The second that the power of the Arch of Heaven began to flow, Vital Qi surged from the Spiritual Stone in Jing Yan's hand. The power flooded into Jing Yan like roaring water in a river bursting over its banks.
With the help of the Arch of Heaven, Jing Yan's ability to convert Vital Qi had been improved to a terrifying point. Most warriors above the Sixth Heaven couldn't absorb Vital Qi the way Jing Yan did, and he was only at the Fifth Heaven.
Warriors at the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Heavens were known as High-ranking warriors.
Jing Yan certainly had an advantage since he had previously reached the Precelestial rank. The vessels that transported martial arts power through his body had already been opened, thus making it easy for him to take in more Vital Qi. In this way, Jing Yan didn't have to spend time learning how to control the Vital Qi's collisions and refinement in his vessels.
As a result, the time Jing Yan needed to break through was shortened significantly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Waves of Vital Qi were surging and flowing within Jing Yan like a great river.
Crack! Crack!
One after another, the Spiritual Stones turned into fine powder in Jing Yan's hand.
As time ticked away, a rather impressive pile of powder and ashes formed in front of Jing Yan as one Spiritual Stone after another was drained of its Vital Qi.
Seven days later, a loud tearing sound broke the air.
Jing Yan's body quivered slightly.
An astonishing flow of Vital Qi rushed out of him.
The Vital Qi flow whirled up and formed a strong wind that roared around the room, quickly sweeping away all the ashes around Jing Yan.
Jing Yan then opened his eyes with a faint smile on his face.
"I'm at the Sixth Heaven now! Nice!"
"Wait, what?"
Jing Yan glanced at the unused Spiritual Stones placed in front of him.
When he sold the sources at the Ru Yi Pavilion, he got a total of 2,760 Spiritual Stones. After he got back home, he had decided to use 50 for cultivation, and he had set them on the bed in front of himself. Now, there were only 14 of them left, which meant that he had consumed more than 30.
"The cost's a bit more than expected!" Jing Yan frowned a little.
It wasn't like he didn't have any experience in this. He had reached Precelestial before, so he had some understanding of martial arts, especially regarding the development from the First Heaven to the Precelestial rank. Years ago, when he first rose from the Fifth Heaven to the Sixth Heaven, he'd used less than half the number of Spiritual Stones that he had just consumed.
"What happened? Why did it cost so much this time?" Jing Yan couldn't help but suspect that something had gone wrong.
Jing Yan wasn't concerned over the loss of a few dozen Spiritual Stones. He still had plenty. But he needed to figure out why it had cost him so much to level up.
Swoosh!
As Jing Yan was mulling over the situation, a flickering, white shadow quietly emerged from the Ring of the Universe.
"Sir Tian Shui." Jing Yan bowed to the shadow immediately.
"Hey, kid, try to feel your Vital Qi," Tian Shui said with a smile as if he was perfectly aware of what was going on in Jing Yan's mind.
"My Vital Qi?" Jing Yan's eyes sharpened as he turned his focus inward. He immediately started flowing his Vital Qi and said, "It's pretty normal. Nothing is wrong."
Tian Shui stared daggers at Jing Yan and said, "I didn't ask you to see if anything was wrong with your Vital Qi; I wanted you to feel the strength of your Vital Qi!"
"Huh?" Jing Yan paused.
A moment later, Jing Yan's face reddened a little. He turned his gaze to Tian Shui, eyes bugging out.
If it hadn't been for Tian Shui, he wouldn't have noticed.
He had reached the Sixth Heaven before, so he was very familiar with the strength level of the Vital Qi inside a typical Sixth Heaven warrior's body.
Vital Qi varied from warrior to warrior, even if they were of the same rank. However, generally speaking, warriors who had just broken through would have roughly the same amount of Vital Qi, regardless of innate talent or strength.
Jing Yan had just broken through to the Sixth Heaven, and to his shock, he found that his Vital Qi was horrendously rich. This was a power level he would expect from a warrior who was approaching the Seventh Heaven.
Because Jing Yan had just leveled up to the Sixth Heaven, there should have been an enormous difference between his power and the power of a warrior close to the Seventh Heaven.
If Jing Yan continued his cultivation until he reached the peak of the Sixth Heaven, the strength and richness of his Vital Qi should still have considerable room for improvement.
"What's going on?" Jing Yan asked after the brief pause, his eyes glittering.
Whatever was happening, it seemed fabulous.
"Humph! You thought the Arch of Heaven was just a joke? Right now, you can barely comprehend its most basic utility; you haven't even scratched the surface of its capability. Yet even this allows you to have Vital Qi that most warriors at your rank couldn't even dream of."
"Kid, now you know why you consumed so many Spiritual Stones, don't you?" Tian Shui said, gazing at Jing Yan.
"I understand it now," Jing Yan said, excited. He finally knew what Tian Shui was talking about.
Although he would need more Spiritual Stones for cultivation than others, as his rank went up, his strength would reach heights that regular warriors could never achieve.
This was, no doubt, fantastic news.
As for the sources he would need, he could simply keep getting more. As long as he was strong enough, why would he need to worry about sources?
"Humph!" Tian Shui snorted again and vanished in front of Jing Yan's eyes.
Thump!
Jing Yan's body instantly moved out of the room as he took a sliding step and landed in the yard.
Swoosh! The Moonbeam Sword in his hand slightly vibrated, and sword Qi suddenly formed around it.
A sense of coldness was detectable even from a distance.
"Now that I'm at the Sixth Heaven with such rich Vital Qi, I might as well start using the sword skill Moon-Freezing Triple Waves!" Jing Yan's eyes lit up with the thought.
Moon-Freezing Triple Waves was a Middle-grade system of martial arts. It was one of the martial systems Jing Yan used to cultivate, just like the Stance of Autumn Wind and Falling Leaves.
But Moon-Freezing Triple Waves was a lot stronger than the Stance of Autumn Wind and Falling Leaves.
Moon-Freezing Triple Waves had three tiers. At the first tier, a warrior could create one sword screen; at the second tier, a warrior could form two sword screens which could overlap with each other; at the third tier, there would be three sword screens that could overlay, which would grant the warrior incredible power.
Previously, Jing Yan had mastered Moon-Freezing Triple Waves and managed to create three sword screens.
In the yard, Jing Yan started moving at such an unbelievable speed that his moving body looked like little more than a blurred shadow.
Within a very short time, Jing Yan had already completed a practice session of the Moon-Freezing Triple Waves.
"No wonder it's a Middle-grade martial system. It's so much more powerful than the Stance of Autumn Wind and Falling Leaves." Jing Yan nodded slightly in satisfaction.
"This is all due to my rich Vital Qi. Otherwise, I couldn't have completed the whole thing. Most warriors at the Sixth Heaven, even those who've spent years studying the system, could probably form two sword screens at best," Jing Yan murmured to himself.
"Wait, there are flaws in the system? Again?" Jing Yan soon sensed a signal from the Arch of Heaven. Various imperfections in the Moon-Freezing Triple Waves started showing themselves in Jing Yan's mind.