Inside the Island-Protecting Grand Formation on Tai'an Island.
"A bottleneck? The Heavenly Calamity?" Li Fan flipped through the purchased copy of *Cultivation Miscellany*, his brow slightly furrowed.
Ever since returning from Wanxian Island a few days prior, he had not ceased cultivating for even a moment.
He had originally intended to strike while the iron was hot, breaking through to the late Qi Condensation stage in one fell swoop.
Yet even though he could clearly feel that a breakthrough was within reach, no matter how he cultivated, he always seemed to fall just a hair short.
This seemingly minuscule gap stood before him like an insurmountable chasm.
Only after perusing *Cultivation Miscellany* did Li Fan finally confirm that he had run into a bottleneck.
Even in ancient times of cultivation, there was talk of bottlenecks.
During cultivation, one's progress could get stuck at a certain juncture, unable to advance even an inch.
In today's cultivation world, bottlenecks affected cultivators to an even greater degree.
Starting from the middle Qi Condensation stage, every cultivator was bound to encounter a bottleneck whenever attempting to break through each minor stage.
Such bottlenecks could not be overcome through mere bitter, relentless cultivation alone.
One had to find an opportunity hidden within their obscure premonitions before it could be dissolved, allowing for a successful breakthrough.
This opportunity might come from gazing upon a painting or sipping a cup of tea.
It could be a fleeting epiphany, or a flash of insight in the midst of a life-and-death struggle.
It might even be a casual remark from a bystander, or meticulous guidance from a senior.
In short, there was no pattern to be found; one could only rely on the mysterious workings of "fate."
The existence of these bottlenecks undoubtedly suppressed cultivators' speed of progression to a vast extent.
Like a calamity visited by the heavens, it stood in the way of cultivators' path of practice.
Hence, cultivators also referred to it as the Heavenly Calamity.
In any case, this Heavenly Calamity had now descended upon Li Fan's head,
causing his plans for a swift breakthrough to come to naught.
After sitting dryly inside the formation for days, Li Fan felt not the slightest inkling of where his breakthrough opportunity might lie.
Knowing this matter could not be forced in the short term, he did not grow anxious. Temporarily setting aside his cultivation of the *Lesser Water Derivation Technique*, he turned instead to practicing the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos*.
The *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos* consisted of five layers, which in ancient times corresponded to the five major realms: Innate, Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul.
The Innate realm was a rather peculiar existence among the techniques of certain ancient sects.
It placed emphasis on expelling all the foul, turbid qi accumulated since birth to return to a pure, innate state.
Those sects believed that by beginning one's cultivation from the Innate realm, it would be far easier to comprehend the Heavenly Dao.
Both the speed of cultivation and the ultimate ceiling would far exceed that of ordinary cultivators.
The Heavenly Mechanism Sect was one such sect that advocated starting all cultivation from the Innate realm.
However, ever since the new methods supplanted the old, cultivators plundered the heavens and seized from the earth, no longer caring about harmony between man and nature.
Naturally, returning qi to the innate state was out of the question.
Yet the most fundamental part of the entire *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos* was precisely the Innate realm.
Thus, what Li Fan had to do was substitute Qi Condensation for the Innate realm to complete the first layer's cultivation.
Generally speaking, using a higher realm to substitute for a lower realm was backward compatible, making cultivation relatively easy.
However, because it involved systemic differences between the ancient methods and modern methods, it was not that simple after all.
Moreover, Li Fan was merely a novice who had cultivated for only a few years, severely lacking in the necessary background knowledge.
This was also why it had taken him the better part of a year just to achieve initial mastery,
even with the aid of a liuli pill and its boost to his comprehension.
Now, having hit a bottleneck in the *Lesser Water Derivation Technique*, Li Fan turned to practicing the second layer of the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos*.
He intended to cultivate both techniques to the middle Qi Condensation stage simultaneously to see if he could use this to break through the bottleneck.
After all, cultivation techniques were precious in this era; an ordinary cultivator like him who could cultivate multiple techniques at once was truly rare.
According to the description in the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos*, once one successfully cultivated the second layer, one would grasp the divine ability "Discern Mechanism."
As the name implied, "Discern Mechanism" meant being able to distinguish and sense the various qi-mechanisms between heaven and earth.
This was also the foundation of the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos*.
Only by first discerning and sensing the qi-mechanisms could one proceed to capture and refine them.
The difficulty of cultivating the second layer exceeded Li Fan's expectations.
If the *Lesser Water Derivation Technique* was straightforward and clear in telling you how to cultivate without a single wasted word,
then the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos* concealed the method of cultivation within a heap of deliberately obscure phrasing, leaving you to guess and ponder on your own.
Not only that, it was interspersed with insights into the Heavenly Dao, allusions to anecdotes from the ancient cultivation world, and more.
With all sorts of chaotic elements tangled together, Li Fan could only read until his head spun and his blood surged.
After reading it through once, it seemed he had grasped it; only when he tried cultivating did he realize he had understood nothing at all.
Fortunately, Li Fan was not one to give up easily.
Even in the face of numerous difficulties, he remained patient, delving into each word and sentence to grasp its meaning.
Amid Li Fan's painstaking cultivation, another year passed.
His cultivation of the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos* had made virtually no progress.
Li Fan was not discouraged.
When he went to Wanxian Island for the second time to collect his compensation as acting guardian, he used all eight hundred contribution points and the five Tai'an fruits he had saved over the past two years to exchange for notes and insights on cultivating ancient techniques.
Afterward, Li Fan activated the auxiliary cultivation mode in the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
He did not cultivate techniques; he merely read these insights, comparing and verifying them against the experience he had accumulated over the past year.
Like a sudden enlightenment, all the perplexities and difficulties he had previously failed to unravel were answered at this moment.
Whenever he reached a brilliant passage, Li Fan could not help but dance with joy, brimming with delight.
Only at this moment did Li Fan truly understand the saying: *To hear the Dao in the morning, one may die content in the evening.*
Five days passed in a flash.
Having gained some comprehension, Li Fan hurried back to Tai'an Island and entered seclusion once more.
When he cultivated this time, it was night and day compared to before.
The obscure and difficult passages in the manual were now fully clear to him, and his cultivation naturally progressed without hindrance.
Li Fan's mind soon became thoroughly immersed in it.
In cultivation, one lost track of the passage of time.
On this day, a stream of golden, mist-like spiritual qi—entirely distinct from water-attribute spiritual qi—suddenly appeared in Li Fan's dantian.
Li Fan snapped his eyes open, joy showing on his face.
"The second layer of the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos* is finally complete." Li Fan let out a long breath.
Stretching his slightly stiff limbs, he turned to check the time and was momentarily stunned.
He had not expected this session of seclusion to last an entire year.
Yet in Li Fan's perception, it felt as though he had merely taken a single nap.
Fortunately, his hard work had ultimately borne fruit.
With a thought, as the golden spiritual qi converged in his eyes, Li Fan cast "Discern Mechanism."
"Let me see what the so-called qi-mechanisms of heaven and earth truly look like." Li Fan felt a surge of excitement as he tested the divine ability for the first time.
He looked toward Tai'an Island,
only to witness a scene that made his heart leap into his throat.
A thick, black death qi, like dense, overcast clouds, hung over the entirety of Tai'an Island!
The heavy death qi was nearly tangible, making Tai'an Island in broad daylight resemble the nether underworld!
Dispelling the technique, he cast it once more.
Only after checking several times in succession was Li Fan certain his eyes were not deceiving him.
"How could this be?" Li Fan was filled with shock and doubt.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he hastily conjured a Water Mirror Technique and looked toward his reflection in the mirror.
There, he saw
that above the head of the Li Fan in the mirror, the death qi gathered was hundreds and thousands of times greater than that of the mortals on the island!
Chapter 53