"I can't believe it. Is this style popular now?"
"I think I should start growing a beard too."
"What do you know? Old Man Su might be up in years, but he was a real looker when he was young. Now that his beard is white, he's a silver fox!"
These Qingyun Sect disciples couldn't understand why Ziyun would treat Su Bai with such an attitude, so they began guessing the reasons among themselves.
Because of their preconceived notions, they felt that everything Su Bai did was fraught with deep meaning.
"I get it! It must be because of his formidable physique!"
"Old Man Su may be old, but his eyes are bright and sharp, which shows his vitality is extremely robust."
"As the saying goes, fists fear the young and strong, but staffs fear the veteran. Old Man Su definitely has his strengths!"
Listening to their chatter, Su Bai rolled his eyes inwardly. These people had way too much imagination.
Still, he didn't care about their speculations; as far as Su Bai was concerned, the further off base they got, the better.
As long as he could keep a low profile right now, that was the best outcome.
After handing the cultivation manual to Ziyun, Su Bai didn't say anything more and headed toward the training rooms.
He showed his outer disciple token and paid the fee for using a training room—ten Spirit Stones.
"Ten Spirit Stones! That's way too lavish!"
"What a big spender!"
Now these outer disciple had a vague inkling of what made Su Bai so extraordinary.
Ten Spirit Stones was a sum many of them couldn't even scrape together.
What puzzled them even more, however, was why Su Bai needed to rent a training room for so long.
A training room cost one Spirit Stone a day, yet Su Bai had rented one for ten whole days in a single go.
Su Bai naturally had no desire to explain his actions to these people, nor was there any need to do so.
Arriving inside the training room, Su Bai used his token to unlock one of the stone chambers.
The floor was engraved with an array designed to gather spiritual energy. Although it cost one Spirit Stone per day, the spiritual energy inside was extremely dense—definitely worth every bit of the cost.
Su Bai closed the door and let out a long breath. At that moment, his emotions were slightly stirred.
His sixty years of forbearance and perseverance—whether he would succeed or fail hinged entirely on this single gamble today!
If he failed, he would turn to dust.
If he succeeded, it would be like a fish leaping over the dragon gate, a complete metamorphosis.
In this turbulent Cultivation World, there ought to be a place for him, Su Bai!
With a resolute gaze, he took out a full ten thousand Spirit Stones.
This was his entire life's savings.
This was a massive gamble!
Using this many Spirit Stones for cultivation could simply be called reckless dissipation.
Even the elders of the Qingyun Sect wouldn't dare to use them so lavishly.
Yet Su Bai was using this immense cache of cultivation resources just to break through the Qi Refinement stage.
If these outer disciples knew how wastefully Su Bai was spending, they would probably be furious enough to turn blue in the face.
This was truly the behavior of an insanely wealthy spendthrift.
[Host successfully gifted: Annotated Edition of the Azure Dragon Formula (Mystic-grade manual)]
[Triggered a hundredfold critical return!]
[Obtained: Azure Dragon Formula (Heaven-grade manual)]
Accompanied by the prompt from the System, an appraisal interface appeared before Su Bai's eyes.
Manual: Azure Dragon Formula
Quality: Heaven-grade
Description: A cultivation manual created by the founder of the Qingyun Sect. It trains both the internal and the external; internally, it cultivates spiritual power, and externally, it tempers the physical body. Achieving minor success grants the strength of a thousand pounds!
"Incredible!"
Su Bai couldn't help but praise aloud.
Right now, what he lacked most was physical strength.
As the saying goes, old age does not rely on sinew and bone. Even if he could use this mountain of Spirit Stones to break through the Qi Refinement stage, his aging body would still be his fatal flaw.
If he could rely on the Azure Dragon Formula to strengthen his physical body, he would have no weaknesses left.
"All in one go!"
Su Bai hardened his heart. The goal he had failed to reach after sixty years of bitter toil—this time, he would fulfill his wish, break through the Qi Refinement stage, and become a true cultivator.
Leaving himself no retreat, he piled all the Spirit Stones directly onto the array at the center of the room.
As the array spun smoothly, the glow of the Spirit Stones gradually dimmed. Wisps of spiritual energy, resembling morning mist, evaporated from the stones and filled the entire room.
The concentration of spiritual energy in the room was now comparable to a blessed paradise.
On the first day, nothing happened.
On the second day, still no movement.
By the ninth day, the Qingyun Sect disciples outside the training room had already started whispering about whether Su Bai had suffered a cultivation deviation and died inside.
However, disturbing someone during closed-door cultivation was a major taboo, and since the tenth day had not yet arrived, no one dared to go and check what was happening.
"Senior Sister Lin is here!"
"Senior Sister Ziyun is here too!"
Accompanied by a flurry of excited cries, two stunning maidens arrived outside the training room, escorted by a crowd of people.
"Old Man Su really has pull!"
"Both of the outer sect's top two genius beauties are here!"
"If I could be as glorious as him—letting me ride spiritual beasts and live in an immortal mansion—I'd do it in a heartbeat!"
"You brat, you want all the perks for yourself."
Lin Xiaoyue and Ziyun arrived at the entrance of the training room and waited quietly.
Ziyun had a gentle and quiet temperament.
Lin Xiaoyue, on the other hand, grew impatient before long, her brows furrowing.
"Could this old man really have died in there?"
"If he dies, who am I going to get the complete sword technique from?"
Lin Xiaoyue retrieved a small medicine vial from her Storage Bag. Inside were pills capable of reconnecting severed meridians, an item of extreme value.
If Su Bai had truly suffered a cultivation deviation and still had a breath left in him, these pills might just save his life.
Finally, the tenth day arrived.
More and more disciples gathered outside the training room. Many of them knew that an old man had been in closed-door cultivation inside for ten days.
Failing to break through after sixty years of cultivation was one thing, but if he could successfully break through the Qi Refinement stage at the advanced age of over seventy, it would be major news.
Breaking through the first layer of Qi Refinement wasn't a huge deal on its own, but a resolute Dao heart maintained for sixty years was certainly extraordinary.
"I wonder what Senior Su is up to, not coming out of seclusion for so long. He must have something very important to do!"
Ziyun certainly didn't think Su Bai was in any danger. Although she didn't understand why he needed to seclude himself for ten days, she knew there had to be a profound reason behind it.
By noon, Lin Xiaoyue could no longer bear it. Frowning, she prepared to forcefully break through the barrier.
Dead or alive, she had to try and save the old fellow.
Outside the training room, the buzz of discussion grew louder.
"Could that old handyman really have kicked the bucket in there?"
"Hard to say. While cultivation isn't inherently dangerous, the possibility of a cultivation deviation isn't zero either. He's already so old, maybe..."
"At seventy or eighty years old, trying to force a breakthrough... the consequences are likely to be disastrous."
Many Qingyun Sect disciples were not optimistic about Su Bai's closed-door cultivation.
"It is now noon..."
Lin Xiaoyue looked up at the sun in the sky.
Just as she was about to force her way into the training room, a creaking sound echoed out—the door to the stone chamber swung open.