breakthrough
Ruan Qingyu's reason for going into seclusion was not to avoid the invitations from those minor forces, but because after examining herself, she discovered that her spiritual power seemed to have reached a bottleneck.
With a little more effort, she could break through the bottleneck and enter the Golden Core stage. Her trip to Duan Tian Mountain had been incredibly beneficial. Her mastery of her own techniques and the Phoenix Divine Fire had reached a new level; now, all she needed to do was further improve her mental state to achieve her goal naturally.
Sitting cross-legged, Ruan Qingyu smiled slightly, recalling Yun Yin's somewhat dejected expression earlier. Aside from the deliberate attempt to give him a minor punishment, it also revealed her genuine trust in Yun Yin.
Now that she is about to break through to the next level, only Yunyin's protection can put her at ease. Their contract allows them to check on each other at any time, and Yunyin can immediately detect any movement on her side.
Taking out the spirit-gathering array plate from her storage bracelet, Ruan Qingyu added a large number of spirit stones to activate it. Three breaths later, the entire bedroom was gradually enveloped in a mist of spiritual energy.
Probing into the dantian with divine sense, one sees that the previously solidified dantian is now like a tornado. A vortex begins to appear in the center of the dantian, and fiery red spiritual energy gradually circulates along a fixed path.
Vaguely, Ruan Qingyu knew that the final destination of those vortexes was to become her golden core. The Great Phoenix Heaven Technique circulated continuously within her meridians, and the once calm Phoenix Divine Fire burned continuously within her body.
To an outsider, Ruan Qingyu would appear to be enveloped in a faint red light, as if she were sitting cross-legged in a fiery red lotus.
At the center of the flames, Ruan Qingyu felt as if her dantian had been parched and was now receiving rain, constantly absorbing the spiritual energy entering her body, like a bottomless pit.
With her eyes tightly closed, Ruan Qingyu felt her consciousness growing increasingly heavy. Gradually, she forgot that she was still breaking through in the disciple's quarters, and her consciousness gradually faded away with the burning sound of the Phoenix Divine Fire.
When Ruan Qingyu regained her senses, she found herself in a strange space where scorching flames appeared from time to time, accompanied by the sounds of lightning and thunder.
Where is this place? Wasn't she trying to break through to the Golden Core stage in the disciples' residence? Ruan Qingyu frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled but not flustered.
It was only because her intuition told her that this place was entirely beneficial to her; it was perhaps her lucky break.
As Ruan Qingyu pondered this, she suddenly heard an incredibly ethereal voice.
"Ruan Qingyu—" that ethereal voice called out to her.
"Who? And where is this place?" Ruan Qingyu replied, but the other party did not explain anything.
"It's not time yet. Go back. Remember, you will find out eventually." After the ethereal voice finished speaking, a force from who-knows-where swept Ruan Qingyu's consciousness out.
Ruan Qingyu shook her head and suddenly opened her eyes. The scene before her was her bedroom. Surprised, she quickly used her spiritual sense to examine herself.
Only then did she realize that her once vast dantian now contained a perfectly round golden core. She had actually succeeded? Ruan Qingyu was surprised, yet also somewhat delighted.
However, the matter of that strange space left a crack in her heart, and she would have the opportunity to explore and understand it in the future.
Now that she had achieved her Golden Core, Ruan Qingyu felt that her spiritual energy was hundreds of times greater than before. Every breath she took was filled with abundant spiritual energy, making her feel incredibly comfortable.
Just then, a scratching sound came from outside the door. Ruan Qingyu couldn't help but chuckle, clearly the person outside had been waiting for too long.
Ruan Qingyu reached out and touched the disciple token, only then realizing that two months had suddenly passed since then.
"Yunyin, come in." Ruan Qingyu called out, and in an instant, Yunyin, who had only been fiddling with the door outside, burst through the door and walked in.
The worry in his beastly eyes had not yet faded when he stopped in front of Ruan Qingyu.
"About two weeks ago, someone from that Ni Chang group came looking for you. I stopped them, but you can go and see if you want to." Yun Yin squatted down in front of her and told Ruan Qingyu about what had happened in the past few days.
What he didn't finish saying was that the Ni Chang Society had sent people more than once. At first, it was mostly that male cultivator named Liu Feng who came. Yun Yin disliked him just by looking at him, and every time he was driven away in a show of force before he could even get close.
The last time Liu Yan came was when she heard that Ruan Qingyu was in seclusion. She was initially happy, but then became worried, which is why she left a communication stone for Ruan Qingyu.
Ruan Qingyu reached out and channeled some spiritual energy into the sound transmission stone. Then, the stone emitted a faint glow, and a familiar voice came out.
"Junior Sister Ruan, I heard from your beast pet that you are in seclusion for cultivation. However, if you can catch up with this matter in time, it will be an opportunity. In two months, there will be an auction in Xishan Market led by seniors from various sects. At that time, in addition to the largest auction, many sect disciples will bring out their most treasured items in order to exchange for some useful things."
"With the help of various senior experts at this market, there's absolutely no chance of anything going wrong. It's perfect for disciples who usually lack resources. If you're interested, Junior Sister, you can come to the Ni Chang Association to find me and we can go together."
As the sound transmission stone went out, this was the message that Liu Yan had specially left behind.
The Xishan Market is not far from the Xuantian Sect; it can be reached in a day if you travel quickly. The market was chosen there probably because it has the largest open space and is also where many sect routes converge, which is why it was chosen as the final location.
Thinking of his magical artifact, the Wutong Qin, which was said to be the original form of the Wutong tree, a friend of Yunyin, if he could find some materials, he might be able to use precious materials to directly imbue the Wutong Qin with its divine essence.
Yun Yin was stunned for a moment when he heard her plan. He hadn't expected Ruan Qingyu to be so concerned about this matter.
It flicked its tail uncomfortably: "Go ahead, I've given you all my spirit stones anyway, just bid on whatever you want."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Qingyu's lips curved into a smile.
With the evidence left by Liu Yan, Ruan Qingyu quickly found Liu Yan, who was still at the Ni Chang Club.
Within the Xuantian Sect, as long as the disciples have enough contribution points, they can create any environment they desire on any of the many mountains.
The location of the Rainbow Dress Gathering was a waterfall paradise formed by exchanging contribution points. Ruan Qingyu saw colorful peach blossoms along the way, and could also clearly see the waterfall cascading down in the distance.
"Senior Sister Liu, this place is truly a paradise. It would be wonderful to cultivate here," Ruan Qingyu said, looking at Liu Yan sitting under the tree.
The disciple had brought her in without announcing her arrival after seeing the credentials. Therefore, Liu Yan looked up in surprise upon hearing the voices.
"Junior Sister Ruan! You've actually come. It's clear this is indeed your destiny. The date is in two days." Liu Yan knew without a doubt that Ruan Qingyu must have come because of the communication stone.
Liu Yan, who was under the tree, turned around and took a few quick steps toward Ruan Qingyu. Soon her gaze fell on Yun Yin, who was right behind Ruan Qingyu.
Then he teased her, "Junior Sister Ruan, your pet is quite clever. Knowing that my brother has a crush on you, it hasn't paid any attention to you at all. If I hadn't gone there, I probably would have missed the West Mountain Market."
The disciples who had been cultivating in other locations had been curious ever since Ruan Qingyu entered. They had been secretly listening to the conversation between the two, and now, hearing that Liu Feng had suffered a loss...
They couldn't help but exchange glances, their eyes filled with a hint of schadenfreude. Although they weren't jealous of Liu Feng's talent, they were still happy to see this womanizing second-in-command suffer a setback.
"So you're Junior Sister Ruan, who's going to participate in our internal competition. But I see you're not at the Foundation Establishment stage. Could it be that you've already broken through to the Golden Core stage?" A woman who was on good terms with Liu Yan approached. She was Jin Chengcheng, another cultivator who was going to participate in the competition with them.
Since they would all get to know each other sooner or later, Liu Yan didn't stand on ceremony and immediately introduced them: "This is Jin Chengcheng, a Golden Core cultivator in the early stage, skilled in swordsmanship. She is an outstanding young swordsman. As for Junior Sister Ruan, you should already know her."
Jin Chengcheng blinked and waved to Ruan Qingyu with a smile: "Junior Sister Ruan is indeed exceptionally talented, and she is also a first-class beauty."
As she spoke, Jin Chengcheng took out a talisman and handed it to Ruan Qingyu: "I have engraved five of my best sword energies on this talisman. If you throw it out at a critical moment, it will be comparable to a move by a late-stage Golden Core sword cultivator."
Sensing the other party's curiosity and goodwill, Ruan Qingyu did not refuse and carefully put the talisman into her storage bracelet.
"Thank you, Senior Sister Jin. This fire crystal is for you to play with." Since the Phoenix Divine Fire has been completely under her control, it will automatically evolve into several fire crystals every once in a while.
If weapon refiners or alchemists use it to refine weapons or medicines, they can achieve twice the result with half the effort. Ordinary cultivators can also use it for hot spring therapy.
Holding the warm, smooth fire crystal, Jin Chengcheng's smile grew even wider. This junior sister was indeed quite remarkable.
"Oh dear, I suddenly feel it's a good thing Junior Sister Ruan doesn't like someone like Liu Feng. I really don't want to see such a talented girl like Junior Sister indulging in lust." As she spoke, Jin Chengcheng took Ruan Qingyu's arm, which showed that she liked her very much.
Although Ruan Qingyu felt somewhat uncomfortable, looking at the other person's expression and Liu Yan's warm demeanor, she couldn't bring herself to refuse. Only Yun Yin, somewhat annoyed, paced around the two of them.
Seeing the two getting along so naturally, Liu Yan felt gratified and couldn't help but smile and say, "Since we're all here now, and Liu Feng has already gone ahead, let's set off today without delay."
A quarter of an hour later, a slender spirit boat flew out from the mountain where the Rainbow Garment Society was located, heading towards the West Mountain Market.
On the spirit boat, Jin Chengcheng kept pestering Ruan Qingyu with endless chatter. Although she could only get a few replies from Ruan Qingyu, Jin Chengcheng could tell that this was just her nature.
His eyes darted around and his gaze fell on Yunyin, who was swishing his tail unhappily.
“Junior Sister Ruan, your black leopard looks so majestic, I want one too. I just wonder if, at this age, you could find a senior brother who is skilled in beast taming to raise it and have a few more little black leopards?” Jin Chengcheng stared at Yun Yin, her gaze drifting into the distance as if she could already see a group of little black leopards, and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Within the contract, it was unclear why Yun Yin's emotions were fluctuating. However, Jin Chengcheng's words at this moment completely ignited Yun Yin's emotions, causing him to instantly launch into a accusation within the contract.
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