Earth's Crushing Weight: Qi Refining 3-Star Breakthrough
A few days passed like flowing water in Qi Refining 3-star. Baek Cheong's daily routine began to trace a steady path, like the teeth of a gear wheel.
In the mornings, she headed to the pill refining room to tend the furnace, stoking the flames and sweating profusely.
"Today's task is to refine hemostatic pills."
Gok Elder assigned a new type of pill each day. Baek Cheong grumbled outwardly but made full use of her modern knowledge and the five elements' energies to separate the herbs' essences and form the pills. Her growing mastery over energy control, combined with the harmonious cycle of the five elements' mutual generation, stabilized her spiritual energy output, driving her failure rate toward zero.
"Splendid! Another high-grade hemostatic pill. Truly a child born for pill refinement!"
Each time she completed a task, Gok Elder showered her with endless praise and rewarded her with supreme-grade pills. Supreme Water Spirit Pills, Supreme Vajra Pills, Supreme Earth Origin Pills. Consuming them evenly across attributes filled the empty spaces in her dantian, while her five elements spiritual roots greedily absorbed the medicinal effects, slowly bulking up.
"Worth all the hard work."
Back in her residence, the moment she swallowed the pills and circulated her energy was Baek Cheong's sole indulgence. Once her energy recovered, she inevitably logged into Moomyeongbang to troll with the other Dous, venting her stress.
"Any good bait around?"
Skimming the casual chat board, Baek Cheong's eyes locked onto one post. It was exploding in views and replies—a hot topic.
It was a pill refiner's proof-of-success post, actually pulling off the five-elements pill refinement method Baek Cheong had tossed out casually. Below it stretched hundreds of replies blending shock and acclaim.
Watching the pill refinement world's common knowledge upend itself in her own thread, Baek Cheong rolled on the floor laughing.
"They're actually trying it...?"
But her laughter faded as one reply caught her eye.
A chill ran down Baek Cheong's spine. Dou (55.19)'s insight pierced right through her, recalling her words and nailing her cultivation method with eerie precision.
This guy's scary. Better lay off the aggro posts for a bit.
Baek Cheong hastily ditched the thread and posted elsewhere to distract herself.
Mockery from pill refiners poured in immediately.
Ignoring the nutrient-free replies, Baek Cheong watched reactions until one stood out.
A reply from a five-elements trash root veteran, likely one who'd early adopted Dou (718.44)'s info.
"Crush with weight?"
Baek Cheong quickly replied below.
Dou (237.309) didn't reply right away. Baek Cheong refreshed anxiously, glaring at the screen. After an eternity, it updated.
No more replies, even after prodding. But the advice's value was beyond imagination.
"Compress around Earth's energy."
Baek Cheong closed her eyes, simulating it mentally. Her prior method—piercing like an awl with mutual overcoming clashes—was powerful but lacked sustainability. As the dantian wall thickened, one-shot breakthroughs became impossible. But crushing with sustained weight? That changed everything. Accumulate fatigue until it crumbled under relentless pressure. And the key was earth's energy.
This could break Qi Refining 3-star.
Without delay, she sat cross-legged on her bed. Supreme pills and root growth had filled her sea-like dantian to the brim. They'd warned her to cultivate steadily, but skipping a breakthrough now would be wasteful.
"Hoo."
Resolved, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and focused on the ceaseless five-elements mutual generation cycle in her dantian. At the rippling spiritual energy lake's center, she formed a spherical earth-attribute core. Then she spiraled water, wood, fire, and metal energies around it.
"Urk."
Density and repulsion surged as energies converged. Her dantian felt ready to burst, breath catching. But earth's steadfast embrace silently absorbed the clashes, holding the sphere's form. Baek Cheong concentrated, compressing it smaller, denser—from head-sized to fist-sized, then plum-sized. The ultra-dense sphere plummeted with heavy gravity, slamming the 3-star barrier.
The dantian shook violently, but the wall held.
Won't go in one hit.
Unyielding, she dumped remaining supreme pills from her jade bottle into her mouth. Infusing fresh energy and pill power into the sphere, she ramped up the pressure. A dull thud echoed in her dantian, like a boulder crushing rock. The overwhelming weight cracked the barrier slowly. Sweat poured as she poured everything into compression.
...
How much time passed? As dawn broke outside, the sturdy wall shattered into fragments. A massive spiritual energy tsunami flooded the new realm like a breached dam.
She'd reached Qi Refining 3-star. Her dantian ballooned incomparably beyond 2-star. Deep roots bulked up, asserting presence.
"I did it...!"
Gasping, Baek Cheong opened her eyes. Euphoria and lightness washed away fatigue. But a foul stench wrinkled her nose—impurities expelled through pores coated her body from the breakthrough.
"Again?"
So much filth accumulated? Unclear why, but it felt gross. She hurriedly bathed, scrubbing it off. Her skin gleamed jade-clear and translucent. The mirror showed sharpened beauty—spiritual energy's purification.
Changing clothes, she checked her divine sense. Focusing between her brows, she extended it. From 7 zhang, it sliced space freely: 8, 9, 10—even 11 zhang. Beyond her residence, she stereoscopically sensed a guard dozing in the garden corner's breath.
Far beyond normal Qi Refining—monstrous.
This won't hinder forum browsing.
Smiling satisfied, she headed to the pill room. Morning air felt exceptionally refreshing.
Entering, Gok Elder greeted warmly. "Oh, Cheong, you're here. A bit late today... Hm?"
His words cut off. His gaze fixed on her dantian, body stiffening. Gold Core senses wouldn't miss the energy shift.
"Why's your energy different? Heard you just hit 2-star at the banquet."
His voice trembled faintly. Deeper than yesterday—definitely 3-star, but incomparable to normal. At least mid-stage for heavenly roots.
Oh no.
Too thrilled to prep excuses, Baek Cheong scrambled. "Uh, well... Ate the pills you gave me, meditated, and suddenly my gut felt wide open—like this."
Wide-eyed innocence. But Gok Elder's face said unconvinced. Stroking his beard, he scanned her sharply.
"Even thin early Qi Refining walls can't be broken consecutively so fast. And your five elements harmonize bizarrely without clashing. Must be guidance or fortune."
Cold sweat down her back at the probing. Couldn't admit forum-sourced. More pressure risked exposing Moomyeongbang.
"Really! Just meditated..."
As she trailed off, gauging, urgent footsteps approached. A family guard burst in.
"Miss! Family Head summons you to his hall!"
Gok Elder and Baek Cheong turned.
"What's the fuss?" Gok Elder frowned.
Panting, the guard replied. "Biun Sect Gold Core elder arrived! Wants to see Family Head and Miss over Young Master Baek Gyu!"
Baek Cheong's eyes widened. The dinner rejection Father mentioned. Biun Sect elder offering Baek Gyu as direct disciple.
A major sect visiting in person—no small matter. Unclear why her, but ominous.
Not here to harm us, right?
Escaping interrogation was lucky, but new crisis weighed heavy. Still, as Father said, even Biun Sect wouldn't touch Yeonha Baek lightly—maybe another proposal.
"Not my place as outsider, but... let's go."
Sensing something, Gok Elder led. Baek Cheong followed belatedly to the Family Head's hall.