Chapter 202: Rapid Growth
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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As Jin So-myeong looked at the treasures piled high in his subspace, a good idea suddenly came to his mind.
‘Limitless. Come out here. There is a lot of food here.’
*Wring?*
Limitless, who had been sleeping in the spiritual herb field of the Secret Realm of the Mind, appeared with a half-asleep feeling.
He poured out a pile of Rank 4 spiritual treasures for the fellow who was wandering around peering here and there to look for where the food was.
!?
They were items obtained from the storage pouches of the Sacred City cultivators. Pointing at the spiritual treasures piled high like a mountain, he spoke.
“You can eat everything here.”
Whether startled, Limitless bounced up and soon flew toward the pile of spiritual treasures.
*Whirring!*
When he nodded to Limitless, who was circling around the pile of spiritual treasures as if asking if it was really alright to eat them, the fellow began to absorb the sharp intent with great excitement.
Currently, Limitless’s grade was Rank 4 mid-to-high grade.
He had grown rapidly after absorbing sharp intent in the Sword Pass of the Defeated Sage Dojo, and it seemed he would grow again this time.
‘I can just give the spiritual treasures to Limitless…’
He scanned the jade slips containing cultivation methods, various secret techniques, and the heritage of the One Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation, then shook his head.
He had wanted to examine them closely to see if there was anything decent, but there were simply too many.
‘Dan-il. You look through the jade slips and copy the ones that seem useful separately.’
Leaving it to his clone Baek Dan-il, he moved on to the medicinal pills.
‘Ha. Every single one is top-grade.’
Indeed, the Sacred City. When he appraised the cultivation resources added to his subspace, the quality was superb.
It was of a level that could not even be compared with those circulating in the market.
Among the cultivation resources Jin So-myeong possessed, the most outstanding one was the Great Azure Spiritual Oil obtained from the young master of the Mok Clan.
However, the medicinal pills used by the Sacred City cultivators were twice as efficient in accumulating spiritual power than the Great Azure Spiritual Oil.
Did it feel like an extremely outstanding elixir refiner had made them with devotion using top-grade ingredients?
After inspecting them closely with the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye and judging that there was no problem, he swallowed one…
It was incredibly smooth.
The medicinal pill, melting like water, flowed along his meridians and settled in his dantian.
‘Haha, it is to the extent of being touching.’
He could not feel any irritation in the process of digesting the medicinal pill. Since it was a perfectly refined pill, there were almost no impurities, so it could be consumed frequently.
‘Do the Sacred City bastards usually cultivate while consuming things like this?’
It went beyond an absurd level and was to the point of being slightly unfair.
If he had consumed such medicinal pills since his Qi Condensation stage days, he would have reached the Soul Formation stage long ago by now.
‘…Is that not the case?’
Without trials, there is no growth. There was no guarantee that extreme efficiency would necessarily yield the best results.
According to what he had experienced himself, that was the case.
Perhaps… it was thanks to numerous wastes and inefficiencies that he was able to reach this position today.
At any rate, in any case,
What was important now was that pills with excellent effects had poured in.
If he actively utilized the Rank 5 spiritual vein and the vast cultivation resources, he could raise his realm at a tremendous speed.
‘One year… no, about eight months should be enough to reach the late Nascent Soul stage.’
An unexpected opportunity.
Originally, he would have had to cultivate for fifteen to twenty more years to reach the late Nascent Soul stage, but he was able to save a tremendous amount of time.
Just as he was nodding his head in satisfaction.
“Who is it! Using the Rank 5 spiritual vein without permission!”
A Nascent Soul stage cultivator emerged from the empty air where nothing had been and extended a red fan.
*Whoosh!*
The flame barrier that shot up along the ground transformed into spiral gears and rotated violently.
From the wheel made of condensed flames, sharp intent as sharp as Sword Qi was emitted.
Although it was a powerful spell to the point where all moisture within a 10-kilometer radius evaporated and the surroundings were devastated, it did not pose a threat to Jin So-myeong, who had even fought against a Soul Formation stage cultivator.
He could deal with it easily just by being incomparably faster than his opponent.
Just as he was about to cut him down with a single slash, he paused.
Hong Seol had said it would take a year to challenge the Soul Formation stage. He intended to cultivate during that time, but he could not continue to be disturbed like this.
‘Gwang-il. You deal with him.’
The moment he created a Blood Spirit Clone containing seventy percent of the main body’s power and entrusted the control to the clone.
*Rumble!*
A brilliant bolt of lightning grazed the opponent’s neck, and the number of corpses increased by one along with the head that plopped down.
‘Not bad.’
He was satisfied. Seeing that he won much more easily than expected, it seemed he could leave the guard duty to Baek Gwang-il and focus on cultivation.
‘Good. If a problem arises, call me immediately.’
Leaving behind Baek Gwang-il, who nodded with an expressionless face, he drew up a rough plan for how to cultivate for the time being.
‘If the Sacred City cultivators continue to appear, it is no different from medicinal pills pouring in indefinitely.’
It meant there was no need to worry about running out of medicinal pills for the time being.
If so… what he had to do first now was clear.
‘I should raise the proficiency of the Immortal-Severing Earth Art.’
Would it not be a waste to throw away the infinitely pouring medicinal pills? It was necessary to increase the digestion speed of the pills.
Having set his goal, Jin So-myeong sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
*
Half a year and fifteen days later.
As he focused on cultivation while leaving trivial matters to his clone, time flowed quickly.
Although he made many developments during that time, the most proud of was indeed this.
[Spells]
Immortal-Severing Earth Art (Minor Success 490 million / 500 million)
Thanks to pouring in almost all of his Supreme Great Abilities, the proficiency of the Immortal-Severing Earth Art reached the very end.
‘Whew.’
He adjusted his breathing and calmed his mind.
Because he wanted to fully capture the moment his cultivation method improved as the proficiency rose.
The moment he filled the lacking Supreme Great Abilities while raising his concentration to the maximum.
……Ah.
Jin So-myeong, who had been staring at the empty air where nothing existed for a long time, wore a bitter smile.
‘It is not easy.’
He had felt it vaguely during Minor Success, but a Great Success-grade cultivation method was of a different class.
Was it because it was a cultivation method obtained by consuming hundreds of millions of Supreme Great Abilities?
He focused his entire mind to capture the moment the spell formula, which was at Minor Success, crossed the wall and rose to Great Success…
But he only realized that it was difficult to properly perceive with the level of the Nascent Soul stage.
His memory was hazy.
If there was something most perfect and complete in the world, it could be called an ideal. It felt as if he had touched that ideal for a split second and then bounced off.
Although he could not remember clearly, a faint sensation still remained.
Chewing on the remoteness, Jin So-myeong turned his gaze.
[Spells]
Immortal-Severing Earth Art (Great Success 1 / ∞)
What on earth had changed?
As he examined the improved spell formula, a smile formed on his lips.
‘I can now consume sixteen times more medicinal pills.’
The effect of the existing Minor Success-grade Immortal-Severing Earth Art was to allow him to consume 8 times more pills, but that was strengthened to 16 times.
Needless to say. Of course, it was incredibly good.
‘I feel proud.’
The secret technique, which was 2 times at the initial entry stage, increased to 3 times at Mastery, 4 times at Proficiency, and then rapidly increased from Minor Success, reaching 16 times now that he achieved Great Success.
Honestly, at 16 times, as long as the supply of medicinal pills was sufficient, it was at a level where he could consume them almost indefinitely.
‘At this speed… it will be harder to obtain the pills now.’
Of course, now that he was inside the dream of the True Realm of Illusory Dreams, that was an irrelevant story.
Were not the Sacred City cultivators, who attacked whenever they had a chance, providing vast quantities of the highest-grade cultivation resources?
‘It feels like I have come to a buffet.’
Literally meaning that cultivation resources were infinitely replenished. There was no need to worry about lacking medicinal pills.
Tossing the pills into his mouth as if eating snacks, he checked if there were other changes as the Immortal-Severing Earth Art reached Great Success.
*Snap!*
As he snapped his fingers, a darkish dagger appeared in the empty air.
At a glance, it looked like a dagger carved from obsidian, but this was a much more dangerous object than expected.
‘The poison created by clumping pill toxins has become stronger.’
The Immortal-Severing Earth Art was a secret technique that condensed impurities, which inevitably accumulated in the process of consuming medicinal pills, to refine toxic hidden weapons.
Being able to consume many medicinal pills was, in a way, merely a secondary effect.
Actually, the real thing was this hidden weapon.
How many medicinal pills had he consumed during his hundred years of cultivation?
If one was even grazed by this dagger created by compressing the pill toxins accumulated over that time, cultivation would become dozens of times more difficult.
It was a terrible poison so lethal that it was burdensome even for Jin So-myeong, who had achieved Great Success in the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art.
He thought it would be good to use on an enemy he sincerely wanted to screw over…
‘I don’t know if I will have a chance to use this.’
Honestly, it was not a poison helpful in battle. It was not as if it had the effect of restricting actions or driving one to death.
If he had the leisure to use this poison, it was better to penetrate lightning Qi to burn the internal organs instead.
Of course, the effect he wanted was the one to consume 16 times more pills, so there was no reason to dwell on the pill toxin dagger.
***
Three months later.
Sitting cross-legged on a flat rock like a platform, Jin So-myeong fell into contemplation.
‘It feels like I have hit a wall.’
For some time now, no matter how much he cultivated, his realm remained the same.
The wall of the minor cultivation realm transitioning from the mid to late Nascent Soul stage was much thicker and higher than expected.
According to his original calculation, it would have been normal to reach the 7th layer of the Nascent Soul stage a month ago, but he was still at the 6th layer.
It meant his expectation was wrong, but he was not disappointed.
‘It should work today.’
In the meantime, he tried various methods to break through the minor realm. Although all failed, those experiences were not meaningless.
Through trial and error, he devised a highly probable method, and believed he could succeed today.
What if it did not work?
‘I just have to do it again.’
He could find another method. Therefore, he decided to try the method that came to mind first.
He took out a total of twelve medicinal pills and aligned them in front of his eyes.
Among the spiritual medicines gifted by the Sacred City cultivators, they were only the top-grade lightning-attribute pills that he had chosen and chosen.
‘Let’s go.’
He did not hesitate. The moment he compressed the twelve medicinal pills with spiritual power and tossed them into his mouth at once.
*Rumble…*
The faint sound of thunder that echoed in his stomach gradually grew louder.
The lightning Qi condensed in the pills was released and began to run wild. In the blink of an eye, it grew explosively strong and entered an uncontrollable territory.
Although the lightning Qi rampaging along his meridians tried to reduce not only his internal organs but his entire body to ashes, he smiled.
‘Good.’
He liked the fierce momentum.
He protected his meridians and guarded his vital points with the Red Armor created by condensing his physical essence at the same time.
Until his body adapted to the rampaging lightning Qi. He just left it as it was.
How many minutes had passed?
As soon as he judged that he had room to spare, he woke the Five Elements Divine Thunder that had been sleeping in his mind.
*Boom!*
Originating from twelve different medicinal pills, the complexly tangled lightning Qi was absorbed by the Five Elements Divine Thunder and began to be refined.
As expected of lightning Qi, an energy famous for its ferocity, it resisted violently, but it could not withstand the Five Elements Divine Thunder born from the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art.
The Five Elements Divine Thunder, which absorbed all the energy of the pills and became twice as strong, circulated through his body along his meridians.
Using that vast energy.
He began to knock on the wall in his mind, which he had to cross to reach the late Nascent Soul stage.
*Thud!*
The thick wall did not even budge, but he did not stop.
Swallowing the pills as they came to hand, he boosted the Five Elements Divine Thunder that was about to weaken.
His meridians, which reached their limit, tingled.
Is this really alright?
Hesitation. A weak mind originating from doubt held him back, but he ignored it. He just repeated.
*Crack…*
A hairline crack appeared on the wall that had not budged,
Until it finally collapsed.
Beyond the wall that shattered like a glass window, a path stretching infinitely was visible through his wide-open field of vision.
‘Ah.’
That place was indeed the path he would walk forward.
The moment he crossed the minor cultivation realm.
The fatigue accumulated during the breakthrough process disappeared as if washed away. His stifled chest was also wide open.
His meridians, which had been hovering near their limits, regained composure, and his Divine Sense grew explosively.
Was it thanks to his extremely sensitive five senses? He felt as if the entire world had become clear.
Amid the joy overflowing in his chest.
The late Nascent Soul stage.
He realized that he had reached that place.
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