Mu Chen sat on the stone altar. He directed his spiritual qi forward, lifting 5,000 low-grade spirit stones until they floated in the air.
Both of his hands formed a hand seal, not to unleash the attack technique from earlier, but instead to use the cultivation technique, Heavenly Refinement Art - First Layer.
He began cultivating, absorbing the abundant spiritual qi from the thousands of low-grade spirit stones floating before him.
Su Qingyue sat on a wooden chair, taking a sip of wine as she watched the flow of qi from the spirit stones gradually being absorbed into Mu Chen's body.
With that many spirit stones, Su Qingyue was fairly certain that Mu Chen would reach his breakthrough moment in a short time, two days at most.
Mu Chen endured his hunger and sleepiness in order to absorb all of that spiritual qi.
His goal was simple: break through to the 7th Layer of Qi Condensation and complete his Heavenly Refinement mission.
If the mission was completed, Mu Chen would receive 2 Primordial Origin Qi Seeds and other rewards worthy of his efforts.
***
As the day changed, the low-grade spirit stones shattered one by one and disappeared after the spiritual qi stored within them was exhausted.
Morning arrived, and the sound of a rooster crowing could be heard. Su Qingyue remained in the same room, continuing to watch over and guard Mu Chen.
She did not want Mu Chen to be hurt again. Low-level cultivators were, on average, hot-tempered and selfish people. Even if Mu Chen was not like that, it was obvious that others were.
Su Qingyue did not want Mu Chen to become involved in any battle that could put him in danger. The best choice was to stay with him until he truly broke through his realm.
Two hours after sunrise, the man began to emit a powerful qi shockwave. As usual, there were two types of qi bursts. The first was white spiritual qi, and the second was golden qi.
The woman narrowed her eyes, pausing her drink for a moment as she stared ahead.
Her cultivation eyes glowed with a bright white light, clearly detecting the strong turbulence and surging qi within Mu Chen's body.
BLAST!
A qi explosion erupted, shaking the place and sending shockwaves throughout the entire room. Su Qingyue gasped, then smiled widely as she stood up.
"7th Layer of Qi Condensation."
Mu Chen drew back all the qi that had exploded moments ago, fully absorbing it into all of his active meridians.
After everything was absorbed, he opened his eyes and looked ahead. The first thing he saw was Su Qingyue, then his gaze shifted to both of his hands.
"Congratulations, Mu Chen. You successfully broke through to the 7th Layer of Qi Condensation."
"I can feel it. My strength and energy have fully recovered," Mu Chen said.
"Breaking through a cultivation stage is like a rebirth. Your body recovers, and your power increases."
"I never expected it... it hasn't even been a month since you met me, yet you've already reached the 7th Layer of Qi Condensation."
"Does it usually take other cultivators longer?" Mu Chen asked.
Su Qingyue nodded and explained to Mu Chen the average time it usually took for someone in Qi Condensation to break through.
At the fastest, it usually took one month to break through a single realm. At the slowest, it could take six months to break through one realm within Qi Condensation.
"You reached the 7th Layer, or perhaps even beyond that, in less than a month. That clearly proves you're different from other cultivators."
I already suspected as much. The spiritual qi refined inside the cauldron and turned into Primordial Origin Qi has helped me tremendously in cultivation.
[Congratulations! Host has successfully completed Heavenly Refinement Mission Five]
[Reward: 2x Primordial Origin Qi Seeds || Increase Qi Purity by 10% || 1x Spirit-Grade Pill || 1x Ancient Spirit-Grade Technique]
[Qi Purity: 45%]
[Heavenly Refinement Mission Six: Refine 5 low mortal-grade pills]
[Reward: 2x Primordial Origin Qi Seeds || 1000 low-grade spirit stones]
In front of Mu Chen, three items appeared, radiating a powerful golden qi aura. Su Qingyue's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
"What? Primordial Origin Qi Seeds?!" Su Qingyue exclaimed in shock.
"Not only that, you also got a spirit-grade pill and technique? But how is that possible? You only just broke through."
"Are you hiding something else from me, Mu Chen?" the woman asked, staring sharply at him.
Mu Chen narrowed his eyes and stored the three items inside his bag of holding. He noticed Su Qingyue's brows furrowed sharply, her gaze filled with intimidation.
"No."
"That was my mission reward," Mu Chen replied.
"Mission?"
"Every time I successfully complete a mission, I receive rewards like that," the man explained.
"What mission? Who is giving you these missions?"
"That... the Ancient God Cauldron."
Su Qingyue fell silent for a moment, her mind still trying to process and understand everything Mu Chen had just said. From his expression, the woman saw nothing but seriousness.
Mu Chen was not lying. He was telling the truth about the mission given by the Ancient God Cauldron.
"So every time you complete one mission, a new one appears? What is your mission now?" Su Qingyue asked.
"Refine five low mortal-grade pills."
"Mortal-grade pills are sold everywhere in the city," Su Qingyue replied.
"If you complete this mission, you'll get another Primordial Origin Qi Seed?" the woman asked, still curious.
The man in front of her said nothing. He simply nodded with a serious expression on his face.
Su Qingyue let out a small laugh, then sat down helplessly with her head lowered. She was still unwilling to fully believe everything happening right now.
"A Qi Condensation cultivator can get Primordial Origin Qi Seeds that easily. Isn't that cheating? Isn't the heavens unfairly favoring you?"
Mu Chen let out a sigh. He also did not know what heavenly fate bound him, but one thing was certain: the Ancient God Cauldron was helping him.
If all of this truly went against the laws of nature and heaven, then it was certain that Mu Chen's cultivation path stood in opposition to the heavens.
"You said that an Ancient God Artifact is an artifact that serves as the source of the world's power. I suspect that because of its authority, the heavens can't do much about it," Mu Chen replied.
"If I had that artifact, would I also receive missions like you?" Su Qingyue asked.
"I don't know," Mu Chen replied. "But I doubt it."
Su Qingyue kept sighing, raising her hand as her fingers gently massaged her temple.
Meeting Mu Chen had truly changed the course of her life. To her, Mu Chen was like a mine of Primordial Origin Qi.
That only made the woman even more attached to Mu Chen. She clearly could not stay far away from him no matter the situation.
If other cultivators learned the truth about Mu Chen's missions, they would undoubtedly exploit him for their own personal gain.
Mu Chen stood up and walked toward the door of his room. Su Qingyue turned her head and asked where he was going.
"I'm going to the city to buy those five pills."
"The more Primordial Origin Qi Seeds I obtain, the faster I can cultivate."
He turned around and looked at Su Qingyue. "You agree with what I said, right?"
Su Qingyue nodded in agreement with Mu Chen's words, "You're right."
Mu Chen summoned one of his Primordial Origin Qi Seeds and tossed it toward Su Qingyue.
"Consider it a gift for helping me with those spirit stones earlier."