William Clark had a faint white mist rising from his head, his whole body drenched in sweat. Just the process of gathering spiritual energy had exhausted all his strength—cultivating as an ordinary person was indeed fraught with obstacles at every step.

His breathing grew heavier, but William Clark's expression did not change in the slightest. After three years, he was already used to it.

Once the spiritual energy was gathered, William Clark's expression remained tense. He carefully released his divine sense, and, following the mental technique taught by his sect, controlled the spiritual energy as it flowed out of his dantian and into his meridians.

For cultivators, the dantian is the fundamental storage for spiritual energy, and the eight extraordinary meridians are also of great importance. When spiritual energy circulates through the eight meridians from head to toe, it is called a "great circulation."

Each time such a cycle is completed, the spiritual energy increases a little. Although the increase is minuscule, over time, small increments add up. Doing several cycles like this each day allows the spiritual energy to gradually grow.

Of course, there are countless cultivation techniques in the world of cultivation, and every sect has a different path for the great circulation, with widely varying effects.

The great circulation is a required practice for every cultivator, but it is far from as easy as outsiders imagine—in fact, it is quite difficult.

The route for the flow of spiritual energy is not a concern, as the sect's mental technique explains it clearly; one only needs to follow it. However, the speed of the flow must be determined by oneself, because everyone's meridians are different.

Some people have strong meridians with high endurance, able to accommodate more spiritual energy and withstand faster flows without issue. Others have weaker meridians, and the situation is the opposite. Generally, the better one's spiritual root, the stronger the meridians, and vice versa.

William Clark was just an ordinary person, without even a spiritual root, so performing the great circulation required much more effort and time from him.

Every step had to be taken with extreme caution. If the speed was too fast, not only would the cycle fail, but the meridians could also be damaged.

Chapter Two: The Path of Tempering the Heart

Over the past three years, William Clark had suffered greatly from damaged meridians. Each time he healed, it took a long time, and as an ordinary person without a spiritual root, no matter how hard he tried, it was difficult to keep up with his fellow disciples—there was no time to waste.

William Clark carefully controlled the speed of the spiritual energy's flow. Fortunately, after repeated attempts, he was now very clear about the endurance of his own meridians.

An hour later, after completing the cycle, the spiritual energy returned from the meridians to the dantian.

Using inner vision to check, a trace of gloom flashed in William Clark's eyes. He had worked so hard, yet his cultivation had not improved. By rights, after a great circulation, the spiritual energy should have increased, even if only a little.

It seemed he had no choice but to go to the Path of Tempering the Heart. William Clark gritted his teeth.

The Path of Tempering the Heart was a special place in Floating Cloud Valley, discovered by the sect's founder three thousand years ago. After investigation, it was confirmed to be a relic left by ancient cultivators.

It was a mysterious place—once inside, one would be enveloped by illusions: one moment in a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, the next falling into the eighteen levels of hell. Although the illusions caused no real harm, they were extremely tormenting. However, the benefits were obvious.

Though the Path of Tempering the Heart was terrifying, the spiritual energy inside was extremely abundant, making cultivation there twice as effective with half the effort.

Moreover, for disciples of the sect, the Path of Tempering the Heart was open free of charge. Unfortunately, except for experts at the Foundation Establishment stage and above, low-level disciples in the Spirit Movement stage dared not attempt it. With their cultivation and unstable Dao hearts, they simply could not withstand the onslaught of illusions.

But now William Clark had no other path—either remain stuck at a bottleneck, or seek a breakthrough on the Path of Tempering the Heart. He chose the latter.

Pushing open the heavy stone door, William Clark walked out of the training room. By now, night had fully fallen, and the stars blinked weakly in the sky. But William Clark had no intention of resting; he headed straight for the Path of Tempering the Heart.

At the back of Floating Cloud Valley, a slanting passageway cut into the stone cliff, its depths unseen—this was the Path of Tempering the Heart. Standing at the entrance, William Clark took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The first hundred meters held no illusions, and the concentration of spiritual energy was the same as outside. Still, William Clark did not dare let his guard down. Though it was his first time here, he had often heard tales of the Path's terrors.

After a few more steps, the situation suddenly changed—the spiritual energy around him grew denser. This place was indeed suitable for cultivation.

William Clark's expression grew solemn as he carefully surveyed his surroundings before cautiously sitting cross-legged.

Boom!

Suddenly, flames several meters high burst from the ground, and the surrounding temperature soared...

A terrifying scene appeared. William Clark raised his eyebrows slightly, but did not panic. He ignored it, focusing solely on absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy. Everything that happened on the Path of Tempering the Heart was an illusion and could be disregarded.

Yet, even knowing it was false, the sensations felt utterly real. Soon, the flames raised the temperature to an unbearable level, and large drops of sweat rolled down William Clark's face.

Rumors truly could not compare to personal experience. Before, William Clark had only heard Foundation Establishment experts discuss the Path of Tempering the Heart—he never imagined it would be even more terrifying than the legends.

Soon, the flames licked at his body. With his first-level Spirit Movement cultivation, he could not yet produce a protective shield and could only grit his teeth and endure.