Chapter 590: Threshold

Chapter 590: Chapter 590: Threshold

September 20th.

All three layers of defensive and concealing Arrays were fully activated in Shen Hao’s bedroom. He sat cross-legged on the Puduan, fierce air currents raging around him, as if a whirlwind had erupted out of nowhere with him at its core. The howling wind inside the room was painfully sharp to the ears, every piece of furniture pushed against the walls by the gale, leaving the room in utter chaos.

If there were others present, they would have cried out in shock, "True Qi Outer Volume!"

This was the sign that the True Qi inside the body had reached its absolute limit. At the same time, the intense compression of the meridians had tugged at the external pull of "Qi Connects Heaven and Earth," finally resulting in this strange phenomenon—freakishly like a violent whirlwind.

At this moment, Shen Hao’s eyes were tightly closed. With his five hearts facing the sky, his face flickered with a faint light, Qi surging all over—clearly, he had reached a critical juncture in his cultivation.

In fact, these past few days, Shen Hao had been pushing his cultivation speed. Although it wasn’t at the cost of total exhaustion, he had used every scrap of available time, not wasting a moment. The timing was tight, but everything went just as he had expected—he smoothly hit the ceiling of the Gathering Spirit Realm Eighth Layer, and then began preparing for the breakthrough.

This breakthrough was tougher than any small-realm breakthrough in the Gathering Spirit Realm that Shen Hao had ever gone through—several times harder even.

In the past, with the help of the Black Beast Tattoo, all Shen Hao had to do was condense True Qi Spears within his meridians and mindlessly ram them against the Realm Barrier. But this time, those previously unstoppable spears were useless—the attacks bounced off the Ninth Layer’s Realm Barrier like scratching an itch through a shoe, not leaving the slightest mark.

"So this is the bottleneck at the Ninth Layer. It really is something else."

Unexpected, but also within reason. They all said that enlightenment erased the trouble of Realm Barriers, but in reality, breakthroughs only grew harder. Shen Hao had thought before that such a challenge would come, so he wasn’t rattled at all.

"If the spears don’t work, let’s try a drill and see how long you last," Shen Hao muttered to himself. ℴ

Then, under Shen Hao’s intent, all the True Qi Spears that had already formed in his meridians moved closer together, then twisted into a spiraling drill, several times thicker than before, spiral grooves running along it. Next, he added a force of rotation at the base, and slowly pushed this thing into his Sea of Consciousness, shoving it hard against that Realm Barrier.

Shen Hao was patient. At first, the drill wasn’t much better than the spears had been, but as time went on, the relentless, grinding effort of the spiral finally began to pay off.

First, the drill bored a tiny dent. Then, under the spiral’s pressure, it slowly expanded into a small round hole, which kept growing larger and deeper...

In truth, it didn’t need to be bored all the way through. The Realm Barrier was sturdy but lacked much tenacity; once the drill damaged it enough, cracks would appear, and a little extra force would finally break it open.

From dawn till sunset, when Shen Hao pulled out his first Great Nourishing Pill in preparation to keep grinding away, a sharp and sudden "crack" rang out as the first fissure split the barrier. Shen Hao put the Elixir away—looked like he wouldn’t need it after all.

Then a second crack, and a third...

Until finally—boom!

Like a bomb going off inside Shen Hao’s body, every ounce of flesh and every meridian spasmed. All at once, a mysterious sensation rose from his Sea of Consciousness, washing over his soul like a cleansing bath. It was as if, somewhere distant, a window had been cracked slightly open—not in his Sea of Consciousness, but three inches below his navel, in his lower abdomen.

When Shen Hao concentrated on that feeling, it became vague and unreal again, existing in a strange, subtle state.

He then gathered his Qi, finishing his practice. All his True Qi entered a new level, his meridians and Sea of Consciousness again began to expand. When they reached their new limits, it would be his time—as Gathering Spirit Perfection—to challenge the Primordial Pill Realm. Shen Hao didn’t know how long this step would take, but he was certain it wouldn’t drag on into next year.

Letting out a long, turbid breath, Shen Hao rose from the Puduan without any unnecessary moves, taking a moment to get used to his new Gathering Spirit Realm Ninth Layer state. He even drew his weapon and practiced some stances inside the room. Luckily, the furniture had already been pushed to the walls by the earlier True Qi Outer Volume, making the space wide enough for Shen Hao’s practice.

Not until dawn broke again did Shen Hao put away his weapon and take down the arrays he’d set up, finally opening the door and stepping outside.

In the shadows, three pairs of eyes nearly popped from their sockets—it was the three guards the Commander’s Office had stationed at Shen Hao’s side.

These three had already been dumbfounded by Shen Hao’s monstrous cultivation speed, feeling as though half their lifetimes had been lived in vain compared to him. Now they watched as Shen Hao soared from the Gathering Spirit Realm Eighth Layer to the Ninth Layer in what seemed like a blink—witnessing yet another miracle—though by now, even miracles had left them numb.

"Is this kid even human?"

"He really broke through. In just one day! Did he seriously meet no setbacks at all? Just one moment of enlightenment can really bring such a benefit? This..."

"It’s not just that he broke through—did you feel his aura? There’s not a hint of weakness, and it’s right after the breakthrough. He must not have used a single Elixir!"

"To break through a Realm Barrier without using Elixirs?! Impossible! He, this, I..." The speaker was instantly at a loss for words.

All three were Primordial Pill Realm masters. Even though Shen Hao’s Cultivation had risen again, he was still a long way from their level. They could judge the depth of his power at a glance; after being reminded, it was easy to tell that the aura from Shen Hao’s breakthrough wasn’t even a little bit hollow like those who’d overused Elixirs.

"To support the Gathering Spirit Realm Eighth to Ninth breakthrough just by the amount and purity of his True Qi... Do you think the Celestial Prides from the Super Sects have this kind of ability?"

"Celestial Prides? Not sure. But those standouts from First-class Sects probably can’t match him, right? Honestly, even in a First-class Sect, this kid would belong to the most promising few seedlings."

"That’s not certain. They say Shen Hao’s fast cultivation all comes from that enlightenment he had on Chang Baifeng. If you really want to test his potential, you’ll have to wait until he enters the Primordial Pill Realm. Anyway, enough talk. Get back to your posts, I’ll report this to the Commander’s Office."

After quietly sharing their thoughts, the three disappeared into the shadows. They had new orders—no matter whether or not Shen Hao exited his seclusion, they were to follow and protect him at all times.

Just as the three retreated, that faint thread of perception in Shen Hao’s heart finally faded. Right before, he’d sensed three familiar presences around him in unseen places—not difficult to guess these were the guards sent by the Commander’s Office.

"My perception has improved this much after the breakthrough?" Shen Hao was a little surprised in his heart.