Spring passed and autumn arrived; cold came and heat went.

"Hoo..."

Zhou Ping let out a long breath, a white stream of Qi exhaling from his mouth like a rainbow.

Five years had passed since his return had stirred up Baixi Village and he had established himself as a local landlord. Although he had long given up any grand illusions about cultivation, Zhou Ping still insisted on performing breathing exercises for two hours each day, nourishing his body with Spiritual Qi.

What if his luck turned one day, and he suddenly opened his spiritual aperture to break through into the Qi Condensation Realm?

If the family had even a single Qi Condensation Realm cultivator, why would they need to contend with those local mortal clans? They would likely have been officially recognized as an immortal cultivation clan by the prefecture long ago, ruling over the region.

After all, this world was not peaceful. There were Demon Beasts, monsters, and all kinds of malevolent ghosts and spirits.

Three years ago, an old wolf that had gained a trace of intelligence charged down from the mountain, biting a man from the Sun clan to death while he worked in the fields.

It was only after Zhou Ping pinned it dead with a steel nail technique that the matter was settled. It was also after consuming the old wolf's flesh and blood that he felt his bottleneck loosen.

Through day and night of unremitting cultivation, he had failed another breakthrough attempt, yet the Spiritual Qi in his body had finally increased by one strand. Zhou Ping's face showed joy, but he also sighed softly.

Only when the Spiritual Qi in the body reached sixteen strands or more could one truly be considered to have reached the threshold for opening the spiritual aperture.

But Zhou Ping's aptitude was Low Grade, and his body could only accommodate nine strands of Spiritual Qi. He could only continuously attempt breakthroughs to force his upper limit higher.

Yet after several years, it had only increased by a single strand. If he tried to open his spiritual aperture with this, the hope was slim, and nine times out of ten, he would fail as before.

"Father, I can feel the Spiritual Qi!"

A childish voice suddenly came from the side, interrupting Zhou Ping's thoughts.

It was a child as delicate as carved jade, with fair, flawless skin and eyes full of joy.

He was Zhou Ping's eldest son, Zhou Minghu!

"Father, I feel a thin mist all around me. It's cool and refreshing," Zhou Minghu said excitedly, waving his hands and grabbing at the air.

"Minghu is amazing." Zhou Ping smiled and rubbed Zhou Minghu's head. "Then do as Father taught you. Sit cross-legged, guide your Qi, and draw that mist into your body."

"Mm-hmm." Zhou Minghu nodded, then obediently sat to the side, meditating and guiding his Qi.

Zhou Ping looked at his son with relief, as if seeing the future of the Zhou family.

Five years ago, he had used Ding Fire to enhance the aptitude of Zhou Minghu while he was still in the womb, raising his talent to Low Grade.

Although cultivation aptitude was only divided into four grades-Low, Middle, High, and Top-the length of one's spiritual light varied, making each grade vastly different.

A spiritual light between one inch and 3.9 inches was a Low Grade aptitude. These were the struggling masses at the bottom of the cultivation world, and only the best among them had any hope of breaking through to the Qi Condensation Realm.

A spiritual light between four inches and 6.9 inches was a Middle Grade aptitude. They were considered true novice disciples in most sects, and some small sects even regarded them as core successors. For them, breaking through to the Qi Condensation Realm was a certainty.

A spiritual light between seven inches and 9.9 inches was naturally a High Grade aptitude. Even in a great sect like the Azure Cloud Sect, they were treated as treasures and sect successors. Each one could be said to be a quasi-Foundation Establishment existence, and they might even have hope of advancing to the Golden Core Realm.

As for a spiritual light reaching a full foot, that was a Top Grade aptitude. As long as no accidents occurred, they would surely achieve the Golden Core Realm. In any power, they were unquestionably the future of the sect.

Although both father and son possessed Low Grade aptitudes, Zhou Minghu's talent was slightly better than Zhou Ping's. Zhou Ping's spiritual light was only 1.5 inches, while Zhou Minghu's spiritual light was 1.9 inches, only a hair's breadth away from reaching two inches.

This meant that Zhou Minghu's future would be broader than Zhou Ping's. He might very well become a Qi Condensation cultivator, elevating the Zhou family into the ranks of true cultivation clans.

Zhou Ping looked at that stubborn little face, feeling both relieved and pained.

Zhou Minghu was not yet five years old, but from the age of three, he had to practice character writing for two hours every day, and also cultivate alongside Zhou Ping for another two hours without a single day of leisure.

Among the children of the same age in the village, which one wasn't playing all day long?

But in this spiritually barren land, who knew how many years it would take to cultivate to the peak of the Spirit Awakening Realm.

The Spirit Awakening Realm was the foundation of cultivation. Cultivating it was not difficult; even a cultivator with the worst talent could reach the Perfection stage.

It was further divided into four minor stages according to the different phases.

The first minor stage was sensing the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, so it was also called Spirit Sensing.

Within heaven and earth, there were all kinds of Qi, and Spiritual Qi was the most gentle and widespread among them.

The human race was inherently weak. Only by first nourishing themselves with Spiritual Qi until they opened their spiritual aperture, allowing their bodies to withstand the stronger energies of the world, could they cultivate with a specific type of worldly Qi. Otherwise, they would face violent backlash, harming their lifespan and destroying their health.

The Yin Malefic Qi that Zhou Ping had once collected was a type of worldly Qi, cold and sinister. If introduced into the body rashly, it would freeze the meridians, causing constant, freezing pain.

Spirit Sensing was not difficult for any cultivator. Even someone with a Low Grade aptitude like Zhou Ping could achieve it in two or three months. It was said that those geniuses with High Grade aptitudes could sense Spiritual Qi in a single day.

Zhou Minghu's talent was higher than Zhou Ping's, so theoretically, he should have taken less time. But after all, he was still a child, his mind easily distracted. Every time he meditated for a brief moment, his thoughts would wander. Coupled with the thin Spiritual Qi in Baixi Village, which was far inferior to Azure Cloud Mountain, it took him over a year to sense the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

After Spirit Sensing came drawing Qi into the body, which was gathering strands of Spiritual Qi into oneself to create a tangible spiritual perception within.

Zhou Ping had taken a full three months back then, only managing to gather three strands of Spiritual Qi. The more exceptional the talent, the more Spiritual Qi one could gather at this stage, which also brought great benefits to future cultivation.

The third minor stage was the Circulation of the Heavenly Cycle, using the Spiritual Qi to form a vortex within the body, thereby cleansing the marrow, tempering the bones, and removing impurities.

The more Spiritual Qi in the body, the stronger the vortex formed. This would attract and gather external Spiritual Qi, cycling repeatedly until reaching the limit the body could accommodate.

Because Zhou Ping's talent was only a 1.5-inch Low Grade, the limit of Spiritual Qi his body could accommodate was eight strands. Minghu's spiritual light was 1.9 inches, so the Spiritual Qi he could gather in the future might reach twelve strands.

The higher the talent, the more Spiritual Qi the Spirit Awakening Realm could accommodate, and vice versa.

Zhou Ping had even seen a handyman disciple with a spiritual light of only one inch, whose body could only accommodate seven strands of Spiritual Qi. After staying on the mountain for three years, he regretfully returned to the mortal world. As for the genius disciples within the Azure Cloud Sect, their Spirit Awakening Realm could accommodate up to thirty-five strands of Spiritual Qi, and the spiritual apertures they opened were also larger than ordinary people's.

The final stage was the first watershed of cultivation, completely separating immortals from mortals: exploding the vortex to open the spiritual aperture!

The stronger the vortex, the greater the possibility of opening the spiritual aperture, and the more stable and vast the opened aperture would be.

After countless generations of exploration by the cultivation world, a conclusion had been reached: possessing sixteen strands of Spiritual Qi or more guaranteed the opening of the spiritual aperture, which was the initial limit that a three-inch spiritual light could accommodate.

But this did not mean that opening it was impossible below sixteen strands. It was like pushing open a heavy door-naturally, the greater the strength, the better, but lesser strength did not necessarily mean it couldn't be pushed open. It merely required a certain fated chance.

For example, consuming heavenly treasures or spirit pills to cause a sudden surge of Spiritual Qi in the body; or using a powerful magical artifact or grand formation to forcibly increase the concentration of external Spiritual Qi, causing it to naturally flood into the body, thereby opening the aperture smoothly...

But no matter which method, the cost was enormous.

Therefore, Zhou Ping could only use the most dangerous and common method to raise his upper limit: the Breakthrough Method.

During his ten years at the Azure Cloud Sect, he had cultivated to the peak of the Spirit Awakening Realm in six years, but his internal Spiritual Qi was only eight strands. With no hope of a natural breakthrough, he could only continuously risk attempting forced breakthroughs.

The first time he failed, he spent a full half-year recovering from his injuries, but his maximum Spiritual Qi capacity increased by half a strand.

After that, every year or so, Zhou Ping would risk a forced breakthrough, so that by the time he left the sect, he had nine and a half strands of Spiritual Qi in his body.

In these past five years, Zhou Ping had also attempted a breakthrough once, which still ended in failure. But his Spiritual Qi had become purer, and combined with nourishing his body by eating the wolf Demon Beast's flesh, his internal Spiritual Qi had increased by one strand.

But he also understood that even with such risky attempts, each increase was becoming weaker and weaker. There might still be room for growth, but it would most likely never exceed twelve strands.

Talent determined the upper limit.

Just like grass, no matter how hard it tried, it could never grow into a towering tree.

However, Minghu's talent was better than his own. At the start, the boy might reach twelve or thirteen strands. If he continuously broke through to raise his upper limit, he could reach around fourteen or fifteen strands, making his chances of a successful breakthrough incredibly high.

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