Chapter 96: Breakthrough

Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Breakthrough

After taking everything he needed, Sui Sui entered a short period of seclusion inside his room and focused on refining pills. Since he was already familiar with refining Fasting Pills, he was able to finish them quickly, taking only a day. The Spirit Recovery Pills were different. Since it was his first time refining them, he proceeded much more carefully, spending a day and a half to complete the process.

Shi Qing would occasionally knock on Sui Sui’s door to check on him, but when no one answered, he assumed Sui Sui was still in seclusion. Since he already knew that Sui Sui could cultivate, he was not particularly surprised.

For the next three days, everything proceeded as usual.

It was only on the fourth day that something unusual happened.

One afternoon, while the probationary disciples were meditating or going about their daily routines, the spiritual energy in the courtyard suddenly began gathering toward a single location. A large amount of energy was being drawn away, creating an obvious sign that someone was about to break through.

The disciples quickly left their rooms to see what was happening. To their surprise, the energy was gathering around the room belonging to the infamous little fool, Bai Sui Sui.

Everyone was stunned.

Could they have mistaken the location? Or had someone else occupied that room?

No one could be certain.

Only Shi Qing, who knew the truth, immediately realized what was happening.

Inside the room, Sui Sui was indeed in the middle of a breakthrough.

While refining the pills, he had unexpectedly reached a moment of enlightenment, allowing him to successfully advance to Qi Refining Level Seven. Fortunately, he still had some Spirit Stones in his storage bag. Otherwise, the spiritual energy in the area would never have been enough to support his breakthrough.

Once the breakthrough was complete, Sui Sui slowly opened his eyes.

He immediately felt the difference.

His body felt noticeably lighter, while his spiritual energy was full and vibrant. Even his complexion looked refreshed, completely unlike the exhausted state most cultivators were left in after emerging from seclusion.

When Sui Sui finally left his room, the first person to greet him was Shi Qing, who immediately walked over with an enthusiastic smile.

"Brother Sui, you really broke through?"

Sui Sui blinked in surprise. "Yeah. How did you know?"

Shi Qing laughed and explained what had happened outside. He told Sui Sui how the spiritual energy in the entire courtyard had suddenly been drawn toward his room, creating such a noticeable disturbance that almost all the probationary disciples had come out to see what was happening.

Hearing this, Sui Sui felt a little embarrassed.

It really had been an accident. He had not expected his breakthrough to cause such a large disturbance. He was too accustomed to cultivating in the ice cave, where the surrounding spiritual energy was abundant enough that he had never needed to worry about affecting his surroundings. He had completely forgotten that breaking through in a place with much thinner spiritual energy would naturally cause a much more noticeable phenomenon.

Then another thought occurred to him.

If everyone had noticed the spiritual energy gathering around his room, wouldn’t they also realize that he could cultivate now?

Sui Sui’s expression immediately became a little complicated.

Shi Qing seemed to understand what he was thinking and gave him a sympathetic look.

"They probably know by now," Shi Qing said. "Some might still think someone else was cultivating inside your room, but now that you’ve come out, they’ll figure it out sooner or later."

Sui Sui could only sigh inwardly.

So much for keeping a low profile.

But it had already happened, and there was not much he could do about it now. They were bound to find out eventually anyway.

After the blunder, Shi Qing suggested they head to the sect canteen for something to eat. He also mentioned that he could finally introduce Sui Sui to Yuan Wen, the person he had talked about before.

Sui Sui was starting to feel hungry anyway, so he readily agreed.

By the time they arrived at the canteen, it was already crowded. Disciples filled most of the tables, and nearly every seat was taken.

"Come on, Brother Sui. That brat Yuan Wen already saved us a seat." Before Sui Sui could respond, Shi Qing had already grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward one of the tables near the back. Sure enough, a young man was already sitting there, with two empty seats waiting beside him.

Shi Qing quickly pulled Sui Sui over and introduced them with obvious excitement. "Come, come. Brother Sui, this is the person I told you about. Yuan Wen, this is my very good brother, Brother Sui."

Sui Sui turned his attention toward Yuan Wen and paused.

He was a little surprised.

From the way Shi Qing had described Yuan Wen earlier, Sui Sui had imagined someone who looked like a mischievous little bear child—probably the kind of youngster who was constantly getting into trouble and dragging everyone else along with him.

But the person sitting before him was completely different.

Yuan Wen looked calm and composed, with a natural smile resting on his lips. His almond-shaped eyes gave him a gentle and polite appearance, while a distinct mole at the corner of his left eye added a subtle charm to his already handsome features. He wore the signature dark-blue robes of the Wenjian Sect, and his long hair was neatly tied into a high ponytail.

There was nothing particularly mischievous about him at first glance.

If anything, he looked like the kind of well-mannered young cultivator who would never cause trouble.

Sui Sui couldn’t help but wonder if Shi Qing had been talking about the same person.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Yuan Wen. Since I’m younger than both of you, you can just call me Xiao-Wen," the young man said with a polite smile.

Sui Sui naturally introduced himself in return. As he looked at Yuan Wen, however, something from the novel suddenly came to mind.

The Yuan Family had been mentioned in the novel before, although they were never particularly important to the main storyline. However, there was actually one person from that family who was truly worth mentioning.

He was called the Butcher.

In fact, the Yuan Family and the Bai Family had always been very close, with the two families maintaining a strong relationship over the years. Unfortunately, in the original novel, both families would eventually suffer a similar fate.

In the future, the Yuan Family, just like the Bai Family would be annihilated through a series of schemes, leaving behind only a single survivor. That survivor would embark on a path of revenge, eventually going on a killing spree throughout the cultivation world and earning the terrifying nickname of the Butcher.

It was Yizhou who would eventually subdue this madman and bring him into his group, turning him into one of the people who followed Yizhou on his path of revenge.

The man’s real name was never revealed. Throughout the entire novel, he was simply known as the Butcher.

There was, however, one detail about him that the novel mentioned repeatedly.

The Butcher had a mole at the corner of his left eye.

His face was rarely described in detail because it had been badly disfigured in a fire, leaving little that could be recognized.

Thinking about the Butcher, Sui Sui’s gaze unconsciously returned to Yuan Wen. His eyes fell on the mole at the corner of Yuan Wen’s left eye, and he could not help but compare the two.

Could it be him?

Sui Sui quickly dismissed the thought.

It shouldn’t be.

The Yuan Wen sitting before him looked so calm and polite. There was nothing about him that suggested he would one day become a madman capable of going on a killing spree throughout the cultivation world.

It had to be a coincidence.