Chapter Eighty-Six: Breaking Through the Realm of the Serene Heart

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“You say this is a high-grade Yellow Formation? Why did it stop so soon—could you have made a mistake? Isn’t this just a low-grade Yellow Formation?”

Patriarch Zhang looked helplessly at Li Sibai. “Young Master Li, how could I be mistaken? I’ve used this formation for over a decade. Normally, when you activate a mid-grade Yellow Formation, the spiritual stones glow yellow. But just now, when you activated it, the stones glowed orange—clearly, it’s been enhanced.”

“Orange? That’s odd! But if it’s been enhanced, shouldn’t it last longer? How could it stop so quickly?”

“I’m not sure either. Normally, a mid-grade Yellow Formation lasts about an hour—that’s the average for our clan members during cultivation. But your internal energy is so pure, Young Master Li, that you absorb energy without obstacles. Perhaps that’s why it was so much faster for you.”

“Oh? Is that how it works?” Li Sibai pondered this carefully. Could the transformation from a mid-grade to a high-grade Yellow Formation be due to the nature of his inner energy?

Patriarch Zhang nodded. “Maybe that’s it. Otherwise, I can’t think of another explanation.”

Even though he’d only absorbed energy for a quarter of an hour, the progress in his internal energy was considerable, and his understanding of the formation deepened. Ultimately, the Spirit Gathering Formation was a means to quickly absorb pure essence, most of which came from spiritual stones, with a small portion drawn from the mutual attraction of the ambient energies.

Natural spiritual stones are rare treasures. Once mined, they’re cut into uniform sizes for sale and trade. These stones usually come from areas dense with pure essence, but a whole region’s stones tend to share the same attribute. To find stones of differing attributes, they must be exchanged. Thus, pure natural spiritual stones are even more precious, as cultivators of different attributes can add their own, granting another opportunity to temper themselves.

As a cultivation resource, spiritual stones weren’t available to the outer disciples of the Xuantian Sword Sect—they had only pills to aid their practice. However, it’s said that the inner disciples of Xuantian Sword Sect received spiritual stones as rewards, and the better their performance, the more they were given.

Li Sibai considered that if he could return smoothly, he’d find a way to get a few natural spiritual stones to test this formation further and see if it matched his expectations.

With that resolved, he turned to the matter at hand. Since he was absorbing energy from the Spirit Gathering Formation so quickly, he decided to place the remaining two sets of spiritual stones onto the array diagram.

Patriarch Zhang watched in astonishment. “Young Master Li, what are you doing?”

Li Sibai didn’t answer. He carefully arranged the formation, directed the pure energy of the Xuantian technique into the core, and activated the Spirit Gathering Formation again. This time, the glow was even brighter than before. Li Sibai immediately sat down to cultivate.

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“Is this possible?” Patriarch Zhang was full of admiration. Not only was Li Sibai’s internal energy so pure that it could enhance the formation’s grade, but having just learned the formation, he already thought to combine two sets of spiritual stones—this not only stabilized the formation but allowed it to absorb energy even faster and draw in more of the surrounding essence.

Indeed, as soon as he began, the surrounding essence seemed to boil, churning as though all the pure energy nearby was being drawn in. The entire room was suffused with a dense, refreshing energy.

But the good times didn’t last. Even with two sets of spiritual stones combined, after barely half an hour, the Spirit Gathering Formation shattered again, and Li Sibai’s cultivation session ended.

Opening his eyes, he exhaled a turbid breath, his gaze sharp and spirited. Glancing at the shattered spiritual stones around him, Li Sibai smiled, stood up, and bowed to Patriarch Zhang.

“Young Master Li, what are you doing?” asked Patriarch Zhang.

“Thank you, Patriarch Zhang, for the spiritual stones. This Spirit Gathering Formation truly is remarkable.”

Patriarch Zhang looked again at Li Sibai, who now had skin as smooth as jade, seemingly rejuvenated and years younger. He was astonished. “Young Master Li, what—?!”

“Yes, I’ve successfully broken through. I am now at the first level of the Heart of the Zither Realm.”

Upon reaching the Heart of the Zither Realm, one’s appearance is rejuvenated, making them look several years younger. At this stage, the body starts to generate different attributes, allowing for the cultivation of various attribute arts. Of course, these attributes may not be unique—some powerful experts can cultivate two or three, combining them for greater techniques.

Li Sibai had long been on the verge of a breakthrough. The Xuantian Jade Purity Pills he received at the summit had brought him close, and after absorbing the essence from three sets of spiritual stones through the Spirit Gathering Formation, he was finally able to break through.

These three sets of spiritual stones had been prepared by elders of Creek Bamboo Village over generations. Each elder’s family had their own way of obtaining spiritual stones, but ever since they’d been trapped here, it was decided that the formation should be passed to Li Sibai, and the then-patriarch decreed that each patriarch and elder must leave behind a spiritual stone to be handed down. After all these years, there were exactly three sets.

Since being trapped, their sources of spiritual stones had been cut off, and what each family could provide was limited.

This breakthrough, aided by the Spirit Gathering Formation, was smooth and unhindered—much to Li Sibai’s own surprise.

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Patriarch Zhang was elated. Previously, Li Sibai had only been at the sixth stage of the Phoenix Dawn Realm, and the elders doubted whether he could bear the responsibility of saving their clan. Now, seeing him break through to the Heart of the Zither Realm, their hopes soared.

“Young Master Li, congratulations on reaching the Heart of the Zither Realm! This greatly increases our hope. May I ask what attribute your inner energy possesses, and which attribute arts you practice?”

“Arts?” Li Sibai was at a loss. He hadn’t even formally taken a master, let alone learned any arts. As for his attribute, he’d just broken through; how could he know or have learned any arts?

“To be honest, Patriarch Zhang, I haven’t learned any arts,” Li Sibai replied truthfully.

“What? You haven’t learned any arts?” Patriarch Zhang was dismayed, and the hope that had just risen within him faded again.

“Young Master Li, aren’t you an inner disciple of the Xuantian Sword Sect?”

Li Sibai looked a little embarrassed. “Well… actually, I’m only a prospective inner disciple, so I haven’t learned any arts yet.”

He then explained in detail why, despite entering the inner sect, he hadn’t yet learned any arts. As for his own constitution, he wasn’t sure himself, but there was a tool in the inner sect for testing it—if he returned, he could give it a try.

Patriarch Zhang finally understood that disciples from such sects do not know their inner energy attributes prior to breaking through, unlike those from family lines, whose attributes are set and who can learn arts in advance and use them immediately upon breakthrough.

Disciples from sects, however, can only identify their attributes through testing after their breakthrough.