Advanced Stage

It had been a few days, and Julong had decided that it was about time for him to properly break through into the Advanced Stage of the Qi Nourishing Realm. He had been at the pinnacle for a little while, and he could feel the increase of power the breakthrough would provide just out of his reach. It was something his body was beginning to crave, a rather unpleasant feeling if he was honest.

He had sat himself back inside of the bamboo forest in the Saint Domain. It wasn't so much because the Genesis Qi there was abundant, but rather because he liked the atmosphere. Breaking through would be an easy task no matter where he was, he was that close to a perfect breakthrough anyway. In fact, if not for his blessing alerting him of the dangers of using Ancestral Dragon Will to break through, he would already be at the Advanced Stage.

He looked around at the breathtaking beauty of the scenery he was seated in. It was rather easy to understand why he had chosen such a place to make a breakthrough.

Resolving to finally start, he closed his eyes and felt the Genesis Qi around him. Ever since his Spirit stepped into what was essentially the Middle Stage of the Illusory Stage, he had a much easier time of feeling the Qi around him, its grade and the best way to control it. The Spirit was a very useful thing to cultivate, even outside of combat.

Taking a deep breath in, he started.

He slowly drew in the Qi around him, pulling it into his Gold Grade Qi Dwelling. It greedily scarfed the Qi inside, wanting to finally reach the point which would allow him to step into the Advanced Stage.

Julong could barely keep up with the refining of the Qi at first but quickly found his rhythm. Even he wasn't expecting such an uptake of Qi into his Dwellings. Just how badly did his body want to break through?

He sat there for hours, refining the Qi around him. He had grown rather used to the amount of progress Ancestral Dragon Will bestowed when refined, as such he had expected a much quicker result, yet he was still going.

That's when he felt it.

His body felt light, akin to a feeling of euphoria. It was as if he was bathed in a golden light. This was it, this was the beginning of his breakthrough.

The seeping light he felt inside of himself was one of the fleeting reasons that such an event was referred to as a breakthrough. Because he was literally breaking through a wall that was blocking his progress. It was a feeling many loved to achieve, not only because of the progress it brought, but because of the sheer heavenly bliss you would feel when received.

Relaxing in his spot, he continued refining at an even faster pace. He was going to do it right now.

As he refined the Qi into his dwellings, the crack inside the wall slowly formed a hole. That hole slowly broke into a large passage. From that, the wall slowly crumbled further and further, turning into Genesis Qi that filled the empty parts of his Dwelling.

This signified he had done it. He had reached his goal.

He was now in the Advanced Stage of the Qi Nourishing Realm.

He opened his eyes and a feeling of happiness surrounded him. Qi buzzed as it escaped his body. He wasn't able to experience such a feeling when he broke into the Middle Stage of the Qi Nourishing Realm, he was in far too much danger for such a thought to even occur to him. But now that he could feel it properly, he felt nothing short of perfect.

He allowed his Grade 6 Qi to burst out of him as he took it all in. He would enjoy every moment.

When it was finally over, he stood up with a stretch. A few hours had passed and the middle of the day was long gone, now moving into that of dusk. He couldn't wait to go tell Zi Xiao. Though it was strange, generally she would be able to feel such a thing and come greet him, but it appeared as if she was up to other things.

It wasn't until he had gotten back inside of the Manor that he felt her presence, the only issue was that there were two other ones alongside hers. One was immensely powerful, though still not on the level of a Saint. That was a very reserved title after all. And the other was around his level, but he felt a strange sense of Yin and Yang revolving around their dwelling.

Interesting.

The weaker one still wasn't a threat to him, especially now that he had stepped into the Advanced Stage, but he could tell that they were also a Genius of some degree - if his foresight was right, they were quite a talented Genius too.

Walking toward the large doors to the room they were in, that being the dining room, he opened the doors, being greeted by the three individuals. They were all eating some delicacies that had been placed around the table.

Getting a good look at the newcomers, he saw a small girl around his age and an older man. He looked rather humble and modest, while the girl looked quite beautiful, especially considering her age. Despite being young her body had already developed some curves. That was a rather scary thought. Though despite such beautiful looks, she still couldn't match up to Yao Yao. She was close, but still far off.

"Oh~? I wasn't expecting you for another hour at least."

"Sounds like you don't want me here."

Zi Xiao giggled at his remark.

"Of course I don't mind having you here. Come have a seat."

She had used Qi to pull out the chair next to her. With a small roll of his eyes, he sat down.

Having now gotten a better look at the old man, he could tell he was a Law Domain. Judging by how he was speaking to Zi Xiao personally, Julong was guessing that he was an Elder of some kind, and since he hadn't seen him at the announcement of his identity he quickly deduced he was the Master who was recently in the Cangxuan Heaven, and the girl next to him, his new disciple.

Taking a glance and reading his thoughts, Zi Xiao voiced herself.

"It is as you have guessed. This is the master you originally came to the Zi Xiao Region to meet. This is Lu Xuangang and his new disciple, Su Youwei."

Su Youwei, where had he heard that name before?

...

Yao Yao.