The Spirit Boat traveled through the clouds, and everyone looked back in unison at the increasingly distant Bei Ya Mountain.

Some were wondering when they could visit again.

Some were recalling the wondrous sights of the Flower Festival.

Song Yan, however, was thinking about that night, about Cong Yuzhen facing the yellow-robed demonic Cultivator, and that seemingly not-so-powerful Sword Qi.

"That demonic Cultivator, like Senior Cong, was also in the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"Moreover, he had demonic Qi protecting him... yet Senior Cong cut him down with a single Sword Qi..."

He muttered to himself, if not for Senior Brother Lu Ziye informing him, he would have truly thought he had met a fellow Sword Cultivator, as the opponent was a famous Spiritual Root Cultivator prodigy of the Sheyang Sect.

"One day, will I also be able to forge such a Sword Qi?"

...Two days later.

The mountain gate of the Cave Abyss Sect came into everyone’s view.

Although Bei Ya Mountain was beautiful, the familiar Entrance Plaza brought a sense of peace.

Leaving the three Outer Sect Disciples at the Entrance Plaza, Lu Ziye needed to first go to Taiping Peak in the Inner Sect to report.

This location was close to both Green Leaf Peak, where the Outer Sect Cultivators resided, and Lianyou Peak.

Gu Qingqing bid farewell to her two Senior Brothers and returned to Lianyou Peak.

"Qingfeng, I have something to do and need to go to the Market first. You can go back."

"Alright."

Returning to his Immortal Cave now would only mean resting; it would be better to go find Granny Qin first.

He could also ask about the Breakthrough Pill at the same time.

Lingyuanze Market, Relief Grocery Store.

It was still the same.

"Granny Qin~"

Eh?

The door wasn’t locked, but upon pushing it open, Granny Qin was not in the shop.

However, there was a note on the table.

"Ye Sheng, Granny has returned to her Family for a few days due to some matters."

"If you return from Bei Ya Mountain, just Cultivate on your own; don’t delay your Cultivation."

"Qin Xijun, left."

Family?

Granny Qin also had Family backing her... why had she never mentioned it?

However, these were her Family matters, and he couldn’t interfere.

It was already late, so he left the flower tea cakes brought from Bei Ya Mountain and returned to Green Leaf Peak.

This trip to Bei Ya Mountain had lasted over ten days.

Upon returning to his Immortal Cave, a faint sense of relaxation washed over him.

Xiao He immediately ran to her "toy area," on one hand checking if anything had been stolen, and on the other hand adding new toys acquired from Bei Ya Mountain this time.

He shed his clothes and stepped into the pond.

A faint sense of fatigue was washed away.

The moonlight outside the Immortal Cave slowly streamed down through the Immortal Cave’s skylight.

Looking into the distance, apart from the low-lying Wen Dao Gorge, the main peaks of the Cave Abyss Sect could vaguely be seen.

In the night sky, occasionally a streak of escaping light would cut through the clouds.

In the pond, Song Yan’s eyes were closed, and his previously restless mind slowly calmed down.

The first priority before him now was to find a Breakthrough Pill that could help him Breakthrough Qi Refining.

In the Late Stage of Qi Refining, no matter which level, the barrier to Breakthrough was difficult to overcome.

Perhaps there truly were Cultivators in this world who could Breakthrough without Medicinal Pills, relying solely on their own spiritual power.

Song Yan did not have that confidence.

Now, under the fusion of the Supreme Spirit Object and the Immaterial Spiritual Intent, the speed at which the Sword Dao Seed absorbed Spiritual Qi had begun to approach that of a dual Spiritual Root.

It could be considered a decent level.

But it was probably still far from being able to Breakthrough the Late Stage of Qi Refining without external aid.

When ordinary Cultivators reached the Bottleneck of the Late Stage of Qi Refining and prepared to Breakthrough, if they had no external assistance, they could only use their own spiritual power to assault the barrier.

If they failed, although their Realm would not regress, to attempt another Breakthrough, both their morale and the vitality of their spiritual power would decrease to varying degrees.

Especially the 9th Level of Qi Refining.

Each failure would slowly increase the difficulty of the Breakthrough.

As for the 10th Level of Qi Refining, it was actually just a common saying.

It represented the accumulation of spiritual power at the 9th Level of Qi Refining reaching its peak; there was no Bottleneck here.

If there was one, it would be Foundation Establishment.

Song Yan’s idea was very simple: he must be fully prepared for all three barriers in the Late Stage of Qi Refining and successfully Breakthrough in one go!

Breaking through to the Qi Refining Stage Seventh Level would allow him to be promoted to the Inner Sect.

He roughly estimated that the Sword Qi contained within the Flying Sword "Lianli" and the Useless Sword Box had saved him at least half a year of arduous Cultivation.

Now, he only needed to steadily refine his spiritual power and wait for the right moment for a Breakthrough Pill.

In addition to the Huang Ya Pill used for daily Cultivation, there were also three Spirit Gathering Pills sent by the Profound Origin Sect.

These couldn’t be considered Breakthrough Pills, but Song Yan planned to keep them.

If he took a Breakthrough Pill later and his spiritual power intensity was still lacking, they could serve as a remedial measure.

There were many types of Breakthrough Pills, and they could potentially appear at either the auction in Lingyuanze Market or Lingxi Market.

However, that depended on luck.

Actually, the Sect would also have Medicinal Pills with similar effects available for exchange using contribution points.

Since joining, he had accumulated quite a bit, and including this trip to Bei Ya Mountain, he probably had around 190 contribution points.

However, such special Medicinal Pills were usually snatched up as soon as the Sect released them.

Among them, some were exchanged by older Disciples who had no hope of Breakthrough, to support their Families.

Some were Cultivators at the 10th Level of Qi Refining, who no longer needed to Breakthrough minor Qi Refining Realms, and would exchange them to sell at auctions for spiritual resources, preparing for their future Foundation Establishment.

The remaining small portion were Cultivators who were genuinely facing a Breakthrough and constantly monitored the Sect’s treasury for updates.

Going to exchange now, the possibility of success was slim, but he still planned to try his luck tomorrow... The next day. Inner Sect Ling Quan Peak.

Song Yan walked out of the side hall of the treasury.

As expected, not to mention a proper Breakthrough Pill, even those like the "Spirit Gathering Pill" were in short supply.

And they were all Medicinal Pills with Breakthrough effects that were barely better than nothing.

A slight feeling of dejection settled in his heart.

"If I completely place my hopes on the Lingyuan Ze Night Market and Lingxi Market outside the Sect..."

It felt a bit like a headless fly... Originally, he could have asked the amazing Granny Qin, but she had gone back to her hometown to visit relatives.

Among those he was close to in the Sect, there were only a few.

Qingfeng and Qingqing had not yet reached the Late Stage of Qi Refining, so even if they had news of a Breakthrough Pill, there was no need for them to tell him, only adding to the competition.

In his helplessness, he thought of someone.

"Senior Brother Lin Qing... does he know any information in this regard..."

Although Senior Brother Lin had not yet reached the Realm of Level 9 Qi Refining.

But asking along the way wouldn’t take much effort.

Worst case, he could just wait for Granny Qin to return; her Senior is incredibly resourceful, and he could just ask her.

Following Senior Brother Lin’s Inner Sect Immortal Cave location, Song Yan couldn’t help but sigh at how well Inner Sect Disciples lived.

He arrived in front of Senior Brother Lin’s Immortal Cave.

"Buzz—"

Spiritual light infused the sound-transmitting talisman.

A moment later, the Immortal Cave’s spiritual array slowly opened.

A thin figure walked out from within.

Lin Qing’s complexion was very poor.

Song Yan was startled, his Divine Sense briefly sweeping over him.

Although his Realm had not fallen, his spiritual power fluctuations were very unstable.

It was as if... he was recovering from a serious injury.