Chapter 103: Four Years Later

---

It wasn't until four years later.

In the Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market.

Inside a quiet chamber.

Dense spirit stones were arranged meticulously, and an incredibly rich spiritual energy enveloped He Song entirely.

As time passed, the spiritual energy within He Song's body began to surge wildly.

He Song's brows furrowed tightly as spiritual energy circulated through his body. A powerful spiritual pressure emanated from him, enveloping the entire chamber under its immense force.

However, He Song paid no attention to the external phenomena at this moment.

Inside his body.

The flowing spiritual energy was rapidly circulating, rushing through his meridians without pause.

Soon.

A sensation of touching a certain bottleneck emerged in He Song's mind.

Half a year ago, He Song's cultivation had already reached the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refining.

Over the past six months, He Song had repeatedly attempted to break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining.

However, despite multiple attempts, he had yet to overcome the bottleneck.

Nevertheless, through these repeated attempts to break through, He Song had gained much insight.

Moreover, during his last attempt to break through, when he had fallen just short of success, He Song had sensed the bottleneck loosening. At that moment, he became certain.

He could rely on his own strength to break through the bottleneck of the late Qi Refining stage.

He didn't need to accumulate spirit stones to purchase a Breakthrough Pill in the Green Wall Immortal City, as Meng Guan had done.

This was the difference in their innate talents.

Meng Guan possessed only a five-element spiritual root, while He Song had a four-element spiritual root.

As a result, Meng Guan had been stuck at the sixth level of Qi Refining for over a decade, unable to make any progress.

He Song, on the other hand, after just half a year of attempts, felt that the bottleneck was beginning to loosen and that he would soon break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining.

A five-element spiritual root was simply too poor in terms of innate talent.

Unless one had ample resources, a cultivator with a five-element spiritual root had almost no chance of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

However, with a four-element spiritual root, even with modest resources and following a steady cultivation path, there was still a chance to break through to Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty.

Although the chances of successfully breaking through without a Foundation Establishment Pill were slim, there was still that one opportunity.

Who knows? With a bit of luck, one might succeed.

Such fortunate individuals, though rare, did exist.

At the very least, they were far better off than those with a five-element spiritual root.

Meng Guan, with his five-element spiritual root, had to fight tooth and nail for that one chance.

As the spiritual energy within his body began to circulate at an extreme speed, and the powerful spiritual pressure enveloped the entire chamber, He Song faintly sensed the bottleneck.

He Song took a deep breath and then focused entirely on manipulating the spiritual energy within his body.

Thanks to his mastery of the Object Control Technique, He Song had an exceptionally high degree of control over the spiritual energy in his body.

This was fully evident when he wanted to accelerate the circulation of spiritual energy within his body.

During his last attempt to break through, he had fallen just short at the final moment.

But that attempt had allowed him to sense the loosening of the bottleneck.

This time, he would definitely succeed!

This thought flashed through He Song's mind, and a strong sense of confidence surged within him.

Circulating his spiritual energy to break through the bottleneck—it would happen now!

At a certain moment.

Inside the quiet chamber.

He Song, who had been sitting cross-legged in meditation, suddenly shuddered.

"Late Qi Refining stage, achieved!"

With a soft exclamation, He Song did not rise to his feet. Instead, he continued to circulate the Earth Essence Technique to consolidate his cultivation.

Having just broken through to the late Qi Refining stage, a single misstep could cause him to fall back in cultivation.

Naturally, consolidating his cultivation at this moment was of utmost importance.

As He Song began to circulate the Earth Essence Technique.

Soon, the incredibly dense spiritual energy within the chamber surged toward him, enveloping his entire body.

Inside the chamber, the densely arranged spirit stones provided an immense amount of spiritual energy for He Song to absorb.

The massive amount of spiritual energy gathered by the Spirit Gathering Formation also poured into He Song's body.

In almost the blink of an eye.

The originally dense spiritual energy within the chamber visibly thinned.

However, He Song had anticipated this.

From the piles of spirit stones arranged in the chamber, a massive amount of spiritual energy quickly surged forth, replenishing the concentration of spiritual energy.

Surrounded by this immense spiritual energy, He Song felt as though he were immersed in an ocean of spiritual energy.

With just a slight circulation of the spiritual energy within his body, wisps of spiritual energy from the outside world were absorbed into his body, transforming into his own spiritual energy.

With ample spirit stones and the support of the Spirit Gathering Formation, He Song hardly needed to worry about the concentration of spiritual energy in the outside world.

All he needed to do was absorb the spiritual energy into his body.

As a result, the time He Song needed to consolidate his cultivation would be greatly reduced.

If, under normal circumstances, breaking through to the seventh level of Qi Refining required a month to consolidate one's cultivation.

Then, under the current conditions of such dense spiritual energy, He Song would only need ten days to fully consolidate his cultivation, ensuring that his cultivation would not fall back from the seventh level of Qi Refining.

However.

While absorbing spiritual energy to consolidate his cultivation, He Song couldn't help but feel a sense of joy.

Late Qi Refining stage!

After so many years of cultivation, he had finally reached the late Qi Refining stage!

From a mere first-level Qi Refining cultivator to now a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, the difference in status was immense.

A first-level Qi Refining cultivator was at the very bottom of the Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market, someone anyone could step on.

But a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, although still at the bottom of the cultivation world, held a completely different status within the small Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market.

A late-stage Qi Refining cultivator could have a small courtyard arranged for them by the immortal market, free of charge.

A late-stage Qi Refining cultivator could be assigned a free managerial position within the immortal market.

A late-stage Qi Refining cultivator could move safely within the immortal market and immortal cities, with little need to worry about danger.

Although both were within the Qi Refining stage, the difference in status and position was vast.

At the very least.

Within the small Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market, He Song had now become one of the few standing at the top of the pyramid.

Above him, there was only one Foundation Establishment True Person. No one else stood above him.

However, after carefully calculating the time, a trace of weariness flashed through He Song's eyes.

Five years ago.

He Song had met Su Yan. At that time, He Song had calculated the time since he had transmigrated to this world.

Back then, it had been seventeen years since he had transmigrated to this world and become a first-level Qi Refining cultivator.

Now, another five years had passed.

He Song had been in this world for a full twenty-two years!

Twenty-two years, from a first-level Qi Refining cultivator to now a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

The hardships he had endured were known only to He Song himself.

From the cautiousness he had felt when he first transmigrated.

To the confidence and ambition he now felt upon reaching the seventh level of Qi Refining, the psychological journey left He Song with a profound sense of reflection.

"The past is like smoke and clouds. The late Qi Refining stage is merely the starting point of cultivation.

From now on, I must continue to cultivate with caution. With my current status, if I were to die inexplicably, it would be a great loss."

As he circulated the Earth Essence Technique to consolidate his cultivation, He Song recalled his past experiences, further solidifying his belief in the importance of caution.

(End of Chapter)

---