I haven't touched on the subject for two days, as it was just a speculation based on my frustrations.
But well, as I said, it was just a maybe, even I don't believe it's just the middle or the beginning. But I also refuse to believe that it's at least close to the limit of a Qi Refining. Because if that's the case I'd have reason to question the author's abilities to build and follow his own power structure.
Of course, I'm not implying that Nicky is a bad author or that the story isn't good. It's just that the notion that a cultivator has the same, or even lower, limits as a martial artist is ridiculous. At least I think we can all agree on that.