Chapter 22: Chapter 22: 5th Layer of Qi Cultivation

The glint in the Shopkeeper’s murky eyes and his assertion that "the Zheng Family’s days are numbered" weighed on Lu Zhao’s heart like a heavy piece of Cold Iron—uncomfortable, yet it also brought a sense of security.

This guarantee was a Protective Talisman, but it was also a set of invisible shackles. The Zhou Family valued his hands, the ones that could craft "eyes," not Lu Zhao the man.

The Zheng Family might lack the power to cross the county for revenge for the time being, but they weren’t the only predators in the world.

Outside the Nine Abyss Pavilion, the crowd was as bustling as ever, yet Lu Zhao felt as if he were walking on thin ice with every step, a chill crawling up from the soles of his feet.

He tightened his gray cloak and turned, melting into the Marketplace crowd until his figure was completely swallowed.

The path back to Cyan Rattan Stream seemed even more secluded than before. High above, the Flowing Cloud Sparrow circled silently, its compound eyes projecting every inch of the forest and every shadow below into his Sea of Consciousness.

Lu Zhao’s Divine Sense was stretched as taut as a string. Two invisible strands of Divine Silk were wrapped around the core of the Ice Mouse Puppet hidden in his sleeve, ready to be activated at a moment’s notice.

Every rustle of grass in the wind, every snap of a dry twig, made his muscles tense slightly.

It wasn’t until the familiar mist at the stream’s entrance parted and the faint glow from his waist token resonating with the Guardian Array shone down that his anxious heart finally began to settle.

The valley’s Cold Qi, carrying the damp scent of water, washed over him, bringing with it a strangely comforting sense of familiarity.

"Mr. Lu, you’re back? You don’t look so good." Chen Moyang, who was on duty, walked out of a stone house. The Array Disc in his hand shimmered with Spirit Light as his gaze lingered for a moment on Lu Zhao’s somewhat pale face.

"It’s nothing. I ran into a little trouble on the road, but it’s been dealt with," Lu Zhao said, his tone flat, clearly unwilling to elaborate.

Chen Moyang nodded tactfully and didn’t press the matter. Here in Cyan Rattan Stream, who didn’t have a secret or two?

He pointed toward the medicinal fields in the southeast. "Elder Zhou has a batch of Cyan Pattern Wood. The quality is quite good. If you have a need for it, you should go take a look."

"Thank you for letting me know."

Lu Zhao cupped his fist and walked straight to his stone room. The stone door closed heavily behind him, sealing him off from the outside world.

He leaned against the cold stone door and let out a long, turbid breath. His taut nerves finally relaxed, and a tide of exhaustion washed over him. The trip to the Marketplace had been more mentally draining than a pitched battle.

In the following days, Lu Zhao completely immersed himself in the rhythm of Cyan Rattan Stream, like a drop of water merging into a Cold Pool.

During his patrols and snake-slaying duties, he was more cautious than ever when inspecting the marked points on his route.

The deep blue Water Curtain of his Profound Water Turtle Shell Shield flowed around him at all times. It was as thin as a cicada’s wing, yet it emanated a profound chill.

When a swarm of Ink-Scale Snakes used the rising tide of the Dark River as cover, shooting out from a narrow waterway like a volley of black arrows, Lu Zhao’s eyes turned cold.

He no longer focused purely on defense. Three Ice Cones shot out in a precise triangular formation, and the Cold Qi instantly exploded into an Ice Mist before the snakes, slowing their advance.

At the same time, a figure darted out from his sleeve. A burst of Extreme Cold Power erupted, and the Snake King was instantly frozen stiff.

The movements were clean and efficient, without a hint of wasted effort. The entire process took no more than three breaths. Stunned by the Ice Mist and the death of their king, the remaining Ink-Scale Snakes shrieked and retreated into the depths of the Dark River.

The stone room to the left had become his true fortress. His newly acquired Cyan Heavy Iron Carving Saber glided over the body of a Puppet, making a soft, scraping sound.

He was no longer impatient for results. Instead, he treated every carving as an exercise in understanding the Hundred Refinements Technique and a way to finely hone his Spiritual Power and Divine Sense.

The wind runes on the Flowing Cloud Sparrow’s wing bones became more fluid and natural, and the Ice Burst Rune on the tip of the Ice Mouse Puppet’s claws grew more stable.

In the corner of the room lay several heavy Profound Iron Ingots and some Ironwood that exuded a fresh, woody fragrance.

Every time he looked at them, a flicker of gravity and anticipation crossed his eyes.

At 7:00 PM in Cyan Rattan Stream, the Spiritual Qi swirled like the breath of a great beast. Lu Zhao sat cross-legged in his stone room, circulating the Little Spirit Rain Technique to its absolute limit.

The cold current from the Ice Jade Pill dissolved within him, merging with the dense Water Spirit Qi from the Spiritual Spring to form a rushing, icy river that scoured his meridians.

Inside his Dantian, four streams of pale blue True Qi were like four shackled Flood Dragons. Nourished by the increasingly vast Spiritual Power, they grew more solid and powerful, intertwining and compressing against one another, letting out a faint, low hum.

Every Circulation Transport loosened the invisible barrier to the 5th Layer just a little bit more.

The Medicinal Power of the Vessel-Protecting Pill transformed into a warm current that protected his meridians. The interweaving of ice and fire brought a subtle pain, but also a clear sense of progress. His eyes were closed, a thin layer of frost gathering on his brows, but his breathing remained long and steady.

Within his Dantian, the four streams of pale blue True Qi had condensed until they were almost solid. They spun and collided at high speed in the center of the Spiritual Energy Vortex. Every friction-filled impact sparked a tiny but distinct flare of Spirit Light, illuminating his entire Dantian.

Under the constant assault of his Spiritual Power, the invisible Membrane had become as thin as a cicada’s wing, almost within reach.

The time had finally come. One day, after his shift ended, he suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment. He sought out Zhou Qixing, who was at the edge of the main medicinal field carefully scraping impurities from the roots of an orchid with a Jade Saber, and Chen Moyang, who had just returned from patrolling the Dark River Entrance.

"Elder Zhou, Mr. Chen."

Lu Zhao’s voice was calm, yet it carried a subtle, sharp edge. "I need to enter seclusion for the next three days. I must trouble you both to cover my patrol duties."

Zhou Qixing lifted his murky eyes from the orchid and glanced at Lu Zhao. His fingers, like withered twigs, unconsciously fiddled with a root. He let out a vague "Mm" from his nose in acknowledgment.

Chen Moyang, however, put down the Jade Scroll he was using to record the fluctuations of the Array Disc. "Mr. Lu, please feel at ease and enter your seclusion. With us here, I’m sure there will be no issues." He cupped his hands, his tone sincere.

Lu Zhao gave a slight nod, said no more, and turned to walk back to his stone room.

The stone door shut heavily behind him, sealing the inside from the out. He immediately formed a hand seal, activating the crude Avoidance Warning Array in the left stone room to its full power. The compound eyes of the two Puppet Guards in the corner flared with a ghostly light as they entered a state of high alert.

In the central cultivation chamber, the Clear Heart Meditation Cushion radiated a cool, mind-calming aura. Lu Zhao sat down cross-legged and took a deep breath. The valley’s icy, pure Spiritual Qi flooded his lungs, instantly calming his Heart Spirit.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he took out a Jade Bottle from his Storage Bag and tipped out a pill the size of a longan. It was entirely ice-blue, covered in Pill Patterns as fine as cracks in ice—an Ice Jade Pill.

The moment the Pill appeared, the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. He popped it into his mouth, where it instantly dissolved into a vast and pure torrent that flowed into his Dantian.

Immediately after, he took out a brown pill whose surface swirled with a gentle, warm luster—a Tier One Middle-Grade Vein Protection Pill.

He swallowed this Pill right after the Ice Jade Pill. It transformed into a comforting warm current that, like a resilient silken net, swiftly enveloped all the meridians in his body, especially those near his Dantian Qi Sea.

The Spiritual Power raged and expanded within him, coursing through every meridian, while the warm current from the Vessel-Protecting Pill steadfastly guarded them, preventing them from being torn apart by the sudden, torrential flood of Spiritual Power.

A painful, swelling sensation arose. Lu Zhao’s brow furrowed, and his forehead was instantly beaded with fine sweat, which was then immediately evaporated by the Spiritual Power radiating from his skin.

He staunchly guarded his Spirit Platform and circulated the Little Spirit Rain Technique with all his might. He already knew the Cultivation Technique’s pathways by heart, and now he pushed it to its absolute limit.

Inside his Dantian, infused with the Medicinal Power of the Ice Jade Pill, the four condensed streams of True Qi began to spin, expand, and compress wildly, like Flood Dragons injected with berserk energy!

A "BOOM" resounded in his mind!

It was as if a muffled clap of thunder echoed in his Sea of Consciousness. The tough Membrane, as if struck by a Giant Hammer, shattered on impact!

The moment the barrier vanished, the surging Spiritual Power was like a torrent from a broken dam, instantly rushing into a far more expansive "world"!

Under an invisible force, his Dantian Qi Sea expanded abruptly. The previous feeling of being full to bursting vanished, replaced by an unprecedented sense of "emptiness" and "hunger."

The dense Spiritual Qi of the outside world—especially the pure Water Spirit Qi unique to Cyan Rattan Stream’s Spiritual Spring—was drawn by a colossal, unseen force, converging madly around Lu Zhao’s body!

A rapidly spinning, pale blue Spiritual Energy Vortex, visible to the naked eye, formed above his head!

The vortex spun faster and faster as the pure Spiritual Qi was greedily devoured and refined by the Little Spirit Rain Technique.

A fifth stream of pale blue True Qi, like a newborn creek, slowly condensed and took shape at the bottom of his empty Dantian. It underwent a Void Transformation, becoming solid, and finally joined the other four streams of True Qi to form a more stable and powerful circulatory system.

The surging Spiritual Power flowed through his widened meridians without any further obstruction.

A Spiritual Pressure belonging to a Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer Cultivator slowly emanated from Lu Zhao, filling the entire stone room.

He slowly opened his eyes. A sharp light flashed within them before vanishing, leaving them as deep and profound as a Cold Pool.

There were no earth-shattering phenomena, only the calm of a natural success. There was no bottleneck between the Qi Cultivation Fourth and Fifth Layers to begin with.

In the blink of an eye, his status panel updated.

Name: Lu Zhao

Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer (Middle-Grade Water Spirit Root)

Lifespan: 24/120

Main Cultivation Method: Little Spirit Rain Technique

Magic: Wind Manipulation Technique (Minor Achievement), Thousand Threads Technique (Two strands of Divine Silk), Others (Great Success)

Supporting Skill:

Puppetry (Tier One Lower Grade):

Flowing Cloud Sparrow (Success Rate: 30%)

Ice Mouse Puppet (Success Rate: 40%)

Ironwood Guard (Not yet learned)

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