It took half a month for Zhao Chun to completely neutralize the residual Wood Qi in her meridians, acupoints, and Dantian. Alchemists refine Spiritual Medicine into pills, not just to enhance their medicinal properties, but more so to help cultivators absorb the medicinal power. For example, the main ingredient of a Qi-Boosting Pill is the Three-Leaf Spirit-Gathering Herb.
Consuming it directly can also have the effect of boosting one's qi, but a cultivator can only absorb three-tenths of its medicinal power. After being refined into several pills, taking them separately allows for the absorption of over seven-tenths. However, despite the benefits of medicinal pills, one could not consume too many.
They contained impurities that transformed into Pill Poison, which would linger in the meridians and acupoints throughout the body, affecting cultivation. Taken in moderation, a small amount of Pill Poison could be expelled during cultivation and Tuna Breathing. But if one lacked control and tried to replace cultivation with them, the Pill Poison would clog the meridians.
Over time, not only would breakthroughs become difficult, but one might even be unable to draw spiritual qi into the body, facing the danger of their cultivation realm dropping. Zhao Chun was truly hampered by her spiritual root's constitution and had to take fewer pills.
Thus, she consumed spiritual medicines directly, which in the eyes of others, indeed felt like a profligate waste of heavenly treasures. It was also fortunate that the Moistwood Fruit's medicinal properties were gentle. Even after eating many, she only felt her Dantian and meridians become saturated.
If it had been a potent spiritual medicine, she might have instantly exploded and died. The 'Fire Refining Furnace Technique', under the neutralization of the Wood Qi, finally reached the entry level. Zhao Chun discovered that she had actually already refined her skin and flesh with this technique back in the Heavenly Pit, but the damage had been quite severe.
Only after a thorough recovery did she see her skin and face faintly glow with a coppery light, which was the very sign of reaching the entry level of the 'Fire Refining Furnace Technique'. After cultivating the Copper Body, her defense greatly increased. Additionally, there were two other benefits.
First, her control over fire-attribute spiritual qi was clearly more skilled, and her power to suppress the two qis in her Dantian was also stronger, though she still needed to supplement with external Wood Qi for balance. Second, to Zhao Chun's greater surprise, after refining her body, she could control her physical form freely.
This, combined with the two Dantians, upper and lower, connecting throughout her body, made her swordsmanship practice much more agile. Body refining was also power refining. With the enhancements from the 'Tiger Strength Art' and the body refining technique, her strength increased enormously.
Now, Zhao Chun no longer felt that strength was her weakness. The wind from her sword swings created explosive sounds, showing that in terms of pure strength, she already surpassed cultivators of the same rank. Cultivating quietly in her room, she could feel the abundant spiritual qi in her body.
She had only recently broken through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining and was still some distance from the late stage. Since this was the case, she still needed to put some effort into her spell techniques.
Zhao Chun took up her sword and went out, heading for the Threefold Stone Forest, intending to find another opportunity in actual combat. Just as she neared the stone forest, before even entering the small pavilion, she was surprised to find that the place, which used to be sparsely populated, was suddenly filled with many more disciples.
Inside the small pavilion, besides Tu An, there were two other menial disciples, both new faces. The short, stout old man was also no longer just on night duty as he had claimed; he was standing behind the counter in broad daylight, overseeing the pavilion's affairs. Seeing Zhao Chun come in, Tu An's eyes lit up.
He quickly put away the task at hand and came forward, saying, "You're here again." She nodded in response and asked, "Why are there suddenly so many people?"
"Oh!" he exclaimed, then said with a smile, "You're an Inner Sect Disciple, so you probably don't know about this yet."
He lowered his head and explained, "The Outer Sect Grand Competition was originally held once every three years. It's only been a year since the last one, but now, it seems the Elders have decided to change it to once a year. They've also added many more prizes.
As soon as the news broke, many disciples rushed to intensify their cultivation. All the training grounds in the sect were flooded with people for a time. It's only because the Threefold Stone Forest is particularly perilous that only this many have come."
It was common for the sect to set up dueling assemblies to encourage disciples' cultivation. For instance, there was the Outer Sect Grand Competition, and also probationary disciple branch competitions, which were Minor Duel Assemblies, and competitions between various courtyards, which were Major Duel Assemblies. These were all organized by the instructors and study halls themselves.
The instructor of Zhao Chun's study hall, Xun Xian, did not like to compete with others and had an aloof personality, so duel assemblies were not often held. If one encountered a more combative person, there would be Minor Duel Assemblies every month for disciples to participate in.
As for the official disciples in the Outer Sect, their competition was organized by the sect, held once every three years with rich rewards. One could also be noticed by an Outer Sect Elder and taken as a disciple. Due to the change in her spiritual root, Zhao Chun had directly entered the Inner Sect and had never participated.
And within the Inner Sect, there were also competitions, but they were limited to Foundation Establishment Stage disciples, which excluded her. Due to all these various coincidences, Zhao Chun had actually never participated in a disciple duel.
"So that's how it is."
"I heard it was the idea of a certain Inner Sect Elder. Even many of those people who profited from teaching techniques have been arrested by the Disciplinary Hall, so the disciples have returned to the training grounds. Also, there's one more thing..."
Tu An's voice slowed, and he said solemnly, "That elder also set a rule: if an Outer Sect Disciple ranks at the bottom of the Grand Competition, they must accept a challenge from a menial disciple. If they win, they remain an Outer Sect Disciple.
If they are defeated, they will be demoted to a menial laborer, and that menial disciple will be promoted to the Outer Sect in their place." Previously in the True Spirit Sect, besides breaking through to Foundation Establishment and becoming an Outer Sect Elder, there was no other way out for menial laborers.
Now with this rule, every Outer Sect Disciple felt insecure, while the menial laborers were overjoyed. Although they knew there was quite a gap between themselves and the official disciples, a path had now been carved out. Someone would eventually walk it, and once many people had walked it, it would naturally become a smooth road.
Zhao Chun nodded. Banning private lectures, changing the Grand Competition's schedule, and enacting a promotion and demotion system—the sect was likely taking gradual steps to manage the chaos in the Outer Sect. Li Su was busy with the Hundred Sects Assembly, and Qiu Jianying was in closed-door cultivation.
She wondered which of the remaining two elders was implementing this policy... But for now, her own matters were more important. Zhao Chun took twenty Essence Stones as usual, telling Tu An to put it on her tab for now.
She then turned, left the small pavilion, and headed for the entrance to the stone forest. With the various spell technique lectures banned, many disciples suddenly felt their cultivation speed slow down considerably. With the punishment of the Outer Sect Grand Competition looming behind them, they no longer dared to live idly and all began to study and train diligently.
Last-minute cramming could never compare to the steady effort of the diligent. Zhao Chun's heart stirred. In this Outer Sect Grand Competition, many who were just muddling through would surely be replaced, allowing disciples who truly walked the path of the Dao to rise up.
Only in this way could the sect cast off the old to bring in the new and gradually flourish. Breaking in through the stone forest's entrance, Zhao Chun focused on herself, paying no mind to the disciples beside her.
Previously, when she passed through the forest, she had been the only one in the stone forest and could act as she pleased. This time, with multiple disciples travelling alongside her, the differences between each person became apparent.
She had not yet broken through to the late stage of Qi Refining, so she still entered the path for the middle stage. There were other disciples beside her, at the fifth and sixth layers, and she did not stand out among them.
Leaping through the stone forest, in the blink of an eye, Zhao Chun left the other disciples far behind. Before a Shadow Monkey could even get close, it was slain by a swing of her sword! The disciples behind her were still struggling to fend off the Shadow Monkeys, their footwork in complete disarray.
Although there were some who were skilled in movement techniques and continuously dashed forward, compared to Zhao Chun's nearly instantaneous speed, they were slower by a considerable margin!
"Who is that! I've never seen her before!" a disciple exclaimed in a low voice.
Before he could finish his sentence, Zhao Chun had already become a black dot, moving out of his line of sight.
"Just killing these strange monkeys is already quite difficult for me, but how can they be like bubbles under her sword, wiped out with a single wave?"
More than one disciple had this thought. One of them was so shocked that he lost focus in the middle of combat and instantly had a piece of flesh torn off by a Shadow Monkey's sharp claws. The pain made him dare not think about it anymore, forcing him to concentrate on the matter at hand.
(End of this chapter)