Chapter 82: Into The Qi Gathering Realm
Chapter 82: Into The Qi Gathering Realm
Chapter 82
The Clan Lord looked at Li Yu with a calm gaze; he couldn’t quite tell the reason, but the kid seemed incredibly motivated to win the upcoming tournament.
Thinking about it, only a handful of people in the entirety of the Lykana Continent would ever get the chance to enter one of the Profound Sects, such as the Gold Valley Sect, which ranked first across the entire continent.
If one managed to gain entry into that sect, then they stood a very, very high chance of surpassing even geniuses far more talented than themselves; the opportunities for growth there were practically limitless.
After all, even the most untalented cultivator, if granted access to the Gold Valley Sect, would almost certainly be able to step into the Core Realm... something that wasn’t even guaranteed for many of the greatest geniuses outside its gates.
Just from that alone, one could see that gaining the opportunity to enter the Gold Valley Sect was truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance, so Li San understood why the kid seemed so motivated. What Li San didn’t know, of course, was that he was greatly mistaken.
Yes, Li Yu planned on joining a powerful sect so he could hoard resources and cultivate much faster, but that wasn’t why he was so enthusiastic about winning right now.
Instead, the true reason behind his overwhelming confidence lay within the blue screen floating before his eyes; he had received his very first quest, and the reward could only be described as far beyond anything Li Yu had ever expected.
As for the remark from the system, he completely ignored it... that brat was as egotistical as ever, but the rewards were definitely his: one hundred free EXP and two thousand Essence Points. Now that was something he absolutely wasn’t going to let slip away.
"When can I start cultivating?" Li Yu asked eagerly; he was already itching to begin. With his Divine Spirit Root, coupled with all the advantages he possessed, surely he could break through every stage of the Qi Gathering Realm in just a week or so.
The tournament was still about ten days away; by then, he would shock everyone by climbing to the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm faster than anyone had ever imagined possible. Li San saw the excitement burning in the lad’s eyes and nodded.
With a simple snap of his fingers, their surroundings suddenly changed; before Li Yu could even process what had happened, he found himself seated upon a sturdy yet surprisingly soft cushion.
Without anyone needing to tell him, he immediately recognized it... it was none other than a cultivation cushion. Standing before him was the Clan Lord.
Seeing that he had been brought here before he could even react, Li Yu was deeply impressed; if a Silver Core cultivator like his uncle was already this unbelievably powerful, then he could only imagine how terrifying Golden Core experts and those above that realm truly were.
Without a doubt, they had to be monstrously powerful. "What if I become one of them..."
Just the thought made him salivate inwardly; he would grow stronger, stronger and stronger, faster and faster, not because of some grand destiny, but simply because he wanted to.
"This is my cultivation chamber. The concentration of spiritual energy here is far greater than that of the cultivation chambers belonging to the other elders."
He deliberately emphasized those words, making sure Li Yu understood that he had to seize this rare opportunity and cultivate as quickly as possible. "I will now impart to you... the Foundation Breathing Sutra."
He said, and then formed several hand seals. Within the next few seconds, the tip of his finger glowed with an ethereal blue radiance before he pointed it toward Li Yu’s forehead.
The light shot forward and entered Li Yu’s head, directly imparting the sutra into his mind. Li Yu entered a state of trance as he started to comprehend the sutra; his focus sharpened as his mind worked at incredible speed. Li San stood silently in one place.
Although he had directly transmitted the technique into Li Yu’s consciousness, it would normally still take many hours before someone could truly understand the breathing technique and be able to use it for cultivation.
If he had simply handed him the manual instead of directly imprinting it into his mind, it might have taken more than a day just to memorize it, and even longer before he could successfully cultivate using the breathing technique.
While Li San was prepared to wait for several hours before explaining the next steps to Li Yu, only a minute later, Li Yu opened his eyes: "I’ve learned it."
At almost the same moment, the system’s voice echoed inside his mind: Ding! Foundation Breathing Sutra has been learned. Grade: Earth. Rank: Bronze.
Description: A low Earth Grade cultivation sutra used to nurture disciples into the Qi Gathering Realm. Its qi circulation method is crude, with limited future potential.
Li Yu looked at his uncle with a rather complicated expression: "Is this the highest cultivation sutra in the clan? Why is it so low? A Bronze Earth Grade..." He sounded genuinely disappointed. Li San’s expression instantly changed into one of complete shock.
"Wait... how?" He was still trying to understand how this kid had managed to master the Foundation Breathing Sutra in barely a minute, and now the same kid was even able to determine both its grade and rank within another minute.
Wasn’t this a little too ridiculous? No matter how highly Li San had already rated Li Yu’s talent and potential, he suddenly felt that he had still underestimated the boy; this amount of talent was simply unbelievable.
Li Yuexin was the most talented genius Li San had ever personally witnessed, and even she had taken nearly thirty minutes to completely master the Foundation Breathing Sutra.
Back then, her concern had been somewhat similar to Li Yu’s; she had pointed out that the amount of qi gathered by the sutra was rather small compared to what she expected, suggesting that the Foundation Breathing Sutra should only be a low earth-grade cultivation method.
That observation alone had greatly impressed Li San, but Li Yu... not only could he tell the grade, he could even determine the exact rank of the cultivation sutra. That was simply impossible.
Li San slowly shook his head. "I shouldn’t be comparing a Sacred Grade cultivator like him to myself. Of course, he has the potential to grow beyond anything I have ever dreamed of."
He sighed softly before looking at Li Yu again: "Well, the clan does possess stronger and far more powerful breathing sutras that can gather qi much faster. But remember the lesson I taught you earlier." He smiled slightly: "It has never been about speed.
"It has always been about the foundation. The Foundation Breathing Sutra is the safest and most stable method to push someone into the Qi Gathering Realm. "
"Once you are ready to break through into the Qi Refining Realm, then you will receive one of a much higher standard. For now, all you have to focus on is building an unshakable foundation."
Li Yu nodded; he wasn’t exactly happy with the answer, but he also couldn’t pressure the old man into giving him something he believed wasn’t suitable for his current stage.
"Cultivate, kid. You have seven days. After that, I will personally teach you a combat technique. A strong one. No matter what... you must win the upcoming tournament." Li San spoke with unquestionable seriousness. Li Yu nodded once again.
Li San wasn’t doing all this solely for the benefit of the clan like many other clan leaders; after all, sending talented disciples into great sects was simply an investment.
Those disciples would eventually return stronger, allowing the clan to gain returns far greater than whatever resources had initially been spent on them. But Li San’s own reason for wanting Li Yu to win was much simpler: based on everything he had learned, the kid wasn’t safe.
That so-called Vile One still existed, and the faster Li Yu entered the Gold Valley Sect, the safer he would become. So naturally, Li San intended to help him with everything he could. Only after seeing Li Yu nod did the Clan Lord finally leave.
Li Yu let out a small sigh as he sat cross-legged upon the cultivation cushion. Then he activated his Origin Eyes to observe the flow of spiritual energy surrounding him; he was surprised. Not because the amount of spiritual energy was enormous, but because it was unexpectedly refined.
Unlike the Beast Forest, where countless streams of chaotic qi constantly clashed against one another, the qi flowing inside this cultivation chamber had clearly been purified many times over. Even so, Li Yu couldn’t help but feel that the amount of qi was rather little.
If anyone heard him say something like that, they would probably feel like cracking his head open; the amount of spiritual energy inside this cultivation chamber was anything but little.
After all, this cultivation chamber belonged to the Clan Lord himself, but because Li Yu had spent so much time inside the Beast Forest, constantly surrounded by oceans of wild, unfiltered qi, he naturally felt that the refined qi here seemed somewhat lacking.
After contemplating for a while, he slowly closed his eyes: "It is finally time..." He wanted to experience what true cultivation actually felt like; taking a slow breath, he began circulating the Foundation Breathing Sutra he had just learned. At last, he officially started cultivating.
"Ding! Cultivation undergoing... Cultivation Technique in Use: Foundation Breathing Sutra. Effect: Gathering 0.01 thread of natural qi per second."There was a slight pause before the system spoke once more:
"Ding! Cultivation effect has been boosted by 100× due to the Host’s Divine Grade Spirit Root. Cultivation effect has been increased from 0.01 to 1 thread of natural qi per second. Ding! Cultivation effect has been doubled by the passive effect of the title: Devouring Debt. Cultivation effect has been increased from 1 to 2 threads of natural qi per second. Ding! New system feature has been unlocked. Feature: Qi Counter."
Li Yu had not even gotten the chance to raise an eyebrow before another transparent tab appeared before him; it contained several sections: "Qi Threads Gathered: 10/100000. Qi Beads Formed: 0. Qi Clusters Formed: 0."
Seeing the counter, Li Yu couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. *Why is the amount of qi threads needed to form a single qi bead so huge?* He didn’t even need to ask the system; he could already guess the answer it would give.
It was because he possessed a Divine Grade Spirit Root, and the amount of energy he required naturally surpassed that of ordinary cultivators. Still, this was way too much just to form a single qi bead.
He quickly did the calculations in his head: if the counter was anything to go by... which he was definitely going to trust since the system was rarely wrong... then after gathering one hundred thousand qi threads, he would finally form a single qi bead.
The troublesome part was that there wasn’t any clear indicator showing how many qi beads were required to form a qi cluster; meaning, if he needed more than ten qi beads, then the amount of time required just to reach the First Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm would be far longer than he was willing to tolerate.
One had to know that at his current cultivation speed... two qi threads every second... it would take him 50,000 seconds, which was approximately 13 hours, 53 minutes, and 20 seconds. Around fourteen hours just to form one qi bead; and assuming he needed ten qi beads, that would be around one hundred and forty hours.
Far too slow. Far too inefficient. He needed a better cultivation technique.
"Hey, System. Can you upgrade the Foundation Breathing Sutra to a higher rank? Or perhaps even evolve it into a higher grade entirely?" Li Yu asked lazily, although he could already predict what the system’s reply would be.
And just as expected: "I’m not your babysitter, Host. Do you know you can upgrade a cultivation technique of this grade yourself?" Li Yu’s face immediately became smug; of course he knew.
He had already completely comprehended every inner working of the sutra after mastering it; with enough time, he was certain he could improve it from the Bronze Rank all the way to the Golden Rank.
No... even beyond that, he could push it into the Emerald Rank, and perhaps, if he truly exhausted himself, he might even elevate it to the final rank... Obsidian. But that would require effort. A lot of effort. Li Yu was obviously looking for an easier route; that was why he had hoped the system would simply do it for him for free.
After all, wasn’t it supposed to be his greatest cheat? The system scoffed: *Then do it yourself. Stop trying to leech off me like a parasite and start doing your own work.* The system sounded genuinely annoyed.
Was this brat actually angry because I haven’t talked to it much today? But could he really be blamed? He had been busy dealing with so many things. "Hey, Sys... Are you perhaps angry? Or are you lonely?" Li Yu asked with a teasing grin.
The system merely scoffed before going completely silent: "Get lost, Host. Do your own thing, or keep cultivating with that pathetic technique." After saying that, it went completely silent, refusing to respond to any more of Li Yu’s taunts.
Li Yu sighed: "The easy route has been cut off... Only the hard route remains." He let out another sigh before slowly activating his Origin Eyes; his focus immediately sharpened:
"Time to get to work then..."