Chapter 398: Cultivation Breakthrough! This Is Qi Refining

The talismans on the red strings swayed slightly…

Wan Ze froze.

‘The door is closed, so where is the wind coming from?’

It felt as if something was flowing around them.

It was incredibly eerie.

In the very center of the stone house sat a coffin.

The black coffin was almost non-reflective in the darkness, like a black hole that had swallowed all light.

The lid of the coffin was covered in Yellow Talismans. They were layered one on top of another, almost completely obscuring the lid.

Several red strings were also pressed down on top of the Yellow Talismans. The strings wound from the lid to the base of the coffin, wrapping around it several times and binding it tightly.

The sight of the coffin made Wan Ze think of the Female Sword Immortal.

‘A coffin… Here in Huangliang, is this a good omen?’

He looked at the red strings and Yellow Talismans before him and hesitated.

Then he reached out and touched the nearest red string.

The instant his fingertip touched the red string, a cool sensation burst from it.

Stealing Celestial Secret successful!

[Spiritual Qi +1]

Wan Ze was taken aback.

‘Spiritual Qi?’

In that moment of shock, Wan Ze felt the Qi inside his body abruptly increase by a sliver.

The feeling was hard to describe. It was like a sense of fulfillment, originating from his very essence.

It was as if his cup had only been half-full, and now someone had added a little more water, causing the waterline to rise by a visible, tiny amount.

Feeling that new sliver of Qi in his Dantian, Wan Ze was instantly ecstatic.

This was nearly equivalent to an hour of arduous cultivation!

An hour of meditation in Huangliang would increase his Spiritual Qi by about this much… and yet now, all he had done was touch a red string.

Wan Ze began to move, reaching for the next red string.

The instant his finger touched the red string, the cool sensation burst from his fingertip once again.

Stealing Celestial Secret successful!

[Spiritual Qi +1]

He touched another.

Stealing Celestial Secret successful!

[Spiritual Qi +1]

He touched another.

Stealing Celestial Secret successful!

[Spiritual Qi +1]

Again!

Touch!

Touch, touch, touch, touch!!!!!

Wan Ze touched his way along.

His fingers darted between the red strings and talismans. With every touch, a cool sensation burst from his fingertips, and slivers of Spiritual Qi continuously rose within his Dantian.

Spiritual Qi +1… Spiritual Qi +1… Spiritual Qi +1… +1… +1… +1…

In just half an hour, Wan Ze could already feel his Dantian brimming with power.

His Dantian had never felt so full. The amount of Spiritual Qi had more than doubled in a matter of minutes.

By now, Wan Ze had made his way to the side of the coffin.

The coffin was even bigger than he had expected.

It was over seven feet long, maybe three feet wide, and two feet high.

Talismans had been carved into the coffin lid with blood. He didn’t know what kind of blood it was. It was dark red and had long since dried, yet the color remained vivid.

The lines of the talismans were incredibly fine, too intricate to have been carved by a human hand.

“There’s got to be some incredible existence sleeping in this coffin.”

Wan Ze didn’t need to open the coffin to know…

A coffin that required so many talismans, red strings, and Arrays to seal it couldn’t possibly contain an ordinary person.

‘Whatever it is, I need to be careful.’

‘Retreat?’

But retreating was not an option for Wan Ze.

‘If things get truly dangerous, I can just sever my Spiritual Form and get the hell out of there.’

‘In all of Huangliang, who could possibly be as aggressive as I am?’

Casually, Wan Ze reached out, his finger pressing against the coffin lid.

The instant he touched it, an icy chill spread.

Stealing Celestial Secret successful!

[Spiritual Qi +10]

Wan Ze blinked in surprise.

“This much?”

‘A single red string was only +1, and one talisman was also just +1, but a Blood Talisman on the lid gives +10 all at once????’

“My friend, you are a true benefactor!”

Wan Ze took a deep breath, pulled his hand back, and wiped it on his clothes.

He glanced at his hand, then back at the coffin.

He reached out again, this time touching the Yellow Talismans on the coffin, making sure not to touch the coffin itself.

Stealing Celestial Secret successful!

[Spiritual Qi +10]

Stealing Celestial Secret successful!

[Spiritual Qi +11]

Stealing Celestial Secret successful!

[Spiritual Qi +10]

…

BOOM!

Wan Ze felt his entire Essence, Qi, and Spirit abruptly ascend to a higher level.

The Spirit Awakening Realm is divided into two realms.

The first realm is Entering the Subtle. Now that he had accumulated enough Spiritual Qi, Wan Ze naturally and easily broke through this barrier.

He had entered the Second Realm of Spirit Awakening: Wandering God!

Wan Ze slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Looking at the coffin again, his gaze softened considerably.

“My good friend, truly a great benefactor.”

He had touched every one of the Yellow Talismans. Now, only the coffin itself remained.

Wan Ze was filled with anticipation.

He reached out and touched it.

The icy sensation from his fingertip erupted with torrential force.

This was no longer the gentle, trickling coolness from before. It was a raging flood bursting from a broken dam, surging out of the coffin lid and rushing up Wan Ze’s fingers, through his knuckles, across his palm and wrist.

Data boxes flashed wildly before his eyes.

[Spiritual Form +999%]

[Spiritual Form +999%]

[Spiritual Form +999%]

Line after line, the numbers scrolled across his vision, moving too fast to be seen clearly.

The number “999%” appeared again and again, each flash representing an explosive surge in his Spiritual Form.

“Holy shit!”

Wan Ze sucked in a sharp breath, utterly astonished.

But suddenly, he sensed that something was wrong.

The quality of the cool sensation had changed.

One moment, it was an icy but neutral energy. The next, it had become something else… a sinister cold, laced with a malice that made his scalp tingle.

It was as if a pair of eyes had opened inside the coffin and were staring at him through the thick wooden planks and layers of talismans.

A sliver of a presence, drenched in evil, shot in through his fingertip.

It was an absolute, bone-chilling cold.

This was the difference between “cool” and “cold.” “Cool” was a temperature; “cold” was a nature.

Wan Ze’s heart lurched.

He tried to pull his hand away, but it was as if it had been frozen solid… or rather, as if something had seized it.

His fingers were still pressed against the coffin lid, but they no longer obeyed his commands.

Wan Ze tried to pull away, but his fingers only seemed to stick even tighter.