Ning began summarizing all of his understanding of the Pure Qi sutra in his notebook to prepare for the upcoming event, with the intention of not wasting a single moment.

As far as he was concerned, his comprehension of the sutra itself was quite high. The panel certainly helped with that due to its ability to show the 'correctness' of each move.

Still, he stumbled upon a bottleneck during his practice, disturbing his smooth progression.

[Cultivation Method: Pure Qi Sutra (2nd Floor: 389/400)]

After this, no matter how he compressed the Qi, there was no progress. For Ning who was always on the grind, seeing his numbers not grow was disheartening, to say the least. Especially, since he was just a few numbers shy of completing the technique.

"Hope, this helps my numbers go brr..." A sigh escaped his lips.

...

At the same time, in the Luo Family mansion, Luo Ran followed his father to their treasury.

As one of the heirlooms of the Luo Family, the scroll was safely kept in the treasury, lest any harm falls upon it. Up until now, this scroll has been traded several times for resources, and its importance was only second to their spiritual farm.

"Father, have we been too hasty? A token of an alchemist like Lord Ling would probably weigh its weight in gold." Luo Ran couldn't help but ask his father as he watched him take out a sealed scroll.

Patriarch Luo glanced at his son and sighed, "In a normal situation, I would agree with you, Ran'er. But the recent situation has taken a turn for the worse."

Did Patriarch Luo not want the token?

Of course not.

It's just that the situation has forced their hand.

"This spiritual farm is the lifeblood of our family," Patriarch Luo spoke slowly. "Only through the hard work of our ancestors have we finally been able to slowly build our family around it. Now that the farm has suffered such a loss, now is not the time to hesitate, Ran'er."

"In this world, those who hesitate would often be weeded out. So, since we have decided on the matter, it's only natural to act at once. You must always remember this, Ran'er."

Patriarch Luo patiently explained to his son; after all, he would be the one to run the family in the future. Proper education was the key to the family's future.

"But didn't we also issue a mission for the Pure Qi sect?" Luo Ran couldn't help but ask.

"That's right! But you should also understand, Ran'er, that these things are often unpredictable. In a large sect like Pure Qi, there would be hundreds of missions to choose from. Our mission has a mediocre reward, but the mission itself is quite tough. Who knows when someone will take it up? So, it's better to bet on Brother Ning instead. After all, the faster that rat is killed, the more we can save the damage in the field."

Patriarch Luo sighed softly after seeing his son nodding.

If only he were in his prime, then he could probably solve this problem by himself, but now he is too old, and that's why he could only watch a prime opportunity slip through his fingers.

...

Seeing Patriarch Luo hand over the scroll, Ning did not know the inner turmoil of Patriarch Luo, but it was not hard to guess their thoughts.

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The Spiritual Farm was the foundation for the Luo family. Without it, the future of the family was uncertain in this harsh world. So, they would obviously want to solve the problem regarding it sooner. It was no wonder they wanted him to take action.

"Brother Ning, please take your time and get familiar with the scroll," Patriarch Luo said with a fawning smile. For them, if Ning could increase his strength at this juncture, then it would benefit them as well.

"I will try my best," Ning spoke seriously as he looked at the golden scroll in his hand.

"I don't doubt that a young talent like Brother Ning would gain something from this scroll. So, I will retire and not disturb my Brother. You can call me if there is any problem." Saying that, Patriarch Luo also walked out.

Ning, on the other hand, carefully opened the scroll.

"Let's begin," Ning muttered as he focused all his attention on the scroll.

Ning quickly fell into a trance-like state where knowledge was so clear. He sometimes nodded and muttered something unintelligible as he grew engrossed in the scroll.

Soon, time began to lose its meaning as seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into an hour.

Ning was still in the flow, giving his all to comprehend the scroll.

At this moment, his high comprehension helped him sort out the differences in understanding and slowly uncover the core. With his already robust foundation in the Pure Qi technique, it did not take him long to spot the difference between his Pure Qi sutra and the one in the scroll.

"I see, this senior was indeed quite a genius." Ning put down the scroll, his eyes brightening.

The essence of cultivation techniques can differ depending on the interpretation of the cultivator.

Ning interpreted the core of the Pure Qi Sutra as Compression. Compress the Qi in the body to the limit until no impurity remains. That was the route Ning followed, using various concepts from Earth.

Similarly, in the scroll, the interpretation of the Pure Qi sutra was Clashing, not Compression. The core was to clash the Qi until it shed all impurities.

Ning was able to interpret it the way he did due to his otherworldly knowledge. So, this senior Luo who he never met, being able to comprehend the technique in his own way, was certainly a capable individual.

"Now, what I need to do is use this insight and merge it into my own." Ning's eyes brightened. He wanted to take action at once, but he restrained his impulse.

Ning took out his own interpretation and started to form the cultivation plan. It would be too unfortunate if he failed just because he was too hasty. After another hour, he finally became satisfied with the end result and became eager once more.

But remembering something, he quickly took off his clothes, leaving only his undergarments.

"It's time to start." Ning closed his eyes and focused on his Qi.

According to the plan, he used his superior mental energy to split up the Qi, then circulate it in different directions. He was careful not to overdo it; he slowly manipulated the Qi to clash and weed out the impurities within.

Thankfully, Ning was skilled at this. His control was refined with tens of hours of practice to figure out the pathway of Heaven Shattering fist. Even then, this process took a while.

Ning's Qi was pure, extremely so since he had never used pills during cultivation. So, the amount of impurity he was able to grind out was minute at best. Still, it was progress and that was all that mattered.

*Crack*

Ning heard illusory cracking sounds as he precisely clashed the Qi within, and then applied his comprehension of Compression.

And as the process became more and more smooth, progress accumulated. Ning suddenly felt that it was time.

With a glimmer of insight, Ning finally broke through the stagnation and advanced.

[Pure Qi sutra (2nd floor: 389->390)]

In this way, finally, he was able to cross the threshold to the 390s. But this was not the end; as the numbers began to rise: 391, 392, 393... 398.

Beads of sweat appeared on Ning's forehead as he carefully manipulated his Qi, ensuring not to encounter Qi deviation when clashing both the Qi with the same force but in opposite directions to cancel each other out.

Having overcome the stagnation, the journey towards 400 was smooth, although it took a considerable toll on his youthful body.

[Pure Qi Sutra: (Completion: 400/400)]

But this was not the end yet.

With a flick of his wrist, a spiritual stone appeared in his palm. The density of spiritual energy in it was far higher than that of a low-grade spiritual stone. It was a rare mid-grade spiritual stone he had obtained from his titular senior sister.

With a mass of spiritual energy in one hand and an upgraded pure Qi in the other, Ning charged headfirst through the barrier between the third and fourth stages of the Qi condensation layer.

From past experience, Ning had found that the momentum from breaking through in the Cultivation technique was also extremely conducive to crossing through the barrier between realms.

So, riding through the momentum, Ning swiftly overcame the barrier.

Boom!!

The spiritual Qi in his body changed directly.

At the same time, the panel in his mind underwent a rapid change.

[Third Stage Qi condensation -> Fourth Stage of Qi condensation (Consolidating)]