Chương 104: Absorbing the Remnants of the Heaven-Mending Pill! Spiritual Root Aptitude Improves!

Spiritual Root Aptitude Improves!

Spiritual Root Aptitude Improves!

Time flies. A year has passed since Zhou Ding took over as the elder of the Six Linked Halls and the Kui Xing Island, and took charge of the six stores.

On the east side of Lingmu Peak, near the cliff, a relatively flat area was carved out by Zhou Ding using his magic to create several independent, huge caves.

Although the spiritual energy here is not as concentrated as in the core area of the cave, it is still far superior to that of ordinary mountains. Moreover, the terrain is hidden, concealed by natural rock walls and dense ancient trees, making it difficult for outsiders to discover.

These three caves were prepared as habitats for Little Gold, the Golden-backed Mantis, and the Blood Jade Spider.

Back in the Yue Kingdom, when Zhou Ding subdued the ferocious Golden-backed Mantis, he severely injured it, bringing it to the brink of death.

Over the years, thanks to Zhou Ding's tireless investment, various rare spiritual herbs obtained from the Blood Forbidden Land and the flesh and blood of demonic beasts from the Chaotic Star Sea have been continuously fed to this demonic insect, which has a killing instinct. Not only have its injuries been fully healed, but its carapace has become even more luminous and green, and its scythe-like forelimbs are sharp and intimidating. Its aura has clearly reached the peak of a level four demonic beast!

All that's missing is a trigger to attempt the fifth level.

The mother blood jade spider also benefited from Zhou Ding's resource allocation. The damage caused by the inverted five elements array had long been healed. Its huge body was coiled deep in the cave, and the blood-red patterns on its body were vivid and dripping. It had also recovered to the peak of the fourth level, and its eight compound eyes shone with a cold light in the darkness.

As for the two little blood jade spiders that hatched back then, they have grown to the size of a millstone and reached the level of a second-level demon beast. They nimbly climb and play inside and outside the cave, exuding vitality.

After observing the situation of the Golden-backed Demon Mantis, Zhou Ding went directly into the cave where Little Golden was.

The cave was dry and spacious, with soft dry grass and fragments of warm jade covering the ground.

Little Jin, in its miniature form, about a foot long, was lying on a flat bluestone, pretending to sleep.

Zhou Ding opened his palm, and a red light flashed in his palm. A crystal about the size of a pigeon egg, with a deep blood-red color, and seemingly with viscous blood flowing slowly inside, appeared out of thin air, exuding an astonishing blood energy and a faint baleful aura.

This item is called "Demon Blood Stone", and it is a rare "top-grade Demon Blood Stone"!

Demon Blood Stone is a blood crystal formed from the essence of a powerful demon beast after its death. In special environments such as Yin Sha Land and where spiritual veins converge, it gradually condenses and solidifies over a long period of time, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the evil energy of the earth veins.

It not only contains the most primordial bloodline energy of the monster, but also a trace of its racial characteristics and power imprint from its previous life.

For demonic beasts and spirit pets, it is an unparalleled tonic that can stimulate their bloodline potential, accelerate their growth, and even promote mutation and evolution.

For cultivators who practice blood-path techniques, it is also a treasure for refining special pills or magical artifacts.

This "top-grade" demon blood stone has extremely demanding formation conditions. It requires the essence blood of a level 5 or even higher demon beast as its core to possibly condense!

This Demon Blood Stone was one of the treasures that Zhou Ding "selected" from the several blue-green lights in Kui Xing City using the Heavenly Hearing Technique and finally obtained.

For demonic beasts, the Demon Blood Stone is an invaluable treasure.

Zhou Ding didn't need to consider its uses at all.

As Zhou Ding's alter ego, Xiao Jin's growth is closely related to Zhou Ding himself.

Therefore, only Xiao Jin is qualified to enjoy this Demon Blood Stone.

Zhou Ding handed the Demon Blood Stone to Little Gold's mouth.

Little Jin's little nose twitched, and its eyes suddenly blazed with desire. Without hesitation, it opened its mouth, grabbed the incredibly hard demon blood stone, chewed it up with a "crunch crunch" sound, and swallowed it.

In an instant, an intensely rich, blood-red aura burst forth from Xiao Jin's body, enveloping its entire small form in a blood cocoon!

A surge of powerful, wild, and savage bloodline energy, like a river bursting its banks, exploded within Xiao Jin's body, frantically washing over and merging into his limbs, bones, and flesh.

Through consciousness sharing, Zhou Ding could clearly "see" that the essence of the high-level demon beast was being greedily absorbed and assimilated by Xiao Jin.

Its demonic energy was boiling, its bloodline was surging, and its already powerful body was undergoing a new round of tempering and sublimation, making the luster of its crimson-gold scales even deeper and more restrained.

"Digest it well. Once you emerge from seclusion, you should be able to reach level five." Zhou Ding gently stroked the blood-red cocoon, his eyes filled with anticipation.

A level five demonic beast corresponds to the early stage of Core Formation in humans. Once Xiao Jin successfully advances, the resulting feedback power will be unprecedentedly immense.

At that time, his physical body, divine consciousness, and even his newly stabilized golden core will all receive tremendous benefits.

This positive cycle is one of his greatest strengths on his path.

……

After settling Xiao Jin in, Zhou Ding returned to the quiet chamber at the core of his cave.

He sat cross-legged on the warm jade cushion, his expression more solemn than ever before. He took a deep breath, flipped his palm, and between his five fingers, five round pills, each the size of a longan, pure and translucent in color, and displaying the colors of blue, yellow, red, white, and black respectively, floated quietly into the air.

On the surface of the pill, five-colored rays of light flowed faintly, as if containing the most fundamental mysteries of the five elements in the world, yet they were perfectly integrated, emitting an indescribable, strange Daoist charm that seemed to be able to mend the defects of the world.

Remnants of the Heaven-Mending Pill!

These five pills are the essence he extracted from that seemingly dazzling five-colored skeleton in that ancient ruin!

Although it is not the complete Heaven-Mending Pill, and its medicinal power is only one-tenth of what it used to be, it still retains the most core, heaven-defying effects of the Heaven-Mending Pill.

Cleanse and refine your spiritual roots, replenish your innate qualities, and enhance the most fundamental aptitude of a cultivator!

As for Zhou Ding, he possesses three spiritual roots: metal, wood, and water. In the cultivation world, he is classified as having "three spiritual roots," which is considered a medium-level talent.

Compared to dual spiritual roots, heterogeneous spiritual roots, or even the legendary celestial spiritual root, his cultivation speed is inherently at a disadvantage.

His current Core Formation cultivation level is due to the feedback power from Little Gold, the accumulation of resources regardless of cost, his divine sense and physical body far surpassing those of his peers, and his repeated life-and-death struggles and arduous cultivation.

However, the innate constraint of "spiritual root" remains one of the biggest shortcomings limiting the height of his future path.

If he could improve his spiritual root aptitude, even if it was just from three spiritual roots to a level close to two spiritual roots, his cultivation efficiency would experience a qualitative leap, his speed of absorbing and refining spiritual energy would increase exponentially, and the resistance he would encounter when breaking through the bottleneck of a major realm would also decrease accordingly.

This will have profound significance for his future spiritual practice, far surpassing one or two magical treasures or a few bottles of elixirs.

Before he formed his core, he never dared to attempt refining it.

Although the Heaven-Mending Pill was weakened, its essence was extremely high. His Foundation Establishment stage meridians and physical body might not be able to withstand the subtle erosion during the refining process. Moreover, at that time, he needed to focus all his efforts on preparing for the Core Formation battle and could not afford to be distracted in the slightest.

Now, the Golden Core has been formed, the Dantian is stable, and the meridians, after receiving feedback from multiple times and being infused with spiritual energy during the formation of the core, are much stronger and wider than before.

More importantly, he was able to activate the Golden Core Fire, which allowed him to slowly refine and control the medicinal power.

Now is the perfect time to take it!

"A tall building rises from the ground; the stronger the foundation, the brighter the future. First, improve your qualifications, then strive for excellence!" Zhou Ding's gaze was firm, without any further hesitation.

He picked up the remnant of the Heaven-Mending Pill, which exuded vibrant life and was entirely verdant, and put it into his mouth.

The elixir did not transform into a violent torrent upon entering the mouth. Instead, it melted like snow in spring, transforming into a strangely warm current that was cool, mellow, and extremely gentle, quietly spreading into the limbs and bones.

It does not impact the meridians, nor does it sting the dantian. Like the finest spring rain, it silently permeates every inch of Zhou Ding's flesh, every meridian, every bone, and even the deepest spiritual source.

Zhou Ding dared not be careless. He immediately calmed his mind and activated the Azure Origin Sword Technique. The three-colored golden pill in his dantian slowly rotated, separating a wisp of pure pill fire that slowly traveled through his meridians, carefully guiding, enveloping, and refining the cool medicinal power.

The refining process was unexpectedly peaceful. There was no pain or shock as I had imagined, only a gentle, nourishing sensation.

Wherever the medicine passed, the meridians seemed to be cleansed, becoming more transparent and flexible; some of the fine impurities deposited in the flesh and bones were gently extracted and dissolved; the most fundamental change occurred deep in the dantian, at the mysterious source of the spiritual root.

It was an indescribable "purification" and "refinement".

It's as if a magical purifier has been dripped into murky water, slowly settling the impurities and making it clear.

The impure and impure "mixed energy" in his original three spiritual roots is being peeled away and transformed bit by bit, making the three spiritual roots of metal, wood and water more pure and refined.

Time slipped away quietly in deep meditation.

One month, two months...

One late night in the third month, Zhou Ding slowly opened his eyes, a wisp of blue light flashing in them.

He has completely refined and absorbed the first remnant of the Heaven-Mending Pill.

He exhaled a long breath, feeling refreshed and his senses seemed to have become a little sharper.

The most direct feeling was that when he circulated his cultivation technique, the wood-attribute spiritual energy in the surrounding天地灵气 (heaven and earth spiritual energy) converged towards him at a significantly faster speed than before, and the affinity also increased.

"The Heaven-Mending Pill, which seizes the essence of heaven and earth, is indeed extraordinary..." Zhou Ding exclaimed in his heart.

This subtle, gradual change was exactly what he had been longing for.

Without pausing for a moment, he picked up the second pill, a yellowish-brown remnant exuding a heavy and steady aura, and put it in his mouth.

Earth can generate metal, and it can also strengthen the foundation. As the medicinal power dissipated, a thick warmth enveloped his entire body, as if the earth bore all things, nourishing the foundation of his physical body, further stabilizing his meridians and dantian, and indirectly nourishing and purifying his metal-attribute spiritual root.

Zhou Ding closed his eyes again, immersing himself in the refining process.

……

Spring goes and autumn comes, cold and heat alternate, flowers bloom and fall on the top of Lingmu Peak outside the cave, and another year has passed.

Inside the quiet room, the remaining five Heaven-Mending Pills on the jade plate in front of Zhou Ding had all disappeared.

Zhou Ding closed his eyes again, immersing himself in the refining process.

……

Spring goes and autumn comes, cold and heat alternate, flowers bloom and fall on the top of Lingmu Peak outside the cave, and another year has passed.

Inside the quiet room, the remaining five Heaven-Mending Pills on the jade plate in front of Zhou Ding had all disappeared.

The moment he completely refined and absorbed the last remaining medicine, which was as black as ink and exuded the purest water-attribute aura, it was as if all the pores on his body opened up, and an indescribable sense of clarity surged from the depths of his soul!

"call--" Zhou Ding suddenly opened his eyes, two sharp beams of light flashing like lightning in the dimly lit room.

He stood up, without needing to consciously exert his inner energy, and simply took a deep breath.

In an instant, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within the quiet room, the cave, and even within a radius of several dozen feet around the Spirit Wood Peak seemed to be drawn by some invisible and stronger force, spontaneously and clearly converging towards him, forming a faint, visible mist of spiritual energy around him!

Its absorption rate is more than 30% faster than a year ago!

He quietly experienced the earth-shattering changes in his body.

The sensitivity to the five elements of spiritual energy in the world has become clearer and more acute than ever before.

The subtle ripples of spiritual energy that used to require careful observation to discern can now be observed with the slightest thought, with the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth clearly distinguished and exceptionally dynamic, as if viewed on the lines of the palm.

Within the dantian, the rotation of the three-colored golden elixir seemed to become more harmonious and smooth. The speed at which magical power circulated throughout the body also became faster and smoother due to the improvement of spiritual root aptitude and the reduction of meridian resistance.

The most fundamental change lies in that mysterious spiritual source.

His original three spiritual roots, based on the balance of the three systems, have undergone a qualitative leap in overall quality after being repeatedly refined, purified, and nourished for a year by the remnants of five Heaven-Mending Pills corresponding to the five elements!

If he was once considered one of the best among those with three spiritual roots, and his cultivation speed was fast among those with similar aptitude, but his upper limit was still visible; now, he clearly felt that the purity of his spiritual roots and his affinity with spiritual energy had firmly entered or even surpassed the realm of ordinary "dual spiritual roots"!

Although limited by innate factors, he has not yet reached the level of a single, pure, and supremely rare spiritual root, but he is still a rare and excellent talent in the world, comparable to the core disciples of major sects!

"The five remnants of the Heaven-Mending Pill actually raised my spiritual root aptitude by a whole major level!" Zhou Ding felt the abundant vitality and unprecedented smoothness within his body. Even with his resolute will, he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming surge of excitement and joy.

What does this mean?

This means that his efficiency in absorbing and refining spiritual energy during his daily cultivation will be permanently increased by more than 30%!

The same pills will have better effects; in the same amount of time, cultivation will increase faster!

This means that when he attempts to break through to the mid-stage and late-stage of Core Formation, and even the elusive Nascent Soul stage in the future, the innate resistance caused by his aptitude will be greatly reduced, and the bottleneck will become relatively easier!

The improvement in his talent means that his nearly thousand-year lifespan will be able to play a greater role, and every minute and every second of cultivation will be more effective than before!

He will have more opportunities to reach higher levels.

"With a solid foundation, the road ahead is even wider!"

Zhou Ding clenched his fists, feeling the surging power within his body and his revitalized spiritual root aptitude. His eyes gleamed with unparalleled confidence.

"The Heaven-Mending Pill truly lives up to its name of 'Mending the Heavens.' With this foundation, this Chaotic Star Sea will be my true place to soar!"

He pushed open the stone door of the meditation room and strode out, facing the rising sun shining through the cave.