533: Chapter 533 Black Hole Physique?

In the gym of the penthouse apartment.

The area inside was quite large.

One must know...

Imperial View Gardens was a single-unit-per-floor building, so the size could well be imagined.

But right now.

In the vast space, there were only Ye Chen and Li Qin.

Li Qin had changed into a set of yoga clothes.

A light purple tight-fitting top paired with matching yoga pants outlined her curves perfectly.

It had to be said, this girl's foundation was indeed good.

Her waist was so slender.

Her legs were so straight.

Everything was where it should be, curvy in all the right places.

Normally, it was hard to tell when she wore loose clothes, but now that she had changed back into yoga gear, she was quite a sight for sore eyes.

Ye Chen silently averted his gaze.

Li Qin stood on the yoga mat, stretched her wrists and ankles, and then looked at Ye Chen with an expectant face.

“Younger Male Cousin, how do we do this?”

“What kind of pose do I need to strike?”

Damn!

What kind of pose?

Could your choice of words be any more aggressive?

Ye Chen's face darkened: “Just sit properly.”

“Just sit properly? It's that simple?”

Li Qin blinked, her face full of disbelief, “Last time when you helped Sister Qingluo break through, didn't you have her sit cross-legged, place her hands on her knees, close her eyes to concentrate, and all that?”

“That was her.”

Ye Chen spoke expressionlessly, “You just sit still, don't move, don't talk, and don't ask me questions.”

Li Qin curled her lip and muttered softly: “Why so fierce...”

But she still obediently walked to the center of the yoga mat, sat cross-legged, placed her hands on her knees, and straightened her back.

That posture was as standard as if she had practiced yoga for ten years.

“Is this okay?” She looked up at Ye Chen eagerly.

Ye Chen nodded: “It's fine.”

He squatted down in front of Li Qin, pulled out the shanhai bottle from his waist, and uncorked it.

A surge of spiritual energy, so dense it was almost tangible, gushed out from the bottle's mouth. The air in the entire gym vibrated, and the green plants on the windowsill even visibly quivered their leaves.

Li Qin took a deep breath, her eyes widening into circles: “It smells so good... What is this scent? It's not a knockout drug, is it?”

“Shut up!”

Ye Chen interrupted her, unable to take it. He held the shanhai bottle in his right hand and formed a hand seal with his left, drawing out the spiritual liquid from the bottle.

A drop of crystal-clear spiritual liquid flew out from the bottle. With a flick of Ye Chen's finger, the liquid turned into a streak of light and entered the space between Li Qin's eyebrows.

Li Qin's body jolted violently, and the expression on her face instantly froze.

A massive amount of spiritual energy exploded inside her, like a flood bursting through a dam, rushing wildly along her meridians.

Her face suddenly turned bright red, the veins on her forehead bulged slightly, and her entire body was trembling gently.

“Guard your mind, do not resist.” Ye Chen's voice rang in her ear.

Li Qin gritted her teeth and desperately followed the method Ye Chen had taught her, guiding that spiritual energy to circulate within her body.

But that spiritual energy was simply too massive. Her meridians were too narrow and her energy center was too small to accommodate so much spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy rampaged through her meridians like a caged beast, frantically searching for an exit.

Li Qin's face grew redder and redder, fine beads of sweat seeped from her forehead, and she looked as if she were enduring immense pain.

Ye Chen frowned slightly but did not stop.

He believed Li Qin could pull through.

Although this girl was usually carefree, she had a streak of stubbornness in her bones; she wouldn't be defeated that easily.

Besides...

If she really reached the point where she couldn't take it, wasn't he there?

It was good to let her suffer a bit, lest she think cultivation was too easy in the future.

In an instant.

Time passed minute by minute.

That spiritual energy circulated through Li Qin's body cycle after cycle. Her meridians were widened inch by inch, and her energy center was stretched open bit by bit.

Those originally blocked acupoints were broken through one after another under the impact of the spiritual energy, like a dam collapsing.

The aura on Li Qin's body began to climb.

From unranked to third-rate, second-rate, first-rate...

The aura continued to climb, and soon broke the boundary, stepping into the Yellow Realm.

And then...

It stopped.

Ye Chen: “???”

Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong...

The single drop of spiritual liquid he gave Li Qin contained enough spiritual energy to push an ordinary person directly to the Mid Earth Realm, or even the Late Earth Realm.

For someone with a better foundation, like Liu Qingluo, they could at least step into the Heaven Realm.

But after Li Qin's aura climbed to the Early Yellow Realm, it stagnated.

It was like a car filled with gas; even with the pedal to the metal, it could only spin its wheels in place.

Ye Chen closed his eyes and sent his perception into Li Qin's body to carefully examine the situation inside.

The spiritual energy was still circulating in her body, but with every cycle, a portion of it would mysteriously disappear, as if swallowed by something.

Ye Chen's brow furrowed even tighter.

He pushed his perception deeper, following the meridians all the way down, finally arriving at the energy center.

And then.

He saw...

In the very center of Li Qin's energy center, there was a black dot.

That black dot was very small, so small it was almost negligible, but it was slowly rotating like a miniature black hole.

Every time the spiritual energy circulated to the energy center, a small portion would be swallowed by that black dot, vanishing without a trace.

Ye Chen's pupils constricted slightly.

This wasn't right.

He had checked Li Qin's body before. Back then, her energy center was clean, with nothing there.

When did this black hole appear?

Ye Chen withdrew his perception, opened his eyes, and looked at Li Qin sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Li Qin's complexion had returned to normal, and the sweat on her forehead had dried.

She opened her eyes, let out a long breath, then looked down at her hands and clenched her fists.

“Younger Male Cousin, I seem to...”

“...have become stronger?”

“But it doesn't feel as exaggerated as it was for Sister Qingluo back then...”

Ye Chen didn't answer, he just stared at her with a complex look in his eyes.

Li Qin felt uneasy being watched by him and instinctively shrank back: “You... why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

Ye Chen took a deep breath: “What specific sensations do you have?”

“Sensations...”

Li Qin thought for a moment, “I feel like my body is much lighter than before, and my strength has increased quite a bit, but it doesn't seem to be to an exaggerated degree.”

She paused, then added.

“Oh right, I also feel a bit hungry, really hungry, like the kind where you haven't eaten for three days.”

Ye Chen's brow furrowed even deeper.

Hungry?

After a spiritual energy infusion, one should be full of energy; how could she feel hungry?

Unless...

That black hole inside her was consuming her own energy while swallowing the spiritual energy.

Ye Chen closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the depths of his sea of consciousness, calling upon the [Houtu Inheritance].

Quickly.

A stream of information gushed from the inheritance and entered his mind.

The amount of information wasn't large, but every piece was like a heavy hammer striking Ye Chen's heart.

[Black Hole Physique: An extremely rare special physique, not necessarily found in one out of a hundred million Cultivators.]

[Characteristics: Born with a miniature black hole inside the energy center, which can swallow all forms of energy and convert them into nutrients for the host.]

[Activation Condition: The host must first step into the Yellow Realm through external force (such as pills, spiritual liquid, cultivation techniques, etc.) before the black hole will awaken.]

[After Activation: The black hole will continuously swallow the spiritual energy in the host's body, resulting in extremely slow cultivation speed and consuming resources several or even dozens of times that of an ordinary Cultivator.]

[Advantages: Once the black hole swallows enough energy and enters a 'saturated' state, the host will gain combat power far exceeding those of the same rank, and the black hole can be actively released to swallow enemy attacks.]

After reading this information, Ye Chen fell silent.

He finally understood why he hadn't discovered this black hole when he checked Li Qin's body before.

Because at that time, Li Qin wasn't even ranked, and the black hole was still dormant.

And the moment he used the spiritual liquid to push her into the Yellow Realm, the black hole was activated and began to frantically swallow the spiritual energy in her body.

That's why a drop of spiritual liquid, which was enough to let an ordinary person step into the Mid Earth Realm or higher, only barely allowed Li Qin to reach the Yellow Realm.

The vast majority of the spiritual energy had been swallowed by that black hole.

Ye Chen opened his eyes and looked at Li Qin.

Li Qin was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her hands on her knees, tilting her head to look at him with eyes full of confusion.

“Younger Male Cousin, why aren't you saying anything?”

“Is there something wrong with me?”

Ye Chen was silent for a moment before slowly speaking: “There is indeed a bit of a problem with you.”

Li Qin's expression changed slightly.

“What problem? Is it serious? Will I die?”

“You won't die.”

Ye Chen shook his head, “But your path of cultivation will be much harder to walk than others.”

He explained the situation of the Black Hole Physique using language that was as simple and easy to understand as possible.

After hearing it, Li Qin was stunned for a good while.

She lowered her head and looked at her flat lower abdomen, her expression complex.

“So... there's a black hole in my energy center?”

“Yes.”

“That black hole will eat the spiritual energy I cultivate?”

“Yes.”

“So I cultivate slower than others and need more resources than others?”

“Yes.”

Li Qin was silent for a moment, then she looked up and grinned.

“That's actually pretty good.”

Ye Chen was taken aback: “What's good about it?”

Li Qin counted on her fingers quite seriously: “Didn't you say it? Once the black hole is saturated, I can obtain combat power far exceeding those of the same rank.”

Her eyes were bright and full of excitement.

“Isn't this just like having a cheat code?”

Ye Chen's mouth twitched.

This girl's train of thought was indeed different from that of a normal person.

If it were anyone else, hearing that their cultivation would require several or even dozens of times more resources than others, they would have been long-faced and worried.

She, on the other hand, wasn't worried at all; instead, she felt like she had gained something.

“You certainly are optimistic.” Ye Chen sighed.

Li Qin chuckled.

“Of course I'm optimistic!”

“After all, don't I still have you to help me?”