The Qingyuan Sect had been established for fifteen years, and Fang Qingyuan was ninety-five years old. This year, his cultivation had reached Foundation Establishment Sixth-Layer Perfection, just a hair’s breadth away from becoming a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

At his age and cultivation level, he was far behind the true geniuses from major sects like Qi Yun or the Beast Taming Sect.

One of the criteria for being called a genius was to form a Golden Core before the age of one hundred, but judging by Fang Qingyuan’s current progress, that was clearly impossible for him.

The Immortal Mansion could improve his Spirit Root aptitude, but the rate of improvement wasn’t very fast. Over the years, despite Fang Qingyuan expending a vast amount of resources, not a single one of the elements in his Five Elements Spirit Root had reached the level of an Earth Spirit Root.

And as for those geniuses, the cultivation prodigies who could achieve Core Formation before their hundredth year—which one of them didn’t possess a Celestial Spirit Root?

However, on the path of cultivation, aptitude was important, but it wasn’t everything. According to Lechuan, of the Nascent Soul seniors in the Beast Taming Sect, only half of them had Celestial Spirit Roots—in fact, it was even less than half.

In the Sect Leader’s Quiet Chamber in the Qingyuan Sect, Fang Qingyuan’s mind wandered through these various thoughts. After he had gone to the Spirit Wood Alliance that day to activate the hidden contact and deliver the message to Lechuan, Lechuan had promptly sent him back.

For a matter of this magnitude, involving Nascent Soul and Golden Core experts, it would be reckless overestimation for someone of Fang Qingyuan’s current cultivation to get involved.

Besides, Fang Qingyuan’s current status was Sect Leader of the Qingyuan Sect. The White Mountain Beast Taming Sect had its own Vice Sect Leader and Strategist; it wasn’t Fang Qingyuan’s place to offer his opinions on certain matters.

As long as the other party didn’t launch an open attack on the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect, and as long as Lechuan didn’t explicitly order Fang Qingyuan to return and provide aid, then for the time being, life in his Qingyuan Sect would have to go on as usual.

Taking out the Great Barrier Breaking Pill that Lechuan had gifted him years ago, Fang Qingyuan stared at it for a long time. He had only been in the Early-stage Foundation Establishment when he received this bottle of elixir pills. Nearly thirty years had passed since then, and now the time had finally come to use them.

This elixir pill could only be refined by a group of monks from Kurong Temple, and very few of them ever circulated outside. Even someone of Lechuan’s status had only managed to obtain this one bottle, which contained just three pills.

Fang Qingyuan had originally wanted to rely on his own insights and see if he could, over a long period, naturally cross the threshold from the Mid-stage to the Late-stage of Foundation Establishment. But these were turbulent times. ’I might as well use it,’ he thought. If he didn’t, his only options were to resell it or leave it for his disciples.

As for the only other Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the Qingyuan Sect, Jiang Wanqin, she would likely have to wait another seventy or eighty years before she could use this elixir pill.

He broke the long-unopened seal on the jade bottle and tipped out a pill the size of a longan, as black as ink. It didn’t look remarkable at all; it was hard to associate it with the famous Barrier-Breaking Elixir.

After a few moments of hesitation, Fang Qingyuan tilted his head back and swallowed it. A moment later, he found his thoughts becoming steady and composed, as countless flashes of Spiritual Light erupted in his mind like lightning.

Trivial matters from the past could now be traced back to their source. The expression on someone’s face during a conversation on the Southern Border’s Yuanling Mountain thirty years ago was now as clear as if it were happening right before his eyes.

’So this is the divine effect of the Great Barrier Breaking Pill? It truly lives up to its reputation.’ After briefly experiencing this state, Fang Qingyuan cleared his mind and began to search for the method to break through his barrier.

...

「Three days later.」

A great vortex of Spiritual Qi suddenly appeared in the sky above the Qingyuan Sect’s Celestial Eagle Peak. It swirled around the summit, exerting an endless gravitational pull on the surrounding Spiritual Power.

Fortunately, the Third-Order Lower Grade Spirit Land could sustain such a level of Spiritual Power absorption. Had it been a second-tier, top-grade spiritual land, Fang Qingyuan would be facing the awkward predicament of insufficient Spiritual Power.

After two Great Barrier Breaking Pills had entered Fang Qingyuan’s stomach, the barrier to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment realm was broken through as naturally as water carving a channel.

At the center of the vortex was the Qingyuan Sect’s Sect Leader’s Quiet Chamber. Seeing this sight, all the disciples of the Qingyuan Sect were ecstatic.

It was no secret in the Qingyuan Sect that Fang Qingyuan was about to break through to Late-stage Foundation Establishment. Seeing this phenomenon, it was certain that the Sect Leader had succeeded.

An increase in Fang Qingyuan’s cultivation meant that the Qingyuan Sect’s future development would surely be smoother, and they, the disciples, would also enjoy better treatment.

However, the commotion from the Sect Leader’s breakthrough felt more like he was undergoing Core Formation. The pressure from the Spiritual Qi vortex above was already so immense it made many Low-tier Cultivators want to fall to their knees and prostrate themselves.

Inside the Quiet Chamber, Fang Qingyuan felt an endless torrent of Spiritual Power surge madly into his body. It was then converted into Magical Power by the *True Scripture of the Five Spirits’ Purification and Form Refinement* he primarily cultivated, strengthening his Magical True Essence.

At this moment, Fang Qingyuan also released the Five-Element Illusion Beast Dharma Aspects from his Immortal Mansion. They seized the opportunity to use the Spiritual Power to temper their own bodies. As Fang Qingyuan’s Magical Power grew stronger, the bodies of these five Illusion Beasts also slowly expanded, growing ever larger.

Later, after the initial torrent of Spiritual Power was converted into Magical Power, the remaining influx became less violent. The Wood Spirit Fish Dragon and the Water Spirit Black Tortoise Aspect then took charge, leading the three remaining, less-intelligent Illusion Beast Dharma Aspects in operating the Cultivation Technique.

Fang Qingyuan, in turn, withdrew his consciousness from the tedious task of regulating the Magical Power in his body, trying his best to comprehend the fleeting inspiration that came with the breakthrough.

Seizing this chance, Fang Qingyuan focused all of this inspiration on the Innate Divine Technique he had obtained from the Bee Queen: Voice of All Things.

This skill was originally a talent awakened by the Bee Queen. However, because Fang Qingyuan had signed a Divine Soul Contract with it, their minds were connected, allowing Fang Qingyuan to directly master and utilize about thirty percent of this divine technique.