Chapter 211 - 180: A Showdown? Dropping the Act?

Chapter 211: Chapter 180: A Showdown? Dropping the Act?

A moment later, Li Changsheng slowly opened his eyes and murmured, "So that’s the reason..."

It was common knowledge that the first realm of cultivation involved drawing spirit into the body to enter the Qi Cultivation Realm. Subsequent cultivation focused on absorbing the free-roaming Spiritual Power from the world or consuming Spirit Pills. This was done to accumulate Spiritual Power and, one by one, unblock the main Spirit Veins.

Depending on the strength and difficulty of the Cultivation Technique, the final number of main Spirit Veins unblocked would also differ.

Only Cultivators who had unblocked more than nine main Spirit Veins could refine a foreign spiritual essence and seek the chance to step into the Vein Condensation Realm.

The reason Li Changsheng had felt that Wu Yong’s Patrol Guard Captain, the one who captured Dong Yao, was so weak was twofold. First, he had only unblocked nine main Spirit Veins. Second, the foreign spiritual essence he had refined was of a very low grade.

This was why even after advancing to the Vein Condensation Realm, his strength was at the very bottom of the realm, and he had completely lost any hope of advancing to the Dao Foundation Realm.

And Cultivators like him were everywhere; they were a common sight in the Cultivation Realm.

After all, not everyone was born with exceptional talent.

For those with ordinary aptitude, even if you gave them a Cultivation Technique capable of unblocking the Twelve Main Spiritual Veins, it would all come to nothing without the support of vast resources. They would be better off with an ordinary technique.

’After all, no matter how weak, they were still in the Vein Condensation Realm, weren’t they?’

As for cultivation after advancing to the Vein Condensation Realm, the clue was in the name.

Vein Condensation—condensing the Twelve Main Spiritual Veins!

This involved tempering the Spirit Veins with Spiritual Power of mixed properties until they transformed to become like glazed jade. At that point, they would be perfectly compatible with the Spiritual Power’s properties. The Spirit Veins would then, in turn, nourish the Spiritual Power, allowing its properties to fuse together.

And this was precisely why the properties of Li Changsheng’s Spiritual Power were mixed and incompatible.

Although he had advanced to the Vein Condensation Realm, he had yet to complete the most crucial step: tempering the first main Spirit Vein.

Only then would he have truly and completely stepped into the Vein Condensation Realm.

Once all Twelve Main Spiritual Veins were completely transformed, he would reach Vein Condensation Realm Perfection.

At that point, one could use various methods to strengthen and purify their Spiritual Power until no further progress was possible. Then, they could begin absorbing Spiritual Objects that matched their Spiritual Power’s properties. This would bring out and unearth those properties to their fullest extent, transforming their Spiritual Power and body, and ultimately forging their Dao Foundation.

All this information surfaced in his mind.

Li Changsheng let out a soft breath. After putting away the jade slip, he took out the one given to him by Tan Hu and pressed it to his forehead.

Its contents were mostly the same as the one from Lan Cai Shen, the difference being that it included some extra experience and tips.

For example, during cultivation, a Spiritual Land that matched the properties of one’s Spiritual Power would speed up the tempering of the Spirit Veins.

Continuously refining Spiritual Objects with matching properties would not only strengthen the power of those properties but also lay a solid foundation for unearthing them later.

Also, tempering the Spirit Veins could proceed simultaneously with strengthening one’s Spiritual Power, but this was limited by the Spirit Veins; one must not put the cart before the horse.

The rest of it contained methods and experiences on how to temper Spirit Veins and purify Spiritual Power, from which he gained a great deal.

"What a good senior brother..."

Li Changsheng opened his eyes, looked at the jade slip, and couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

The experience recorded in the jade slip would save him an unknown amount of cultivation time.

’Once the sect sends over the method for a Spirit Plant Master to advance to Great Spirit Plant Master, I must study it carefully. I’ll try to grow a tier-three special Spirit Plant for my good senior brother as soon as possible.’

A thought flashed through Li Changsheng’s mind. He summoned Da Congming, instructed it to cook for Xiaohua and her family, and then eagerly headed up to the third floor.

He sat cross-legged on the soft couch, closed his eyes, and focused his mind.

In a trance, a network map appeared before his eyes, dominated by twelve thick, golden-yellow main Spirit Veins, supplemented by hundreds of complex branch veins.

This was the vein circulation chart for the "Blood River Refining Yang True Skill".

The surging Blood Sun Spiritual Power flowed wantonly through the network, like a raging river.

Li Changsheng steadied his mind, looked at the first main Spirit Vein, and after a moment’s hesitation, guided a wisp of Spiritual Power to merge into it.

The Spiritual Power merged smoothly, but before he could feel happy, a sharp pain shot through him.

The pain was like a sudden cramp. Caught off guard, Li Changsheng’s mind fell into disarray, and he was immediately ejected from his internal-view.

Li Changsheng opened his eyes and frowned.

Fortunately, the pain came and went quickly.

After recovering for a few breaths, Li Changsheng closed his eyes again, focused his mind, and immersed himself in his internal-view.

However, less than a moment later, his body trembled for an instant, and he opened his eyes again.

「A few breaths later.」

"Again!"

Li Changsheng gritted his teeth and once again closed his eyes and focused his mind.

Not long after, the trembling of his body intensified. It lasted for a few breaths before he opened his eyes again.

Again, and again... The pain seemed to stack, growing more intense each time.

He only stopped when his face was scrunched up in agony and his limbs twitched uncontrollably.

Li Changsheng collapsed onto the couch, writhing and rubbing his body.

It took a full half-hour for the pain to gradually subside.

Li Changsheng let out a breath and sprawled on the soft couch, gritting his teeth as he said, "Why didn’t the jade slips say tempering Spirit Veins would be this painful..."

The key thing was, not only did Lan Cai Shen’s slip not mention it, but neither did the one from Tan Hu.

’They must have done it on purpose!’

He rubbed his somewhat numb face, took out a pill bottle, and looked at the two Water Rhythm Spirit Pills inside. He tipped one out, swallowed it, then immediately closed his eyes and began circulating his Cultivation Technique to refine it.

For the next several days, Li Changsheng immersed himself in his cultivation.

With the help of the Yin Blood Jade and the Earth Fire Evil, although the speed of tempering his Spirit Veins was a little faster, it was still as slow as a turtle’s crawl.

After several days of tempering, he had completed less than one percent.

Fortunately, compared to tempering his Spirit Veins, his Spiritual Power grew very quickly. After several days, his Spiritual Power had increased by about ten percent.

「On this day.」

Li Changsheng was resting on a lounge chair, easing the pain from tempering his Spirit Veins.

At his feet lay Xiaobai, who was the size of a calf. Its two tails were curled up under its chin as it slept soundly.

In the courtyard, Xiaohua’s family was lying in a row at the doorway.