Chapter 213: Breaking Through the Agile Phase

Wang Shuangxi clearly enjoyed good popularity. It was still early in the day, yet more than half of the tables on the second floor were already occupied. Lin Dong found an empty table and sat down, scanning the lobby aimlessly while thinking about the Vitality Beef Balls.
When dinner started at noon, the second floor was bustling with activity. The table where Lin Dong was sitting also had three more people by some unknown time.
“On the first day of opening, all dishes and drinks are free for guests!”
Wang Shuangxi excitedly shouted this message throughout the lobby for a long time, pushing the enthusiasm to its peak with a loud call.
Since everything was free, people ate heartily. Although 99% of the guests brought up to the second floor by the staff were wealthy patrons, free food still held great appeal. Plates kept coming and going, with shouts echoing continuously. The lively scene lasted for over an hour before it eased slightly when the first batch of guests left.
After greeting Wang Shuangxi, Lin Dong left the restaurant with that group.
Back at the inn, Lin Dong went straight to the counter. Before long, Ma Chun came down with a group of guests, smiling broadly.
“Owner!”
Seeing Lin Dong at the counter, Ma Chun hurried over after sending the guests out.
“Any news from the guild?” Lin Dong asked.
Ma Chun shook his head. “All the information coming from Fenglin Restaurant has been sporadic. Most of it is about minor details finalized by the Council; nothing has been decided yet.”
Lin Dong nodded. Any progress was good.
“Did you handle the task of changing the flyers as I asked this morning?”
“I already did,” Ma Chun said, nodding. “We printed another 2,000 copies.”
Lin Dong sighed. Such efficiency!
“Um… I’m afraid they need to be changed again.”
“Changed again? Do we need to add something?” Ma Chun was rather pleased instead of surprised. The extra flexibility added this morning—more than just the beef balls—was already a good gimmick in his eyes. If it needed further changes, there must be other benefits to add.
Lin Dong tapped the counter, carefully considering the ideas he had sorted out at the restaurant, then said slowly, “Add one more rule: Holders of the bronze VIP card will get one collectible Vitality Beef Ball for every two taels worth of dishes and drinks per table. Holders of the silver card will get one collectible Vitality Beef Ball for every one tael worth per table. Thyme remains unchanged.”
“Collectible Vitality Beef Balls?” Ma Chun was confused, but he could sense it was definitely a good thing.

Lin Dong didn’t know how to explain it either and could only say briefly, “The Collectible Energy Beef Balls can be bounced around like pills. Eventually… they can be hit around, but it’s not yet determined; we need to test it first to find out.”
Ma Chun was completely confused and helplessly asked, “Boss, how do we modify the flyer?”
Lin Dong was stunned. Without detailed data, the flyer couldn’t be changed at all.
“Let’s talk about it later. We’ll revise the flyer once the Collectible Energy Beef Balls are available.”
Ma Chun was at a loss, feeling an itch in his heart. He quietly asked, “Boss, when will the Collectible Energy Beef Balls be available?”
“It depends on how fast you are,” Lin Dong said with a smile. He removed some remaining film from his body and placed it on the counter, gesturing for Ma Chun to take a look. Then he continued, “This film is sprayed out from the sword of the youngest master of the Liu family, one of the Seven Great Families. I heard there’s also a mechanism in the guards’ swords that sprays this stuff. Apparently, inside the sword, it’s in the form of liquid sap from a mystical tree, but it instantly solidifies once exposed to air. Your task is to figure out a way to find out the name and source of this mystical tree sap, and ideally get some of it.”
“Mystical tree sap?” Ma Chun widened his eyes, finding it hard to believe such a thing existed—sap that solidified instantly upon exposure to air.
Lin Dong nodded. “You know about Energy Beef Balls. If such sap really exists, just imagine—if you soak the Energy Beef Balls in it and then take them out, wouldn’t it be like covering them with an airtight film?”
“That’s true!” Ma Chun slapped his knee. Though he couldn’t understand how it could be used as a pill or a bouncy ball, he could grasp the idea. An airtight film coating could extend its shelf life. And if that film could be torn off entirely, the Energy Beef Balls could indeed be bounced around like balls on the ground. Tearing off the film wouldn’t affect them if one wanted to eat them.
“Also, I’ll give you a blueprint later. Hire a few carpenters to stay in the front yard for a while and have them make what’s on the blueprint,” Lin Dong continued.
“Mm!” Ma Chun nodded firmly.
“Alright, I’ll head back to the back yard if there’s nothing else.”
Lin Dong stood up, thinking about the dimensions of table tennis rackets as he headed to the back yard. He didn’t remember the exact sizes and heights of rackets and tables, but the Energy Beef Balls were also different from real table tennis balls—at least in terms of weight.

If the weight difference is significant, the ball speed might be the same, but the effort required and the physical strain involved differ greatly. Moreover, if it hits the face with a racket, it will hurt even more. Back in his room, Lin Dong immediately took out paper and pen and drew the racket and table from his memory. The dimensions he marked weren’t exactly the same, but they were quite close. With the blueprint ready, it was time to see the results. Lin Dong handed the blueprint to Ma Chun, instructing him not to disturb him under any circumstances, before returning to his room. Inside his dantian, spiritual energy had fully filled it, meaning a breakthrough was imminent. Closing the door, he sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, placed a spiritual stone near his dantian, then took the remaining blue fruits and swallowed them. As a gentle warmth spread through his meridians, he took out another small white porcelain bottle. Opening the cap, he poured out red pills that rolled into his palm. Roughly estimating the number of pills, he stuffed them all into his mouth without hesitation. The pills dissolved instantly upon contact with his tongue, turning into a gas that rushed straight to his heart before disappearing. He then took out another small purple porcelain bottle, poured out a white pill, and swallowed it. Once all his meridians seemed coated with a thin layer of gas formed by the pills, Lin Dong took a deep breath. Everything was ready. Even with a mediocre cultivation talent, with Yun Lan’s Pulse-Protecting Pills and Good-Fortune Pills, breaking through to the ninth level of the Spiritual Mobility stage should not be too difficult. Concentrating deeply until his mind was free of distractions and he was in a state of lightness, he directed his will, and the spiritual energy in his dantian began to flow into his meridians, circulating rapidly along the designated paths. After one cycle, his already full dantian grew even fuller. Without pause, two cycles, three cycles, four cycles… As the spiritual energy continued to flow through the meridians, the warmth within them diminished, while the amount of energy returning to the dantian gradually increased. After about a hundred cycles, his dantian began to swell under internal inspection. Another hundred cycles passed, and the swelling became even more astonishing. Like a balloon being inflated continuously, the dantian expanded, while its walls grew thinner and paler. Five hours, ten hours, fifteen hours… The walls of the dantian were now as thin as cicada wings—just a little more was needed. Yet that little bit, no matter how hard Lin Dong tried, seemed forever out of reach. As time went on, his prolonged concentration began to wane, and the frustration of failing to break through gradually made him impatient.

Within the meridians, the flow of spiritual energy was no longer smooth and swift like lightning, but rather chaotic and uncontrolled. Lin Dong’s expression gradually shifted from solemnity to pain.
“The first breakthrough to a higher realm—if it fails the first time, although it only causes slight damage to the body, it creates an insurmountable barrier for subsequent attempts. Many people never manage to break through the ninth level of the Spirit Mobility phase, and the main reason is failing at the first attempt; after that, it becomes increasingly difficult.”
Yun Lan’s words echoed in his mind. Lin Dong gritted his teeth, enduring the pain as the spiritual energy surged through his meridians, striving to suppress his impatience and control the energy from continuing to assault his dantian.
Suddenly, the energy flow that had hidden the Huaji Pill inside his heart reappeared and began moving rapidly through his body. This energy flow was like a block of ice moving across hot ground, bringing a refreshing coolness wherever it passed.
His mind gradually calmed down, and his consciousness also quickly returned to clarity.
After making slight adjustments, Lin Dong regained his composure. The chaotic spiritual energy was slowly smoothed out by his will, gradually returning to its usual flow and speed.
His dantian, as thin as a cicada wing, was once again subjected to intense, continuous attacks from the spiritual energy.
Hiss!
His body trembled slightly. Under internal inspection, a tiny crack appeared on the otherwise smooth surface of his dantian.
Lin Dong was overjoyed. The speed of the spiritual energy flow increased, and the tiny crack grew larger with each impact. More cracks formed, and finally, with a loud bang, the entire dantian burst open, transforming into a beam of light.
Contrary to previous breakthroughs to lower realms, this beam of light did not contract to suppress the spiritual energy; instead, it continued to expand. The spiritual energy within the beam condensed into a mass, which then slowly contracted and compressed until it could no longer be compressed any further.
Lin Dong gritted his teeth and, with a thought, sent the mass of spiritual energy rushing out of the beam like a giant iron ball, forcing it into his narrow meridians, causing them to expand dozens of times over in an instant.
The mass of spiritual energy surged violently through the meridians. The expansion of the meridians brought pain akin to being pierced by countless needles throughout the body.
Once the mass of spiritual energy returned to the beam, the originally narrow meridians gradually contracted but were still larger than they had been a week earlier. Nourished by the spiritual energy released from the mass, they not only didn’t thin out but even thickened slightly.
One week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks…
As the mass of spiritual energy continued to flow, the meridians gradually adapted to its movement, eventually being able to accommodate it smoothly.

The film formed by Hu Mai Dan had long disappeared, and the dantian, which had turned into a light screen, gradually stopped expanding and began to take shape and solidify. The mass of spiritual energy, which had only been compressed by a factor of ten or so, showed no change in volume but decreased from one-tenth to nearly one-hundredth or one-thousandth of the dantian’s capacity.
Lin Dong suddenly opened his eyes, raised his right hand, and reached out into the void.
With a whoosh, the pen holder on the desk shot toward his palm.
Another level reached in the realm of warriors: the Mental Focus stage!