Chapter 62: Breakthrough In Skills

Yu Liang spent the next three days in meditation, giving his new cultivation time to settle.

By the time he opened his eyes, the fourth layer of Qi Condensation had completely stabilized.

Most cultivators with his talent would spend months at this stage, carefully consolidating before even considering further advancement. But Yu Liang had advantages they didn’t, the Iron Marrow Body, Superior Pills, and most importantly, the Enlightenment Leaves.

He retrieved one of the remaining leaves from his storage ring. The delicate green leaf shimmered with faint spiritual light, each vein carrying traces of profound insight. Fifty million mid grade spiritual stones for five leaves. Most low tier sects couldn’t afford even one.

Yu Liang placed the leaf on his tongue. It dissolved instantly, and clarity flooded his consciousness.

His understanding of the Flowing Water Technique deepened immediately. The three stages—Ripple, Stream, and Waterfall had always felt somewhat separate, distinct techniques that built upon each other. Now, he could see how naturally one stage led into the next.

Water didn’t fight. It adapted, shaped itself to every obstacle, and found the path of least resistance. Yet given enough time and pressure, it could carve through mountains.

Yu Liang began practicing the Ripple technique. His spiritual energy moved through his meridians like gentle waves, soft and controlled. He performed this technique hundreds of times, but now each motion revealed new depth. His breathing gradually fell into rhythm with the flow of spiritual energy, while the Qi within his body moved more smoothly than before.

He smoothly transitioned into Stream, and the spiritual energy within him began to accelerate.

Before, he had needed to consciously force the change. Now, Ripple naturally flowed into Stream, as though the two had always been meant to connect.

Hours passed as he refined the transition, making it smoother, faster and more instinctive. The boundary between techniques blurred until they felt like different expressions of the same principle.

Finally, he channeled Waterfall.

The full force of his cultivation crashed through his meridians in a devastating surge. But this time, he maintained perfect control over it. The power didn’t rampage wildly, The energy moved exactly as he intended.

Yu Liang opened his eyes, breathing steadily despite the exertion. The Flowing Water Technique had evolved from three separate skills into one integrated combat art. In a real fight, he could shift between stages instantly, adapting to whatever the situation demanded.

He consumed a second Enlightenment Leaf the following day.

This time, he focused on the Misty Steps movement technique. He achieved Major Proficiency weeks ago, but Major Proficiency and Perfection were different things entirely.

Yu Liang stood and began moving through the seclusion chamber. His footwork was already excellent, quick, efficient, difficult to predict. But the Enlightenment Leaf revealed subtleties he missed before.

The technique wasn’t just about speed. It was about presence and absence, being somewhere and nowhere simultaneously. Each step should leave uncertainty in observer’s mind about where the next would fall.

He practiced the footwork patterns repeatedly, adjusting his weight distribution, altering his rhythm, introducing deliberate irregularities that made prediction impossible. His movements became smoother with less wasted motion and in more natural flow.

By the time the leaf’s effects faded eight hours later, Yu Liang could cross the chamber in three steps that should have required ten, and his trajectory left no clear pattern to follow. Anyone trying to intercept him would always be half a step behind, attacking the place he had just left rather than where he actually was.

The third Enlightenment Leaf went toward integrating everything together.

Combat wasn’t about using one technique after another. Movement flowed into attacks, attacks into defense, and defense into counterattacks. Everything had to connect naturally.

Yu Liang spent an entire day in simulated combat, moving through sequences he faced during the ambush on his return from Jade City. Each scenario played out differently now. His Misty Steps carried him into optimal striking positions. His Flowing Water Technique adapted instantly to changing circumstances. His Iron Marrow Body absorbed impacts that would have previously forced him to dodge.

The patterns emerged clearly. When fighting multiple opponents, Stream stage maintained pressure while Misty Steps prevented encirclement. Against stronger single enemies, Ripple conserved energy for precise counters, building toward a decisive Waterfall strike. Against faster opponents, the Iron Marrow Body let him trade hits, accepting minor damage to land devastating blows.

What he had learned through theory was gradually becoming instinct, his knowledge turning into something his body could act on without conscious thought.

By the time the third leaf’s effects faded, Yu Liang understood his fighting style completely. He wasn’t a pure technique specialist or a body cultivation monster. He is now balanced with fluid offense, solid defense, unpredictable positioning, and overwhelming finishing power when opportunities appeared.

He sat down to meditate and assess his overall condition.

The breakthrough to fourth layer had occurred a week ago. He expected to spend at least another three weeks consolidating his foundation before attempting the next advancement.

But as he examined his cultivation base carefully, Yu Liang realized something unexpected.

His Qi had already settled completely. It moved smoothly through his meridians, and there was nothing left for him to stabilize before continuing.

The Enlightenment Leaves hadn’t just improved his techniques. They also accelerated his entire cultivation process.

The understanding he gained went beyond combat. He had a much clearer sense of how spiritual energy moved through his body, and his cultivation had naturally become smoother because of it.

What should have taken a month of careful consolidation had happened naturally in one week.

Yu Liang sat there for several minutes, staring ahead.

He could break through to the fifth layer right now.

Most cultivators at Qi Condensation advances every three to six months, assuming they had adequate resources. Some talented individuals managed breakthroughs every two months. Yu Liang was approaching his third breakthrough in less than six weeks.

The speed was almost absurd. If his foundation hadn’t been solid, it could have easily caused problems.

But he had plenty of reason to trust his foundation. The Iron Marrow Body had strengthened his physique, the superior pills had left no impurities behind, and his techniques had been refined to a high level. The Enlightenment Leaves had also pushed his comprehension far beyond what was normal.

Everything was ready by itself.

Yu Liang stood and retrieved the Qi Condensation Pills from his storage ring. He had many left, plus two Meridian Clearing Elixirs and one Spirit Awakening Pill.

Enough for the breakthrough, assuming he proceeded carefully.

He returned to his meditation position and began gathering spiritual energy, compressing it slowly toward his dantian. The fifth layer was clearly more difficult than the fourth, requiring more refinement and a greater level of compression.

The he consumed the first Qi Condensation Pill and began the process.