Breaking Through the Spirit Gathering Realm

[Year 18, Age 35.]

[You have visited several small sects, but every single one slammed the door in your face.]

["Sigh, kicked out again. How rude."]

[You pat the dust off your clothes, rub the bruises on your face, and descend the mountain, dejected and covered in grime.]

[There is a village at the foot of the mountain. As soon as you approach, the thick, pungent scent of blood assaults your nose.]

[Walking into the village, you discover that everyone has been slaughtered!]

[Their corpses lie strewn across the ground in a chaotic mess.]

["Why is it like this again? Everything was fine when we rested here yesterday..."]

[This is the fourth village massacre you have encountered this year.]

[It feels as if a professional band of killers is trailing you—wherever you go, death follows.]

[Strangely, however, whether the villagers were alive or dead, your 'Spider Sense' never once triggered.]

[Old Liu tugs at your clothes fearfully.]

["Boss Chen, let's leave quickly. What if the killers are still nearby..."]

["Let's go. These people... sigh, just bad luck."]

[Your own family was slaughtered by a group of mysterious men. Seeing the wretched state of these victims, you resonate with their pain.]

[Could the ones who butchered Luoding Village be the same group committing these massacres this year?]

[Year 23, Age 40.]

[You still haven't given up on joining a sect.]

[But as you age, the likelihood of a sect taking you in diminishes further.]

[The side effects of popping too many pills during your time in the army begin to surface.]

[Pill toxins trapped in your body are unable to be expelled; they have begun to erode your blood vitality, causing you to cough frequently.]

[You must cultivate diligently every day just to prevent your vitality from degrading.]

[On this day, you and Old Liu arrive at another sect.]

[This is Lingfeng Pavilion in the Sanjiang Commandery of Qingzhou. Baling Commandery, where Baiyun County is located, is also within Qingzhou.]

["Cough, cough! Old Liu, if this doesn't work out, I want to go back home and rest. This area isn't too far from Baiyun County anyway. I have some savings. I can open a martial arts hall and fulfill the requests the General's personal guards entrusted to me back then. Cough, cough! Running around all these years... I'm truly tired."]

[Old Liu's hair has turned completely white. Though only fifty-five, he looks like an elder in his seventies or eighties.]

["Boss Chen, I go where you go. If you open a martial arts hall, I'll be your sweeping janitor, hahaha..."]

[Old Liu's laughter comes to an abrupt halt, and your expression freezes as well.]

[The gates of Lingfeng Pavilion are wide open. Dead silence reigns, carrying the familiar scent of blood.]

[Looking closely, every disciple within the pavilion has perished!]

[Their manner of death mirrors the villagers: faces twisted in terror, wounds jagged and uneven, as if torn apart by wild beasts.]

["How can this be..."]

[Villagers are mortals; slaughtering them is easy for evildoers.]

[But Lingfeng Pavilion, while not a major power, is a martial sect with some fame in Sanjiang Commandery.]

[They have no Golden Body Realm experts, but they have plenty of Soul Tempering and Spirit Gathering martial artists.]

[And they were slaughtered just the same?]

[You look around, feeling as if the quiet mountains hide infinite murderous intent.]

[How could it be such a coincidence? Wherever you go, slaughter follows?]

[But why does your 'Spider Sense' remain silent?]

[Is a serial killer tailing you not enough to trigger it?]

[What a trashy Rare Trait!]

["Boss Chen! Come quick, look! Is this a Spirit Gathering Pill?"]

[Hearing the name 'Spirit Gathering Pill', your eyes light up. Your body, weakened by pill toxins, instantly straightens.]

[Old Liu runs excitedly out of a room, cradling a small porcelain bottle containing two blue pills.]

[You heard Sun Cheng'en describe Spirit Gathering Pills before. The appearance and smell match his description perfectly.]

["Yes, this is it!"]

[Old Liu is very excited.]

["Great! One for you, one for me! I never thought I'd have a chance to reach the Spirit Gathering Realm in this lifetime!"]

[Old Liu is also a martial artist, but like you, he has low-grade aptitude and has been stuck at the 9th Stage of Body Refining, unable to break through.]

[All these years of running around were for this very pill.]

[At this moment, you ignore the surrounding corpses. You just want to take the pill and break through!]

[After swallowing the Spirit Gathering Pill, you immediately circulate your technique.]

[The internal cultivation method "Burning Heart Art" passed down by Shen Qingshan can finally be put to use.]

[The Body Refining Realm cultivates blood vitality, storing it in the dantian to nourish and strengthen the physical body.]

[The Spirit Gathering Realm, however, uses internal energy to condense the essence of heaven and earth into spiritual energy, storing it within the body's meridians.]

[The human body has twelve principal meridians, corresponding to the twelve layers of the Spirit Gathering Realm.]

[Completing the spiritual cultivation of one meridian equates to one layer.]

[Under the pill's effect, your sensitivity to the surrounding natural essence becomes extremely acute.]

[As you circulate your internal energy, your blood vitality surges, acting like giant hands grabbing essence from the environment and pulling it into your body.]

[You even brought the crystals obtained in the army for this very moment!]

[Clutching the crystals, you absorb the pure essence within, drastically increasing your gathering efficiency!]

Outside the simulation, Chen Yi watches nervously as the lines of text appear.

"It looks like I'm about to break through..."

Once he breaks through to the Spirit Gathering Realm, his real self will also become a Spirit Gathering martial artist when the simulation ends.

The Black Stone Gang is small; their strongest leader is only at the 9th Stage of Body Refining.

A Spirit Gathering expert here represents an overwhelming power gap—a complete dimensional strike!

At that point, Chen Yi will be able to come and go as he pleases!

"Black Stone Gang, your doomsday is approaching, haha..."

[As the medicinal power dissolves.]

[The first wisp of spiritual energy appears in your body!]

["Success!"]

[You have successfully broken through to the Spirit Gathering Realm. Probability of drawing high-quality traits increased. Equippable trait slots +2!]

[After the breakthrough, your excitement cools, and you suddenly realize a problem.]

["Old Liu, how did you recognize the Spirit Gathering Pill?"]

[Old Liu is still meditating with his eyes closed, seemingly not hearing you.]

["Old Liu, I never told you what a Spirit Gathering Pill looks like, and did anyone in the army describe it to you?"]

[Old Liu opens his eyes.]

[In that instant, your 'Spider Sense' goes crazy.]

[The hair on your body stands on end, and goosebumps erupt all over your skin!]

[You take several steps back.]

[The corners of Old Liu's mouth curl into an inscrutable smile.]

["I don't recognize the Spirit Gathering Pill, but I can ask them."]

[Speaking, Old Liu looks at the corpses littering the ground.]

[You understand everything.]

["You slaughtered Lingfeng Pavilion! And you slaughtered all those villages we passed!"]

["Precisely."]

["Impossible, how do you have that kind of strength?"]

"I didn't have it before. It wasn't until six years ago that I obtained this."