novelE2F #344 - It's getting harder and harder
#344 - It's getting harder and harder
Lu Jing didn't tell Xia Huai the detailed process of his foundation building, because he found it difficult to explain why he swallowed that drop of Heavenly One Water immediately after the small competition.
Fortunately, Xia Huai didn't continue to press him. She was genuinely happy for Lu Jing and even planned to buy a few jars of wine from the canteen and personally cook some side dishes to celebrate with him.
Unfortunately, Lu Jing didn't seem very enthusiastic, which made Xia Huai secretly admire him. Most people would experience emotional ups and downs between being unable to cultivate and successfully establishing their foundation.
However, Lu Jing didn't show much disappointment when he discovered he couldn't cultivate mystic energy, and now that he had unexpectedly embarked on the path of cultivation, he didn't show any sudden elation either.
Xia Huai hadn't seen this kind of state of mind and composure in anyone else.
She even saw a hint of worry in Lu Jing's eyes, so she comforted him, "Don't worry, you haven't fallen behind on your studies too much during this time. You can still catch up if you start working hard now. Besides, I'll help you with tutoring. By the way… you haven't done a test after completing your foundation building, have you?"
Lu Jing knew that Xia Huai had probably misunderstood something, but he did need to cram on some things now, so he didn't refuse Xia Huai's suggestion and asked, following the girl's words, "What test?"
"After foundation building, the academy will check the foundation building results of each student."
"The small competition? I participated in it, uh… although I hadn't established my foundation at that time."
"The small competition is certainly a kind of test, but there are more direct ways to judge the strength of the Mystic Cauldron."
As Xia Huai spoke, she returned to the house, took out a talisman, and handed it to Lu Jing. Then she taught Lu Jing a spell.
As a result, Lu Jing said somewhat awkwardly, "There's no mystic energy in my Niwan Palace right now."
"Not even a little mystic energy?"
"Not even a little."
"It doesn't matter. Then you can hold that talisman and test it when you have mystic energy." Xia Huai said, "I'll tell you the evaluation criteria first. When you recite the spell, the talisman in your hand will also start to burn. The shorter the burning time, the stronger your Mystic Cauldron is."
"Burning completely within the time it takes to brew a cup of tea is Grade A, two cups of tea is Grade B, half an hour is Grade C, and any longer is Grade D. The stronger the Mystic Cauldron, the faster you absorb mystic energy from the world, the less mystic energy you consume when casting spells, and the faster your Niwan Palace expands."
Lu Jing originally thought that he had just walked through the gates of hell and that no more bad news could scare him, but he couldn't help but shiver when he heard Xia Huai's words.
Lu Jing didn't care about the speed of absorbing mystic energy from the world, because whether it was internal force or mystic energy cultivation, it had been repeatedly confirmed that he couldn't absorb anything from this world, probably due to some kind of bug.
However, the latter two characteristics made Lu Jing tremble involuntarily.
The small consumption of mystic energy when casting spells was not a good thing for him, which meant that he would have to spend more effort to empty the mystic energy in his upper dantian.
And the expansion of the Niwan Palace was even more terrifying. Just hearing these five words made Lu Jing think of the nightmare of breaking through acupoints before.
How could this be even worse this time, changing from manual to automatic?
Lu Jing quickly asked Xia Huai, "Will the Niwan Palace grow on its own?"
"Of course, this is also our main goal in cultivation," Xia Huai said. "The head has nine palaces. The Niwan Palace is the place where the spirit is stored and also the starting point of our cultivation. As the Niwan Palace expands, we can gradually connect and light up the other eight palaces. For each additional divine palace we light up, we can cultivate one more divine power and also have one more place to store mystic energy."
"So every time a palace is opened, it is a qualitative leap for the cultivator's strength. Of course, this is not to say that those who have opened more palaces are necessarily more powerful than those who have opened fewer palaces. After all, there are many factors to consider when actually fighting, such as the strength of martial arts, the spells each person specializes in, and different formations, etc… all of which may affect the outcome of the battle.
"But in general, having more opened palaces will definitely be more advantageous. The highest cultivation in the current Directorate of Celestial Observation is Su Tixue, who is over a hundred years old and is a six-palace cultivator. Next is Guo Shaojian, who is a five-palace cultivator. Huang Jianyuan is slightly worse, with four palaces. The professors of the academy are mainly three-palace cultivators, and a few are four-palace cultivators. As for those reclusive seniors, it's hard to say."
Xia Huai gave Lu Jing, the academy's number one mystic energy illiterate, a science lesson on cultivation realms and the strength of the people in the academy.
Lu Jing didn't know what to say anymore. Another person here might see a magnificent scene of cultivation.
But in Lu Jing's view, the so-called nine palaces were completely nine death warrants!
He had just established his foundation and opened the Niwan Palace, and he had already experienced a life-and-death tribulation. If it weren't for Chi, the weapon-refining maniac, looking at him differently because of stainless steel and being willing to sell him the flying sword in his hand at a discount, and also allowing him to write an IOU, and if he hadn't happened to learn a set of sword control techniques, Lu Jing estimated that his path of cultivation would have gone from entry to entry into the grave.
As a result, now Xia Huai was telling him that this was just the beginning, and there were eight more palaces waiting for him. Lu Jing only felt his eyes darken.
Even the questions he had originally prepared were a little difficult to ask, because Lu Jing was afraid that he would ask some new questions.
However, he finally agreed with Xia Huai to come to her for tutoring every night at midnight.
A single Lake Light was obviously not enough to solve the predicament he faced. In any case, he needed to have a sufficient understanding of mystic energy in order to find more solutions.
Lu Jing dragged his heavy mood back to his residence. He wasn't in the mood to cook, so he randomly found something to fill his stomach. After that, he slept for about an hour and a half and was quickly awakened by a new wave of mystic energy.
Seeing this, Lu Jing didn't hesitate and decisively took out the talisman that Xia Huai had given him from his body.
In fact, he already had some bad premonitions in his heart. Lu Jing compared his foundation building process with what Xia Huai said and felt that his Mystic Cauldron couldn't be too weak.
And that was why he felt so desperate after hearing Xia Huai talk about the role of the Mystic Cauldron.
But then Lu Jing realized that he had underestimated the severity of the problem. When he finished reciting the last word of the spell, he saw the talisman in his hand suddenly ignite without fire, and the burning speed was extremely fast.
In less than a breath, it was burned clean. If it weren't for the ashes floating in the air, Lu Jing would have even doubted whether he had lit the talisman at all.