Chapter 37: Four Years

Senior Brother Zhang coldly swept his gaze over Wang Zhuo and said, "The key to this Breakthrough actually has a great deal to do with natural talent. Some people might succeed in one try, while others might need hundreds or thousands of attempts, or even fail to Break through their entire lives. That's also possible."

Wang Lin showed a melancholic expression and suddenly asked, "Senior Brother Zhang, is the Breakthrough for every level this difficult? From second to third, third to fourth? Is it all like this?"

Senior Brother Zhang nodded and said, "That's right, the further you go, the harder it gets. Especially from third to fourth, and fifth to sixth, it's even more difficult!"

As Senior Brother Zhang answered, he also attracted many Disciples from afar. Suddenly, a woman asked, "Senior Brother, what exactly makes the third to fourth stage so difficult? I am currently at the third layer of Qi Condensation."

Wang Lin recognized the speaker; it was the woman surnamed Zhou whom Wang Zhuo had been desperately pursuing.

Senior Brother Zhang pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, today I'll take this opportunity to explain in detail the Bottlenecks of the Qi Condensation stage. In the Qi Condensation stage, below the sixth layer, there are two Bottlenecks. The first is from third to fourth. For some, this Bottleneck is very easy to pass, but for others, it might be impossible to Break through in this lifetime. The key here has nothing to do with natural talent. The重點 is whether one can comprehend the meaning of the phrase 'the Great Dao is ruthless'!

After speaking, he gave everyone a meaningful look and continued, "Cultivators must sever their Mortal ties. If they can sever them, then third to fourth is not difficult. But if they cannot, then it becomes difficult! As for the Bottleneck from fifth to sixth, that's because it's a qualitative change in the Qi Condensation stage. The body, having achieved Minor Achievement in its transformation by Spiritual Qi, will undergo a series of deeper changes, requiring an immense amount of Spiritual Qi, thus becoming a Bottleneck that obstructs most people's progress."

Wang Lin felt a shock in his heart after listening and remained silent.

The other Inner Sect Disciples also had varied expressions and continued to ask some questions until dusk, when everyone finally dispersed.

Wang Lin walked into the valley with a frown, the sound of flowing water by his ears gradually growing louder. Not long after, a small river appeared before him.

Traces of faint Spiritual Qi emanated from the river water. Wang Lin scooped some up and drank it, thinking to himself that although it couldn't compare to Spiritual Qi spring water, it could still increase Spiritual Qi to some extent.

So, without another word, he took out Gourd after Gourd, filling them with river water. After a long while, he finally finished filling all the Gourds. The moment he turned around, his pupils immediately contracted. He saw Second Senior Brother Zhang Kuang standing not far behind him like a ghost. When he was filling the river water earlier, his Divine Sense had been observing the surroundings, detecting no abnormalities, yet the other party had clearly been there for a long time. Wang Lin's heart sank.

"Junior Brother Wang, this river water contains Spiritual Qi, drinking more will benefit your cultivation. However, I see you prepared quite a few Gourds. Did you know you'd need them here before coming to the valley?" Zhang Kuang's eyes flickered as he said in a deep voice.

Wang Lin calmly put away the Gourd in his hand and respectfully said, "My teacher once told me that the river water here aids cultivation, so Junior Brother prepared quite a bit."

Zhang Kuang stared at Wang Lin, then nodded after a long time and said, "It's normal for Junior Uncle Sun to know about this. Go back and Cultivate. To reach the first layer of Qi Condensation in just two years, it seems Junior Brother truly made a great resolve. Very good, I hope that when I see you again, you can reach the second layer!"

Wang Lin clasped his fists and excused himself, leaving cautiously. Only after returning to his cave did he let out a sigh of relief; the clothes on his back were soaked with sweat. Fortunately, he had developed the habit of constantly concealing his cultivation, otherwise, if the other party discovered that he was actually at the third layer of Qi Condensation, they would certainly be suspicious. At that time, with his current strength, even if he were killed, he wouldn't have the slightest power to fight back.

"Cultivators are actually like Mortals; they all have various desires, and sometimes they are even several times more realistic and cruel than the Mortal world. Therefore, I must never let anyone know that I have the Mysterious Bead," Wang Lin secretly warned himself.

Pulling the handle on the wall to seal the cave, Wang Lin sat cross-legged and fell into contemplation.

Logically speaking, Cultivators sever their Mortal ties to free themselves from various desires that might affect their cultivation. However, ever since he entered the Hengyue School, most of the Cultivators he had seen were unable to truly achieve desirelessness; instead, their desires were several times stronger than those of Mortals.

Thus, the so-called severing of Mortal ties was merely a vague concept. Yet, for the third to fourth layer Breakthrough, as Senior Brother Zhang said, one absolutely must sever Mortal ties, which seemed somewhat contradictory.

After much deliberation, he still couldn't grasp the key. Wang Lin admitted that he couldn't sever family affection. Fortunately, the third layer of Qi Condensation was different from the first two layers; although he couldn't Break through, his Spiritual Qi still increased. So, after much consideration, he gave up the idea of a short-term Breakthrough and focused on consolidating the third layer.

Time flew by. One year, two years, and unconsciously another two years passed. Wang Lin had been in secluded cultivation in the back mountain for four years. In the latter two years, Wang Lin only went out once, to replenish river water, which he then used to Cultivate after soaking it with the bead.

Four years in reality, twenty-five years in the dream realm. If the previous time was also included, Wang Lin had actually Cultivated for twenty-seven or twenty-eight years.

His Qi Condensation still remained at the third layer, without a Breakthrough. However, the Spiritual Qi within his body continued to grow incessantly.

On this day, the last day of his four years of cultivation, in the early morning, Zhang Kuang's voice rang out from outside: "All Junior Brothers, the four years are up! Come out quickly! Sect Leader Senior Martial Uncle is casting a spell in the School Main Hall to send you back!"

All the cave dwellings on the cliff walls opened, and Inner Sect Disciples emerged one by one.

Over forty people, having all gained something from these four years of secluded cultivation, stood in the valley. Wang Lin swept his Divine Sense across them.

Wang Zhuo had already reached the peak of the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, seemingly about to step into the sixth layer. As for others, several also had similar cultivation. In four years, everyone had made progress.

The woman surnamed Xu had also reached the third layer of Qi Condensation. As for Senior Brother Zhang, Wang Lin focused his gaze: the sixth layer of Qi Condensation!

Vaguely, he had a feeling that his cultivation seemed to be somewhat different from others. Firstly, his Divine Sense; when he observed others just now, it seemed no one noticed.

Furthermore, the woman surnamed Zhou had said two years ago that she had reached the third layer of Qi Condensation, but Wang Lin just now discovered that she was still lingering at the third layer, with no increase in the level of Spiritual Qi within her body.

Wang Lin had a guess: it seemed others weren't like him, where the third layer had no limit. Or rather, he had already broken through the third layer… Wang Lin's heart pounded, and he suppressed this thought.