Xuanqing Guard

Now he was at the absolute limit of the Gathering Spirit Realm Sixth Layer, both his meridians and Sea of Consciousness. If Shen Hao couldn’t break through the bottleneck into the Gathering Spirit Realm Seventh Layer soon, his meridians and Sea of Consciousness might begin to collapse inward since they could no longer expand. That was the worst-case scenario at the extreme limit. Most people would never encounter such a thing, as it would be impossible for them to push their meridians and Sea of Consciousness to the limit at such a minor realm.

Though it was Shen Hao’s first time facing such a situation, he didn’t panic in the slightest. Everything remained under control.

He meticulously gathered True Qi into one "sharp spear" after another, lining them up in rows, grouping them within his meridians in order.

Who else could see the next bottleneck so clearly while breaking through as Shen Hao did now? No one, right? And even if there were, they’d be as rare as a phoenix feather or qilin horn.

Once he felt his condition was about right, Shen Hao moved a thought—and the spears of True Qi were hurled violently as if thrown by brute force, colliding hard against that barrier at the bottleneck. Accompanied by a tearing sound only Shen Hao could "hear," they smashed against it.

"Dang dang dang..."

The dense barrage was like a downpour, relentless. In Shen Hao’s perception, cracks began to appear at the edges of the realm barrier, spreading outward until, at last, the whole sheet fractured like a shattered mirror—one last strike would break through completely.

Shen Hao could feel that barrier was on the verge of shattering; now he had but to push through in one charge!

"Hua!"

With the final strike, a sound like stones shattering echoed in the void, and then, in his perception, the realm barrier completely broke. A new force poured straight down from the top of his head!

The sensation was strange, as if the True Qi—which had only been circulating within his meridians—had suddenly burst outward. No, not outward, but entered into a wondrous state in which it was connected with the Heaven and Earth Energy outside.

It coursed through him, like a canal with its banks broken, flowing freely into the outside river!

It felt wonderful, leaving Shen Hao briefly stunned in both mind and spirit.

This... this is... Qi Connects Heaven and Earth?!

Everyone said that the late stages of the Gathering Spirit Realm were fundamentally different from all previous realms—this difference lay in precisely this "Qi Connects Heaven and Earth."

Actually, "connects" wasn’t strictly accurate; at best, it meant his True Qi could now sense and resonate with the outside world—an inner cycle now opening the way for a double cycle, inside and out.

The immediate benefit was that, in future cultivation, the efficiency with which True Qi could be gathered would rise dramatically. At the same time, using True Qi to power Magic would be much easier—it would be more convenient to draw on external Heaven and Earth Energy, amplifying the force of his Magic.

Absorb even more Heaven and Earth Energy into the body, accelerating cultivation? Shen Hao didn’t care much for that. He worried less about being too slow, more about being too fast. If Nie Yun hadn’t taught him a few Qi Refinement techniques, he’d probably still be struggling with how to consolidate his foundation quickly enough, right?

It was the second benefit that pleased Shen Hao more. Put simply, it meant boosting the power of his Magic—for him, that was the real, tangible gain.

He savored the Qi Connects Heaven and Earth state, working to quickly adapt to this new cultivation state with its additional external energy cycle.

Meanwhile, the constricted, swollen feeling from before vanished as he stepped into the Gathering Spirit Realm Seventh Layer. His meridians and Sea of Consciousness were like fish re-entering the water, greedily breathing it all in. With every breath came subtle change, and the expansion process for this realm began anew.

Someone else might have been wildly excited over a breakthrough, but Shen Hao... well, he only felt a little stirred.

Mainly, it was all just too quick; anyone would be numb after a while. Maybe when he reached the Primordial Pill Realm, things would slow down.

From the afternoon till just before dawn the next day, with only a strip of pale light at the horizon, Shen Hao finally emerged from the breakthrough trance, gathered his Qi and finished the practice. Rising, he felt True Qi coursing through his limbs, joints cracking; fresh power surged out from every meridian, making him feel filled with strength.

All an illusion. Shen Hao was long since used to this false sense of "strength" after every breakthrough. Once he got used to the new swell of power, the illusion of strength would fade. This was one reason it was so important to solidify his foundation quickly.

He opened the door—and immediately saw Xia Nu curled up at the base of the study’s column, hugging her knees, sleeping soundly, tail draped over her belly, apparently using it as a blanket? Looked like she had kept watch all night outside his door, and had dozed off without knowing exactly when.

He squatted down and pinched the slave girl’s ear, twisting it lightly: "Up."

"Mmmf, I don’t want it, I..."

Shen Hao: "..."

With a bit more force, the silly slave woke with a yelp of pain. She didn’t seem to mind at all, and immediately buried her face in Shen Hao’s chest, sniffing at him like a dog, greedily inhaling his scent—not even wrinkling her nose at his unwashed sweat, instead seeming to delight in it.

"Enough! Are you a dog? Get water, bath."

"Mm-mm, I’ve prepared it already, kept the stove burning, the water’s hot, just add some cold and it’s ready. Master, want me to cook you a bowl of noodles? I made a new chili sauce last night, it’s delicious!"

Shen Hao nodded, hands behind his back as he headed to the bathhouse. Xia Nu shouted after him, rousing Hong Chou and Brocade and Silk as well, then went off to make the noodles, leaving the younger two to help Shen Hao with his bath.

When Shen Hao finished bathing, a large steaming bowl of sour soup noodles was placed before him. The taste was, as always, just to his liking. He buried his head and ate, not lifting it again until he’d finished every strand, even gulping down the broth.

As usual, once he’d finished, the two younger ones cleared the dishes and Xia Nu wiped Shen Hao’s mouth. Steward Hu Tian stood a dozen feet away, hands properly folded, picking out the important household matters of the past few days to report to Shen Hao.

Most importantly, though, was the thick stack of invitations in Hu Tian’s hands. He’d already sorted these, and the original pile was several times higher.

"Just read the senders, I’m too lazy to look at them." Shen Hao accepted the cool tea from Xia Nu, leaned back into his chair, officially embracing rest day. He had no interest in even glancing at the invitations in Hu Tian’s hands.

Hu Tian knew Master Shen’s temperament well and, smiling, promptly agreed, beginning to recite one name after another.

In fact, most of these invitations had arrived in the last few days—most from merchants, some within Fengri City, some from farther afield. Even just the names were familiar; a bit of thought would recall their merchant firms, all of them among the Dynasty’s renowned merchants.

"Hold on, did any of these people have dealings with us before?" Shen Hao had no recollection.

"Master Shen, none."

Hu Tian was certain—these were all new, no prior contact whatsoever. If not for their reputations, he’d have tossed them all in the first culling and never let them get in front of Shen Hao.

Shen Hao nodded, giving no reply, gesturing for Hu Tian to continue reading. But in his mind, he’d already understood: were these people trying to cozy up to him? Was Shen Hao’s name really getting around to this point?