Peerless Martial Expert in the City-Chapter 240 - 243 Entering Condensation! (Part 1)

(I’m immensely grateful to the three book friends, Lien Yan Xie Ran, Wan Wu Diaoling, and Kuei Cabinet, for their rewards. I really appreciate it! Also, the new week is upon us, and Xiao Yi is here, on his knees, begging for recommendation votes, hoping not to face such a bleak situation as this week, please, and thank you. In the new week, Xiao Yi is striving to burst forth with effort!!)

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However, Beichen Feng was actually a postdoctoral fellow in the field of physics mechanics, which indeed surprised him. By looking at his age, he wasn’t very old. Although he seemed quite composed, the documentation also revealed that he was 35 years old. According to his resume, he had been teaching in the country for seven years, which meant he had secured a postdoctoral degree at the age of twenty-eight.

In today’s era, where the world is full of 18-year-old PhDs and 20-year-old geniuses, this certainly wasn’t too extraordinary, but Xiao Yi still felt there was something odd.

Apart from information about the history of Z University, the biggest gain for today was that he had learned a bit more about the school’s leadership. Of course, this understanding was only superficial, such as names, ages, and curriculum vitae mentioned in the resumes. Before, he had never had any contact with those leaders, and if not for the incident with Beichen Feng that day, he wouldn’t even know who the president of Z University was.

This morning, he had made up for a missing lesson.

Unfortunately, his initial intention to gain more understanding, or even the attempt to find the reason why Beichen Feng was teaching at Z University and why the old man had sent him there, was not met at all. Those leaders’ resumes did not reveal anything out of the ordinary.

However, what slightly surprised him was that after looking at the school’s documentation, he realized that Z University was indeed quite remarkable. Not to mention the impressive Mr. Shen, the president, whose name is known throughout the country, so there was no need to elaborate on that. Even the subsequent management levels of the university had no simple figures. For instance, Vice President Yan Zhishou turned out to be a postdoctoral graduate from one of the most prestigious universities in the world and enjoyed a tremendous reputation both internationally and domestically. His achievements in the academic world alone were on par with the top scholars from the top universities in the country.

Even when looking at their School of Science, it was a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, very remarkable. Beichen Feng was one example, and the leader of their college happened to be an impressive figure as well — a young member of the Academy of Sciences and a top figure in his academic field!

And there were nominated professors from the Medical College, economics and management gurus, and so on. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Moreover, he found out that Old Mr. An was also a lifetime professor at Z University and the honorary dean of the Medical College!

Such a group of people, even the most well-known Xuanwu National University in the country, might not have such a formidable lineup!

But all these remarkable people were at Z University, yet the university had always kept a low profile in recent years, inconspicuous despite being a top university. Its domestic ranking was not impressive, even dropping out of the top ten last year and sliding down to around fifteenth or sixteenth.

This was the puzzling aspect for Xiao Yi, but for now, he couldn’t find any related evidence and just felt vaguely that something strange was going on, as he didn’t even know how the rankings of those universities were specifically arranged.

With these messy thoughts in his mind, Xiao Yi unconsciously returned to his residence at Azure Waterfront.

It wasn’t until he got back to his place that Xiao Yi cast aside the thoughts in his mind. He knew that some things couldn’t be rushed and had to be taken slowly. After all, his patience had already been tempered by the old man. Since the old man wasn’t in a hurry to press him to complete his task, why should he be?

After brewing a cup of hot tea, he sat comfortably on the sofa and savored it for a while, allowing his mood to completely relax. Then Xiao Yi immediately set down the teacup, returned to his room, sat cross-legged on the bed, and focused on practicing the Carefree True Scripture.

He was going to attempt another breakthrough!

From the feeling in these past days, Xiao Yi had an increasingly strong sense that he was about to break through!

Not the breakthrough of his practice of the Carefree True Scripture, which had just advanced to the Third Layer. To break through to the Fourth Layer was not so easy. However, since entering the Third Layer of the Carefree True Scripture, his cultivation progress had sped up significantly. Coupled with more time spent practicing after the breakthrough, describing his cultivation pace as rapid would not be an exaggeration.

In the past couple of days, he who had long reached the high tier of the Bone Tempering Period, constantly felt on the verge of breaking through to the Bone Tempering Period and entering the Condensation Period.

Unfortunately, each time, he always fell just a bit short and failed to smoothly enter the Condensation Period to ascend to a new level.

After these several collisions, Xiao Yi had finally gained a clearer and more profound firsthand understanding of the difference between the Condensation period and the Bone Tempering period. They were definitely not just a simple stacking up of levels, nor was it a case of achieving a certain amount of accumulation before breaking through directly.

Before he had managed to break through to the Third Layer of the Carefree True Scripture, he had already reached the high tier of the Bone Tempering Period quite early. With many years of accumulation, it seemed he was only a step away from the breakthrough. Even if he dared not claim to be invincible at the Bone Tempering stage, he was certainly not far off.

Yet, such a thin layer seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle, preventing him from taking the final step. It wasn’t until he had broken through to the Third Layer that his cultivation progressed day by day. Although it felt like he was only separated by a thin paper from the Condensation period and he seemed able to touch the threshold with an outstretched hand, even occasionally sensing the distinctive feelings of the Condensation period, there seemed to be an invisible barrier halting his steps— that layer of paper just refused to tear!

In the past two days, he had attempted to charge through several times, but each time, he fell short by just a bit, his efforts just shy of success.

A long time ago, the old man had impressed upon him that progressing through each stage required a lot of elements; it wasn’t simple at all. Timing, geographical advantage, and unity of people were indispensable. Apart from the accumulation of strength, opportunity played a significant role too. Many people could not surpass the threshold of a particular stage all their lives, and those stuck at the Bone Tempering stage were especially numerous!

As martial arts declined in the world, those able to step into the Bone Tempering stage were all individuals with deep good fortune and exceptional talent. Yet to cross from Bone Tempering into the Condensation period required even greater fate and opportunity—among millions, not even one could achieve it!

Back then, Xiao Yi didn’t quite take it seriously. He thought the old man was just bragging, exaggerating his achievements by implication. If the Bone Tempering stage was this difficult, the Condensation period would be even more so. What did that make him? Was he merely boasting about being a super genius with tremendous luck?

Besides, Xiao Yi himself had entered the Bone Tempering Period quite early and had reached the high tier of Bone Tempering before twenty, always feeling that the Condensation period was just a small step away. So, he didn’t really take the old man’s words to heart.

But now, he truly understood that what the old man said was not just casual talk; it was very much real.

However difficult it might be, Xiao Yi was determined to make a concerted effort to break through. Fear of hardship and giving up halfway had never been Xiao Yi’s style!

Or rather, the word ’retreat’ had never existed in Xiao Yi’s dictionary!

This was Xiao Yi’s pride, and also one of the most important things the old man had taught him!

If not successful once, try again, time and time again, continually summarizing experience and striving to attempt!

From the lessons of his previous failures, Xiao Yi had not come away empty-handed. He vaguely felt that this breakthrough into the Condensation period could not simply rely on brute force, but also seemed to relate to one’s state of mind.

In the process of charging, one must maintain an ethereal state of mind, tranquil and peaceful, allowing things to happen naturally.

Therefore, this time before attempting the breakthrough, Xiao Yi first prepared a cup of tea for tranquilizing the mind and Qi. After slowly sipping a few mouthfuls and ensuring his whole being was in optimal condition, he began his attempt.

Soon, with the verses of the Carefree True Scripture circulating, streams of True Qi emerged from the dantian like flowing creeks, slowly traveling towards the body’s major meridians. Feeling those streams in his heart, Xiao Yi’s mind gradually became a space of clarity, devoid of any sensations, just naturally and subconsciously circulating the verses of the Carefree True Qi, allowing it to flow slowly through the body’s meridians.

The circulation of True Qi grew faster, and Xiao Yi lost all consciousness. Seated cross-legged, he was unaware that a faint mist had begun to emanate from his forehead. The mist thickened, and starting from the forehead, it quickly spread. White vapor seemed to emerge from every pore of his body, an occurrence never before seen during any of his past cultivations.

This vapor swiftly enveloped his entire figure, making his form seem as if it were in the middle of a sauna.

As his form was shrouded in mist, changes began to take place within him. After the streams of Qi made a full circuit through the body’s meridians, they gradually flowed back into the dantian; more and more of them filled the whole dantian, making it seem as if it were about to be stretched and expanded outwards.

Still immersed in the Ethereal State, Xiao Yi remained completely unaware. His sensation at the moment was incredibly wondrous. He felt as if he were in the midst of a vast ocean, no, on a beautiful sandy beach, with glorious blue skies and white clouds overhead, his feet on the pristine, soft sand. The gentle sea breeze blew ceaselessly, caressing his face.

However, suddenly, all the blue skis and white clouds were instantly engulfed by a massive darkness!(To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your vote of recommendation or a monthly pass, your support is my greatest motivation.)