### Chapter 39: Mid-Stage Qi Refining  

Today was the day He Song had decided to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining! 

Since Lin Cong had already set an example and told He Song that breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining with a four-spiritual-root aptitude wasn't particularly difficult, He Song didn't prepare much else. After placing over a dozen spirit stones around him, he decisively began his breakthrough. 

Breaking through from the peak of the third level of Qi Refining to the fourth level wasn't particularly challenging. 

Of course, this lack of difficulty was relative to He Song's four-spiritual-root aptitude. 

The difference between four-spiritual-root and five-spiritual-root aptitudes was quite significant. 

For someone with a five-spiritual-root aptitude, breaking through from the third to the fourth level of Qi Refining would involve a much stronger bottleneck. 

Take Meng Guan, for example. 

He had a five-spiritual-root aptitude. 

When he broke through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, Meng Guan faced much greater difficulty than someone with a four-spiritual-root aptitude. 

And when he tried to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining, he was stuck at the bottleneck, struggling immensely. 

To overcome this, he had no choice but to leave the Immortal Market and work as a miner. To this day, he still hadn't returned. 

It's worth mentioning that a month after the Foundation Establishment True Person returned to the Immortal Market, both He Song and Wei Fan received Sound Transmission Paper Cranes from Meng Guan. 

In the message, Meng Guan said he had encountered a major crisis. Fortunately, when the disaster struck, he was inside a mine shaft. He used the Breath Concealment Technique to hide in a secluded part of the mine for several days, which allowed him to survive. 

At the same time, He Song and Wei Fan learned what had happened at the Chiling Gold Mine during those days. 

The Chiling Gold Mine had been attacked by several Foundation Establishment True Persons and dozens of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. 

Most of the rogue cultivators recruited to work in the mine were slaughtered on the spot. 

Even one of the four Foundation Establishment True Persons from the Thick Earth Sect, who were guarding the mine, was ambushed and killed. 

Fortunately, among the remaining three Foundation Establishment True Persons, one was secretly at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. This allowed them to hold their ground and send out a distress signal. 

The distress signal attracted the guardians from several nearby Immortal Markets. The two sides clashed for several days, but neither could gain the upper hand. 

It wasn't until several days later, when Foundation Establishment True Persons from Qingyuan Immortal City arrived to reinforce them, that the attackers retreated. 

At the same time, the guardians from the nearby Immortal Markets also returned to their posts. 

However, what Meng Guan didn't know was that several other Immortal Markets had also been attacked by evil cultivators. 

He Song and Wei Fan only found out afterward that not only had the Zhushan Immortal Market been attacked, but several other Immortal Markets without Foundation Establishment True Persons guarding them had also been targeted. 

After waiting a few more days for the situation to calm down, Meng Guan cautiously emerged from the mine shaft and rejoined the mining team. 

After this ordeal, Meng Guan sighed deeply, lamenting his narrow escape while also thanking He Song and Wei Fan for their earlier advice. 

However, if it weren't for his lack of spirit stones and his desire to take a risk, he wouldn't have gone to work in the mine. Thus, he decided to stay at the Chiling Gold Mine. 

The Chiling Gold Mine now had several more Foundation Establishment True Persons guarding it, making it even safer than before. 

Moreover, he had nowhere else to go. 

So, he continued working as a miner. 

Now, three years had passed, and He Song only knew that Meng Guan was still mining. Beyond that, he had no further information. 

For someone with a four-spiritual-root aptitude, like Lin Cong, breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining wasn't particularly difficult. 

When Lin Cong decided to make the breakthrough, the spiritual energy in his body began circulating rapidly. 

And then, he broke through the bottleneck. 

It was that simple. 

He Song activated the Thick Earth Technique. 

The spiritual energy around him continuously flowed into his body. 

As the spiritual energy poured in, the spiritual power within He Song's body began to grow. 

When the spiritual power in his body reached its peak, He Song continued to circulate the Thick Earth Technique. 

In an instant, he felt a wave of comfort wash over him, as if his entire body had expanded. An overwhelming sense of satisfaction from the breakthrough surged through him. 

In the blink of an eye, He Song had successfully broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. 

Sensing the rapid increase in spiritual power within his body and the faster conversion of external spiritual energy into his own, He Song felt a surge of joy. 

Success! 

Simply by circulating the Thick Earth Technique, he had smoothly broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. 

After savoring the satisfaction of the successful breakthrough, He Song continued to circulate the Thick Earth Technique to consolidate his new cultivation level. 

Immediately after a breakthrough, if something unexpected happened, it was easy to fall back to the previous level. 

Only after fully consolidating one's cultivation could one safely use their new power without risk of regression. 

This was also why Lin Cong had decided to leave immediately after receiving He Song's Sound Transmission Paper Crane. 

At that time, Lin Cong had just broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining and needed to consolidate his cultivation. 

If something unexpected happened in the Immortal Market, it could have been troublesome. 

Time flew by. 

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. 

During this month, aside from spending half an hour each day casting the Spirit Rain Technique on the spirit fields he managed, He Song stayed at home to consolidate his cultivation. 

Now, a month later, He Song's cultivation at the fourth level of Qi Refining was finally fully consolidated. 

At this point, no matter how casually he used his spiritual power, his cultivation level wouldn't drop. 

Only now did He Song feel completely at ease. 

He no longer needed to focus solely on consolidating his cultivation. 

However, now that he had broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, it was time for He Song to visit the Spirit Medicine Pavilion and increase the number of spirit fields he managed. 

In the Zhushan Immortal Market, once a cultivator reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining, their status and treatment improved significantly. 

Take spirit farmers, for example. 

At the early stage of Qi Refining, a spirit farmer could typically manage only five acres of spirit fields because the amount of spiritual energy in their body was limited, and the Spirit Rain Technique couldn't cover a larger area. 

With each acre of spirit fields producing thirty spirit stones per year, five acres would yield a total of one hundred and fifty spirit stones. 

But if a spirit farmer broke through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, the number of spirit fields they could manage increased to seven acres. 

Compared to the original five acres, the addition of two more acres might not seem like much. 

However, the actual annual income would increase significantly. 

Using the same calculation of thirty spirit stones per acre per year, seven acres would yield two hundred and ten spirit stones annually. 

After deducting the mandatory one hundred and twenty spirit stones for rent, the amount of spirit stones available for discretionary use would increase from thirty spirit stones (with five acres) to ninety spirit stones (with seven acres). 

The difference between thirty and ninety spirit stones per year was substantial. 

Thus, mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators had significantly more disposable spirit stones compared to early-stage Qi Refining cultivators. 

However, after breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, one needed to report to the Spirit Medicine Pavilion before officially taking on the additional two acres of spirit fields. 

Fortunately, the connections Meng Guan had prepared for He Song were still intact. 

Zhao Lin, who had taken over Meng Guan's position as the manager of the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, hadn't died in the previous disaster. 

Moreover, due to the sudden decrease in the number of rogue cultivators in the Immortal Market, the survivors were all feeling a sense of camaraderie. 

As a result, whenever they encountered someone they knew from before, they would chat and reminisce for a while. 

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(End of Chapter)