After half a month, Zhao Chun finally managed to fully neutralize the residual wood qi within her dantian and meridians and acupoints.
Alchemists refine spiritual herbs into pills not only to enhance their medicinal properties but, more importantly, to facilitate the cultivator's absorption of the medicinal power. For example, the primary ingredient of the Qi-Enhancing Pill is the Three-Leaf Spirit-Gathering Grass; while consuming the herb alone can achieve the effect of nourishing qi, a cultivator can only absorb about thirty percent of its potency. Once refined into pills, which can be divided and taken in multiple doses, one can absorb more than seventy percent.
However, while pills are beneficial, they cannot be consumed excessively. They contain impurities that transform into pill toxins; if these remain in the meridians and acupoints, they will hinder cultivation. With moderate consumption, a small amount of pill toxin can be expelled through breathing exercises, but if uncontrolled—such as attempting to use them as a substitute for actual cultivation—the toxins will clog the meridians. Over time, this will not only make breakthroughs difficult but may even prevent spiritual qi from entering the body, risking a drop in cultivation realm.
Zhao Chun was truly constrained by her spiritual root constitution and had to consume fewer pills, opting instead to benefit directly from spiritual herbs. To outsiders, this indeed seemed like a waste of precious resources.
It was also because the moisturizing properties of the Wood-Nourishing Fruit were mild that she could consume many before feeling her dantian and meridians reach saturation. Had it been a violent, high-potency spiritual herb, she might have suffered an immediate body explosion and death.
Under the neutralization of the wood qi, the *Fire-Forged Furnace Technique* finally reached the introductory stage.
Zhao Chun discovered that this technique had actually been etched into her flesh and skin while she was in the sinkhole, though it had caused significant damage. Only after a thorough period of recuperation did she notice a faint, coppery luster shimmering across her skin and face—the hallmark of having mastered the introductory stage of the *Fire-Forged Furnace Technique*.
After mastering the Copper Body, her defense increased significantly. Additionally, there were two other benefits: first, her control over fire-attribute spiritual qi became noticeably more proficient, and her ability to suppress the two types of qi in her dantian grew stronger, though she still needed to supplement wood qi from the outside to maintain balance. Second, to Zhao Chun's greater surprise, the body tempering allowed her to control her physical form with ease; combined with the accessibility of her two lower dantians to her entire body, her swordsmanship became even more fluid.
Body tempering is also strength tempering. With the enhancement of the *Tiger Strength Manual* and her body-tempering techniques, her physical power had increased immensely. Now, Zhao Chun no longer felt that strength was her weakness; the wind would burst with a sonic boom whenever she swung her sword, proving that her pure physical strength was already superior to cultivators of the same rank.
Cultivating in quiet seclusion, she felt the spiritual qi filling her body. Having only recently broken through to the sixth level of Qi Refinement, there was still a gap between her and those in the late stages.
In that case, she still needed to put in more work regarding her techniques.
Zhao Chun emerged with her sword, heading toward the Three-Part Stone Forest, intending to seek further breakthroughs through actual combat.
Upon arriving near the Stone Forest, before even entering the small pavilion, she was surprised to find that the area, which used to be sparsely populated, was suddenly crowded with disciples.
Inside the pavilion, in addition to Tu An, two other miscellaneous disciples had arrived, both of whom were new faces. The short, stout old man was no longer just working the night shifts as he had claimed; he was also standing behind the platform during the day, keeping a close eye on everything happening in the pavilion.
Seeing Zhao Chun enter, Tu An's eyes lit up. He hurriedly finished his task and stepped forward, saying, "You've come again."
She nodded in response and inquired, "Why has it suddenly become so crowded?"
"Oh!" He sighed and smiled. "You are an inner sect disciple, so you likely don't know about this yet."
He lowered his head to explain, "The Outer Sect Grand Competition was originally held every three years, and it has only been a year since the last one. Now, according to the elders, it is being changed to an annual event with many more prizes. Once the news broke, many disciples began intensifying their cultivation. Various training grounds within the sect were suddenly flooded, but the Three-Part Stone Forest is particularly perilous, which is why so many have come here."
It was common for a sect to set up competitions to motivate disciples. There were the Outer Sect Grand Competitions, the preliminary division matches for prospective disciples (small competitions), and the inter-division matches (large competitions). These were organized independently by instructors and their respective academies. Xun Xian, the instructor of Zhao Chun's academy, was a man of indifferent temperament who disliked conflict, so competitions were rarely held there. If there were a more bellicose instructor, small competitions would be held every month for the disciples to participate in.
As for the official disciples of the outer sect, those were organized by the sect itself every three years, offering bountiful rewards and the chance to be recognized and taken on as disciples by the outer sect elders. Because of the changes in her spiritual root, Zhao Chun had gone straight into the inner sect and had never participated. Within the inner sect, there were also competitions, but they were limited to Foundation Establishment stage disciples, excluding her.
Due to these various circumstances and coincidences, Zhao Chun had never once participated in a disciple competition.
"So that's how it is."
"I heard it was the idea of a certain inner sect elder. Even many of those who profited from teaching techniques were arrested by the Law Enforcement Hall, so the disciples have returned to the training grounds. Furthermore, there is one more thing..." Tu An lowered his voice and said solemnly, "That elder also set a rule: if one ranks at the bottom of the Outer Sect Grand Competition, they must face a challenge from a miscellaneous disciple. If the official disciple wins, they remain an outer sect disciple; if they lose, they are demoted to a miscellaneous disciple, allowing that miscellaneous disciple to ascend to the outer sect."
In the past, miscellaneous disciples had no way out other than breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage to become outer sect elders. Now, with this rule in place, the outer sect disciples were living in fear, while the miscellaneous disciples were overjoyed. Although they knew there was a significant gap between themselves and the official disciples, a path had been carved out. Once enough people walked it, it would naturally become a smooth road.
Zhao Chun nodded. Abolishing private tutoring, changing the competition frequency, and issuing rules for promotion and demotion—the sect was clearly taking steps to govern the chaos of the outer sect. Li Shu was busy with the Hundred Sects Assembly, and Qiu Jianying was in secluded cultivation; she wondered which of the remaining two elders was implementing these reforms...
However, for now, her own affairs were more important.
Following her usual routine, Zhao Chun took twenty Essence Stones, had Tu An record the transaction, and turned to leave the pavilion toward the entrance of the Stone Forest.
With the various private technique lectures abolished, many disciples felt their cultivation speed had slowed significantly. Coupled with the looming punishments of the Outer Sect Grand Competition, they no longer dared to live idly and began to study and practice diligently.
However, last-minute preparation could never compare to the steady progress of those who had practiced hard all along. Zhao Chun's heart stirred; in this session of the Outer Sect Grand Competition, many "fish in muddy waters" would surely be replaced by disciples truly pursuing the Dao. Only in this way could the sect shed its old skin and gradually prosper.
Breaking into the Stone Forest from the entrance, Zhao Chun focused her mind, ignoring the disciples around her.
When she had traveled through the forest previously, she had been alone and could act as she pleased. This time, with multiple disciples traveling together, the differences in their abilities became apparent.
She had not yet broken through to the late stage of Qi Refinement and was still within the mid-stage. With other disciples around her—some at the fifth level and some at the sixth—she did not stand out much.
Leaping through the stone forest, Zhao Chun left the crowd behind in the blink of an eye. Before the Shadow Monkeys could even get close, she had already struck them down with her sword!
The disciples behind her were still struggling desperately to fend off the Shadow Monkeys, their footwork in total disarray. Even those skilled in movement techniques were constantly leaping forward, but compared to Zhao Chun's near-instantaneous speed, they were at least a full level slower!
"Who is that! I've never seen her before!" a disciple gasped quietly. Before he could finish his sentence, Zhao Chun had already turned into a black dot, vanishing from his sight.
"I am finding it quite difficult just to kill these monster monkeys, yet under her sword, how do they vanish like bubbles with a mere wave of her hand?" More than one disciple had this thought. One was so startled that he lost focus during combat, and in an instant, a Shadow Monkey's claw tore a piece of flesh from him. The pain was so intense he couldn't think of anything else, forced to focus solely on the immediate threat.