Chapter 56: Grandmaster-Level Eternal Spring Technique (Please keep reading)

"Sister-in-law, you really mustn't!"

Luo Chen hurriedly declined. It was fine to scrounge for a meal occasionally, but this soup was meant to replenish Qin Liangchen's qi and blood; it was vital to the upcoming death match. Even with his thick skin, he didn't dare drink this bowl of soup.

However, Murong Qinglian insisted on placing the bowl on Luo Chen's table.

"It's just a little leftover. Your Brother Qin drank all the essence. There's no need to refuse."

"But..."

"No 'buts,' unless you look down on your sister-in-law's cooking."

"Uh, alright then!"

Luo Chen stopped resisting and proceeded to drink the small bowl of soup clean.

"The Blood-Fiend Tiger is a second-tier demon beast. Its bone soup is a great tonic for Qi Refining stage cultivators. Although it's only a small bowl, you are in the middle stage of Qi Refining, so it should bring you significant benefits."

Murong Qinglian put away the small bowl and instructed Luo Chen not to waste the medicinal potency of the soup.

After she left, Luo Chen couldn't help but feel sentimental. Although life had been difficult since transmigrating to this place, he had encountered many kind people on his path of cultivation. There was Sun Shou, who was willing to rent him a house for half a spirit stone; Chen Xiuping, who gave up a stall for him; and the good neighbors in this courtyard.

He began to wonder if his "transmigrator's benefit" might be more than just that proficiency attribute panel.

"Perhaps my luck attribute has also been maxed out!"

As he thought about this, he naturally brushed aside the bad people like the short-lived Chen Xiao and the pauper Gao Ting'e. Those were merely a bit of frost and wind on the road of cultivation!

Just as he was feeling reflective, a surge of heat began to spread from his stomach. Heat, impulse, power—a variety of sensations almost made him feel as if he were expanding.

Recalling Murong Qinglian's words, Luo Chen did not dare to delay and hurried back to his bedroom to begin cultivating. Previously, he had been hesitating whether to push through in one go today, but now he had no need to worry.

However, this session of cultivation lasted for a full two hours.

When Luo Chen opened his eyes, a sense of overflowing energy arose naturally. He clenched his fists, feeling as if he could fight a tiger to death! Of course, before this, he could have killed an ordinary tiger, but that was by relying on spiritual power and spells. Now, his physical body alone gave him this powerful sensation.

"And this was just a small bowl of tiger bone soup!"

"If I drank this kind of soup every day, I'm afraid my physique would eventually become as formidable as the Blood-Fiend Tiger itself."

The fantasy vanished in an instant. What a joke—this tiger bone soup was brewed from second-tier spiritual materials; he couldn't afford it now.

Of course, the benefits brought by this bowl of soup weren't limited to physical strength and blood. Luo Chen summoned his attribute panel once more.

In the cultivation technique column, it had abruptly changed to: 【Everlasting Spring Technique: Grandmaster 501/1000】.

Grandmaster level!

Recalling the past two hours, especially the final cycle of the Everlasting Spring Technique, Luo Chen was overcome with joy. A Grandmaster-level Everlasting Spring Technique actually brought about such a miraculous change.

First, it had perfectly adapted to his body, as if the technique had been tailor-made for him. Previously, one cycle of cultivation only passed through the five meridians and six vessels. But now, as the spiritual power flowed, it had opened the remaining seven meridians and two vessels. Although he had only just begun to master them and could only flow a small amount of spiritual power through them, Luo Chen knew what the connection of the twelve primary meridians and the opening of the eight extraordinary vessels meant.

It meant that his efficiency in refining external spiritual qi would increase greatly. Even the speed of refining medicinal pills would double, because there were more meridians available to digest the medicinal potency. Previously, he could only refine one Qi-Nourishing Pill a day, but now he could take two. As long as he had enough spirit stones, it was almost as if his cultivation speed had doubled out of thin air.

Of course, opening the twelve primary meridians and the eight extraordinary vessels came at a price. Almost all of his fourth-layer Qi Refining spiritual power had been exhausted.

It was precisely because he was exhausted that Luo Chen discovered the second change brought by the Grandmaster-level Everlasting Spring Technique.

"It can actually recover qi automatically!"

Automatic qi recovery meant the automatic restoration of spiritual power. Luo Chen could feel that even if he didn't actively circulate the Everlasting Spring Technique, his body would send waves of "hunger" signals.

Currently, he was in the inner city, a place with a first-tier spiritual vein. Even if most of the spiritual qi had been sucked away by the spirit-gathering formations of other factions, the external concentration was still quite high. Under those signals of hunger, his body felt incredibly transparent, naturally absorbing the external spiritual qi. This absorption speed was roughly one-tenth of his full-power circulation. While not much, it was happening constantly.

"In this way, I'll never have to worry about consuming too much spiritual power while practicing spells again!"

Luo Chen was overjoyed. All this time, the factor restricting the slow improvement of his spell proficiency had been spiritual power.

The human body is like a closed treasure trove, and the dantian is the vessel that gathers spiritual power. To break through a realm, the total amount of spiritual power must continuously rise. Quantitative change leads to qualitative change, breaking through the shackles. Therefore, when a cultivator wants to break through, every cultivation session must ensure they are in a perfect state; that way, every bit of extra spiritual qi refined will increase the spiritual power within the body. The vessel will expand slightly, thereby breaking the boundaries of the closed treasure trove.

However, when a cultivator fights or practices spells, they squander a great deal of spiritual qi. In such circumstances, circulating a technique does not actually serve to increase spiritual power or break through boundaries; it merely restores the original perfect state.

The reason Luo Chen's spell proficiency grew so slowly was that he had to balance it with increasing his cultivation realm. Consequently, he had strictly controlled the number of times he practiced various spells each day. The most taxing, the Fireball Technique, was practiced only four times a day; the Entanglement Technique was used occasionally; and the Cleaning Technique was used very rarely. The less taxing techniques, like the Pulling Technique and the Spirit Eye Technique, were practiced at least ten times a day.

Even under these conditions, it was difficult for him to increase his spiritual power ceiling through cultivation alone; he had to rely on Qi-Nourishing Pills. But now, he could recover qi automatically. This meant he could practice spells somewhat recklessly to increase his proficiency.

"The Grandmaster-level Everlasting Spring Technique hasn't just increased my cultivation speed; it has actually increased my combat power. As long as I work hard enough, I'll have plenty of time to max out every single spell."

Luo Chen had not yet seen the power of a max-level spell. But even the Grandmaster-level Fireball Technique had allowed him to develop the minor killing move, "Flying Fire Fireflies." Thus, his excitement was entirely justified.

After the excitement subsided, his abundant energy seemed to diminish significantly. After cultivating for such a long time, while his physique could hold up, his mental state was somewhat lacking. Luo Chen did not force it and simply went to sleep.

When he woke up, he felt even more mentally refreshed. He couldn't resist circulating the Everlasting Spring Technique once more. This time, he more carefully experienced the various wonders of the Grandmaster-level technique.

Half an hour later, he opened his eyes, his entire being radiating intense surprise.

"The efficiency of refining spiritual qi has doubled again! It's almost comparable to the normal cultivation efficiency of a three-spirit-root cultivator."

If the cultivation efficiency of a five-spirit-root aptitude was the baseline, the Perfect-level Everlasting Spring Technique had doubled it, bringing him to the two-fold standard of a four-spirit-root aptitude. Now, Luo Chen could clearly feel that his efficiency in converting spiritual qi had reached a four-fold standard.

Previously, Luo Chen had been unable to accurately gauge his own efficiency standards. But his time spent with Qin Liangchen had allowed him to gradually confirm this algorithm.

Qin Liangchen had a three-spirit-root aptitude and was currently forty-nine years old. He had started cultivating at seventeen but had perfectly missed the age limit for sect recruitment. It had taken him over thirty years to reach the ninth layer of Qi Refining. In his own words, if he hadn't had to worry about making a living or spending spiritual power practicing spells and refining tools, he could have saved at least ten years. In other words, a three-spirit-root aptitude could reach the ninth layer of Qi Refining in twenty years rather than thirty.

Of course, the journey from the ninth layer to the Foundation Establishment stage would be another long period of time far exceeding all previous years. Setting aside the time from the ninth layer to Foundation Establishment, Qin Liangchen's cultivation speed—when compared to Luo Chen's five-spirit-root and Chen Xiuping's four-spirit-root aptitudes—fit Luo Chen's efficiency algorithm perfectly.

Relying on this algorithm, Luo Chen determined his current position.

"Without considering pills, my cultivation speed is comparable to a three-spirit-root cultivator. A three-spirit-root cultivator! That is already the threshold of aptitude capable of chasing the Great Dao. With abundant resources, one could reach Foundation Establishment in forty to fifty years at the fastest, or a hundred years at most."

Luo Chen had always been preoccupied with his lifespan. He had practiced so many spells and his realm had increased several times, but his lifespan had never changed. This had always given him a sense of urgency, as if a sword were hanging over his head.

Now, the Grandmaster-level Everlasting Spring Technique had finally allowed that sword to move slightly further away from him. Of course, to completely remove that sword, he still had to satisfy one condition.

"Abundant resources! So, money, money, I still need to make money!"