Chapter 89: The Beginning of the Nine Turns

Yu Liang leaned back slightly in his chair, taking a moment to process what Yan Ruo had just told him.

Nine Turns.

He had never even heard of such a thing before. He glanced around the room at Yan Ruo and the others, they were looking at him.

"So this Turn thing," he said, "how does someone even start it? You called it sheer coincidence earlier. Is that how rare it is?"

Yan Ruo nodded slowly. "For almost everyone, yes. The body has to be in an exact state of perfectly balanced, neither weakened nor bloated with impure energy. Most cultivators push either too hard or too fast and miss that window completely. A few get lucky with rare spirit herbs or inheritances, but even then it’s one in million case and you seem to have hit it without trying."

Yu Liang didn’t answer right away. A thought suddenly crossed his mind. Before the system, he had only been an ordinary disciple with mediocre talent, barely making progress. The sect had only taught him the basics since there was little reason to invest more in someone like him.

Then the Ultimate Cashback System appeared and everything changed. He met Meihua, bought that first Ultimate Grade Pill from her store and broke through to peak condition soon after.

The memory came back clearly. That first pill had flooded his body with pure, dense energy. He remembered the feeling, if had to put in the words it would be... full. Not just full, but as if his muscles and meridians were packed with power, with nowhere for it to go. Back then, he simply assumed it was because the pill was strong and thought nothing more of it.

Then, during that chaotic fight with Wang Shen, he had swallowed a basic Body Refinement Pill on impulse. The energy surged through him again overflowing like water forced through a narrow channel.

That was when that strange layer first appeared.

Thinking about it now, the pieces finally started to fit. The reason his Qi Condensation breakthrough had required such an absurd amount of spirit stones might not have been because he simply needed more energy. It’s just that his body had already been changing, slowly preparing itself for something beyond ordinary Body Refinement.

He kept those thoughts to himself as some things were better left unsaid.

Yan Ruo was still speaking, unaware of the thoughts running through his head. "The First Turn often starts the Body Refinement process on its own; after that Second Turns starts almost accidentally sometimes or when you prepare for it. But once it begins, the body changes entirely. It starts accepting Qi in a different way. That’s why your Iron Marrow Refinement Method is performing beyond the manual’s limits. The Turn is amplifying everything."

The others were listening closely. Hei Lang rubbed his jaw. "So the boss’s body basically decided to breakthrough on its own. Well, never seen that in my life. Most of us just hammered our way through brute force."

One of the twins, which Yu Liang still had trouble telling them apart sometimes, spoke up. "If it’s this rare, what happens if Young Master keeps going on? Does it get harder with each Turn?"

Yan Ruo gave a small smile. "Much harder. Every Turn after the first requires even purer conditions. Most people who manages the first never get any further. But once someone reaches two Turns, their foundation becomes much stronger, and ordinary bottlenecks become far less of a problem for them. The Four Turns is already enough to be considered a genius in any High Level Sect. The Six Turns..." She paused for a moment. "That’s where things get ridiculous. Someone who reaches six Turns would be a genius that even major sects would fight to recruit, they will literally start war. The Seven Turns is the kind of talent that only appears once in a very long time they are also know as Once in an Era Genius. As for Eight and Nine..." She shook her head. "No one in recorded history has reached them. The resources alone would be enough to bankrupt most empires. The old records barely say anything about what happens in Sixth Turn let alone Seventh. They only mention that this is where the mortal body begins to shed its limits."

Chen Lu gave a small laugh. "So we’re guarding a restaurant while our boss is off here doing something nobody’s managed in thousands of years. Guess we really picked an interesting job."

Yu Liang shrugged, but his mind was still turning over the pieces. The pill from Meihua’s store had been the start. Then the second pill, taken in for the breakthrough to Qi Condensation Realm, had acted like a spark on dry tinder.

Yu Liang rubbed his thumb along the edge of the table. "So if I keep cultivating normally, this second Turn might start on its own?"

"Possibly," Yan Ruo said. "But you’ll need to be careful. Pushing too hard could lead you to damage the foundation before it solidifies. If you want we can adjust your training, we will make you more focus on circulation. I’ll pull some notes from the old records I remember. It’s nothing flashy, but will work."

Hei Lang nodded in agreement and laughed. "And we will keep quiet about this. The Last thing we need is some trouble."

The twins nodded at the same time.

Yu Liang looked at each of them and smiled. "I appreciate it. We’ll take it one step at a time. For now, nothing changes with the restaurant or the shifts. I’ll handle the training myself."

Yan Ruo stood first and the others followed naturally. "If anything feels off during training, call me immediately." She paused at the door, her voice softening. "And... Thank you again for trusting us with this."

The five of them slipped out as quickly as they came.

Yu Liang also left shortly and arrived at the restaurant.

Nine Turns.

A path no one had finished. He didn’t know if he would be the first, but he knew one thing for certain, he would definitely walk on it.

By the time he reached the office, the sky outside had already begun to darken.

Meihua came into the office with the evening reports and another cup of that rose peach tea.