Inside the stone house, in the middle of the room stood a big copper cauldron supported by four curvy legs.
It was very imposing, being as big as an adult man.
This cauldron was bought by Ye Mo right before his three-month seclusion, along with half a year's worth of herbs for medicinal baths.
Below the cauldron were coal stones and burnt wood still fuming, surrounded by four stone slabs.
It could be seen that a fire was ignited recently.
The cauldron emitted the sound of boiling water, releasing a significant amount of steam.
Clearly, the temperature wasn't negligible.
Inside the cauldron, the water was filled with various herbs, and at its center was Ye Mo's head sticking out like a small isle surrounded by the sea.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Ye Mo came out.
From his feet to his neck, his skin took a rosy, almost red tint.
To make such an impact on his body, it was evident this medicinal bath wasn't something ordinary cultivators could endure.
He picked up a towel and dried himself, then put on black pants and sat down on the red mat, not bothering to cover his upper body.
He took a deep inspiration and closed his eyes, focusing his attention on his dantian.
Inside this mysterious space, thousands of wisps of qi wandered aimlessly, filling it to the point where no matter how much he cultivated, he couldn't produce one more.
It was the sign he reached the peak of the third layer, only at this point could one attempt to breakthrough the next layer.
Ye Mo willed and suddenly, the wisps of qi's movements grew coordinated as they all flew towards the center of the dantian.
From the start, the wisps completely filled his dantian and covered every corner in a hazy mist. When he made his qi head to the center, the wisps that were packed to the brim already showed signs of merging together.
If they all gathered together, the condensation would begin with a chance to create superior wisps that held much more qi. When one was successful in condensing those wisps of qi, he would have broken through the next layer.
At first their momentum was great as they progressed to the center, but gradually, they slowed down as a mysterious force obstructed their path.
It looked like the wisps were swimming against an intense current.
The heavenly wall made its appearance!
Every living being in the world were the creation of heavens, and cultivation was the act of elevating oneself in a unique existence not bound by any heavenly law like insufficient lifespan or limited strength.
But how could the heavens tolerate this rebellion against itself, when every creature is born the way it is meant to be?
As such, the heavenly wall came as an obstacle to prevent cultivators from progressing in their cultivation.
It would become stronger with each breakthrough, and every cultivator would feel this barrier but to varying degrees.
One needs great control over his qi to overcome this hardship and attain a new layer of power.
There were only two ways to ease this burden.
One was with talent, and the other was through the purification of qi.
"With my rank 2 talent, the obstruction of the heavenly wall is already this much just to breakthrough the 4th layer. It's not enough to stop me currently, but it will only grow stronger as I keep advancing in my cultivation." Ye Mo felt the injustice of talent very keenly at this moment.
If it was a rank 5 talent at his place, he would barely feel the obstruction of the heavenly wall, and reaching the 4th layer would be much easier.
Instead, his waves of qi were already significantly slowed down, and he had to stuggle against the force of the heavenly wall every instant to make the slightest progress.
Ye Mo kept pushing through with his qi as many wisps crashed against the heavenly wall, advancing slowly as the mystical force was gradually pushed back.
At the same time, many wisps of qi dissipated in this battle of attrition.
5%, 10%, 15%...
When 20% of his qi was lost, the wisps broke through the heavenly wall and attained the center of the dantian.
They flew like a storm and collided with each other, but rather than being destroyed, they were absorbed and fused together.
The condensation began, and the amount of qi he placed all his efforts to produce during those last weeks was quickly being depleted until at the end, only three wisps remained.
Those wisps were much clearer than the previous grey ones and looked more compact and tangible.
"I advanced to the 4th layer!" Ye Mo smiled heartily.
They were the wisps of qi of a 4th layer Qi Gathering Realm cultivator. The existence of these wisps of qi in his dantian was proof that Ye Mo broke through to the next layer.
These wisps stored twice the amount of qi as those of a 3rd layer Qi Gathering Realm cultivator and the power they could unleash through battle skills was far greater.
Gathering qi in the dantian to the limit, then pushing the qi to the center where it would be compressed and condensed until wisps of qi of better quality emerged in their place.
This was the cultivation of Qi Gathering Realm cultivators.
The dantian would grow accustomed to these new wisps of qi and naturally produce them in Ye Mo's future cultivation.
Nonetheless, these wisps took much more qi to be generated than the previous ones, so the length at which you could fill your dantian also increased as you advanced.
"For a cultivator, if he's able to generate at least one wisp of the next layer through the condensation, then he would have successfully broken through to the next layer, but depending on the success, one can even refine dozens of them at once."
"For a wisp of qi to take form is a long and strenuous process, but once it happens, even if it's used up to unleash a battle skill it can be easily recovered through cultivation."
Ye Mo willed and the three wisps danced together in his dantian, practicing his control over them.
The existence of the heavenly wall was the reason many cultivators failed to breakthrough and the wisps of qi that were lost in the process would need to be created back from nothing, needing the same amount of effort as the first time to generate them.
Patience would be required in this situation, and a lot of time would be wasted to fill the dantian up again, so cultivators would always make ample preparations to be sure to breakthrough in one go.
"When you reach the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm and condense your qi to the limit, you must turn it into liquid qi to breakthrough the Foundation Establishment Realm. The higher the realm of a cultivator, the more concise his qi becomes. A portion of liquid qi is comparable to ten portions of gaseous qi. After that comes the Inner Core Realm with solid qi." Ye Mo revised his understanding of cultivation as he revolved the Black Vortex cultivation technique.
He just broke through and had very little qi currently, Ye Mo continuously absorbed the qi of heaven and earth as new wisps slowly took form in his dantian.
He stayed in his house for several days diligently working on his cultivation until he was satisfied with the amount restored.
When he had sufficient Qi to sustain the expenditure of his battle skills, the door creaked open and Ye Mo squinted his eyes, blinded by the sunshine.
He didn't waste time and immediately left for the battle skill tower, where he entered with no difficulty after showing his token.
The emanations of qi from Ye Mo couldn't be fake, and it was easy for a Foundation Establishment expert to see through his cultivation and his bone structure.
Ye Mo was below sixteen years old and attained the 4th layer of the Qi Gathering Realm so he had the right to pick another battle skill hence, he was allowed inside.
This rule existed so that newcomers could quickly replace their old battle skills with those of the institute, as they were of much better quality. This way they would quickly increase their battle strength and display the superiority of members from a martial institute compared to ordinary cultivators.
That was the case because those who were able to pass the recruitment and become members had, almost always, a cultivation of the 4th layer at the minimum.
Only odd individuals like Ye Mo would survive the recruitment competition and secure a spot in the institute without any qi cultivation. But then, they had to wait for some time to meet the requirements and recover another battle skill.
Though, those students were not allowed higher than the second floor. Only the cream of the crop or high-level Qi Gathering Realm senior students who spent a long time cultivating could hope to get access to the third floor and retrieve a high-tier Yellow Class battle skill.
Of course Ye Mo could also pick a mid-tier Yellow Class body refining technique instead of a battle skill if he chose to, but with his Nine Revolutions Fiend Body art, doing something like that would be meaningless and a waste of an opportunity.
On the second floor of the tower, Ye Mo unhurriedly browsed through the manuals.
"In two months is the mid-year tournament for Tiger Martial Institute's students and everyone's attention would be turned towards the competition. This is the perfect moment to investigate whether this cave of Pure Iridescent Iron is real or not."
"A battle skill focused on stealth is vital right now, I can't even leave the institute currently, and from moving in the city to venturing in the wilderness, escaping others' vigilance is primordial." Ye Mo thought solemnly.
If there was something he learned while he lived in the slums, it was that discretion, laying low, and showing on the outside only what you want others to see are the keys towards survival.
Every great figure that rose above the masses by themselves came to know at some point the importance of a wolf disguising as a sheep.
After an hour, Ye Mo left the tower with another battle skill in possession.
The old instructor gave him a deep look as he departed. Just a few months ago when Ye Mo passed by, he was only at his first steps on the infinite path of cultivation, and now he has already attained the 4th layer.
For a rank 2 talent, this speed was astonishing, on par with the most talented of students, making the old man pay attention to him. At the same time his suspicion was raised, and he couldn't help thinking there was something fishy about it, yet he had no way to know how Ye Mo obtained such accomplishments.
Ye Mo came back home and retrieved his new battle skill from his pouch.
Shadow Walk - Mid-tier Yellow Class battle skill.
This was a battle skill divided into three phases of mastery.
In the first phase, you could completely conceal your aura and hide your presence from other experts.
In the second phase, your body could blend with the shadows at will, and during the night you would move unhindered in the darkness as your speed increased considerably.
At the third phase the user is akin to a ghost, the night or day makes no difference anymore and even someone looking in his direction might not notice he stands there.
It becomes the perfect art for assassination. From killing to hiding or escaping, few skills in the institute can match it.
However, every battle skill was equal, and none would be overly advantageous without detriments or limitations, while the weakest of them would always have their own use in specific situations.
In the case of Shadow Walk, it was known for being extremely difficult to learn, as evidenced by its division into three phases.
Reaching the second phase was a feat on its own; as for the third phase, if someone learned it in the past, he didn't reveal it.