Cultivation, when you get right down to it, is fundamentally about accumulation. Which one of those High-Tier Cultivators didn’t slowly pile up their strength over hundreds of years? If you disregard issues of foundation, wouldn’t just popping pills let your cultivation soar like crazy? Does that mean every Alchemy Master is someone with a sky-high cultivation?

So while a sudden spike in cultivation is certainly exhilarating, the side effect is a shaky and unstable foundation from advancing too fast.

This isn’t just empty talk—it’s Shen Hao’s top priority that he must address right now.

For four days straight, Shen Hao spent all his time, except eating, drinking, and taking care of nature’s calls, on Strengthening the Foundation and Nourishing the Essence, stabilizing his drifting Dao Foundation little by little. With some more slow adjustment, he’d be able to fully eliminate this hidden danger.

The rest days Tang Qingyuan gave amounted to seven in total. Counting the day spent on his breakthrough, Shen Hao still had two days left to rest.

Shen Hao withdrew the Defense Array, officially ending his closed-door training.

"Master! You’ve finally come out of seclusion!"

"Yeah. Got any hot water? Fetch some—I want to take a hot bath. By the way, make some extra hand-pulled noodles and braised pig’s feet; I’ll eat after I’m done bathing."

"Yes, Master. Don’t worry, the hot water and food have been ready for you all this time!"

Xia Nu cheerfully ran off to the kitchen to get hot water for Shen Hao. She’d been prepared these past few days—bathwater, food, everything—because she knew her master would definitely ask for them after coming out of seclusion. Sure enough. But as Xia Nu hurried away, she wondered to herself: Why does Master look even better than before? And he smells even nicer now!

Xia Nu wouldn’t know that after Shen Hao entered the Gathering Spirit Realm, his entire life foundation had been elevated—a bit more immortal, you could say.

But why didn’t Tang Qingyuan, who was also in the Gathering Spirit Realm—hell, even the Eighth Layer—show any change as obvious as Shen Hao?

Shen Hao had thought about this too. His take was that when he achieved Gathering Spirit and Breaking Qi, his meridians, bolstered by the tattoo on his chest, were expanded to the absolute limit. In other words, at the threshold of his breakthrough, the strength of his meridians was more than ten times that of a normal Qi Refining Realm cultivator. With stronger meridians, the amount of True Qi they could contain was multiplied accordingly. That effect multiplied again in the construction of his foundation and the breadth and depth of his Sea of Consciousness after the soul "emerged."

That was the real difference, which made for such a stark distinction.

Of course, this was just Shen Hao’s own understanding—whether this was truly the case, he honestly couldn’t figure out for now.

While Xia Nu was busy preparing the bath, Shen Hao slipped out to the backyard, drew the Yanji Saber, then stared at a hundred-pound stone lock a little over two zhang away and slashed violently at it.

An invisible blade aura surged out along the Yanji Saber’s edge. Even with Shen Hao’s eyes, he couldn’t catch its trajectory. In an instant, it crossed the two-zhang distance and sliced the stone lock in half like tofu, lodging more than a foot deep into the ground with a crisp sound!

Previously, the blade aura would dissipate after only a few feet from the blade, but now, even two zhang away, it could still cut through iron like mud! This leap in power left even Shen Hao himself a bit dumbstruck.

But a Great Realm’s upgrade isn’t just about amping up one blade aura. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The "Spirit" of the Gathering Spirit Realm refers to the soul. Now it participates in the Celestial Cycle of cultivation, no longer just a bystander, and the "Sea of Consciousness" that emerged in the cycle isn’t just for show.

The Great Five Elements True Qi Talisman describes it like this: Break Qi and carry Spirit; when Spirit emerges, Skill is achieved!

That word "Skill" is the biggest difference between the Gathering Spirit and Qi Refining Realms.

Qi Refining is just that—refining Qi. "Qi" means True Qi, whose uses are running faster, reacting quicker, tanking more blows, recovering faster, things like that. Cultivate deep enough and you can make things like "Blade Aura" with magical artifacts. That’s it. On the surface, the gap with ordinary folk is still within reason—like Shen Hao before.

But in the Gathering Spirit Realm, you not only keep refining Qi, you start refining Spirit—your soul. What’s more, once the soul officially enters cultivation, the uses of True Qi grow broader. In certain situations or with the right methods, you can even meet the criteria to draw on Heaven and Earth Energy. That method is called a: Skill.

There’s a description of "Skill" in the Great Five Elements True Qi Talisman too: Skill is what living beings rely on. It can defy fate, even pluck stars and seize moons.

Exaggerated, sure, but at least it shows just how vital "Skill" is on the road of cultivation.

Now that Shen Hao had officially stepped into the Gathering Spirit Realm, he could start thinking about learning the section on "Skill" from the Great Five Elements True Qi Talisman.

However, since the Great Five Elements True Qi Talisman was a Yellow Level Technique, it didn’t actually have any powerful Skills—only the widespread, basic "Great Five Elements Skills." They sound impressive, but in truth, they’re just foundation-level skills of the Five Elements. That said, because they’re so basic, the Talisman describes thirty Skills in all.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—the Five Elements. The Great Five Elements True Qi Talisman lists six Skills for each.

But you can’t actually learn all thirty.

Generally speaking, for the Gathering Spirit Realm Ninth Layer, you can learn one new Skill every three Layers. For example, Layers One to Three—one Skill; Four to Six—two Skills; Seven to Nine—three Skills.

This is based on the average soul strength and meridian strength at different stages of cultivation. Every Skill you study places a certain load on your soul and meridians. If you want to learn more, you’ll need to boost your soul and meridian strength.

This is where talent shines through.

Some people are innately gifted, born with stronger meridians or souls, so they have a head start in skill learning. For example, some can learn two Skills as early as Gathering Spirit Realm Second Layer, and for some prodigies, even in the First Layer—it’s not unheard of.

Before going into seclusion, Shen Hao already had his mind made up about his first Skill after entering the Gathering Spirit Realm.

Of the "Great Five Elements Skills," Shen Hao’s top pick was Escape Skill. That splits into five types, one for each element—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. What Shen Hao was eyeing was Earth Escape.

After so many close calls, Shen Hao always felt his greatest weakness was "movement." Escape Skill could patch up that flaw perfectly, and Earth Escape was the most widely practical and useful of them all for him.

But no need to rush—time to just relax for now.

Sweating from her brow, Xia Nu finished drawing the hot water and called for Shen Hao to come bathe, even giving him a careful shoulder massage just as she always did, gossiping happily all the while.

For Xia Nu, her master is the most important part of her life now. Not to mention, this master’s actually pretty decent; aside from occasionally tugging her ears, he treats her quite well.

"Master, tomorrow I want to go to East Market with Ms. Xin’Er. I heard there’s a new boot shop over there, with the best craftsmanship from the Imperial City, and your boots are all worn out, so I’ll look at a couple of pairs for you."

"Sure. Go ahead. Help Aunt Zhang and Housekeeper Hu pick out a pair or two as well—the price is up to you. Also, if you want anything for yourself, just get it. Don’t be shy with the silver, so long as you don’t spend recklessly. If it’s not enough, ask Housekeeper Hu for more."

Xia Nu replied with delight, her hands working so comfortably that Shen Hao closed his eyes to enjoy it.

Ps: Thanks to everyone for the rewards and votes—your support is what keeps me writing. Also, at the moment, I don’t plan on opening a reader group for this book, because, honestly, it’s a hassle.