I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

The atmosphere at the Fifth Peak after the Grand Tournament was completely different from usual.

The disciples coming and going had more smiles on their faces and walked with their backs straighter.

In front of the Peak Affairs Hall, the line to receive resources was orderly—this year the resource allocation has increased significantly, and each disciple can receive 30% more cultivation materials than in previous years.

"Have you heard? Our Fifth Peak won first place in this competition, and our resource allocation for the next three years has doubled!"

"That's not all! Elder Xu said that they'll be giving out an extra bottle of Qi Condensation Pill every month from now on!"

"This is all thanks to Senior Brother Qin..."

Amidst the discussions, Qin Yuan's name was repeatedly mentioned. This young man, who had only joined the Fifth Peak a few days ago, had already become the spiritual pillar of the entire peak.

Inside the Listening Bamboo Garden, Qin Yuan sat cross-legged in the quiet room, seemingly oblivious to the praise from the outside world.

Three jade boxes were laid out in front of him, which were the final rewards he had obtained from the core area of ​​the secret realm: a bottle of Condensing Gold Pills, a Breakthrough Talisman, and a low-grade Xuan-rank cultivation technique, "Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Technique".

The Golden Elixir is the best auxiliary elixir for condensing a Golden Elixir, increasing the success rate by 30%, and is priceless.

Breakthrough Talismans are one-time consumables that can forcibly break through bottlenecks during breakthroughs, but they can cause some damage to the foundation and should not be used unless absolutely necessary.

As for the "Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Technique"... Qin Yuan flipped through it for a moment, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

This is actually a cultivation technique specifically for the Golden Core stage. It emphasizes repeatedly refining spiritual energy nine times during the Golden Core stage. With each refining, the Golden Core becomes more solid. After nine refinings, the quality of the Golden Core will far surpass that of other Golden Cores of the same level.

Although it is only a low-grade Xuan-level technique, its intent is extremely high. If the subsequent techniques can be completed, it may reach the Earth-level or even the Heaven-level.

"It suits me well." Qin Yuan put away the jade slip.

He did not immediately take the Golden Condensation Pill to break through—the Heavenly Pool was about to open, and it would be an even better place to break through.

The system panel floats in front of you:

[System that Increases Cultivation by Twenty Years in a Day]

Current level: 2 (2357/5000)

[Cultivation Points Storage: 40/60 years]

[Cultivation points not extracted today]

Qin Yuan kept a portion of the resources he gained from the competition for emergencies, and fed the rest to the system.

The upgrade progress is currently at 2357 points, which is still quite a distance from the 5000 points required for the next upgrade, but there is already hope.

More importantly, he stored up his cultivation power—for three days, he deliberately did not extract twenty years of cultivation power each day, storing it all up.

Now, he has accumulated forty years of cultivation, and with the twenty years that can be extracted today, that's a full sixty years of cultivation!

He planned to extract all of his sixty years of cultivation from the Heavenly Pool at once, and with the rich spiritual energy of the Heavenly Pool and the Golden Core, break through the Golden Core barrier in one fell swoop!

"It's been three days..."

Qin Yuan opened his eyes and looked out the window.

Tomorrow will be the day that Tianchi opens to the public.

Tianchi is located deep within the back mountains of the Xuan Yuan Sect. It is a naturally formed spiritual lake. The lake water is formed from the condensation of the earth's spiritual energy and contains the pure essence of heaven and earth, which is of great benefit to cultivators breaking through their cultivation levels.

Due to limited resources, Tianchi is only open once every three years, and only ten people are allowed to enter each time.

The quotas were allocated by the Nine Peaks based on their contributions over the years. This year, the Fifth Peak was given two quotas as a special exception because it came in first place in the competition—one to Qin Yuan and the other to Zhou De, who performed outstandingly in the secret realm.

Early in the morning, a large number of people had already gathered at the entrance of Tianchi Lake.

The elders from each peak brought their disciples who had secured a spot. Most of the disciples were between twenty and thirty years old, and all of them were at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage—the minimum requirement for entering the Heavenly Pool.

"Look, Ye Qingchen from the First Peak has arrived!"

A commotion broke out in the crowd.

Ye Qingchen was still wearing that thin white dress, barefoot, with a languid expression.

Behind him followed another disciple from the First Peak, a cold-faced young man in black with a deep and imposing aura, clearly also a top expert among those at the peak of Foundation Establishment.

"Su Xue from the second peak has arrived too!"

A woman in white, carrying a sword, walked slowly, followed by a female disciple who also carried a sword. The two had similar temperaments, both possessing the sharpness unique to sword cultivators.

Disciples from the third peak, the fourth peak, and so on, arrived one after another.

When Qin Yuan appeared with Zhou Ming, all eyes turned to him.

"Is that Qin Yuan? That monstrous genius who rushed from the sixth level of Foundation Establishment to the peak in three days?"

"I heard he instantly killed Xiong Li in the secret realm, and even Ye Qingchen lost to him in a battle of spiritual sense..."

"Tsk tsk, this talent, it's truly infuriating to compare oneself to others."

Amid the discussions, there was envy, jealousy, and resentment.

The young man in black on the First Peak glanced coldly at Qin Yuan and whispered to Ye Qingchen, "Senior Brother Ye, is that Qin Yuan? He doesn't seem like anything special."

Ye Qingchen smiled and said, "Junior Brother Li, you can't judge a book by its cover."

"No matter how powerful he is, he's only at the peak of Foundation Establishment," the young man surnamed Li scoffed. "I'm also at the peak, and I've been cultivating for ten years longer than him. In the Heavenly Pool, what matters is one's foundation and inherent strength, not actual combat ability."

This statement represents the thoughts of many people.

Of the ten people present, which one wasn't a genius from their respective peak? Which one hadn't cultivated diligently for many years to reach the peak of Foundation Establishment? Although Qin Yuan's rise was rapid, his foundation was inevitably weak, and he might not have an advantage in a place like Tianchi that tests one's true strength.

Even the elders leading the teams from each peak mostly shared the same view.

"Elder Xu, your Fifth Peak has produced an extraordinary disciple this time," the Third Peak elder said with a forced smile. "However, cultivation in the Heavenly Pool emphasizes gradual progress. Junior Nephew Qin's rise has been too rapid; his foundation is probably... hehe."

Elder Xu said calmly, "No need for you to trouble yourself."

As they were talking, ripples suddenly appeared on the stone gate at the entrance to Tianchi.

A phantom figure slowly emerged from the stone gate.

It was a tiny figure, about the size of a palm, formed entirely of pale blue spiritual light. It had two pairs of transparent wings on its back, and its face was blurry, with only a pair of clear, spring-like eyes visible.

Tianchi Spirit.

The spirit that governs the Heavenly Pool is in charge of each opening of the secret realm.

"The time has come." The Heavenly Pool Elf's voice was as clear as a child's, yet carried an undeniable authority. "Ten disciples, step forward."

Qin Yuan and the others walked to the stone gate.

The Heavenly Pool Spirit's gaze swept over the ten people one by one, lingering for a moment on Ye Qingchen and Su Xue before nodding. When it came to Qin Yuan, it frowned slightly, as if sensing something, but then shook its head.

"Once you enter the Heavenly Pool, each of you should find a place to cultivate in peace. The essence of the Heavenly Pool is limited; how much you can absorb depends entirely on your own fortune," said the Heavenly Pool Spirit. "Remember, no fighting, and no disturbing others; violators will be expelled."

After it finished speaking, it turned around and pointed at the stone gate.

The ripples on the stone gate spread out, transforming into a water curtain of light.

"Enter."

The ten people stepped into the gate of light one by one.

The Heavenly Lake Spirit hovered in the air, watching the last person disappear before muttering to itself, "Of this batch, those two little guys from the First and Second Peaks have the most solid foundations; they should be able to absorb about 30% of the essence. The others… hmm, that Qin Yuan, mixed five-element spiritual root? Someone with that kind of aptitude can reach the peak of Foundation Establishment? He must have used some kind of trickery. Oh well, absorbing half a percent is already pretty good."

It shook its head, and its figure gradually faded away.