Chapter 149: From Steel to White Jade, Eighth Stage of Qi-Refining (I)

Where did the sense of urgency come from?

It stemmed from the fact that disputes among high-tier cultivators were not something a Qi-Refining Realm cultivator like him could withstand. Even the smallest aftershock from such conflicts could spell disaster for bystanders. And Luo Chen had no illusions—he wasn’t strong enough to ride those waves yet.

Strength. That was the origin of his urgency.

Still, pressure alone couldn’t rush the flow of cultivation. So outwardly, Luo Chen maintained his normal rhythm: refining pills by day, cultivating diligently by night. It was a steady, dependable routine—exactly the kind that drew no suspicion.

Of course, this was just what he showed on the surface. In private, he accelerated his exploration of Changyin Mountain. What started as a cautious survey spanning a few li gradually stretched into a full hundred-li radius over several days.

His investigations confirmed that the spirit wolves in Changyin Mountain had significantly decreased, and there wasn't a single second-tier demonic beast remaining. It seemed they had migrated elsewhere. The ones that remained were only a few Grayleaf Wolves and Frost Wolves, along with some weaker first-tier demonic beasts.

These beasts naturally couldn't detect Luo Chen's Spirit Suppression. Even if a particularly gifted first-tier beast did spot him, it wouldn't be a match for him.

With this advantage, Luo Chen naturally set up several hidden escape points. If something unexpected happened in Dahe Market, he could avoid disaster at the first sign of trouble.

With his worries resolved, Luo Chen devoted himself fully to cultivation.

***

"Finally, the eighth stage of Qi-Refining!"

In the spirit vein cave, Luo Chen slowly opened his eyes. The originally dim cave faintly flickered with white light the moment he opened his eyes. It was a sign of his increasingly profound mastery of the Spirit Eyes.

Having just broken through to a new realm and momentarily unable to fully control his spirit power, the Spirit Eyes activated on its own.

He blinked slowly, drawing a long breath to steady himself. This breakthrough had come two days later than he originally estimated. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

A wisp of spirit power hovered at his fingertips. The pale, whitish-green hue it once carried had now faded into a light green. And this very light green tint to his spirit power was the culprit behind the delay in his breakthrough.

According to Luo Chen's estimation, when the color of his spirit power turned to a deep green, it would signify that his Qi-Refining Realm spirit power had reached its peak purity.

Although I've only just reached the eighth stage, the purity of my spirit power, even with minimal refinement, is surely far surpassed to that of an ordinary rogue cultivator. Moreover, my spirit power is inherently far more abundant than others of the same stage. This gives me a much greater edge in battles with those at the same stage!

I wonder how my current spirit power compares to someone at an incomplete Qi-Refining ninth stage?

Luo Chen began to ponder this question.

Cultivation in the late stages of Qi-Refining was entirely different from the early and mid stages. The first two stages focused primarily on continuously breaking the limits of the dantian to accommodate more spirit power. In the late stages, refining more spirit power was still necessary but the focus shifted from to purifying it.

After a cultivator advanced to the seventh stage of Qi-Refining, their dantian would double in size and then stabilize temporarily. It wouldn't expand again until they achieved Foundation Establishment.

Thus, progressing from the seventh to the eighth stage involved filling the expanded dantian with spirit power.

Luo Chen has now completed this task. Advancing from the eighth to the ninth stage required fully purifying all the spirit power.

It sounded simple. But in truth, refining spirit power was the most challenging part of advancing in the Qi-Refining Realm.

Firstly, this was because rogue cultivators didn't have specific techniques to purify spirit power.

Secondly, fully purifying it meant repeatedly refining impurities and after refining even a tiny amount of spirit power, they needed to replenish it to maintain a full dantian at all times. The resources required for this process amounted to an enormous number of spirit stones. Ordinary rogue cultivators could hardly bear this burden.

This was evident from the fact that out of more than ten thousand rogue cultivators in Dahe Market, only a few hundred reached the late stages of Qi-Refining, and of those, fewer than a few dozen reached the ninth stage.

Among those dozens of individuals, most were elderly cultivators like Sikong Shoujia. They had spent most of their lives slowly grinding their way to the ninth stage of Qi-Refining. However, upon reaching the ninth stage, they no longer had the strength to attempt Foundation Establishment.

For instance, some ninth-stage Qi-Refining cultivators Luo Chen was familiar with were almost all over sixty years old. Luo Wudi, Yang Wei, Zhang Shicong, Mi Junping, and Zeng Wen. These individuals were, for the most part, unlikely to ever achieve Foundation Establishment. Unless someone provided them with more than two Foundation Establishment pills.

Relatively younger ninth-stage Qi-Refining cultivators mostly had their own unique advantages. Qin Liangchen and his wife had once secured a spirit fish lake, using it as an industry, and spent over a decade advancing to the ninth stage of Qi-Refining. Ke Yuelin from the Beast Hall succeeded in a single leap by consuming a spirit herb in the Ancient Plains range.

As for Gu Caiyi, she had relatively good luck. She had been cultivating in Tianxiang Tower. Although she didn't receive the orthodox cultivation techniques of the Hehuan Sect, she benefited from occasional guidance from Xiangxiang and Gong Huiqin, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, which allowed her to make decent progress.

Yet, even so, she had only managed to break through to the ninth stage thanks to a bottle of top-grade Dust Transformation pills gifted by Fei Bowen.

Back then, Sister Xiuxiu probably also relied on her Dao companion's help to swiftly reach the ninth stage and even Perfected Mastery! Luo Chen had heard of the man before—a former prodigy of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, someone who’d failed to establish his foundation and been demoted to the outer sect. A man like that wouldn’t have lacked secret techniques for refining spirit power.

Luo Chen couldn’t help but feel sorrow for rogue cultivators. Most of them only had access to patched-together, heavily edited versions of proper cultivation methods. Even when they were just a step or two away from Foundation Establishment, they might spend ten, twenty years stuck in place.

Without specific methods, they could only grope their way forward, sometimes resorting to blindly consuming pills and compressing their spirit power to achieve alternative refinement.

But this method caused immense damage to their dantian. Even if they cultivated to the Perfected Mastery of Qi-Refining this way, they were highly prone to failure during Foundation Establishment due to the aftereffects on their dantian.

But alongside the sorrow came a sense of relief.

Because Luo Chen was no longer walking that blind path.

Now, with the Long Spring Art at Perfected Mastery, he had made up for the deficiency in refining pure spirit power. Although he currently only understood the process without comprehending its underlying principles, he could already cultivate normally.

Once he fully purified his spirit power and advanced to the ninth stage of Qi-Refining, he might even be able to deduce the specific principles through repeated practice of the technique.

By then, he would not only know how but also understand why.

After his breakthrough, the fluctuations in his spirit power were significant, and his mind was somewhat scattered, leading Luo Chen to ponder quite a bit. However, after the thoughts subsided, he gathered his mind and familiarized himself with his current state.

Whether it was the Flame Manipulation or the Spirit Suppression, both emphasized control over spirit power. Now, he was incredibly adept at retracting spirit power fluctuations.

By dawn, his spirit power fluctuations had returned to how they were in the seventh stage of Qi-Refining.

This was naturally thanks to the Grandmaster level Spirit Suppression.

***

"Another gang meeting?" Luo Chen curled his lips in irritation. Even after transmigrating, he still had to put up with monthly meetings? He found the whole routine tiresome and wasn’t particularly eager to attend.

However, Sikong Shoujia repeatedly emphasized its importance, so Luo Chen begrudgingly headed to the headquarters.

But when he arrived, the scene awaiting him in the Radiant Moon Hall struck him as odd. All nine hall leaders were present, along with the four elders. Yet, the Gang Leader, Mi Shuhua, was conspicuously absent. The meeting was instead being presided over by Mi Junping.

While the topics discussed were indeed more substantial than usual, they didn’t seem nearly as urgent as Sikong Shoujia had made them out to be. Luo Chen couldn’t help but feel a little duped.

Are they messing with me? Do they not realize I've just had a breakthrough and have a lot to do?

In response, Luo Chen could only mutter under his breath,

Speechless, like Zhen Ji's father in Cao Pi's court

. [1]

After collecting his dividends and pills, Luo Chen went to find Wang Yuan. The two of them headed to Wang Yuan's residence together. Naturally, they planned to discuss the Blood-Burning pill.

As they passed a courtyard, their steps suddenly halted.

A group stood ahead, and from it came a voice. "Is this the cultivator who's taking the ancient path of Physical-Refining?"

Luo Chen and Wang Yuan immediately lowered their heads in respect. Standing before them were Mi Shuhua and another unfamiliar but clearly powerful figure.

Mi Shuhua chuckled and gestured toward Wang Yuan. "Indeed, it’s him. Wang Yuan, come greet Steward Miao."

Without hesitation, Wang Yuan spoke decisively, "Wang Yuan, junior, greets Steward Miao!"

"Hehe, rather than 'steward' I prefer to be called Miao Initiate."

It was a reminder of the hierarchical titles used in the cultivation world. Once a cultivator reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, they were said to have truly stepped onto the path of the Great Dao, and were referred to as "Initiate". Those who reached the Golden Core Realm were honored as "Adept". Upon reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, they were revered as "Sage".

The reasoning behind these titles was unknown to ordinary rogue cultivators, but everyone followed the convention.

Miao Wen gave Wang Yuan a measured look and nodded. “Now this is a promising talent. Judging from your physique... steel turned to white jade—you must be close to Foundation Establishment. What a pity...”

He didn’t even finish his sentence. The moment the words "close to Foundation Establishment" left his lips, the atmosphere turned heavy.

Even someone as composed as Wang Yuan felt a chill at the back of his neck. Mi Shuhua’s gaze had turned sharp and unreadable.

This Steward Miao truly had a keen eye!

No, perhaps it was his extensive knowledge. Ordinary people couldn't decipher the mysteries of physical cultivation. But considering he hailed from the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, such insight was only to be expected.

Perhaps sensing the peculiar atmosphere, Steward Miao laughed heartily and turned to Luo Chen. "And this must be your gang's alchemist, Dan Chenzi!"

Damn! Don't look at me!

Luo Chen forced a smile. "This junior, Luo Chen, greets Miao Initiate!"

1. The meme Speechless, like Zhen Ji's father in Cao Pi's court ("曹丕岳父不说话——甄姬爸无语") comes from a humorous reinterpretation of the dramatic relationship between Cao Pi and Zhen Ji during the Three Kingdoms era. Zhen Ji was originally married to Yuan Xi but became Cao Pi's wife after his conquest of the Yuan family. Later, Cao Pi executed Zhen Ji under dubious circumstances, creating a tragic backstory. The joke specifically stems from modern Chinese culture poking fun at Zhen Ji's father, Zhen Yi, a historically minor figure who had no recorded involvement in these events. His lack of response to his daughter's dramatic fate is exaggerated into a metaphor for being "speechless". The absurdity of inserting an irrelevant figure into such a charged historical narrative adds comedic irony, turning it into a modern meme. ☜