Chapter 53

On Taian Island, within the Great Island Protection Formation.

"Neck? Heaven's Calamity?" Li Fan flipped through the purchased *Cultivation Miscellany*, his brows slightly furrowed.

Since returning from Wanshen Island a few days ago, he had not stopped cultivating for a moment.

Originally, he had planned to seize the momentum and break through to the later stage of Qi Condensation.

However, although he could feel that he was close to breaking through, no matter how Li Fan cultivated, he always felt that he was just a hair's breadth away.

This seemingly minor gap was like a chasm, blocking Li Fan's path.

After reading through the *Cultivation Miscellany*, Li Fan finally confirmed that he had encountered a bottleneck.

In ancient times, the concept of cultivation bottlenecks was already well-known.

During the cultivation process, one's cultivation might get stuck at a certain point, making it impossible to advance.

In the current world of cultivation, the impact of bottlenecks on cultivators is even greater.

Starting from the middle stage of Qi Condensation, every cultivator will inevitably encounter a bottleneck when breaking through each minor realm.

Such bottlenecks cannot be broken through by mere hard work alone.

One must find the opportunity that one senses intuitively to break through and successfully advance.

This opportunity could be as simple as seeing a painting, drinking a cup of tea.

It could also be a sudden enlightenment, a flash of inspiration during a life-and-death battle.

Or it could be a casual remark from someone else, or guidance from a senior.

In short, there is no pattern to follow, and it all depends on the "Heaven's Will."

The existence of these bottlenecks undoubtedly greatly suppresses the cultivation speed of cultivators.

It is like a calamity sent by heaven, hindering the cultivation of cultivators.

Thus, cultivators also refer to it as Heaven's Calamity.

In short, this Heaven's Calamity has now descended upon Li Fan.

His plan to break through in the short term has been thwarted.

Sitting in the formation for several days, Li Fan felt no hint of the opportunity for breakthrough.

Knowing that this matter could not be forced in the short term, he did not become anxious. He temporarily put aside the cultivation of the *Lesser Derivation Water Technique* and began to cultivate the *Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter*.

The *Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter* has five levels, corresponding to the five major realms of Prebirth, Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul in ancient times.

The Prebirth realm is a relatively special existence in the cultivation methods of some sects in ancient times.

It emphasizes expelling all the impurities one has accumulated since birth and returning to the pure state of prebirth.

These sects believed that starting cultivation from the Prebirth realm would make it easier to comprehend the Heavenly Dao.

Both the speed and the upper limit of cultivation would far surpass those of ordinary cultivators.

The Heavenly Mechanism Sect was one of the sects that advocated starting all cultivation from the Prebirth realm.

However, after the new methods replaced the old ones, cultivators no longer emphasized the unity of heaven and man.

Naturally, there was no longer any talk of returning to the prebirth state.

But the most basic part of the *Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter* is the Prebirth realm.

So what Li Fan needed to do was to use Qi Condensation to replace the Prebirth realm and complete the first level of cultivation.

Generally speaking, using a higher realm to replace a lower one would naturally be compatible, making cultivation relatively easier.

But when it comes to the differences between ancient and modern cultivation systems, it is not so simple.

Especially since Li Fan was still a beginner who had only been cultivating for a few years, his knowledge was severely lacking.

This is also why it took Li Fan a long time to just enter the cultivation path, even with the help of the琉璃丹 (Luli Pill) to enhance his comprehension.

Now that Li Fan's cultivation of the *Lesser Derivation Water Technique* had hit a bottleneck, he began to cultivate the second level of the *Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter*.

He planned to cultivate both techniques to the middle stage of Qi Condensation to see if he could break through the bottleneck.

After all, in this era, cultivation techniques are precious, and it is rare for an ordinary cultivator like him to be able to cultivate multiple techniques simultaneously.

According to the *Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter*, after successfully cultivating the second level, one can master the divine ability of "Discerning Opportunities."

"Discerning Opportunities," as the name suggests, means being able to discern and sense various qi opportunities in the world.

This is the foundation of the *Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter*.

Only by first discerning and sensing the qi opportunities can one proceed to capture and refine them.

The difficulty of cultivating the second level of the technique exceeded Li Fan's expectations.

If the *Lesser Derivation Water Technique* clearly and straightforwardly tells you how to cultivate without any unnecessary words,

then the *Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter* hides how to cultivate in a pile of deliberately obscure words, leaving you to guess and ponder.

Moreover, it is interspersed with insights into the Heavenly Dao and anecdotes from the ancient cultivation world.

All these mixed together made Li Fan feel dizzy and his blood boil.

After reading it once, it seemed he understood. But when he tried to cultivate, he realized he hadn't understood anything at all.

Fortunately, Li Fan was not one to give up easily.

Despite the numerous difficulties, he patiently studied and comprehended each word and sentence.

Another year passed as Li Fan diligently cultivated.

There was almost no progress in the cultivation of the *Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter*.

Li Fan did not become discouraged.

When he went to Wanshen Island for the second time to collect his agency compensation, he used 800 contribution points and the 5 Taian fruits he had accumulated over two years to exchange for some cultivation insights from ancient techniques.

Afterward, Li Fan activated the auxiliary cultivation mode in the Heavenly Profound Realm.

He did not cultivate any techniques but read these insights, comparing and verifying them with his own experiences over the past year.

It was like a sudden enlightenment, and all the doubts that had puzzled him before were now answered.

At the exciting parts, Li Fan couldn't help but dance and celebrate.

At this moment, Li Fan finally understood the saying, "Hearing the Dao in the morning, one can die in the evening."

Five days passed quickly.

With new insights, Li Fan hurriedly returned to Taian Island and began to seclude himself again.

This time, his cultivation was indeed different from before.

All the obscure and difficult parts of the technique had been clarified, and there were no more obstacles in his cultivation.

Li Fan quickly immersed himself in it.

Time passed without him noticing.

One day, a golden mist-like spiritual energy, completely different from the water-attribute spiritual energy, suddenly appeared in Li Fan's dantian.

Li Fan opened his eyes wide, a look of joy on his face.

"The second level of the *Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter* is finally complete." Li Fan let out a long breath.

He stretched his slightly stiff body and looked at the time, feeling a bit dazed.

He hadn't realized that this seclusion had lasted a whole year.

In his perception, it felt like he had just taken a nap.

Fortunately, hard work always pays off.

Li Fan's heart stirred, and as the golden spiritual energy gathered in his eyes, he activated "Discerning Opportunities."

"Let me see what these so-called qi opportunities in the world are like." Li Fan was excited as he tried out his new ability.

He looked toward Taian Island.

But what he saw made his heart race with fear.

A thick, black death aura, like a dense cloud, enveloped the entire Taian Island!

The thick death aura was almost tangible, making the island, which was still in daylight, resemble the underworld!

He canceled the technique and tried again.

After several attempts, Li Fan confirmed that he had not seen incorrectly.

"How could this be?" Li Fan was filled with doubt.

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and quickly cast the Water Mirror Technique, looking at his reflection in the mirror.

He saw that the death aura gathering above his head was hundreds of times stronger than that of the mortals on the island!