Chapter 73: A Guess (II)

In the morning, Lin Zheyu awoke from a state of deep sleep. It had to be said, the Tortoise Breath Grand Method was truly remarkable. When circulated at full force, Lin Zheyu felt as though he had entered an animal's hibernation. His metabolism and heartbeat slowed to an extremely faint level while his mind sank into deep rest. Sleep in this state was of exceptionally high quality.

Stretching lazily, Lin Zheyu emerged from the hidden space in the kitchen firewood stack. In that deep-sleep state, his awareness of the outside world weakened. To be safe, he had chosen to sleep here again the previous night.

After a quick wash, he began huffing and puffing through his morning exercises in the courtyard. After several days of recuperation, his essence, qi, and spirit had returned to their peak, and he

was once again ready to push past his limits.

The courtyard was filled with the medicinal fragrance of the Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction. Lin Zheyu was drenched in sweat. After over two hours of nonstop training, his face had turned pale, and he was nearing his limit. Another hour later, he once again felt his essence, qi, and spirit twisting into one, as though his entire being were about to transcend.

Hu...

He exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

"

Hm?

This time it increased by two units of Origin Force."

Lin Zheyu checked the data in his consciousness and was pleasantly surprised. This time, his Origin Force had actually risen by 2 units.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 2]

[Skills: Barbaric Ox Fist (Perfection), Golden Goose Technique (Fourth Stage: 67%), Tortoise Breath Grand Method (Third Stage: 1%), Sixfold Saber (Competence: 88%)]

"Four breakthroughs in total. The first three each added 1 unit, while the fourth added 2 units of Origin Force. That means, on average, each breakthrough yields about 1.25 units of Origin Force."

Lin Zheyu made the calculation and determined roughly how much Origin Force he gained each time he broke his limits. But this was only for now. As his strength improved, each breakthrough would yield even more Origin Force.

He estimated that once his strength advanced to the third or even fourth transformation of Blood Qi Realm, each breakthrough would grant him two full units of Origin Force. Lin Zheyu suspected that the strength of his essence, qi, and spirit when breaking through his limits determined how much Origin Force he could gain.

Once, when he was utterly exhausted, he had attempted to break through his limits but gained no Origin Force. That was because his essence, qi, and spirit had been too weak, yielding less than one unit of Origin Force. Anything below one unit would not show up in his records.

Lin Zheyu lay on the ground as he panted heavily and was unwilling to move. After breaking through his limits, his body was left incomparably weak and exhausted. He stared blankly at the sky as his thoughts wandered.

What exactly is Origin Force? Why is it that by breaking past my physical limits, I can obtain it? Is it truly energy born from essence, qi, and spirit merging into one and undergoing some kind of transformation?

Lin Zheyu pondered. This was a question he often asked himself. He found it hard to believe that mere essence, qi, and spirit, when fused into one, could create something as wondrous and advanced as Origin Force.

Could it be that my body harbors some mysterious thing, one that stores this miraculous energy known as Origin Force? And each time I break through my limits, when my essence, qi, and spirit fuse into one and I enter that state of mental transcendence, my spirit is able to pierce into it and draw out the Origin Force stored within?

Lin Zheyu let his imagination run wild for a while, and in that time his body recovered a bit of strength. Struggling to sit up, he slowly walked back into the house and fetched three more sets of herbs for the Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction.

To use Origin Force to advance the Golden Goose Technique, each unit of Origin Force required the medicinal power of three sets of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction to meet the energy demand.

Now that he had gained two units, he would need six sets of the decoction's medicinal power. He had assumed, as before, that each breakthrough would only grant one unit of Origin Force, so he had only prepared three sets of the decoction in advance.

With two units of Origin Force, it should be enough to get the Golden Goose Technique to the fifth stage,

thought Lin Zheyu to himself.

From his previous experience, each unit of Origin Force had increased his progress in the fourth stage by about eighteen percent. With two more units, it would be enough.

He placed the herbs into the medicine pot and began decocting them. Once the heat was under control, Lin Zheyu sat cross-legged on the ground and began refining blood qi. Although breaking past his limits had exhausted all of his vitality, by forcefully squeezing himself, he could still extract a trace of blood qi energy.

Threads of blood qi were refined under his constant pressure. The effects of blood qi were remarkable, capable of quickly restoring fatigue, healing injuries, and bursting forth with greater strength. With the aid of blood qi energy, muscle soreness and exhaustion eased rapidly.

After refining continuously for half an hour, Lin Zheyu managed to squeeze out only a small amount of blood qi. The recent breakthrough had consumed too much; no matter how he pressed, only faint strands of blood qi emerged.

Still, this was enough. With these threads of blood qi energy, much of the soreness in Lin Zheyu's body faded. As the blood qi energy flowed with his blood to his limbs and bones, it seeped into his very cells, dispelling his exhaustion. With its help, his body recovered somewhat, though his spirit remained greatly fatigued. Breaking through limits taxed the spirit most of all.

Time slipped by slowly and the Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction finished simmering. He poured the decoction from the pot, adding it to what he had prepared earlier. Lifting a large bowl of medicine, he gulped it all down.

As the medicinal power spread, a wave of heat surged from his lower abdomen. Under the immense medicinal force, his body began producing blood qi energy on its own without deliberate effort.

Use two units of Origin Force to advance the Golden Goose Technique,

Lin Zheyu's thoughts echoed outward.

In that instant, mysterious energy surged from his cells, drawing on the medicinal power in his abdomen to nourish and strengthen his body. His spirit entered a strange mental space, where he began an intense bout of cultivation.

Through ceaseless training, Lin Zheyu's comprehension of the Golden Goose Technique surged, and his strength steadily grew. The blood qi within his body, under the stimulation of mysterious energy and medicinal power, began to grow frenziedly.

Endless streams of blood qi energy overflowed from his blood, filling every vein in his body in an instant. The proficiency of his Golden Goose Technique rose rapidly, reaching 100% in the blink of an eye.

His veins surged with such a dense force of blood qi that his body could no longer contain any more; it had reached its limit. Once blood qi hit the body's limit, it could rise no further. To continue improving his strength, he needed to purify the blood qi, stripping away its impurities so that it would become purer and more potent. This was the transformation of blood qi!

Lin Zheyu's chest rose and fell heavily. His body was undergoing drastic changes. Blood qi surged continuously, flowing with his blood through his veins and rumbling like thunder.

With each circulation, blood qi spilled forth, fortifying his body. After reaching the fifth stage of the Golden Goose Technique, his entire body was filled to the brim with blood qi, yet more continued to pour out without end.

Under the effect of the mysterious energy, this blood qi began to refine and purify, becoming purer and containing even greater power. But only a sliver was purified before it ceased.

The effect of the Origin Force had ended. Lin Zheyu withdrew from the spiritual state and opened his eyes. A glint of crimson light flashed in his gaze. It was caused by the excess blood qi energy overflowing from within him.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 0]

[Skills: Barbaric Ox Fist (Perfection), Golden Goose Technique (Fifth Stage: 1%), Tortoise Breath Grand Method (Third Stage: 1%), Sixfold Saber (Competence: 88%)]

Golden Goose Technique, Fifth Stage!

Lin Zheyu looked at the data in his consciousness. His Golden Goose Technique had advanced to the fifth stage, marking the beginning of his very first blood qi transformation.