34: Chapter 34 Cultivation is too difficult!

County Academy, a corner of the Library!

Sunlight filtered through the carved window lattices, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow on the blue brick floor.

A youth dressed in a white martial uniform stood quietly among them. His figure was tall and slender, his clothing elegant and clean, untouched by a single speck of dust.

He had handsome features and sharp contours. His pitch-black hair fell softly over his shoulders, and his overall temperament was as calm as jade, naturally exuding an extraordinary air of indifference.

In his hands, the youth held a yellowed, curling ancient book. Its pages were old, and the ink marks were simple and ancient.

With his eyelids slightly lowered, his gaze fell intently on the paper. His expression was serious and fully engaged, as if all the surrounding noise had nothing to do with him, leaving only him and the ancient book in his hands merged as one.

This quiet and handsome appearance caused the young girls passing by in search of books to stop frequently. Their gazes involuntarily drifted toward him, and their whispered conversations could not hide their admiration and curiosity.

"Entry Stage, Micro-Level, Manifestation, Domain, Dao One Stage, Return to Origin Stage!!!"

"So, Concept is actually divided into six Realms!!!"

Paying no mind to the glances from the girls in the distance, Chen An carefully read the records in the ancient book, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

Right now, his deepest comprehension was only the Mountain-Collapsing Intent of the "Mountain Crushing Force", and even that was merely at the Micro-Level. Beyond that, there were still four major Realms: Manifestation, Domain, Dao One Stage, and Return to Origin Stage.

Yet, just the Micro-Level alone made him feel as though his combat strength had surged by at least tenfold.

He felt that if he had possessed the Micro-Level while at Condensing Qi Stage 2, it would probably have been enough to give him the strength to fight and defeat a Acquired Realm Martial Artist.

It was hard to imagine what kind of unfathomable abilities the subsequent levels of Concept would possess.

"The Entry Stage of Concept consumed one hundred yuan crystals, and the Micro-Level consumed another thousand. Could the subsequent four Realms of Manifestation, Domain, Dao One Stage, and Return to Origin Stage each require ten times the consumption of the last?!"

"If that's really the case, then that is truly..."

"Hiss!!!"

Thinking of this, Chen An couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

One hundred for the Entry Stage, one thousand for the Micro-Level. If it increased by tenfold at each step:

Manifestation would require ten thousand, Domain one hundred thousand, Dao One Stage a whopping one million, and as for the Return to Origin Stage, it would be an unimaginable astronomical price.

This wasn't cultivating Concepts at all; it was clearly just burning yuan crystals!

Previously, he thought that with a balance of five hundred thousand sitting in his System, it would be enough to support his cultivation for a long time, leaving him completely free of resource worries.

But looking at it now, he had been too naive!

Shaking his head, he took a deep breath. Chen An stopped dwelling on the matter.

As the saying goes, "the cart will find a way through the mountain when it gets there," and "the boat will naturally straighten at the bridge." Once he used these five hundred thousand yuan crystals to raise his cultivation, he would naturally find ways to make money.

Putting away the ancient book, Chen An returned it to its original spot on the shelf. Without lingering any longer, he turned and walked straight out of the Library.

Stepping out of the Library's main entrance, the evening breeze brushed against his face, carrying the slight chill of dusk.

Chen An looked up at the sky and was surprised to realize that he had quietly stayed in the Library for most of the day. At this moment, the sun was setting in the west, and the entire sky was dyed with evening glow, already approaching dusk.

An hour later, after having dinner, Chen An finally returned home.

"System!"

Host: Chen An

Age: 17

Aptitude: Mid-grade Martial Bone

Cultivation: Grandmaster Realm (Early Stage)

Current Balance: 496,000

"Should I continue to upgrade my Concept, or my cultivation?!" Looking at the balance on the System, Chen An fell into contemplation.

Originally, he thought that having five hundred thousand yuan crystals would be enough for his cultivation in the short term, so he hadn't planned it out carefully.

But now he knew that Concepts had six major Realms, and it was highly likely that each upgrade would require ten times the consumption.

In that case, even if he poured in all his yuan crystals, he could at most upgrade four Concepts to the Domain Realm.

Although Concepts were powerful and could enhance his Divine Soul and state of mind, compensating for the hidden danger of an unstable state of mind due to rapid Breakthroughs, cultivation Realm was ultimately a Martial Artist's foundation.

Without the support of cultivation strength, no matter how profound one's comprehension of Concepts was, it would be difficult to unleash their proper Divine Might and combat strength.

"In that case, let's upgrade my cultivation first!"

"If my state of mind becomes unstable, I can upgrade my Concepts then!"

"That would be perfect!"

After figuring it out, Chen An took a deep breath, then looked at the System and ordered:

"System, consume 1,000 yuan crystals to exchange for 1,000 years of cultivation time, and Cultivate the 'Cangxuan Qi-Condensing Art'!"

Boom!!!

The instant his voice fell, the air around him shook violently. The vast and majestic Origin Qi of heaven and earth seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, frantically gathering toward Chen An.

The surging Origin Qi of heaven and earth turned into a tangible white mist, wrapping around him in layers and enveloping him completely.

The "Cangxuan Qi-Condensing Art" operated on its own, rapidly transforming the incoming Origin Qi of heaven and earth into Innate True Gang.

One year, ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years...

[Ding! One thousand years of cultivation time has been completely consumed. Cultivation terminated!]

A cold System voice suddenly rang in his mind.

The surging Origin Qi of heaven and earth instantly dispersed, and the self-operating "Cangxuan Qi-Condensing Art" slowly quieted down and receded.

In the darkness, Chen An opened his eyes. Instantly, two beams of silver light shot out from his eyes, causing the room to suddenly light up as if a flash of lightning had passed through.

"Four thousand and fifty wisps of Innate True Gang!"

Peering into his Dantian and seeing that after spending a full thousand years of cultivation time, he had only gained one thousand additional wisps of Innate True Gang, Chen An couldn't help but frown slightly.

One thousand wisps seemed like a decent amount, but broken down, it meant he could only refine one wisp of Innate True Gang per year.

One had to know that what he had exchanged for was genuine closed-door cultivation time, equivalent to practicing bitterly day and night without sleep, constantly running his Cultivation Technique, yet the progress was still shockingly slow.

According to the records of the "Cangxuan Qi-Condensing Art", in the Grandmaster Realm, one needed ten thousand wisps of Innate True Gang to break through to the Middle Stage of the Grandmaster Realm, and forty thousand wisps of Innate True Gang to break through to the Late Stage of the Grandmaster Realm.

To reach the Perfection of the Grandmaster Realm, one needed a whopping one hundred thousand wisps of Innate True Gang.

"Cultivating in this Grandmaster Realm is way too hard, isn't it?!!!"

Thinking that it would take one hundred thousand wisps of Innate True Gang just to break through to the Perfection of the Grandmaster Realm, Chen An's lips couldn't help but twitch.

However, Chen An guessed that it was probably because his Aptitude was too poor, which was why he could only condense one wisp of Innate True Gang per year.

Otherwise, at his speed of condensing Innate True Gang, just going from the Early Stage of the Grandmaster Realm to Perfection would take nearly one hundred thousand years.

If so, how could there be any Great Grandmasters, Martial Kings, or Martial Emperors beyond the Grandmaster Realm?!

One had to know that according to the books, the maximum Lifespan of a Grandmaster Realm expert was only two hundred and forty years.

With a mere two hundred-plus years, if everyone was like him, the path of martial arts would have been cut off long ago.

"I wonder if this world has any ways to improve one's root bone or Physique?!"

Chen An sighed softly to himself. He had a System cheat in hand, yet his own root bone and Aptitude were too poor, dragging down his cultivation efficiency.

For the same cultivation time, the effect on others would be several times, dozens of times, or even hundreds or thousands of times stronger than on him.

Right now, he was only in the Grandmaster Realm, yet he could only condense one wisp of Innate True Gang a year.

If he stepped into the Great Grandmaster, Martial King, or even Martial Emperor Realms in the future, with the cultivation difficulty skyrocketing level by level, wouldn't his speed of condensing True Astral Qi and breaking through Realms be despairingly slow?

In the end, even with a Heaven-Defying existence like the System, the amount of yuan crystals he would consume would surely be staggering.

His eyes flickered, and Chen An made up his mind to find a way to improve his root bone and Physique in the future. Only then did he exhale a long breath of turbid air and look at the System before him:

"System, consume one hundred thousand of my balance to exchange for one hundred thousand years of cultivation time, and Cultivate the 'Cangxuan Qi-Condensing Art'!"

...