Zhou Lihua and Wu Jian followed Zong Mu through the halls of the Alchemist Association. Many people were present, wandering down the halls or exiting and entering refining rooms. Everyone moved aside when they passed and turned their heads to watch as she walked by. Most of these people had likely been present during the tournament and had seen her in action.

The area they were in right now was called the Refining Hall. It was a pagoda with sixteen floors and over a hundred rooms on each floor. Decorations were sparse since its use was refining pills and cultivating. The scent of pills mixing together filled the atmosphere. Zhou Lihua caught a whiff of someone who smelled like a rainforest as they walked by and suspected the person had just finished refining the Calming Earth Pill.

“I did not get the chance to say this at the party, but congratulations on winning the tournament,” Zhong Mu said. “I’ll be honest, I did not expect you to defeat Xaio Wei and Lili Ling. Your victory over them was most impressive.”

“It was a hard fought battle. Those two are deserving of their reputation,” Zhou Lihua accepted his congratulations with poise.

“Indeed, and the fact that you could defeat them is extremely impressive.”

“Thank you.”

Each floor of the Refining Hall was built using different materials, which further enhanced the effects of someone’s cultivation or refining. The first five levels were made of simple cedar wood and cement. A simple sealing array was located inside of each room to help gather chi, but it provided no other benefits. The next five levels were lined with ancient fir trees that had been steeped in chi-rich forests. This gathered, trapped, and helped cultivator’s absorb chi, and alchemists could use the chi in the atmosphere to help them perform alchemy.

They were located on the tenth floor. The eleventh floor and above was supposedly another level up from this, being composed of five thousand year oak, but it was only accessible to ruthenium rank alchemists and above.

The top floor was reserved for the association branch leader.

“This will be your room for the duration of your time here. It is the best room I can grant you access to and should help with refining and integrating the Heavenly Ghost Flame into your dantian,” Zhong Mu gestured to a door that looked no different from the others on this floor, save the number on the plaque. He pressed a golden medallion against a small depression, which caused several sealing arrays to light up. A soft click was followed by the door opening.

“I appreciate your assistance,” Zhou Lihua said with a martial bow.

“Think nothing of it,” Zhong Mu returned the bow, then looked at Wu Jian. “As for you, since Zhou Lihua has asked that we provide you with a room, you may take the one right next to hers. You should consider this a great honor. We normally would never allow someone who doesn’t belong with the Alchemist Association to use our refining rooms.”

“I understand. Thank you for letting me use your rooms to cultivate,” Wu Jian gave a martial bow to the man.

Zhou Lihua did not appreciate the tone this man used, and she was certain Wu Jian didn’t either, but she was grateful that Zhong Mu was making an exception for her. It was true that only disciples were allowed to use these rooms. That was why both she and Wu Jian ignored the arrogance and disdain in the man’s tone as if he was looking down on Wu Jian.

“I’ll be going now. Head back down to the entrance hall and give this to the person at the counter when you are done here,” said Zhong Mu, handing them both a silver medallion with the Alchemist Association’s symbol on it.

The man soon disappeared around a corner. Wu Jian and Zhou Lihua glanced at each other.

“See you later?” asked Wu Jian.

His companion nodded. “Good luck with your cultivation.”

“Same to you.”

The pair walked into their respective rooms, which closed with a soft click, locking them inside. They would have to use the medallion Zhong Mu had given them to get out.

Zhou Lihua walked into the center of the room, which was bare of everything. The floor, walls, and ceiling looked to be made of an ash gray wood. A sealing array covered almost every viable jin of surface space. Only the center of the room, with a silver circle marking it, remained untouched.

The first thing Zhou Lihua did after sitting down was to take out both the Heavenly Ghost Flame and her cauldron. The heavenly flame was still trapped inside of its crystalline case. It was docile now, but she knew it would not be once she released it. Before she did that, however, she needed to refine the appropriate pill to consume it.

One did not just integrate a heavenly flame without preparation. Each heavenly flame without exception was exceedingly dangerous, and the unprepared would find themselves burned from the inside out when they tried integrating it into their dantian. Zhou Lihua had heard horror stories about people being turned into charred corpses because they arrogantly assumed they could consume a heavenly flame without advanced preparation. Even people who did prepare didn’t always succeed. That was one of the many reasons most alchemists got a beast flame instead of a heavenly flame when attempting to reach osmoium rank.

One by one, Zhou Lihua removed several ingredients from her storage ring and placed them on the ground. These were necessary for the pill she was to refine, which would allow her to consume the heavenly flame.

Two pills were required. The Ice Soul Flame Pill and the Chilling Bone Pill. Between the two, the Ice Soul Flame Pill was the hardest to refine. It was a tier 7 pill, which meant she couldn’t refine it herself, but fortunately, Yun Che had gifted it to her. He said it was originally going to be for Lili Ling. No doubt he had done this to get in her good graces.

Ruo Chong had also tried to give her one, but she didn’t need two, so instead, she gave Zhou Lihua the ingredients needed for the Chilling Bone Pill.

It was a right of passage for alchemists about to consume a heavenly flame to refine the Chilling Bone Pill. It was a tier 4 pill. While not as difficult to refine as the Three Layered Red Yin-Yang Pill, it did take a lot more time. She would need at least one day to refine this pill. Then she would rest for a day to recover her chi. Only after she had fully recovered would she attempt to consume the Heavenly Ghost Flame.

After taking a deep breath, Zhou Lihua got to work.

***

Wu Jian took in a deep breath, feeling his cultivation stir for the first time in quite a while. This room was almost overflowing with chi. Each deep inhale through his nose caused the chi to enter his meridians and travel to his dantian. Sadly, while he could feel his cultivating stirring, he knew this wouldn’t be enough to make him break through.

Sitting down in the very center of the room, Wu Jian removed two jade bottles. One contained the Three Layered Red Yin-Yang Pill while the other held the White Flame Ascension Pill. He didn’t plan to use those yet. He would wait until he was on the cusp of breaking through, then take one to help smooth his breakthrough.

I am one with the universe.

Everything exists within the universe.

If everything exists within the universe, then I exist within everything.

For I am one with the universe.

And the universe is me.

All things within the universe exist within their own space.

He closed his eyes and began reciting the verses he had learned of the Nine Heavens Spatial Severing Cultivation Method, contemplating each verse and their meaning. It wasn’t long before the area around him became filled with spatial distortions. They were small and wouldn’t be noticed by anyone not sensitive to the Dao of Space. However, as he meditated, Wu Jian took control of these distortions, changing their size, shape, and density.

Eons seemed to pass as Wu Jian remained still like an ancient oak in the middle of a forest. He could sense his understanding into the Dao of Space increase ever so slightly. It was thanks to the extra chi. While this place did not contain any concepts into the Dao of Space, the extra chi suffusing the atmosphere allowed him greater leeway while experimenting. He had learned how to create a spatial barrier around himself. It would nullify any attack below the Human Limit Realm. He couldn’t block attacks from Deva Realm cultivators like this, but he suspected it might be possible to divert their attacks if he changed the shape of his barrier from a half-sphere to a triangle. It was like how people could use a wedge to divert the flow of water. He would need to test it before seeing if it worked.

Hmmm?

Wu Jian straightened when he felt the area around his dantian stirring. It felt like waves from his chi sea were preparing to crash against his consciousness. This was what he had been waiting for.

Reaching out with his eyes still closed, Wu Jian grabbed the jade bottle, popped the cork with his thumb, and tilted it into his open mouth. A tiny ball rolled inside. He swallowed. The pill traveled down his throat, settled in his stomach, and dissolved.

Ba-dump.

Wu Jian formed a tiger seal with his hands as the pill dissolved and a sudden influx of chi raced through his body like a hurricaine.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

Sweat formed along his brow as he directed the flow through his meridians and toward his dantian. There was so much! It felt like there was too much! Was this the difference using a high-grade pill made? If he didn’t carefully control the flow of chi, most of it would leak out.

Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump!

His heart was pounding as he gritted his teeth. The chi felt like it was running rampant through his body, but it was still going where it needed to. He felt all of that energy soon reach his dantian and slam into it. Wu Jian almost lurched forward as a sharp pain filled his chest. He took several deep breaths to keep calm and slowly controlled the chi to enter his dantian. He created a tunnel with his willpower and funneled all the chi through it.

His dantian expanded.

Ba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dumpba-dump!

It grew so large that it felt like it was going to explode out of his chest, but he quickly enforced his will over it, forcing it to compress. He would not allow himself to lose even a drop of chi!

Wu Jian did not know how much time had passed, but he soon was able to compress his dantian until it was many times smaller than it had been before. Once that happened, a small piece of his dantian broke off. It looked more like liquid dripping off a ball of water. It formed a single star. This star illuminated his chi sea, which had grown even more vast with the sudden influx of power. While the star was much smaller than his dantian, the amount of power it contained was even greater.

I see. So this is the Human Limit Realm.

Nobody had told him what to expect after reaching the Human Limit Realm. He hadn’t thought to ask. That was his mistake. In either event, it looked like to break through a new subrealm, he would have to gather chi into his dantian until it grew big enough, then compress it until he could form another star.

Since he had reached the Human Limit Realm, Wu Jian grabbed the White Flame Ascension Pill’s bottle and tipped the contents into his mouth. He swallowed and felt the influx of chi rush through his meridians. His dantian quickly expanded as he once more channeled the chi into it, then contracted as he compressed it to its original size. Another drop separated from his dantian and formed another star.

He took a deep breath and held it.

As he breathed out, it felt like he was breathing out an entire world.

He had reached the second subrealm of the Human Limit Realm.

Wu Jian opened his eyes and stood up, grimacing as he realized his hanfu was drenched in sweat. He quickly shed his clothes and set them off to the side. Staring down at himself, he realized that his body had become… thinner. He used to be a lot bulkier. His physique contained the same firm musculature, but they were more lithe than before.

He lifted his hands to study them and clenched them into fists. On a whim, he threw a random punch and watched as the air trembled.

“I can see why people are so enamored with this realm. It is quite strong.”

Many cultivators chose to stay at the Human Limit Realm because less than half who tried breaking through the Deva Realm succeeded. The rest lost their lives to the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning. That wasn’t something he needed to worry about right now, however.

“My cultivation is still unstable. I’ll use the remaining time I have to stabilize my cultivation.”

Wu Jian sat back down, closed his eyes, and sunk into a deep meditation.