Chapter 262 - 183: Spiritual Root Advancement, Great Progress in Cultivation

Chapter 262: Chapter 183: Spiritual Root Advancement, Great Progress in Cultivation

After dealing with the Tribulation Cultivators, Zhao Zuo didn’t linger and returned directly to the Moyun Sect. On the way back, he had no regrets about his decision to intervene.

The pursuit of Cultivation is the pursuit of freedom.

Not the freedom to do whatever one pleases or act recklessly, but at the very least, when encountering something he wanted to do, he wouldn’t feel powerless or regret his own weakness.

Zhao Zuo returned to his Cave Mansion and first took the Fire Spirit Snake out of its spirit beast bag. For the past few days, to prevent Liu Heng from noticing the abnormal increase in its strength, Zhao Zuo had kept it in the spirit beast bag except for feeding times.

The Fire Spirit Snake had felt terribly wronged these past few days. As soon as it was out of the spirit beast bag, it pitifully rubbed its body against Zhao Zuo’s arm, hoping to get a few more Fire Element Seeds to eat.

During this period, its appetite had grown again. It seemed to be on the verge of advancing to a One Tier High Level Demon Beast. Its body length was now approaching eighteen meters, and it looked incredibly imposing.

Unfortunately, its combat experience was extremely limited. There was a huge gap between it and the Demon Beasts that grew up in the Yunlan Mountain Range.

After settling the Fire Spirit Snake, Zhao Zuo went alone to his seclusion chamber and activated a mechanism, shutting the heavy stone door completely.

Outside the Cave Mansion, the Trapping Array and Killing Array activated simultaneously, making the Cave Mansion as impregnable as a fortress.

He spent half an hour adjusting his condition to its peak. Only then did he take the wooden box out of his Storage Bag and slowly push open the lid.

On the yellow silk cloth inside the wooden box lay the Thousand-Year Red Ginseng. It exuded an ancient and weathered aura, as if a millennium of Time had gathered upon this Spirit Ginseng.

At the tip of this Spirit Ginseng, tiny root sprouts could be seen flashing into existence. These sprouts were rich with the Energy of the Thousand-Year Red Ginseng, capable of not only advancing one’s Cultivation but also healing injuries.

Its abundant medicinal power even had some life-extending properties. It was precisely for this reason that thousand-year-level ginsengs were incredibly precious, to say nothing of a Red Ginseng that was compatible with Zhao Zuo’s Spiritual Root attribute.

Its surface was hard and rough, occasionally flashing with wisps of Spiritual Light. It was covered in textures and nodule-like bumps, but its inside was a solid crimson red, as if it contained flowing magma.

Even just holding it in his hand, Zhao Zuo could feel his body’s craving for it, like a broken thing finding the piece that would make it whole.

It was an irresistible attraction from the deepest part of his being.

Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects were extremely rare.

Logically, finding an Alchemist to help refine it with some other materials into a Red Ginseng Pill would be the most cost-effective choice.

But he didn’t know any Alchemists he could trust. After all, Alchemists all possessed a Fire Attribute Spiritual Root. When faced with Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that could enhance the strength of a Spiritual Root, they would surely become greedy, which would easily attract trouble.

Zhao Zuo only glanced at the Thousand-Year Red Ginseng for a moment before bringing it to his lips. He first used his teeth to break the textured skin of the Red Ginseng.

The next second, a rich, fragrant medicinal scent exploded in his mouth, carrying the faint bitterness characteristic of herbal plants. He then began to suck out the essence from within the Red Ginseng.

A slightly searing, warm current flowed down his esophagus and into his stomach. Zhao Zuo greedily swallowed all of the Red Ginseng’s essence, then opened his mouth wide and stuffed the rest of it inside at lightning speed. After a few simple chews... he swallowed.

Immediately after, a searing torrent of energy spread from his abdomen. It was rapidly converted into pure Spiritual Power, then refined through his Meridians into Mana, which was absorbed and refined by his body.

Of course, even more Energy surged to an unknown place in his body—the Space where the Spiritual Root resided, which also determined Zhao Zuo’s efficiency in converting Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power.

Zhao Zuo immersed himself in the process of refining the Thousand-Year Red Ginseng. As a Thousand-Year Spiritual Object, its greatest characteristic was its gentleness. Even though the Energy was incredibly immense, it would be released slowly, matching the pace of his absorption.

Although this couldn’t prevent some of the Energy from dissipating, he didn’t have to worry about encountering any danger or damaging his body during absorption.

’I must speed up the circulation of my Mana, quicken the Refinement of the Thousand-Year Red Ginseng, and minimize the waste as much as possible.’

However, Zhao Zuo had still underestimated this Thousand-Year Spiritual Object. He spent a full twenty-four hours just to barely refine one-fifth of its Energy.

Yet, just this one-fifth of the Energy made Zhao Zuo feel as if his Spiritual Root had been elevated a level. His speed of refining Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power had clearly increased.

If he absorbed all of it, the efficiency of his Fire Series Spiritual Root in refining Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power would undoubtedly increase dramatically.

He suppressed the joy in his heart with his powerful willpower and refocused all his Heart Power on refining the Thousand-Year Red Ginseng. A long time passed once more.

Eleven days later, Zhao Zuo emerged from his state of Cultivation. As he opened his eyes, a terrifying Spiritual Pressure spread out, even causing the surrounding air to slightly distort.

This was a sign of a massive improvement in his Cultivation. As Zhao Zuo strengthened his control over the surging Mana, the roiling Spiritual Pressure gradually receded.

He had now completely absorbed the Thousand-Year Red Ginseng. Not only had the Rank of his Fire Series Spiritual Root been elevated, but his Cultivation had also reached the limit of the Eighth Layer of Qi Cultivation.

He originally could have broken through in one go, but considering that a rash breakthrough might lead to an unstable foundation and affect his future Cultivation, he ultimately spent more than a day polishing the Mana within his body.

Although he had wasted a bit of the Thousand-Year Red Ginseng’s medicinal power, Zhao Zuo’s Mana had indeed become much purer, and its strength naturally increased as well.

An increase in Mana strength meant he could unleash greater speed and destructive power when channeling Mana to use Magical Artifacts, directly impacting his combat ability.

Furthermore, the Mana Barrier, one of the Foundation Establishment Three Gates, tested the purity and strength of one’s Mana. Although his choice had slowed his Cultivation progress, it would only be beneficial for his future.

For example, take Liu Heng. Though also in the Late Period of Qi Cultivation, he wasn’t even considered strong among those in the same Realm. Zhao Zuo, however, could contend with cultivators at Qi Cultivation Perfection while still in the Late Period.

Besides the difference in Magical Artifacts, the gap lay in the purity of their Mana. The Moyun Sect sold Pill Medicine that could increase Mana and promote Cultivation to Loose Cultivators, but they never told them that Pill Poison would affect the purity of their Mana.

In essence, this eliminated the possibility of Loose Cultivators achieving Perfect Foundation Establishment. It was a form of disguised monopoly.

Zhao Zuo spent a moment re-familiarizing himself with the Mana in his body, then used his Breath-Concealing Ring to adjust his Cultivation level to that of someone who had just entered the Late Period of Qi Cultivation.

He casually took his Identity Token out of his Storage Bag. Wisps of Spiritual Light were forming a line of text on its surface.

"Meng Tianhua has challenged you to a duel on the Life and Death Platform."

Although there was an option to decline, questioning the challenge was not permitted. This time, Zhao Zuo still chose... No!

...