Chapter 24

Luo Li followed the scripture and began to cultivate!

The original true qi accumulated in his body from the Silver State Continent began to shatter, disappear, and mutate, being replaced by the abundant spiritual energy from the sky. This was the true qi of a true cultivator!

This true qi slowly condensed within Luo Li's body, starting to move along the meridians. As it condensed, Luo Li gradually discovered that there were barriers blocking its path!

The gushing spring at his feet, the perineum, the lower abdomen's dantian, the qi sea in front of the body, the spirit gate on the spine, the purple palace at the heart, the throat, the sun temple on the head, and the hundred convergences at the top of the head!

These were the nine barriers, the nine major checkpoints that blocked the flow of qi throughout the body, preventing the unblocking of the Conception and Governor Vessels. One must break through these nine barriers, then absorb the spiritual energy through the gushing spring, pass through the Conception and Governor Vessels, over the hundred convergences, and finally condense it in the dantian, opening the qi sea, completing a full cycle, known as one breath!

Then, this true qi would be stored in the qi sea, and when needed for spellcasting, it could be extracted and used. This true qi was the energy source of a cultivator!

When such true qi condensed to a certain degree within a cultivator, reaching the point of qi penetrating the nine floors, the qi sea overflowing, all the true qi would condense, shatter, and evolve, enhancing its nature and changing the realm. This would allow the cultivator to advance to the Second Level of the Qi Condensation Stage.

Then, the true qi would circulate through a full cycle again, condensing one breath of true qi, accumulating this breath of true qi within the cultivator's body, once again reaching the point of qi penetrating the nine floors, the qi sea overflowing, fully merging, shattering, and evolving, starting over!

The true qi condensed at the Second Level would be much stronger in quality, intensity, and power compared to the First Level. The true qi at the Third Level would be even more powerful. Only with this true qi as the power source could cultivators perform various spells and possess increasingly stronger magical power.

Qi penetrating the entire body, the power of dragons and elephants, these were the characteristics of the Qi Condensation Stage!

When the true qi reached the Fourth Level, it would undergo a mutation, allowing Fourth Level cultivators to control magical artifacts and fly through the heavens using spells and artifacts. For example, cultivators of the Spirit Butterfly Sect could only refine spirit butterflies after reaching the middle of the Fourth Level of the Qi Condensation Stage, which was the middle of the Qi Condensation Stage!

At the Seventh Level, there would be another mutation, which was the late Qi Condensation Stage!

One significant feature was that Seventh Level cultivators could enter the Foundation Establishment Stage, where the gaseous true qi would transform into liquid true essence, completely transcending the current concept!

When cultivators entered the Golden Core Stage, the liquid true essence would condense into a solid golden core. When they entered the Nascent Soul Stage, the solid golden core would transform into a nascent soul, a living entity. This was the path of cultivation!

Luo Li carefully drove the spiritual energy, slowly seeping from the earth into his gushing spring, as if breaking through a checkpoint, impacting his body!

Once, twice, three times...

Boom! The gushing spring broke, and instantly, boundless spiritual energy gathered in Luo Li's body, bringing waves of refreshing sensations.

Luo Li firmly controlled his mind, not letting himself get lost in the sensation. The first barrier was the most difficult here. The gushing spring was easy to break, but the mind was hard to calm. Many cultivators got lost in this sensation, unable to control themselves, and ultimately died from a reverse flow of blood and energy.

With the gushing spring broken, the true qi moved upward, following the legs and slowly gathering at the perineum, known as the huiyin. The true qi was blocked here and could not move forward!

Luo Li began to condense the true qi, impacting this point!

Impact after impact, impact after impact!

On the thirty-eighth attempt, a clear sound rang out, and the huiyin broke.

Instantly, a gurgling sound arose in Luo Li's body, and he felt a strong urge to defecate. However, he firmly controlled himself. Some cultivators had too many impurities in their bodies and could not resist this urge, ultimately failing at this point.

Continuing forward, the third barrier was opening the dantian.

Luo Li passed this barrier easily, having repeatedly refined his dantian during his cultivation on the Silver State Continent.

Then came the fourth barrier, the qi sea in front of the body, the fifth barrier, the spirit gate on the spine, and the sixth barrier, the purple palace at the heart. Luo Li carefully followed his previous experience, overcoming each barrier one by one, solving all the difficulties!

He was about to reach the seventh barrier, the throat, when he encountered the greatest challenge!

He had exhausted the spiritual energy he had absorbed through a hundred breaths of cultivation!

This was the most difficult part of cultivation, as the body could store only a limited amount of spiritual energy, insufficient to break through the nine barriers!

Experienced cultivators would prepare pills to consume at this checkpoint, but since Luo Li had not yet embarked on the path of Qi Condensation, he could not take ordinary cultivator pills or absorb spirit stones. Such pills were extremely precious, which was why the sect set a one-year limit.

Breaking through the nine barriers was the most challenging part. If one failed, they needed to rest for seven days before attempting it again!

Ordinary cultivators typically took about a month and three to four attempts to break through the nine barriers. The less capable needed three months, and the even less capable needed six months. As for the one-year limit set by the sect, that was for the worst cultivators.

Luo Li was now at a critical point. His only option was to stop cultivating, but he did not want to!

He really did not want to. He wanted to soar to the sky and achieve success in one breath, not waiting seven days to try again!

With a thought, the last two good deeds in Luo Li's body dissipated, releasing a strange primordial energy. This energy merged with the heavens and earth, attracting a mysterious and powerful force from the sky.

Luo Li used his abilities to try to break through the nine barriers in one breath, directly entering the First Level of the Qi Condensation Stage!

However, contrary to Luo Li's expectations, this powerful force did not directly help him cultivate. Instead, it shattered the disguise of the supreme blood crystal stone, breaking the material used by Master Ciyun to wrap it!

Then, the powerful force entered the blood crystal stone, stimulating it. Under this stimulation, the blood crystal stone began to emit a strange blood qi, which infused Luo Li's body, replenishing the spiritual energy he needed.

Continue! Break through the barrier!

Break the throat, pierce the sun temple, and head straight for the hundred convergences at the top of the head!

The final barrier, the most critical strike!

Unblocking the hundred convergences at the top of the head would form a bridge between heaven and earth, allowing the spiritual energy to circulate endlessly within the body, completing a full cycle. This was one breath, and the true qi would be stored in the dantian qi sea, serving as the driving force for a cultivator's spells!

This step was extremely difficult. It was not that easy. Luo Li failed a hundred times in a row!

"No, no, this won't work!"

"I have used all the means at my disposal. My good deeds are all gone. Can I really fail here?"

"Rest, rest, accumulate more good deeds, and try again in seven days. Give up..."

"No, absolutely not!"

"I must break through this barrier. I must advance to the cultivator stage. I must succeed!"

"My father is watching me. Xiao Qi, Xiao Qing, Menglong, Bucan, they are all watching me!"

"Xue Mei is waiting for me to find her!"

"They died because of me. I must live on!"

"Life is like this. When faced with a critical barrier, one must move forward and break through it!"

"I want to live on, to live happily and joyfully! To live a life of my own!"

"I want to control my own destiny! To live freely and never be controlled by others!"

"So, I must succeed!"

"Must, must!"

"Persist, endure, break through the barrier!"

"Must..."

"Must..."

Luo Li knew that only by persisting to the end could he succeed. Slowly, he remembered his father who died for him, Xiao Qing who died in his hands, Xue Mei who went missing, and everything from his past!

I will definitely succeed. No one, nothing can stop me.

Luo Li gradually eliminated distractions and persisted. With a single-minded focus, his mind and spirit became one! He moved forward from hesitation to determination, from determination to calmness, and from calmness to transcendence.

With his mind and spirit united and his will firm, under this must-succeed belief, he only needed one attempt, just one. The strong and robust true essence qi burst through the top of his head, unblocking the hundred convergences!

In an instant, the qi broke through the nine barriers, the bridge between heaven and earth opened, and Luo Li's cultivation succeeded!

Instantly, Luo Li felt a sensation: the heavens moved, all things were startled, and from that moment on, he was no longer the same!

This small step was a giant leap in Luo Li's life. From that moment on, his life was completely changed. Luo Li advanced to the First Level of the Qi Condensation Stage, joining the ranks of cultivators and officially entering the world of cultivation!

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