As she entered the hall, Mei was greeted by a tear in space.

Cold air rushed out of it, and she could see marble flooring and a mountain in the distance, blanketed by snow.

Li Jie stood to the side of it with a glum look.

"On the other side stands the Tribulation Peaks. If you've reached the 8th stage of body cultivation, please proceed. Remember to bring your Foundation pill." he said. "If not, I'm afraid you'll have to leave."

Phew. Thankfully, she did bring it.

She turned to look at her friends, who nodded, having brought theirs as well.

"So we just walk in?" Liu Qiang asked.

Li Jie nodded.

Hearing that, Mei decided to hop in first.

...

On the other side, out of view from the tear, the sect master stood silently, rows of disciples sitting before him on the ground, snow falling heavily from above. A barrier formation could be seen above, however, deflecting the snow, letting none of it touch the disciples.

As Mei and her friends were about to sit, a disciple turned to them.

"Pst! Push the snow away, or it's going to melt and make your robe wet!"

He stood up a little, showing the faint wet spot on his behind.

Liu Qiang and Yingyi began snickering. Mei tried her best not to and barely managed.

"Ah, that sucks! Thanks for telling us." Xiuying said. "Do you need a towel?"

"Er... I'll be fine," he said, a little embarrassed.

Wasn't he afraid the water would freeze into ice? Though, granted, the barrier was making things a lot less chilly than it was back at the sect master's palace.

"The token is lighting up!" Wang Wei suddenly said.

Mei took out her token, the sect master's voice entering her mind.

"Congratulations on reaching the 8th stage in time! We will be waiting here until 11 to ensure all disciples have reported, before starting the breakthroughs."

She figured he probably didn't want to repeat himself every time a disciple walked through the tear.

"In the meanwhile, imbue a small amount of your qi into the Supreme Foundational pill. It will help with the process later."

"Disciples, it is now 11. I am very pleased to see everyone has made it!"

Mei was a bit surprised, as she thought at least a few wouldn't reach the 8th stage in time. Especially since the sect master's lectures usually had a few missing students, so she couldn't have been the only lazy one. Somehow, seeing how everyone was here made her feel a little sour, but she supposed it made sense, given how important it was.

The sect master raised a hand, and in an instant, all the disciples were transported before a colosseum of sorts.

Wait, was there a tournament again?

"Disciples, you will undergo your breakthrough inside, unless you would rather undergo it in private."

Spirits appeared out of nowhere, handing slips of paper with numbers to all the disciples.

Mei looked at hers and was stunned. 1?!

"I-I'm first?" she said in disbelief.

She glanced at the sect master. Was this because she looked for him in private a few days ago?

Admittedly, she sort of dreaded having to wait, but being first? That just made her anxious.

Seeing her, the sect master smiled faintly and beckoned. Mei turned to look at friends with an uneasy look before walking over.

"While the other disciples file into the seats, you can wait in the centre first. Well, unless you would like to have your breakthrough in private." he said.

"Um... can I be second instead?" she asked.

"No."

Grr...

Well, while she wasn't the biggest fan of undergoing her breakthrough in front of so many eyes, doing it in private meant that she would probably have to go through it at the later period, which was kind of inconvenient. Stupid sect master...

Not wanting to deal with that, helplessly, she stood in the centre of attention, trying not to make eye contact with any of the disciples.

"Mei! You can do it!" Xiuying shouted, waving to her.

Wang Wei looked like he was about to say something as well, but seeing the nearby disciples turn to them, he stopped, opting to only wave. Liu Qiang gave a thumbs up and grinned.

Mei waved back half-heartedly, frowning at Yingyi who didn't even wave.

"Eat the pill when you're ready." the sect master's voice suddenly entered her mind.

Mei took out the jade box and opened it, staring at the thumb-sized pill.

"Can I have some water...?" she said.

A glass bottle of water materialised in her bag.

"Thanks..."

She tried to pretend nobody was looking at her as she downed the pill with a mouthful of water. Despite that, it was still kind of unpleasant with how big it was.

She stood there for about 30 seconds, but nothing happened.

"Give it a minute," the sect master said.

Stupid slow acting pill making things awkward.

Then suddenly, it felt like something was bubbling in her stomach, rivers of qi streaming out of it. The qi rushed into her meridians, practically overloading them! From every pour, qi began leaking out, but just as quickly, the escaping qi formed a seal, sealing off all means of escape.

With nowhere to go, all the qi was forced to rush to her dantian ceaselessly!

Across her entire body, she felt an intense rumbling. She clutched her head, feeling somewhat dizzy. No wonder the pill required the 8th stage of body cultivation. If not for that... Mei shuddered.

For her to not be overwhelmed by pain, painkillers were definitely mixed in. She silently thanked the person who invented them, whoever they were.

Her entire body began to glow with white light from the intense qi, rendering her vision nothing but pure white.

The pill was still slowly being dissolved, miniature seals from within forcing the qi into her dantian. All the qi she had ever absorbed was compressed to the center, layers and laters of qi piling on.

In her dazed state, Mei felt like she could suddenly understand why cultivators called the body a "furnace".

As minutes passed, the pill shrunk to the size of a raisin. She couldn't directly see it, but she sensed the qi in her dantain was undergoing a transformation, turning from pure energy into matter, into a gaseous state!

Hah... so it was now truly qi*.

As the pill finally dissolved entirely, the seals deactivated, letting the remaining qi escape from her pores.

She had broken through into the Foundation stage! From all over, traces of faint black gunk covered her skin.

Able to see again, thought her vision covered in spots, she looked up... and saw a dark cloud above, streaks of lighting rushing through it. It was tribulation cloud!

Mei would have been really excited to see one for the first time with her very own eyes, if not for it only being the size of a housecat.