Seventh Layer
More time passed. His days went like usual, consisting of cultivation and training. His parents began to appear less and less, and he began to barely interact with them.
He became older, his cultivation grew, and his technique became stronger.
Life inside the villa was relatively boring. He had no friends, nobody to talk to, and would simply go about his daily routine.
The maids were always silent, getting on with their jobs, and the Li family guards never appeared.
Very little ever happened. The only exciting days were when his grandfather visited, or when he broke through.
Three months after Aunty Song's visit, Li Zian experienced a breakthrough.
He was sitting on the stone bed in the cultivation room beneath the villa, concentrating on his cultivation, when he could sense it.
The barrier between him and the seventh layer.
The spiritual energy that entered his body would continue to transform into qi, but his strength stopped increasing. That's when he could tell that he was at the peak.
He smiled to himself and continued to absorb spiritual energy and condense it into qi until his divine sea was full.
Then he attacked the barrier. His qi transformed into hundreds of thousands of swords that smashed into the barrier, like waves crashing against the shore.
The barrier cracked a tiny bit, but not enough. Li Zian frowned and absorbed more spiritual energy, condensing it into qi.
His divine sea filled back up, and he launched a second attack. This time his qi transformed into millions of arrows that fell upon the barrier, and more cracks began to spread.
Each time he damaged the barrier, he could sense the power he would acquire by breaking through.
The difference between a single layer was massive- when he was at the first layer of qi condensing, he could barely perform the first form of the Rainfall Sword Technique.
Now he could perform that move over a dozen times without running out of qi.
His body also grew stronger with each breakthrough- he discovered that normal weapons could no longer hurt him unless utilised with a technique.
He discovered this when he dropped his sword on his foot after tripping over. He expected one of his toes to be chopped off, but instead he just felt a slight sting in his foot, and that was it.
He breathed calmly and felt the barrier weaken some more, but his qi quickly ran out. He condensed more and attacked again. Then he condensed more and attacked again. Over and over.
It took three days of straight cultivation before he launched his final attack.
His qi warped and transformed into hundreds of dragons that smashed against the barrier.
The cracks spread, and finally the barrier was shattered.
A burst of power raged out from his dantian, and waves of qi smashed against the walls of the cultivation room, shaking the entire villa and causing some minor damage.
Threads of qi spread across his body, seeping into his body and strengthening his physical form.
His senses were enhanced, becoming even sharper, and his divine sense expanded.
His divine sea also became larger too, capable of accommodating double the amount of qi it originally could.
The dantian became more efficient, capable of producing even purer qi. That meant his techniques would be much more powerful.
The euphoria of his breakthrough faded after a while, and he stood up, making his way upstairs to the villa. He took his sword from his bedroom and made his way to the woodlands.
He exhaled sharply and drew his sword at lightning speed.
He could barely see the individual water qi droplets manifesting before a five-metre-long colossal wave of water qi soared out from his sword, roaring onwards horizontally towards the tree line.
Dozens of trees were cut down immediately, and the water qi wave dissipated after over fifty trees were cut down.
The trees rapidly regenerated, and Li Zian felt something he hadn't felt in a while- excitement.
He gripped his sword tighter and focused, creating twenty wheels of water qi that spun swiftly.
These water wheels then ripped through the air and scythed down the entire forest immediately before the qi scattered. A hundred trees fell.
He witnessed this sight of devastation and beamed. It felt good to have power, he couldn't deny that.
In his previous life, this kind of power would shock the entire world. But here, this kind of power was nothing.
He wondered if Soaring Water Wheel form could cut down a mountain if he put all his qi into it.
He pushed that idea away- rock is much harder than wood, and he would probably run out of qi instantly.
The trees regenerated, and he heard a voice.
"You broke through."
"Father!" He turned around but couldn't see him.
"I'm currently on important business, so I'm just talking to you with my divine sense. I'm impressed. You'll definitely reach the ninth layer of Qi Condensing once you turn ten. I'm looking forward to it."
Li Zian nodded, and his father's voice faded.
'So he's still busy… Just what's happening outside for everyone to be so busy?'
He sighed and waited for the trees to regenerate before continuing his practice on the fifth form.
The fifth form was extremely difficult. Its name was 'Mystic Rain Swords', and it involved manifesting hundreds of swords made from water qi that fall upon the enemy like a storm.
He assumed he had enough qi now to begin manifesting the swords, but it would still be difficult.
He focused, transforming his qi into water qi, and then manipulated the individual droplets to form a single long sword.
He opened his eyes and observed the sword constructed out of water qi with glee and pointed at a tree in the distance.
The sword flew forwards and crashed into the tree, ripping a small hole through it before he lost control of the water qi and the sword scattered.
"This… Is difficult," he frowned.
He managed to create one sword on his first attempt, but it barely did anything.
To just create one sword, it needed a considerable amount of concentration. But creating hundreds… He knew that would a difficult task.
He condensed some more qi and then continued his practice.