Chapter 700: Dislike~

gage into the hotel before heading out light to the Great Buddha Temple.""Alright!" Following the pretty and youthful Xie Yujia, everyone was in high spirits.What could there possibly be to complain a...Chapter 700: I Dislike It~

The second step to breakthrough is to achieve a state of "no distractions," where one cannot think randomly.

Zhao Kuo, the fanatic cultivator, had clearly explained all these points for Zhao Yanzi.

That's why Zhao Yanzi asked her most trusted Hao Ren to guard her entrance.

Hao Ren quietly moved a stone chair beside Zhao Yanzi’s bed, right in front of her orifice.

During the cultivation period, there could be no slightest deviation. Hence, when cultivators sought to break through their limits, they would often isolate themselves in sealed chambers for closed-door cultivation.

Since most cultivators had many enemies, having a trusted high-level cultivator guard them was also tradition.

Hao Ren sat cross-legged on the stone chair, looking at Zhao Yanzi as she focused her mind to cultivate. He kept his own heart calm and steady.

Surrounded by quilts, white vapor came out from Zhao Yanzi’s head.

This was a sign of spiritual energy condensing in her meridians.

If Hao Ren stood up and peeked inside the quilt, he could see below Zhao Yanzi's bare shoulders.

After a year of cultivation and growth, Zhao Yanzi seemed even prettier than when Hao Ren first met her. Her body had also matured more.

Hao Ren thought enviously that there must be many boys in middle school who liked her now.

Zhao Yanzi was closing her eyes to cultivate and focus all her spirit energy to condense into a golden elixir, while Hao Ren could not close his eyes. He had to keep watching Zhao Yanzi's situation and prepare for the worst-case scenario of her going astray in meditation.

But staring at Zhao Yanzi inevitably led him to have some random thoughts.

The delicate face, the effortful calm expression, the slightly flared nostrils, the pouted lips, the furrowed brows as she concentrated... Zhao Yanzi was at her most lively and adorable stage, yet also past being a child.

A layer of white vapor gradually rose from her soft shoulders, while her small collarbone looked like natural bindings on a tiny nightgown. It was very delicate. Black tresses draped over her shoulder from one ear, with several strands falling onto her pale skin.

Hao Ren quietly exhaled and concentrated his mind to lower his distracting thoughts to the minimum.

His mind's distractions could mean distractions for Zhao Yanzi too. He really worried that she would make mistakes since she was unreliable when it came to cultivating and studying.

"Mmm..." Zhao Yanzi suddenly bit her lip, her closed eyelids' lashes quivering slightly.

Her cultivation mindset had been affected, reaching a critical point.

"I'm here. Relax," Hao Ren said quickly.

Zhao Yanzi nodded lightly; it seemed like glue held her eyes shut, too afraid to open them.

She was using spiritual energy for inner sight on herself. Opening her eyes would disrupt her thoughts and cultivation. Hearing that Hao Ren was there made her slightly calmer.

As for whether Hao Ren would take the chance to peek at her, she no longer cared about it. After all... she would eventually marry Hao Ren anyway.

The small cylinder wrapped in quilts was filled with more and more thick white smoke, looking like a little chimney.

A few beads of sweat appeared on Zhao Yanzǐ's forehead, signaling that her cultivation had entered a deeper stage.

Near the edge of her forehead, strands of hair were dampened by the sweat, leading it to flow down to her nose tip.

Hao Ren struck out with a fine sword beam and sent flying the droplets of sweat at the ends of her hair.

At such a critical moment for cultivation, even a drop of sweat could startle one's heart and cause unimaginable consequences.

Zhao Yanzǐ bit down on her lip until it bled, leaving red marks. Her shoulders kept shaking.

The time to break through was testing the firmness of a cultivator’s foundation. Zhao Yanzǐ had an excellent talent but spent far less time cultivating than Hao Ren and could not compare with Xie Yujia either.

With some medicinal pills, she easily reached the late Foundation Establishment stage, but her breakthrough into higher realms relied mainly on her willpower.

Hao Ren watched over her anxiously, feeling time slipping by drop by drop.

Sweat seeped out of Zhao Yanzǐ’s skin from forehead to neck and shoulders… spreading all over her body.

It seemed that the progression from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation was natural, but condensing one's essence energy into an elixir in the body wasn't easy!

The dragon race cultivators had a naturally existing Inner Dragon Pearl, so there were no issues with forming an elixir. It was as easy as progressing from Grade Kan to Grade Zhen, but for humans, it required compressing essence energy into an elixir and forming an "Inner Elixir"!

If it were that simple, why would cultivation be described as going against the heavens

Zhao Yanzǐ's upper body was drenched in sweat, her lower half also covered in perspiration. She looked like she was sitting inside a steamer or a volcano with all her heat evaporating.

Hao Ren saw that she was completely drenched and dared not touch her for fear of startling her at this crucial moment.

The only thing he could do was to guard around her, preventing any disturbances from the environment.

Should Zhao Yanzǐ accidentally fall into a state of "insanity", Hao Ren would need to quickly take action and control the chaotic essence energy within her body!

Hao Ren saw that Zhao Yanzǐ had entered the crucial condensing process, his mood tense. He was even more nervous than when he himself broke through; all those scattered thoughts were banished from his mind.

Four hours…

Hao Ren quietly calculated the time.

Even if it wasn't cultivation, sitting still for four hours was a very long time.

The breakthrough to Core Formation didn’t take as many days as reaching Spirit Embryo; condensing and breaking through would only take about half a day. But most cultivators usually made ample preparations beforehand.

Hao Ren gazed at Zhao Yanzǐ, her brows now relaxed, truly entering an ecstatic state. If she were to show any signs of instability now, it would be indicative of her falling into "insanity."

This girl… did things carelessly in daily life but wouldn't let down the team when it mattered most. Like exams—if one studied hard enough, they could still get good grades.

Hao Ren comforted himself while thinking this over.

The Fifth Layer Heavens had none of modern society's noise and prosperity; its essence energy was also denser than that in the First Layer. Zhao Yanzǐ’s choice to break through at Drifting Peak was a wise one.

Hao Ren looked at her calm face, wondering if any unresolved issues still troubled her mind and would affect her breakthrough.

However… If Zhao Yanzǐ truly had rich emotions, seeing Duan Yao's situation should make her feel fortunate enough to not dwell on grievances anymore. This would benefit her cultivation.

Duan Yao’s return to Heaven Mountain Sect to make a decision was probably for Zhao Yanzǐ’s future breakthrough too. Resolving things early meant that with time passing, the impact of grudges would be smaller.

When she breaks through, she will certainly think of all the things that happened in the Heavenly Mountain Sect before, but since a decision has been made, this kind of influence is small.

Su Han always practices alone; it’s probably because she fears having distractions in her heart and affecting her cultivation...

Hao Ren's thoughts gradually expanded, suddenly thinking about what his mental state would be like on the day he breaks through...

"Sword!" Zhao Yanzi suddenly stretched out her hand from under the blankets.

Her thin white arm reached out from inside, but her eyes remained tightly closed.

Hao Ren flicked his finger at the purple and green treasure sword beside the bed with his fingertip, causing it to slide into Zhao Yanzi's hand.

Zhao Yanzi suddenly circulated all of her spiritual energy in one circle before pouring it into this high-quality treasure, the Purple-Green Treasure Sword.

The Purple-Green Treasure Sword let out a crisp sound and its surface was enveloped by a layer of barely visible flowing spiritual energy, making its sharp blade seem to appear and disappear intermittently.

Zhao Yanzi wanted to refine the Purple-Green Treasure Sword!

Hao Ren suddenly understood Zhao Yanzi's intentions; he felt a sudden shock in his heart.

But he didn't dare say anything to stop her, otherwise Zhao Yanzi would immediately fall into demonic cultivation!

A high-level cultivator usually has their own life-bound treasure. A cultivator can have their own life-bound treasure once they reach the Core Formation stage.

However... a core formation cultivator in the early stages basically wouldn’t refine a life-bound treasure, for one thing, their realm was too low to possibly succeed and it would harm their body. Secondly, at this normal level of cultivation, there’s no way they could find an exceptionally good treasure; since a life-bound treasure is almost always with them for life, they wouldn't easily try to refine such a treasure.

Zhao Yanzi wanted to take advantage of her realm breaking through to refine the Purple-Green Treasure Sword. It was definitely a bold act! She must have been spurred on by Duan Yao and Xie Yujia, desperately wanting to improve her strength!

She was a pure water body; in terms of talent, she could control this top-grade manufactured treasure sword. Taking advantage of the great realm break-through, there would be some chance for it to become a life-bound treasure, but it was still somewhat risky.

Buzz… buzz…

The Purple-Green Treasure Sword’s blade flickered bit by bit. It wasn't a Heavenly Spiritual Treasure, and thus had no spiritual nature of its own, but for it to be refined into a life-bound treasure, cultivators still required relatively strong strength!

Zhao Yanzi's expression remained calm, showing no signs of demonic cultivation yet. Hao Ren anxiously watched her; he was so nervous that sweat started pouring down his forehead.

Assuming breaking through the Core Formation realm takes one unit of time, refining a life-bound treasure would take another!

The process of breakthrough is dangerous to the second every minute and second. Zhao Yanzi wanted to reach her goal in one go; she was slightly too anxious!

Spiritual energy circulated within Zhao Yanzi's body before circulating around the sword blade once more. It’s already a very risky move for her to externally release spiritual energy from her body, let alone while breaking through cultivation!

This dead guy always does things with an eye on quick success when solving problems. I didn’t expect him to be like this in cultivation as well! If you make mistakes when solving problems, you can erase and come up with a new solution, but if there’s failure during the breakthrough, it’ll mean risking your life!

Hao Ren started regretting his decision; he shouldn't have let her re-cultivate. Given Zhao Yanzi's character, she should have been content to live as a well-fed girl with no worries in life. Perhaps Zhao Hongyu saw through her prospects too.

Ding! The Purple-Green Treasure Sword emitted a crisp sound.

Zhao Yanzi raised the Purple-Green Treasure Sword and inserted it into her head’s fontanel point.

The already etherealized Purple-Green Treasure Sword seemed like an illusion or even a stream of air, pouring in through the Baihui acupoint.

Hao Ren held his breath and focused intently; he could almost feel his heart jump out of his throat.

At this moment, if Zhao Yanzi made a slight mistake and couldn’t control it properly, the Purple-Green Treasure Sword would revert to its sword form and turn into a sharp blade that might split her head open!

Hao Ren’s realm was far higher than hers, but in such a situation, he could only watch helplessly; he couldn't do anything!

The cyan sword's shadow was almost visible on Zhao Yanzi's fair face, with the tip of the sword entering her neck and then moving towards both shoulders.

Hao Ren sucked in a breath secretly, not daring to swallow even a drop of saliva for fear that any sound might cause Zhao Yanzi’s attempt to fail!

The purple-blue treasure sword gradually sank down into a spot below the shoulder where Hao Ren could no longer see.

Zhao Yanzi had been incredibly reckless...Hao Ren quietly exhaled again.

When breaking through to a higher realm, it was indeed suitable for merging one’s spiritual energy with the treasure tool to become an intrinsic treasure tool. However, if it failed, there would be double failure, and the probability of direct death would be quite high!

If when reaching a certain level in cultivation, one were to refine an intrinsic treasure tool, even though success was not easy, the damage to the body from failure wouldn’t be significant.

Seeing that the purple-blue treasure sword had safely entered Zhao Yanzi’s body, Hao Ren looked at his own palms which were already covered with sweat. Since he started cultivating, he hadn't been this nervous and scared in a long time—not even when facing Taiyi Cave Lord was it like this!

Zhao Yanzi let out a long breath as her eyes suddenly opened.

Three spots—the spot between her eyebrows, her chest, and her lower abdomen—lit up with light. The golden core had formed, and the three points were now open!

Ping...

The purple-blue treasure sword within Zhao Yanzi’s body responded.

Hao Ren let out a long breath and put his hand on his chest. He was almost weakened by this near-death experience... It had all been safe, all safe!

Zhao Yanzi collapsed onto the bed limply, her heart completely exhausted—she hadn’t broken through to any new realm but had come out of the cave filled with strength and shouting wildly, now she felt as if she’d been drained.

Hao Ren patted his forehead and then approached her, touching her forehead.

Zhao Yanzi opened her big eyes and looked at Hao Ren joyfully. Her round shoulders were drenched in sweat, looking very seductive.

There was also a hint of expectation in her gaze.

Hao Ren lowered his head lightly and bit onto her soft lips that felt like jelly.

Zhao Yanzi’s little nostrils exhaled hot air. She thought, ‘I want him to make me some water… how can he do such a thing…’

But as Hao Ren kissed her, her heart was fluttering wildly; she hid in the blanket shyly while happily biting Hao Ren's tongue.

Hao Ren half-laid on the stone bed. His right hand, which had been supporting her waist, slowly moved to her soft belly.

Zhao Yanzi’s body suddenly stiffened like a little mudskipper that was caught.

Wha—!

Her eyes widened again as she felt Hao Ren's palm poking around in the damp blanket and touching her chest!

This time, I really wasn’t wearing anything at all!

The round spot was supported, and the most sensitive point was touched; Zhao Yanzi’s shoulders trembled like a spring, pressing against the stone wall behind her. She quickly used her smooth hands to hit Hao Ren's arm.

"You… pervert!" Zhao Yanzi glared at Hao Ren with flushed cheeks.

Hao Ren lowered his head and smiled slightly while patting his head hard; what else could he say

Zhao Yanzi quickly pulled the blanket up, took a look, then suddenly let out a loud scream!ood her situation, Xie Yujia inquired further about them. Hao Ren shared his experiences with her honestly; as long as it didn’t involve specific techniques, discussing the cultivation process wouldn'...