Cultivation: I can see the proficiency level

Bai Jiuniang, who was guarding outside the door, clearly sensed Wang Mian's aura of the fourth level of Qi Refining. Her thoughts drifted back to many years ago when Cang Songzi was worried that Wang Mian was lazy and wondered when he would be able to break through to the middle stage of Qi Refining.

Time flies like an arrow, and years pass like a shuttle.

At this moment, Wang Mian was a genuine Qi Refining Level 4 cultivator.

There are very few cultivators like him, who are not even twenty years old and are at the mid-stage of Qi Refining. In terms of cultivation alone, he can even be compared with many disciples of the Immortal Clan.

This remarkable level of cultivation at such a young age was something that the long-deceased Cang Songzi could not witness, but Bai Jiuniang saw it all and knew how difficult it was for him to achieve what he had today.

Wang Mian a year ago.

Going with the tide and just getting by will not get you to the second level of Qi Refining.

Wang Mian one year later.

Through bloodshed and countless life-or-death experiences, he has already reached the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Before their trip to Taixi Lake, Wang Mian told Bai Jiuniang that he was determined to embark on a perilous journey, one where survival was uncertain and death seemed inevitable. Cultivators were known for their fragile lives, and he didn't know when or where he might perish along the way.

In fact, he had once given Bai Jiuniang the choice of whether to stay or leave.

Bai Jiuniang chose to stay. For her, neither the drifting of Songlin Pool nor the bloodshed outside Songlin Pool mattered; as long as she remained by Wang Mian's side, that was enough.

Wang Mian's world may be composed of many things: cultivation, sword practice, talisman making, seniors, friends, enemies, grudges, and human relationships.

Its world is so clean that only the crown exists.

It doesn't know where else to go besides Wang Mian.

Bai Jiuniang diligently cultivates and improves her cultivation so that she can still lead him to escape danger, share the threats, and help him fend off enemies today, tomorrow, and the day after.

Even in the years to come, he would still be able to stand beside Wang Mian.

Whether it's refining Qi or building a foundation, whether it's being in one's twenties or in one's eighties.

It never signed a spiritual contract with Wang Mian, nor was Wang Mian its master, nor was it Wang Mian's demon pet. The reason why Bai Jiu Niang was willing to risk her life was that it regarded Wang Mian as a family member.

The same applies to Wang Mian.

"Ninth Sister, thank you for your hard work." Wang Mian put away the spirit stones that still had some spiritual energy left, stood up and stretched his body, and you could hear his bones cracking.

The aura of the fourth level of Qi cultivation gradually receded, becoming blurred and indistinct.

He had become accustomed to using the Dust Concealment Technique, which could both conceal his cultivation level and suppress distracting thoughts to maintain a clear mind. He loved this technique very much.

Bai Jiuniang wagged her tail and used her demonic power to condense the three words "Not Hard Work".

Wang Mian's cultivation has made a breakthrough, and it is overjoyed. It is just a guardian, so why should it feel hard?

Seeing that she was pleased, Wang Mian reached into his clothes and took out the storage bag of the Lü family cultivator, took out a bottle of Qi-boosting pills and handed it to Bai Jiuniang: "This bottle of pills is for you to improve your cultivation."

Although he can now use Qi-Boosting Pills to improve his cultivation, Wang Mian prefers to use spirit stones and Yellow Dragon Pills to replenish his mana because his cultivation method is different and he needs to frequently digest and replenish his mana.

The Qi-Boosting Pill takes a long time to refine, and it cannot be refined intermittently, which is actually a waste of time for him.

"Break through the small hurdle soon," Wang Mian encouraged.

Bai Jiuniang shook her head. The small barrier was not so easy to break. It would take her quite some time before she could break through it again. If she could break through, she would not be afraid of the sixth level of Qi Refining.

It put the elixir away.

Wang Mian gave all the Qi-boosting pills he had obtained last time to it, and it had used them all up in the past few days.

The reason Bai Jiuniang was able to produce this bottle of Qi-boosting pills was entirely due to the fact that the Lü family cultivators had prepared several bottles in their storage bags. Otherwise, Bai Jiuniang would have had to rely on absorbing the essence of the sun and moon to cultivate.

During this time, he was focused on healing his injuries and eager to break through to the next level. Apart from the jade slip and healing pills, he didn't even glance at the other magical artifacts and puppets in his storage bag.

Now that he has broken through to the fourth level of Qi Refining and stabilized his cultivation, he has the mind to examine what he gained that day.

By now, he had exhausted all the talismans in his storage bag, only had one bottle of Yellow Dragon Pills left, two Spirit Healing Pills left, and less than two hundred spirit stones.

The materials for drawing talismans, not counting spiritual tea and spiritual rice, were truly scarce.

"My spiritual resources are scarce, but I am grateful for the gift from you, fellow Daoist." Wang Mian muttered to himself as he held the storage bag of the Lü family cultivator before taking out the pills inside.

One bottle of Yellow Dragon Pill to restore mana, two bottles of Hundred Herbs Pill to increase mana, two bottles of Qi-Boosting Pill to increase mana, one bottle of Healing Pill, one bottle of Spiritual Wound Pill, one bottle of Detoxifying Pill, and two bottles of Abstinence Pill.

There was only half a bottle of the Spirit Strengthening Pill, and Wang Mian used two of them.

The immortal cultivators were all like fat pigs, with such a complete supply of elixirs, they had all ended up doing all the work for Wang Mian.

After arranging the pills, Wang Mian took out several black spheres the size of large bowls, covered with intricately carved spiritual patterns, giving them a sense of exquisite craftsmanship.

There were a total of three puppet beasts: one spider-shaped, one tiger-shaped, and one leopard-shaped. One was used for restraint, and the other for attack. On that day, their auras were all equivalent to those of the fourth level of Qi Refining.

It took Bai Jiuniang a lot of effort to capture the puppets. It's likely that the Lü family cultivator spent a lot of money to acquire them.

Accompanying this is a book on puppetry, which details how to refine puppets, how to differentiate spiritual consciousness to control puppets, and how to add spirit stones, fill them with magical liquid, and so on.

Wang Mian learned it and was just waiting to refine the puppet core to add more power. In the future, he would be able to add new methods to explore the enemy's path.

Aside from the puppets, there were magical artifacts.

Wang Mian refined the mechanical disc, and only after refining it did he realize why the Lü family cultivators had sensed his approach to Fenglei Valley from afar.

Before even entering Fenglei Valley that day, they almost ran into each other head-on. If it weren't for Bai Jiuniang's keen senses, they probably would have bumped into each other directly.

Besides the scissor, there was a pair of purple and blue scissors. Wang Mian didn't know what material they were made of, but he felt that the purple was heavy and the blue was light. The magic scissors could be put together and put apart. When put apart, they were like flying blades, and when put together, they could protect the body.

He casually refined it, and the blue and purple colors separated and merged, swirling around him in a dazzling display.

That day, the Lü family cultivator wielded this magical artifact with ease and skill, and its power was immense. It took him a short time to shatter the spiritual light of his and Bai Jiuniang's protective magical artifacts.

However, when he used his skills at this moment, the difference between him and the cultivators of the Lü family was like an insurmountable chasm.

"Controlling it with spiritual sense alone is not enough. You need to learn the art of controlling objects to unleash the full power of this magical artifact." Wang Mian looked down at the jade slip in his hand, which was engraved with the words "art of controlling objects".

After putting away the magical artifact, he took out several talismans, mostly mid-grade spirit-gathering talismans used to assist in cultivation, with only a few low-grade talismans remaining.

Not all cultivators like to carry talismans. For example, the late Lü family cultivator preferred puppets, and his storage bag was mostly filled with spiritual liquid used by puppets to activate spells.

Wang Mian was quite disappointed that he couldn't find many powerful talismans.

Finally, two boxes of spiritual tea were found. Compared to the several cans of spiritual tea in Bian Zemin's storage bag, these two boxes of spiritual tea were obviously more spiritual and had an extremely rich aroma.

Besides the spiritual tea, there was also half a handful of calming incense, also used to aid cultivation and enter a meditative state. With both tea and incense, Wang Mian couldn't help but admire how particular the other party was about cultivators.

There were about three hundred spirit stones in the storage bag, which Wang Mian put into his own storage bag. These five hundred spirit stones greatly alleviated his anxiety about spirit stones.

Wang Mian was satisfied after putting away the empty storage bag. After a lot of work, he refined the puppet and learned the art of controlling objects.

After doing all this, he took out the mother-child communication talisman and sent a message to Aunt Hua: "Aunt Rong, Senior Bone Daoist has been waiting at the foot of the mountain for many days. I am also preparing to go down the mountain, so how about we all meet at the foot of the mountain?"

It's time to visit Wind and Thunder Valley.

Hua Gu and several seniors have been waiting for him to break through, and now that he has broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, he may not be able to defeat a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator without resorting to forbidden techniques and risking his life.

However, even without using forbidden techniques, a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining can still put up a fight with his unparalleled sword energy.

"Good! The communication talisman outside Fenglei Valley has been activated." The talisman lit up with spiritual light, revealing the words.