Su family's residence.

Chen Hao, who was still on sick leave from school, was reading in the living room. His head kept dropping while his vision was spinning. Telling him to read was basically the same as killing him.

While yawning, he forced his eyes to stay open. Looking at the shut door of Su Yu's bedroom, he wondered how his friend managed to stay so long in the room. Did top students not need to use the toilet or something?

...

Inside the room.

Su Yu had consumed the drop of source qi liquid formed by Bai Feng. The source qi density gathered by this drop wasn't that high, but it was just nice for him. At the same time, he had also swallowed the drop of iron-winged bird blood essence he had purchased with thirty thousand dollars.

With the Source Swallowing Technique activated, he maximized the speed in which he was absorbing source qi. Once again, he enjoyed the feeling of having all nine acupoints temporarily opened. Seven of his acupoints were properly opened while his eighth acupoint was half-opened.

His seven opened acupoints were glowing with a radiance no ordinary person could see. A circuit took form connecting all these acupoints, and the circuit was slowly forming a connection with the eighth acupoint.

"Opening the Spirit Palace, forming a proper connection with source qi!"

The ninth acupoint, known as the One Hundred Openings, could connect his body with the ambient source qi of the world. Meanwhile, the eighth acupoint, the Spirit Palace, could connect the acupoints within one's body into a circuit. That was why a cultivator would only gain proper combat strength upon reaching the eighth-stage Source Opening Realm.

The Source Opening Codex had always been the foundational cultivation method of humanity. Every human would have some source qi gathered in their body. But without opening the eighth acupoint, they would have no way of utilizing the gathered source qi. They could only allow the source qi to passively temper their acupoints.

After opening the eighth acupoint, they would gain the ability to actually control the source qi and practice martial techniques. By utilizing source qi, their moves would be much more destructive than before.

The biggest difference between the eighth and the ninth stage was that those in the eighth-stage could only use their own source qi while those in the ninth-stage could utilize the ambient source qi around them as well.

"After opening the Spirit Palace, I'll be able to start using martial techniques. My offensive power will increase and situations where I fail to kill a Great Strength cultivator after hitting them with my blade will no longer happen."

Su Yu was absorbing source qi at a rapid pace. He had a feeling that his body was going to explode soon. A Source Opening cultivator was not able to contain too much source qi within their body. Not only had Su Yu activated the Source Swallowing Technique, he had even used a drop of source qi liquid. Because of that, he was absorbing source qi at a faster speed than even regular Great Strength cultivators.

"Temper the acupoint!"

With a roar, Su Yu gathered his source qi at his Spirit Palace acupoint. He had been stuck at the seventh-stage for quite a while. He had reached the seventh-stage on the 16th of May. It was already the 5th of June.

It had been nearly twenty days since his last advancement. That was the longest he had been stuck ever since he had obtained the ability to use the Source Swallowing Technique. He even had Bai Feng's Source Opening Codex helping him, so he was getting impatient after twenty days of no breakthroughs.

Hum!

Source qi converged on him and the air around him trembled. Humming sounds echoed in his room. Outside, Chen Hao had an odd look on his face. For some reason, he felt incredibly comfortable. Source qi was gathering, and he could feel it even though he still couldn't see it. That sensation was similar to having a bowl of hot soup after several days of hunger.

"It sure is comfortable here at Yu's place. That's probably because Dad's not here to nag at me all the time."

After muttering to himself, Chen Hao looked at the shut door of the bedroom again. Was Yu cultivating martial techniques in the room? It was getting quite noisy.

...

"Still not opening?"

Su Yu felt himself nearing his limit. If he couldn't open his acupoint today, he would have wasted the drop of source qi liquid and blood essence. That was basically the same as spending nearly a hundred thousand dollars for nothing.

He was halfway through opening the acupoint, and if he didn't complete it this time, he would need another drop of blood essence or even source qi liquid the next time he repeated the attempt. At that point, he would be doing more than cultivating. He would be driving himself straight to bankruptcy.

Su Yu was finding it hard to bear with the amount of source qi in his body so he stood up. He needed to do something to vent his excess source qi as he felt like his body was going to burst apart soon.

When cultivating, one wasn't forced to remain in the lotus position or remain still. Sitting still in the lotus position was merely helpful in staying calm and focused on the process. That was the most efficient way one could absorb source qi. The more one moved, the lower the efficiency would be, and the more source qi would go to waste.

But that was no longer an issue for Su Yu since he had too much source qi in his body. In any case, all the gathered source qi would disperse if he failed this breakthrough anyway. After stretching his arms, he started practicing a fist technique.

Tiger Fist, a low-tier yellow-grade fist technique that was also a foundational fist technique of the human race. This martial technique mainly served to temper one's body instead of combat. It had low efficiency in the utilization of source qi and focused more on the strength of one's physical body.

Hum!

Su Yu's fists shot forth rapidly with the momentum of a pouncing tiger. This technique was actually an adaptation of a martial technique of the actual tiger race. It focused on ferocity and its moves were simple. Strength gathering through breathing, strength amplification through the positioning of legs, before bringing the strength upward.

"Hah!"

A roar erupted from Su Yu's mouth. When practicing fist techniques, the act of shouting would also bolster one's presence. That was why many people would actually shout during combat. Outside, Chen Hao jumped. For some reason, that roar from Su Yu sounded much more imposing than usual, giving him a sensation that a tiger was pouncing on him.

Downstairs, an old man felt his ceiling trembling and looked up while clicking his tongue in wonder, "This kid's Tiger Fist is getting pretty good. He's good enough to be put to use in the army."

Although this kid was still in the Source Opening Realm, the old man had to admit that the roar earlier held an imposing presence even those in the Great Strength Realm would have a hard time releasing.

Even without personally witnessing the punch, the old man could still hear that there was something special about that roar earlier. In fact, that was a roar Su Yu had released with some of his willpower mixed into it. Therefore, it was only natural that the roar sounded different.

...

"Hah!"

One roar after another resounded, and as Su Yu threw punch after punch, rumbling sounds echoed in the room. Apart from punching, all his fingers were used as well. The Tiger Fist might be a punching technique, but the claws of a tiger was also a potent weapon.

With a pop, Su Yu's arm shot forth and his fingers stabbed through his closet's door. He merely shot the damaged closet a glance and forgot about it. His room was too small, so it was normal to cause some damage while training there.

After a while, he finally exhausted enough source qi that he no longer felt like bursting apart. He continued absorbing source qi to temper his acupoint. Slowly, the eighth acupoint opened and formed a connection with his seventh acupoint.

The more he practiced the Tiger Fist, the better he felt. His roars were getting louder and louder. Abruptly, he felt his strength increasing exponentially. Without any hesitation, he sent his right fist toward his closet.

Boom!

The closet's door was blasted apart. Even the closet broke apart with wood shavings flying everywhere.

"Hahaha!"

Su Yu couldn't be bothered to spare any attention to the broken closet as a wide smile covered his face. Even though he was calmer than his peers, he still couldn't stop himself from feeling excited. His Spirit Palace acupoint had been opened! He had reached the eighth-stage Source Opening Realm!

Boom!

The door was pushed open as Chen Hao rushed into the room. He first looked at the destroyed closet before looking at Su Yu. Scratching his head, he asked, "Yu, are you fine? I know Uncle Su has a bad taste in closets, but you don't have to smash it apart, right?" 

Meanwhile, Su Yu was panting heavily while looking at Chen Hao speechlessly. Was the closet the issue here? The issue should be him destroying the closet with one punch. Was this idiot even aware of what that signified?

Prior to the eighth-stage Source Opening Realm, at best, one would only be able to punch through a closet door. But the entire closet had been destroyed. Did this fellow think nothing of it? If it was an ordinary person instead of a closet, that punch would have blasted that person apart.

Su Yu couldn't even be bothered to explain himself. He pulled his arm back and stood up. After a short stretch, he checked his fist and saw that it remained uninjured. During the punch, a small amount of source qi had also erupted from his fist, protecting it from damage.

"Eighth-stage Source Opening Realm!"

Su Yu was overjoyed. He was twenty days away from the examinations and he had successfully hit one of his goals, reaching the eighth-stage.

"I need a personal saber. I also need a proper martial technique and adapt to my new strength and the new technique. Then, I'll be able to look for a chance to kill a Great Strength cult member. I wonder if there are still any of them left in Nanyuan. I hope there are."

Recently, the Windcatcher Department has been very active. Many of the well-hidden cult members were caught, making it difficult to encounter a large number of cult members. He would consider himself lucky if he could even encounter one.

While thinking, Su Yu looked at Chen Hao and said, "Pick up the clothes and clean the room for me."

"What?" Chen Hao had a blank look. "I didn't do this."

"Sure. Go read instead. One hour."

"Cough, cough. Let me help you clean the room."

Chen Hao instantly decided that he would rather clean the room than read. For him, reading was akin to torture. Only then did Chen Hao finally realize something. He asked, "Yu, did you reach the eighth-stage?"

"You only realized that now?" Su Yu looked at Chen Hao speechlessly. This guy's reaction time sure was slow.

"Huh? Really?" Chen Hao was shocked, "This is too fast!"

"I told you before that I'm nearing the eighth-stage. Is it so surprising that I've finally broken through?" Su Yu frowned, "Next time, you need to cultivate while I'm cultivating as well. You're wasting all the source qi around us."

Chen Hao had just broken through into the fourth-stage. However, it wasn't hard to reach the fifth-stage from the fourth-stage. After opening one ear acupoint, it was much easier to open the next ear acupoint.

The entrance examination was twenty days away. If Chen Hao was lucky, coupled with the help of rich source qi density, he might be able to reach the fifth-stage before then. Although he could probably enter the academy with his current cultivation and the bonus thirty marks, having a better result in the examination would still be helpful for him. Students entering the academies with bad results would generally have a hard time in the academies.

"Eighth-stage..."

Chen Hao was dispirited, to the point he wasn't even listening to Su Yu. Before this, he had been happy with the fourth-stage. Although Su Yu had reached the seventh-stage, that was still different from the eighth-stage. 

In a fight, he might not lose to a seventh-stage Su Yu. But at the eighth-stage, their bodies no longer played that big of a role in combat. Rather, it was the utilization of source qi. Even if he grew ten times stronger, he still wouldn't be Su Yu's match.

"Yu...I'm really stupid, right?" Chen Hao was disheartened. "I can't even bring myself to read. My dad told me that the Source Opening Codex you gave me is something good. Only a big shot can write something like that. You only gave it to me because you see me as your brother. But I...simply can't read...And now, you're already at the eighth-stage while I'm still stuck at the fourth-stage..."

Su Yu did not try to lift Chen Hao's mood and said, "Do not compare yourself with me. I am someone chasing after the geniuses of the capital. You're not doing that. You only need to catch up with Zhou Chong. If you reach a point where you can whoop his ass easily, you can already be considered a successful person."

"But didn't you tell me to expand my worldview and aim for the Skysoar Realm?"

"What nonsense is that? Goals need to be set in stages. First, you will overtake Zhou Chong. Then, enter the Great Strength Realm before entering the Infinite Strength Realm. You can then start aiming for the Skysoar Realm. Did I tell you to reach the Skysoar Realm in one go? Cut your goals into segments and achieve them one at a time. That way, you can stay motivated."

Su Yu was speaking from experience. A big goal would seem too far away. By cutting his path toward the ultimate goal into multiple smaller goals, he would find his journey much easier than before. It was also easier to maintain his motivation.

"Is that so?" Chen Hao gave it some thought and nodded. "Sure. In that case, my current goal is to kick Zhou Chong's ass. I'll go to school and whoop his ass tomorrow."

"..."

For some reason, Su Yu found himself pitying Zhou Chong. He was saying that as a metaphor. He actually meant for Chen Hao to surpass Zhou Chong in cultivation. Furthermore, Chen Hao had already beaten Zhou Chong once. How could he bring himself to do it a second time?

"Whatever. Get to work. When you're done cleaning the room, go to the Xia Trade Company with me."