Devotion quickly got back to his dorm, to see Victor still sitting in the chair, reading some notebook that was lying around from his lectures. Devotion triumphantly held up the new volume that the Duke had given him.
"It's a more advanced meditation technique. He said we need to practice it and we'll reach the Second Rank before the end of the month. It won't tell us how to break through the barrier, but it will tell us how to reach it." Devotion quickly explained.
"Well, what the fuck are we doing just sitting here? Let's read the damn thing!" Victor exclaimed.
The two of them sat down and began to read the volume, taking in the meditation technique. It took them three straight days of studying to master it, to the point where they could reach that special meditative state with minimal effort. It was somewhat similar to the one that Ghostwhisper had taught Devotion, but there were definitely some changes. To be honest, Devotion didn't really understand how meditation worked. He wasn't really sure how breathing a certain way could cause someone to reach enlightenment, but he didn't question it too much.
Strangely, after Devotion started regularly meditating like this, he noticed that Ysmir was doing the same thing. It seemed that any Techniques Devotion learned, Ysmir could replicate without much instruction.
Victor, Devotion, and Ysmir fell into a routine after memorizing this technique. During the day, they would try to learn as many new magical arts as they could, and during the night, they would use this meditation technique. In short, they were maximizing their power gain as quickly as possible.
In the blink of an eye, three weeks passed. There was now just one more week until the Interspatial Secret Realm would open, and all hell would break loose. Devotion still had not reached the Second Rank of Cultivation. He was starting to panic a little bit.
It wasn't until only the night before the realm was to open, that something happened. Devotion was doing his usual meditation once more, but something was different this time. Devotion was angry. Very angry. There was nothing he wanted more than to enter this secret realm. He felt something calling to him whenever he thought of it.
Devotion practiced his regular, circular breathing, just like he did every night. He felt the floating motes of golden, impure Qi enter his system, and felt himself automatically refine and expel the waste. This process was something he could now do without thinking.
There was one thing frustrating Devotion about this, however. His Spiritual Qi reserve had a limit, and he had reached it a long time ago. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break past it, into the Second Rank. He would cultivate as much Qi as he could, then feel it all clump up into a bottleneck, unable to break that thin, arbitrary barrier to the Second Rank. At least, the barrier felt arbitrary. Devotion had frustratingly skimmed that volume hundreds of times, finding no answers on how to increase the size of one's Qi Reserve.
Now he was really pissed off. He angrily threw the volume across the room, at a wall, letting it land with a harsh thud as it slammed into the ground. He huffed for a few minutes, letting himself calm down before he tried again.
"Alright. This time. I'll get it." Devotion whispered to himself. He sat down on his bed, letting his body rest as he focused once more on his breathing. After letting all of that anger out, he was surprisingly calm as he began to meditate.
As Devotion closed his eyes, he saw new things. He saw an endless black expanse, then saw golden motes of light flying towards it. He saw it circulate around, before being expelled away, keeping the pure portions of it. He was watching his Qi being refined. However, he saw the problem.
When he refined Spiritual Qi, it went to his Reserve, then spread throughout his body, strengthening it with each breath. After a while, the Qi Reserve would become to crowded, and the Qi would be stuck in a bottleneck, unable to disperse. As a result, he could not take any more Qi into his system, as there was no more room.
Devotion began to think. He had never actually seen why he couldn't absorb more, only knew the fact that he couldn't. Wouldn't he need to just expand the exits from his Qi Reserve, then it would be able to flow through his body at a higher rate? Was that the barrier holding him back?
However, Devotion realized something. He couldn't interact with his Qi Reserve without going to his Astral Space, and he was unable to enter that on command. The only time he had entered that Astral Space was after near death experiences.
Devotion resolved not to sleep until he could figure out how to enter that Astral Space and expand his Qi Reserve. He laid awake for hours and hours that night, until eventually, he drifted away to sleep.
Devotion's sleep was dreamless and deep.
At least, it was to him. However, Ysmir and Ghostwhisper saw something different. They were both resting in his Astral Space, as usual, when they saw the Astral Form of Devotion enter. Ghostwhisper tried calling out to him to scold him for interrupting his rest, but Devotion didn't answer, seemingly in a trance.
Ghostwhisper watched as Devotion walked straight to his floating Qi Reserve and took it in two hands. It was still only as large as a mustard seed, a floating mote of light in the endless expanse. Devotion took it in his hands, then, grabbing each end, began to pull.
"Devotion, stop, you'll destroy your Reserve!" Ghostwhisper shouted, worried. If he really ripped it in half, then he would permanently cripple himself.
Devotion ignored Ghostwhisper, continuing to pull on it until it stretched. He yanked and yanked, stretching that mustard seed sized light until it couldn't expand anymore. Devotion, if we were awake, would have felt it resisting, trying to compress back down to size, but to no avail.
Subconsciously, Devotion began to insert more Qi into the Reserve while he held it open, filling the temporarily expanded space. He help that Qi in the Reserve until it adjusted to its new size, gradually repairing itself.
In other words, Devotion forcibly stretched his Qi Reserve, and forced it to adapt without collapsing! It was a brutal way to cultivate, but it worked. In his sleep, and working on instinct, Devotion had reached the next Rank.
"Well, I'll be damned. You're insane." Ghostwhisper said to Devotion when he was done. Devotion turned to look, his eyes still closed, and his Astral Self vanished.
When Devotion woke up, he had no memory of doing that. In fact, he completely overlooked the fact that his body was thrumming with Spiritual Qi, and that his rank was increased!
However, he was still going to go enter that Secret Realm. He was not going to sit and wait while the world moved on. He'd sneak in, if he had to. Flying out of bed, Devotion ran to Victor's door, pounding on it. They had to leave, now. The Realm was opening in just a few minutes.