"No matter how many times I see it, it's always breathtaking."
Liu Qianyu sighed in admiration.
"Senior Brother Lin, your reputation is about to rise another level now. If not for the short time, your fame could even catch up to the Four Young Masters."
"Mm."
Lin Xuan replied calmly, unmoved.
He had anticipated this long ago. When he refined pills, aside from using them to earn cultivation resources, he also intended to harvest a wave of energy points. Naturally, he didn't mind. As for Liu Qianyu being allowed into the alchemy room, that was also his permission.
Although Liu Qianyu was once the top true disciple of the former Flowing Cloud Sect, he wasn't skilled in alchemy. The highest alchemist in the entire Flowing Cloud Sect was merely the hall master of the Alchemy Hall, an ordinary Earth-grade lower-rank alchemist—equivalent to a regular elder in the Windcloud City Alchemist Guild. Liu Qianyu couldn't possibly discern Lin Xuan's alchemy mastery, so there was nothing to worry about.
"Senior Brother Lin, this is the spirit stones earned from yesterday's pill sales, already divided."
Seeing Lin Xuan's indifferent demeanor, untouched by external matters, Liu Qianyu felt a surge of emotion. Perhaps only such a person could be called a prodigy. He then took out a storage ring and handed it to Lin Xuan, unable to suppress a smile.
Inside was his ten percent share of the profits. Over the past few days, he had acted as the intermediary, running back and forth without spending much time. Yet the spirit stones he earned far exceeded his original savings. While deeply awed by Lin Xuan, he also felt a growing sense of gratitude and reverence.
Lin Xuan took the ring, infused a trace of spiritual energy to inspect it, and smiled with satisfaction. He handed another batch of pills to Liu Qianyu and dismissed him.
Then, Lin Xuan left the alchemy room and headed toward the cultivation chamber. To him, alchemy was never the goal—it was merely a means to earn cultivation resources. The true purpose was always to enhance his strength and cultivation realm. He spent at most an hour each day on alchemy, devoting the rest of his time to secluded cultivation.
Returning to the cultivation chamber, he found it had changed considerably. The spirit-gathering array etched into the ground now had as many as one hundred and twenty-one small holes—the highest level among all such arrays in the Flowing Cloud Sect. Even the sect leader, at the sixth layer of the Spiritual Origin realm, used a similar array when cultivating. Over the past few days, through Liu Qianyu and at some cost, Lin Xuan had the sect's strongest array master modify it, all for his upcoming cultivation. Of course, he had also copied the array talent along the way, but due to time constraints, he hadn't delved into the art of arrays.
Afterward, Lin Xuan took out over a hundred low-grade spirit stones, inserted them one by one into the small holes, and activated the spirit-gathering array to its fullest. Soon, the cultivation chamber was filled with dense spiritual energy. Lin Xuan sat cross-legged, circulated his martial arts, and began to cultivate.
...
Time flowed slowly.
Unbeknownst to him, ten days had passed since he left the puppet secret realm and returned to the sect.
Early morning.
Inside the cultivation chamber.
Lin Xuan sat cross-legged on a cushion. A surge of energy rippled outward, stirring the surrounding air into visible, wave-like patterns—terrifying to behold. The next moment, it vanished.
Lin Xuan slowly opened his eyes, exhaled a turbid breath, and murmured softly:
"Another breakthrough—eighth layer of the Spirit Opening realm!"
Sensing the spiritual energy in his dantian, now several times greater than before, Lin Xuan nodded slightly.
"But that's not the important part. What truly matters is that this time, after pouring in over a hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones, I've finally pushed the *Golden Scale Elephant Art* to minor mastery!"
This thought remained unspoken, only a faint smile appearing on his face.
Then, he slowly extended his right hand.
Whoosh!
Instantly, a fierce wind swept through the cultivation chamber. A violent, thunderous energy spread outward.
Clatter!
The protective array of the hall automatically activated. The energy struck it.
Crack, crack...
The light barrier formed by the array emitted cracking sounds, as if it might shatter at any moment. Just as it was about to break, the energy abruptly dissipated. The barrier dimmed significantly before fading away.
This was the palace of the sect's top true disciple. Even a mid-stage Spiritual Origin realm cultivator would find it difficult to break through its protective array. This showed just how terrifying that energy was.
"With only half my strength, it already possesses such power!"
Lin Xuan's expression shifted slightly as he observed this.
"As expected of the *Golden Scale Elephant Art*. Even at minor mastery, it grants ten million jin of force—the strength of ten oxen!"
Lin Xuan nodded, feeling the vast, ocean-like power within his physique. Over these days, aside from spending half an hour each day on alchemy, he had focused entirely on cultivation. But his goal was no longer to raise his cultivation realm; instead, he turned to the *Golden Scale Elephant Art*. Most of his actual cultivation consumption went into this art. If he could elevate it first, then raising his cultivation realm would become much simpler.
Moreover, the *Golden Scale Elephant Art* was the strongest martial art he currently possessed. If he could improve it, dealing with the upcoming competition among the eight major forces of the Red Sun Domain and the Four Young Masters would be easier. Beyond that, he wanted to test how powerful the *Golden Scale Elephant Art* would become after reaching minor mastery—a level that even those who had practiced it for decades had never achieved.
Now, after spending the over a hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones earned from pill sales across the entire Flowing Cloud Sect, he had finally succeeded. The resulting power exceeded his expectations, reaching the legendary ten million jin—utterly astonishing. The improvement in his cultivation realm was merely a side effect. Otherwise, even at the worst, that many low-grade spirit stones would have been enough to break through to the Spiritual Origin realm. However, it might have taken more time, likely landing him at the peak of the Spirit Opening realm.
"Now, with my physical strength—the power of ten oxen unleashed—even if I can't defeat a Yuan Sea realm expert, I should be unmatched among the Spiritual Origin realm. A casual punch could probably crush an early or mid-stage Spiritual Origin cultivator."
Lin Xuan showed a hint of satisfaction. The strongest in the Flowing Cloud Sect, Sect Leader Liu Wuyan, was only at the sixth layer of the Spiritual Origin realm—still mid-stage. He probably couldn't withstand even a few of Lin Xuan's punches. By now, Lin Xuan was the strongest in the sect, no longer just the top disciple.
"And these golden scales!"
Lin Xuan's gaze sharpened as he looked down. Several golden scales had appeared on his palm, quickly covering his entire hand. This was the effect of reaching minor mastery in the *Golden Scale Elephant Art*. When activated, golden scales emerged. Their defensive power was terrifying—even he couldn't damage them in the slightest.