87: Chapter 87 A Life of Mere Cultivation

After successfully achieving a Breakthrough to the fourth level, he once again collected three years' worth of resources.

Inside the stone house, Steward Liu was still sitting before that old table.

Seeing Yun Song arrive, he frowned, and another barrage of nagging came flying towards him.

Yun Song wore an apologetic smile and nodded repeatedly in agreement, though he was secretly anxious, hoping only that Steward Liu would hurry up and finish his nagging.

After much difficulty, he waited for Steward Liu to finish complaining, then swept the three years' worth of resources into his Storage Pouch all at once.

He hastily bowed, then left in a hurry as if granted amnesty.

He went straight back to the waterfall to attempt a Breakthrough to the fifth level.

The key to the fifth level of the Spirit Guiding Art lay in expanding the Spirit Vortex.

The Spiritual Power stored in the Spirit Vortex would become more abundant, allowing for extended use of Spiritual Power.

Not only that, but the Spiritual Power Blade released with the help of a Magical Artifact...

...would see significant improvements in both power and duration.

At the same time, the number of small Spells that could be cast would also continuously increase.

Yun Song's eyes were tightly shut, his expression solemn, as if the entire world had been shut out.

As the Spirit Guiding Art circulated, the Aura around his body suddenly changed.

The pores all over his body opened, and the one hundred and eight Acupoints on his body were like eager eyes, greedily absorbing the Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth to converge into the Spirit Vortex.

Under the waterfall, mist filled the air, dreamlike and illusory, and the dense Spiritual Qi was originally like a thick blanket, gently wrapping around him.

But as he consumed massive amounts of Spiritual Qi, this originally abundant domain of Spiritual Qi gradually began to show signs of depletion.

The flow of Spiritual Qi, which had been like threads and strands, seamlessly interlocking, gradually became intermittent.

He understood in his heart that this was the critical moment for his Cultivation.

He quickly took out the more than thirty thousand Spirit Stones he had collected earlier from his Storage Pouch and piled them all beside him.

He immersed himself completely in his Cultivation, and that Spiritual Qi, like a surging torrent...

...under his skillful guidance, flowed endlessly toward the Spirit Vortex within his Dantian.

Every wisp of Spiritual Qi transformed into a fine engraving knife, gently yet firmly polishing the Spirit Vortex.

This process was long and arduous; the Spiritual Qi and the Spirit Vortex intertwined and merged, and only he could truly perceive the subtle changes between them.

Time passed quietly in the stillness of Cultivation, and two years flew by.

During these two years, Yun Song was like an old monk in meditation, always maintaining his Cultivation posture.

And those thirty thousand Five-Element Spiritual Root Spirit Stones, in this day-and-night Cultivation...

...gradually exhausted the Spiritual Qi inside, turning into a pile of lusterless stones.

The Spirit Vortex, which was only the size of a thumb back then, was now as thick as two fingers.

Recalling his Cultivation journey, when he had a Breakthrough from the third level to the fourth, it had taken him a full three years.

However, this time, the Breakthrough from the fourth level to the fifth had only taken a short two years, a full year faster than before.

He had originally thought that as the level of his Cultivation Technique increased, the difficulty of the Breakthrough would increase, and the time required would inevitably be longer.

This result truly surprised him.

However, this joy did not last long; it immediately shattered like a bubble, dealing him a heavy blow.

After his Breakthrough to the fifth level, he collected two more years' worth of resources.

He couldn't wait to return to his familiar Cultivation spot, preparing to make a push in one go to reach the sixth level.

At first, everything went as smoothly as he had planned, with the Spiritual Qi circulating methodically within his body.

However, in just three years' time, he had exhausted twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

In the step from the fifth level to the sixth, twenty thousand Spirit Stones had only completed one-third of the process.

Looking at that pile of Spirit Stones that had lost their luster and turned into waste rock, Yun Song's heart was filled with bitterness and disappointment.

He had thought that with these resources, it would be enough to successfully reach a Breakthrough to the sixth level.

But the cruel reality was like a basin of cold water, ruthlessly extinguishing the hope in his heart.

In this moment of near despair, his gaze fell upon the Storage Pouch at his waist.

Only then did he remember that there were still spirit gathering pills issued that he hadn't used in his Storage Pouch!

He took them all out from the Storage Pouch.

Opening the porcelain bottle cap, the rich Spiritual Qi of the Medicinal Pill rushed towards his face.

He did not hesitate in the slightest and placed a Medicinal Pill into his mouth.

The Medicinal Pill melted the moment it entered his mouth, transforming into a massive and scorching torrent of Spiritual Qi.

Compared to the Spiritual Qi within the Spirit Stones, it came much more urgently.

He dared not be the slightest bit slack, immediately adjusting his state and entering deep meditation to circulate the Spirit Guiding Art.

After swallowing all the spirit gathering pills and spending another half year in meditation, he successfully achieved a Breakthrough to the sixth level of Qi Refining!

With the help of the Spirit Stones and the spirit gathering pills, the journey from the fifth level to the sixth only took one year.

During the Cultivation process, he gradually noticed a significant difference.

Compared to absorbing the Spiritual Qi from Spirit Stones, taking the spirit gathering pills could actually significantly accelerate the Cultivation process.

The Spirit Vortex, which was two fingers wide, had now broadened to four fingers wide.

After finishing a period of focused Cultivation, on a whim, he decided to try casting other Spells.

His hands moved rapidly, his ten fingers nimble as if flying, and he began to pinch the incantations for the Spiritual Power Shield.

In an instant, a massive and brilliant Spiritual Power surged out from within his body, gathering around him in a miraculous trajectory.

In the blink of an eye, a layer of colorful Spiritual Power Shield suddenly took form, like a gorgeous curtain of light, tightly surrounding his entire body.

The colorful light flowed ceaselessly, and when the supply of Spiritual Power stopped, the Spiritual Power Shield slowly disappeared.

Wood Spirit Immortal Art.

This Wood Spirit Immortal Art was quite unique; it had no clear level divisions, but it had a special rule: only those with a Wood Spiritual Root could Cultivate it.

Fortunately, he possessed the Five-Element Spiritual Root, so this did not stump him.

The wonder of the Wood Spirit Immortal Art lay in mobilizing the Spiritual Power within the body.

And then condensing the Wood attribute power between heaven and earth, ultimately achieving the magical effect of healing wounds.

He calmed his mind, and after slightly organizing the details of the Cultivation Technique, he began to pinch the incantations for the Wood Spirit Immortal Art.

As the incantations gradually took shape, a wondrous scene appeared.

The surrounding Wood attribute Spiritual Power seemed to be summoned, one after another gathering toward his palms.

He saw a faint green light shine on his hands; although the light was faint, it exuded an Aura full of vitality.

As Spiritual Power continued to be injected into his palms, the Wood attribute between heaven and earth gathered more and more surgingly.

The originally faint green light was also quietly changing, first turning cyan, and then gradually turning dark cyan.

Unknowingly, the Spiritual Power within his body had been completely exhausted.

At this moment, he lightly flicked his hand, and the green light gathered on his hand actually descended into the ground like a small, slowly falling green umbrella.

Looking at this strange scene, he pondered to himself.

Perhaps it was this energy emitting green light that could serve the purpose of healing wounds.

Yun Song sat cross-legged on the spot, closed his eyes and focused his mind, entering a state of deep meditation.

Time passed quietly, and about half an hour had passed.

He slowly opened his eyes, and the Spiritual Power within his body had been replenished.

In his mind, he recalled the records in the Spirit Guiding Art, which mentioned that when the body contained Spiritual Power, one could release the Spiritual Power externally.

This description made him curious: just how much power could this external release of Spiritual Power have?

This unknown was like an invisible hand, making his heart itch.

Carrying this strong curiosity, he couldn't wait to try it out for himself.

He took out a Low Grade Magical Artifact from his Storage Pouch.

He slowly injected Spiritual Power into it, and in an instant, the mining hoe in his hand lit up with colorful light.

His gaze locked onto a large tree not far away.

He swung the mining hoe violently, and a colorful Spiritual Power Blade...

...shot out from the tip of the mining hoe, slashing at the large tree not far away.

"Bang!"

The tree, as thick as a water bucket, was split into two halves, the cross-section as smooth as if it had been polished.