"Fu…"
No matter how hard I try, I can't get used to Shenzhou's climate. I am used to the Sun being covered by clouds. The cold climate made it feel like I'm using air conditioning even if I am not.
The best thing about Shenzhou, though, is the food.
Slurp-!
I looked beside me. There are a dozen bowls stacked up the table. Kiana is hell-bent on finishing these Dan Dan Mian… or at least their equivalent in this world. The taste, components, and cooking are the same.
It is a noodle dish with peanuts, minced pork, chili, and red peppers. It's one of my favorite dishes. I never expected to come across it here. Whether it is dry or with soup, I will demolish them all.
Let's just ignore the same dozen stack of bowls on my side…
After thirty minutes, we left the family restaurant along with a new record of one hundred bowls… each.
Eh, Kiana ate a hundred and twenty. I only ate a hundred and ten.
"You really know your stuff!"
She said after wiping her mouth with a handkerchief.
"I haven't tried these yet."
"There's a lot you haven't tried in Shenzhou."
England…
The West in general did not use as much spices as the East. That's the difference in their culture. It is too bad for the spices they once sought, though.
"So, you are planning to do it today?"
"Breakthrough? Yes. We just need a good spot."
Kiana's eyes lit up.
"Will you fly?"
"Yes?"
"Take me with you!"
The Tuna got addicted to flying swords.
*****
I am not surprised to discover several mountains in Shenzhou corresponding to my world. Mount Tai, Emei, Wutai…
The provinces, however, deviate greatly.
Right now, we are in a dense forest. I don't know which trees are which, but they varied. My spiritual consciousness did not sense any other humans than the two of us in a large radius.
"Remember the lessons I taught? The one about the next level?"
"Hum! Foundation Establishment."
Kiana recited things like a diligent student. It is not an exact copy of my explanation. It showed she understood it herself.
"The three barriers. You can think of them as skill checks…"
I continued things from here.
After expanding three dantians at the same time, what comes next is the "skill checks" (i.e., three cultivation barriers) of the Foundation Establishment Realm. It tests the aspects of Body, Qi, and Mind—on whether you can hold on after exploding the dantian.
It fitted the three dantians cultivated during the Qi Refining Realm.
This cultivation system strengthened the three aspects needed to break through the next level. It is impeccable in this part.
As long as you did your job well in Qi Refining Realm, you already have a 50% chance in Foundation Establishment Realm. The other 50% depends on materials, personal conditions, and the likes.
Middle and High Grade Spirit Roots further boost this chance of success between seventy to a hundred percent. They don't need anything else, just their Spirit Roots.
Finally, there is an auxiliary technique especially made for the "skill checks". I discovered it three months ago. The "skill checks" do not necessarily need to be done all in one go. Every success or failed skill check, it can be stopped to prevent further damage; a technique's credit.
All in all, there is a 99.97% chance of success… or so Tesla would say. 99.97% is the percentile within three standard deviations of the mean.
Eh, consider that a hundred percent.
Enough with the yap.
As much as I wanted to have spiritual materials for this breakthrough, I am broke. If I fail, I am undeserving of my High Grade Spirit Roots.
That's it.
I swear to write my name upside down if I fail!
…
"Fu…"
I stood still on the firm ground. My right palm touched the back of my left hand. Both palms are positioned upwards.
"Kiana. Use your spiritual consciousness. That should allow you to observe better."
"Eh?"
Kiana paused with an unnatural look. It's like… she's caught red-handed?
…
Wait a minute.
"Use it to observe my dantians. Remember to stop using it once it becomes dangerous."
"A-ah! Right!"
I pushed aside my suspicions for now. I let go of the spiritual consciousness protecting my meridians and dantians.
A penetrating gaze came in that instant. My extremely sharp senses rang out.
I forcibly calmed it down. I made sure to reach my best state. I closed my eyes.
The surroundings quieted down. I forgot about Kiana's peeping. All that mattered is the three dantians inside me.
I gradually urged my spiritual qi circulation to become faster. It's not hard with my current level.
Hum-!
The first dantian corresponding to Body (Jing) shook. The momentum it received from the hastened circulation started to impact it. Each time it did so, it gave a low hum only audible to my ears.
Then…
BAM-!
It is the explosion of pure silver light.
I have a feeling I can force them back into their dantian state at the cost of injury. I have no plans of doing that whatsoever.
Pop-!
Crack-!
The light started to uncontrollably gush out of my meridians. My physical body started carrying a heavy load. It was about to thoroughly destroy my meridians and physical body when my spiritual consciousness acted.
Each strand…
The silver light came under my will. I started to mold them into the shape of my body.
Making sure the dantians do not get harmed…
What came next is to compress all of them into a liquid state. At the same time, it needs to cover the entire body.
Well, metaphysical body.
This is where meridians, dantians, and Spirit Roots exist. The technique called it the "soul". It is virtual and intangible, but it affects the physical body and the physical world.
These three along with the soul are all heterogeneous. Foundation Establishment fully smelts the meridians and dantians into the soul… which is this breakthrough process now.
Soon, the silver liquid covered it. They strangely coexisted with the thousands of small meridians.
It is time to smelt them.
Fuzz-!
The silver light began melting with the meridians, resulting in my physical body's adaptation. It is changing to be able to handle spiritual qi.
It caused yet another pain. I gritted my teeth. I am surprised I haven't coughed out blood yet.
Endure, endure…
God knows how much time had passed. When I came back to my senses, I saw pure silver light covering the places where my meridians used to exist. My entire body is filled with liquid-like silver. I felt like I could store and attract spiritual qi using my physical body.
These two signifies the success of the first skill check.
The sense of power affirmed it. My entire body gave some cracking and breaking sounds. The metaphysical body began to influence my physical body…
I feel the lightest I have been.
Should I use my technique and rest for a while?
…
No.
The sensations of my newly-upgraded body assaulted my senses. I tried to do the usual circulation.
It worked, but…
There's a faster way to do it.
The reason why we explode the Body (Jing) dantian first is because it changes the meridian circulation into pore circulation. I can now breathe in spiritual qi with my physical body's pores. Spiritual qi is then stored on both the physical and metaphysical body, like a river splitting into two.
I used that brand new function now.
My entire body greedily sucked in spiritual qi from the outside world. My consumption exceeded my prior record in a jaw-dropping manner.
Amidst the sea of silver liquid, the second and third dantian acted chaotic. Both of them are shaking due to the explosion of the first dantian. This is why cultivators need the auxiliary technique to pause breakthroughs.
If left unattended, the breakthrough will automatically happen whether you are ready or not.
BAM-!
The Qi dantian exploded next. I simply did the previous process.
Amidst the silver liquid, light blue liquid swam freely. That is the sign of spiritual qi flowing unto the liquid humanoid form.
BAM-!
The Mind (Shen) dantian exploded last. The huge amount of silver light began to be compressed into a liquid state. The same process as last time occurred. The hazy gray light turned into liquid.
At first, I started recalling all of my worries. The fact I died in my previous world. The reactions of my parents. The fear of things going wrong in this world. The ultimate simp who can do anything to resurrect Kallen…
Shiing-!
The sword in my heart gave a hum. Akin to breaking glass, it struck all my worries and reverted me to my level-headed state.
There is no need to worry about these things. I can either move forward or be stuck at this moment.
My parents… they should move on.
Things going wrong… we won't know until we truly encounter it.
Otto… he will have his day.
This time, I chose to move forward.
My mind turned blank.
Ring-!
The sound of bells resounded in my mind. It reached an unprecedented level of clarity. The world slowed down in my eyes. I can see, feel, and hear my surroundings.
Moments later, I regained my focus. These senses stopped appearing. My concentration went to me alone.
All three dantians have exploded. It resulted into three different liquid forms existing inside my metaphysical body.
It's time to do the last step: Convergence.
These three different liquid states will transform my body, mind, and soul to a higher level!
Buzz-!
Fwoosh-!
All sorts of sounds rang in my ears. My extreme concentration lost sight of the outside world. My senses are now focused observing my internal changes.
Silver, blue, and gray slowly melted into a golden color.
The gold liquid started to turn into five different vibrant colors.
The moment everything turned into a five-colored liquid state, my ears buzzed. They no longer took on the outline of my body. They turned into countless veins akin to blood veins. Their diameters are far thicker than what typical veins should be. In my chest is something akin to a heart—my sole dantian, per se.
At the same time, my physical body began absorbing spiritual qi. The spiritual qi began to match my attributes, the five yang elements.
My physique alone can now handle spiritual qi, in turn making it stronger than before.
Hum-!
A five-colored light blinded my senses. The formation of a unified dantian was completed. The liquid spiritual qi flowed throughout my soul. My mind is sublimated to another level, too.
By the time I recovered, endless power surged throughout my body.
Crack-!
Bam-!
My eyes saw my surroundings. The trees surrounding me are all broken. The ground beneath cracked.
My senses exploded with countless information.
The flapping of birds' wings.
The sound of leaves rustling.
The falling of stones…
…
I see everything.
Before I could revel into this powerful state, a low rumble rang across above.
I looked up and saw several thunderclouds forming.
The techniques said it.
During breakthroughs, cultivators disturb the state of spiritual qi. Once mixed with natural laws, it transforms into varying tribulations. These are stained with the cultivators' aura, hence it locks onto them. Thunder tribulation is the most frequent, followed by other tribulation variants.
I can make them disappear by cutting off the [Two Phase Art]. Without spiritual qi, it will turn to nothing.
But, it gives away the "rewards" it gives.
I glimpsed upon Kiana in the corner of my eyes. She moved away from my current spot. She avoided the disturbances caused by my breakthrough.
As expected of the Tuna.
Third-class intelligence, first-class combat intuition.
I smiled at her and said nothing else. The jian came out of my storage ring. Its handle rested firmly in my grasp.
With a thought, my entire body floated above the ground. A small amount of spiritual qi is spent, which is equivalent to nothing in my current level.
Looking at the thunderclouds above…
It's time to aura farm.