Chapter 272: Method of Increasing Cultivation Speed

===================
Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
===================

【Cultivation Arts】

Primordial One Qi Art (Mastery 2.8 trillion / 3 trillion)

Looking at the remaining proficiency of about two hundred billion, Jin So-myeong laid out the demonic cultivation spiritual objects piled up in the sub-space.

An unidentified skull, a wriggling lump of blood, a purple petal with a pungent fragrance, and so on.

He examined them all carefully one by one, and they were all 6th-rank spiritual objects. It was only natural, as they were things obtained from Je Hyeon-muk, a Void Refinement stage demonic Heavenly Lord.

‘Hmm… is it really okay to absorb these?’

Although the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye said these spiritual objects would be helpful, he could not help but be reluctant to absorb the energy contained in demonic cultivation spiritual objects.

After agonizing for a moment, he decided to absorb just a tiny bit, just in case.

He picked up a hand-sized purple petal and concentrated his mind.

He absorbed the turbid energy condensed in the petal…energy that could be called demonic Qi, if he had to name it…and guided it to his dantian.

Tensing up, he prepared himself in case a problem occurred.

Just as he was focusing on the changes occurring in his mind and body.

‘Hmm…?’

An unexpected thing happened.

It was not a bad thing. Rather, it was close to an extremely good thing.

Primordial One Qi Art (Mastery 2.82 trillion / 3 trillion)

In an instant, his proficiency increased by twenty billion.

Even though the demonic Qi he had just absorbed was a mere speck, his proficiency increased by an absurd amount.

Furthermore, his body also felt significantly lighter.

Upon absorbing the demonic Qi, he felt as if he was liberated from something that had been weighing down his mind and body.

He felt freed from an intangible pressure that had clearly existed, though he had not even been aware of it.

‘What is this?’

To think that such a drastic reaction would occur just from absorbing some energy contained in a demonic cultivation spiritual object.

He was flustered because a much greater change than expected had occurred.

Did some problem occur?

“…”

Frowning, he closed his eyes.

He focused his Divine Sense inside his body to examine the changes that had occurred in his mind and body in detail, and

Only after a considerable amount of time passed did he realize what had happened.

‘It was because of the balance.’

Although the law power possessed by Jin So-myeong was basically refined through the Primordial One Qi Art, looking closely, it was biased toward lightning Qi.

Of course, this did not mean it was wrong.

If he had to choose the most powerful energy he had encountered in his life, it was by far lightning Qi, so he had intentionally accumulated law power centered on lightning Qi.

To state only the core point again,

The law power possessed by Jin So-myeong was based on lightning Qi.

Although this lightning Qi was a special lightning that transcended the Five Elements, if one had to be precise, it was an energy opposite to demonic Qi.

In this situation, what happened when he absorbed demonic Qi?

‘Although it is very little… a balance was achieved.’

Let us imagine a balance scale. What would happen if a very, very heavy object was placed on only one side of the scale?

The scale would tilt drastically to one side.

In that state, what if an object was placed on the other side?

The scale that had been overwhelmingly tilted would become closer to balanced.

Jin So-myeong’s current state was exactly like that.

The burden created while accumulating lightning Qi was neutralized by the demonic Qi, and as the pressure applied to his meridians and dantian decreased, room was created in his mind and body.

It did not stop at simply becoming comfortable; the speed at which his law power circulated along his meridians actually increased.

So…

It was exactly right to say that the Primordial One Qi, which was created by mixing all kinds of energies, became a more stable energy.

And one more thing. He realized an extremely significant fact.

‘Balance. This was the core of the Primordial One Qi Art.’

To master the Primordial One Qi Art, one must harbor tens of millions, no, over hundreds of millions of energies inside their body.

But was that really possible?

At some point, would it not be normal to explode to death, unable to withstand the energies contained in one’s body?

The core principle to solve this problem was precisely balance.

Broadly speaking, Yin and Yang.

By appropriately absorbing opposing energies, the Primordial One Qi accumulated in the dantian could maintain a stable state.

It meant that like a balanced scale, the load applied to the mind and body could be reduced.

‘As expected…’

Nodding his head, Jin So-myeong closely examined his dantian.

After meticulously checking that there were no side effects, he grabbed another demonic cultivation spiritual object.

He concentrated on absorbing the turbid energy contained in the purple petal.

Primordial One Qi Art (Mastery 2.83 trillion / 3 trillion)

Primordial One Qi Art (Mastery 2.84 trillion / 3 trillion)

…

Primordial One Qi Art (Mastery 2.85 trillion / 3 trillion)

Pssss.

The petal, whose energy had been entirely absorbed, crumbled, but he did not stop.

He grabbed another demonic cultivation spiritual object and continued to absorb.

By the time a month passed.

Snap!

With the reddish-brown bone fragment that turned to dust and scattered as the last, dozens of 6th-rank spiritual objects became waste.

He consumed precious treasures without sparing them, to the extent that demonic cultivators would have shed tears of regret if they had seen it.

As a result,

Primordial One Qi Art (Mastery 2.99 trillion / 3 trillion)

The two hundred billion proficiency that should have originally taken a year to raise was filled in just a single month.

The proficiency remaining until the next stage after Mastery, Proficient, was a mere ten billion.

It was an amount that could be filled in an instant just by investing the Supreme Great Ability recovered over half a month.

‘Good.’

Before raising his proficiency, he unfolded the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye to check the surrounding twenty thousand li clearly.

Currently, he was returning to the Plateau Desert riding the Black-Flame Boundary-Stone.

Although he was cultivating to avoid wasting the time spent traveling, he must not forget the minimum vigilance.

‘No one is here.’

Thanks to the divine ability obtained from hunting the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard, he scanned the surroundings meticulously with the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye, which could now see up to twenty thousand li, but there were no dangerous elements.

Scanning a river so wide that it could be mistaken for a vast sea, he nodded his head.

The last piece needed for the Primordial One Qi Art to reach Proficient.

The moment he filled the ten billion proficiency.

‘…Hmm?’

There was no change.

No, to be more precise, it felt as though some significant change had occurred, but he could not perceive anything.

“Hah.”

As proof of that, the surrounding scenery had completely changed before he knew it.

Clearly, until just a moment ago, he was passing through a river as wide as the sea, but now, it had changed into a dense forest where trees grew thickly.

It meant he had lost consciousness while traveling an immense distance.

Vaguely, he realized what situation had occurred.

【Cultivation Arts】

Primordial One Qi Art (Proficient 1 / 300 trillion)

Converting the proficiency filled for this promotion into the Supreme Great Ability, it was a whopping three trillion points.

Three trillion. It was truly an astronomical figure.

The vast amount of Supreme Great Ability pulled the cultivation art to a new dimension, and unable to bear that vastness, he had lost his mind.

‘I was lucky. I must be careful next time.’

If he had been surprise-attacked, it would have been an extremely dangerous situation, but fortunately, nothing happened.

Wearily smiling, Jin So-myeong focused on the changes that occurred in the Primordial One Qi Art, but it was hard to grasp properly.

Clearly, it felt like something had changed, but he could not identify the change.

It felt like forcibly examining something covered by a thick fog.

He had experienced this a few times in the past.

It meant his soul and realm had not caught up with the growth of his cultivation art.

‘Will I only be able to grasp it properly once I reach at least the Void Refinement stage?’

Smacking his lips in regret, he closed his eyes.

At any rate, what was most important right now was how much faster his cultivation speed had become.

Operating the Primordial One Qi Art, he gauged the speed at which his law power accumulated, and

He was able to receive very pleasing news.

‘Thirty-five years until the Great Circle of the Soul Formation stage.’

The cultivation period that was originally expected to take fifty years was drastically shortened.

It was because as the realm of his Natal Cultivation Art rose, efficiency increased in all areas related to spiritual Qi.

Even the speed of digesting elixirs increased.

From the existing sixteen times to twenty times.

It was already fast, but it became even faster. He became able to consume elixirs at a speed incomparable to others.

This was because the Chaos Origin Wheel , a divine ability obtained upon entering the Primordial One Qi Art, which stored energy and automatically converted it into law power, had become stronger.

‘Since twenty-nine years remain until the secret realm opens… I just need to shorten it by about ten years.’

His current speed was sufficiently fast, but it was slightly lacking.

Time would also be needed in the process of breaking through realms. To reach the Void Refinement stage before the secret realm opened, he needed to pull up his cultivation speed further.

Then, what should he do to make his cultivation speed faster?

Strengthen the Secret Realm of the Mind?

It was the first method that came to mind, but unfortunately, this was difficult.

Currently, the spiritual vein of the Secret Realm of the Mind had reached the end of the 6th-rank mid-grade.

In terms of realm, it meant it was at the mid-Void Refinement stage level, but as it was already strengthened to the limit that his Divine Soul could bear, it was difficult to grow it further.

‘Is there no good way… Ah! Right.’

After agonizing for a moment, Jin So-myeong took out the Jade Water Coral.

If he replicated this coral, which had the ability to produce spiritual Qi, the spiritual Qi available for cultivation would increase.

As a test, he replicated it using the Myriad Flows Restoration divine ability, and one billion points of Supreme Great Ability were consumed.

‘The consumption is higher than expected.’

At his current realm, replicating a 5th-rank spiritual object usually consumed about ten million to one hundred million points of Supreme Great Ability.

However, perhaps because the Jade Water Coral was a special spiritual object that produced spiritual Qi, it consumed one billion.

Of course, even if it was one billion, it was merely an amount that could be recovered in two days, so there was nothing particularly troublesome.

‘Let’s see.’

Including the Jade Water Coral he just replicated, he laid out a total of three Jade Water Corals in the surroundings.

Checking if the spiritual Qi had become thicker, there was definitely an effect.

‘Although the effect is not large compared to a 6th-rank spiritual vein… once the number increases to hundreds, it will be noticeable.’

It seemed he just needed to steadily replicate the Jade Water Coral whenever his Supreme Great Ability recovered in the future.

‘This is done for now.’

Was there another way to speed up cultivation?

Just as he was deeply lost in thought while tapping his scabbard, a good idea suddenly popped up.

After summoning his clone and Golden Body Dharma Image to take charge of guarding, he crossed over to the Secret Realm of the Mind.

Going to the Jade Light Spring, a lake made by pouring in lightning-attribute spiritual objects, he saw Geum-cheong, who was pecking alternately at a blue stone and a crystal fragment.

‘She is hardworking.’

Geum-cheong was serious when it came to decorating her nest, if nothing else.

To the extent that he suspected whether her purpose in raising her realm was to decorate her nest better.

As he watched her diligently breathing lightning Qi into the Jade Thunder Pearl and made his presence known, Geum-cheong snapped her head around.

“You came!”

Having grown to 5 meters tall upon reaching the Great Circle of the Nascent Soul stage, Geum-cheong spread her giant wings.

Leaving behind the Jade Thunder Pearl she had been pecking diligently, she flew over, and her house-sized body rapidly shrank until she became the size of a sparrow.

Ah, to be precise, she was larger than a sparrow.

Not one fist, but about two?

Her body felt sleek rather than chubby, so she looked closer to a skylark than a sparrow.

Anyway, Geum-cheong, who shrank her size using basic transformation techniques, flew over and sat on his shoulder.

As he gently scratched her beak and head, she beeped happily.

After playing with her for a moment, he examined the Jade Thunder Pearl rolling on the ground, and admiration automatically flowed out.

“Oh. It is right before reaching the 6th rank?”

“Indeed! It is all due to this body’s effort. No, my outstanding ability.”

She proudly raised her beak, looking very adorable.

Once the Jade Thunder Pearl reached the 6th rank, the lightning Qi contained in the Jade Light Spring would strengthen. His cultivation speed would become even faster.

“Good job. You must have worked hard.”

“Beep!”

Looking satisfied at the Jade Thunder Pearl right before the 6th rank, he moved his steps.

He had checked the Jade Light Spring since he came to the Secret Realm of the Mind, but his original purpose was different.

“Where are you going? There is nothing over that way.”

“That’s why I’m going.”

Carrying the curious Geum-cheong on his shoulder, he walked around the Secret Realm of the Mind, which had become wider than a typical country, and stopped at the most secluded place.

He poured out the spiritual soil piled up in the sub-space and compressed it with law power, easily creating a mountain.

Following that,

Swinging his sword a few times toward the great mountain reaching 5km in height, a wide cave was created.

‘This should be enough.’

In the cavern, which was wide enough to fit dozens of buildings as large as a massive arena, he poured out all the fire-attribute spiritual objects he had gathered until now.

“Beep! Hot!”

Protecting Geum-cheong, who was clinging tightly while shrinking her wings, with law power, he continued to pour out the fire-attribute spiritual objects in the sub-space.

Ssshh…!

Looking at the cavern that instantly became much hotter than a typical volcano, he called his clone.

‘Cheon Jin-il. Come here for a moment.’

Calling Cheon Jin-il, whose main task was researching formations, he had him install a simple formation.

The Fire-Sealing Jade-Binding Formation .

It was a simple 5th-rank formation that trapped heat to raise the internal temperature.

Simultaneously with completing the formation with the clone’s help,

The atmospheric temperature soared exponentially. Like a furnace, the entire cavern was filled with bright red flames.

Looking at the artificially created fire vein emitting intense heat, he sat cross-legged.

Operating the Primordial One Qi Art, he gauged the speed of law power accumulation, and it was definitely a little faster than before.

‘About thirty-four years until the Great Circle of the Soul Formation stage?’

He had tried it because he realized that absorbing demonic Qi and taking in various energies helped his cultivation, and as expected, his prediction was correct.

Ice, wind, water, and so on.

As he created various environments in the Secret Realm of the Mind, his cultivation speed would become slightly faster.

It meant the time had come to use the spiritual objects that had been sleeping in the sub-space because he could not find a particular use for them.

‘If I replicate hundreds of Jade Water Corals and create cultivation grounds representing each attribute…’

He would be able to achieve his goal of reaching the Void Refinement stage before the secret realm opened.

Enjoyed the chapter?

If you like our work, consider supporting us on Ko-fi. This site solely runs on donations. Every donation helps us keep translating!

Support on Ko-fi