33: Simultaneous breakthrough, late stage of Qi Refining!

Just then, Qing Xuanzi, the Sect Master, spoke up, saying, "If you don't come within three days, this sword will take your life." Then, the longsword embedded in Elder Qiu's chest transformed into a streak of light and drilled into Elder Qiu's Sea of Consciousness. Qing Xuanzi himself also vanished.

"Elder Qiu, the Sect Master had the heart to spare your life, why seek your own death? When a person dies, it's like a lamp extinguishing; death isn't scary, living is." Yang Kai felt relieved when he saw Sect Master Qing Xuanzi leave, knowing that he had made the right gamble, and immediately began to console Elder Qiu.

The injuries on Elder Qiu's body were gradually healing. He slowly sat up, sighed softly, and said, "For all these years, every moment I've thought about avenging the Demonic Lord and my other Demonic Lord brothers. I've imagined countless times the moment I would wield my sword against him again, but the result is this. The gap between him and me is already too vast to be measured by Realm or power."

"The Sect Master presides over the Flowing Cloud Sect, with endless resources for him to Cultivate, while you were suppressed here. Isn't it normal for there to be a gap?" Yang Kai was somewhat puzzled, unable to understand why this defeat had such a huge impact on Elder Qiu.

It wasn't surprising that he couldn't understand. Over the past three years, he had experienced too many failures, some narrowly missed, and some crushed by Realm. To this day, no failure could cause Yang Kai to feel even a hint of negative emotion. He would only continue to Cultivate until the day he would never fail again.

"If Qing Xuanzi had suppressed me with his Cultivation, then I would naturally have nothing to say. What's terrifying is that he actually... Alas, let's not dwell on it. In this life, I can no longer catch up to him. Since I can't achieve vengeance in my lifetime, why should I cling to life in this world?" Elder Qiu gave a bitter laugh, looking at his hands powerlessly, mocking his own weakness.

"Elder Qiu, that's not right! I believe your time for revenge is precisely about to arrive! Just now, the Sect Master said he wants you to manage the Shadow and become its leader. As the leader of the Shadow, you will be by the Sect Master's side daily and will also control a considerable amount of Cultivation resources. While secretly accumulating power, you wait for the opportune moment. Wouldn't that be wonderful?" Yang Kai immediately painted a beautiful picture for Elder Qiu.

"Why didn't you say that in front of Qing Xuanzi just now?" Elder Qiu also laughed in exasperation, stood up, and kicked Yang Kai, scolding him with a smile.

"I would dare to say that even in front of the Sect Master. Since the Sect Master said he would let you be the leader of the Shadow, he naturally considered this issue. But he still made this decision, which shows that he is confident that you won't pose a threat to him, and in reality, that is true. However, Elder Qiu, there's no such thing as guarding against a thief for a thousand days. I believe that one day, there will definitely be a perfect opportunity. Even if I fail and die then, it would be much better than dying so insignificantly now." Yang Kai's tone was relaxed and casual, but the content of his words was cold and realistic.

"Good! Then I'll be his Qing Xuanzi's dog for a few hundred years! As long as he shows a slight flaw, I, this hyena, will pounce on him and tear his neck apart!" Elder Qiu burst out laughing, regaining his high spirits.

"Alright, kid, your Cultivation has reached the most crucial moment! I can't provide Heaven And Earth Treasure to pave your way, but if you dare to try taking this step, I guarantee you won't die. Do you dare to try?" Elder Qiu stared at Yang Kai, the swift change leaving Yang Kai somewhat dumbfounded.

"What's there to be afraid of!" Yang Kai smiled faintly, sat back down, and immersed his mind within his body. After taking another careful look at the pathway, he controlled the nine acupoints to exert force, and the pathway was immediately torn in half.

"Hurry and control your acupoints to connect the ends of the pathway!" Elder Qiu's words reached Yang Kai's body immediately. Yang Kai received the signal and simultaneously began to control the acupoints to move, but the acupoints, which had previously moved unhindered within the pathway, found it extremely difficult to move within Yang Kai's seemingly unobstructed body. Their movement was slow, far from catching up to the broken pathway sliding into the distance.

Just then, the mysterious energy that had previously helped Yang Kai's Cultivation improve appeared again, clearing a path for Yang Kai's nine acupoints. An invisible barrier was pushed aside, and the nine acupoints lined up, chasing after the pathway at high speed.

After a while, Yang Kai's nine acupoints had approached the broken pathway. The two acupoints at the head and tail had successively connected with the pathway, and a semi-hidden pathway stabilized, no longer drifting away.

At this moment, Yang Kai was surprised to find that Spiritual Qi began to pour into his body again, a continuous stream of Spiritual Qi filling the semi-visible pathway.

Beside Yang Kai, Elder Qiu raised his token again, actively opening the Spiritual Qi exit within the Qinxu Tower to provide energy for Yang Kai's Breakthrough.

After an unknown period, the half-pathway, supported by the nine acupoints as a bridge, completely transformed from illusory to solid, becoming smooth and perfect, indistinguishable from each other. The nine acupoints returned to the pathway, slowly rotating again. The new pathway contained a large amount of empty space, available for new acupoints to reside.

Other than that, there were no further changes. Yang Kai silently observed for a moment, finding no issues with the operation of the pathway and acupoints, and also breathed a sigh of relief. At this point, Elder Qiu's voice once again entered Yang Kai's body.

"Kid, don't just stand there, quickly absorb Spiritual Qi and Cultivate! I still have some Origin Qi left in your body, just enough to help you Breakthrough to the Late Stage of Qi Refining!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Kai immediately understood. He immersed his mind into his Dantian, activated the Flowing Cloud Heart Sutra, and began to absorb Spiritual Qi to increase his magical power.

After a moment, Yang Kai woke up, gently exhaling a mouthful of turbid Qi. Elder Qiu also put away his token, and the invisible Spiritual Qi exit quietly closed, no longer emitting Spiritual Qi.

"Elder Qiu, I activated so many acupoints in one go and opened up a new pathway, but why don't I feel any significant increase in power?" Yang Kai clenched his fist, feeling the changes in his body, and asked with some confusion.

"That's natural. With the Ninefold Mixed Origin Body Refining Art that you Cultivate, the greatest increase in power only occurs at the very beginning of each cycle. If your first acupoint increased your strength from zero to nine, then diligently Cultivating to the Major Achievement of this first stage only increases it from nine to ten. But you don't need to be anxious. As long as you Breakthrough to the second cycle, your strength will increase from ten to ninety. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worthy of the resources you've spent on Cultivation!" Elder Qiu had a somewhat gleeful expression.

Yang Kai's expression was a bit strange; he hadn't expected such an odd and illogical Cultivation Technique.

"But Elder Qiu, you're a demonic Cultivator, why are you so familiar with my Flowing Cloud Sect's Cultivation Technique? And why do I feel that the Breakthrough wasn't that difficult, almost as if it happened naturally?" Yang Kai shook his head, suppressing his doubts about the Cultivation Technique, and instead asked the question that had troubled him for many days.