Qin Shuang cast Yun Han a cool glance and said indifferently,

  “The key to breaking through does indeed bear a great relation to innate talent. Some succeed on their first attempt; others require hundreds, even thousands of tries. There are even those who remain trapped at a bottleneck for an entire lifetime.”

  A trace of melancholy surfaced on Yun Che’s face as he suddenly asked,

  “Senior Brother Qin, is every breakthrough this difficult? Advancing from the second layer to the third, from the third to the fourth… is it always so?”

  Qin Shuang nodded.

  “Indeed. The further one goes, the harder it becomes. Especially the breakthroughs from the third to the fourth, and from the fifth to the sixth—those are critical bottlenecks.”

  As he spoke, his words drew the attention of several disciples nearby. Suddenly, a female disciple asked,

  “Senior Brother, what exactly makes the third-to-fourth breakthrough so difficult? I am currently stuck at the third layer of the Qi Condensation stage.”

  Yun Che recognized her. She was an inner disciple surnamed Zhou, said to possess rather good talent.

  Qin Shuang pondered briefly, then said,

  “Very well. Today, I shall take this opportunity to explain the bottlenecks of the Qi Condensation stage to you all. Below the sixth layer, there are two major bottlenecks. The first is precisely this transition from the third to the fourth layer.”

  He paused, his gaze sweeping across the crowd.

  “For some, this bottleneck is extremely easy to overcome. For others, it may remain insurmountable for life. The key… does not lie in talent.”

  The surrounding disciples held their breath, listening intently.

  “The crux lies in whether one can comprehend the true meaning of the four words: ‘The Great Dao is devoid of emotion.’” Qin Shuang’s voice grew deeper.

  “Those who cultivate immortality must sever their worldly attachments. If one can sever them, the third-to-fourth breakthrough is not difficult. If one cannot… then it becomes an unbridgeable chasm.”

  His eyes lingered meaningfully on the crowd as he continued,

  “As for the bottleneck from the fifth to the sixth layer, it arises because the body—having been refined by spiritual energy—has reached minor completion and requires a deeper transformation. The amount of spiritual energy needed is simply too vast, thus forming a bottleneck that halts the majority.”

  Yun Che felt his heart tremble slightly. He remained silent.

  The other disciples wore varied expressions and asked several more questions. Only when the sky gradually darkened did the group finally disperse.

  With a faint frown, Yun Che walked deeper into the ice valley. The sound of flowing water grew clearer, and before long, a cold spring emerged from a fissure in the ice wall.

  The spring water was clear and piercingly cold, emitting a faint aura of spiritual energy. Yun Che scooped up a handful and drank. Though it could not compare to Spirit Snow Water, it could at least replenish some spiritual power.

  He took out the jade bottles he had prepared and filled them one by one. Just as he was busy, a sudden chill ran down his back—

  He spun around, pupils contracting sharply.

  Qin Shuang was standing not far behind him, appearing at some unknown moment, silent as a ghost.

  Yun Che’s heart sank. While filling the bottles, his divine sense had remained spread out in vigilance, yet he had not sensed Qin Shuang’s approach at all.

  “Junior Brother Yun,” Qin Shuang’s gaze fell upon the jade bottles in Yun Che’s hands, his tone calm.

  “Cold Marrow Water is indeed beneficial to cultivation. However… you have prepared quite a number of containers. Could it be that, even before entering the secret realm, you already knew such water could be obtained here?”

  Without revealing anything, Yun Che put away the bottles and replied respectfully,

  “In reply to Senior Brother, Senior Brother Zhang Mingyuan mentioned some of the secret realm’s resources in passing before. Thus, this disciple made some preparations.”

  Qin Shuang stared at him for a long moment before nodding.

  “Junior Brother Zhang knowing of this is only natural.” Then his tone shifted slightly.

  “To go from nearly mortal to stabilizing at the first layer of Qi Condensation in just two years—you have clearly put in great effort. I hope that when we meet again, you will have reached the second layer.”

  Yun Che clasped his fists and took his leave carefully. Only after returning to the Cold Breathing Cavern and sealing the ice barrier did he finally exhale deeply, his back drenched in cold sweat.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Fortunately, the Breath Concealment Technique had long since become instinct. Otherwise, if Qin Shuang had discovered that his true cultivation had already reached the peak of the “second tier,” suspicion would surely have arisen. With his current strength, once targeted, he would have no power to resist.

  “The cultivation world is even more realistic and cruel than the mortal one… The secret of the stone bead must never be exposed,” Yun Che warned himself silently.

  Sitting cross-legged, he fell into deep contemplation.

  So-called “severing worldly attachments” meant abandoning desires to focus solely on the Great Dao. Yet since joining the Mystic Frost Sect, which cultivator had he seen who was not bound by desire? Competing for resources, fighting for status, comparing cultivation—often even more fiercely than mortals.

  If so, was “severing worldly attachments” nothing more than empty talk? And yet Qin Shuang had said that the third-to-fourth bottleneck hinged precisely upon this point.

  “Could it be… that this ‘severing’ does not mean abandoning everything, but rather a transcendence of the mind?” Yun Che pondered.

  “To recognize that the Great Dao is devoid of emotion, and thus not be trapped by mundane feelings—allowing one to focus fully on one’s own path?”

  The thought lingered, yet remained indistinct.

  He knew he could not let go of the mystery of his origins, nor his pursuit of the future—much less become truly “unfeeling.” Fortunately, his cultivation path already seemed to differ from the orthodox one. Though the third tier appeared to have a bottleneck, his power continued to grow, albeit slowly.

  If that was the case, why force himself to “sever” anything? Better to go with the flow and solidify his foundation.

  With his resolve set, he no longer obsessed over breakthroughs. Instead, he focused on consolidating his current realm, tempering the techniques Subtle Guidance and Breath Concealment.

  Time flowed on like the cold spring in the ice valley—silent and unceasing. One year, two years… before he knew it, another two years had passed.

  Yun Che had now cultivated in the Cold Abyss Secret Realm for four years. In the latter two, he left his cave only once, solely to replenish Cold Marrow Water, which he then soaked in the stone bead before using it for cultivation.

  Four years in reality amounted to nearly forty years within the stone bead. Counting his earlier time, he had effectively cultivated for almost half a century.

  His cultivation remained stalled at the peak of the “second tier,” unable to advance further. Yet the unique power fused with void light motes continued to grow and refine itself at an extremely slow pace, as though this tier possessed no true upper limit.

  On this day, the four-year training period came to an end. At dawn, Qin Shuang’s cool voice echoed throughout the ice valley:

  “All disciples, heed my command—the four-year term has concluded. Assemble in the valley at once. The Sect Master will perform the spell to guide you out of the secret realm.”

  Ice cave entrances opened one after another as disciples emerged from seclusion.

  More than forty stood gathered in the valley, their auras far more substantial than four years ago. Yun Che’s divine sense swept across them—

  Yun Han had reached the peak of the fourth layer of Qi Condensation, only a thin line away from the fifth. Among the others, several possessed powerful auras, clearly having made significant progress.

  The female disciple surnamed Zhou remained trapped at the third-layer bottleneck, her aura nearly unchanged from two years prior.

  As for Qin Shuang… Yun Che focused carefully, sensing only a vast, abyss-like depth. His spiritual energy was condensed almost to a tangible state—likely beyond the sixth layer, perhaps even touching a higher realm.

  What shocked Yun Che even more was that none of them noticed his probing divine sense. Not even Qin Shuang seemed aware of it.

  “My divine sense… seems far stronger than those of the same realm,” Yun Che thought quietly.

  Another realization stirred his heart even more: two years ago, the Zhou disciple had already been stuck at the third layer, and now her spiritual energy had not increased at all. Meanwhile, he himself—though he had not “broken through”—had grown steadily stronger.

  “Could it be… that others’ Qi Condensation truly has limits, while my ‘second tier’… is inherently a different path?”

  His heart pounded, and he forcibly suppressed the thought.

  “Or perhaps… I’ve already ‘broken through,’ without realizing it.”

  He stood quietly among the crowd, still clad in gray robes, his aura disguised at around the first layer of Qi Condensation. No one paid any attention to this “bottom-ranked” registered disciple.

  Qin Shuang scanned the group and nodded slightly.

  “Close your eyes and steady your minds. Do not resist.”

  With that, he produced an ice-blue token and infused it with spiritual energy. The token blazed with light, transforming into a pillar that soared toward the heavens, enveloping everyone.

  Yun Che felt his body grow light as the surroundings blurred rapidly.

  When he opened his eyes again, he was back at the icy plaza at the entrance of the Cold Abyss Valley. Four years had passed—inside and outside the secret realm, two entirely different worlds.

  The Sect Master, True Person Han Jing, stood upon an ice platform. His gaze swept over the disciples, and seeing their improved auras, a faint trace of satisfaction appeared on his otherwise indifferent face.

  “The training has concluded. Remember what you have gained over these four years, and cultivate diligently without pause. Three months from now, the ‘Five Sects Patrol Selection’ will be held. I hope some of you will stand out and bring honor to the Mystic Frost Sect.”

  The disciples responded in unison.

  Yun Che dispersed with the crowd, turning back for one last look at the frigid entrance of the secret realm.

  In these four years of seclusion, he had gained far more than cultivation. His confusion regarding his own path, his understanding of the rules of the cultivation world, and his deeper reliance upon—and vigilance toward—the stone bead had all taken root in his heart.

  The road ahead remained shrouded in mist, but he was no longer the menial disciple who could only struggle passively as he had been four years ago.

  Clenching the cold bone shard and stone bead hidden in his sleeve, Yun Che turned and walked toward the menial quarters.

  Wind and snow still swept the land. The Dao-path remained long.

  And yet, the cultivation that truly belonged to him had only just begun.

  seeking the Dao.

  When orthodox cultivation preaches “severing worldly attachments,”

  yet the cultivation world itself overflows with desire and struggle—

  he chooses not blind obedience, but reflection.

  or about understanding everything clearly?

  ?? Is “The Great Dao is devoid of emotion” a truth—or a convenient excuse?

  ?? Has Yun Che already, in this chapter, quietly stepped beyond the Qi Condensation system?

  Let us seek the Dao together.