Fifth Star Breakthrough and Sudden Departure
Soon, a sense of fullness enveloped her entire body as the dantian's water level reached its limit. It was time to shatter the barrier leading to Refining Qi 5-star.
'Let's take a look.' Baek Cheong contemplated her inner self, examining the barrier blocking her dantian. Compared to the massive minor realm barrier she'd faced when advancing from 3-star to 4-star, the one obstructing 5-star was only half as thick.
"...Tougher than I thought?" It wasn't overwhelmingly daunting, but thanks to the dantian forged through the five elements' mutual generation cycle, it boasted far greater density and solidity than the 4-star barrier.
"No real way through this." For ordinary cultivators, encountering such a wall left no choice but to rely on a Barrier Breaking Pill. Most simply lacked the funds to buy one, or hesitated due to the pill's strong solitary nature.
"Still..." Maintaining near-complete unity and hammering at it repeatedly would eventually break through. But she had her ace up her sleeve—a killing move she'd realized from the Moomyeongbang.
"If it's Meteor Sword Wave..." Baek Cheong focused her divine sense, drawing up the five elemental energies within her dantian. As before, she formed a near-complete unity by forcibly merging the five energies into a sphere. Then, she shaped that unity into a sword form, infusing it with a thread of sword intent.
'Go!' With a mental shout, she propelled the compressed energy toward the barrier. The energy surged like a meteor, stabbing at the dantian's wall to 5-star. It was a single strike forged from near-complete unity of the five elements into sword intent.
And the destructive power concentrated at that sword intent's tip surpassed imagination.
"Huh?" Baek Cheong blurted out in bewilderment, her eyes snapping open. The breakthrough was so anticlimactically clean that it made a mockery of her grim determination to compress energy repeatedly, even prepared to cough up blood.
"It broke through this easily?" Beyond the breached barrier, a massive vortex of spiritual energy swirled, opening a new realm. Her dantian expanded beyond its limits, and a euphoric shedding of bones and exchanging of marrow surged from deep within her bones.
At the same time, a sense of liberation flooded her mind, her divine sense—previously spanning 15 zhang—instantly extending to 19 zhang.
"Just the divine sense alone rivals late-stage Core Formation." Baek Cheong reined in her vastly expanded divine sense radiating in all directions, unable to hide her shock. From dantian to divine sense, she far exceeded the norms of Refining Qi.
But the joy was short-lived. Upon inspecting her inner dantian, despair crashed over her in an instant.
"Crazy... doubled again?" The newly opened dantian at 5-star was monstrously vast, like twice the already immense 4-star capacity inflated even further. Exhausted from pouring energy into the breakthrough, it lay utterly empty, not a drop of spiritual energy sloshing within—bringing fresh hopelessness.
The silver lining was that her true essence accumulated exponentially with each realm breakthrough. Even her true essence diverged from ordinary Refining Qi, suggesting a class difference against peers at the same 5-star level.
But staring at that endless sea of a dantian, a sense of relative deprivation was inevitable. Each breakthrough doubled the spiritual energy needed, making it impossible to fill naturally without pills.
"When am I ever gonna fill this thing up!" Baek Cheong clawed at her hair in despair. Even living off top-grade pills, her spiritual roots' growth had stagnated, unable to keep pace with the dantian's expansion. It was a dilemma of limited absorption versus infinite growth.
At least her youth meant no need to rush.
"Ah, whatever. Future me can deal with future problems." Baek Cheong shook off the headache-inducing thoughts, opting for escapism. She could always pop a Short-Text Qi Gathering Pill to fill it in a flash, and a more pressing issue loomed right now.
"Ugh, this smell again." The unwelcome guest that arrived unfailingly with every breakthrough. Black, sticky waste matter oozed from every pore, soaking her silk robes and reeking foully.
Despite purging impurities nightly through meridian forging, hidden waste expelled during breakthroughs.
"No point in forging the realm. What a waste of effort." Grumbling, Baek Cheong pulled a cleansing talisman from her Jeomuldae. Infusing it with spiritual energy activated a clear light that swept her body, banishing the sticky waste and stench into the void.
But better safe than sorry—she wouldn't neglect realm forging. Patient cultivation would eventually bear sweet fruit.
"Talismans aren't half bad, huh." Stroking her refreshed skin contentedly, she stepped out of her room. Her hungry stomach rumbled thunderously, amplified by the breakthrough. Eager for delicious food, she hurried to the Naedang.
Entering, she found her uncle standing with hands behind his back, as if awaiting her.
"Oh, Cheong's here." Baek Muyoung beamed at his niece's brighter complexion. Without even taking her pulse, he sensed she'd surpassed the realm.
"Haha, you broke through safely! Gaining sword intent insight during your outing and reaching 5-star—your father will throw a feast when he hears."
Despite her uncle's genuine delight, Baek Cheong felt uneasy. His attire and the Naedang's atmosphere were off. He wore neat outing silk robes, and servants bustled outside loading luggage—as if departing Seonseong immediately.
"Uncle, are you heading somewhere?" Suppressing her foreboding, she asked cautiously.
Baek Muyoung smiled warmly. "Heading home, of course. I was just waiting for your breakthrough."
"Already? We haven't even been here long..." She hadn't properly toured Seonseong, shocked time had passed so quickly. Worse, returning meant that hellish pill-refining room again.
"Cheong, you've been holed up in your Cheo-so focusing on breakthrough for a full two days."
Baek Cheong blanked, as if hammered on the head. "Two days? I've been in my room for two days?"
"Yes. From yesterday evening, the spiritual energy around your residence churned unnaturally—clear signs of breakthrough. I wrapped up caravan business early and prepared to leave."
Sucking in ambient spiritual energy like a vacuum with her five-element spiritual roots, it was no surprise her Core Formation uncle sensed it.
My vacation! Deep regret and pity welled up at how she'd lost track of time in cultivation.
Should've broken through back home! Baek Cheong swallowed tears inwardly, face falling.
Misreading her, Baek Muyoung soothed gently. "Sorry you haven't seen much of Seonseong. If you want, we can delay departure a day or two—I'll tour with you and hunt opportunities."
With the caravan lord personally escorting, she'd snag real treasures, no junk like metal scraps or toxic herbs.
But Baek Cheong prioritized avoiding travel with her uncle over temptations. Her thirst for opportunities had waned too.
More boring stories, no doubt. Memories surfaced of earwax-inducing chats on the flying treasure ship. Better pill-refining for productivity.
Plus, shattering the 4-star barrier had yielded rudimentary Meteor Sword Wave sword intent, and selling Short-Text Qi Gathering Pills netted abundant spirit stones. Overflowing gains for a first outing.
"No, Uncle. Opportunities aren't chased—they come naturally." Feigning regret with teary eyes, she shook her head firmly.
"Mom and Dad must be worried. Let's head home quick. I wanna practice new refining techniques too!"
Blithely mentioning pill-refining she didn't mean, she hurried out without looking back.
Baek Muyoung, touched by his niece's maturity, wiped moved tears and followed hastily.
This time, hole up in my cabin and hit the gallery. But Baek Cheong just wanted escape from tedious talk.