Chapter 569: Successful Breakthrough

As time passed, the spiritual materials and inner cores from the spiritual beasts in the pill furnace gradually turned into a viscous substance. The color of this substance kept changing, and its volume gradually decreased.
Finally, after five more color changes, only a thin layer of viscous substance remained at the bottom of the furnace, which suddenly shot upward.
The fierce flames at the bottom of the furnace suddenly slowed down. Although they were still blazing, the heat output dropped significantly.
Huh…
Taking a soft breath, Yun Lan still wore a smile on her face.
The upward-shot viscous substance began to spin rapidly—once, ten times, a hundred times… faster and faster. Eventually, even with Lin Dong’s eyesight, which could reach the peak of the ninth level of the Reverse Heart Realm, it became difficult to keep up with its speed. All he could see was that the thin layer of viscous substance kept gathering, forming a ball the size of a fist, before starting to shrink again.
Bang!
Suddenly, the ball burst open and fell down, miraculously forming small pills.
If counted carefully, there were twenty-six of them.
“It worked!”
Yun Lan waved her hand, and the pill furnace slowly descended, with the flames at the bottom completely extinguished.
When the furnace landed steadily, the Green Rainbow Sword was inserted into it. With a gentle lift, after a few rotations, the sword carried the twenty-six breakthrough pills out.
With a series of tapping sounds, all twenty-six breakthrough pills fell into the porcelain bottle prepared by Yun Lan.
Gently covering the bottle’s lid, Yun Lan handed it to Lin Dong and asked, “Shall we start the attempt today?”
Taking the bottle, Lin Dong felt excitement surge within him. He wanted to agree right away but remembered that the stock giveaway jointly launched by the top restaurants was approaching. Suppressing his excitement, he asked, “Given my talent, how much time do I need to achieve a breakthrough?”
“Based on the effects described in the recipe, it should take about ten days,” Yun Lan explained.
“Ten days…” Lin Dong calculated for a moment before gritting his teeth and saying, “Let’s start now.”
“Okay, I’ll go inform Old Master Ding,” Yun Lan nodded.
The two left. Yun Lan went to knock on Old Master Ding’s door, while Lin Dong knocked on Feng Yue’s door.
“Come in!” The voices of the two lazy men came from inside.
“Old master, the breakthrough pills have been prepared,” Yun Lan said.
With a creak, not only did Old Master Ding’s door open, but Feng Yue’s door also slowly opened, and the two appeared at the door together.
“Good boy. It won’t be long before you can stand on equal footing with me. How do you feel?” Old Master Ding said with a smile as he looked at Lin Dong.

“I’m excited. Finally, I can, just like the old man and Senior Feng, stay in my room, find something I like to eat, and not go out at all, waiting for others to serve me,” Lin Dong said with a smile.
Old Ding was speechless. He had intended to tease Lin Dong a bit, but it was clear that the boss’s eloquence and quick wits had improved significantly. With just a few words, he could turn the tables and tease the two of them for being lazy and acting like lords at Lin’s Inn.
Feng Yue said with a sigh, “Senior, once he reaches the ranks of peak warriors, we’ll take turns dealing with him so he knows what it means to have a senior. Otherwise, he might really think he’s already a peak warrior and ignore us.”
“That’s a good idea!” Old Ding couldn’t help but give Feng Yue a thumbs up.
Lin Dong wisely turned around and went back to his room. Continuing the conversation would only trap him deeper. By ignoring them now, maybe they’d forget what they said in over ten days.
Back in his room, he sat cross-legged on the wooden bed. Old Ding waved his hand, and the door creaked shut.
“Kid, remember, you must break through in one go. Any pause will have a huge impact on the breakthrough,” Old Ding reminded him before smiling at Yun Lan. “Young Yun, how many drinks?”
Yun Lan didn’t answer. Instead, she took out three crystal-clear wine cups from her storage spirit ring.
The three of them sat down at the stone table. Yun Lan poured wine for the two of them, occasionally drinking one or two cups herself.
In the room, Lin Dong sat cross-legged, took a few deep breaths, took out the porcelain bottle, pulled out the cork, and poured out a Breakthrough Pill.
After taking a few more deep breaths, he gritted his teeth and put the Breakthrough Pill in his mouth, then quickly placed the bottle back in the mobile counter.
He swallowed the pill whole. Before long, it dissolved rapidly in his stomach. Streams of energy gradually emerged, entering Lin Dong’s meridians. After cleansing them, they rushed straight to his brain.
A cool sensation spread slowly throughout his brain. Lin Dong felt refreshed, his senses sharpened, and an indescribable comfort filled his body.
Without indulging in this pleasure, Lin Dong quickly focused his mind. His spiritual energy surged from his dantian and flowed into his meridians.
With nine times the cultivation boost, plus the meridians cleansed by the Breakthrough Pill, the speed of his spiritual energy circulation was such that it could circle back to his dantian in the span of a single thought.
The spiritual energy returning to his dantian increased slightly in an instant.

With each mental effort, another cycle is completed—three cycles, four cycles… The spiritual energy keeps increasing, beginning to exceed the total capacity of the dantian. Each time it enters the dantian, it causes it to expand slightly. When it exits, the spiritual energy decreases slightly due to the strain, but the amount of decrease is significantly less compared to when Lin Dong practiced before taking the Breakthrough Pill.

One full cycle, two full cycles, three full cycles… Lin Dong tirelessly controls the flow of spiritual energy through his meridians, increasing the force exerted on the dantian with each cycle. Although the increase in spiritual energy is almost negligible each time, after thousands of cycles, it becomes apparent that the dantian has expanded slightly and the spiritual energy has increased as well.

Time flies by, and the harder Lin Dong works, the more uncomfortable he becomes.

Diligence is essential in the path of cultivation, but excessive diligence requires sufficient endurance and energy.

It’s easy for ordinary people to concentrate for an hour by sheer willpower. But to maintain focus for a whole day, only those with great endurance and energy can do so—people who, aside from warriors, are impossible for ordinary folks to be.

Going a day without food makes one acutely aware of an empty stomach, while going a day without water leaves ordinary people mentally exhausted and physically suffering. Yet warriors can temporarily ignore these sensations.

Beyond five days, it becomes a realm even warriors cannot endure. Not to mention whether they can maintain focus for five days straight, even warriors start to feel discomfort after five days without water.

Ten days is equally unbearable for even the strongest.

By the ninth day, Lin Dong already starts to feel uncomfortable just trying to concentrate fully.

Thirst causes a series of noticeable discomforts, and his mood becomes irritable. He can only suppress these feelings by forcing himself through, but as time passes, the discomfort intensifies, while his endurance gradually weakens.

By the stone table in the backyard, Yun Lan and the other two’s expressions grow increasingly serious. Besides keeping watch for any enemies, they also focus part of their attention on Lin Dong’s body to monitor his progress.

They are fully aware of Lin Dong’s condition and understand that the critical moment has arrived.

Whether he can succeed in reaching the ranks of a peak warrior depends on the extent of his endurance.

“I hope this kid can succeed on the first try!” Old Ding couldn’t help but take a big gulp of wine. He had no intention of taking anyone as his disciple, but Lin Dong was still the heir to his spiritual techniques and the successor of the Sky Commanding Art. If Lin Dong could reach the ranks of peak warriors before turning thirty, it would bring honor to him, allowing him to face those regarded as ancestors with a proud head before his death. If he failed on the first try and developed doubts, the effectiveness of the second dose of the Breakthrough Pill would decrease, making it even harder than the first attempt. Reaching the ranks of peak warriors might then not be so easy. “He definitely can!” Yun Lan clenched her right fist tightly. More anxious than Old Ding, she still had greater faith in Lin Dong. After all, Lin Dong had even managed to overcome the World Cave filled with Shocking Swan Stones. It was that experience in the World Cave that enabled him to have the spiritual energy to operate on its own at the Heart Reversal stage—something only those at that stage could achieve—giving him the ability to control spiritual energy as swiftly as willpower. If breaking through to a higher realm, especially to that of a peak warrior, didn’t allow for the slightest mistake, Lin Dong could even use his spiritual energy to push himself forward even while lying in bed. “I think he can too. This kid’s talent is so poor, yet he still gets a chance to become a peak warrior. It can’t just end up being in vain.” Feng Yue interjected while chewing on Tianfeng Peppers. Of the three, he was the least concerned about Lin Dong reaching the ranks of peak warriors, yet he also believed in Lin Dong’s success more than Yun Lan. In the room, Lin Dong’s forehead was drenched in sweat, and his entire body was gradually soaked. His brows furrowed deeper and deeper; the unbearable sensation made it increasingly difficult for him to concentrate. But just as Yun Lan believed, he had an endurance beyond ordinary people’s comprehension, having persevered in the Shocking Swan Cave. The light in the room kept changing, and Lin Dong’s expression kept shifting as well, with his body trembling more and more frequently. Yet his eyes remained tightly closed. No matter how extreme his physical and mental conditions became, he didn’t give up even once. With sheer willpower and belief, he continued to endure despite his limits being repeatedly pushed. As the moon set, Lin Dong’s rapidly trembling body suddenly stopped. Yun Lan stood up abruptly, her eyes filled with ecstasy. Old Ding set down the wine jar heavily and let out a long sigh. A smile appeared on Feng Yue’s face as his tense expression relaxed.

In the room, Lin Dong quietly opened his eyes, his pupils blazing with intensity. An overwhelming and invincible aura began to gather around him. A surge of powerful spiritual energy rushed forth from his dantian, which had already transformed into a vast, boundless expanse of light. The ground began to tremble, and everything in the world started to move. An entire row of houses in the backyard slowly rose from three feet above the ground. “Good kid, how come I didn’t think of using such a powerful method back then?” Old Ding couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration as he watched the row of houses continue to rise.