Chapter 161 - 157: Breaking Through to Innate

Chapter 161: Chapter 157: Breaking Through to Innate

"So you’ve finally decided to break through?"

Mo Ciqiu’s gaze lingered on Meng Yu Jin’s face for a moment before she let out a soft sigh. There was no weight to it, merely a sense of resignation.

"For years, all I’ve heard from you is talk about solidifying your foundation. Five years have passed in a flash. I was starting to think you never planned on breaking through!"

She had remained at the peak of the Refining Organ Realm—the same level—for five whole years.

For five years, it wasn’t that she hadn’t had opportunities to break through, or felt the urge to try. But every time, she had chosen to suppress that impulse, opting instead to continue tempering her foundation.

At times, Mo Ciqiu even wondered if Meng Yu Jin planned to stay in the Refining Organ Realm for the rest of her life.

Meng Yu Jin shot Mo Ciqiu an irritated look and rolled her eyes.

"You think everyone’s Talent is as good as yours? That they can just casually cultivate for a bit and break through to the next level."

This wasn’t just flattery; Mo Ciqiu’s cultivation Talent was considered top-tier within the Panshi Sect.

When she broke through to the Innate Acupoint Refining Realm, she faced almost no significant hurdles. It was a smooth and natural progression.

A trial of immense difficulty for others was nothing more than a slightly raised threshold for her to step over.

"If I fail my breakthrough,"

Meng Yu Jin’s voice lowered, her expression growing much more serious. "I don’t even know if I’ll get a second chance to try."

Although Meng Yu Jin had spent five years consolidating her power at the peak of the Refining Organ Realm, making her foundation more solid than that of most Martial Artists at her level, she still wasn’t entirely confident.

Upon hearing this, Mo Ciqiu suddenly broke into a giggle. Her laugh was crisp and pleasant, like the tinkling of a mountain spring splashing against rocks.

Her eyes curved into crescents, and faint lines even appeared at their corners as she laughed, giving her a rare, childlike air.

"So you’re not afraid this time? Or is it..."

Mo Ciqiu drew out her words, a sly glint in her eye.

"Are you afraid of being overtaken by that precious new disciple of yours, forcing you to attempt a breakthrough?"

Meng Yu Jin’s expression stiffened slightly.

It wasn’t anger, but the discomfort of having her private thoughts called out so directly.

"You actually have time to go prying into my business?"

But Mo Ciqiu clearly wasn’t buying it. Far from backing down, she burst out laughing.

"I didn’t go out of my way to snoop!"

Once she had laughed her fill, her voice still brimming with amusement, Mo Ciqiu said, "It’s just that the commotion your precious disciple has been causing lately is rather interesting, so I couldn’t help but hear a thing or two. And then I discovered..."

She paused deliberately, her gaze mischievous as she looked at Meng Yu Jin and said, enunciating each word, "That it was actually connected to you."

As she spoke, Mo Ciqiu picked up the White Orchid from the table again and twirled it lightly between her fingers. Her eyes, however, never left Meng Yu Jin’s face, and a mischievous smile played on her lips.

"So, tell the truth. Are you really afraid of your disciple surpassing you?"

Meng Yu Jin took a deep breath. The stiffness on her face gradually faded, replaced by her usual calm and composure.

Her gaze shifted from Mo Ciqiu to the sky beyond the courtyard wall, and she fell silent for several moments.

"I just feel that Chen Yue’s relentless, forward-charging attitude toward cultivation has... rubbed off on me."

Even as the words left her mouth, Meng Yu Jin herself found them somewhat incredible.

’Her, a person who had spent five years consolidating her power at the peak of the Refining Organ Realm, had her mindset influenced by a new Entry Level disciple? Who would believe such a thing?’

But it was the truth.

Chen Yue’s almost fanatical drive, that reckless momentum of charging forward no matter the cost, had unknowingly seeped into her Heart Spirit during their time together as master and disciple.

Watching her disciple grow stronger with each passing day, seeing the young man pursue higher realms at a jaw-dropping speed, she suddenly felt that she, too, could no longer remain stagnant.

"Besides, I’ve already been consolidating at the peak of the Refining Organ Realm for so many years,"

Meng Yu Jin pulled her gaze back and looked at Mo Ciqiu again, her voice steady and frank. "It’s time to break through."

Five years of accumulation, five years of repeated tempering—her foundation was as solid as it could be, her temperament was sufficiently honed, and her Inner Strength had filled her to the absolute limit the Refining Organ Realm could contain.

Waiting any longer wouldn’t make the attempt any safer; it would only dull her edge.

The smile never left Mo Ciqiu’s face as she picked up the White Orchid and placed it in the vase.

"Right, right,"

she said leisurely while adjusting the stem’s angle, "you’re not afraid of being surpassed, you’ve just consolidated your power enough and it’s time for a breakthrough."

Meng Yu Jin was clearly embarrassed. A faint blush crept up her cheeks—the flustered annoyance of having her true feelings exposed. It lent her normally dignified and serious face a surprisingly girlish vivacity.

"Enough of this nonsense! Are you going to watch over me or not?"

Mo Ciqiu watched the flustered Meng Yu Jin with amusement. She set down the flower, folded her hands in her lap, and leaned back slightly, studying her old friend of many years with a critical eye.

"This attitude of yours," she said, her voice slow and carrying a deliberately critical tone, "is hardly the way to ask for a favor."

At her words, Meng Yu Jin shot to her feet. The movement was so abrupt that it shoved the stone stool back half an inch with a grating scrape.

She spun around and made a show of storming toward the courtyard gate, her steps long and hurried, the hem of her dress billowing behind her like a wave.

"As if you’re the only one who can watch over me! Let me tell you, I only asked you because of our long friendship! If you don’t want to, I’ll just find someone else!"

Seeing Meng Yu Jin’s little act, the smile on Mo Ciqiu’s face only widened. Her figure flickered.

In the next instant, she appeared before Meng Yu Jin without any warning, the two of them so close they were almost touching.

Mo Ciqiu reached out and gently tugged on Meng Yu Jin’s sleeve. Her smile was still radiant, but her tone softened.

"Alright, alright, you’re right!"

Her voice was laced with laughter. "I’ll stop talking. When do we begin the breakthrough?"

Meng Yu Jin saw the unconcealed amusement in Mo Ciqiu’s eyes and snorted, but the corners of her own mouth had already turned up in a slight, involuntary smile.

She turned, this time heading for the house.

"There’s no time like the present. We’ll start preparing for the breakthrough today."

She walked to the door of the house and stopped, glancing over her shoulder at Mo Ciqiu, who had followed her.

"If I don’t become Innate, I’ll die right here in your home!"

Hearing this, Mo Ciqiu quickly waved her hands in dismissal.

"No, no, that won’t do!"

Her voice held an exaggerated panic, but the amusement in her eyes gave her away. "To keep you from dying here, you’ll have to succeed in your breakthrough no matter what!"

Having said her piece, Mo Ciqiu was the first to start laughing, the sound as crisp as a silver bell as it echoed through the courtyard.

At her words, Meng Yu Jin couldn’t help but smile as well.

She turned, pushed open the door to the house, and stepped inside.

Mo Ciqiu followed her, the smile still on her face. With a casual wave of her hand, the courtyard gate swung silently shut, closing out the gentle breeze.

Only a handful of people in the entire Panshi Sect knew of Meng Yu Jin’s plan to break through to the Innate Acupoint Refining Realm.

This was not something to be widely publicized. Breaking through to the Innate realm meant soaring to the heavens upon success, but being left battered and broken upon failure.

Before the dust settled, any unnecessary attention or gossip would only add needless pressure and risk for the one involved.