Cultivation begins with ice harvesters

Chapter 45: Qi Refining Level 5

However, the leech spirit water is still a mid-grade first-level spirit water, and the essence of heaven and earth energy contained in it still exists. In daily cultivation, it is more than enough to replenish the body during the elimination of the poison of the Qi-enhancing Pill.

Although they knew that this frequent hunting was a short-sighted act, they still did not stop at the crucial moment when their cultivation was advancing to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

The first-tier mid-grade red willow leech, a rather rare demonic beast that can produce first-tier mid-grade spiritual water, was already few in number within a thousand miles of Ice Spirit Island, and now it was facing a catastrophic disaster.

As the sun rises and sets, day and night alternate, months pass in the blink of an eye amidst the hustle and bustle.

The harsh winter in the icy regions of northern Xinjiang, where water freezes instantly and the wind howls fiercely, is gradually passing and temperatures are rising slightly. However, the cold remains a unique characteristic of this area.

"Having already reached the threshold of the fifth level of Qi Refining, it's time to press on and break through the cultivation bottleneck to advance to the fifth level of Qi Refining."

On this day, Tong Bingfeng, who was sitting cross-legged on the futon in the room, finally ushered in the moment of harvest. The high frequency of cultivation and consumption that had lasted for more than a year finally yielded a bountiful harvest.

The fourth and fifth levels of Qi Refining are both in the middle stage of Qi Refining. Although there is a bottleneck between the two cultivation levels, it is not on the same level as the bottleneck between the early and middle stages of Qi Refining.

For most cultivators, advancing to the fifth level of Qi Refining is not difficult; it's mostly about accumulating mana in the dantian.

At this time, Tong Bing had been in seclusion for more than ten days, subsisting on only one Bigu Pill each day, and spending the rest of his time circulating his spiritual energy to refine his spiritual power in an effort to advance his cultivation level as soon as possible.

In front of him were three jade bottles of different sizes. Two of them contained first-grade mid-level Qi-enhancing pills that he had recently refined, and the remaining jade bottle was used to store leech spirit water. Unfortunately, all of them were now empty.

As the great cycle of energy circulated, strands of pale blue mana replenished the dantian. Compared to the scarcity of mana when advancing to the fourth level of Qi Refining, the pale blue mana now completely filled the dantian, leaving no gaps.

Whenever a wisp of magical power refined from the Great Circulation enters it, although it is still being contained, a feeling of fullness and swelling is clearly felt.

As the power in his dantian increased, a bottleneck that was preventing his cultivation from growing became clearer. He also had an unusually clear feeling that if he could break through it, he could successfully advance to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

The entire Qi Refining stage cultivation process is essentially nothing more than a process of continuously compressing the density of magical power within the dantian, until a qualitative change occurs, condensing the first drop of liquid magical power within the dantian and forging the foundation for advancement.

During the Qi Refining stage of cultivation, each step forward increases the capacity of the dantian for magical power, and the same volume of magical power unleashed also generates greater power.

The most obvious difference is that a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining can only use the Water Blade Slash a maximum of eight times, while after advancing to the fifth level of Qi Refining, they can easily break through to more than twelve times, a very significant increase.

The Great Circulation of the Water Spirit Technique did not stop. Although the Enhancing Essence Pill and Leech Spirit Water were exhausted, the spiritual power in the body was not completely consumed. Some spiritual power hidden in different parts of the body was also drawn out under the circulation of the Great Circulation, becoming a part of the power in the dantian.

This extraction method can effectively prevent the waste of elixirs and also effectively reduce the toxicity of elixirs hidden in the body, which is then expelled during the circulation of Qi.

"The mana accumulated in my dantian has met the requirements; it's time to break through the bottleneck in my cultivation."

Feeling the magical power in his dantian becoming increasingly abundant, basically reaching the limit that his dantian could withstand, he naturally wouldn't delay any longer.

The divine sense in his mind was rapidly mobilized, and with the divine sense as the guide, he mobilized the already overflowing magical power in his dantian and actively launched wave after wave of attacks on the bottleneck.

"Splash!"

The magical power within his dantian formed waves of magical power, one after another, endlessly. As soon as the magical power in front failed to break through, the magical power in the back followed one after another, relentlessly striking the bottleneck of advancing to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

As the saying goes, "With enough effort, even an iron rod can be ground into a needle." Not to mention that the current bottleneck of the fifth level of Qi Refining is far from reaching that level. As long as there is sufficient magical power to support it, breaking through this level of cultivation bottleneck is not too difficult.

Moreover, the range of this impact is limited to the dantian, and the mana consumed by each impact is also limited, which is within his tolerance range in a short period of time.

"The surge of magical power vibrates the meridians; this is the only negative effect, and it must never exceed the tolerance limit of the meridians' resilience."

Tong Bingfeng felt the high-frequency vibrations brought about by the surge of magical power in his dantian, and felt the throbbing pain from his meridians. He forcibly endured this discomfort, while at the same time increasing the power and frequency of his attack on the bottleneck.

With each surge of his power, the magical energy multiplied. After crashing into the bottleneck and suffering heavy losses, most of the scattered magical energy returned to his dantian, where it was reassembled and prepared for the next surge. The remaining small amount of magical energy transformed into needles that traveled through his body, causing waves of unbearable stinging pain.

Some of the magical needles, once they landed on certain sensitive and important areas, naturally caused a significant increase in pain, making him feel as if his nose was running.

However, based on his firm belief in the path ahead, all the negative pains were by no means a stumbling block to his advancement to the fifth level of Qi Refining, and Tong Bingfeng was still going all out for it.

"Click"

Time flies like an arrow, and before we knew it, a clear, melodious tune, like the cracking of an eggshell, drifted over.

Through his continuous efforts, the bottleneck of the fifth level of Qi Refining was successfully opened with a crack, and the magical power that had been accumulated in his dantian flowed down and completely entered a brand new world.

The originally solid bottleneck of the fifth level of Qi Refining cultivation was melted away by the attack from both inside and outside, just like an ice block melting into a hot current.

As the bottleneck melted, streams of special power flowed into it, suppressing the volume of the magic power. The originally abundant light blue water-attribute magic power shrank at a visible speed, leaving less than one-third of its original volume.

"Having successfully advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refining, the mana in my dantian is relatively abundant, and my cultivation level is quite stable. After a short rest, my cultivation will stabilize, and there will be no more hidden dangers of falling."

Feeling the new cultivation level and the power faintly emanating from his dantian, Tong Bingfeng remained outwardly calm, but the joy in his heart could not be concealed no matter what.

This time, after a long period of effort and overcoming numerous difficulties, he successfully advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refining, breaking through the biggest obstacle before harvesting the Crystal Gourd. Finally, he has a certain ability to protect himself when facing a crisis.