Inside the stone house, in the middle of the room stood a huge copper cauldron supported by four curvy legs.
It was very imposant, being as big as an adult man.
This cauldron was bought by Ye Mo right before his seclusion of three months along with half a year worth of herbs used in medicinal baths.
Below the cauldron was coal stones and burnt wood still fuming surrounded by four stone slabs.
It could be seen a fire was ignited recently.
The sound of boiling water could be heard from the cauldron and a lot of steam escaped from it.
Clearly, the temperature wasn't negligible.
Inside the cauldron, the water was filled with various herbs and at it's center was Ye Mo's head sticking out like a small isle surrounded by the sea.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Ye Mo came out.
From his feet to his neck, his skin took a rosy, almost red tint.
To make such an impact on his body, it was evident this medicinal bath wasn't something ordinary cultivators could endure.
He picked a towel and dried himself then put black pants and sat down on the red mat, not bothering to cover his upper body.
He took a deep inspiration and closed his eyes, putting his attention to his dantian.
Inside this mysterious space, thousands of wisps of Qi wandered aimlessly filling it to the point where no matter how much he cultivated, he couldn't produce one more.
It was the sign he reached the peak of the third layer, only at this point could you attempt to breakthrough the next layer.
Ye Mo willed and suddenly, the wisps of Qi's movements grew coordinated as they all flew towards the center of the dantian.
At first their momentum was great but gradually, they slowed down as a mysterious force obstructed their path.
They looked like someone swimming against the current.
The heavenly wall made it's appearance!
Every living beings in the world were the creation of heavens and cultivation was the act of elevating yourself in a unique existence not bound by any law like insufficient lifespan or limited strenght.
But how could the heavens tolerate this rebellion against itself, when every creatures are born the way they are meant to be.
As such, the heavenly wall came as an obstacle to prevent cultivators to progress in their cultivation.
It would become stronger with each breakthrough and every cultivators would feel this barrier but at varying degrees.
You need a great control over your Qi to overcome this hardship and attain a new layer of power.
There were only two ways to ease this burden.
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One was with talent and the other was through the purification of Qi.
"With my rank 2 talent, the obstruction of the heavenly wall is already this much just to breakthrough the 4th layer. It's not enough to stop me currently but it will only grow stronger as i keep advancing in my cultivation." Ye Mo felt really well the injustice of talent.
If it was a rank 5 talent at his place, he would barely feel the barrier of the heavenly wall and reaching the 4th layer would be much easier.
Ye Mo kept pushing through with his Qi and many wisps crashed against the heavenly wall, advancing slowly as the mystical force was pushed back.
At the same time many wisps of Qi started dissipating in this battle of attrition.
5%, 10%, 15%...
When 20% of his Qi was lost, the wisps broke through the heavenly wall and attained the center of the dantian.
They flew like a storm and collided against each other but rather than being destroyed, they were absorbed and fused together.
The condensation began and the amount of Qi was depleted quickly until at the end only three wisps remained.
Those wisps were much clearer than the previous grey ones and looked more compact and tangible.
"I advanced to the 4th layer!" Ye Mo smiled heartily.
They were the wisps of a 4th layer Qi Gathering realm cultivator. The existence of these wisps of Qi in his dantian were the proof Ye Mo broke through to the next layer.
These wisps stored twice the amount of Qi of the previous ones and the power they could unleash through battle skills was far greater.
Gathering Qi in the dantian to the limit then pushing the Qi to the center where it would be compressed and condensed until wisps of Qi of better quality took their place.
This was the cultivation of Qi Gathering realm cultivators.
The dantian would grow accustomed to these new wisps of Qi and naturally produce them in Ye Mo's future cultivation.
Nonetheless these wisps took much more Qi to be generated than the previous ones so the lenght at which you could fill your dantian also increased as you advanced.
"For a cultivator, if he's able to generate at least one wisp of the next layer through the condensation then he would have succesfully broken through but depending on the success you can even refine dozens of them at once."
"For a wisp of Qi to take form is a long and strenuous process but once it happens, even if it's used up to unleash a battle skill it can be easily recovered through cultivation."
The existence of the heavenly wall was the reason many cultivators failed to breakthrough and the wisps of Qi that were lost in the process would need to be created back from nothing, needing the same amount of efforts as the first time to generate them.
Patience would be required in this situation and a lot of time would be wasted to fill the dantian up again so cultivators would always make ample preparations to be sure to breakthrough in one go.
"When you reach the peak of the Qi Gathering realm and refined your Qi to the limit, you must turn it into liquid Qi to breakthrough the Foundation Establishment realm. The higher the realm of a cultivator, the more concise his Qi becomes. A portion of liquid Qi is comparable to ten portions of gaseous Qi. After that comes the Inner Core realm with solid Qi." Ye Mo revised his understanding of cultivation as he revolved the Black Vortex cultivation technique.
He just broke through and had very little Qi currently, Ye Mo continously absorbed the Qi of heaven and earth as new wisps slowly took form in his dantian.
He stayed in house several days diligently working on his cultivation until he was satisfied by the amount restored.
When he had sufficient Qi to sustain the expenditure of his battle skills, the door creaked open and Ye Mo squinted his eyes, blinded by the sunshine.
He didn't waste time and immediately left for the battle skill tower where he entered with no difficulty after showing his token.
The emanations of Qi from Ye Mo couldn't be fake and it was easy for a Foundation Establishment expert to see through his cultivation and his bone structure.
Ye Mo was below sixteen years old and attained the 4th layer so he had the right to pick another battle skill hence there was no problem.
Of course Ye Mo could also pick a mid-tier Yellow Class body refining technique instead of a battle skill if he chose to but the only reason he would do that was if he suddenly turned stupid.
In the second floor of the tower, Ye Mo unhurriedly browsed through the manuals.
"In two months is the mid-year tournament for Tiger Martial Institute disciples and everyone's attention would be turned towards the competition. This is the perfect moment to investigate whether this cave of Pure Iridescent Iron is real or not."
"A battle skill focused on stealth is vital right now, i can't even leave the institute currently and from moving in the city to venturing in the wilderness, escaping others vigilance is primordial." Ye Mo thought solemnly.
If there was something he learned while he lived in the slums, it is that discretion, laying low and showing on the outside only what you want them to see is the key towards survival.
Every great figures that rised above the masses by themselves came to know at some point the importance of a wolf disguising as a sheep.
After an hour, Ye Mo left the tower with another battle skill in possesion.
The old instructor gave him a deep look as he departed. Just a few months ago when Ye Mo passed by he was only at his first steps on the infinite path of cultivation and now he already attained the 4th layer.
For a rank 2 talent, this speed was astonishing, on par with the most talented of students making the old man pay attention to him. At the same time his suspicion was raised and he couldn't help thinking there was something fishy about it yet he had no way to know how Ye Mo obtained such accomplishments.
Ye Mo came back home and retrieved his new battle skill from his pouch.
Shadow Walk - Mid-tier Yellow Class battle skill.
This was a battle skill divided in three phases of mastery.
In the first phase, you could completely conceal your aura and hide your presence from other experts.
In the second phase, your body could blend with the shadows at will and during the night you would move unhindered in the darkness as your speed increase considerably.
At the third phase you are akin to a ghost, the night or day makes no difference anymore and even someone looking in your direction might not notice you stand there.
It becomes the perfect art for assasination, from killing to hiding or escaping few skills in the institute can match it.
However every battle skills were equal and none would be overly advantageous without detriments or limitations while the weakest of them would always have their own use in specific situations.
In Shadow Walk's case it was known for being extremely difficult to learn, the proof being it's division in three phases.
Reaching the second phase was a feat on its own; as for the third phase, if someone learned it in the past he didn't reveal it.