76: Chapter 76 The Dilemma of Spiritual Energy

Yun Song sat cross-legged once more.

He circulated the Spirit Guiding Art, putting all his effort into forcing open the Huiming acupoint.

Time flowed slowly in the quiet cave, and it took another two full hours to successfully open the Huiming acupoint again.

At this moment, his morale was high, and he was determined to strike while the iron was hot and expand the section of Meridians from the Huiming acupoint to the Zique acupoint.

However, when he circulated his Cultivation Technique, attempting to draw in the surrounding Spiritual Qi.

He was astonished to discover that, with himself as the center, the Spiritual Qi within a radius of one zhang had once again completely vanished.

Faced with this situation, Yun Song did not hesitate in the slightest and resolutely changed his position.

He adjusted his state again and re-entered meditation.

As time passed, through his unremitting efforts, the Meridians from the Huiming acupoint to the Zique acupoint were successfully expanded after one hour.

He did not stop, and again circulated his Cultivation Technique to guide the Spiritual Qi to strike at the Zique acupoint.

When he extended his consciousness, he discovered that all the Spiritual Qi in the entire cave had already been completely absorbed by him.

His brows furrowed tightly as he fell into deep thought.

"Should I try going outside the cave? There might still be Spiritual Qi outside that I haven't absorbed yet."

But as soon as the thought arose, he hurriedly suppressed it.

"No, that won't do!"

He couldn't help but mutter to himself, his face full of conflict and worry.

The Spirit Guiding Art explicitly states that being disturbed while Cultivating is strictly forbidden.

"The situation outside the cave is complex and unpredictable. Even if a wild rabbit or wild boar causes a disturbance, it could lead to Qi Deviation, and my life would be in danger."

Thinking this, he abandoned his plan to go out and lay down in his clothes inside the cave.

That night, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep soundly.

His mind was constantly preoccupied with his Cultivation progress, and countless thoughts churned in his head. Where should he go if there was no Spiritual Qi in the cave tomorrow?

Fortunately, fate did not drive him into a dead end.

The first ray of dawn light quietly sprinkled into the cave like silk threads.

Yun Song sat cross-legged early and was surprised to find that a large amount of Spiritual Qi had emerged in the cave at some point.

Overjoyed, he immediately seized this rare opportunity, sat cross-legged, and began to Cultivate.

However, in order to open the Zique acupoint, he changed positions three times in a row, completely absorbing all the Spiritual Qi that had finally recovered in the cave.

Yet, the Zique acupoint still remained unopened.

This sudden turn of events was like a heavy hammer blow.

It made him wake up instantly, realizing a crucial problem.

As the Meridians and Acupoints continue to extend downwards, the amount of spiritual power required also continues to increase.

Next are the Lingxu acupoint, Juhai acupoint, Rongguang acupoint, Zhenyue acupoint, Yuheng acupoint, and Xingyuan acupoint.

This series of Acupoints is like one towering, impassable mountain after another.

They stand across his path to the Dantian and Spiritual Root, quietly waiting for him to conquer and cross them.

He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

At the beginning, he thought that the Spiritual Qi consumed when opening the tianling acupoint and Huiming acupoint had already reached the limit.

Who would have known that when he tried to strike the Zique acupoint.

He suddenly realized that the Spiritual Qi required was more than three times that of opening the tianling acupoint and Huiming acupoint!

This path of Cultivation is simply a bottomless black hole!

He looked at the mottled light and shadows on the cave wall and sighed heavily.

The Spiritual Qi required for each Acupoint increases exponentially.

Even if he spent his whole life trapped in this cave, he would probably never even touch the edge of a Spirit Vortex.

"If I just keep training blindly like this, what's the difference between me and a donkey blindfolded while pulling a millstone?"

Perhaps the Cultivators outside the mountain know the reason for the surge in Spiritual Qi?

Or perhaps there is some secret technique to condense Spiritual Qi?

Thinking of this, a surge of heat welled up in his heart.

"I should go outside and see, even though rashly going out might mean running into Cultivators with ill intentions."

"But remaining trapped here and waiting for death is the truly foolish thing."

"If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cub? Rather than waiting here to die, it's better to break out and find a way to live!"

"Since I've made up my mind to go out, where exactly should I go?"

Yun Song's brows were tightly locked, his gaze wandering around the cave as he muttered to himself.

After thinking for a long time, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in his mind.

"That's it! The Mine is quite close to here. Going to find Steward Wu might just give me some guidance."

The more Yun Song thought about it, the more he felt this idea was feasible.

He packed his things, picked up his mining hoe, and left the cave.

Not long after, The Mine was already in sight. Its familiar silhouette gradually became clear in Yun Song's eyes.

As the familiar scene came into view, he felt a bit of trepidation, and his footsteps unconsciously slowed down.

Six years had passed in the blink of an eye; standing here again, his state of mind was completely different.

He arrived at the place where tasks were turned in.

Steward Wu was still sitting on that grandmaster chair, as if time had frozen on him, or perhaps as if he had been ruthlessly kneaded by the years.

Compared to six years ago, his figure appeared even more hunched, as if his spine had been bent by the heavy burdens of life.

The sparse white hair on his head had now spread like frost and snow, with large patches of silver strands gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

On his face, wrinkles crisscrossed like gullies, depicting the vicissitudes of time.

In his eyes, the former sharpness had been replaced by exhaustion and vicissitudes.

But that iconic shrewdness still flickered in his eyes, like a faint glimmer in the night.

Yun Song took a deep breath, steadied himself, stepped forward, and bowed respectfully, his voice filled with a hint of emotion at their reunion after a long time.

"Steward Wu, long time no see. Have you been well?"

Steward Wu slowly raised his head, his gaze, which had been somewhat murky and carried a hint of exhaustion, sweeping over Yun Song.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze filled with contemplation.

It was as if he were trying hard to salvage fragments about the person before him from the long river of memory.

His brows furrowed slightly, and many blurry images surfaced in his mind.

A moment later, his eyes suddenly lit up. "So it's you, kid!"

"It's been many years; you've grown up to be even more spirited, and you've grown quite a bit taller. My old eyes almost didn't recognize you."

"How have you been these years? Why have you come to The Mine again?"

Yun Song felt a warmth in his heart and hurriedly said.

"Thank you for your concern, I've been getting by. It's just that I've come this time because there is something I would like to ask Steward Wu for advice on."

Steward Wu signaled, "What is it? Let me hear it."

Yun Song did not hesitate and told him everything, from the initial guiding of Qi into his body, to the later opening of Acupoints, and the current dilemma of lacking Spiritual Qi.

After a long while, Steward Wu slowly raised his head, his gaze carrying a hint of complexity, and his tone appearing exceptionally grave.

"I remember that six years ago, you had no Spiritual Root and came to be a Miner of your own volition."

"You actually say that you can now sense the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi?"

He was full of suspicion, his gaze scrutinizing Yun Song like a knife, his tone full of doubt.