With the end of the grace period fast approaching and a new art in hand that he couldn’t yet use, He Yu decided it was time to attempt breaking through into the late First Realm. For weeks now he’d been feeling the building pressure in his dantian, but he’d wanted to push his cultivation base as far as he could before he broke through.
Despite the difficulty in continuing to cultivate at the middle stage of Qi Gathering, He Yu could now see how delaying his breakthrough would allow him a stronger foundation to begin his advancement with. He could only imagine the difference it would make if he delayed his advancement to Foundation in a similar fashion. Of course, that was under the assumption that the advancement to Foundation would be similar to the jumps between stages. The common wisdom was, after all, that advancing quickly until breaking into the Fourth Realm—Golden Core—was universally considered the superior option.
However, external factors now forced his hand. Sha Xiang was first among them. She’d sought him out during sparring practice earlier that week, and she had been far harder on him than was appropriate. Ren Huang had quickly noticed and put a stop to it, but He Yu still spent the remainder of the afternoon in the medicine hall, missing Elder Wen’s lecture as a result.
Sha Xiang had spent the rest of the week hauling sacks of rice up from the sect town at the base of the mountain. Any satisfaction He Yu could have gained from her punishment was blunted by the fact that she swore she would make him pay for the indignity. It was hardly fair, but by now he’d come to expect as much from her.
The other main factor that prompted his decision to break through was the announcement of a competition between the outer disciples before the end of the grace period. One last chance to earn rewards before they would compete more openly, just as Yan Shirong had predicted. The exact nature of the competition hadn’t yet been revealed, but the fact that it had been announced by Ren Huang at the end of one of their runs gave He Yu the impression that it would likely involve something physical. Combat, most likely.
Despite the physical training he’d been undergoing these past months, he was still noticeably weaker than his peers. That left him with only one path ahead. Zhang Lifen had said that he would overcome his childhood weakness when he reached the Foundation Stage, and he had a suite of arts waiting for him when he broke through. There was little reason to delay his advancement to late Qi Gathering any further, and many reasons not to.
At the end of the week He Yu informed Li Heng of his intent. He took the Five Phases Refinement Pill from its hiding place in his room and secluded himself in the home’s cultivation chamber. He’d wanted to save the pill for his breakthrough to Foundation, but he needed to advance now. The pill would still benefit his cultivation base.
Settling into his cycling position, He Yu popped the Five Phases pill into his mouth. Qi surged through his meridians as the pill bolstered the basic aspects of his qi. Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, each aspect fed and consumed the others, cycling through him in a riot of energy. It took all the practice he’d gained in the past months with the sect cultivation technique to wrestle control of the surging vital energy and direct it into proper patterns. His grip was tenuous, but he was in control.
With the initial surge over, He Yu turned his attention to the bright pool of qi in his dantian. He cycled qi through his meridians, and back into his dantian, each time using the control granted by the sect’s cultivation technique to compress his dantian just a tiny bit more. Each time he did so, he felt the resistance increase. Each repetition of the cycle became more difficult than the last, and before long it felt as though his dantian would explode. He didn’t know what would happen if it did, but he couldn’t spare a thought for that. He had to keep going.
Time had long since ceased to mean anything. It had been hours, at least, and He Yu was exhausted; mentally, physically, and spiritually. But he wasn’t done yet. The foul scent of impurities leaking from his pores reached him through his meditation, but he couldn’t spare more than the tiniest flicker of his attention. He would have to clean himself—and the cultivation chamber—when he was done. It was a good sign though, and he spared what little satisfaction he could at that.
He kept pushing. Kept compacting. Squeezing his dantian and the qi it contained into an ever smaller pool of energy at the center of his spirit. Then, something snapped. His dantian collapsed, and for a moment became so bright it blinded his spiritual perception.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Vital qi poured into his meridians. It didn’t quite rage, though. Not like it had when he’d first taken the Five Phases pill. There was a subtle sense of form to it—like it was filling into a vessel perfectly crafted to contain it. With this surge of newly potent qi, he felt power. Strength like he’d never known filled his limbs. He could immediately tell his spirit was more potent than it had been mere moments ago. Vitality he’d never even imagined filled him. He’d done it.
When he opened his eyes, he was lying on the floor of the cultivation chamber. The stench that had broken through his meditation was overwhelming. He gagged, rolled over onto his side, then retched. He forced himself to his feet and stumbled to the door. Black, viscous liquid covered the floor. It covered him. He’d ruined another sect uniform.
Throwing open the door, he took a step out into the cool night air and sucked in the sweetest breath he’d ever taken. After a few moments, he managed to force himself back into the cultivation chamber and retrieve the bucket of water he’d brought with him. Once back outside he dumped it over his head. It did little to help, but little was far better than nothing. He Yu looked up, and just as with his first breakthrough into the middle stage of the First Realm, he found Li Heng leaning against one of their home’s pillars.
“You smell awful,” the noble said.
“Is it always this bad?”
“It gets worse, then it gets better. You’ll run out of impurities eventually.”
That would be something to look forward to. “I feel strong,” he said. It was difficult not to revel in it. Not to gloat.
“Just wait until you begin cultivating the White Mountain Body Art,” Li Heng said, pushing off the wall. “Get cleaned up and meet me in the main room. We can celebrate.”
He Yu stripped off his ruined robes and spent a few minutes sloughing off the remainder of the black gunk coating his skin. Once dressed again, he joined Li Heng. A jar of wine and two cups sat on the table before him.
When He Yu had taken his seat, Li Heng pushed a cup towards him and said, “You were wise to seek a breakthrough before the end of the grace. Anyone still in the Qi Gathering stage, even those at the late stage or the peak, will be easy prey for those who’ve managed to reach the Foundation stage.”
“Will it really be that bad?” he asked. There had been a rising air of tension among many of the disciples with the approach of the grace period’s formal end. In the past week, it had become all but impossible to ignore.
Li Heng fixed him with a considering look. After a moment he said simply, “Yes.”
“Care to explain?”
“Already he reaches above his station,” Li Heng said. It was the sort of comment that He Yu would have mistaken for offense, or perhaps mockery, just a few months prior. He’d gotten to know the noble well enough since then, however. “The sect had been shielding us,” he began. “I know you’re familiar with all the stories. Heaven knows you never stop talking about them. They don’t tell the whole of it. The grudges. The rivalries. They’re much more fierce than the tales let on.”
“How bad could it be?” He Yu asked. He’d come to realize in the short time he’d been at the sect that the legends that had first attracted him to the life of a cultivator weren’t quite the truth. Despite that, he thought he’d gotten a good enough handle on what was accurate, and what was embellishment.
“Not that bad,” Li Heng said with a dismissive wave. “Sect rules prevent us from harming each other too much. No killings. No maiming, if we can avoid it.” He Yu couldn’t help but notice the way Li Heng emphasized that last part. “But, the fighting will be real. And it won’t be between a couple of barely awakened children with no training to speak of. Sha Xiang is a middle Foundation stage cultivator.” Li Heng fixed him with a hard look. “She’ll be coming for you.”
“Surely she won’t challenge me on the first day,” He Yu said. He wasn’t entirely certain of that, but he could at least hold out some small hope that he’d be able to catch up to her.
Li Heng tapped his chin with a finger, then said. “She’s collected a fair number of other grudges since the beginning, to nobody’s surprise. Making friends doesn’t seem to be high on her list of priorities, and Xiao Jun’s backing has made her arrogant. I suspect she’ll spend some time with her allies pushing around second realms who have a bit more resources to their name. You’re not a threat, so she’ll likely deal with you at her leisure. Especially if you keep your head down and go out of your way to avoid her.”
He Yu pushed down the sour feeling that rose at those words. As much as he hated to hear it, Li Heng wasn’t wrong. Sha Xiang had a full realm advantage on him, and she’d been receiving support from a Third Realm cultivator for at least a month at this point. More importantly, she’d no doubt been cultivating the sect arts, something He Yu hadn’t yet even begun.
“Don’t look like that,” Li Heng said. “I have a plan.”
“You’ve mentioned. What is it?” he asked.
“We’re going to do the same thing.”
“And that would be?” He had a feeling that he already knew the answer.
“We’re going to fight anyone we can beat, and take them for all they’re worth,” Li Heng said as if it were obvious. “That should be enough to push you to Foundation before Sha Xiang deigns to notice you. Like I said, she’s gotten arrogant. I’m keen to finish my duel with her and remind her of her place.”
As much as he was ready to end whatever rivalry, one-sided as it was, that existed between himself and Sha Xiang, He Yu wasn’t comfortable with the eagerness in Li Heng’s tone.