The First break through

**********After 3 years***********

Chug.

Blob, Blob, Blob.

The potion became blood-red as expected. A sweet aroma filled the pill refiner's nostrils. It was time to add the last ingredient. Xie Ra removed the lid of the top (refining) half of the stove and put in all remaining Ginseng roots on the table. After that, he proceeded to close the lid and sit nearby. He had to wait a few more minutes until the formation of qi-condensing pills.

He put his chin on the corner of the table and started to lose in his past life memories. He forgot the appearance of the coal stove until he reached the qi-condensation realm in his second life. In his past life, he stopped using the coal stove when he became an early-core cultivator. It was inevitable as coal stoves couldn't reach the maximum quality of core-realm pills.

However, every kind of these pill refining stoves has the same structure. The upper half that bloated was the pill refining half. It has a removable lid and a hollow interior. The refiner should put the ingredients into this. There was a sectioned pill tray at the bottom border of the first half. The divisions of the tray decide the number of pills to forge in one try.

The lower half was the real stove, which was designed to burn the fuel to heat the upper half.

The cracking noise of the firewood broke the serenity of the alchemy refining room atmosphere. The slight glow that switched between different shades of red created a haunted appearance against the walls. Xie Ra looked at the *candle clock and realized the time was up.

He put out the fire and raised the lid using a piece of clothing between his fingers and the lid-top to prevent himself from getting burned. After the vapor rushed out, he carefully took out the pill tray and put it on the table.

Three sphere-shaped, blood-red pills were gleaming beautifully at him. He waited a few more minutes for them to cool down and packed them into his pill bottle.

Now, he was ready to try his first breakthrough. He went back into his hut, closed the door, and sat down in his usual meditating posture. He opened the pill bottle and swallowed a pill. Then, he started to cultivate.

Azure-blue ball of radiance illuminated between his palms. It looked more colorful and condensed than the first sparks of qi he generated for the first time near the Bamboo lake many years ago.

Thin threads escaped from this ball of light and slithered through his entire body. The cultivator seemed to glow. However, his consciousness was already in a deep slumber, so he couldn't see what was happening.

Xie Ra's spiritual body seemed to be in action. It actively ignited his inner qi in his spiritual core and sent them a wave after a wave through his spiritual veins. The blocks, impurities in the spiritual veins started to dissolve in these powerful surges of qi. This process resulted in sudden energy bursts escaping from Xie Ra's body from time to time.

These outbursts seemed to disturb the normal qi flow in his surroundings. Faint glowing pink beams appeared around his body. These new beams started to entangle with the azure-blue threads around Xie Ra. In simple terms, the surrounding qi that was disturbed previously tried to suppress their threatening source. Xie Ra's spiritual system was under attack.

He started to sweat rivers. His facial expressions changed into a frustrated look. At that moment, his consciousness was asleep. However, his spiritual body faced a deep strain from these energy attacks on it.

That was the time the qi-condensation pill started to activate. New golden threads of beams escaped from his *solar plexus and spread along with the azure-blue threads to strengthen them. Xie Ra's spiritual system started to stabilize. Qi flow became more efficient and strong. It gradually reached its peak. Its persistent aim was to break through to the next realm by unlocking a few more meridians.

After three hours of struggling, Xie Ra broke through to the mid-qi-condensation realm successfully.

Some distance away, Shi Wang stroked his chin. "So, he broke through? That was fast. This kid seemed to have the potential to be a great cultivator one day. Good for him." He mumbled alone while raising his cup to sip his tea.

After a successful breakthrough, any cultivator undergoes two things.

1) A meditating period to cool down his body. After this, their spiritual body calms down, and consciousness wakes up.

2) A dead tiredness.

Xie Ra was undergoing the second phase. He felt like someone beat him up. He truly forgot this annoying feeling from his past life. He grabbed a cup of water and finished it in one gulp. Then, he dropped on his bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Xie Ra was the first one to break through to the next realm from his group. After hearing this, Xiao Lan started to work harder and achieved the breakthrough after two more years. Of course, she didn't have any past life experiences like Xie Ra. So, for a first-time breakthrough, she was far better than the others.

Xie Ra faced his second breakthrough (mid to late qi condensation) after 2 more years. The third breakthrough(late to peak qi condensation) followed after another 2 years. However, his fourth breakthrough (Peak to perfect qi condensation) took 4 years.

Therefore he reached the perfect qi-condensation realm after 11 years from starting his qi cultivation journey in his second life. In his world, this usually takes about 16-20 years. So, Xie Ra already surpassed his colleagues in his realm.

The only one who was able to catch him up to some degree was Xiao Lan. She reached peak qi-condensation when Xie Ra reached perfection level. So, she must be the true prodigy among them.

Within the past 11 years, another major change happened. Everyone got their own spiritual weapon. Xie Ra didn't forge a weapon again. He has his QiJi. However, having a spiritual weapon the first time was a memorable incident in any cultivator's life.

They went for hunts with their shizun several times. Seeing spiritual monsters for the first time was an exciting experience for many of them. However, what they mostly did was watch how Shi Wang hunted the monsters.

They only got a chance to hunt after their shizun trapped the monsters inside an array. Shi Wang didn't want to put his disciples in danger until they reached at least the peak of the qi-condensation realm.

Even though this technique was safe, it wasn't fair for both Xie Ra and Xiao Lan. Shi Wang clearly saw that. However, he waited until Xiao Lan's breakthrough to peak qi-condensation to allow his two junior disciples to hunt a monster by themselves.

So after two weeks from her breakthrough, Shi Wang sent a message to both Xie Ra and Xiao Lan, informing them to meet him as soon as possible.

When both disciples arrived, they saw another young man standing beside their shizun. The stranger wore their sect disciple uniform. He had a persistent kind smile on his face but, there was a strong aura around him.

"It's good to see you two here. Now, the circle is complete. This," Shi Wang directed his hand towards the unfamiliar disciple, "Is your senior disciple Weiming Zhao. And, this is your junior disciples Xie Ra and Lan Jiayi."

Both Juniors respectfully bowed to the senior disciple. They heard about him before. He was one of their shizun's cleverest disciples. They felt honored to meet him. The senior respectfully greeted them back. Both juniors felt immediate admiration for this humble senior.

Shi Wang continued to talk. "I'll explain the reason why I called you here. I noticed that both of these juniors surpassed the peak-qi condensation realm. But, as your other four colleagues are still in lower realms. If I wait for them to reach the peak qi condensation, it might slow down your progress.

So, I entrusted your senior Weiming Zhao to take you two for hunts from now on. He proved his capabilities with everything I entrusted him to do. So, Xie Ra and Lan Jiayi, you can go on the next hunt with your Senior."

Both disciples were so excited about this news. Xiao Lan asked a question from their senior before she stopped herself. "When will be the next hunt, Dage?"

Weiming Zhao smiled.

"Tomorrow night."