Starting with the consumables of the Demonic Sect, one can barely achieve immortality.

Failed breakthrough?

What a joke! If Yan Cheng wasn't confident he could break through on his own, he wouldn't have said all that to Tian Tong.

Ultimately, this is just a breakthrough from the early stage of Qi Refining to the middle stage, not Foundation Establishment.

The difficulty level shouldn't be so high that it makes a large number of people stop and give up.

The reason why it is difficult for corpse cultivators in the palace to break through to the middle stage is that their Yin body is incomplete, their cultivation methods are not good, and their resources are scarce.

In addition, people like Tiantong deliberately arranged for cultivators to undergo seclusion in places with large pits in order to make those who successfully broke through indebted.

Wealth, companions, Dharma, and place—all four essential elements for spiritual practice are lacking.

Even the most exceptional cultivators, one in ten thousand, would find it extremely difficult to progress.

Yan Cheng, however, did not need to worry about so much.

The "Shangyintian Corpse Path Chapter" mentions the breakthrough of cultivators in one go without a single word being superfluous.

This is enough to show that as long as one cultivates steadily according to the method, the mid-stage threshold that is difficult for countless corpse cultivators is no problem for Yan Cheng at all.

His only worry was that the court would not allow him to achieve enlightenment without incurring karmic debts.

Now that he has received Tian Tong's hint, if he has the ability to break through on his own, at least Huang Tong's faction will not make things difficult for him after he succeeds.

What the hall currently lacks are mid-stage cultivators. For every one who achieves this, Huang Tong will have one more ox or horse to command.

Since we will ultimately have to contribute to the Immortal Sect, how we broke through to the next realm is no longer so important.

That being said, before officially starting the breakthrough, Yan Cheng still secretly used [Cave Illumination] to observe the surroundings and make sure that no one else was watching.

Then, they took out most of the silk threads left behind by the silk weaver and used them to seal the entrance, preventing anyone from breaking in during the breakthrough.

Since he rejected the suggestion to break through in the secluded room with Tian Tong protecting him, he naturally had to rely on himself to take safety precautions during the breakthrough.

If it were one of the righteous sects in the south, lower-level disciples might be able to focus on their cultivation and breakthroughs without having to constantly be on guard against fellow disciples raiding their base.

But in this godforsaken place...

The high-ranking cultivators in the hall call the corpses their fellow disciples. Does that really mean they have some kind of camaraderie among them? Don't make me laugh.

Even the silk weaver, who rarely left her home and was relatively uninfluenced by the traditions of the immortal sects, could see the competitive relationship among the corpse cultivators. Naturally, Yan Cheng would not have any naive fantasies.

The puppet threads he placed behind the door were twenty times the amount of silk threads Tiantong had given him.

No one in the hall could have predicted that a mere early-stage corpse cultivator would possess so many puppet strings.

This item is a deadly weapon against corpse cultivators. Even if two or three mid-stage cultivators attack, they will not have a good outcome if they are caught off guard!

Of course, if Huang Tong came in person, these silk threads would be no different from children's tricks.

But if even Huang Tong decides to attack a mere early-stage corpse cultivator, then what's the point of playing this game? Yan Cheng is willing to accept defeat.

This time, he did not sit inside the coffin, but instead sat cross-legged on the floor to the side.

As the crisp, cold aura gradually emanated outwards, a pair of eyes in the shadows slowly began to glow with a purple light.

……

The Hall of Longevity has four floors.

"How many of your disciples do you think will succeed in this retreat?"

A visitor arrived at the dark room where the "Soul-Observing and Fate-Seeing Treasure Basin" was kept.

She was tall and slender with delicate features, and her hair was tied in a striking topknot.

This is a typical Southern style of dress, quite rare in the North where women mostly wear their hair down like men.

The female cultivator was wearing a close-fitting martial arts uniform, a style commonly seen in the south, which perfectly showcased her shapely figure.

Yu Caiying, a mid-stage Qi Refining corpse cultivator, is the deputy leader of the enforcement team.

The Hall of Longevity is already predominantly populated by men and women, and female corpse cultivators with exquisite features are even rarer.

Only when cultivators reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining and have a stable supply of Yin Corpse Fiends will they have extra energy to devote to matters other than cultivation.

After Guan Caishun was strangled, Yu Caiying was riding high and became the second-in-command of the enforcement team. Her already beautiful face became even more radiant.

The celestial child guarding the copper basin didn't even glance at her; his gaze remained fixed on the countless red dots flashing on the second floor.

After a long pause, he finally answered slowly:

"About 30% or 40%."

"These people are able to cultivate to the initial stage of perfection because they have no lack of innate talent and aptitude."

"The biggest challenge lies in the backlash from the Yang Fire."

"The atmosphere of spirits in the hall is not as stable as it used to be. Even those who stay peacefully in their coffins sometimes lose control and die suddenly."

"Even with you and me protecting him, if we encounter an unlucky guy who explodes and dies as soon as he breaks through, neither of us can save him in time."

Yu Caiying smiled, pursing her lips.

She knew, of course, how Tendo would protect someone on the verge of losing control.

Isn't this the Tian Su Yin Yue that he's holding in his arms right now!

The reason why Tiantong offered to protect all cultivators was not because he coveted those few strands of Yin Corpse Qi.

Instead, he used this as a pretext to successfully persuade the emperor to entrust the management of Tian Su Yin Yue to him.

This item can help yin suppress yang and enhance spiritual practice. Simply keeping it in one's bosom is more beneficial than countless elixirs.

From Tian Tong's perspective, he actually hoped that the cultivators would take a while to break through, so that he would have a reason to continue occupying the spiritual artifact.

Perhaps by the time he hands over the Heavenly Yin Moon, he will be qualified to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining!

Even if someone else had reached the middle stage of cultivation, obtaining the corresponding cultivation method for the later stages would not have been easy.

After all, Huang Tong herself was only at the late stage of Qi Refining, so how could she easily let the corpse cultivators below get ahead of her?

Although the later stages of the corpse cultivators are completely different from Huang Tong's later stages.

But does Yu Caiying not know what kind of person Huang Tong is?

If the lower cultivators show even the slightest threat, this guy will, just like the Holy Maiden she has always looked down upon, use his late-stage cultivation to launch a counterattack against the lower cultivators!

Yu Caiying's eyes flickered:

"Only Senior Brother Tiantong is determined to succeed, for the sake of the Palace Master's plans; even Huang Tong doesn't dare to stop him."

"With his talent, reaching the later stages or even the peak of his cultivation is only a matter of time."

"But... I just don't believe that he would obediently cultivate to the peak of Qi Refining and let himself be at their mercy, knowing that the people in the palace are after his body!"

Having served in the palace for many years, she knew very well that the same thing could be interpreted differently by different monks with different perspectives.

The difference lies in whether the person in question has the mindset of a celestial being and whether they can understand the thought process of this group of sinister beings in the hall.

Her gaze swept over the twelve enormous coffins placed against the walls of the dark room, and she calmly concealed the displeasure in her eyes:

"Now that you have gained the trust of your senior sister, this batch of newly accomplished mid-level cultivators will likely be assigned to your command."

"The more achievements one can make, the better."

Upon hearing this, Tian Tong looked up and smiled.

"Although I have the heart to help others, the person involved must also have the will to save themselves for things to be successful."

Yu Caiying's thoughts were clear and quick:

"Senior brother, are you talking about... that junior cultivator named Yan Cheng?"