should hurry—you might still make it!"
Steward Zhou Yun entered and, upon seeing Lin Xuan, showed a joyful expression, then quickly turned anxious as he urged.
"Mm, I'm going. Take care of the pavilion."
Lin Xuan nodded.
As his words fell, a gentle breeze passed, and he vanished.
Zhou Yun's pupils contracted, and he was inwardly shocked. He hadn't even been able to see Lin Xuan's movement technique. And he was at least a Condensing Vortex, Mid Layer martial artist himself.
"It seems Master Lin's strength has increased again. I wonder what changes this ranking competition will bring."
Zhou Yun murmured, filled with anticipation.