Han Yu's eyes widened. His lips curled into a trembling smile.

"A fragment… a real fragment of solid Qi."

The pain in his chest was still sharp, his body exhausted, but his heart surged with elation. It was not yet a core, but it was proof. His method worked.

The mountain was steep, but he had taken his first true step onto its slope.

Han Yu's breathing was shallow, his body trembling, but his eyes locked firmly on the tiny speck of solid spirit Qi that floated at the center of his Dantian. It was so small it could have been mistaken for a grain of sand, yet to him it was more valuable than any treasure he had ever laid hands on.

That tiny fragment was proof. Proof that he had taken the right path, proof that his endless days of struggle had not been in vain, and proof that his method, though unorthodox, could indeed lead him toward success.

But the triumph in his heart was quickly restrained by caution.

His spirit sense brushed against the speck and immediately told him something was wrong.

"It's cracking?!"

The fragment was not stable. It pulsed faintly, as though it might shatter at any moment, its surface cracking like fragile glass under invisible pressure. If he did not act swiftly, this little seed of hope would dissolve, forcing him to begin again from the very beginning.

"I can't let this go to waste." He gritted his teeth, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest from the earlier recoil.

His lips still tasted of blood, but he could not allow weakness to sway him. He urged his Qi to move once more, forcing his Dantian into a spinning whirlpool. This time, however, his focus was entirely different.

He did not seek to create a core from nothing, but to anchor what was already present. The whirlpool revolved around the fragment, drawing liquid spirit Qi closer and pressing it against the fragile speck.

HUALA

To his surprise, the effort felt different than before.

The pressure needed was far less than when he had tried to force condensation without a guide. The fragment seemed to welcome the liquid Qi, pulling it in and binding it tightly to itself. The cracks that threatened to destroy it were slowly filled and mended as the liquid Qi adhered to the fragment, strengthening it bit by bit.

Han Yu's heart thumped wildly.

'This was it. This was the missing key I had lacked!'

The fragment acted as a seed crystal, stabilizing and guiding the formation of more solid Qi.

The process reminded him of something from his alchemical studies. When growing artificial crystals, one would place a small seed crystal into a saturated solution of salt. Over time, the salt in the solution would deposit in perfect order around the seed, growing the crystal layer by layer.

What was happening inside his Dantian was exactly the same.

The fragment was his seed crystal, and his liquid Qi was the saturated solution. With each breath, with each rotation of his whirlpool, more liquid Qi was pressed into solid form, accumulating around the fragment and making it larger and denser.

He sat in perfect stillness, his mind unwavering, while his spirit sense carefully observed every tiny change. The hours dragged on, the pain in his body screamed louder and louder, but he ignored it all. The world outside ceased to exist.

All that mattered was the tiny core slowly growing inside him.

An entire day slipped by, and Han Yu did not move. His legs were stiff, his lips parched, and his body drenched in sweat, but his focus never faltered. At dawn the next day, a subtle vibration shook his Dantian.

Tremble

He shifted his awareness inward and saw that the speck had grown into something far greater. What had once been a mere fragment was now the size of a grape, smooth and luminous, floating at the very center of his Qi sea.

The moment it reached that size, a powerful surge erupted outward.

WOONG WOONG WOONG

Waves of spirit Qi radiated from his body, rolling outward like ripples across a lake. The pressure was so immense that the isolating formations carved into his tent began to flicker and strain. These formations had been designed to contain even the energy from a Core Condensation breakthrough, but Han Yu's energy was anything but ordinary.

The air trembled, the lines of the formation cracked, and then with a deafening pop the tent collapsed.

RIP~! KACHA!

Fabric was torn apart as if struck by an invisible storm, scattering into the air. Han Yu was suddenly revealed to the entire camp, sitting cross-legged in plain sight.

Gasps echoed across the area as disciples turned their heads toward the disturbance.

Cultivation tents were meant to be private and stable, yet one had burst apart violently. Several inner court disciples rushed over to investigate, thinking perhaps there had been an attack or an accident. What they saw, however, left them rooted in shock.

Han Yu sat there, his robes drenched in sweat and streaked with blood, his lips stained crimson. Yet despite his battered appearance, his presence radiated immense strength. The waves of spirit Qi emanating from his body pressed down on the surroundings like a mountain. His aura was unmistakable.

He had broken through!

Whispers spread rapidly among the gathered disciples.

"Is that Han Yu? He… he actually broke through!"

"I thought he was only aiming for the Early Core Condensation stage. But this pressure… it feels stronger than that!"

"His tent blew apart. Just how powerful was his breakthrough?"

No one could deny the truth of what they were witnessing.

The air itself confirmed it. Above Han Yu's head, a vortex of atmospheric spirit Qi had formed, spinning wildly as it funneled directly into his body. The sheer density of Qi in the surroundings became visible, like misty streams pouring down from the heavens into his Dantian.

This was the natural infusion that occurred upon successfully stepping into the Core Condensation realm.

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