Fourth rank

It has been almost close to a year since Situ and Xiaohe set their path of cultivating. In this span of time, it would be important to note that they also went around fighting monsters for their meat, well to be fair they were not qualified to be called monsters as they were just beasts.

The one before them is a monster that has reached the 1st level. From hunting, they managed to get the resources necessary for training their Qi and blood allowing it to strengthen.

Now he had reached the limit of the Qi and blood his body could hold, but that was not the same for Xiaohe.

She was slightly slower.

now that they could meet a level 1 monster and that guy fighting it, something seemed to be implied.

He already had the feeling that the attacks from the young man reached the peak of martial arts ranks.

That was from the 7-9 ranks, which he had to acquire a lot of resources to even approach.

But that did not discourage him, as he had spent close to a year to attain the first three levels, and the next period he just had to keep up or even increase the hard work.

It was still strong for those in martial arts 9 ranks. After all a level one monster has power that can at least kill rank 9, martial artists.

But those that are elites in this realm would decimate them without even wasting a little effort. But it was not the case for normal martial artists since the monsters changed after transforming from beasts.

Their bodies become strong.

While moving through this place, it was also the first time they met even a stronger human and the others seemed to be their age.

On the side, the crazy maid seemed to have turned into some fan, with her eyes shining as she looked at the man fighting the monster.

For Situ, seeing the power of the two fighting in the distance he had more than just longing but Xiaohe beside him had a blush.

Whatever she was thinking in her little head, he did not want to know at all. Thus he ignored her and continued to observe.

But this was not the most important at the moment, he was aware of the most move to take which was hiding, to avoid attracting their attention.

Once discovered it might be dangerous and they might even lose their lives. The strength to fight against such a monster was not something he could manage.

In that case, being silent was for the best. To create the best cultivation technique that suits him he took some risks. It is also the reason that Situ took Xiaohe all around challenging even others his age. They were occupying an area with stones that had inspiration recorded on them.

To gain access it was smart to deal with them and wear some mask to avoid being ganged up on by others in the future. He however did this to gain insights from the stone steles they were occupying.

And most of them were stationed close to waterfalls, hills, or even cliffs. Their journey was okay, but they already had realized their strength increase also meant they needed more resources thus deciding to keep moving further in.

Seeing someone stronger and a beast that seemed to be rank one, but Situ did not know about the classification of the beast, I but the aura it had was a threat to him.

The man fighting it also seemed to give him the same sense of danger so he did not dare let the two be discovered.

Hiding and observing the development of things was the best option at the moment.

Situ's situation was the fact that he chose not to break through to the fourth level after arriving at the peak of the third tier, with a weaker

He had been thinking of other insights to see if he could improve his technique but in the end, he pushed his realm all the way to the limit of rank three.

This is referred to as the peak of the early stage based on the division. 1-3rd ranks are early stage then 4-6 are mid-stage and eventually 7-9 are late stage. In this period he has managed to reach the 3rd rank and meets all requirements for entering the 4th rank.

It is not the same with Xiaohe that is just at the beginning of 3rd rank. But compared to others they have met, they are indeed worthy of being viewed as geniuses.

But the good resources they used gave them some edge over other geniuses. In a way, it is indeed the way cultivation has always been, the two were smart enough to gather enough resources to cultivate faster, he also then no one stopped them from doing it.

Situ was also very dedicated to his daily practice making him reach the peak of rank 3 peaks even faster.

As for the cultivation methods they are. a limitation and so they moved. Even the current place they were currently was not the destination but without enough power, as for this place, it was impossible for them to cross over.

He had already figured it out, so his first thought was to wait for the two to end their fight before making a choice on what next. Just looking at the man wave out and some unique energy seemed to be released from his arm.

The power seemed to be shocking and at this moment they had a feeling of being suppressed by some force making their hearts pound.

Even though the insights they obtained from the stone tablets might seem the same, what they gain from it individually is not the same.

In that way, cultivation techniques are rarely changed but rather improved over time by the creators.

Watching the fight, Situ had some clear goals on his martial path and hesitation on improving his level faded into nothing.

In the end, he completely calmed down and decided to increase his cultivation, "It seems I should be able to break through the fourth rank. My current state is already super alright. Regardless of the actions I take, it would be impossible to improve on the third stage. So let's enter the fourth stage."

He then shifted his eyes back to the fight." "That kind of attack that seems to utilize internal Qi on the outside seems like the way to go. Wait! That is more like sword Qi right!?

The two hidden under the bush had their eyes shining but for different reasons, as Situ was going to break through to the fourth level, this was a threshold of course as it was a great increase in power but for him, he it was a trivial thing to break through this stage.

He was certain to cross it fast but was thinking of continuing to become stronger on the same rank has always been the issue.

In the current stage, his limit had already been reached and nothing could be done anymore in the past few weeks he thought he could find other ways to overlook this, but it turned out it is almost impossible.

His cultivation technique comes fused with all aspects and he can use it to the peak of martial arts 9 ranks.

Every breakthrough also comes along with his physique, as he had realized that if the physique was improved then the realm would also follow. In the end, not everyone can afford to cultivate their physique since it requires a lot of resources.

Having no other thoughts, his mind was put into cultivation and in less than an hour the fight on the other side had ended, but he sat there for close to two hours before managing to push that four to the 4th level.

Qi and blood seemed to operate faster on his body and before he knew it some soft force seemed to slowly sip out of all his cells before being pushed towards the dantian. He felt it all and this was inner Qi. It was present but at the same time seemed absent.

He felt comfort all over, as his body seemed to relax with the operations of everything on his body. "Is this rank four? My power seemed to have just tripled..."