Huǒ Shuchang stood far enough away that he wouldn’t bother Jian Wu while he broke through. He watched the younger man with excitement. While he had seen people break through for the first time before, something about this specific moment had his heart pounding.

Jian Wu is stupidly strong. I bet he’ll break through to at least the fifth subrealm! Maybe he’ll even break through to the sixth one!

He only knew one person who had broken through to the sixth subrealm before. His sister, who was a special existence in his country. She was incredibly talented, moreso than him, though it was also because of her talent that she was in so much trouble right now.

Huǒ Shuchang shook his head.

Don’t think about that right now. You can’t do anything for her at the moment. Just keep getting stronger. Once you’re strong enough, you’ll be able to help her.

“It’s happening,” he muttered as the air currents around Jian Wu seemed to swirl toward him like a vortex. The atmosphere was thick with chi. Huǒ Shuchang could even see blue whirls of energy as they gathered around the seated young man attempting to break through.

Jian Wu made a handseal as he began gathering energy. The chi within the atmosphere rushed toward him as though it was being sucked up by something. Huǒ Shuchang gritted his teeth and dug his toes into the ground as the sudden increase in air pressure tried to suck him toward the younger man.

“What the heck?! This has… never happened before!”

Huǒ Shuchang had never seen a breakthrough like this. When someone broke through to the Hunger Realm, they did so by activating their Dantian, which resulted in a release of chi. The more talented the individual, the more chi they could release, and the higher their cultivation base would be.

Jian Wu was doing something completely different. He was gathering the energy of Yin and Yang in the atmosphere to assist in his breakthrough! What was going on?! Was this even possible?!

“What kind of monster is this kid?!”

All of the chi that had been rushing toward Jian Wu soon stopped. Huǒ Shuchang almost sighed in relief, but then a massive eruption of power with Jian Wu at its epicenter created a massive shockwave that slammed into him.

“Nnngg!”

Huǒ Shuchang grunted as the powerful chi tried to push him back. He placed a hand over his eyes to shield them from the intense light as he leaned forward, putting his bodyweight into the ground so he wouldn’t be sent flying.

“This is… insane!”

The air whipped around him in a frenzy as the powerful feeling of Jian Wu’s chi grew ever stronger. All the while, the young man in question continued to sit calmly in the center as his cultivation base soared.

“First subrealm of the Hunger Realm. Second. Third. Fourth. Fifth. Sixth?! Seventh?! What the hell?!”

Huǒ Shuchang couldn’t have been more shocked if he tried. Jian Wu had just reached the seventh subrealm of the Hunger Realm, which not even his prodigy of a sister had reached when she first broke through.

There had been a few records of people in the past breaking through to the seventh subrealm, but this was the first time he had ever seen someone do it.

“Wait! His cultivation is still climbing?!”

Huǒ Shuchang thought the intense chi would settle down after Jian Wu reached the seventh subrealm, but it continued to climb. An explosion echoed around the clearing as the young man broke through the eighth subrealm, then the ninth.

The massive wellspring of chi seemed to stop there. Huǒ Shuchang wiped the sweat from his brow. He had been worried this kid might actually break through an entire realm. That would have been humiliating. Watching some wet-behind-the-ears brat break through a whole realm after just activating his Dantian would have really made him question his own talent.

And yet, just as he thought that everything was over, something appeared from within Jian Wu’s shadow.

“Is that a tail?” Huǒ Shuchang murmured at the strange thing sticking out of the shadow. Whatever it was, it had something within its grasp. A lily? It looked like a flower crafted from crystal. His eyes widened. “No way! Is that a sacred lily?! And it has twelve petals!”

Jian Wu tore off one of the petals and stuck it under his tongue. The chi that covered his body like a fine layer of light grew brighter. He stuck another one under his tongue. The chi exploded, transforming from a thin layer of energy to a mighty flame.

“Oh, shit! He’s really going to try to break through!”

Huǒ Shuchang could scarcely contain his shock. This kid was really going to try and break through to the Anima Realm after just activating his Dantian. He had never heard of something like this happening before! Was it even possible?!

Jian Wu eventually placed all twelve petals underneath his tongue. By this point, the chi billowing around him like an ardent flame had turned almost pitch black. Huǒ Shuchang couldn’t even see the boy anymore.

But he could feel the gathering of energy.

It was like a geyser just before it erupted.

Not even a second had passed before Jian Wu’s body exploded with energy, forcing Huǒ Shuchang to retreat even further, lest he be caught up in that massive surge of power. Seconds passed as he tried his best to remain standing and not get blown away.

This kid is absolutely insane!

***

Breaking through was an unusual feeling. The moment his Dantian activated, it felt like something inside of him had expanded. Chi had rushed into his body and flowed through him, strengthening all of his limbs, sharpening his perceptions. It felt like he was bursting with energy.

I am one with the universe.

Wu Jian didn’t understand this line, but it resonated powerfully with him. He felt like this single statement was the key to getting stronger.

Everything exists within the universe.

This was much easier to understand, at least to an extent. The universe was everything, from this planet to the stars in the sky to the bright sun and the gentle moon. Everything was a part of the universe.

If he was one with the universe, and the universe consisted of everything, did that not mean he was also everything in the universe? The last three lines were not something he could comprehend right now. That was okay. He didn’t think he needed to comprehend it. All he needed was to gather his power and break through.

After breaking through to the ninth subrealm of the Hunger Realm, Wu Jian felt the chi inside of his body come to an abrupt halt. It felt like his chi was pushing against a wall that refused to budge. This must have been his first bottleneck.

Yōuměi stuck her tail out. It held a sacred lily, which he and Wu Meiying had taken from the hidden pool several days after she stabilized her cultivation.

He took the sacred lily and began placing the petals underneath his tongue. Each time he placed a petal into his mouth, it melted like ice and traveled down his throat. He could feel his chi pushing against his bottleneck everytime he stuck one of the petals underneath his tongue. It wasn’t long before he had placed all twelve petals in his mouth.

The chi inside of him exploded several seconds after he inserted the last petal, breaking through his bottleneck and letting him ascend to another realm.

He gritted his teeth as the chi inside of him condensed. More chi gathered. Then it condensed again before expanding onc emore.

The world around Wu Jian seemed to grow dark. Then it brightened. Despite having not opened his eyes, he found himself able to see just fine.

“Where… is this?”

The place where he had appeared looked nothing like the clearing where he was meditating. It looked like a vast ocean spread out for dozens of li. The ocean was made of black energy rather than liquid. He tried to touch it, only to stare at his disembodied hand, which had become translucent. That was when Wu Jian realized his entire body was translucent and his legs were missing.

“What the… have I become a ghost? Am I just a disembodied spirit now? No. Wait. I think Wu Meiying told me something about this before. What did she say? Right. When she entered her qi sea, her physical form didn’t go with her. Just her spirit. This must be my spirit form.”

So this was his qi sea? It wasn’t quite as tranquil as he imagined it would be. Geysers were erupting all around him, the air had grown stifling, and as he looked up, he spotted streams of chi gathering toward his qi sea, which continued to expand.

“This must be thanks to my breakthrough,” Wu Jian murmured. “My qi sea looks unstable…”

Wu Jian had just gone straight from the Body Forging Realm to the Anima Realm. That wasn’t something most people would dare to do. Perhaps the instability of his qi sea had something to do with that.

His qi sea eventually settled down, and Wu Jian blinked several times before finding out he was no longer a disembodied spirit. The hard ground underneath his bottom greeted him. He took a deep breath as the scent of flora filled his nose. Looking around, he noticed that his vision was a lot sharper than before. He could clearly make out the details on individual leaves above his head.

“First subrealm. Anima Realm.” Wu Jian smiled to himself. “Looks like I finally beat Wu Meiying at something. With this, I’m one step closer to my goal.”

As he clenched and unclenched his fingers, feeling the newfound strength flowing through his body, a shadow appeared above him. He looked up to find Huǒ Shuchang staring down at him with an unfathomable expression.

“Um… is something wrong? That expression on your face is kinda freaking me out,” Wu Jian said.

“I’m the one freaking you out? You’re the one who freaks me out! Did you really just break through two whole realms?! How did you do that?! Are you some kinda freak of nature?!” Huǒ Shuchang pointed an accusing finger at him.

“I resent being called a freak of nature,” Wu Jian mumbled.

“I call it like I see it,” Huǒ Shuchang stated, crossing his arms.

“Whatever. I don’t have time to argue with you. I want to see what kind of strength I have.”

Wu Jian ignored Huǒ Shuchang as he stood up and walked out of the clearing. The older man chased after him, but he didn’t pay attention as he found a small pond.

He stared at his hand for a moment and channeled chi through it, watching as light black whisps of energy emitted from his skin. Clenching his hand into a fist, he spread his feet apart, bent his knees, and tucked his fist into his torso. He took a deep breath in, then expelled it in a shout as he threw a punch.

The water split as chi erupted from his palm, creating a cone of energy that expanded outward. This parting went all the way to the other side of the pond. His attack had been so powerful that it reached the bottom of the pond. Several creatures who had been down there quickly burrowed into the muddy ground as if trying to get away from him.

“Hmmm… not bad. I feel like I can do more than just this, but I’m not sure what yet,” Wu Jian said to himself.

While it was possible for cultivators to learn any technique they wanted, Wu Jian had a feeling that his cultivation method was meant for specific techniques. The issue was that he didn’t know what. All he had was the method. He didn’t have any techniques to go with it.

“Guess I’ll need to expirament a bit,” he continued.

“You can experiment all you want, but it’s not gonna do you much good right now,” Huǒ Shuchang said.

Wu Jian turned to look at the older man, who had his arms crossed. “Why is that?”

“Didn’t you notice how much chi you wasted during that little demonstration you gave?” Huǒ Shuchang nodded at the pond that had already settled down after being split down the middle. “You literally used up more than half your chi in that single attack. A normal cultivator at the Anima Realm would know how to control their chi better. You should be able to use that attack at least ten if not twenty times, but I doubt you’ll be able to use it more than twice.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.”

Wu Jian turned back to the pond and once more released a punch that contained his chi. Not only did the pond water not split in half like it normally did, but Wu Jian’s eyes spun and his legs weakened as a sudden bout of dizziness assailed him. He stumbled back several steps, then fell onto his backside.

Huǒ Shuchang shook his head. “That’s exactly what I mean. You went from the Body Forging Realm to the Anima Realm in a single sitting. While that’s an incredible feat, it’s left you with two massive problems.”

“Ugh… let me guess… I can’t control my chi, and my cultivation base is unstable?” asked Wu Jian.

“You got it,” Huǒ Shuchang nodded as he walked up to stand beside Wu Jian. “Here, watch this.”

Wu Jian studied Huǒ Shuchang as flame-colored chi appeared around his fist. He threw a much more casual punch than Wu Jian had done, but the chi released was shaped more like a beam than a cone, and it split the pond even more readily than his attack had.

“Huh. The water is… on fire?” Wu Jian mumbled.

Huǒ Shuchang puffed out his chest and grinned. “Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, focus less on that fire and more on what happened. I was able to split the pond even better than, but I didn’t even use a tenth of the chi you did. Before you do anything, you need to stabilize your cultivation base. Then you need to learn how to control your chi.”

“Yeah. I know that. Ugh, I guess I’ll begin stabilizing my cultivation now,” Wu Jian muttered as he stood up. He still felt a little woozy.

“Good. Once you’ve gotten a handle on your new power, you can help me with my quest,” Huǒ Shuchang said.

“Sure thing.”

Wu Jian found a decent sized boulder, tossed it into the air, performed a handstand, and caught the boulder on his feet.

“What the heck are you doing?! That’s not how you stabilize your cultivation!” Huǒ Shuchang’s shout echoed throughout the clearing.