Yes, the Fire Orchid was something he got from his previous sect task. To be honest, the previous owner had a chance to break through the 10th stage of Qi-refining during his last trip, but after finding the Fire Orchid, he decided to delay it. However, things got out of hand after the assassination attempt.
Now Stiles planned to break the shackles of his body with the help of the Fire Orchid. In this world, the cultivation system is divided into Qi cultivation and body cultivation. Qi refiners need a spiritual root and bone structure, while body cultivators only need sufficient resources and diligent practice over their body and blood. But compared to Qi cultivation, body refining is ten times harder.
Many body cultivators have even abandoned their practice midway due to the extreme resource consumption; that's how hard cultivating one's body is. Stiles had no other choice; his only path was to gamble. Even with the Fire Orchid, there was no guarantee he could break the shackles of his body. There was only a 50% chance of success.
Before coming to the cave, he exchanged all his resources for body-tempering pills and five Jade Tempering Pills. The Jade Tempering Pill helps temper the body to a certain extent, increasing the chance of breaking the body's shackles. Honestly, he spent all his fortune buying those Jade Tempering Pills. They cost him 2,000 low-grade spirit stones.
Right now, his Qi cultivation was at the 9th level of Qi-refining, and his body cultivation was at the same stage. The previous owner hadn't slacked in cultivating his body; that was one reason he was able to kill the Horned Serpent, which was one minor realm above him. But he couldn't leap two or three minor realms.
To break the shackles of the human body, one must open the Ascension Gateway. Before a breakthrough, the body is like a cage, bound by shackles—the physical limits of a human being. According to his knowledge, if one wants to break these shackles, they must open the Ascension Gateway.
Opening the Ascension Gateway means going through the life-and-death tribulation. During this tribulation, the spirit and soul transcend their previous state and merge into one. This stage is called Will Manifestation, the first stage where the soul and spirit combine. This is also why body cultivators are rare: normally, one can only manifest their will after breaking through to Golden Core, but body cultivators can do it as long as they broke through the shackles
Stiles closed his eyes and swallowed ten body-tempering pills. Feeling the burn spreading through his body, he adjusted his state, then swallowed one Jade Tempering Pill. It began tempering his bones, polishing them to their peak.
During the process, his skin turned reddish and pale; he was feeling uncontrollable pain. After an hour, when he felt his bones had been fully tempered by the pill, he took the Fire Orchid and swallowed it in one go.
A mist of heat erupted from his body as if molten iron had been poured into him. He could feel every muscle and vein screaming in agony. It felt like all his bones were being shattered.
"GAAAAA—!"
His body twisted and arched violently from the pain. The torment continued for thirty minutes, and he felt like he was experiencing hell. As the pain persisted, he gradually adapted, but soon it surged to an even higher level.
At the same time, Stiles felt his consciousness fading.
"No… I can't let this happen. Damn it, focus! I don't want to die like this. I already lost my previous life; now that I've come here, I won't lose this one too!"
He forced himself to focus on his spirit and soul, trying to merge them. This was the hardest part of the process, but he had no choice; the life-and-death tribulation demanded it.
He felt a wisp of his spirit and soul merging. As time passed, more and more of his soul and spirit gathered together, merging painfully as if countless knives were stabbing him.
When the last bit of soul and spirit came together, he didn't waste any time.
"Condense!" he shouted.
"GAAAH—! Damn… This is too painful!"
"HAAAAAA…!"
After an hour, he felt his Ascension Gateway loosening, and a torrent of energy began flowing through his meridians. His strength increased bit by bit.
He didn't know how long had passed, but eventually he felt a new surge of power within him. He had successfully passed through the life-and-death tribulation, merged his soul and spirit, achieved Will Manifestation, and unlocked the Ascension Gateway, breaking the shackles of human limitation.
After an unknown amount of time, Stiles opened his eyes. He could feel that his body cultivation had broken through to Foundation Establishment, though his Qi cultivation remained the same.
He noticed the ground around him stained with black liquid, the impurities expelled from his body, accumulated over many years. As he stood up, cracks echoed from his body, caused by his breakthrough.
"Finally, I broke the shackles. Now I don't need to worry about getting expelled," Stiles thought happily. His main goal had been achieved.
"Now I need to get cleaned up and find a way to fix my spiritual root."
Thinking about his spiritual root, he sighed. He still had time, so he felt slightly relieved.
But as he was about to take a step, he froze. His breath halted. A transparent panel hovered in front of him.
He murmured in shock, "Is this… a system? Or some kind of AI?"
Stiles had read many novels in his previous life, so he was familiar with the fictional concept of systems and golden fingers. But seeing one appear for real excited him. Without hesitation, he studied the panel.
[System Notification]
"The host has awakened the Daily Fortune System."
Damage to the host's spiritual root detected.
Analyzing compensation package…
Compensation complete.
Reward Granted: Nine Lotus Spirit-Nourishing Pill
Action Required: Please claim your reward.
Stiles was dumbstruck.
The first question that came to his mind was, "What the hell is the Nine Lotus Spirit-Nourishing Pill?"
He had never heard of such a pill, not even from the original owner's memories. But he knew it had to be powerful.
He pressed "Claim."
A pill appeared in his hand, shaped exactly like a lotus with nine petals, but small, almost pebble-sized. A rich aroma and powerful energy radiated from it.
He quickly placed the pill into his storage bag. There were many powerful beings in the sect, and he didn't want any old monsters detecting it. If they caught him, they would question how he obtained such a pill. Even if he lied, they could easily see through it. They might even search his soul if that happened, they would discover the system.
Better to stay low-key. Even if he had a system and grew strong, he didn't want to show off. Silence was the safest path.
After sorting things out, he returned to the system interface. He wanted to understand its functions and settings.
He didn't find many features, but that didn't mean he found nothing.
From his investigation, he learned the system was called the Daily Fortune System. As the name suggested, it provided one reward per day. This didn't mean he would get powerful rewards every time—his rewards depended on his fortune. The pill he got wasn't based on his daily luck; it was a compensation pack, a system gift. He still hadn't claimed today's actual reward.
Aside from that, the system had a storage space capable of holding unlimited items. In the future, Stiles wouldn't need to buy a spatial ring at all.
He placed the pill inside the system inventory. Once inside, he discovered he could view its information. Clicking on it revealed:
Nine Lotus Spirit-Nourishing Pill
Forged by the legendary alchemist ****** during the lost Era of *****, this divine pill was crafted from the essence of nine celestial stars and the cores of nine celestial suns.
Upon consuming the pill, the user's shattered spiritual root will be reforged into a Divine-grade root perfectly attuned to their innate potential.
Hint: There is a small chance of awakening a Divine-grade physique upon consumption.
Reading the description, a cold breath caught in Stiles' throat.
"So, does that mean after consuming this pill, I'll be able to repair my spiritual root and turn it into a Divine-grade root?"
Stiles still didn't understand what a Divine-grade spiritual root truly meant. From the memories he had inherited, the highest spiritual root in the Darwin Continent was the Saint-grade spiritual root.
He knew he currently possessed a Sky-grade spiritual root, which already made him a potential candidate to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.
But having a Saint-grade root meant one could break through to the Void Piercing Realm.
It was said that anyone who reached the Void Piercing Realm could control heavenly laws and rules at will.
The term "heavenly laws and rules" didn't mean much to Stiles, but he could guess that it was some kind of tremendously powerful ability.
As for realms above the Void Piercing Realm, he had no idea at all. But he did know one thing: the Celestial Sect Leader was a Void Piercing cultivator.
That alone was the reason the Celestial Sect was one of the top three sects in the entire Darwin Continent.