chapter 20 “The New Step in Realm”

His grip tightened around the pouch at his waist, fingertips tracing the rough edges of fifty crystals. A fortune. A gift. 

The ancestors had given them willingly, as they were useless non able to use for them. 

But there was a problem.

He was too weak to even glimpse their true nature.

That truth was heavier than any mountain. No matter how keen his mind, no matter how unyielding his will, bare hands could not seize the heavens.

He needed strength. True strength. The kind that did not come from schemes or fleeting alliances.

He needed to cultivate.

He rose to his feet and turned to the largest of the spirit beasts—a towering creature, its fur dark as woven night, its eyes smoldering embers. A being older than the mountains.

"Where can I train?"

The Ancestor Beast exhaled slowly, then lifted its gaze.

Lu Yan followed its stare.

Beyond the jagged cliffs and mist-wrapped peaks, a high medium qi energyplateau stretched toward the heavens—half-shrouded in storm clouds.

A place untouched by beasts.

Untouched by men.

better then inheritance Great sect so called guy training place.

A sacred ground of wind and stone.

He nodded. "Take me there."

The journey was brutal.

The climb devoured him. His breath. His endurance. His will.

Razor-sharp winds screamed through the peaks, cutting through his robes like knives. Every step felt like dragging his body through endless punishment. More than once, his fingers lost their grip, clawing desperately against unyielding rock.

But he climbed.

He climbed because weakness was not an option.

When he reached the plateau, his body was shaking, his sweat freezing against his skin. But when he stood at the edge, gazing upon the untouched land before him, none of it mattered.

The air was thick with power.

The world itself seemed to breathe. The land pulsed with veins of unseen force. The wind carried whispers of something ancient, something waiting.

This was it.

Lu Yan took a slow breath and reached into his pouch.

A crystal.

He pulled it free, holding it in his palm. It shimmered—light twisting like frozen fire. He focused, reaching out with his senses.

Nothing.

The power within was locked. Inaccessible. His realm was too low.

A sharp reminder.

Lu Yan settled onto the ground. This was the first wall. The first step. He would have to break through the First Stage of Qi Condensation before anything else.

He closed his eyes.

And he began.

The world faded. His body, the wind, the stone beneath him—none of it mattered.

Inhale. The energy of the land seeped into his skin, cold and wild.

Exhale. It passed through him, untouched, unclaimed.

Again.

And again.

But the energy did not respond. It slipped away, like trying to grasp water in his hands. It was there, yet just beyond reach.

He was not strong enough to contain it.

Hours passed. The storm howled, the wind screamed, but inside—there was only silence.

Then—something changed.

A spark.

A single thread of energy coiled in his chest, fragile as smoke. His heartbeat quickened. He focused everything on that single thread, trying to pull it deeper.

It fought back. Resisting him.

A beast refusing the leash.

But he did not falter.

He reached for it again—grasping, demanding, forcing it into his core. The energy twisted violently, searing through his meridians like molten steel.

He clenched his teeth. Pain tore through him, white-hot and merciless. His muscles seized, his body rejecting the force invading it. Every fiber of his being screamed, but he did not stop.

He could not stop.

The energy fought him.

He conquered it.

Slowly, painfully, it stretched—through his core, into his limbs, carving the first path.

One.

Then another.

And another.

His meridians burned, carved open by raw force. His breath came ragged, his vision blurred, but he held on.

If he failed now, he would never succeed.

He pushed deeper. Further.

The energy surged, flooding through his body, filling the void inside him. For the first time, he could feel it.

When the sun rose, his robes were drenched in sweat, his limbs trembling. But when he opened his eyes, he knew.

He had broken through.

The Second Stage of Qi Condensation was his.