Break the barrier

Everything was silent as Wang Ling sat inside his room as he reinforced his cultivation. His usage of spirit qi was already refined to begin with so Wang Ling only had to become used to his current cultivation realm.

It took some time but after an hour, he finally heave a sigh of relief.

"This is good, however, I still need to break through the earth root stage. It won't be that hard, but the Overturning Nine Heaven Art requires me to create a [Cosmic Earth Root]."

The cosmic foundation he needs to build does not only refer to his qi pillars but also the three foundation stages of cultivation. For earth root stage he needs [Cosmic Earth Root], sky for sky root stage he needs [Cosmic Sky Root], and energy palace stage he needs a[Cosmic Palace].

Earth and Sky roots are stages of cultivation where one starts cultivating the foundation so a cultivator can ascend to Sainthood. To ascend to Sainthood one will have to become align with the earth and the sky.

They will become align with the earth and sky by 'penetrating' their roots to the earth and sky. Once they penetrate the earth and sky, a cultivator will proceed to create a palace inside their body to house the soul.

Wang Ling was well aware of the process of cultivation. For him to ascend to earth root stage, he will need a vast amount of spirit stone to supplement the spirit qi he lacks.

Wang Ling flipped his hand and a round blue stone the size of an adult's fist appeared. The blue stone contained spirit qi that will help him in his cultivation. This is a spirit stone.

He got this spirit stone from Butler Sun yesterday saying that he will need it to light up his ninth qi pillar. He was someone who carefully plans his steps so it was unlikely for him to forget this important item.

"I have about thirty spirit stone here, I need twenty to break through the next stage so I'll have ten more to reinforce my cultivation."

Wang Ling didn't dally anymore and went out of his room. He was going to enter closed door cultivation so it would be best to let Butler Sun known and eat some nutritious food in the process.

Wang Ling went to dining area to grab some food before going to find Butler Sun. to his surprise, he encountered Butler Sun just as he was going out.

"Ah, young master I was just about to come and find you. Breakfast is already prepared so I was going to ask if you're going to have some before practicing your sword."

Wang Ling nodded his head at what Butler Sun had said before saying.

"I'll eat breakfast and can I ask you to increase the amount of servings. Make it twice as much than what I usually eat. Also, I have something to talk to you about."

Wang Ling spoke in an unhurried tone. His voice was passive and showed no apparent emotion. Butler Sun nodded his head and complied with what Wang Ling had ordered him to do,

Wang Yue was already in the dining area when Wang Ling got there. She was sitting on the table with a smile on her face as she waited for food to come.

"Big brother!"

She cried out seeing that Wang Ling was here to have breakfast. Because of his training he had been eating together with Wang Yue less and less this days. Wang Ling was indeed guilty for this but training comes first.

"Mmm, are you going to the royal library today? Seems like you're focusing on learning about spirit plants this days."

Wang Ling asked as he attempt to start a conversation. Wang Yue's eyes lit up when she heard her big brother's question as she answered with confidence.

"Yes, I'm about to finished the books about tiered spirit plants."

"Oh, does that mean you'll stop coming to the royal library after reading all of the books concerning tiered spirit plants in there? From what I heard, books about spirit plants higher than tier-3 is only seen in the second floor."

The second floor of the royal library was only accessible by the descendants of the royal blood. Although Wang Ling found this really frustrating, he could understand them because knowledge is power after all.

"No, I'll still be going to the royal library even after reading the whole collection of tiered spirit plants. Wei told me that she'll take me to the second floor of the royal family after I'm done reading all the books on the first floor."

"Wei? Did we have a maid with that name?" Wang Ling asked confusedly.

"No! She's not a maid, she's a friend who also likes reading about books of spirit plants, I met her in the royal library!"

Wang Yue had a smile plastered on her face for some reason. She was proud to announce that she had a friend. It was some kind of accomplishment for her.

Wang Ling was also happy for his sister. For her to make a friend was a big deal. With her shyness and being cooped up inside the manor for so long, Wang Yue's social skills with other people were truly lacking.

However, Wang Ling was warry of this girl called Wei. She should be a part of the royal family and with her getting close with Wang Yue like this, there might be some kind of scheme going on. Well, he might be wrong and this Wei girl might just be a good and kind girl but he was still worried about Wang Yue.

Nevertheless, he showed Wang Yue a smile and decided to talk about this matter to Butler Sun later on.

The food came and the siblings started eating. They ate like always but finished differently. Wang Yue actually finished her food before Wang Ling could finish his. Wang Yue then went out of the dining area after eating.

Wang Ling finished eating shortly after and had a maid clean up the whole thing. He then called Butler Sun so he can have a talk with him about the girl called Wei and his close seclusion.

The two of them decided to talk in the back garden.

"Butler Sun, I will be entering closed door cultivation so don't let anyone bother me. I will be breaking through earth root stage. I don't know how long I'll need to break through the next stage but it shouldn't be that long."

Butler Sun nodded his head. From what he know, Wang Ling should have lit up his ninth qi pillar today, and him breaking through the earth root stage would be best course of action.

Flipping his hands, a pill the size of baby's fist appeared on Butler Sun's hands. He passed it on to Wang Ling and said.

"This is a [Golden Qi pill], it is a tier-1 pill that will help young master break through the earth root stage."

Wang Ling nodded his head as he accepted the Golden Qi pill. The Golden Qi pill was indeed a pill that will help him aggravate his meridians and make it easier to form his earth roots.

He was just about to leave when he remembered about the matter with Wei and Wang Yue.

"Butler Sun, Wang Yue's friend is from the Royal family correct? I may be acting a little paranoid but can you look into the royal descent named Wei, there's constant conflict in the royal family right? Yue might get sucked into their conflict in the future."

Butler Sun chortled when he head Wang Ling. His warrying attitude might seem excessive and overblown but it made Butler Sun nod in admiration to Wang Ling. Being careful was an essential way of living in the cultivation world.

Being careful means that one won't act rashly without considering the consequences of his actions. Wang Hong was enough of a headache to the family, having someone like Wang Ling was something he appreciated.

Nodding his head, he agreed to keep a proper eye to Wang Yue and the girl she had befriended.

Wang Ling then returned to his room so can cultivate. He closed his door and sat on the floor near his bed. He prepared his mind and went into meditation.

He didn't immediately went ahead and attempted a breakthrough but first observed his current physical and mental condition. He checked his internal body and observed his nine golden qi pillars.

Two hours quickly passed. After a thorough observation, he finally made up his mind.

"Let's begin!"

He said as he went ahead and circulated the Overturning Nine Heaven Art. Spirit qi flowed in his meridians before getting absorbed by his qi pillars. The qi pillars inside his body began purifying the spirit qi he absorbed.

Soon, the spirit qi he absorbed turned into supreme spirit qi that is the purest form of energy. The nine qi pillars that was slowly filled with supreme spirit qi and as they were getting filled, nine hours already passed.

If not for him meditating and had to keep his body in a constant state of tranquility. Wang Ling's jaw would've drop at the sight of this absurd phenomenon.

One hour for one qi pillar might not sound so good but it was in fact the stuffs of legend. Normally, when you want to fill one qi pillar with spirit qi, it will take at least three hours.

Taking that into account, twenty-seven hours is needed to completely fill up nine qi pillars. The qi pillars are the storage of spirit qi for every cultivator and each filled up qi pillar plays a vital role in a fight.

Example, if two cultivators fought one another spirit qi is one of the deciding factor that will decide who will win and lose. The number of moves they can execute in a fight also depends on the amount of spirit qi they have on their qi pillars.

If one had one less qi pillar than the other, then there's a high chance he will lose. Having too much of a spirit qi reserve is never an option. On that note, qi pillars are also vital in training.

If normal people need twenty-seven hours to fill in their nine qi pillars a lot of time will be lost. Compared to Wang Ling who only needs nine hours, he will have an eighteen hours advantage.

That's not all, with his supreme spirit qi, his power is also stronger than most people. With superior recovery rate, superior spirit qi, and superior experience Wang Ling was basically a broken person in the world of cultivation.

Wang Ling was jumping with joy inside his heart. However, he suppressed it as he went ahead and prepared for his breakthrough.

He momentarily opened his eyes took out twenty spirit stones and circled it all over him then swallowed the Golden Qi pill. The Golden Qi pill entered his body and dissolved as soon it entered his throat.

The Golden Qi pill felt warm when it entered his body. That is until it fully dissolved and reached his abdomen. A sudden burst of qi emerge from the dissolved pill and made his body tremble.

Boom!

The Golden Qi pill was tyrannically and gave him enough spirit qi to destroy the barrier that separates from the true world of cultivation.

He refined the spirit qi coming from the Golden Qi pill and began taking it as his own. He sent the spirit qi of the Golden Qi pill to the space where his qi pillars lay and started forming the area where he will plant the 'roots' of his cultivation.

The nine qi pillars hovered in the air, they were still as a mountain and was unaffected by the influx of spirit qi.

Underneath the qi pillars spirit qi started gathering and this gathering of qi pillars began to forming a mist like area. This mist like area was the most important variable of whether he will break through the next stage of cultivation or not.

After all, this mist was the early form of what is [Spirit Ocean], which happens to be the place where he will plant roots of his cultivation.

The spirit ocean slowly became more and more condense as the minutes passed. Wang Ling was not in a hurry and slowly formed his spirit ocean with the usage of his own supreme spirit qi with the help of the Golden Qi pill.

Hong!

Five hours of continuous construction began taking form. The spirit qi that looked mist began turning liquid, then…

Ting!

A single droplet of golden water appeared from within the mist. This single drop of water then began to expand. It expanded and expanded until it managed to devour the mist and became a golden ocean that never ends.

This golden ocean is his spirit ocean. But because his spirit ocean was created with his supreme spirit qi, it has another name and that name is [True Spirit Ocean].

Wang Ling smiled instinctively as he saw his unique spirit ocean. He knew that it was finally time to start forming the roots.

He didn't waste time and initiated the spirit qi inside his qi pillars. The barrier that had been keeping him away from the cultivating appeared inside his mind.

He subsequently started forming roots which looked like spears. Excepting the fact that it was golden in color, the roots of earth root stage looked like ordinary roots that came from the bottom part of the nine pillars.

Swoosh!

Directly below his qi pillars was the spirit ocean he had just formed and the roots from his qi pillars began squirming as it attempted to reach that place. However, the 'barrier' kept it from touching the surface of the spirit ocean.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Tens… hundreds… thousands of clashes happened between the roots and the 'barrier'. These continued for hours and hours and Wang Ling was trying to get his roots to pass the barrier.

As time went on, the 'barrier' began to weaken. Wang Ling took note of this and gave it one more attacked in one final pushed. His whole being trembled as inside his body an all-out war occurred.

"Break!"

He roared inside his mind as a crisp sound of something breaking followed shortly after.

Crack!

Splash!

The golden roots penetrated the 'barrier' which kept normal people from cultivators. His golden roots soaked in the spirit ocean and as it did Wang Ling's aura began to change.

Wang Ling is now an earth root stage cultivator.