Sixth Level of Qi Training

"Explain what happened today."

After Niu Shouren left, the smile faded from Wang Jianqiang's face as he stared expressionlessly at Chen Jiaojiao.

Chen Jiaojiao's delicate face paled, and she quickly defended herself, "Uncle, I didn’t ask Shouren to come. He insisted on following me."

Wang Jianqiang remained silent, his cold gaze fixed on her.

Chen Jiaojiao forced a bitter smile and continued, "In the past, the resources you provided were always generous, but the last two times, you only gave one Spirit Gathering Pill each—a drastic reduction."

"Shouren assumed it was because he hadn’t visited you in a long time, which might have displeased you. That’s why he insisted on coming today."

"I couldn’t stop him, nor could I explain properly, so I had no choice but to bring him along."

Wang Jianqiang’s expression softened slightly. "Really?"

"Absolutely true," Chen Jiaojiao nodded repeatedly.

Initially, Wang Jianqiang had suspected that Chen Jiaojiao brought Niu Shouren to pressure him, trying to extort more resources.

If that had been the case, he would have severed ties with her immediately, even at the cost of making enemies, refusing to give her another scrap of aid.

But after hearing her explanation, his demeanor relaxed completely.

"So that’s how it was."

Guilt flickered in his eyes as he placed a hand on Chen Jiaojiao’s shoulder.

"Jiaojiao, Uncle misjudged you..."

"Just now, you looked a little pale. Are you feeling unwell?"

"Come, let Uncle give you a thorough check-up."

……

Over the next month, Wang Jianqiang didn’t leave his residence, dedicating himself entirely to pill refining.

Ever since awakening his system, he had never failed in crafting pills.

A 100% success rate was nothing short of inhuman.

By the end of the month, all the medicinal herbs he had purchased were exhausted, yielding fifty flawless Body Nourishment Pills and fifty flawless Verdant Spirit Pills.

He had also accumulated a substantial amount of cultivation points.

During this time, Niu Shouren and Chen Jiaojiao visited a few more times.

After exchanging pleasantries, Niu Shouren would leave Chen Jiaojiao behind to "supervise" while he smugly departed.

Niu Shouren believed he had Wang Jianqiang under his thumb, gloating inwardly.

Little did he know—

The most formidable hunters often disguise themselves as prey.

Wang Jianqiang merely watched his performance with detached amusement, as if observing a clown.

To him now, Spirit Gathering Pills were mere pocket change.

Cultivation was inherently a monotonous endeavor.

Prolonged cultivation only made it more tedious, so he saw these interactions as a brief diversion between sessions.

Spending a little extra was no big deal.

……

Inside the dimly lit room, Wang Jianqiang stared at the 100 cultivation points displayed on his status panel. Without hesitation, he allocated all of them to the "Yanling Art."

Advancing the technique’s mastery would improve his pill absorption rate, making it the most efficient way to boost his cultivation at present.

His goal was to elevate the Yanling Art directly to its peak—Great Perfection.

Ding.

"The Yanling Art has reached its current maximum level."

"Spend 500 cultivation points to optimize and upgrade. Proceed?"

The system’s voice echoed in his mind, startling him.

Even cultivation techniques could be upgraded?

Glancing back at the panel, he saw that the Yanling Art’s proficiency had shifted from "Adept" to "Great Perfection," followed by a new option: "Optimize & Upgrade."

With his abysmal innate talent and the Yanling Art being a common, low-tier technique, his cultivation speed was painfully slow.

If he could enhance the technique’s grade, his progress would undoubtedly accelerate.

The thought sent a surge of excitement through him.

But when he noticed his remaining balance—a mere 5 cultivation points—his enthusiasm cooled instantly.

Reaching Great Perfection had cost him 95 points, leaving only 5 behind.

He was still 495 points short of upgrading the Yanling Art.

That wasn’t a small amount. Even if he refined pills nonstop, it would take nearly four months to save up!

Wang Jianqiang shook his head, deciding to table the idea for now.

He retrieved a flawless Verdant Spirit Pill and swallowed it.

With the Yanling Art at Great Perfection, his pill absorption efficiency had skyrocketed from 30% to 70%.

His cultivation speed more than doubled.

In just two days, after refining ten flawless Verdant Spirit Pills in succession, his cultivation broke through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

Just as he prepared to continue his cultivation and push straight to the sixth layer—

Chen Jiaojiao’s voice called from outside.

Wang Jianqiang decided to take a break.

Half an hour later, Chen Jiaojiao left contentedly, clutching a Spirit Gathering Pill.

After resting briefly, Wang Jianqiang resumed his closed-door cultivation.

Ten days later, a tremor ran through his seated figure as his cultivation advanced once more.

Breaking through from the fifth to the sixth layer of Qi Refining had consumed thirty-seven flawless Verdant Spirit Pills.

He set aside the remaining three, not planning to refine them himself.

Upon reaching the sixth layer, the effectiveness of Verdant Spirit Pills plummeted.

To break through again using them would require refining at least two to three hundred pills—a process that would take over two months even if he worked nonstop.

For ordinary cultivators, such speed would be astonishing.

But he was a cheater.

This pace was beneath him.

With a pulse of spiritual energy, he cleansed the impurities from his body and strode toward the External Affairs Hall.