Grinding.

—

[124 years later.]

Looking at Ying Yue's final breakthrough creating an impact on the ship formation, Tian Xing turned toward Yelena. "So, you can't cultivate and advance to the fifth stage of body cultivation because, in a sense, you've already achieved it. Is Master right about this, my Yelena?"

After seeing Sister Ying Yue's breakthrough and finding no fault, Yelena nodded to her master. "Yes, Master. I can't cultivate the fifth stage of body cultivation because I've already achieved it. And the Jing energy I circulate is only refining my meridians in the sixth stage, not the fifth stage of Blood Refining."

Sighing, since it seems they will return to normal cultivation, which could take thousands of years just to improve a layer, Tian Xing realized he is not Heaven Chosen anymore and let this slow cultivation process sink in for a moment, recognizing that now he truly is just a normal guy. If not for the access to higher cultivation through Yelena, he would likely be stuck on the second and third stages of body cultivation for a long time.

Not to mention other types of cultivation, like Soul cultivation, for example. He only achieved the first layers and first stages after one century. Even if he speeds up the process, it will probably still take about four to five decades, or something like that, just for the first stages. He couldn't imagine how slow his cultivation would be later, for the second stages or the second realm, for that matter. Shivering at the thought of spending era upon era locked in a cave meditating, he decided to seek opportunities after arriving in the Saintess' territory later.

Unlike those spoiled ones in his previous life as a Dao Ancestor, who relied on their spiritual roots to achieve higher realms, Tian Xing doesn't have any of that at the moment. Luckily, racing against his lifespan is nothing new to him, allowing him to instantly assess the situation and come up with a plan to tackle this simple problem.

Calculating with his fingers, Tian Xing estimated that he had about twenty thousand years left as a fourth-stage body practitioner. He nodded and made adjustments to his effective grinding method. Similar to how his Dao Ancestor variants approached things, he planned to make his years very monotonous and tedious, like a robot moving from one point to the next. He would then farm any resources for his breakthrough that he could find and easily acquire.

That's the secret to his success and becoming the highest in his previous world—because, at the end of the day, cultivation is a linear progression from one realm to the next. With an effective plan for what he wants to do, Tian Xing or anyone else can follow the same steps, minus the luck needed to survive the process when gathering resources for breakthroughs.

But he believes anyone can do it and survive the fighting encounters when gathering resources because, as Dao Ancestors, the beasts and ingredients he chose were mostly common ones. Similar to game cultivation in his modern world variant, Tian Xing thinks this is also the case in normal cultivation, where grand or rare ingredients are not necessary.

It's just that everyone is too greedy to find the best foundation or cultivation technique, forgetting the basic motivation for cultivating to begin with: drawing energy into their body and thus achieving higher levels step by step. Once someone finds an effective grinding method and avoids pitfalls that would shorten their lifespan, he knows everyone can definitely succeed once they find their rhythm.

Now, because he has the advantage of being a first-generation Heaven Chosen, Tian Xing knows his grinding method will essentially become more effective, speeding up the lengthy process. Thinking about speeding up the process, he looked at Yelena, who was already talking with Yue to congratulate her on the breakthrough. Knowing that within her body is the Jing energy of a sixth-stage body practitioner, he decided to find a way to fix this first since it is key to cutting down the time of the grinding process.

After seeing her turn toward him, Tian Xing asked, "My Yelena, you said earlier you can't cultivate to the fifth stage?"

Nodding her head, Yelena replied, "Yes, Master. I can't cultivate the fifth stage or Body Transformation at all because I've already achieved it."

Raising an eyebrow, feeling confused, Tian Xing continued to inquire, "So then, how are you able to circulate and improve your energy when we dual cultivate together? Master thought all this time it wasn't an issue; that's why I didn't bother asking Yelena about it."

Sighing, Yelena answered, "It is because of Master's Yang circulation method that I am still able to cultivate. Not only that, my Concealment Dao, which was given to me by Master, allows my body to continue improving my cultivation even when the foundation is broken. When Yelena said that I can't achieve the fifth stage, it doesn't mean I cannot cultivate. It's just that Yelena needs to break through the seventh stage of Marrow Refining while staying in the fourth stage before my foundation is restored."

Nodding in understanding, Tian Xing asked, "Then how can my Yelena solve this issue? Although Master has several methods to do it, Master wants to hear your opinion about this."

Thinking for a moment, Yelena proposed several solutions, "Although there are many ways to fix this issue, such as finding natural treasures or mystical locations, I think the easiest and safest one is asking Saintess Elixir to concoct a Scarlet Blood Restoration Pill for the broken foundation at the fifth stage and a Spirit Meridian Harmonizing Elixir for the broken foundation at the sixth stage. But I know that is not cheap, so later just let Yelena handle this matter on my own."

Nodding, wanting to help her acquire them as well, Tian Xing was unable to continue the conversation because he saw a purple cloud of mist outside the flying boat. Walking onto the deck with his two beloveds, he frowned, seeing the cloud, which had been white, slowly turning purple. About to ask Yelena what this phenomenon was, he found the answer when he heard her exclamation and had an inkling of who was responsible.

"Huh? Isn't this the Ascension phenomenon, Ascendant Purple Cloud, that only Qi practitioners experience when ascending to the next heaven? But I thought that all this time, only the Divine Raccoon Sage managed to reach the seventh stage, and everyone else mostly reached the fifth stage at best."

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