Chapter 269 - 190: Mana Barrier, Second Limit Break

Chapter 269: Chapter 190: Mana Barrier, Second Limit Break

The moonlight was like frost, a savage chill running rampant.

It was now the middle of the first month, and Zhao Zuo had been in seclusion in the core area for some time.

Of course, his routine of refining two Middle Grade Magical Artifacts per day was set in stone. His success rate had been climbing steadily and was now approaching one hundred percent. The only occasional failures happened during the fusion step due to unforeseen accidents. Zhao Zuo used all the failed materials to forge longswords, but since they lacked Spirit Patterns, they couldn’t be considered true Magical Artifacts.

Meanwhile, Zhao Zuo gave the Middle Grade Magical Artifacts he refined to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion to sell. Upon learning that he could refine Middle Grade Magical Artifacts, Zhou Qingning had promoted him to a second-rank Honored Guest Elder. The biggest change this brought was the ability to mobilize the Spirit Treasure Pavilion’s resources within certain limits.

The forty-six Middle Grade Magical Artifacts earned Zhao Zuo around 190,000 Spirit Stones. However, this exhausted his entire stockpile of previously collected artifact refining materials. From now on, he would have to purchase Second Tier materials to continue refining Middle Grade Magical Artifacts.

With the cost of materials for each Magical Artifact being close to 2,000 Spirit Stones, Zhao Zuo’s profit over the last month was about 85,000 Spirit Stones. This profit was more than enough to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill. However, he had chosen to walk the path of Perfect Foundation Establishment and thus looked down on the path chosen by ordinary people.

The moment this thought surfaced, Zhao Zuo immediately realized there was a problem. ’Recently... my cultivation has been progressing at a speed comparable to someone with a Celestial Spirit Root. On top of that, everything has been going so smoothly, without a single setback. It’s given rise to a certain frivolous pride in me, which is why I’d think something like the normal path to Foundation Establishment is for ordinary people.’

’If this continues, I’m afraid I’ll develop an arrogance I shouldn’t have.’

Upon noticing the issue with his Heart Realm, Zhao Zuo immediately began to reflect. He found that the state of Constant Calm from his Pure Heart Scripture was still stable. This thought wasn’t a Heart Demon or an invasion of external evil, but one born from his own mind. In other words... he was being changed by the world.

This change had been happening subtly, imperceptibly. In the end, Zhao Zuo rejected it. He spent about three days putting his heart in order and finally extinguished the budding arrogance.

The disturbance in his Heart Realm didn’t trouble him for long.

Next, Zhao Zuo spent some Spirit Stones to order a few Lower Grade Fire Series Spiritual Objects. He also took the opportunity to purchase three thousand Fire Element Seeds. Due to the massive quantity, the Spirit Treasure Pavilion had to ship them in from other cities, and it took about a month for the order to arrive.

Zhao Zuo’s purchase of the Fire Series Spiritual Objects was, naturally, a cover to hide his secret ability to upgrade them. As for the large quantity of Fire Element Seeds, he passed it off with the excuse that he was raising a Spirit Beast.

Beyond that, Zhao Zuo also purchased two other types of Lower Grade Spiritual Objects: the Thick Earth Bead and the Gold Essence Bead. The Thick Earth Bead could create a defensive layer on the body’s surface that could even mimic the appearance of skin. The Gold Essence Bead generated Gold Attribute energy, which could be applied to a Magical Artifact in battle to increase its sharpness.

These types of Spirit Beads were useful, but because their effects were far too weak, they were also quite cheap. Zhao Zuo focused on spending over twenty thousand Spirit Stones to upgrade his Spirit Wood Bead to an Upper Grade Spiritual Object. As a result, its ability to restore stamina, detoxify, and resist poison received a terrifyingly massive boost.

To test the Spirit Wood Bead’s effects, Zhao Zuo conducted an experiment. He found that One Tier, Upper Grade toxins no longer affected him. Soon after entering his body, the poison would be rapidly absorbed and neutralized by the bead’s energy, rendering it useless.

After testing the Spirit Wood Bead’s power, Zhao Zuo resumed his regular cultivation routine.

During this time, when he wasn’t refining Middle Grade Magical Artifacts, Zhao Zuo dedicated all his time to purifying his Mana. To acquire Lower Grade Spiritual Objects faster, he wore four strands of beads made from Fire Element Seeds wrapped around his arm, about three hundred seeds in total.

After just over a month, Zhao Zuo sensed a bottleneck. It felt as if a tangible barrier had formed within his Dantian, halting the growth of his Mana. Now, he needed to gather energy to shatter this barrier, completing a "Breaking Limit" for the Nourishing Body stage.

Zhao Zuo took out two wisps of Moonlight Essence and recalled the method for breaking the limit: using pure energy as a catalyst to charge the barrier. He had prepared two additional Upper Grade Spiritual Objects specifically for this step.

These were the Life Revival Grass, with its pure and nourishing medicinal properties, and the Fire Yang Root, which possessed pure Fire Series energy. In addition to the two drops of Moonlight Essence, these two Spiritual Objects had cost him around thirty thousand Spirit Stones.

’This is just the first Breaking Limit. At this rate, getting past the Mana Barrier will cost about 120,000 Spirit Stones.’

’Only now do I completely understand why Chu Yijie, a True Inheritance disciple, was so desperate for Spirit Stones. The so-called path to Perfect Foundation Establishment is just a road paved with Spirit Stones.’

Once his preparations were complete, Zhao Zuo began the refinement of the two Upper Grade Spiritual Objects. He felt his Mana grow even purer, as if it had reached its absolute limit. He immediately absorbed the two wisps of Moonlight Essence. All of his Mana and the supplemental energy converged, forming a multi-colored torrent that slammed into the barrier.

Zhao Zuo had experienced many breakthroughs in the sheer quantity of his Mana, but the difficulty this time far surpassed all the others. His previous advancements had been about approaching the limits of the human body; this one was about shattering those limits and entering an entirely new realm.

After several failed attempts, Zhao Zuo had no choice but to take out and absorb a wisp of Sun Essence to replenish his body’s energy. Limited by the capacity of his meridians, there was only so much energy he could handle. If he failed this time, it would undoubtedly set back his future cultivation.

With no way to retreat, Zhao Zuo could only burn his bridges and give it his all!

Only a few True Inheritance disciples in the entire Moyun Sect had ever walked the path of Perfect Foundation Establishment. This was because the path demanded immense talent, vast resources, and an indomitable will—not one could be missing. At the moment Zhao Zuo found himself with no way out, his will seemed to sharpen into a sword’s edge.

It was as if the gathered energy was now tipped with an impossibly sharp blade, growing more condensed before it slammed violently into the bottleneck. The three energies—icy cold, scorching heat, and rich vitality—worked in concert, and a crack finally appeared on the barrier.

The next second, there was a sharp KRAK.

Zhao Zuo’s aura suddenly surged, growing immensely powerful. His already full Dantian expanded by half its size, and the Spiritual Power of the world flooded into it, converting into exceptionally pure Mana. The residual energy from the Spiritual Objects was also swiftly transformed.

After Breaking the Limit, a new world opened up before him.

「Ten days later.」

Zhao Zuo opened his eyes. The Mana in his body was now abundant, though its purity had declined slightly. ’Of course, it hasn’t dropped by much...’

Now he needed to repeat the previous step, continuing to purify his Mana until it was time for the second Breaking Limit.

.....

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