Chapter 184 - 190: Bottleneck

Words : 1448 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

``` Logically speaking, it indeed should be handed over to Li Zhirui for refinement, but Li Shiqing knew he wouldn’t emerge from seclusion anytime soon. "Elder Brother, you’re worried that Zhirui will remain in closed-door cultivation for a long time, right?" Seeing Li Shiqing nod, Li Shilian thought for a moment and said, "Then let’s wait a bit longer. After all, the family isn’t lacking Foundation Establishment Pills right now." If there were enough Foundation Establishment Spiritual Medicines, one might attempt to train a new Alchemist, but there are only ten sets of ingredients, and the Spiritual Objects cultivated by the family will take several more decades to mature—it can’t afford to be wasted, so it’s better to play it safe. However, the protagonist of everyone’s discussions, Li Zhirui, had just ended his nearly ten-year closed-door cultivation! But it wasn’t because he had successfully made a breakthrough and was returning home to seek Li Shiqing’s help as a protector; rather, he had encountered a bottleneck! Li Zhirui had a vague feeling in his heart that if he wanted to slowly wear it down by simply continuing closed-door cultivation, it might take him another ten or twenty years to succeed. "Sigh! Why did I encounter a bottleneck at such a critical time?" Li Zhirui sighed helplessly. He had originally believed that he could smoothly enter the Golden Core realm and become a Golden Core master, but unexpectedly, he faced such a stumbling block. In truth, Li Zhirui had a hunch about how the bottleneck came to be—it was probably because he had ingested too many Spirit Pills. Even though he had refined his Mana and cleansed the toxic effects of the pills diligently, some hidden issues had still remained. Day by day, month by month, this small hidden issue eventually evolved into a bottleneck, blocking his path of cultivation. To break through the bottleneck, there were two methods: the first was to patiently grind it down, taking perhaps more than a dozen years to resolve it, and the second was to go out and gain experience, either to grow mentally through challenges or to break the bottleneck amidst life-threatening dangers. Enjoy exclusive content from novelhall.Côm Li Zhirui had never considered using the first method, although safe, it would take too long, and with the current state of relations between the Li family and Yuanming Sect, a conflict could break out at any moment. Hence, he had no choice but to venture out and seek an opportunity for a breakthrough. Moreover, it seemed that on his excursion this time, he might encounter a stroke of fortune? Li Zhirui frowned slightly; the feeling was faint and elusive, also signifying that the potential fortune was not so closely related to him. Shaking his head and putting aside this matter, Li Zhirui pushed open the long-sealed door of his meditation room and said to Da Qing and Xiaoqing, "Let’s go, we’ll first make a trip back to Da Rong Island." Chirp! Da Qing cried out in confusion, not understanding why Li Zhirui was leaving without having made a breakthrough. Through years of cultivation, Da Qing was not far from the late stage of Foundation Establishment and could probably make a breakthrough in a few more years. Xiaoqing’s cultivation speed wasn’t slow either, and he was close to reaching the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. It appeared that, apart from the large amount of Spiritual Objects given by Li Zhirui, he had also been diligent in his cultivation over the years. "I’ve hit a bottleneck. I can’t break through in the short term, so I plan to go out and take a walk," Li Zhirui said with a smile. Screech! Upon hearing this, Xiaoqing let out an excited cry. Though no one restrained him, he only ever flew within a few hundred miles above Red Pine Island and he was already tired of it. "Yes, yes, I know. Once we go out, I’ll let you out to have your fill of fun," Li Zhirui rubbed his ears, it had been so long since he’d heard such a loud eagle’s cry that he was somewhat unprepared for it. Li Zhirui returned his two pets to the spatial storage, pushed open the courtyard gate, and prepared to inform the clan members stationed there. "Uncle Shiling, you’ve finally come out of seclusion!" An Qi Cultivator with a somewhat unfamiliar face exclaimed in surprise. Li Zhirui was taken aback at the words, Uncle Shiling? Although there had been clan members of his generation earlier, this was the first time he heard a young man who looked somewhat like him call him Uncle Shiling. "Yes, I’ve decided to return to the family for a while this time. In time, the family will probably send another person at the Foundation Establishment stage to take over here. You all guard the Marketplace well and avoid any mishaps," he said. ``` "Yes!" Several people responded excitedly. Li Zhirui watched them with an amused smile, thought for a moment, took out several bottles of Jade Spirit Pills from his storage bag, and said, "Cultivate well." After speaking, he called out Xiaoqing to fly into the sky and leave. "Do you think Uncle Ji has broken through to the later stage of Foundation Establishment?" The people excitedly put away the jade bottles and then began to discuss enthusiastically. "He must have broken through!" "With Uncle Ji’s talent, and he has been in seclusion for so long, he definitely has broken through to the later stage of Foundation Establishment." Although Li Zhirui had been out of sight for a long time, the tales about him had not diminished within the family; after all, his growth and experiences were indeed worthy of being written about at length by the Li family, serving as a model for the other family members. "That Cangfeng Hawk was so majestic; if only I had such a Spirit Beast!" "Dream on, that’s a third-tier Spirit Beast." "I heard Uncle Ji’s Cangfeng Hawk often mingles with the family’s Jade Beak Eagles; maybe they could produce a hybrid Spirit Eagle." "Even if it’s true, we can’t contract it unless we break through to Foundation Establishment." Upon hearing this, the previously excited expressions on everyone’s faces instantly cooled down. As family descendants, their treatment was definitely better than that of Loose Cultivators; there was no need to run around for scattered resources, but the difficulty of reaching Foundation Establishment was not much less than that of Loose Cultivators. "Do you know about Lady Xuan? She only had Four Spiritual Roots, but now she has become a Foundation Establishment Cultivator! Don’t give up so easily!" Even so, how many people could actually achieve this? And if we say that Li Zhirui was the role model of all the family members, then Li Zhixuan was the idol for those in the family with lesser talents, bringing them a glimmer of hope and motivation to persevere. —— "Why did you come out of seclusion so suddenly?" Li Shiqing asked with some surprise upon seeing Li Zhirui appear suddenly. Li Zhirui pressed his lips together and shared his encounter with a bottleneck, then said, "I plan to go out on an adventure to seek a breakthrough opportunity." "You’ve just come out of seclusion and may not know that Shilian has broken through to the Golden Core stage not long ago; the threat from the Yuanming Sect to our family is not so great anymore, you don’t need to take such a risk." The situation of the Li family wasn’t that bad anymore. Although Shen Leishan wanted the two families to begin a feud, everyone still remained calm. Of course, that might be because they knew they couldn’t conquer the other side; truly fighting would be a waste of their own strength and not worth it. Unless the existing balance was broken, the Li family would be in a peaceful development environment. Therefore, Li Shiqing did not want Li Zhirui to take the risk of venturing out in search of breakthrough opportunities but to stay in the clan’s territory and slowly wear away the bottleneck. "Elder Lian has formed his Core?" Li Zhirui looked delighted; coming out of seclusion, he did not expect to encounter such good news. Li Zhirui then contemplated whether he still needed to continue his journey. Though the external pressure was gone, the temptation of opportunity still lured Li Zhirui, so he decided not to change his mind in the end. Seeing this, Li Shiqing knew that Li Zhirui wasn’t taking his advice and, with a helpless shake of his head, said, "Before you leave, help the family concoct ten batches of Foundation Establishment Pills."

Chapter 184 - 190: Bottleneck

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