Just like that, with daily practice and refining of pills, two weeks passed. Practice makes perfect—at first, out of five or six waste pills, William Clark could only successfully refine one, but as time went on, now he could succeed once out of every three waste pills.

Originally, after a hard night’s work, he could at most refine two spiritual pills, but now, after a night’s effort, he could obtain five or six lower-grade Marrow Cleansing Pills.

Both his speed and success rate had greatly improved.

After nearly a month of effort, two bottles of waste pills yielded better results than expected. After deducting the failures, William Clark obtained a total of sixty spiritual pills.

Sixty—a truly impressive number. The total amount of spiritual pills an ordinary disciple would receive in thirty months would only amount to that much.

William Clark’s current wealth was already quite substantial—he could be described as a rich man. He carefully stored away the Marrow Cleansing Pills; this secret absolutely could not be revealed to a second person.

With enough spiritual pills, the next step was naturally to train diligently. During his days in Floating Cloud Valley, William Clark increasingly realized that strength was the foundation for a cultivator’s survival. All talk of fairness, justice, and reason was just lip service; at critical moments, the one with the bigger fist was the boss.

Power is directly proportional to strength!

And even for cultivators, life was not unlimited—the higher one’s cultivation, the longer one lived.

Cultivators at the Spirit Movement stage had lifespans similar to ordinary people, not truly having set foot on the path of immortality. At the Foundation Establishment stage, lifespan doubled to two hundred years; at the Core Formation stage, it doubled again to four hundred years. In other words, with each advancement through the eight stages of cultivation, lifespan doubled.

After that came the Nascent Soul stage at eight hundred years, the Dividing Union stage at sixteen hundred years, the Profound Cave stage at thirty-two hundred years, and so on...

Finally, if one could successfully transcend tribulation, one would become an immortal, achieving eternal life and shining alongside the sun and moon.

William Clark did not believe in reincarnation. Rather than pinning his hopes on an illusory next life, it was better to work harder now. Although he had no spiritual root, with the blue star sea, William Clark’s path to immortality was definitely full of hope.

William Clark made a detailed plan for improving his cultivation.

Using spiritual pills as a foundation and combining them with diligent effort, every morning, noon, and night, William Clark took a Marrow Cleansing Pill and then meditated to refine the medicinal power.

Although Marrow Cleansing Pills were not considered sacred medicine in the cultivation world, no one could afford to be so extravagant as to take several a day. Under the stimulation of such potent medicine, after about a week, William Clark felt the spiritual power in his body becoming more and more abundant, and the bottleneck that had previously blocked his path was no longer a concern.

It was time to attempt a breakthrough to the second layer of the Spirit Movement stage!

Chapter 16: Spiritual Pill Breakthrough

After three years of seeking immortality, it was the first time William Clark felt cultivation to be so easy and smooth, unlike the arduous struggle of the past.

After closing the doors and windows, William Clark pulled over a meditation cushion, sat cross-legged on the floor, and took out a jade bottle from his robe, pouring out nine Marrow Cleansing Pills.

For this breakthrough, William Clark had gone to great lengths. Just yesterday, he had made a special trip to the library to consult some medicinal books. Now, he was not lacking in spiritual pills, but was it really better to take as many Marrow Cleansing Pills as possible? Would exceeding a certain amount be harmful to the body?

This question had to be clarified; otherwise, if he took too many and suffered side effects, it would be too late for regrets.

Books on such basic cultivation knowledge could be found on the first floor. In the “Pill Annotation,” William Clark saw the following introduction: Marrow Cleansing Pill—the lowest and most common pill in the cultivation world, can increase the mana of Spirit Movement stage disciples. No more than nine pills should be taken per day.

What would happen if one exceeded nine pills? The book didn’t say, but this information was enough for William Clark.

He only needed to know the maximum dosage for this pill. William Clark took out a jade bottle from his robe, poured out nine Marrow Cleansing Pills, put them all in his mouth, and began to mobilize his spiritual power to attempt a breakthrough to the second layer of the Spirit Movement stage.

The medicinal power quickly spread through his limbs and bones.

Boom!

A surging wave of heat spread from his dantian through all his meridians, and William Clark felt as if he were inside a furnace.

In almost the blink of an eye, his entire body was drenched in sweat, and the heat inside him did not subside—instead, it kept intensifying.

He had never encountered this situation before when taking Marrow Cleansing Pills. Could the book have been wrong, and he shouldn’t have taken so many at once?

This thought flashed through William Clark’s mind, but he did not panic. When faced with the unexpected, one must remain calm.

Although the heat was almost unbearable, William Clark had endured even the trial of the Heart Refinement Path—this was nothing. He gritted his teeth, ignored the surging heat, let it flow through his body, and focused his mind on his dantian. As long as he kept his mind clear, nothing should go wrong.

Facts proved William Clark’s judgment was correct. After about two hours, the heat gradually subsided, replaced by a warm, comfortable feeling throughout his body.

At the same time, the spiritual power in his dantian began to change. As if nourished, it grew tremendously—its volume alone was now twice what it had been before.

William Clark guided his spiritual power through his meridians, circulating it through his body. What had once been a difficult and slow process was now effortless.