Chapter 27

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Chapter 27: Internal Breathing

Ye Yun took a deep breath. The spiritual energy here was many times denser than in the collection valleys he’d previously stayed in. Without the pill light interference from the Hall of Refining the Heart, each breath now felt like cool water washing through his body.

“My cultivation level has reached the peak of Refining Organs stage four. Breaking through to Refining Organs stage five would give me a real chance at making the top eight in the upcoming competition.”

He didn’t waste time. After stepping into the room and briefly glancing at the furnishings, he sat directly on a meditation cushion.

With a flip of his right hand, all his spirit stones appeared on his palm. After setting aside the low-grade ones, he found himself holding over sixty middle-grade spirit stones and seven top-grade ones.

This quantity filled him with absolute confidence for his future path of cultivation.

“A Spirit Gathering Array would’ve sped up the energy absorption… But having these stones is like entering a treasure mountain – I’ll just have to dig slowly.”

“No use overthinking. Unless something goes wrong, I won’t need more stones for half a year.”

He remembered an ancient text mentioning how array experts could arrange spirit stones into Spirit Gathering Arrays to release energy faster while purifying it. But even the Heavenly Sword Sect had few such great cultivators, let alone here at Tian Zhu Peak.

Holding middle-grade stones in both hands, Ye Yun cleared his mind. The sect’s basic cultivation technique began circulating.

Pure spiritual energy trickled into his palms, flowing through his veins toward his chest.

*Clang!*

A cold voice suddenly boomed through his quarters: “All new disciples assemble at Martial Hall’s square in three days at noon.”

The emotionless announcement repeated thrice before fading.

Ye Yun’s cultivation session broke. He frowned. “Weren’t the West Hall trials supposed to happen in ten days? Why summon us now?” The recent changes felt increasingly abnormal.

Three days wasn’t enough to reach stage five, but his three years as a servant disciple had taught him patience. Anxiety only harmed cultivation. After a dozen steady breaths, he resumed training.

Modified by the black and white lights, his absorption speed far surpassed ordinary servant disciples. Yet after half a day, the two middle-grade stones only dimmed slightly – their energy reserves dwarfed his current needs. He’d once needed five days to drain fifty low-grade stones, equivalent to half a middle-grade stone. Shen Mo’s ability to empty a middle-grade stone instantly was truly monstrous.

Ye Yun maintained his steady rhythm, converting stone energy into spiritual power. Suddenly, faint light flashed in his dantian. The black and white lights coalesced into an orderly swirling sphere.

All absorbed energy surged toward this vortex like floodwaters breaching a dam. In moments, his body held no residual energy. Before Ye Yun could react, the stones in his palms began discharging energy at terrifying speeds – thin streams becoming roaring rivers through his veins.

The black and white lights devoured everything like bottomless pits. His middle-grade stones crumbled to dust within breaths. Energy now poured in through every pore, surpassing even Shen Mo’s absorption rate. The lights kept draining his remaining stones relentlessly, showing no signs of stopping.

One after another, middle-grade spirit stones turned to ash. In less than half an hour, all sixty-plus middle-grade spirit stones had become dust, their spiritual energy fully absorbed without any residue.

The black and white lights finally seemed satiated, slowly retreating into his dantian as if about to vanish.

“What in the world…?”

Ye Yun stood stunned, yet an unavoidable surge of bitter reluctance rose in his heart.

These sixty-plus middle-grade spirit stones represented immense wealth—enough to sustain half a year of cultivation. Now they’d vanished in moments, leaving him with barely any absorbed energy.

But just then, a strand of spiritual energy shot from the black and white lights.

Pure. Vast. Clean. Effortless.

Eight characters flashed through Ye Yun’s mind—an instinctive judgment. Never had he sensed, nor even imagined, such spiritual energy.

*Pure* meant its energy felt untainted to the core.

*Vast* implied power beyond measure.

*Clean* revealed not a speck of impurity.

*Effortless* meant this spiritual power ignored cultivation boundaries, ready to be absorbed freely.

Ye Yun froze. His body instinctively hungered for this energy, every cell transforming into a ravenous beast. Before he realized it, his basic cultivation technique had already activated.

Even advanced practitioners needed time to refine spiritual energy, always losing some during the process. Yet this energy flowed like his own—pre-purified, flooding every muscle and vein without waste or delay.

“How?!”

Shock numbed Ye Yun’s body. His mind sharpened alarmingly.

He half-believed he could now resist Qi refining stage disciples’ pressure unaided by the black and white lights. For someone at his level, this defied reason.

Eyes closed, he sensed ants dragging leaves across the courtyard’s stone walls. To his left, babbling water didn’t mask a bird’s landing on rock.

He detected the world’s spiritual energy pulsing—entering him with each breath. Before the Internal Breathing stage, absorbing raw worldly energy was nearly impossible. Yet now, each circulation through his body retained a fraction. Tiny gains, but revolutionary compared to before.

Suddenly, Ye Yun realized he’d stopped mouth-breathing. His very pores had become mouths, drawing in energy.

Worldly spiritual energy poured through his skin. Guided by his basic cultivation technique, it nourished flesh and widened meridians.

BOOM!

A great crash echoed from his soul’s depths. The spiritual power from the black and white lights vanished instantly. Energy from all directions rushed toward him like subjects greeting their sovereign.

Within a hundred zhang, birdsong, insect hums, rustling grass—all resonated in his ears, mind, and bones. An inexpressible clarity blossomed within.

The Internal Breathing stage—fifth stage of body refinement.

Ye Yun trembled with euphoria.