Chapter 6: Breakthrough

I sat cross-legged on the stone platform in my secluded meditation chamber, the heavy stone door locked tight behind me.

With a single thought, I took out the reward resting in my system inventory. A porcelain vial appeared in my palm, warm to the touch and humming with vitality that felt like the beating heart of a slumbering beast.

When I uncorked the vial, a golden radiance lit up the dim chamber, filling the room with the intoxicating scent of ancient medicinal herbs and crackling dragon essence.

[Heaven-Grade Nirvana Dragon-Bone Elixir!]

[Grade: Heaven-Grade High Tier!]

[Effect: Reconstructs the skeletal frame, purifies mundane bloodlines, and washes mundane spirit roots into Heaven-Grade resonance. Grants boundless pure spiritual essence to break through cultivation barriers effortlessly.]

"Heaven-Grade... to think I spent years grinding for scraps when Heaven had this waiting for me," I chuckled to myself, marveling at the golden liquid swirling inside.

Without hesitating another second, I tipped the vial into my mouth.

The elixir went down like liquid sunlight, silky and cool against my tongue, before detonating inside my belly like a miniature sun. A searing wave of draconic energy tore through my meridians, but instead of the excruciating pain typical of high-grade pills, a soothing warmth wrapped around my bones, dissolving every bit of grime, fatigue, and hidden injury accumulated over decades of desperate cultivation.

Crack. Crack.

My mundane bones fractured and knitted back together in fractions of a second, gleaming with a faint, crystalline golden sheen beneath my skin. The sluggish, murky spiritual roots that had chained me to mediocrity for my entire life were thoroughly scrubbed clean, glowing with an immaculate, jade-like brilliance as they ascended straight to the pristine purity of Heaven-Grade Spiritual Roots.

My Golden Core began to spin wildly inside my dantian, drinking in the endless torrent of celestial energy like a parched desert welcoming the monsoon.

Early-Stage Core Formation... shattered!

Mid-Stage Core Formation... broken!

Late-Stage Core Formation!

The expansion didn’t stop until my Golden Core solidified to the size of a fist, radiating a dense, terrifying pressure that shook dust from the ceiling rafters. I exhaled a long breath of turbid, grey air that cut through the stone floor like a stray blade, feeling light, boundless, and several decades younger.

Decades of stagnation had vanished in less than an hour.

I stood up, shaking out my sleeves with a wide grin on my face. "System, you truly are my bro. Years of hard work really can’t compare to one good investment."

Still, as thrilling as the breakthrough was, I knew where the credit was truly due. If I hadn’t recruited that little wildcat from the entrance trial, I’d still be pacing my courtyard, wondering how to placate Wan’er.

Curious to see how she was holding up after taking her Marrow Cleansing Pill, I opened the stone door and strolled out into the quiet courtyard.

The midday sun had shifted toward late afternoon, casting a golden hue over the bamboo grove. As I neared the guest quarters, the door swung open, and Shen Qingxue stepped out into the courtyard.

She had completely washed away the layers of mud, ash, and dried blood. Dressed in a clean, plain white disciple robe that was slightly loose on her slender frame, her raven hair was still damp, cascading over her narrow, delicate shoulders. With the filth gone, her face was striking-pale, carved from cool mutton-fat jade, featuring sharp willow brows, a straight, noble nose, and pink lips that were no longer cracked or bleeding.

The emaciated look was still there, but beneath her pale skin, a healthy, rosy vitality was already blossoming.

"Master!"

The moment she spotted me standing by the stone pavilion, her dark eyes lit up. She hurried forward, her steps noticeably lighter and far more agile than before, then immediately dropped onto her knees to offer a formal kowtow.

"Qingxue thanks Master for saving my life and granting me the medicine!" she said, her voice clear, steady, and laden with sincere, trembling reverence. "The pill burned away the poison that had crippled my spiritual roots and chest for months. I feel like I have been reborn into a new world."

I stepped forward, catching her shoulders with both hands and gently pulling her upright. "I told you earlier, you don’t need to kneel every time you see me. Stand up properly."

As my hands brushed her shoulders, I sent a subtle wisp of divine sense into her body to inspect her condition.

Her meridians, once completely clogged with mortal poison, were wide open and clear as crystal streams. The dull, unresponsive ’waste root’ that the deacon had mocked had transformed completely; all five elemental affinities, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, were humming in perfect, harmonious equilibrium.

In the eyes of short-sighted fools, a Five Elemental Root was slow to cultivate, but for someone with an unbreakable Asura Dao Heart, mastering all five paths meant she would eventually become an unstoppable juggernaut with zero elemental weaknesses.

"Good. The bone poison is gone, and your Five Elemental Roots are fully awakened," I said, patting her shoulder with an approving nod. "The fools down at the plaza call it trash because their small minds can only handle one element at a time. But for someone with your will, as long as you put in the effort, you will walk a path that makes those self-proclaimed prodigies look like toddlers playing in the mud."

Shen Qingxue looked at me, her chest heaving slightly as her eyes shone with unshed tears. For months, every cultivator she met had looked down on her like an insect, spitting on her broken roots. Yet here stood an immortal elder, telling her that her perceived flaw was actually a weapon waiting to be forged.

"Disciple will never forget Master’s words," she said firmly, clenching her fists. "I will cultivate day and night. I will not bring shame to Lonely Cloud Peak."

"Cultivation requires patience, not just madness," I chuckled, waving my hand dismissively.