101: Is spiritual energy a source of inspiration or a shackle?
A massive Spiritual Qi vortex formed within a thousand-meter radius of Zhang Sheng.
Spiritual Qi surged in like a tide.
As the Cultivation Technique operated, the Spiritual Qi seemed to find an entrance and poured into his Qi Sea and Dantian.
Inside Zhang Sheng's Qi Sea and Dantian,
the tenth spirit sun bloomed with golden light, spinning at high speed.
The scattered Spiritual Qi was attracted by the spirit sun and completely transformed into pure spiritual power, merging with the spirit sun.
A large amount of surrounding spiritual power was absorbed by Zhang Sheng,
forming a spiritual power depression within a thousand-meter radius; spiritual power from further away flowed in like water to replenish it.
The entire process
was like a stone falling into water; the concentration of Spiritual Qi within the Secret Realm actually fluctuated.
At this moment, the Cultivators Cultivating within the Secret Realm all noticed this.
Someone followed the fluctuations
and discovered the young man at the center of the vortex,
sitting cross-legged high in the air, eyes closed as he performed hand seals, his expression cold and stern, as still as stagnant water.
"So it's War God Zhang!"
The newcomer bowed deeply, eyes full of reverence.
He took it upon himself to inform the Cultivators who followed, so as not to let them disturb War God Zhang's Cultivation.
By now, some of the things Zhang Sheng had done for China had been released by the high-level authorities.
In the hearts of countless Cultivators, Zhang Sheng was a well-deserved War God and, moreover, a hero.
Zhang Sheng's Divine Sense naturally noticed everyone... As the tenth spirit sun absorbed and refined more and more spiritual power,
its volume grew rapidly until it was the same as the other nine spirit suns.
If others were to know how large Zhang Sheng's spirit suns were, they would likely be dumbfounded.
A single spirit sun contained 9.99 million spiritual power points, which was equivalent to two of Song Xian's Clones.
Not only that,
"Cultivation Technique: Primordial Chaos Heavenly Art (Beginner: 10/100)"
It was 3/100 before.
Perhaps it was because the Spiritual Qi concentration had been too low,
but previously, each circulation of the technique only increased the progress by one point. Now that the Spiritual Qi concentration was sufficient, it increased by 7 points in one go.
"Primordial Chaos Qi Refining" had already been Cultivated to the Perfected State.
With this foundation, it was only normal for one Cultivation of the Primordial Chaos Heavenly Art to increase progress by 7 points.
However, what made Zhang Sheng feel uncomfortable was that performing one large circulation was quite time-consuming.
For an ordinary Cultivator, one large circulation usually takes three to six hours.
Even though Zhang Sheng possessed powerful Mental Energy,
and after Cultivating the Nine Tribulations Secret Codex, his life level was ten times the original,
it still took forty-five minutes for his spiritual power to complete one large circulation!
This speed might be unattainable for others, but for Zhang Sheng, it was far from enough.
Suddenly,
a sense of hunger hit him!
"What's going on?"
Zhang Sheng frowned slightly.
"Something's not right!"
"Cultivators live long by consuming Qi; I shouldn't be feeling hungry!"
His Mental Energy communicated with his storage ring, and several spirit food pills appeared in his hand, which Zhang Sheng quickly swallowed.
Since this situation had occurred, Zhang Sheng hurriedly checked his physical condition.
The Mysterious Spider Thought Binding Method and Spirit Condensing Art had actually stopped their automatic operation!
The consumed Mental Energy was not being restored!
When Zhang Sheng forcibly activated these techniques, the hunger became even more intense.
There must be some connection between the two,
and Zhang Sheng fell into deep thought.
Since he began Cultivating until now,
although not much time had passed, Zhang Sheng already knew,
"A strong physical body will nourish the Soul, and Mental Energy will also become stronger."
"Cultivators refine the Spiritual Qi in the environment to increase their Realm and cast Spells. After their spiritual power is exhausted, they refine and absorb Spiritual Qi from the environment again."
"However, since the energy required to restore Mental Energy does not come from the outside world, it must come from the Cultivator themselves!"
"The physical body is the vessel for the Soul.
The restoration of Mental Energy must also consume the physical body, whether this process is direct or indirect."
"Therefore, a Cultivator's Cultivation involves not only refining Spiritual Qi but also consuming spiritual items!"
Spiritual Qi and spiritual items are both precious Cultivation resources.
However, from another perspective,
both are also shackles on the path forward!
The Earth of the past had no Spiritual Qi. Although the concept of a Cultivation civilization had existed, no true Cultivation civilization had been born for ten thousand years.
Natural selection and survival of the fittest led to the emergence of technological civilization.
Zhang Sheng suddenly had an illusion.
Perhaps the Cultivation civilization was not as powerful as he had imagined!
...It seemed he needed to prepare more spirit food pills in his daily life.
After taking the spirit food pills,
Zhang Sheng did not operate the Heavenly Circulation Method, but instead operated the Gluttonous Eating Method to convert them into Essence and make up for the deficit.
As his body gradually recovered, the hunger also gradually disappeared.
The Mysterious Spider Thought Binding Method and Spirit Condensing Art began to operate automatically again, restoring the Mental Energy within his Sea of Consciousness.
Zhang Sheng was able to continue using the star vortex spirit gathering plate to Cultivate the Primordial Chaos Heavenly Art.
Until the early morning,
he finally reached the Proficient Realm, having completed over a dozen circulations.
Above his Qi Sea and Dantian, twenty-three spirit suns hung like brilliant golden suns!
According to China's current calculation method, these spirit suns represented a terrifying spiritual power value of over two hundred million!
To be precise, it was 229.77 million spiritual power points!
At this moment,
the concentration of Spiritual Qi in this Secret Realm had dropped by twenty percent!
...Now,
with the star vortex spirit gathering plate, the Spiritual Qi concentration was guaranteed.
Having reached the Proficient Realm in the Primordial Chaos Heavenly Art, the time for one circulation was reduced from 45 minutes to 30 minutes.
However, this speed was still far from Zhang Sheng's goal.
Zhang Sheng's goal was the same as his other techniques:
to Cultivate this Qi Refining technique of the Divine Breath Realm to the Transcendent stage, allowing it to operate automatically.
This way,
when fighting in a Spiritual Qi environment, Zhang Sheng would never have to worry about exhausting his spiritual power.
Combined with instant-cast Spells, he would directly transform into an infinite turret!
Stopping his Cultivation,
Zhang Sheng returned to the villa.
In a short while, he refined over a dozen supreme-grade star vortex spirit gathering plates.
Next time, he would try to see the effect of activating multiple spirit gathering plates simultaneously.
During this period,
the Materials ordered for refining spirit food pills were also delivered.
In Zhang Sheng's hands, they were refined into hundreds of supreme-grade spirit food pills in less than twenty minutes.
Just that,
the quality of the mysterious fire alchemy furnace was too low; it almost couldn't withstand the flames of the Flame Manipulation Art and was nearly destroyed... First Cultivation University,
or rather, the whole of China, was immersed in a wave of Cultivation, with most people caught in a Cultivation frenzy.
Cultivation Techniques and Spells below the Divine Breath Realm do not require Divine Sense as a carrier.
There was no resistance to their spread.
Over time, almost everyone had mastered a few signature Spells.
Especially ones like the Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique.
Most Chinese people still maintained the mindset of farming and self-reliance.
Farmlands were transformed into spirit fields,
and various types of spirit plants were planted.
The Spiritual Qi concentration on Earth was also gradually rising.
As for Yao Beasts, they were dangerous and possessed intelligence; China strictly prohibited the private raising of Yao Beasts.
With a great enemy like the Parasitic God Insect Emperor out there,
if there were a betrayal from within, the consequences would be unimaginable.
During the time Zhang Sheng was Cultivating, Earth was also in a rare state of peace. Although China had specialized Cultivators responsible for specifically searching for traces of the Parasitic God Insect Emperor, unfortunately, they had not been able to find it... Hou Wu delivered a Medicinal Pill,
Zhang Sheng carefully observed the Medicinal Pill in his hand.
The Medicinal Pill was like jade throughout, flawless and emitting a dense pill fragrance.
"A peak grade spirit gathering pill!"