Gaofeng becomes a pill-popper

Gaofeng had currently stepped into the first level of the qi-gathering stage, and was greatly pleased with this advancement. Not only had he achieved the qi-gathering stage of his cultivation, but he had simultaneously achieved the equivalent level of both his body and soul, as the Divine Myriad Changes was a technique which let the cultivator cultivate all three of these forces simultaneously. The transformation of his soul and body wasn't as extreme as that of his dantian, as the dantian was something created where nothing had been previously, however his body and soul already had a sturdy foundation which now was refined further.

The laws of his body were elevated to the next major realm, and additional laws were manifested through Gaofeng's understanding of the Divine Myriad Changes. His soul didn't have any laws manifested within it, but it was instead strengthened and refined, giving his soulpower a major increase. Gaofeng's soul already consisted of the symbol-chain created through the Divine Myriad Changes, and so what use would additional laws be? Instead the entire force of the breakthrough was focused on purely strengthening his soul, making this strengthening far superior to that of the normal strengthening of a soul entering into the qi-refining stage.

Naturally, the soul-cultivation equivalent of the qi-refining stage wasn't named the qi-refining stage, but the absolute rarity of this kind of cultivation made it lack specific names for each realm, and this was also similar when it came to body-strengthening, meaning that they would simply be called the general qi cultivation stage that the strength corresponded with rather than names pertaining to the actual state of either of the two systems of cultivation.

Gaofeng's true goal in breaking through was not merely to break through, however. It was actually to enhance the effect of the pills he had found in the ancient spacial pouch. And as such he quickly changed his attention from the effects of his breakthrough to the intricate pills in his possession.

Through his intense studying from a young age, Gaofeng naturally had extensive knowledge of pills, and so he already had a complete grasp about the usage of each and every pill he had found. The Heavenly Dao Observation Pill could be quite easily explained as a pill which let the cultivator who took the pill observe the true form of the Dao, and thus more easily comprehend the Dao they cultivated. And, although there were no Heavenly Dao established for Gaofeng's Primal qi, he could still utilize this pill to deeply comprehend both Yin and Yang, which would be of great benefit in the establishment of his own true Grand Dao.

The Heavenly Dao Observation Pill also lasted for an extended period of time, one entire month to be exact. Great cultivators would easily be in closed-door seclusion for thousands of years, so a pill which lasted an incomparably short time in effect would have minute benefits. Even a month could be considered very short to such a grand figure, but to Gaofeng, a month was longer than the entirety of the time he had truly cultivated, making the ten months he could be under the effect of the Heavenly Dao Observation Pills like an eternity.

The Spirit Condensation Pill was also something he could utilize now, and the essence of this pill was as the name said, to condense one's spirit. In other words, it would not only manifest a cultivator's true spiritual sense in an area around their body, but it would also greatly improve the spiritual sense of a cultivator who had already condensed their true spiritual sense.

At the moment, the only way for Gaofeng to inspect his surroundings was to either directly look or utilize the Divine Myriad Changes to feel for irregularities, dangers or opportunities. His soul could only inspect the inside of his body, and didn't have any effect on his surroundings, and his heart-realm was the same.

After considering the effects of some of the pills, Gaofeng pinched two fingers together into nothingness, but at some point, a pill had suddenly appeared between his fingers. This pill didn't emit any sort of fluctuations, but Gaofeng knew its potency from second-hand experience. He had once witnessed his father utilize this exact pill while explaining its effects, and now it was his turn.

Gaofeng didn't actually even feel anything but air touch his fingers, as the pill was nearly immaterial. It was essentially a purely spiritual pill, and thus it could be said to be in a state between the material and the spiritual due to the actual materials used in its creation being physical ones. He put the pill on his tongue, closed his mouth, and then closed his eyes soon after.

The feeling he got when the pill dissolved in his mind was like that of floating in a refreshing ocean after a long day of toiling physical work. He could completely relax and simply enjoy the sound of the waves crashing against shore as he was carried on the surface. The soft breeze of wind was rustling his hair, and the low cries of seagulls could be heard in the distance. This was what true peace felt like to Gaofeng.

He felt his state of mind raising, and at was as if his soul was being cleansed of all impurities, leaving only the essence. The essence of his soul was strengthened to a great degree, and he felt his True spiritual sense extend from his body, stretching out in every direction. True spiritual sense could best be described as a passive ability which let the cultivator know of all matters within its radius. It extended like a bubble all around him, first barely above his skin, then a meter, then two meters.

The field continued to extend until it had reached exactly nine meters in every direction from Gaofeng's body, but the pause only lasted for a second before shooting up to ten meters and then eleven. Similarly to cultivation realms, the area of one's divine sense would start at nine, for so to be multiplied by nine when one broke through to the next realm of cultivation, and then the 81 meters would be multiplied by an additional 9. However, remaining consistent with his perfect eleven stages of cultivation in the previous realm, his True spiritual sense actually reached a total of eleven meters before it had grown to its full potential.

Such a difference might seem small at first, but if his growth continued in this manner, imagine his 11x11 compared to a regular person's 9x9, and then the following 121x11 compared to a regular person's 81x9. This was already a massive difference of 1331 meters compared to a mere 729, and the difference would exponentially grow as Gaofeng increased his cultivation. Such an advantage would be immense in later stages.