"However, even with a delay of over ten years, considering the Spiritual Mechanism drawn in by his Dharma Gate and his foundation from breaking the Three Limits, the Qi Sea he opens should be of the ’Upper Third Class’."
’Upper Third Class’?
The term was entirely new to Ji Xiu. Back in the County, he had never heard or seen anything like it.
"Just like the Gold, Silver, and Iron Bones of Bone Tempering, is the Qi Sea also divided into different tiers?"
Jiang Li nodded slightly and explained in detail,
"Correct."
"Why else would every True Sect Disciple and heir to a Fiefdom strive to break the Three Limits at the Power Barrier stage?"
"Because Perfection of the Power Stage is the most fundamental key to pursuing the ’Titled Martial Dao’."
"If you can’t even break through the Great Limits at the Power Barrier, then hoping to break the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Great Limits at the Qi Barrier... is fundamentally impossible."
"Cultivation is like building a skyscraper from the ground up. If the foundation is unstable, the upper levels will be precarious, and the path forward will only grow narrower."
"As for those who fail to break even one barrier—Golden Muscle and Jade Veins, Mercury Blood Silver Marrow, or Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe—if they get lucky and become a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster, opening their Sea of Qi... even if they are fortunate enough to master a top-tier Qi Dao Skill, refine a breath of Upper Three Grades Qi, and absorb it, the very best they could hope for is to open a Middle Third Class Qi Sea. They might reach the Fifth or Sixth Grade, but their future potential would be limited. The chances of them becoming a true ’Martial Arts Grandmaster’ would be slim to none."
"But for those who break the Three Limits, even with the most crude and worthless Dharma Gate, they’ll reach the Fourth Grade at the absolute minimum. With a decent Dharma Gate, they can achieve an ’Upper Third Class’ sea and will have a chance at the Titled Martial Dao."
"A Practitioner Refines Force. The Force from their Flesh, Bone, and Skin becomes an aura, which then absorbs the Spiritual Mechanism and transforms into a breath of Qi."
"Force, aura, and Qi are all Extraordinary powers born from the metamorphosis of a mortal body. Since they rely on the physical form for their very existence, how could they ever transcend it?"
Jiang Li spoke eloquently, her grasp of these abstruse matters seemingly total, causing Ji Xiu’s vague impression of a ’Qi Cultivation Grandmaster’ to suddenly become clear and concrete.
Just like weapons and pills.
This great chasm of Qi Cultivation separated the Power Barrier from the Qi Barrier, an almost insurmountable gulf... and its First Realm, the Qi Sea, was also divided into nine grades of quality.
The Upper Third Class could aspire to the Titled Martial Dao, the Middle Third Class had a slim chance, but the lower third class was doomed to never reach it in their lifetime!
While ordinary Martial Artists struggled desperately, hoping to one day join the ranks of ’Qi Cultivation Grandmasters,’ those who actually broke through that bottleneck and ascended were, in turn, divided into their own tiers.
"The world is a sea of suffering, and everyone is fighting their way across, climbing rung by rung!"
After listening, Ji Xiu felt as if the fog had been lifted from his mind, and he sighed with newfound clarity.
But he had seen enough of the world by now to accept it with composure.
And without realizing it, as the snow fell from a cold sky and Duan Chenzhou opened his Qi Sea with an auspicious eastern tide of purple qi, Ji Xiu secretly set a new goal for himself.
’No matter what.’
’In the future...’
’My Qi Sea must also be of the ’Upper Third Class’!’
The moment that thought crossed his mind,
The purple qi in the sky suddenly faded...
"He’s done it,"
Jiang Li spoke abruptly.
Then, the fine snow began to swirl wildly. With the CRASH of a door breaking in the eastern courtyard, a Martial Artist emerged. He was draped in purple silk, his hair flying wildly in the cold wind, cascading over his shoulders.
With every step he took into the courtyard,
The snow beneath his feet flew up with a WHOOSH, as if an invisible Qi Vortex erupted with his every movement, surging and churning like a violent sea!
And from the empty sleeve where his arm had once been...
An intangible hand of pure, purple-tinged Qi had suddenly materialized.
Duan Chenzhou raised this Qi hand and slowly clenched its fingers into a fist. A series of sharp POPS, like miniature air explosions, echoed nonstop. He then turned to Ji Xiu in the courtyard and roared with laughter.
"Disciple."
"Remember how I used to say that since your Ancestral Master, that old bastard, vanished without a trace, your Bone Tempering would have to stop at the Golden Bone Realm?"
"But now,"
"Your chance to cultivate ’Mercury Blood Silver Marrow’..."
"...you have it!"
"Today, my Merit has reached Perfection! I have opened a Second Grade Qi Sea and become a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster!"
"The time will come... I will journey at once to the East Canghai! I can’t promise a true Dragon Species or Dragon Descendant, but I swear I will find a lone Wild Flood Dragon for you. With its blood, we will build the foundation for your ’Second Great Limit’!"
Seeing the undisguised, blazing arrogance in Duan Chenzhou’s eyes, Ji Xiu, while genuinely happy for his master’s breakthrough, couldn’t help but have a strong suspicion.
’Has the old man been so beaten down and frustrated for so long that this sudden breakthrough has finally unleashed the wildness in his bones? Does he have an overwhelming urge to draw his blade and find a worthy opponent to test his new strength?’
But...
Regardless!
His Master, Duan Chenzhou!
A Qi Cultivation Grandmaster with a genuine ’Upper Third Class’ Qi Sea and a real chance at the ’Titled Martial Dao’—that... was the undeniable truth.
Before, he was just a Power Barrier Expert. Even though he had broken the Three Great Limits and was known as the ’Jiangshui Blade Master’—a standout of the younger generation more than a decade ago—there was still an underlying lack of confidence.
But now, things were different!
This mountain protecting him was now massive and unshakeable!
Then, in his excitement, Ji Xiu couldn’t help but notice Bai Shuo’s extremely unnatural expression as she listened. He asked her curiously,
"By the way, Miss Bai."
"About that promise you mentioned earlier... what exactly was it?"
Bai Shuo’s face had gone rigid when she heard Duan Chenzhou talk about skinning a flood dragon. By dragon standards, she wasn’t even an adult yet; against a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster like Duan Chenzhou, she feared she stood no chance.
But upon hearing Ji Xiu’s question, she forced herself to pull herself together.
"If you are willing, Sir... in the future, deep within the eight-thousand-li East Canghai, the Dragon Monarch will host his banquet and invite the geniuses of the realm. When the ’Dragon Monarch Banquet’ is held... I hope you can come and fight for me."