“Of course, since she’s been training so hard, her progress is naturally very fast. If you keep slacking off, sooner or later I’ll catch up to you.” After saying this, she even raised her little fist in a show of defiance.

Chad Sullivan couldn’t help but chuckle: “Haha, then I’ll be waiting for the day you surpass me.”

Just as the two were chatting, a hearty laugh came from the courtyard gate: “Haha, not bad, you two youngsters are full of fighting spirit.” With that laughter, Michael Bolton, dressed in a fitted outfit, had already appeared in the courtyard.

The two quickly stopped talking and saluted their master.

Michael Bolton looked Chad Sullivan up and down for a moment, then nodded slightly and said, “It seems, Chad, that you’ve recovered well. That puts my mind at ease. I was worried that failing your first attempt at breaking through to the third level of Qi Refinement would leave you with a psychological shadow, but it seems I was overthinking it.”

“Master, don’t worry, Chad won’t let you down.”

“Good, it’s great to have this kind of fighting spirit. If you can maintain this state and keep your mind steady, I believe with my help, you’ll definitely be able to break through to the third level of Qi Refinement.”

Chad Sullivan was taken aback, then nodded vigorously: “Yes, Master.”

……

Over the next half month, Chad Sullivan clearly felt that he just couldn’t muster any energy, as if he were someone who never rested at night, his spirit extremely depleted. If it weren’t for his stubborn perseverance, he probably would have spent all day lying in bed, sleeping to recover his energy.

Even so, the amount of time he spent resting each day had obviously increased. Normally, he would go out to the night market in the evenings, or read and reflect on what he’d learned that day. Now, as soon as he finished cultivating, he would immediately fall asleep, and his daily sleep time had reached nearly twelve hours.

William Sullivan, who didn’t know the situation, thought he was just exhausted from training every day, and specifically instructed the business to buy a lot of tonics for him to take, also telling him not to push himself so hard.

In contrast to Chad Sullivan’s lack of energy, Emily Thompson was the complete opposite.

Every day she seemed full of vitality, running to Chad Sullivan’s door early in the morning to wake him up. According to the servants, even back when she was still at the Lin family, their young lady would already be up, cultivating for a whole hour, and she was also very active at night, not resting until after the third watch.

Despite going to bed late and getting up early, her face showed no signs of fatigue. On the contrary, her skin glowed with a radiant, jade-like luster, making her look even more dazzling. Chad Sullivan’s aunt and the others were increasingly pleased as they watched, praising the Qin clan leader for his foresight.

By the sixth day, Michael Bolton’s depleted spirit had gradually recovered, and he immediately called for Chad Sullivan to attempt another breakthrough to the third level of Qi Refinement.

Chad Sullivan knew his own condition and was clearly lacking in confidence, but not wanting to disappoint his master, he still tried to encourage himself: “Last time I failed because I lacked experience. This time, no matter what, I can’t fail again. If this keeps up, I really will be overtaken by Emily.”

“Go for it, little Chad, I believe you can succeed.” Emily Thompson encouraged him from the side.

Chad Sullivan smiled and nodded, but before he could speak, Michael Bolton had already said seriously, “Little Emily, go cultivate over there. Chad, don’t get distracted. Carefully control the qi in your body and follow my guidance to circulate it through the minor heavenly cycle.”

Emily Thompson responded and ran to the side of the courtyard to cultivate, though she still glanced over from time to time.

“Yes.” Chad Sullivan immediately focused his mind.

“Qi leaves the dantian, rises to the huiyin, passes along the spine, through the baihui, then returns to the dantian via the ren meridian…” Michael Bolton guided the flow of qi in Chad Sullivan’s body with his own innate qi, explaining as he went, hoping that his words would help Chad Sullivan concentrate.

After a few rounds, it really worked. Before long, one cycle was completed, and the originally weak qi in his body had grown much stronger.

However, this cycle was still being guided by a powerful innate expert like Michael Bolton. Before he could complete the cycle on his own, he still wasn’t able to circulate it independently. So, Michael Bolton had to guide the qi in his body through a second cycle.

Emily Thompson, watching from the side, soon grew bored. After thinking for a moment, she sat down cross-legged as well, following Michael Bolton’s verbal instructions to guide the qi in her own body.

But to her surprise, the qi flowed smoothly throughout the process, with no sign of dissipating due to weakness as she had expected. In fact, when it passed through the baihui, a faint blue mysterious energy was infused into her qi, causing the previously weak qi to suddenly grow by nearly a third.

After completing one cycle, not only did she not feel the exhaustion that usually followed a large expenditure of spirit, she actually felt even more energetic. Everything she saw seemed more vivid, and things that were previously hard to notice now appeared clearly before her.

Emily Thompson looked over happily, and could even see the veins on the leaves of a small tree more than ten meters away.

“How strange, it’s like my eyesight suddenly got better.”