Another week later, Yù Quán is a step away from the next stage. He let out a breath of relief. He had been cultivating for a week straight and wasn’t quite used to sitting and focusing for so long just yet. He looked over at Rèn Chāngmíng and couldn’t help but suck his teeth.

“Tch~ late levels of Muscle Tempering”

Rèn Chāngmíng had given Yù Quán some pointers on estimating realms in the past week. After Core Forming was the Body Tempering Realm. The first two stages of this realm are the Skin Tempering Stage and the Muscle Tempering Stage. Yù Quán knew Rèn Chāngmíng wasn’t in the Skin Tempering Stage anymore, as his skin no longer had any visible imperfections. He knew he was late in the Muscle Tempering because of the muscle he had gained. It mainly was the definition, but he had gotten much bigger than the skinny kid he had met.

These obscure methods were the only way to estimate cultivation progress until the individual was in the Foundation Laying Realm. This is because most of someone’s qi is used to temper themselves, so qi isn’t completely reliable until it’s no longer used for tempering. Of course, since Yù Quán hadn’t formed a core yet, he couldn’t sense qi in the first place.

Rèn Chāngmíng was developing quickly. After forming a core, refined cores can strengthen the core and improve function, while Dead Dantian Pills can increase the dantian size, increasing qi capacity. With more qi and a stronger core, cultivation could only be faster.

“Even with the resources, his cultivation speed is too high. He wasn’t a heavenly talent before… It must have something to do with his path.”

Yù Quán looked around. Soon, he would enter the Body Tempering Realm, and he could be free of such a slow cultivation method. However, he would end up progressing slowly anyway since he’ll need eyes to make substantial progress. But at that point, he thought he would be strong enough. Now that he was closer to the next stage, he decided to look into the next one.

The next stage was Dantian Solidification, where the dantian should be expanded, and the walls should be strengthened. [Stolen-eyed Mùmùlián Body]’s method was to continue taking energy through the eyes. Yù Quán looked solemn, wondering how long he would have to endure this. Against his better judgment, he went through the following stages to find when he would finally be done with gathering energy through the eyes.

After some time, Yù Quán found that it wasn’t that he should only take in energy through his original eyes forever but that it would be best to do so to cultivate any eyes. Including the ones he added. So, if he were to refine some eyes at entry points or even create new entry points while refining, he could cultivate faster while strengthening the eyes.

“It would be best if I could reach the Essence Refinement Stage before going to the academy. That way, I can at least defend myself well. At this pace, that’ll take another month or so.”

Yù Quán thought for a bit, then made up his mind. He got up, dusted himself off, and began walking out of the cave. This alerted Rèn Chāngmíng, who was about to get up to follow him, but he was stopped by Yù Quán waving his hand without turning.

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“There’s no need for you to follow. I’ll be back shortly. Just keep cultivating.”

Rèn Chāngmíng didn’t want to let Yù Quán go alone, but he decided it was for the best. Only by cultivating far could he be of use to him. Who knows what he’ll run into? And what about his own goals, like his revenge on the Hei family? He needed strength, and cultivation could give him that.

…

Yù Quán got to the little secluded area where he defeated the bandits. He had initially decided to let them be tied up there until he could bring them to the academy to ask what they should do. But, now, he needed strength, and there was no other way to get eyes. The bandits were passed out when Yù Quán approached. They had been fed, but the bare minimum to keep them alive, so they spent most of the time resting.

Yù Quán walked up to both of them unnoticed. By the time they realized he was there, his hands held both faces, covering their eyes. Yù Quán had read the technique to prepare himself for this moment.

“Steal.”

There was no visual cue on Yù Quán that indicated he was using a technique, but he could feel movement inside the heads of the bandits. After a while, the bandits began to scream, and it was apparent they were in tremendous pain. Eventually, Yù Quán could feel a warm and moist sensation on both hands; the eyes had been extracted enough to touch his skin. It was a slightly disturbing operation that sent chills down his spine. But he had spent time steeling himself, this was something that needed to be done if he wanted to get stronger.

The technique only took a few minutes, ending with each hand having a pair of eyes in each hand. Next, he began the refining method. He decided he wasn’t quite ready to have them visible, even though they could be disguised when closed; if he ever wanted to open them, he didn’t want them on his face or arms or anything yet. He decided on right below his chest and slightly away from the center of his torso for one pair. The second pair would be slightly lower and a little further than the first one. Both coincide with the opening of the meridians, so he can use more openings to cultivate.

“Okay! Here we go.”

Yù Quán began to put an eye on each hand and put them up to their desired spots. Then he felt them slowly push into his body. It felt like his body was being reshaped like clay, except he wasn’t made of clay, so it was much more difficult and much more painful. Yù Quán thought this must be the tempering. While it hurt, he could feel his entire body getting stronger. What must be happening is the technique moves all his skin and muscle, then resettle it in the new shape. It’s the only way he thought it could possibly temper his whole body.

When it was done, Yù Quán had two more sets of eyes on his torso that he could open at will. He was relieved it was only so much. But he knew that when he started using qi, it would be much more painful, as tempering with qi and reshaping are two different things.

“I’ll look for a beast or something. I want to test the pressure they can emit.”

…

Yù Quán

Realm: Qi Focusing Realm

Stage: 6th Level Heavenly Energy Gathering

Main Cultivation Art: [Stolen-eyed Mùmùlián Body](Level 1)

Techniques:

[Mùmùlián Eye Stealing](Level 1)

[Mùmùlián Eye Refining](Level 1)

Attributes:

[Star Gazing Eyes](Level 1)