The moment my eyes opened, I saw my Master and the others meditating and practicing breathing exercises.
My Master, however, was emitting waves of Dao Qi from within his body, creating a surging disturbance.
It was clear he was breaking through.
Master had told me that his current cultivation was at the Xuan Dan realm, and he had reached its peak.
The next step would be Zhen Guang.
Seeing Master breaking through, I felt a slight surge of excitement.
As his disciple, if Master’s cultivation improved, I would naturally benefit greatly.
Whether it was in cultivation guidance or any other aspect, I would have a reliable pillar of support.
I widened my eyes, watching with excitement, anticipating Master taking that crucial step.
Around us, others also gradually woke up or emerged from their meditative states.
Soon, they all noticed my Master’s condition.
They all maintained silence, refraining from speaking.
Even Uncle-Master Tang, who often clashed with my Master, watched quietly.
His expression, however, was somewhat peculiar.
He muttered to himself:
"Damn it, this old fool is actually going to break through."
As he spoke, Old Mo, who had been sleeping beside me, also woke up.
He mumbled groggily:
"Oh! Everyone's awake! What are you all doing?"
Old Mo was still a bit disoriented, and his voice was rather loud.
Before I could stop him, an Uncle-Master from the other side directly slapped him on the head:
"Shut up!"
Old Mo was struck dumb, not yet grasping the situation.
I pointed to my Master and whispered:
"My Master is breaking through, keep your voice down."
Upon hearing this, Old Mo noticed my Master meditating nearby.
Master’s face shifted between red and pale.
His breath was slightly erratic, but the fluctuations of Dao Qi he emitted were growing increasingly intense.
Sensing the powerful Dao Qi emanating from Master, Old Mo could not discern his cultivation level.
He lowered his voice and asked me:
"Old Qin, what’s Senior Uncle’s cultivation level now?"
"He should be at the peak of Xuan Dan, with the next step being Zhen Guang."
Old Mo gasped upon hearing this;
"Holy hell, I heard my Master say that reaching the Zhen Guang realm allows one to manifest Dao Qi externally, transforming it into sword light!"
I nodded slightly, having heard this from Master before.
However, with my own cultivation only at the Na Qi realm, the Zhen Guang realm felt impossibly distant.
Yet now, my Master was about to reach that very realm.
It filled me with anticipation.
At this moment, everyone was watching intently.
Master remained in this state for about half an hour.
Finally, Master’s body trembled.
He suddenly let out a muffled roar:
"Open!"
The next second, a surge of Dao Qi rippled outwards.
With a "whoosh," it violently dispersed in all directions, incredibly powerful.
Dust billowed around, and dead leaves danced.
We instinctively raised our hands to shield ourselves.
This surge of energy soon subsided.
Looking at Master again, I saw that he had settled his Qi into his Dantian and opened his eyes.
Seeing this, Uncle-Master by my side looked grim and grumbled:
"Damn, the old fool actually broke through."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yunxia Gu exclaimed with pleasant surprise:
"Brother Gu, congratulations, you broke through!"
Master slowly stood up.
At this moment, I felt that Master’s gaze had become sharper.
He looked at Yunxia Gu and smiled:
"Ah! I truly never expected that after so many years, I could return to the Zhen Guang realm."
Master said with emotion.
When I first joined the sect, Master had mentioned that his strongest cultivation had reached the Zhen Guang realm.
Later, for some reason, his cultivation had declined.
At the time, I hadn't paid much attention.
But only after I began cultivating did I realize how incredibly difficult it was to advance even one level.
The further one progressed, the harder it became.
Just as I was about to speak to Master,
Uncle-Master interrupted him from the side with a jab:
"Pure luck! Look how pleased you are."
Master, who was in good spirits, immediately rolled his eyes upon hearing this:
"You old bastard, what are you saying? What do you mean 'pure luck,' this is called strength and talent."
Uncle-Master, however, was dismissive:
"Talent my ass. If you hadn't eaten the Spiritual Cultivation Grass, you wouldn't have broken through!"
"Heh, you didn't eat it.
You ate even more than I did, so why haven't you broken through…"
"I was just short of it, I simply didn't want to break through today."
"Bah, can your face be any thicker?"
"…"
What should have been a joyous occasion,
had now devolved into the two old men bickering again.
Yunxia Gu rolled her eyes at the scene.
"Alright, alright, you're both old, stop arguing.
I think we should handle the aftermath and then leave this place."
Hearing this, Master and Uncle-Master ceased their argument.
But they still shot each other displeased glances.
Old Mo and I just grinned, taking it in stride.
After all, Master and Uncle-Master had been rivals and quarreled for most of their lives.
We were long accustomed to their verbal sparring whenever they met.
If my Master hadn't been chided by Uncle-Master after his breakthrough, we would have found it unusual.
Afterward, Yunxia Gu inquired about our respective injuries.
Although we were all injured,
after consuming some precious herbs last night,
our bodies had indeed recovered considerably by this morning.
At this rate, it felt like we would be fully recovered within a week.
Seeing that we were fine, Yunxia Gu asked the three of us juniors to scout the surroundings.
If there were no anomalies, we could then leave.
We didn't hesitate and turned to walk out.
Master and the others remained in place, seemingly discussing something.
It was likely that they wanted to prevent us from hearing, so they made up excuses and tasks to send us juniors away.
As for Xiao Mei, after consuming some herbs, she was still fast asleep.
Moreover, with every breath, spiritual energy was automatically absorbed into her body.
The last time, I heard Master mention.
He said that the cultivation of beasts was different from that of humans.
These beast-demons, even while sleeping,
could absorb the essence of the sun and moon, achieving the goal of cultivation.
Even though the little fox was sleeping, she was actually cultivating and improving her Dao."