Combining with the previous content,

in a certain sense, the Qi sea and the inner sea do indeed have some similarities.

Therefore, Lin Li's statements cannot be said to be baseless; instead, they seem like a plausible guess.

Then Lin Li asked:

"Elder Liu, do you have any new progress in the research on the Qi sea?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiangqian rubbed his temples and shook his head:

"Only a few minor discoveries, nothing of substantial significance.

After all, the Qi sea is not a tangible organ, and currently, no micro-particles or substances can enter it.

So what we can do is mark these tiny particles and send them into the body one by one to see if they can pass the 'gatekeeping'.

To put it jokingly, it's almost like a brute-force method, because the number of tiny substances available to us is just too vast..."

As he spoke, Liu Xiangyang sighed helplessly.

Just as he described,

there are indeed far too many micro substances that can be synthesized chemically and absorbed by the human body.

Sometimes, just swapping diagonal chemical bond elements results in an entirely different thing.

As for those tiny substances humans have documented, capable of entering the abdominal cavity through capillaries, any guesses on the number?

The answer is more than four million.

In just one category of ribozymes alone, there are over 60,000 types, with a mere alteration at the end of a poly changing it into a new variety.

Some RNA substances are even more absurd; changing a fractional degree turns it into a completely different phenotype.

This is the difficulty in the microscopic domain, changes are nearly infinitely vast.

So Liu Xiangqian wasn't wrong in characterizing it as a brute-force method.

All they can do is try inserting them one by one into the human body, to see if they can be absorbed by the inner sea.

This process, even backed by an Emperor of Luck's fortune, is bound to take quite some time.

Of course,

the process is extremely complicated, but the potential reward is significant as well.

As long as a tiny bit of substance enters the Qi sea, this mysterious place can be unveiled.

And just as Liu Xiangqian was sighing,

the main control screen suddenly showed some fluctuations.

On Wei Fan's thermal image, the warm areas suddenly spiked, and his body's contour became almost entirely crimson!

Then these red areas appeared like fireworks....

With a swooshing sound, they scattered around his body contour, specifically within the cultivation room.

This energy dissipation was something they encountered before, signaling a breakthrough to a new realm.

As expected.

After the breakthrough, Wei Fan's image quickly began to stabilize.

Instruments showed normal signs, indicating he was adapting to the new realm.

Liu Xiangqian immediately turned to his assistant Ma Bo:

"Xiaoma, did you record the time and data?"

Ma Bo nodded and quickly replied:

"The breakthrough took 13 minutes, 25.91 seconds, and the other data were recorded as well."

The conceptual difference between Foundation Establishment realm and Qi Cultivation is the disparity in practice, fundamentally about Spiritual Energy purification.

It's like upgrading from a 300,000-fast charge to a 400,000 one in terms of speed and hardware.

As such, the isolated breakthrough process is an achievement, but not particularly research-worthy.

Of course,

the primary reason for that statement is because most changes in the Foundation Establishment realm occur within the Qi sea.

With current techniques, they cannot observe it yet, naturally limiting available research data.

Without a doubt,

the internal changes in the Qi sea are massive, much like a CPU upgrade, a qualitative leap.

And just ten minutes after Wei Fan's breakthrough,

Cao Yi formally broke through to the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer.

Likewise, his image exploded like fireworks, indicating a leap into a new realm.

However, unlike Wei Fan,

after the breakthrough, the golden strands representing spiritual awareness in his image did not retract.

Instead, they were slowly extending.

It was clear,

Cao Yi was beginning to connect to the core imprint of his natal artifact!

Almost everyone held their breath; this heralded the imminent birth of the first modern local Sword Immortal!

Indeed.

The first in modern times.

Based on previous information,

out of Wei Siming's 28 transmigrators, four took up cultivation, yet one fell before reaching the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer.

Of the remaining three,

neither Wei Siming, Cheng Shiqing, nor the other had a natal artifact that was a flying sword.

Simple reason:

they couldn't afford Spirit Stones for the natal flying sword and settled for cheaper alternatives.

Excluding Zhang Daoling and other ancient cultivators, Cao Yi is indeed the first local Sword Immortal!

Returning to the main view,

on the main control screen before Lin Li and others,

a golden strand as thick as a finger emerged from Cao Yi's pineal gland, slowly wrapping around an object.

The object had no warmth and the outline was unclear,

but it was clear, this was the Soul-Severing Sword.

Everything seemed to proceed smoothly, and all that remained was for Cao Yi to emerge when the time was right.

Yet after half an hour, the cultivation room remained silent.

An hour....

An hour and a half...

As time ticked by, the expressions on everyone's faces began to change.

Two hours later.

Lin Li couldn't sit still any longer:

"How strange, why hasn't Comrade Cao Yi come out yet?

According to our information, typical cultivators finish refining a natal artifact in about half an hour; some, with sufficient Spiritual Energy, in just 15 minutes.

Comrade Cao Yi's time is four times over, isn't that abnormal?

Elder Liu, could there be a problem with the equipment?"

Liu Xiangqian looked puzzled but firmly shook his head:

"Xiaolin, our equipment absolutely won't fail.

This isn't blind confidence; it's because our indoor equipment and the main control unit are interconnected.

If the indoor equipment fails, our main control's alert system would immediately respond."

Hearing this, Lin Li pursed his lips, frowning deeply.

At that moment,

There was a sudden commotion from another cultivation room:

Wei Fan appeared.

He looked overwhelmingly excited and grateful, seemingly ready to perform a Shawshank classic move any moment.

After all, without their help, passing the beast tide, let alone reaching Foundation Establishment realm, was impossible.

Before Wei Fan could voice thanks, Lin Li approached with a grave expression:

"Clan Leader Wei, what's the longest time you've heard of for refining a natal artifact?"

Startled by the question, Wei Fan quickly glanced at the other cultivation room; its doors were indeed tightly shut:

"What, has Cao Yi not come out yet?"

Lin Li nodded, worriedly stating:

"Comrade Cao Yi has been inside for over two hours now, and we've heard nothing.

If it weren't for the sensor showing his heartbeat and body temperature, we would have initiated emergency protocols."

Hearing this, a flicker of unease crossed Wei Fan's gaze.

After contemplating, he said with furrowed brows:

"You should know, for usual cultivators, refining their natal artifact takes about half an hour.

But, this is a highly private and unique process, and there have been cases where it took much longer.

For instance, an ancestor of the Wei Family's, a great-aunt, took a full three hours to refine hers.

This is even documented in the family's historical records."

After a moment's pause, he added:

"There's another rumor about unusually long refining...."

...

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