Chapter 17: The Opportunity for Perfection

The spiritual chef, who raised his own spiritual pigs, saw that Lin Donglai ate even more voraciously and quickly than the pigs—possessing an aura somewhat like a tiger swallowing ten thousand miles of territory. For some reason, he felt a "desire to feed" and actually handed Lin Donglai the spiritual meal that normally required spirit stones to purchase.

These were all considered "normal losses" in the cultivation of immortal seedlings. As the saying goes, "If the cook doesn't steal, the grain won't be harvested"; the profit margins in the Xianmiao Peak canteen were quite substantial.

As soon as Lin Donglai took a bite, he realized something was different. He looked up at the plump, smiling cultivator before him—whose face was round as a full moon and eyes round as pearls—and hurriedly said, "This costs spirit stones! I can't afford it!"

The plump cultivator laughed. "It's fine, consider it my treat. Just watching you eat puts me in a great mood. You eat so fast and so much, even more than the spiritual pigs I raise. To eat well is a blessing!"

Lin Donglai instantly became wary; pies don't just fall from the sky in this world! Not to mention, this spiritual meal was worth seven or eight spirit stones, while a third-layer Qi Refinement disciple's monthly salary was only eight spirit stones. *He's treating me to a meal?*

*Does this fat guy have ulterior motives against this young master?*

"What kind of look is that? I am Peng Yue, the outer sect deacon in charge of this Xianmiao Peak canteen. I am a man of name and reputation; I can certainly afford to treat you to a meal."

Lin Donglai:?

He became even more vigilant.

Seeing that the boy was quite sharp, Peng Yue asked, "Kid, what is your name?"

"Outer disciple Lin Donglai." This was something that could be checked easily and could not be hidden, especially since this man managed the canteen.

Peng Yue nodded. "Your name carries some luck." He then asked, "How is your spiritual root aptitude?"

"Low-grade Five-Element Spiritual Root."

"Tsk, that aptitude is a bit poor." Peng Yue shook his head in disappointment. "I was originally thinking of recruiting a son-in-law for my daughter."

"However, since you can eat so much, you must have a talent for body cultivation. If you succeed in body refining in the future, there might still be a chance."

Returning to his small courtyard, Lin Donglai greeted Ding Zhen, made an appointment to go earn more spirit stones tomorrow, and then went to his room.

Once back in his room, Lin Donglai rubbed his stomach and couldn't help but sigh: *That spiritual meal was delicious.*

It was a pity he only got to eat it once.

The amount of essence required for his own essence-blood condensation was immense; if he didn't eat more, relying solely on the Primordial Nourishing Breathing Technique through his spiritual root seed would certainly not be enough.

The spiritual meal he ate today contained genuine spiritual beast meat; a single piece provided ten times the efficacy of ordinary spiritual food.

Although it had grown somewhat cold, it was a spiritual meal after all. Previously, wealthy immortal seedlings had to spend seven or eight spirit stones for a single meal, whereas Lin Donglai would have to chop two thousand catties of medicinal wood branches to afford it.

It was just that the fat man wanted Lin Donglai to get to know his daughter after he became an outer disciple.

His daughter was named Peng Miaomiao, located at Zhenling Peak among the outer sect peaks, where she raised spiritual beasts. Lin Donglai didn't know the specifics of her situation.

However, Lin Donglai did not agree. Carrying such a great opportunity within him, how could he be distracted by romantic entanglements and keep people around him?

He immediately brushed it off by claiming his aptitude was too low to even achieve the status of a formal outer disciple, and that if he hadn't achieved Qi Induction before the second assessment, he would be demoted to a handyman.

Hearing this, Peng Yue merely sighed but still let Lin Donglai finish the cold spiritual meal.

Casting all distracting thoughts aside, Lin Donglai closed his doors and windows tightly, sat cross-legged on his bed, gripped two spirit stones in his hands, closed his eyes, and began practicing the Primordial Nourishing Breathing Technique.

Sensing a massive amount of spiritual energy, the spiritual root seed immediately exerted an incredibly strong suction force, sweeping the spiritual energy from the two spirit stones clean.

A single spirit stone was enough to replenish eighty percent of the spiritual power for a second-layer Qi Refinement cultivator.

These two clusters of spiritual energy traveled directly through his meridians, crashing violently through Lin Donglai's already somewhat congested meridians and acupoints.

While this served the purpose of clearing the meridians, it was far too brutal; the side effect was extraordinary pain, feeling as if he were being bitten by countless ants and stung by bees.

Fortunately, as the energy violently forced its way through, the seed's roots would nourish and repair during every inhalation and exhalation.

By the time the spiritual energy had completed a violent cycle through his body, Lin Donglai was in so much pain he could no longer maintain his seated position and was rolling on the floor. Only then did the energy enter his skull through the major meridian of his spine to be absorbed by the spiritual root seed.

Only this time, the seed did not grow new roots. Instead, these two existing roots became more jade-colored, plump, and translucent, possessing an extraordinary quality. The depth and strength of the breathing required for the Primordial Nourishing Breathing Technique had both been enhanced.

If the breathing depth and strength of the spiritual root seed before were like a newborn infant—weak but sturdy and powerful—then previously, it had been like a flickering candle in the wind, an old man on the verge of death.

Sensing it slightly, Lin Donglai marveled, "The scale of this spiritual energy intake is already over a hundred times greater than my own practice of the Primordial Nourishing Breathing Technique. Furthermore, the width and toughness of my meridians have been strengthened, meaning my aptitude has slightly increased."

Once the pain subsided, Lin Donglai seized the opportunity and assumed the stance to begin practicing the Tendon-Changing Marrow-Washing Stance Method.

He couldn't let tonight's spiritual meal go to waste; he had to quickly condense his essence-blood.

As he performed set after set of movements, a low, tiger-like growl emanated from his throat.

His breathing became even more synchronized with the spiritual root seed.

Lin Donglai's bone marrow was once again being remodeled into spiritual marrow capable of nurturing essence-blood.

The human body has many bones containing marrow, but most have lost their blood-producing function, with only a small portion retaining it.

Now, relying on the Primordial Nourishing Breathing Technique and the Tendon-Changing Marrow-Washing Stance Method, he activated and remodeled the blood-producing functions of these bones one by one, converting the marrow into spiritual marrow using spiritual energy.

The *Records of Cultivation* state: "A cultivator uses their physical body as a precious raft to cross the world."

Among mortals, the reason a先天 (Xiantian) martial artist's lifespan can reach the limit of two sexagenary cycles is due to the activation of the bone marrow, which allows for continuous blood production.

And this is merely equivalent to the Fetal Breathing Realm.

The instructors at the academy taught that the human body has 206 bones; half contain blood marrow and can produce blood, while the other half contain yellow marrow and cannot.

This blood-producing marrow ceases to function as the body ages; therefore, it must be constantly nourished with spiritual energy to prevent the marrow from drying up.

However, nourishing ordinary marrow into spiritual marrow requires Marrow-Washing Pills or specific techniques. For example, the Tendon-Changing Marrow-Washing Stance Method of the Azure Wood Sect can wash and refine a maximum of 24 blood-producing marrow bones.

For an ordinary cultivator, converting just two or three bones into spiritual marrow is enough to produce essence-blood for the purpose of "refining essence into qi" to practice Fetal Breathing.

After all, the more spiritual marrow one has, the more spiritual energy is required to maintain it. Unless one is a specialized body cultivator, they would not practice it to perfection; otherwise, the daily consumption of spiritual energy would exceed their intake, requiring extra supplements from spiritual meals and spirit stones.

But Lin Donglai was not afraid of this. The two roots of the spiritual root seed were constantly breathing, perfectly synchronized with both the Primordial Nourishing Breathing Technique and the Tendon-Changing Marrow-Washing Stance Method.

Moreover, he needed seventy-seven and forty-nine drops of essence-blood to soak the seed, so what he had was far from enough. He could only continue converting bone marrow into spiritual marrow.

In recent days, he had actually only refined five blood-producing marrow bones, as his Marrow-Washing Stance Method had only reached the "Small Success" stage, not "Great Success" or "Perfection."

But now, Lin Donglai had the opportunity to reach perfection.

Twenty-four spiritual marrow bones were not the limit for Lin Donglai.

Nor were they the limit for the seed.

They were the limit of the Tendon-Changing Marrow-Washing Stance Method itself.

He moved with unstoppable force!

One bone! Two bones! Three bones!

Three marrow bones were converted into spiritual marrow in rapid succession.

The essence produced by the Primordial Nourishing Breathing Technique and the essence converted from the spiritual meal were being frantically transformed.

Drop after drop, essence-blood was continuously produced.

It only stopped after nine more drops of essence-blood had appeared.

His total amount of essence-blood had now reached thirty drops.

And as the Primordial Nourishing Breathing Technique continued to nourish him, more essence-blood would continue to grow.