12: Gluttony
After an ordinary person undergoes Refining Essence into Qi, spiritual power is born within their body; this is a process of Foundation Establishment.
It is also known as the Foundation Establishment Realm, but since they cannot refine Spiritual Qi on their own, it cannot be considered entering the path of cultivation, nor is it a true cultivation Realm.
To become a Cultivator, one must practice a Cultivation Technique for the Qi Sea Realm, thereby entering the first Realm of cultivation—the Qi Sea Realm.
Although "common knowledge of cultivation" does not describe the abilities of the Qi Sea Realm, after two days of practice, Zhang Sheng can be certain that Qi Sea Realm Cultivators absolutely possess extremely strong combat capabilities.
The Yao Beast in the yellow Secret Realm is very likely a Qi Sea Realm Yao Beast.
Sigh, this world is becoming more and more dangerous!
I hope there is no danger back home. Zhang Sheng thought of his parents back home, felt a wave of worry, and quickly made a phone call.
Thankfully, everything is well.
Although he seems to have a pretty powerful Talent, time is too tight, and for now, he must get the breeding of the gold spirit rice done.
After repeatedly operating the "Heavenly Circulation Method," Zhang Sheng finally cultivated it to the Proficient level in the afternoon.
"Cultivation Technique: Heavenly Circulation Method (Proficient: 1 / 100)"
"Spell: Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique (Beginner: 7 / 10)"
Many cultivation tips flooded into Zhang Sheng's mind.
So that's how it is! The incantation is merely a form of guidance; the essence of this Cultivation Technique is to circulate the body's Qi and blood, gather it at the Dantian, and refine it into a strand of Spiritual Qi.
Furthermore, each time Refining Essence into Qi is performed, the human essence consumed is equivalent to the energy of ten kilograms of staple food.
The cafeteria on the second floor of the comprehensive experimental building only supports less than a hundred people, but the food consumption is truly staggering.
Everyone not only eats a lot, but is also a feces-producing machine; the septic tank connected to the building seems to be expanding as well!
Zhang Sheng had heard of a type of Medicinal Pill; eating one could replace ten kilograms of staple food.
It is called—essence food pill.
However, production in the Secret Realm is scarce, and it simply wouldn't reach ordinary lab assistants like Zhang Sheng.
"Junior, look at the notification on your phone!" Senior Sister Bai stopped Zhang Sheng, who was preparing to Cultivate again.
"What notification, Senior Sister?"
"School notification: Opening the "Heavenly Circulation Method" for school staff and students to practice, and distributing "common knowledge of cultivation,"..."
With the pressure from the yellow Secret Realm and the infiltration of information from abroad, many people already know about the existence of Secret Realms and cultivation civilization, and now it is considered officially opened up.
"Junior, we must accelerate the cultivation of the gold spirit rice. The outside world is in total chaos right now."
There were several notification text messages on his phone.
"China announces it has entered a state of wartime control. Except for major universities, the military, and government-authorized agencies, ordinary citizens are limited to purchasing a set amount of food daily at a unified price. Anyone found maliciously raising prices or trading grain privately will be severely punished by law!"
Reaching this point was expected.
Cultivation Techniques and Spells, including the "Heavenly Circulation Method," are spreading among the public through various channels. This is fundamentally impossible to curb; even if the domestic situation is controlled, there are still many channels from abroad.
"Junior, look at what this is!"
Zhang Sheng took the small booklet handed over by Bai Mingzhu; on it were the three large characters "Gluttonous Eating Method."
"This is a method to help speed up our digestion and absorption rate and improve our gastrointestinal absorption capacity. Professor Liu brought it just now. It counts as a perk for us researchers; ordinary students don't have it."
Every time he finished eating, he had to wait an hour before he could start Refining Essence into Qi. He could definitely practice this method to reduce the time spent on digestion and absorption.
Zhang Sheng returned to the practice room to continue cultivating.
Upon opening the book, he discovered that this Gluttonous Eating Method was truly marvelous, and the consumption of spiritual power was almost negligible.
Using spiritual power to circulate in the gastrointestinal tract, promoting gastrointestinal digestion and absorption, and finally returning to the Dantian.
Simple and easy to learn.
Opening his talent panel, after completing one casting.
"Cultivation Technique: Gluttonous Eating Method (Beginner: 1 / 10)"
One session of practicing the technique only took five minutes, and in less than an hour, Zhang Sheng had cultivated this Spell to the Proficient level.
"Cultivation Technique: Gluttonous Eating Method (Proficient: 1 / 100)"
The speed of practicing the technique improved from once every five minutes to once every minute.
The ability to promote gastrointestinal digestion and absorption was also remarkably effective.
Especially after Zhang Sheng's "Heavenly Circulation Method" reached the Proficient level, the time for each instance of Refining Essence into Qi shortened from two hours to one hour, and the Spiritual Qi refined each time increased from one strand to two strands; originally, the cultivation speed should have increased fourfold.
However, due to the need for more food, the interval between the two Refining Essence into Qi sessions increased from one hour to two hours.
And the Proficient level "Gluttonous Eating Method" exactly offset the extra hour.
The Gluttonous Eating Method helped Zhang Sheng a great deal.
The speed of accumulating Spiritual Qi in his body increased fourfold, and the progress of the "Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique" soon reached the Proficient level as well.
"Spell: Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique (Proficient: 1 / 100)"
The speed of the hand seals in Zhang Sheng's hands increased several times over, and the changing gestures almost left afterimages.
He shouted loudly!
"Open!"
Wind rose and clouds surged; consuming one strand of spiritual power, a rain cloud formed and instantly filled the practice room.
"Damn it!"
Zhang Sheng quickly canceled the Spell!
Fortunately, it did not form spirit rain, otherwise he would have become a drowned rat.
The Proficient level Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique was no longer suitable for use indoors; he could only go to the outdoor experimental base to cast it.
It just so happened that the spirit rain formed after casting the Spell could directly water the gold spirit seedlings.
Arriving at his experimental plot of only a few square meters, Zhang Sheng called upon a strand of spiritual power from his Dantian and used hand seals to cast the Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique.
A light breeze blew, and not far above Zhang Sheng's head, a dark cloud with a diameter of about two meters formed.
666!
Is this the Proficient level Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique? If I Cultivate it to the Proficient level, and then to the Transcendent level, that would be incredible.
By then, I, Zhang, will only need to point my finger at the sky and call out "Clouds come, rain come!" and in an instant, the wind and clouds will change color; wouldn't that be wonderful!
However, he was still far from that point; he was gloating too early.
With the two-meter rain cloud, Zhang Sheng watered all his seedlings. In addition to the five from yesterday, the other 15 that grew naturally were also watered with spirit rain.
There was even an overflow of spirit rain; it was clearly more than enough.
He even had surplus spiritual power; at this moment, 3 strands of spiritual power remained in his Dantian.
Might as well practice the Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique and strive to upgrade it to the Proficient level as soon as possible.
Zhang Sheng discovered that during the process of casting the Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique, the spirit cloud gradually grew larger as he injected spiritual power.
He simply used one-tenth of a strand of spiritual power and then stopped injecting spiritual power.
The resulting spirit cloud was only twenty centimeters in diameter, and Zhang Sheng did not waste the spirit rain that formed; instead, he used a container to collect it.
These spirit rains had long been sent to the chemistry laboratory for research, but nothing came of it; they contained 90% water and 10% unknown substances.
Furthermore, the storage time was extremely short; the growth-promoting effect of the spirit rain would gradually weaken over time and completely disappear within six hours.
Therefore, even if stored in a container, it could not exceed six hours.
"Spell: Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique (Proficient 2 / 100)"
The "mini-level" Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique could actually increase proficiency! Zhang Sheng originally only had a trial-and-error mindset, but he didn't expect it to actually be feasible!
Doesn't this mean that if he uses one-tenth of a strand of spiritual power each time, one strand of spiritual power could increase the Spell's proficiency by 10 points.
What about one-hundredth?
Zhang Sheng quickly tried again and found that it was impossible to do one-hundredth; the current casting limit was at least one-twentieth of a strand of spiritual power.
A spirit cloud with a diameter of ten centimeters rose from his palm.
One strand of spiritual power could cast the super-small spirit cloud at most twenty times, but this was already worth getting excited about. After a few more sessions of Refining Essence into Qi, he might be able to upgrade the Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique to the Proficient level within the day!
Rushing back to the practice room, Zhang Sheng continued to practice the Heavenly Circulation Method.