After the Three Little Ones returned to Xingqing Palace, they closed the doors, preparing for Li Xuan to absorb the coldness from Ankang's body.
By now, they had become increasingly familiar with the process.
Yu'er naturally stood guard outside, preventing anyone from disturbing them.
Ankang Princess stuck out her little bottom, took off her shoes, and huffed and puffed as she climbed onto the bed.
Li Xuan focused his mind and calmed his Qi, checking the power within his body to ensure he was in optimal condition.
Once everything was ready, Li Xuan nodded to Ankang Princess.
Ankang Princess immediately understood and began practicing Ling Xu Finger Strength directly on the bed.
She had only practiced this finger-strengthening technique twice before, but now she was proficient, her movements looking as if she had been cultivating for several years.
"It feels like Ankang's physical quality is not only getting stronger, but her martial arts talent has also improved significantly."
"Will she master Nine-Rank Cultivation Methods faster in the future, or will these Nine-Rank Cultivation Methods no longer be able to improve Ankang?"
Every time he helped Ankang Princess absorb the coldness from her body, Li Xuan couldn't help but worry about these things.
To some extent, Ankang Princess's improvement speed was getting faster and faster.
Li Xuan, however, was the opposite; as his strength increased, breaking through realms became increasingly difficult.
If this contradiction could not be resolved, there would definitely be big problems in the future.
"Perhaps the secret of Ankang's body can only be resolved by going to the Northern Region."
"The Great Liang, submerged in endless snow, perhaps the answers we need are there."
Li Xuan's thoughts drifted, but he also knew that the prerequisite for doing these things was to possess a certain level of strength.
He hadn't even cultivated True Qi yet, so it was too early to talk about these things.
It wouldn't be too late to think about these things when they had enough strength to leave Great Xing one day.
And just as Li Xuan was lost in thought, Ankang Princess was slowly finishing her cultivation.
Ling Xu Finger Strength had also completed its third cultivation.
If all went as expected, Ankang Princess had also reached the perfect realm in this cultivation method today.
After Ankang Princess finished her cultivation, she crawled into the quilt herself, leaving a gap for Li Xuan to enter.
"Li Xuan, wish us a good night's sleep."
Li Xuan smiled slightly, put away his scattered thoughts, and then plunged into the quilt, lying on Ankang Princess's belly.
Soon, the familiar coldness surged forth again.
The Ice-Cold Breath was naturally activated, and as usual, it violently collided with the surging and rampant coldness within Li Xuan's meridians.
But now, Li Xuan's physical strength was far beyond what it used to be, and his meridians were much tougher than before.
Although the damage caused by the cold still made Li Xuan feel unbearable pain, it was within a tolerable range.
However, this time was different; in addition to the Ice-Cold Breath being activated within Li Xuan's body, the Yin-Yang Power, which originally only participated in repair work, also stirred restlessly, becoming more active than before.
"What's going on?"
"Is the Yin-Yang Power also going to participate in the coldness's rampage?"
It was already enough for Li Xuan to be miserable with the Ice-Cold Breath acting as a traitor in his body; if even the Yin-Yang Power also betrayed him, he would probably be in big trouble.
"No, it can't be…"
As Li Xuan was filled with doubt, another anomaly occurred: the Yang Deficiency Qi Induction Method and the Yin Weak Qi Gathering Technique, these two cultivation methods, began to operate on their own.
Two cultivation methods with opposing attributes operating simultaneously within Li Xuan's body made him tremble all over.
"Am I going to suffer a Qi deviation?"
"It was fine before…"
"Could it be those two beans I ate earlier!?"
Li Xuan immediately thought of his abnormalities over the past two days.
Other than eating the two beans Aymu gave him, he hadn't done anything different from before.
But before he could think further, he felt his consciousness begin to blur, his body alternately hot and cold, feeling light as if he was about to ascend.
What Li Xuan didn't notice was that the progress of his two Qi Sensing Realm cultivation methods was silently climbing.
"…95%, 96%, 97%, 98%…"
Li Xuan's eyes were tightly closed at this moment, and he didn't even see a strange crimson light adorning the tip of his tail, precisely where the di hong bone ring was located.
…
A familiar scene replayed.
Ankang Princess was full of energy, her complexion rosy, nurtured as if reborn.
Li Xuan lay sprawled on the bed, lying perfectly straight, with a pillow under his head and a small quilt covering him, like a small person.
He was staring blankly at the ceiling with wide, bewildered eyes.
Li Xuan had broken through.
The faint Yin Yang True Qi within him circulated endlessly, forming two small Yin-Yang fish, constantly chasing each other, mutually destroying and creating.
But Li Xuan, as the cat involved, could no longer clearly remember the details of the breakthrough.
"I just remember that when I was absorbing the coldness for Ankang earlier, my body was a mess."
"How did I just muddle through and break through?"
"Am I in the Qi Sensing Realm now?"
Li Xuan still felt somewhat unreal, unable to believe the fact that he had broken through.
But the faint Yin Yang True Qi constantly flowing within his body left him no choice but to believe.
Moreover, the circulation of True Qi within his body created a peculiar resonance between his entire body and the outside world.
If Li Xuan was merely a pure individual in the world before the Qi Sensing Realm, now he seemed to have formed some invisible connection with this world.
He became a part of the world, and the world also became a part of him.
Li Xuan lay on the bed, and just by breathing, he could feel the fatigue he had experienced from absorbing the coldness from Ankang Princess's body rapidly receding.
"It was already outrageous to recover energy by sunbathing before, and now I can recover health just by breathing!?"
Li Xuan realized that he might have grasped core technology.
As he experienced the constant recovery of his physical strength with each breath, strands of external Yin-Yang Power were absorbed into his body, but he couldn't retain all of it; he could only absorb less than a tenth of it into the Yin-Yang fish within his body to strengthen himself.
"Isn't this just getting stronger by breathing?"
"Is the Qi Sensing Realm inherently like this, or was the Yin-Yang Power from those two beans not fully absorbed?"
This feeling was too wonderful; Li Xuan only wanted to be immersed in it forever.
And at this moment, Ankang Princess burst in from outside, full of energy.
After she woke up and confirmed that Li Xuan was fine, she went outside to feel the changes in her own body.
Ankang Princess's physical quality had, as expected, strengthened again, and this time the improvement was even more significant.
"Li Xuan, Li Xuan…"
"Look, look!"
Ankang Princess knew that Li Xuan was very tired now, so she didn't make him get up; she simply lay down next to Li Xuan, then lay on the bed and shot out a small stone.
With a muffled "thud," Li Xuan saw that the stone had directly embedded itself deep into the ceiling beam, completely disappearing into it.
Li Xuan was originally still lying on the bed secretly enjoying the wonders of the Qi Sensing Realm, but when he saw this scene, his cat eyes suddenly widened.
"Is this the power of Stone Flicking Technique?"
Li Xuan roughly estimated that it had the power of a small-caliber pistol.
Plus, the stone Ankang Princess used was much larger than an ordinary bullet; wouldn't it just create a hole with every hit on a person?
Li Xuan turned his head in horror to look at Ankang Princess, who showed no fluctuations in Qi and Blood Power throughout her body and was no different from an ordinary person.
"This, is this purely physical strength?"
Ankang, however, didn't notice Li Xuan's gaze at all, only focusing on excitedly showing off her good deeds to him.
"Li Xuan, look, isn't it amazing?"
"The perfected Ling Xu Finger Strength combined with Stone Flicking Technique is simply a perfect match!"
"I just tried it outside with Sister Yuer, and if I go all out, I can even embed pebbles into stones, and the pebbles I shoot out won't even break!"
Li Xuan listened to Ankang's exaggerated description, and the shock on his face grew even more intense.
"What a human-shaped pistol!"
Then, Li Xuan saw Ankang casually shoot out two more pebbles, each embedding deeper into the roof beam than the last.
From start to finish, Ankang's movements were as effortless as eating and drinking.
Seeing Li Xuan stunned into a daze, Ankang giggled with satisfaction.
Once Ankang achieved her goal, she casually stroked Li Xuan's belly a few times before slipping out to play again.
She was overjoyed to see that Li Xuan wasn't as listless as usual today.
Before, after Li Xuan absorbed the coldness from her body, he would always look half-dead, which made Ankang feel especially heartbroken.
But today, Li Xuan was just lying upright on the bed, not in pain as he had been before.
This made Ankang believe even more in Li Xuan's earlier words about being on the verge of a breakthrough.
She thought that this was all because Li Xuan's strength had become stronger, which allowed him to absorb the coldness from her body so easily.
Regarding this point, Li Xuan still hadn't figured it out, so he didn't explain it in detail to Ankang and Yuer.
Honestly, his breakthrough this time was a bit muddled.
After eating those two beans, breaking through to the Qi Sensing Realm recently was already a sure thing.
But this most crucial final step was muddled, and he didn't even get to properly experience it, which made Li Xuan feel a little uncomfortable.
From the current results, although it was a good thing, the previous anomaly of Yin-Yang Power had also sown a seed of unease in Li Xuan's heart.
"This is the first time that even Yin-Yang Power has been stirred when absorbing coldness."
"Is there any relationship between coldness and Yin-Yang?"
Previously, it was relatively easy for Li Xuan to understand that coldness could stir the Ice-Cold Breath.
After all, in his opinion, these two forces originated from the same source, and it was perfectly reasonable for them to stir each other.
But now, the Yin-Yang Power, which had always been unresponsive, was also mobilized, which left him somewhat puzzled.
"There must be some change that I haven't noticed."
"What could it be?"
Li Xuan pondered deeply for a while, and as he thought, he lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already in Ankang's arms.
And outside, the sky was bright, clearly indicating that it was a new day.
Ankang was sleeping soundly, a faint smile on her face, clearly having a sweet dream.
Li Xuan got up, stretched, then kissed Ankang before jumping out of bed.
He took a deep breath; the feeling of breaking through to the Qi Sensing Realm made his scalp tingle with exhilaration.
Li Xuan's perception had become more subtle now, not just through hearing and smell, but more of a profound, mysterious connection between heaven and man.
Li Xuan silently closed his eyes, and it seemed as if a picture would be drawn in his mind, capturing all the surrounding changes, even including some changes invisible to the naked eye.
For example, the transformation of the Five Elements and the migration of energy.
The Qi of Heaven and Earth, combined as one, divided into Yin and Yang, distinguished into Four Seasons, and arranged into Five Elements.
Wood is called bending and straightening, fire is called flaming upward, earth is called planting and harvesting, metal is called following revolution, and water is called moistening downward.
These various transformations suddenly became clear and insightful in Li Xuan's eyes, allowing him to see his true nature.
The Yin Yang True Qi within his body helped Li Xuan shed a layer of this world's veil.
"Although every breakthrough has this feeling, this pleasure of sublimation is truly irresistible to a cat."
"What kind of scene is the world in the eyes of those high-grade powerhouses?"
At this moment, even Li Xuan himself didn't realize that his desire to become stronger was growing increasingly intense.
Even though he had just broken through, he was already impatiently imagining how the world in his eyes would change with the next breakthrough.
Speaking of which, Li Xuan hadn't yet experienced the power of Yin Yang True Qi after breaking through to the Qi Sensing Realm.
This Yin Yang True Qi is revered by humans as one of the highest pursuits in martial arts.
Li Xuan wanted to see if this thing was really that powerful.
Li Xuan eagerly went to the courtyard.
It was still early morning, and Xingqing Palace was quiet all around.
Li Xuan came to a peculiar landscape rock in the courtyard, and then one of his paws quietly circulated Yang attribute True Qi, instantly glowing with a faint white light, then gently clawing at the stone.
This peculiar landscape rock was about ten feet high and five feet wide, not small in size.
But Li Xuan's gentle claw directly caused a large chunk of the stone to shatter, its power astonishing.
It should be known that Li Xuan did not use any techniques, he just added Yang attribute True Qi and lightly clawed it.
"What strong destructive power!"
Li Xuan couldn't help but be surprised.
This was just his casual claw; if he were to get serious, it would probably be earth-shattering.
"Let's try the Yin attribute again."
Li Xuan quickly raised his other paw. After the Yin attribute True Qi was attached, it produced a faint black glow, then clawed the other side of the stone.
Stone chips immediately fell from the stone.
But this power made Li Xuan somewhat disappointed.
"Compared to Yang attribute True Qi, this Yin attribute..."
Li Xuan was about to make a comment, but his pupils suddenly constricted, and he couldn't continue what he was about to say.
Because he found that stone chips were still continuously falling from the spot he had clawed with Yin attribute True Qi earlier.
Wreaths of black light were attached to it, slowly eroding the large stone, continuously scraping off layer after layer of stone chips, without any sign of stopping.
"Continuous damage!?"
Li Xuan leaned in to observe carefully and found that Yin attribute True Qi could even adhere to stones.
After waiting for a while longer, the Yin attribute True Qi gradually dissipated, and the stone chips peeled off were even more than the damage caused by the Yang attribute True Qi in one go.
"I understand a little now."
Li Xuan looked down at his two paws, one black and one white, and a glint of excitement lit up in his eyes.
"So, if used together..."
Li Xuan crossed his paws and gently clawed at this poor stone.
The stone stood silently in front of Li Xuan, and apart from the two obvious damaged areas from before, there was no change.
"Huh, they wouldn't cancel each other out, would they?"
Just as Li Xuan's thought flashed, the peculiar landscape rock in front of him collapsed with a crash, stirring up a cloud of dust.
This sudden movement startled the cat, and it immediately darted away.
Li Xuan escaped to a safe distance and quietly waited for the dust to settle.
After a long time, only a pile of fine powder remained where the peculiar landscape rock had once been.
Li Xuan looked at his masterpiece and murmured:
"I didn't even use much force."