Saving my questions for the Outpost Leader, I washed up and called it a night. The next day eventually came, and after dealing with another bout of pressure training and a light spar afterward, The Outpost Leader asked me to follow him back to his abode. I gave Richard a heads-up before I left in case, he was looking for me.

The conversation began once we made it inside his office.

“Did you feel it?”

I assume he’s talking about what I felt last night after I advanced?

“If you mean with my cultivation then yes I felt like a wall of some sort was on my cultivation path now.”

“It’s good that you can feel it and describe it as such. I’m assuming you read the cultivation manual. Do you remember what it said about minimum and maximum?”

“Yes, if I remember correctly, the minimum stage to reach was 5 and the maximum stage to reach was 9.”

“Good. That is very important. What you’re feeling right now is called many different things in many different cultures in the Multiverse, but it is commonly known as a barrier. It is the first of many you will face on your cultivation path. A barrier is a point of significant and qualitative change on your cultivation path. Breaking through them will require not only effort but in some cases even more talent. You will face one between every single realm, and you might face multiple during a realm itself.

“Some barriers might take you a few years to break through, others might take you decades, maybe even centuries, and in the worst case, some of them might be the end of your cultivation path. Not everyone reaches the peak. This topic is far more important than just this, so I recommend speaking to your Elders after the Tutorial.

“Now for this current barrier you're facing, I expect it should take you a few days due to the nature of your body. This is a point that 99% of cultivators have the ability to reach, as all it requires is time, dedication, and minimal resources. After reaching the 5th Cycle you may immediately attempt to break through to Qi Refinement, and this is a path that a lot of cultivators will take for many reasons.

“I do not recommend it for you. The path to the peak is long, but taking the time to strengthen your foundation will always result in being far stronger than others in your realm who didn’t.

“Advancing past the 5th Cycle into the 6th or even 7th Cycle will make your body far stronger than any other cultivator who stopped at the 5th. It will also make breaking through to Qi Refinement easier since your body would have tempered far more than the minimum.

“Of course, doing this will involve risks. There have been more than enough people who have attempted to push past the 5th but ended up with a crippling injury, or in some cases dying instead. I cannot and will not force you to advance past the 5th, but if that is the choice you make, I recommend doing so under my supervision. Any questions?”

I calmly digested everything he said, and it was pretty understandable. He also mentioned talking to my ‘Elders’ after this was all over so I’m guessing I’ll learn even more then. So, I really only had two questions.

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“Thank you for the explanation, how do I know when I’ll be ready to break through this barrier?”

“Hm...How has cultivating been for you so far? Have you run into any trouble?”

“…No? I cultivate as normal. I sit down, will a piece of the Ambient Qi into my body, and go from there.”

“I see. Typically for a lot of other people, that is a process that will take multiple attempts. The body needs to slowly get used to having that Qi run rampant and cause damage before they can reach the point to keep that Qi inside of them long enough to break through. I assume this is the case for the other people in this Outpost.

“This is the process you will need to go through. Listen to your body and do not rush. Any more questions?”

Hmm, so is this what Richard meant by being close to breaking through? If I run into any problems maybe I can ask him about his experience. Now for my last question.

“This might be a bit too early but how do I break through to Qi Refinement?”

“It is too early. Focus on what’s in front of you.”

I could tell that would be the end of the matter, so I’ll leave it alone.

“I don’t have any other questions, thank you again for the information.”

“Mm.”

He didn’t disappear this time for once and just nodded towards the door. I took that as my cue to leave and did just that. When I got back to my house Richard and a few others were waiting outside. Lance was a part of the team again this time, but the other three were new.

“I’ll meet you guys at the gate, I have something to take care of.”

“No worries, see you in a bit.”

They left and I walked into my house to grab the dagger and the ring. Wanted to see if I could sell them since they were just collecting dust in my room.

It didn’t take long for me to make it to the shop.

“Welcome back Raizen! And congratulations once again on your cultivation!”

“Thank you Greja.”

I appreciate how happily Greja always greets me. It’s a nice change of pace whenever I visit the shop.

“How can I help you?”

“I wanted to check if I could sell these items.” I placed the dagger and the ring on the counter as I said that.

“I got them out of a Dungeon.”

“Ah, I’m assuming you were likely the first to clear the Dungeon?”

“Yes, I think I was. Why?”

“Well, these are phenomenal rewards. Both of them are items worth a lot more than you think.”

“…Really?”

To me, they just looked like a weird dagger and a basic ring. The ring didn’t even look luxurious.

“Yes, let's start with the Dagger. It is already sharp but once imbued with Qi it will get even sharper, gaining the ability to severely cut or stab almost anything beneath a certain level of strength and toughness. I’d say it should be effective throughout the Qi Refinement Realm.”

Wow…how did she know that and how was I supposed to know that?

“Now for the Ring. This is the big prize out of the two. It is a storage ring. Through expert engineering, this Ring has a finite amount of space inside that you can quite literally store things in. The space inside isn’t too large, roughly 10ft, by 10ft and 6ft in height.

“You cannot store life, but your clothes, weapons, anything that can fit into that space can be stored. You can even store food as time is static inside the ring. Though both this Ring and the Dagger need Qi to do any of what I said. Without the ability to control Qi the Ring will just be a simple trinket in your hands, and the Dagger a simple dagger.

“Needless to say, while you can’t use them to their full potential now, you will be able to in the future. So…still want to sell them?”

I’m genuinely surprised. Who would’ve thought this basic-looking ring was actually a mystical storage device? Well mystical to me at least. Though I wonder if there was a way for me to figure this out on my own.

Either way, I’m definitely not selling them.

“No…I don’t think I will. I appreciate you taking the time to tell me what they were. But how did you know?”

“No problem! And well that comes with experience and the ability to sense things past the surface level. You will understand as you get stronger.”

“I see…thank you.”