Chapter Thirty-Nine: Mid Stage of Qi Refining

Today.

This was the day He Song had decided to attempt his breakthrough to the mid-stage of Qi Refinement!

Having already seen Lin Cong succeed before him, and recalling Lin’s words that, for those with four spiritual roots, breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refinement posed little difficulty, He Song had made no special preparations. After setting out a dozen or so spirit stones at his side, he resolutely began the process.

Advancing from the peak of the third layer to the fourth layer of Qi Refinement was, in truth, not particularly difficult. Of course, this “not particularly difficult” was only true given He Song’s talent as one with four spiritual roots.

The gap between four and five spiritual roots was quite pronounced. For those with five roots, breaking through from the third to the fourth layer would present a considerable bottleneck.

Take Meng Guan, for example.

He possessed five spiritual roots.

For him, breaking into the mid-stage of Qi Refinement was much harder than it was for those with four roots. When it came to advancing to the late stage, he was even more tightly trapped by the bottleneck, to the point of nearly despairing.

It was in his struggle for progress that he had to leave the Immortal Market and go mining, and to this day, he had yet to return.

It’s worth mentioning that a month after Master Chengshan returned to the Immortal Market, both He Song and Wei Fan received a paper crane message from Meng Guan.

In his message, Meng Guan described a great crisis he had faced. Fortunately, when disaster struck, he was deep in the mine and, using his Breath Concealment Technique to hide in a secluded tunnel for several days, he managed to survive.

He Song and Wei Fan also learned what had occurred at the Red Spirit Gold Mine during those days.

The mine had been attacked by several Foundation Establishment masters and dozens of late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators. The rogue cultivators who had been recruited to mine were slaughtered in large numbers on the spot. Even among the four Foundation Establishment masters from the Sect of Thick Earth guarding the mine, one was ambushed and killed outright.

Fortunately, among the three surviving masters, one was actually a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator in hiding, who managed to withstand the assault and send out a call for help.

This distress signal brought defenders from several surrounding Immortal Markets, and the two sides battled for days, unable to defeat each other.

It was only after several days, when reinforcements from Qingyuan Immortal City arrived, that the attackers finally withdrew.

Afterward, the defenders from the surrounding markets also returned to their posts.

What Meng Guan did not know was that all the surrounding markets had suffered attacks by demonic cultivators. He Song and Wei Fan only learned later that not only Zhushan Immortal Market, but several others without Foundation Establishment cultivators as guardians, had also been attacked.

After waiting for the outside world to quiet down for several days, Meng Guan finally crept out of the mine and rejoined the mining team.

Having survived this ordeal, Meng Guan sighed deeply at his own luck, and did not forget to thank He Song and Wei Fan for their earlier advice.

But if it hadn’t been for his lack of spirit stones and his determination to take the risk, he would never have gone mining in the first place. So, he remained at the Red Spirit Gold Mine.

Since then, more Foundation Establishment cultivators had been stationed at the mine, making it safer than ever before. Besides, he had nowhere else to go, and could only continue his work in the mines.

Three years had passed since, and all He Song knew was that Meng Guan was still mining; of his other circumstances, he had no knowledge.

But for those with four spiritual roots—

Take Lin Cong, for instance. When he advanced to the mid-stage of Qi Refinement, he faced no bottleneck at all.

The moment he decided to break through, the spiritual energy in his body surged at high speed, smashing through the barrier in an instant.

It was that simple.

He Song now began circulating the Thick Earth Technique.

The spiritual energy around him surged continuously into his body. As it poured in, the spiritual power within him began to swell.

When it reached its peak, and with the continued operation of the Thick Earth Technique, He Song suddenly felt a wave of comfort wash over him. His whole body felt as though it had been stretched and released, a wave of euphoria from breaking through his cultivation limits flooded his heart.

In the blink of an eye, he had successfully advanced to the fourth layer of Qi Refinement.

Sensing the rapid increase of spiritual power within him, and feeling the accelerated rate at which he could convert the external spiritual energy into his own, He Song’s heart leaped with joy.

It was done!

Merely by circulating the Thick Earth Technique, he had naturally and effortlessly broken through to the fourth layer.

After savoring the satisfaction of his success, He Song continued to run the Thick Earth Technique to consolidate his cultivation.

A fresh breakthrough was fragile—any mishap could easily cause him to regress to his previous level.

Only after fully stabilizing his progress would his cultivation be secure, allowing him to perform at his best without unexpected setbacks.

This was also why, after receiving He Song’s paper crane message, Lin Cong had immediately decided to leave: at that moment, Lin Cong had just broken through to the fourth layer and needed to consolidate his own cultivation. If something unforeseen happened in the Immortal Market, it could be very troublesome.

Time passed quietly.

In the blink of an eye, a full month slipped by.

During this month, apart from spending half an hour each day casting Rain of Spiritual Dew on the spirit fields under his care, He Song devoted himself to solidifying his cultivation at home.

Now, with a month gone by, his Qi Refinement at the fourth layer was thoroughly stabilized.

At this point, no matter how freely he cast spells, his cultivation would not slip back.

Only now did He Song feel completely at ease, no longer preoccupied every day with the need to consolidate his progress.

Now that he had reached the mid-stage of Qi Refinement, it was time to go to the Hall of Spiritual Herbs and increase the number of spirit fields under his management.

In Zhushan Immortal Market, once a cultivator reached the mid-stage of Qi Refinement, both their status and their benefits saw a marked improvement.

Take spirit field managers, for example.

At the early stage of Qi Refinement, they could typically care for only five acres, as their internal spiritual power was limited and their Rain of Spiritual Dew could not cover a larger area.

With each acre yielding thirty spirit stones per year, five acres amounted to just one hundred and fifty stones.

But if a spirit field manager advanced to the mid-stage, they could then tend to seven acres.

This increase of two acres might not seem significant at first glance, but in reality, the income saw a substantial rise.

Still calculating at thirty spirit stones per acre per year, seven acres would yield two hundred and ten stones annually.

After deducting the required one hundred and twenty stones for rent, the number of spirit stones available for personal use would jump from thirty (with five acres) to ninety (with seven acres)!

The difference between thirty and ninety spirit stones a year was enormous.

Thus, mid-stage cultivators could command far more resources than those at the early stage.

However, to formally receive the additional two acres, one had to register the advancement with the Hall of Spiritual Herbs.

Fortunately, Meng Guan’s connections, which he had prepared for He Song, were still intact.

Zhao Lin, who succeeded Meng Guan as the manager of the Hall, had survived the previous calamity.

Moreover, due to the sudden decrease in itinerant cultivators at the Immortal Market, those who did survive felt a sense of shared hardship, and whenever they met someone they knew from before, they couldn’t help but stop and reminisce.