Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ordinary people would die on the spot if they stayed at this location with dense Yin qi for more than ten seconds.
Jiang Li was an internal martial artist, he was strong and powerful, but he also felt a chill all over his body.
As time passed, the chill traveled from his skin to his bones and back to his skin. If there was an outsider present, they would realize that Jiang Li’s entire body was purple and his lips were black. He did not look like a living person at all.
[Attacked by Yin qi, Added Status: Wood-Yin Infusion]
[Wood-Yin Infusion: Lose 1 point of health per second, all attributes reduced by 30%, Constitution reduced by 1.1. Duration: 12 hours] (? +)
This was the first time that Jiang Li had seen a status that used seconds as a unit. Moreover, it was a negative state of depletion.
Losing one health point every second, it was indeed impossible for a mortal body to withstand the Yin qi produced in a graveyard of cultivators.
However, Jiang Li did not immediately disperse his state, nor did he use his internal force to resist. Instead, he focused his mind and calmed his spirit. He used the method written in the ‘Ghost Wood Art’ to actively guide the Yin qi into his body.
Wasn’t that why he had spent half a month cultivating behind closed doors?
Although his current state was painful, drawing qi into his body was as easy as blowing off dust. The seed that he had been visualizing in his mind was taking shape at an unimaginable speed. It became clear, three-dimensional, and full of vitality!
[Ghost Wood Art Qi Refinement chapter Level 0 → Level 1]
[Ghost Wood Art Qi Refinement chapter Level 1 has been reached. The new class, Qi Cultivator, has been acquired. Do you want to switch to the main class?]
On the interface, the level of the Ghost Wood Art quietly changed. A striking notification popped up as well.
Jiang Li decisively chose “yes”, and his main class was immediately replaced.
[Name: Jiang Li]
[Age: 13]
[Race: Human]
[Main Class: Qi Cultivator, Level: Initial Stage]
[Sub-Class: Martial Artist, Level: First-Rate]
There was still a certain difference between the main and sub-class. For example, in the original game settings, the experience gained from the main class would increase by 20%. However, in reality, it was unknown how this would occur.
After cultivating the first level of the Ghost Wood Art and becoming an initial-stage Qi Cultivator, Jiang Li immediately felt the difference.
The bone-chilling numbness was fading bit by bit, and his stiff body was gradually recovering its senses.
At this moment, not only did he no longer feel uncomfortable, he even felt as comfortable as a spring breeze.
Looking at the interface again, the status of [Wood-Yin Infusion] was still there.
However, things were different now. The dense Wood-Yin qi was like a fatal poison to him earlier, but now, it was a great supplement!
[Wood-Yin Infusion: The cultivation speed of “Ghost Wood Art” will increase by 300%. Duration: 2 hours.] (? +)
This status had already moved from the Negative Status column to the Positive Status column, the effect was very good.
He decisively pressed the plus button for five seconds.
[Wood-Yin Infusion: The cultivation speed of “Ghost Wood Art” will increase by 300%. Duration: ∞] (?)
Just this status was enough for his cultivation speed to be comparable to the best high-grade spiritual root. The speed was completely different from before.
Jiang Li did not open his eyes and continued circulating his cultivation method while the iron was hot.
Half an hour later, he went through an entire cycle of qi circulation in his body, and a stream of pure Yin-Wood spiritual qi flowed into the Qi Sea of his Dantian.
Only then did he leave his cultivation state, unable to hide his joy.
The moment he opened his eyes, he was shocked. A ball of green ghost fire was floating close to his face.
Jiang Li was terrified to the point of taking two steps back. Only now did he realize that there was not just a single ghost flame, and there were at least a hundred of them. They were silently burning around him without any warmth, and it was an extremely strange scene.
It was just like waking up with hundreds of burly men standing by your bed, smiling at you.
“I can’t stay here for long!”
Having achieved his goal, Jiang Li picked up the ghostwood tree and decisively slipped away.
This really depended on luck. The high mortality rate of the outer sect disciples in the Scripture Storage Valley created this graveyard, which was rich in Yin qi and had almost no ghosts.
This place was simply a training ground tailored for him. With the addition of this ghostwood tree, it directly allowed his “Ghost Wood Art” to successfully enter the initial stage. He even obtained a completely new status that could enhance his cultivation speed.
“Now that I’ve entered the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm, I can use medicinal pills to aid my cultivation. In that case, my cultivation speed will be even faster.”
“However, ordinary medium-grade spiritual roots disciples would need at least a month to enter the Qi Refinement realm after they started cultivating officially. My current speed is even faster than most people with high-grade spiritual roots.”
“Looks like I have to come to this graveyard more often while keeping a low profile in the future. Otherwise, there’s no reason to explain this exaggerated cultivation speed.”
Carrying the wood, Jiang Li’s steps were as light as flying, much lighter than before.
After becoming a cultivator, his body had also undergone some changes, especially the Wood-Yin spiritual qi. Just by having it entrenched in his Qi Sea, it gave him an endless amount of power, which was obviously much higher than the quality of his internal force.
“I have just entered the Qi Refinement realm but am already comparable to the martial artists in the mortal world, or even surpass them.”
“Cultivation and martial arts are indeed two different things. When I learn Dao techniques in the future, even Connate martial artists will be easily killed by me.”
He hurriedly returned to his dormitory and placed the ghostwood tree in his courtyard. The night was too dark, so he did not notice that several new buds had sprouted on the old ghostwood tree.
When he returned to his room, Jiang Li first took a glance at the clay pot by the window before gently pushing aside the soil. The seed beneath did not show any signs of sprouting. He was not in a hurry, and he did not pay any further attention to it after watering it once more.
Sitting on the mat in the room, Jiang Li took out a porcelain bottle from his bosom.
It was a Qi Nourishing Pill that could assist in cultivation.
[Consumed the Qi Nourishing Pill, Added Status: Qi Nourishment.]
[Qi Nourishment: Increases the vitality of the human body, increases the cultivation speed of Qi Refinement realm cultivation methods by 50%. Duration: 2 hours] (? +)
Jiang Li’s hands did not stop moving. Qi Nourishing Pills were stuffed into his mouth one after another.
A warm current surged in his stomach, and the churning vitality rushed to his ears, causing his face to flush red. The pure spiritual qi that was originally locked in the medicinal pill slowly dissipated, and was absorbed by the Ghost Wood Art that he was circulating at all times, continuously strengthening the strand of Wood-Yin spiritual qi in his Qi Sea.
Jiang Li only stopped when his body began to feel bloated like a balloon that had been blown to its limit.
[Overdose of Qi Nourishing Pills. Added Status: Accelerated Qi Nourishment.]
[Accelerated Qi Nourishment: Increases the vitality of the human body, increases the cultivation speed of Qi Refinement realm cultivation methods by 200%. Duration: 3 hours] (? +)
Five seconds later.
[Accelerated Qi Nourishment: Increases the vitality of the human body, increases the cultivation speed of Qi Refinement realm cultivation methods by 200%. Duration: ∞] (?)
It was only at this moment that Jiang Li realized that cultivating was such a wonderful thing. Spiritual qi continuously flowed into his Qi Sea, and the Wood-Yin spiritual qi flourished. He could clearly sense that he was becoming stronger every moment.
His cultivation speed was raised by 500%. Was this how it felt for top-grade spiritual root geniuses to cultivate?
As expected, the web novels were right. This feeling was even better than the feeling of having s*x. Cultivators often went into seclusion for a few years or decades, but it was actually not as boring as outsiders imagined.
Unknowingly, time passed by quietly as he cultivated.
The seed that Jiang Li visualized in his mind also cracked open slightly, and a sprout could be faintly seen from within.
...
A week later, at the Outer Sect Study Hall.
When the Lecture Elder walked into the main hall, his movements paused for a moment before a gratified expression appeared on his face.
“It seems like some of you have already achieved a breakthrough!”
“Come show me who you are.”
The Lecture Elder picked up a name list and looked at everyone’s seats.
“Yu Banxia, high-grade spiritual root. Hmm, not bad. This means that you’ve been working hard.”
Yu Banxia, who had always been sitting in the first row of the school, puffed up his chest proudly.
After encouraging Yu Banxia, the elder looked at Jiang Li.
“Jiang Li, medium-grade spiritual root?”
The Lecture Elder frowned.
“Jiang Li, did you consume the pills in advance?”
The elder’s voice was clearly dissatisfied. His first reaction when he heard that a medium-grade spiritual root disciple was able to break through to the Qi Refinement realm at this time was from the use of pills.
However, he had already mentioned in the first lesson of the outer sect that disciples with medium and high-grade spiritual roots were not allowed to consume medicinal pills before entering the Qi Refinement realm. That would severely affect the potential of their later cultivation. The gains would not make up for the losses!
Only disciples with low-grade spiritual roots and below, who did not have much potential to begin with, were allowed to consume medicinal pills as they could not even break through without taking them.
Now that he felt that Jiang Li had violated his teachings, he was naturally very displeased.
“Elder, I did not take the pills beforehand. It is all thanks to your guidance that I was able to make a breakthrough at this time.”
Jiang Li did not start a verbal fight without a word. Instead, he praised the other party first.
He had no interest in turning some small conflicts into a battle of reputation or a life and death battle.
“Oh? It has only been 20 days since you started cultivating. The other disciples with high-grade spiritual roots have yet to break through. Tell me, what kind of guidance did I give you to surpass the others so quickly?”
Of course, this elder still did not believe him. If Jiang Li had the backing of an Immortal Cultivator or had an elder behind him, then setting up a formation or something to help him cultivate would naturally be no problem.
However, Jiang Li had a clean background and was an ordinary outer sect disciple. What could he do?
“Elder, you may not know this, but the cultivation method that this disciple practices is the ‘Ghost Wood Art’. In the lecture last week, Elder said…”
Jiang Li calmly explained what he had done.
He had only spoken halfway when the outer sect elder’s brows completely relaxed.
How could he not understand the situation at the outer sect’s graveyard? There were at least dozens of ghosts that he had casually killed when he passed by.
Ghostwood trees were Yin attribute in nature, and this was common knowledge in the cultivation world. Ordinary ghostwood trees could only become spirits after a hundred years, but if they were planted in the outer sect’s graveyard, they would probably awaken after ten years.
It would be strange if Jiang Li’s speed of cultivating the ‘Ghost Wood Art’ was not fast while staying there.