While Bai Yiyi was happily grinning to herself, Ye Ling was also reaping considerable gains.
[Host has obtained the setting: "By breaking through a major realm through the Great Void Record, the host has a chance to awaken Divine Power."]
[Mission complete (3/3)]
[Mission reward: Foundation Establishment Stage (can be claimed when the host needs it)]
Huh?
That counts too?
The first reward was within Ye Ling's expectations, but the mission completion afterward was not part of his original calculations at all.
He had initially planned to use other methods to finish the task, yet it had ended in one smooth sweep. That was something he had not anticipated.
But after calming down and thinking it through, he realized it did make sense.
Divine Powers came in many forms, and there were certainly ones that allowed for rapid cultivation. From that perspective, his completion of the mission was perfectly reasonable.
Getting a free chance at Divine Power? No loss there.
Moreover, the Great Void Record could be enhanced using Emotion Points. In other words, as long as he strengthened the Great Void Record to a sufficiently high level, consistently obtaining Divine Power was not out of the question.
Even if it was not guaranteed, as long as the probability increased, he would never be at a loss.
[Series mission triggered]
[Series mission: Is Cultivating Like This Reasonable? (III)]
[Mission requirement: Merely cultivating quickly cannot put the host's Master at ease. Please bring the Six Arts to an introductory level.]
[Mission reward: 1,000,000 Emotion Points]
[Note: This is a series mission. Upon completing the entire series, the host will receive a mysterious grand reward.]
At the same time, more series missions appeared, seemingly without end.
Ye Ling did not know how long this series would last, but this reward was undeniably practical.
One million Emotion Points were enough to raise the Great Void Record to +5.
If the reward had instead been another realm advancement, it might have destabilized his state of mind.
Cultivators valued more than just physical cultivation. Mental strength and one's Dao Heart were equally important.
Thanks to the system, his mental state could be said to have no obvious flaws. But his Dao Heart was something that could only be tempered through experience.
At his current low realm, the importance of the Dao Heart was not yet obvious. But once he reached higher realms, advancement would no longer depend solely on having enough Spiritual Qi.
Even if the system forcibly raised his realm, if his Dao Heart could not keep up, he might not even be able to use one-tenth of his true strength.
Worse still, he could even suffer Qi Deviation during cultivation. Letting a child drive a heavy cart was never a good idea.
Some things simply had to be taken step by step, along with a bit of luck and insight.
That said, now that he had the Foundation Establishment reward in hand, Leng Qingqiu, his opponent tomorrow, was the perfect tool to temper his Dao Heart.
Incidentally, the moment he decided to face Leng Qingqiu, he had already upgraded his Mighty Strength Fist by +1. That was also why his Heavenly Fate Eye · Fragment was short on Emotion Points.
Through the "Deconstruct Difficulty" ability, he was able to quantify the strength of Mighty Strength Fist, boosting it by fifty percent.
That was an astonishing increase. Today's Body Tempering was mainly meant to test the power of Mighty Strength Fist +1.
Because Bai Yiyi was worried about tomorrow's duel, she failed to notice anything. And in her eyes, even if Ye Ling became five hundred percent stronger, he would still be delivering himself on a platter, so she sensed nothing at all.
After laughing foolishly for a while, she finally regained her composure and hurriedly asked Ye Ling,
"My dear disciple, you don't need this method to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, do you?"
"How could that be?"
Already firmly stabilized at Foundation Establishment, Ye Ling was completely calm. He replied lightly,
"I just didn't realize that was your Divine Power, Master."
"Oh, good. As long as you don't need it."
Bai Yiyi finally let out a breath of relief, then asked again,
"So, my dear disciple, how long will it take you to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage?"
A single night felt unbearably long to a lonely soul, but to cultivators, it passed in the blink of an eye.
"How long?"
Ye Ling glanced at the system clock and raised three fingers.
"Three hours?"
A flash of delight appeared in Bai Yiyi's wine-red eyes.
"No."
Ye Ling shook his head and lowered one finger.
"Two hours?"
Bai Yiyi hesitated, her tone turning uncertain.
Three hours was believable. There were still four or five hours until dawn. Factoring in time to stabilize his realm, Ye Ling could just make it in time to face Leng Qingqiu.
But two hours?
Such a short span was beyond her imagination. It completely overturned everything she understood about cultivation.
"Not that either."
Ye Ling shook his head again and lowered another finger.
"Th-this…"
Bai Yiyi was just about to speak when Ye Ling stopped her. He put on an air of profound composure, glanced at the beautiful night scenery outside, and said calmly,
"It's time. I should advance now."
Ye Ling lowered his final finger. At the moment the system time ticked over to midnight, he claimed the reward.
In the next instant, streams of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi surged wildly into Ye Ling's body, as if they had gone mad.
Fifth Level Qi Cultivation… Sixth Level… Eighth Level… Peak…
Boom!
With a deep, muffled sound, Ye Ling completed an unprecedented breakthrough right before Bai Yiyi's eyes.
From Fourth Level Qi Cultivation, he leaped straight into the Foundation Establishment Stage.
If any cultivator outside were to witness this scene, it would be enough to shatter their sanity, making them question whether all their years of cultivation had been spent cultivating a dog instead.
Yet even a genius like Bai Yiyi was left utterly stunned by what she had just seen.
[Bai Yiyi generates extremely intense and complex emotions toward host +2800]
So this was Bai Yiyi's limit?
What Ye Ling had done was essentially squeeze Bai Yiyi's Emotion Points dry for two days in a row. By the third day, the yield would likely drop even further.
That said, he had no intention of continuing this kind of draining behavior. He simply wanted to test how many Emotion Points she would generate after reaching her limit.
About five thousand one day, around three thousand the next. That clearly could not compare to a steady daily income of around four thousand. After all, once it dropped to three thousand, the following day would definitely be even lower.
The reason he had waited until now was to save the shock for the next day. He was not sure whether Bai Yiyi would be as shocked after he defeated Leng Qingqiu. If the Emotion Points fell short, he would be the one at a loss.
Of course, it was not as though he had deliberately timed it this way. It was just that the moment was far too perfect, making it hard to resist showing off a little.
"Master, I didn't lie to you, did I?"
A calm smile hung on Ye Ling's handsome face. If he were holding a folding fan, he would have been the most eye-catching man on the street.
"N-no…"
Bai Yiyi was completely transfixed, her eyes filled with nothing but Ye Ling's striking figure.
After all these years, she had finally found someone whose cultivation speed could keep up with hers.