CHAPTER 1295: EVALUATION, REPETITION AND REFINEMENT (1)

Pulling his attention away from the underground river, he brought it back to his three companions, a satisfied smile creeping onto his lips as he observed the changes they were undergoing. Bolin was continuously refining his blood, essence, and qi in preparation for one mighty push to the twelfth stage. His body was like a furnace being stoked, the energy it brewed growing stronger and stronger.

As for Haishi, while her realm hadn’t advanced and it didn’t look like she was making a push for it, her qi and foundation were steadily being polished and refined as the undigested energy was broken down and used to strengthen every part of her body. By the time the process was complete, even if she remained a sixth-stage core formation expert, the solidity of her foundation and the strength contained within her essence, blood, and qi would allow her to contend with a ninth- or even tenth-stage core formation expert. Though given her cowardly nature, Yang Qing doubted she would ever dare to do so.

As for Wenling, their newest member, he could feel the aura of the Grand Dao permeating her being. It was only a wisp, yet that single wisp had already made her three times stronger than she had been moments ago, and brought her that much closer to the Palace Realm.

All she needed was to gather and integrate more wisps of the Grand Dao. In time, she would be able to form a solid connection with it, allowing her to draw upon more of its power. When that happened, the doors of the Palace Realm would be there for her to push open.

As for himself, everything he could sense or do now were things he had already been capable of as a first-stage Palace Realm expert. However, the scale of it all had grown exponentially. His breakthrough to the fourth stage had sharpened his control, making his abilities far more refined and meticulous.

Even now, simply sitting here, he could feel fresh insights being birthed in his mind regarding all the arts he practiced and how he might draw more out of them, especially his purple-grade art and the self-created mid-tier blue-grade art.

It was like he had unlocked another page. At the same time, when it came to the pages he had already read, his newfound understanding from the breakthrough made him feel as though he was discovering hidden content he had previously missed. If he incorporated those new insights, his abilities would rise to another level.

His qi capacity had also grown considerably— it was now one and a half times what it had been. He felt this paired perfectly with his improved understanding of his abilities, for greater understanding meant greater efficiency in the execution of his arts and techniques.

And greater efficiency not only meant greater potency, but also less expenditure in execution. Low qi expenditure for someone with a vast qi capacity like his was no different than giving wings to a tiger.

Eager to test his insights, Yang Qing immediately immersed himself in meditation and began combing through everything he had learned thus far, placing especial focus on the Dao discourse he had at Silver Breath Peak with Xia Cangfu and Elder Shayuan. That was a treasure trove, especially now.

At the time, he had harvested plenty from the discussion—enough that it may have been a considerable contributing factor to his breakthrough. Yet he also knew there had been much he couldn’t digest then, limited as he was by his low realm when compared to the realm of the two seniors. Now he wanted to see how much he could glean with his fourth-stage Palace Realm cultivation base. Even a tiny slice would be of immense benefit, for that slice came from the discourse of two powerful Domain Experts, each armed with a vast reserve of profound insights of the Grand Dao.

It didn’t take long for him to lose himself in that discourse once more, his mind replaying and reliving every detail. He often paused to ponder deeply on the veiled layers of meaning that only now revealed themselves under his current cultivation base. And with each new understanding came a further stabilization and solidification of his fourth-stage Palace Realm foundation.

Though immersed in his cultivation, Yang Qing still spared a portion of his attention toward guarding against intruders while at the same time monitoring the states of Bolin, Haishi, and Wenling—especially Bolin, who was preparing for a breakthrough to the peak of the Core Formation Realm. It wasn’t lost on him that they were in foreign territory, and his entourage was at its most vulnerable at the moment, given the states they were in.

One focus on protection and the other on research and introspection, hours quickly flew by as Yang Qing unearthed more insights from reflecting on and analyzing the discussion he had at Silver Crane Sect, combining it with the revelations born from his breakthrough.

Every insight he discovered and grasped, he paused briefly to put into action. Each realization was tested and refined through the execution of his self-created art: the Brilliant Ray Fist Art.

The reason he chose to start with it rather than his purple-grade art, Universal Resonant Light Art, was simple: The Brilliant Ray Fist Art, despite being lower in grade, was his creation. That made it easier and more natural to execute, and far better suited for testing out his insights than the purple-grade art.

This was the privilege of being a cultivation art creator. As the creator of the Brilliant Ray Fist Art, his understanding of it was already at the perfected realm. At that level, executing the art came with the same ease and familiarity as moving his own limbs.

That ease and familiarity not only made the art effortless to perform but also allowed him to immediately notice any differences that arose from the insights he incorporated into it.

It was much like how an alchemist would test the properties of a certain ingredient by using a recipe they were intimately familiar with.