novelE2F Chapter 171: Yuan Devouring Technique
Chapter 171: Yuan Devouring Technique
Chapter 171: Devouring Yuan Great Art
This was an exceptionally perilous process. Each seemingly insignificant mana vortex contained the fruits of a cultivator's years of arduous cultivation.
Slight carelessness could lead to the instability or even dissipation of the mana vortex, which was a minor issue.
The major and most severe issue was the destruction of years of cultivation, a drop in realm, or even severe damage to the dantian.
The Foundation Establishment Pill played a crucial role during the breakthrough.
On one hand, its medicinal power could continuously maintain the stability of the mana vortex.
On the other hand, it could also promote fusion.
Before his breakthrough,
Li Lan had made ample preparations.
He had obtained the extremely detailed cultivation experience for the Qi Refining Great Perfection, Foundation Establishment (Early Stage), and other breakthrough processes from Ye Yingying.
He had reviewed it no less than thousands of times.
Only after fully understanding the entire breakthrough process
did he finally decide to take this step.
Li Lan adjusted his mood and began his first attempt to merge the twelve mana vortices.
This process was very long.
Despite having the experience of predecessors, due to the different cultivation techniques practiced by each cultivator,
many details of the breakthrough still required personal exploration and research.
Time flew by like sand between fingers; a year and a half passed in the blink of an eye.
In the cave abode,
the clay figure sitting cross-legged on the cushion suddenly opened its eyes.
A sharp glint flashed and disappeared.
The clay figure slightly opened its mouth, and a slightly mottled wisp of spiritual energy was exhaled from within.
A look of excitement flashed in his eyes.
Success!
Li Lan raised his hand and cast a hand seal, shaking off the black and gray mud covering his body,
revealing skin that was as delicate as a newborn baby's, rosy and smooth.
The current Li Lan, apart from the silver strands at his temples,
no longer had any trace of a middle-aged or elderly appearance at nearly forty years old.
He was full of vigor, looking as if he had returned to his youth, a complete picture of a man in his prime.
Li Lan looked at the subtle changes in his appearance and couldn't help but exclaim in wonder.
This was the magic of cultivation.
Ordinary mortals would only grow older and weaker with the passage of time.
Cultivators, however, were different; they were truly defying the heavens.
The older they were, the stronger their bodies became.
This was only an external change.
With each increase in cultivation realm, the internal changes in a cultivator were the most obvious.
At this moment,
in Li Lan's dantian,
the twelve mana vortices were no longer visible.
Only a mass of light white mist remained, slowly drifting within.
He had now crossed that threshold and was no longer in the Qi Refining Twelfth Level.
However, saying he had reached Qi Refining Great Perfection was not entirely accurate.
At this time,
after a year and a half of arduous cultivation, he was in between the two.
Another step forward would be Qi Refining Great Perfection, and half a step back would be the Qi Refining Twelfth Level.
The reason for this awkward state
was not unrelated to his spiritual root aptitude and the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
As early as half a year ago,
Li Lan had successfully merged the twelve mana vortices into one.
However, his pseudo-spiritual root aptitude resulted in a relatively slow absorption rate of the surrounding spiritual energy.
Even with the assistance of a series of cultivation resources such as the purple sandalwood tree core, Gathering Spirit Formation, Gathering Qi Pill, and Foundation Establishment Pill, Li Lan had only just managed to transform the mana vortices into a misty state.
According to the experience gained, the standard for reaching Qi Refining Great Perfection required compressing and transforming the gaseous mana in the dantian into a liquid state.
Li Lan didn't know how to evaluate the mass of light white mist in his dantian now.
If it was liquid, from its appearance, it wasn't accurate.
But if it was gaseous,
the mana contained within this mist was extremely abundant, far exceeding the total amount of the previous twelve mana vortices. When his consciousness entered it, he could even feel a hint of coolness.
The center of this mass of mist was clearly extremely humid, like the air before the formation of morning dew,
as if a little more force could squeeze out a few drops of water from it.
Therefore, Li Lan believed that he was currently precisely in between the two realms.
There was actually another reason why Li Lan judged himself to have succeeded.
His remaining lifespan had increased to fifty-five years.
After more than twenty years of cultivation,
Li Lan had figured out the pattern.
If his cultivation realm did not break through,
his lifespan would not increase no matter what.
After finishing his cultivation,
Li Lan also summarized the reasons.
The reason for succeeding halfway could be attributed entirely to his spiritual root aptitude.
When he synthesized all the mana vortices into a mist mass, it was because there wasn't enough mana afterward that he was currently stuck in this awkward state.
Of course,
spiritual root aptitude was innate and difficult to change now.
But external factors like the spiritual energy of heaven and earth could be compensated for through other means.
For example,
finding a few more natural treasures similar to the purple sandalwood tree core that could filter spiritual energy,
or refining more pills like the Gathering Qi Pill that could quickly gather spiritual energy in a short period,
and taking higher-grade pills.
Or, it could be finding some natural environments with purer spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
These cultivation resources
could help cultivators save a lot of time circulating qi within their bodies and refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
This Class A cave abode in the Low-Grade Spirit Vein
was quite practical for cultivators in the early and middle stages of Qi Refining,
but its help was not as great for cultivators who wanted to break through to the Foundation Establishment (Early Stage).
The current Li Lan,
it was not difficult to formally step into Qi Refining Great Perfection; he just needed to continue in secluded cultivation and temper and compress the mana mist mass in his dantian.
But if he wanted to go a step further and break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage,
the existing cultivation resources, no matter how you looked at it, seemed insufficient.
It should be known that the mana required to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage
was completely incomparable to breaking through the Qi Refining Great Perfection realm.
Even ordinary dual spiritual root cultivators,
with the help of the Class D cultivation cave abode in a Medium-Grade Spirit Vein, required great luck to narrowly succeed. Even a demon cultivator as powerful as Ye Yingying relied on disguising her identity,
entering a major sect, gradually becoming a core disciple, and using the effect of the Medium-Grade Spirit Vein to successfully break through.
Even demon beasts with extraordinary bloodlines could not do without cultivation resources,
let alone him, a pseudo-spiritual root cultivator?
Li Lan estimated that
if he wanted to increase his chances of advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage,
this Medium-Grade Spirit Vein was an indispensable part.
But after figuring this out,
new troubles appeared before him.
Low-Grade Spirit Veins were easy to talk about; as long as one had spirit stones,
they could obtain cultivation quotas through the Jingxiu Cave Abode in Jiuhua County City.
But this Medium-Grade Spirit Vein was extremely rare in the entire Jiuhua County.
Currently, it was only known to exist in the hinterlands of the Three Great Sects,
each one could be said to be the lifeblood of the sect.
Even some core and even direct disciples were not easily qualified to enter,
let alone him, a registered disciple.
Cultivation resources like Medium-Grade Spirit Veins were not even sold in the Jingxiu Cave Abode in Jiuhua County City, which had extensive connections.
It should be known that the Human Emperor Hall stood behind the other party.
He didn't know if this was done intentionally to reduce the number of rogue cultivators breaking through to Foundation Establishment in each county,
or for some other unknown reason.
In short,
under normal circumstances, without a background,
it was incredibly difficult to cultivate with the help of a Medium-Grade Spirit Vein.
Of course,
difficult as it was, it was not entirely impossible.
In turbulent times,
there was now a ready opportunity before him.
Before Li Lan left Guangji Sect, he had already heard that
Tian Shu Pavilion had issued new sect missions.
Anyone who participated in the搶奪靈脈 (搶奪靈脈) could receive a Foundation Establishment Pill as a reward. After successfully seizing the Spirit Vein, they could receive two more.
Those who held the Spirit Vein for three full years could also obtain the qualification to cultivate in the Class D cave abode of the Medium-Grade Spirit Vein for twelve hours.
These new sect missions could be accepted even by registered disciples.
Although it was extremely dangerous, saying it was a narrow escape from death was not an exaggeration,
it also gave many rogue cultivators who had been stuck at Qi Refining Great Perfection for many years a chance to break through.
Li Lan now had some ideas in his mind.
If he was unable to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage for a long time in the future, this would not be a bad fallback.
He wondered if these sect missions were still available after two years.
Li Lan pondered for a moment,
and then took out the 《Devouring Yuan Great Art》 from his storage bag.
Originally, he had no intention of using five years of his lifespan to gamble on this.
But after personally trying it out now,
he found that even with so many cultivation resources,
breaking through to Qi Refining Great Perfection was still so difficult, let alone the even more difficult Foundation Establishment Stage.
Now, having one more technique that could help with cultivation was always a good thing,
and he would be more confident in reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage in the future.
Thinking of this,
Li Lan made a decision.
He immediately used five years of his lifespan to complete this technique.
After the complete chapters of the 《Devouring Yuan Great Art》 appeared in his mind,
Li Lan quickly read through them.
After a long while,
a hint of joy surged in his heart.
This complete technique did not have high requirements for the absorbed person.
It only needed to be compatible with the cultivation technique of the person performing the technique.
Whether they had intelligence or divine sense was not affected.
This meant that Li Lan's previous conjecture was correct.
He could cultivate by absorbing the mana of the Spirit Bean Soldiers.
It should be known that
the mana within these bean soldiers was all cultivated and purified,
and could be used directly without further refining.
In terms of the efficiency of increasing mana,
the speed of gaining mana through this Devouring Yuan Great Art was much faster than even the purple sandalwood tree core, a five-hundred-year-old spiritual plant.
With this technique, plus the support of so many cultivation resources, and the future use of the Medium-Grade Spirit Vein environment,
he should be able to increase his chances of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage by several percent, right?
Li Lan thought silently, sat cross-legged on the cushion, closed his eyes again, and began to cultivate this Devouring Yuan Great Art from the beginning.
In the blink of an eye, another year passed quickly.
Li Lan placed one hand on the shoulder of a Spirit Bean Soldier and silently circulated the technique.
On the surface, there was nothing special, but if one used their divine sense to look inside, they would discover that
the only mana vortex within this Qi Refining First Level Spirit Bean Soldier was trembling violently, as if it had encountered a storm.
Soon,
this mana vortex was completely disintegrated.
The pure mana within it did not dissipate; a vast divine sense guided them,
following a special operational trajectory, and flowed entirely into Li Lan's body.