Break The Barrier

Li Zian arrived back at his mountain abode. The small crater outside was no longer there, as if nothing had ever happened.

That wasn't too strange, so he simply ignored it and made his way inside.

He sent a tiny strand of qi towards the fireplace, activating the array under the logs and creating a small fire.

Heat quickly rushed throughout the room, creating a soothing feeling.

Li Zian placed his flying sword into his storage ring and then headed into the cultivation room without a moment's waste.

He sat down on the stone bed and sent a wave of qi into the array carved onto the floor.

Blue light lit up the countless inscriptions and runes, and the spiritual energy in the room suddenly became much more abundant.

Li Zian exhaled sharply and withdrew the beast core from his robe, holding it up and observing it.

The beast core was shiny and blue in colour. It was roughly the size of his fist, but there was a mystical power contained inside.

Li Zian sent his divine senses into the beast core, discovering vast amounts of qi. The majority of it was pure, like what cultivators use, but there was also a strange muddy black substance.

At first Li Zian assumed it was impurities- a type of residual qi created from impure spiritual energy.

However upon closer inspection he discovered it was actually a unique type of qi he had never seen before.

It had a strange devilish aura, and it made Li Zian slightly nervous.

He didn't understand this type of qi, but he couldn't pass down on the opportunity to break through and improve his strength.

So, with some caution, he used his qi to lift the beast core into the air, hovering in front of his abdomen.

He then focused, letting tendrils of his own qi reach into the beast core and siphon out the pure qi contained inside.

With each passing second, he could feel his body and soul grow stronger from the qi contained inside of the beast core.

It was an exhilarating feeling as it all rushed into his dantian and divine sea.

He could feel his own qi becoming effected by it, becoming purer and more powerful.

His body also strengthened with the influx of foreign qi. He smiled.

But then his expression became confused as he frowned and furrowed his brows.

That strange devilish qi suddenly shot out of the beast core and into his dantian against his will.

'I made sure not to touch this devilish qi… What's going on?!' His internal thoughts were chaotic as he attempted to get the situation under control.

He panicked and sent surges of qi from his divine sea to stop the devilish qi in its tracks.

However this tiny amount of devilish qi posed quite a threat, as it chewed through all of his pure qi, heading through his dantian towards his divine sea.

The qi it touched transformed into devilish qi as well- it was trying to infect him with its powers!

Li Zian sweated profusely, and giant waves of qi erupted from his divine sea, smashing against the devilish qi in order to contain it.

The devilish qi continued pushing forwards, infecting more and more qi as it got closer to the divine sea.

Black veins spread through Li Zian's body, and a searing pain tore through his head.

He bit his lip hard, causing it to bleed.

More and more qi soared out of his divine sea, forming a sphere-shaped prison around the large amount of devilish qi.

'Phew… It's finally contained. Now to purify it!'

He sent the contained devilish qi into his dantian which it had previous gone through.

Strong forces operated inside the dantian, tearing apart the devilish qi into tiny individual strands – thousands of them.

Black wisps of dark energy were separated from the devilish qi, and so it was separated into pure qi and dark energy.

Li Zian sighed, and expelled the dark energy from his body, allowing the remaining pure qi strands to fall into his divine sea.

He opened his eyes, and grasped at the dark energy, holding it in his hand.

It appeared like black threads that blew in the wind, moving silently and attempting to wriggle free of his grasp.

He frowned and sent his divine sense into the dark energy.

However he didn't discover any impurities nor foreign types of power- this dark energy was pure as well. And it seemed almost sentient.

He huffed and sent a shockwave of strength from his hand, shattering the dark energy and erasing it completely.

He swept the mountain abode with his divine sense to make sure it had been fully erased, and then sighed with relief.

'That was… Strange, to say the least. I'm sure normal spirit beasts don't possess such a strange power.'

He pondered a while. 'Is that why it could summon that crimson lightning, despite only being at the foundation establishment? Just what is this dark energy?'

He gulped and continued his cultivation silently, assimilating all the new qi into his being to strengthen himself.

Five days later…

Li Zian suppressed his hunger and tired body with his qi- this was too important.

He could sense the barrier between the seventh and eight layer and mobilised his forces.

Wave after wave of pure qi smashed against the barrier, forming giant cracks.

'This should be a lot harder, but thanks to absorbing the power of a Foundation Establishment Beast Core I could make this process much easier.'

He was silently grateful for that terrifying battle but preferred not to think about it.

He continued attacking the barrier, and eventually it shattered after several rounds of attacks.

He smiled, and shockwaves burst from his body, shaking the entire house and the surrounding mountain abodes, creating a deep rumbling noise.

The phenomenon ended after a few seconds, and Li Zian stood up, feeling new power in his body.

'My divine sea has expanded greatly, and the quality of my qi has improved even further. I feel as if my battle against the wolf spirit beast would have been quite a bit easier with this level of strength.'

He smiled and let wisps of qi float around his body. It was a refreshing feeling that soothed his aching body.

"I suppose I should rest…" He yawned and shut off the array in the cultivation room.

He entered his bedroom which he had yet to properly use and laid down on his soft bed.

Quickly, Li Zian pulled the sheets over himself and slept for what felt like the first time in forever.