Chapter 45: Su Cheng

Su Cheng didn’t ask for Ice-Sink Dew because his family prepared him all kinds of delicious elixir meals every day.

With so many elixir meals, he had no intention of wasting spirit stones to trade with Su Jin for Ice-Sink Dew.

“Quick, tell me—how did a triple-elemental cultivator break through to Qi Refining First Layer in just one day?” Su Jin asked eagerly.

“It’s actually simple: drink a sip of spirit liquid, eat a nourishing elixir meal, or consume one or two grade-one spirit fruits—any of these can let a triple-elemental cultivator break through to Qi Refining First Layer in a single day. But of course, such a breakthrough means nothing in the clan school.” Su Wuji added.

“Why do you say this kind of breakthrough means nothing in the clan school? She broke through Qi Refining First Layer in one day—doesn’t that mean the instructors will value her more?” Su Jin asked, puzzled.

“Then tell me—since the elders all know these methods, why don’t they use them on their own children right when clan school starts?”

“Wouldn’t it be better if every student in our class broke through Qi Refining First Layer in one day?” Su Wuji countered.

Su Jin fell silent immediately.

She thought for a moment, then asked, “So why don’t the elders do it?”

“Because it would be exposed.” Su Wuji said.

“Huh? Exposed?” Su Jin was startled.

“The clan school values true talent and potential. You can cheat for a while, but can you cheat for six years? When your cheating is discovered, what do you think the instructors will think of you?” Su Wuji sneered. “You flood yourself with resources from day one, pretending to be a prodigy.

Then what will you do when you later try to break through Qi Refining Fourth Layer or Seventh Layer?

Your natural talent is weak, you’ve consumed too many spirit substances early on—your body has developed resistance to them, your mind hasn’t been tempered, and when it’s time to break through, you can’t stabilize your spirit. You’ll almost certainly get stuck at these two barriers.

Then you’ll watch helplessly as students who once performed worse than you surpass you one by one—how would that feel?”

Su Jin and Su Cheng both drew a sharp breath. If things reached that point, it could truly drive someone to despair.

Someone with weak mental resilience might never recover.

Their elders had all advised them: avoid using spirit substances as much as possible in the early stages of cultivation.

Only when approaching the Qi Refining Fourth and Seventh Layer barriers should you aggressively consume spirit substances to surge through them quickly.

Because these two barriers grow tighter the longer you delay.

The longer you wait, the harder they become to break.

Only bold, rapid advancement is the correct method.

These lessons were all hard-won through countless trial and error by the elders.

The elders had stepped into countless pits themselves.

That’s why Su Cheng ate only elixir meals, and Su Jin merely brewed Ice-Sink Dew as her daily drink.

Su Wuji rarely consumed anything beyond spirit fruits.

Everyone understood restraint.

“By the way, how much longer do you think it’ll take you to break through to Qi Refining Third Layer?” Su Cheng suddenly asked.

“Why?” Su Wuji looked at him, confused.

“I’m also practicing three arts simultaneously, so I must manage my time precisely. I absolutely cannot let the triple cultivation delay my breakthrough to Qi Refining Third Layer. If I have to, I’ll drop to dual cultivation for now. So I need to know your breakthrough timelines to plan my own cultivation schedule.

After all, both of you broke through Qi Refining Second Layer before me—following your timeline is the best plan I can think of right now.”

Su Cheng, you can do it.

Su Jin and Su Wuji both fixed their gazes on Su Cheng’s face.

“Why are you staring at me? Just tell me if it’s possible,” Su Cheng said.

“At my current pace, I’ll probably need only four months. Su Jin, how about you?” Su Wuji asked quickly.

“Three and a half months, maybe even three months—I should be able to break through to Qi Refining Third Layer,” Su Jin said.

Su Wuji and Su Cheng stared at her in shock.

“How can your cultivation progress be that fast?” Su Wuji exclaimed.

“Because my Soul-Refining technique is advancing too quickly—it’s pulling up the pace of my other techniques,” Su Jin said helplessly. “I want to slow down, to better comprehend the deeper meanings of these cultivation arts. But I can’t—I’m already on a speeding cart and can’t get off.”

Her Great Expansion Soul-Refining Art increased her soul force by a thread every time she completed a major cycle.

She estimated that although her soul talent was decent, her original soul force had been around sixty threads.

But now, each major cycle added one thread—only a few days had passed, and her soul force had already exceeded one hundred threads.

She felt her soul force would soon break through one hundred and twenty threads.

When her soul force surpassed one hundred and twenty threads, she should be able to break through Soul Refining Second Layer.

“Has your Soul-Refining technique broken through Soul Refining First Layer?” Su Wuji asked anxiously.

“Yes,” Su Jin nodded directly.

Su Wuji was stunned. “Your Soul-Refining progress is too fast. I doubt even after I break through Qi Refining Third Layer, my Soul-Refining technique will have broken through Soul Refining First Layer.”

“You could eat more spirit fruits that increase soul force,” Su Cheng suggested from the side.

Su Wuji immediately began calculating.

“Do you think I chose the wrong technique? Shouldn’t I have started with Soul-Refining instead of Body Refining?” Su Cheng said.

“Why say that? Are you having trouble with your Body Refining?” Su Wuji immediately asked.

Su Cheng sighed heavily. “My Body Refinement is progressing too slowly. I’ve trained for nearly half a month and still see no progress—I can’t even get past the beginner stage. The initial medicinal bath was unbearable, so my aunt switched me to a milder one—but that one doesn’t help cultivation at all.”

“Then try Soul-Refining. You’re a descendant of the Witch Clan, like Su Jin. I think you might have some talent for it too,” Su Wuji said.

“What do you mean ‘might’?” Su Cheng laughed. “I’ve already decided to switch and give it a try.”

Su Jin and Su Wuji both rolled their eyes, thinking: you’ve already made up your mind—why are you asking us?

They didn’t yet know that Su Cheng had decided to switch to Soul-Refining precisely because he’d been spurred on by Su Jin and Su Wuji.

These two prodigies planned to break through Qi Refining Third Layer within four months.

If he didn’t change his cultivation plan, he’d be left far behind, just like Su Yunhu.

If Su Yunhu found out, he’d surely think: if you’re going to change your cultivation plan, just change it—why drag me into it?

?? Dear readers, the author isn’t very good at Wubi input, so she uses Pinyin.

? Pinyin input easily causes typos. Sometimes the author doesn’t notice and just posts the errors. Please forgive me—it’s not intentional.

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