Mo Qingxian approached the table and placed her fingers on its edges as Xu Kai struggled to figure out a method that could earn him a good amount of money while also meeting their food needs.
"What can this get him?" she asked, pushing her golden necklace toward the receptionist. The moment Xu Kai saw it, his eyes widened.
"Qing Xian…"
Upon seeing the necklace, the receptionist's eyes twinkled. "Wow, where did you get this?"
She lifted her head and received a glare from Xu Kai, prompting her to leave with a harrumph.
A short while later, she returned with a wrapped leaf. When it was opened, two pills were revealed.
Xu Kai looked at them critically. He had the opportunity to see an average-grade pill in his previous life—a pill above a poor or fair grade!
This one, in comparison, was much rougher and had a duller color. It would undoubtedly contain impurities, but at least they were less than those of the lower grade.
Any pill that was less than the poor grade was poison. This is because the impurities in it can cause damage to a practitioner's internal organs.
"That necklace is more than a gold ingot, but you only give me two Tier 0 Qi Gathering Pills?" Xu Kai's voice rose a few notches.
The woman sneered. "This is a shop where you buy things with money, not jewelry. I'm only doing this for your sister, and you can't interchange this without dying."
Mo Qingxian looked at both of them. She felt something was wrong but she didn't know what. To her, two pills were excellent, but Xu Kai, who had lived one last life, knew better.
"Brother Kai, what's wrong?" She asked softly.
"Nothing." He said, grabbed her and left with the pills. Although he wasn't pleased with the result, he would have to make do with what he had.
With these pills, he had a chance of breaking through to the Marrow Cleansing Realm's end stage, thereby closing the gap between him and the island's young flower.
After their meals, Xu Kai sat cross-legged on the boulder, and the gentle breeze tousled his hair and shirt. He could feel the moist breeze caressing his face.
He picked up a pill and gulped it. After experiencing the sensation of it melting as it went down his esophagus, there was a sudden calmness, which made his muscles tense up.
The next moment, a flood of Spirit Qi gushed in, heading straight for his marrow!
Not even a second later, Xu Kai's skin turned red and he clenched his teeth. The excruciating pain grew worse with time, causing him to tremble.
The feeling spread from the tip of his toes to his waist, then stopped. While feeling the unbearable ache, Xu Kai swallowed the second pill, puzzled as to why he hadn't broken through after the first one.
The receding torrent became aggressive again, with more power than the last one. As the torrent cleansed his bones, Xu Kai raised his head and let out a gut-wrenching scream.
He wobbled but held himself.
Large quantities of slimy substances were ejected from his pores. As if in a trance, he could see his bones and organs emitting a soft glow, meaning he had broken through to the Marrow Cleansing Realm's end stage!
After hours of torture, he made it through. The pain from last time made it easier for him this time.
'Why is the inflow of Spirit Qi growing denser?'
Alarmed, Xu Kai realized that more Spirit Qi was flowing into his body, causing him to enter a meditative state.
In this state, he was aware of his surroundings but seemed to be stuck directing the Qi to open his meridians!
The first node was in his lungs, the organ responsible for his breathing, which was one of the primary ways of absorbing Qi.
The Qi circulation methods were based on simple inhalation and exhalation.
Sweat beads decorated his temples as he connected the channel to his heart. After an unknown amount of time, Xu Kai carefully opened one node and diligently finished the others before facing the final one.
The glabella is where the node is located!
He had never done this before, but with the assistance of the captain and Uncle Lan in his past life, he was able to absorb enough knowledge about the Foundation Building Realm and the Bodiless Realm.
By the time he was about to attack the sealed node, Xu Kai noticed the amount of Qi flow was too weak.
It was receding quickly!
Suddenly, pure Spirit Qi flowed in from his back. Mo Qingxian was sitting behind him. Both her palms were on his back.
Borrowing her Qi, he attacked the wall, blocking him from entering the next realm. The continuous attack caused the wall to crack.
His head was already dizzy, and the pain clogged his thoughts. Gathering his remaining Qi, he slammed the wall until it collapsed.
The final node ignited, completing the meridian graph, and in an instant, Spirit Qi, appearing as minuscule particles in the atmosphere, entered his system and stored itself within his meridian.
Boom—! A mild explosion echoed within him. This was a breakthrough to the Foundation Building Realm!
After releasing a cold, misty breath, he opened his eyes and detached himself from Mo Qingxian, who kept transferring Qi into him.
She wasn't disgusted by the smell of the slimy substances sticking to his body.
"Thank you, Qing Xian." Xu Kai smiled and almost began to pat her head but had to stop because of the slime on his palm.
"Brother Kai, you stink." Mo Qingxian spoke softly and held her wrinkled nose. It was as if her sense of smell just began to work.
Laughing, Xu Kai jumped into the sea, making a huge splash.
He opened his eyes in the water and gazed around, feeling more at home in the underwater world. This was a side effect of his beast soul.
'I have reached the Foundation Building Realm after a week and four days! Not even the Shui siblings were this fast.'
As Xu Kai came out of the water, Mo Qingxian was amazed at his looks. His skin tone became lighter, and his body became more defined and muscular.
His short hair, though still short, looked softer. Mo Qingxian's lips parted as she stared at the handsome boy emerging from the water with a dazzling smile.