Liu Meng sat upon the high platform, a faint sigh escaping her lips.
Ever since stepping into the mid-stage of Qi Refinement, several days had passed—yet her cultivation had become mired in a swamp, advancing with agonizing slowness.
She could still feel her maidservant feeding spiritual energy back to her through dual cultivation.
But to her body, now like a vast lake of spiritual essence, those trickles of energy were nothing more than a single cup of water tossed into the sea—barely noticeable, far from satisfying.
The power that might allow an ordinary cultivator to soar forward by leaps and bounds, to her, was scarcely better than nothing.
Worse still, the few subordinates under her command at the third layer of Qi Refinement had all become unreliable.
Liu Liu was already dead, Liu Ba had "defected" to Luofeng City and no longer returned his energy to her, leaving only that single cultivator whom Su Meier had gifted her.
But the poor man, after being drained day after day by the rotation of maidservants in her cave-dwelling, had already been reduced to a husk of his former self. The spiritual energy he could provide each day now paled even in comparison to Qingyue's.
Another sigh left her.
Though she still had avatars scattered across Blood Feast Valley, Luofeng City, and even that mysterious righteous sect's secret realm, all cleverly placed to walk different paths… as the one with the highest cultivation among them, she herself was stuck. Her progress had stalled, and the frustration gnawed at her.
If Su Meier were to learn she had not yet broken past the fourth layer of Qi Refinement, would she begin to doubt her talent again?
She had already tried cultivating the Blood Feast Art, but the results had been disappointing.
Her problem was not the technique—it was the sheer inefficiency of her energy intake.
Hunting ordinary beasts yielded spiritual essence far too meager to be of any help.
The gap between the early and mid-stages of Qi Refinement was simply too vast.
Even if she captured more third-layer cultivators, their contribution would still fall short of what she required.
Perhaps only by draining cultivators at the mid-stage—or by slaughtering them outright with the Blood Feast Art—could she hasten her cultivation.
But such prey was far harder to come by.
To step into the fourth layer meant becoming a full-fledged disciple of the sect. With their newfound strength and the sect's attention upon them, making a move against them was almost impossible.
No wonder the sect held such a cruel and bloody Grand Competition!
Without it, no matter what demonic arts one cultivated, progress would inevitably slow to a crawl once they reached this bottleneck.
But once restrictions were lifted, and a sea of blood was stirred, the truly gifted disciples could break through their shackles and grow at a speed that defied reason.
It also explained why most disciples of her generation were stalled in the middle stages of Qi Refinement.
After all, with duels forbidden, where could they possibly find enough opponents of equal level to feed their growth?
If she could reach the late-stage before the Grand Competition, her advantage would be enormous.
But how?
For now, no solution presented itself—and that was why she sighed.
Not even among her avatars had she ever heard of a reliable method for quickly advancing in the mid-stage of Qi Refinement.
Liu Ba, ever since cultivating the Luofeng Art, had remained in a state of unconsciousness—though the steward of Luofeng City had assured her this was normal. At least she need not worry. Qin Shuang's soul, too, had not yet awakened; it would take a few more days before she could consult her "senior sister" about this matter.
So what path remained for her now?
Her brows furrowed—until suddenly, a flash of inspiration lit her eyes.
Liu Eleven took the form of a middle-aged woman.
When summoning her, Liu Ming had deliberately granted her the talent of the Eavesdropping Mouse:
"Eavesdropping Mouse – Your hearing is exceptionally sharp, and you are far more likely to overhear secrets."
When Liu Ming had fled from Su Meier's cave-dwelling, he had mostly ignored these seemingly useless talents.
But after Liu Nine's talent had proven invaluable in cultivating the Bloodline Substitute Art, Liu Ming began to view them differently.
Since he couldn't use them himself, why not distribute them among his avatars? Who knew when one of them might prove critical at a decisive moment?
Liu Ten had received none, since that body was merely for experimenting with appearances.
But Liu Eleven had no such issue.
Her appearance, however, was so different from Liu Ming's true self that he found it somewhat jarring.
Having just broken into the first layer of Qi Refinement and discovering she lacked the talent for talisman-making, Liu Eleven immediately set out toward the Three Talents Market without delay.
If she could quickly fall prey to some swindler and end up in one of those shady workshops, that would serve its purpose just as well.
But she couldn't afford to look too eager, lest the profiteers grow suspicious.
Thus, she feigned the air of an ordinary cultivator, once again boarding the Treasure Pavilion's spirit ship.
Stepping into the familiar pavilion, she strolled among its shelves as if idly browsing.
As before, the cheap talismans and pills remained unchanged, and the expensive ones remained prohibitively costly.
But then, her eyes caught something—and they lit up at once.
In the corner of the pill section, upon a once-empty jade display, now rested a pill of brilliant crimson hue.
Below it, a small wooden placard read:
"Foundation-Consolidating Essence Pill."
In smaller script, its effects were noted:
Specially crafted for cultivators at the mid-stage of Qi Refinement. Restores spiritual essence, aids cultivation, and hastens breakthroughs.
It was precisely what Liu Meng needed most at this moment.
The only problem—the price was outrageous.
Ten full Three Talents coins.
Such a price spoke for itself. Its effectiveness was surely extraordinary.
She hadn't seen it here on her "previous visit," proof of its rarity.
But alas—she couldn't afford it.
Still… was that truly the end of it?
Liu Eleven's eyes gleamed with cunning.
She approached the counter, where the drowsy old shopkeeper sat half-asleep, and timidly asked:
"Shopkeeper… that Foundation-Consolidating Essence Pill. Is it really as effective as it claims? It looks extraordinary. I wonder… where did you come by such a treasure?"