Chapter 415: One Step Slow, Every Step Slow

After a long moment, Chang Lei asked stammeringly, "President, you, you just said, you broke through?"

"President, you are already in the Vein Refining Realm now?" Jiang Yao's mouth hung open, her face full of disbelief.

"Mm." Song Tian nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.

The main thing was that he felt this breakthrough was entirely due to Lu Yu's help; if he had broken through relying on his own strength, that would truly be something worth boasting about.

The three of them, Chang Lei included, looked at each other, expressions of shock and excitement flickering in their eyes.

Two or three years ago, the President was already a Transformation Energy Martial Artist, yet after such a long time, the President had never been able to break through that crucial layer of window paper to become a Vein Refining Realm martial artist.

But just today, the President had actually succeeded in breaking through! As his comrades-in-arms, beyond their surprise, they felt even more heartfelt joy.

Firstly, they were happy for Song Tian's hard-won breakthrough; secondly, in the future, if they reached the Transformation Energy stage, they would also be able to receive guidance from Song Tian.

"President, aren't you too strong?" Kang Yuan couldn't help but give a thumbs up, saying with an admiring face.

"Truly amazing. In our Yongan City Martial Arts Association, you must be the first to break through to the Vein Refining Realm, right?" Jiang Yao exclaimed.

"If we don't count Brother Lu, that should be the case," Song Tian added.

The strength Lu Yu had displayed through that corpse in the conference room this morning was still vivid in his mind; Lu Yu's strength was likely far beyond just the Vein Refining Realm.

Even if the President was only the second person in the Branch to break through to the Vein Refining Realm, it was still a remarkable achievement. Most of them hadn't even reached the Transformation Energy stage, let alone the Vein Refining Realm.

"President, how exactly did you break through? Could you give us some pointers?" Chang Lei asked, full of anticipation.

He was currently a Transformation Energy Martial Artist as well, and had recently consumed quite a few Top-grade Blood Qi Pills, but he just couldn't feel the presence of True Qi within his body.

"President, wait a moment." Jiang Yao suddenly stood up with a start and said, "I'll go call the others right now and have them hurry over to listen."

"Hey, Jiang Yao, don't be in such a rush." Song Tian hurriedly reached out to stop her, saying, "Listen to me finish what I have to say first."

"Finish what you have to say?" Jiang Yao sat back down, puzzled.

"Actually, this breakthrough has little to do with my own efforts; it is entirely Brother Lu's credit," Song Tian said with a bitter smile.

Asking him to recount his insights on the breakthrough was truly difficult for him, as he himself hadn't fully grasped the situation yet.

"Brother Lu's credit?"

"President, do you mean that Brother Lu guided you, and then you broke through?" Chang Lei asked in an excited tone.

That's right, why hadn't he thought of that earlier? After leaving the conference room later, perhaps he could also go and ask Brother Lu for some guidance.

"It wasn't guidance." Song Tian shook his head with a bitter smile. "Brother Lu used a treasure called a Cloud Jade Fruit to help me force a breakthrough."

"Cloud Jade Fruit?"

"Cloud Jade Fruit!" The three were stunned for a moment, then their eyes widened again, their faces full of surprise.

They had heard of this item; it was said that after consuming it, it could increase the True Qi within a martial artist's body, and even if taken by someone who originally had no True Qi, it could still have an effect.

It was just that the risks of doing so were extremely high; even with an expert there to protect the dharma, there were still significant risks.

Therefore, while the Cloud Jade Fruit was indeed precious, the difficulty of finding an expert with sufficient strength to protect the dharma was no less than finding the Cloud Jade Fruit itself.

"Yes." Song Tian sighed deeply and continued, "Brother Lu first had me consume a piece of the Cloud Jade Fruit, and immediately after, he cleared several of my acupoints, allowing the True Qi generated by the Cloud Jade Fruit in my body to have a place to settle and slowly calm down."

"So, I did break through, but it wasn't a breakthrough achieved by my own strength as you imagined, but rather one realized with the help of external forces."

After hearing this, all three of them revealed looks of deep shock.

The seniors in the Association had once said that protecting a Transformation Energy martial artist during such a process was extremely dangerous, and even the several presidents at headquarters did not have absolute certainty.

Yet, hearing it from the President, it sounded like an effortless task... Was Brother Lu's strength really that terrifying?

"So, for the short term, I'm afraid I'm unable to provide you with guidance. After all, I relied on someone else to break through, and I haven't even figured out the nuances of it myself yet."

Song Tian said with some embarrassment, "But don't worry, once I am familiar with the True Qi in my own body, I will definitely share my insights with you. Perhaps it will be of some use for your future breakthroughs."

"It's fine, President. We are still a long way from breaking through anyway, we can wait," Jiang Yao said with a smile.

"Yes, yes. Also, President, please don't say things like relying on external forces again. Is a breakthrough achieved with external help not a breakthrough?" Kang Yuan frowned and said, "Saying it like that makes us feel like you're just humble-bragging in front of us."

"That's right." Chang Lei nodded heavily.

So what if one breaks through with the help of external forces? Didn't one still become a Vein Refining Realm martial artist?

On the path of martial arts cultivation, if one step is slow, then every step is slow.

Moreover, once one breaks through to the Vein Refining Realm, the goal of cultivation becomes very clear; as long as one clears the eight meridians and successfully opens the Dantian Qi Sea, one can step into the True Essence Realm.

Unlike In-Jin martial artists, after reaching the Transformation Energy stage, only you yourself know when the sensation of Qi will appear in your body—perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in a week, perhaps in a month, or perhaps in a year, or even several years.

During this period, one cannot slack off in cultivation in the slightest, as no one knows if a day or two of laziness might delay the impending sensation of Qi.

In terms of cultivation experience alone, the Vein Refining Realm is countless times better than the In-Jin stage.

"Sigh!" Thinking of this, Chang Lei couldn't help but sigh heavily in his heart.

If there were a chance, he too hoped to rely on external forces to break through to the Vein Refining Realm sooner.

After Song Tian left, Lu Yu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Recalling the process of helping Song Tian clear his meridians just now, he had indeed felt some worry in his heart at first, fearing that some unexpected situation might occur.

After all, clearing meridians for others is no easy task, and there are many uncertain factors involved.

Facts proved that his worries seemed somewhat superfluous; the entire process progressed exceptionally smoothly, as easy and natural as eating or drinking water.

"Perhaps it's because my own True Essence is sufficiently abundant," Lu Yu muttered to himself.

As soon as his True Essence surged into Song Tian's body, the few strands of True Qi that had just been born within the latter were like tamed wild horses, instantly becoming docile.

While Song Tian's successful breakthrough was a joyous event, it was merely the beginning of his path in martial arts.

Lu Yu did not intend to bring up the idea of helping Song Tian refine True Qi Pills.

On one hand, the quantity of True Qi Pills he refined himself was limited, and he often felt it wasn't enough for his own cultivation, so how could he have the energy and resources to share with others?

On the other hand, given Song Tian's current strength, if he were to consume the True Qi Pills he refined, one pill would likely be like taking poison, no different from courting death.

It would be better to let Song Tian purchase Low-Grade True Qi Pills in the Association to consume in the future; that would be much safer.