“Hmph, hmph, hmph! ARGHHHHH!”
After a while, the bathroom echoed with the uncontrollable cries of the two women. At the same time, a seven-colored light radiated outwards; they had both broken through simultaneously.
Inside the bathroom, the spiritual water had been blown all over the floor by the blast of air.
Mu Yanxi and Shangguan Yun lay limply in the bathtub, their faces flushed as they panted incessantly. The seven-colored light was slowly dissipating from their bodies.
“So… powerful. Your Fake Phoenix Art… how is it so pure? Just by synchronizing with your state of mind, I actually broke through,” Shangguan Yun said breathlessly.
A powerful aura was radiating from her body. The recent double cultivation had allowed her to break through to Level 40 of Qi Refining.
‘The intensity of this aura… the False Core realm?’ Mu Yanxi felt the pressure coming from Shangguan Yun in her arms.
Previously, she had felt her presence was roughly at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, though her actual combat strength was undoubtedly higher.
Now, her aura seemed to have just crossed the threshold of the False Core realm.
This was the level of those in her past life who had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment and were about to attempt Core Formation.
However, she was only just at the threshold.
According to the theories of the Magnificent Truth Sect from her past life, the more abundant one’s mana and the more powerful one’s spirit sense were during the False Core realm, the higher the probability of successful Core Formation.
As for Shangguan Yun’s current aura, it probably ranked at the very bottom of the False Core realm.
By the standards of her previous life, attempting Core Formation with this level of mana would result in less than a ten percent success rate.
When Mu Yanxi had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment in her past life, her aura had been more than twice as strong as this.
Therefore, False Core realm cultivators needed to employ various methods to increase their chances of Core Formation, especially regarding the depth of their mana.
This included using special cultivation methods to disperse their power and restart, using Elixirs to temporarily boost their mana capacity, or asking elders to use their profound true qi to expand their Meridians.
However, these criteria were meant for evaluating Foundation Establishment peak cultivators preparing for Core Formation.
Shangguan Yun was not a Foundation Establishment cultivator; she was a Qi Refining stage cultivator. At Level 40 of Qi Refining, her aura had already reached the peak of Foundation Establishment.
Although she had only just crossed the False Core threshold, she could still continue to improve.
Furthermore, her actual combat strength was even greater. Even a genuine early-stage Core Formation cultivator might not be able to gain the upper hand against her in a head-on battle.
“Whew… Your sacred spiritual root is the truly incredible one. *Puff*… I actually… broke through two levels in one go?” Mu Yanxi said while panting.
She had jumped directly from Level 13 to Level 15 of the Qi Refining stage.
This was her first time experiencing Shangguan Yun’s terrifying innate talent. A single sacred spiritual root allowed for faster cultivation than the heavenly spiritual root Mu Yanxi possessed in her past life.
Yet, Shangguan Yun had two sacred spiritual roots and even two additional heavenly spiritual roots. Her speed of absorbing spiritual energy was more than six times faster than Mu Yanxi’s previous life.
Unfortunately, Mu Yanxi’s cultivation method could not utilize all of those spiritual roots, meaning her absorption efficiency wasn’t at its peak.
However, there was a pleasant surprise: one of Shangguan Yun’s sacred spiritual roots was water-attribute, which was perfectly suited for the water-attribute cultivation method, the Virgin Fairy Bathing Method.
Relying on the effects of this shared water-attribute sacred spiritual root, Mu Yanxi’s progress and understanding of the Virgin Fairy Bathing Method advanced by leaps and bounds.
She had broken through two levels of Qi Refining in succession. Her mana had already surpassed the Qi Refining stage, reaching the level of the early Foundation Establishment stage.
Though she was at the bottom of that stage—comparable to those with poor aptitude who used low-level methods and relied solely on an abundance of Foundation Establishment Pills to break through—it was still a significant achievement.
At the same time, Mu Yanxi felt the frustrating nature of infinite Qi Refining.
The difficulty of breaking through to Level 14 and Level 15 was significantly higher than Level 13, and each level became progressively harder.
It was already nearly as difficult as advancing from the early stage to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.