Chapter 86: Martial Conviction (I)

The next morning, as dawn broke, the sound of firecrackers and fireworks echoed outside. Today was another day of worshipping the gods. During the New Year season, there were many festivals, with offerings to the gods almost every day, sometimes from morning till night.

Unlike the lively atmosphere outside, Lin Zheyu's courtyard was quiet. The only sound was the steady thud of fists striking a wooden stake.

After several days of nurturing them, Lin Zheyu's essence, qi, and spirit had once again reached their peak, allowing him to attempt another breakthrough. Ever since advancing to the Blood Qi Realm, breaking through his limits had become significantly more difficult.

Lin Zheyu trained furiously for more than 4 hours before finally exhausting all his strength and pushing his body past its limits. His body was limp as he collapsed to the ground and gasped heavily for breath.

The more times he shattered his limits, the greater the resilience and strength of his body and mind. However, each subsequent breakthrough would become much harder.

Typically, in the final moments before breaking through, Lin Zheyu would feel as if his spirit were being torn apart, and his muscles would scream in unbearable pain as if he were at Death’s door.

Fortunately, after enough times, he had grown used to it, though the pain remained.

After resting for less than half an hour, Lin Zheyu sat up cross-legged and began refining his blood qi energy. Ever since reaching the blood qi gauze stage of the Blood Qi Realm, his body's recovery speed had increased, and he could draw out more blood qi energy from within.

After another ten minutes of recovery, much of the soreness faded, and it no longer hindered his movements. Though he still appeared extremely weak, with the thin threads of blood qi he had just refined, he could still take down an Organ Forging Realm novice with a single punch.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 1]

[Skills: Barbaric Ox Fist (Perfection), Golden Goose Technique (Fifth Stage: 1%), Tortoise Breath Grand Method (Third Stage: 2%), Sixfold Saber (Initial Mastery: 3%), Poison King Body (First Stage: 0%)]

Lin Zheyu stared at the data in his consciousness and muttered to himself, "Finally, I can test how Origin Force enhances the Poison King Body 'technique'!"

Cultivating the Poison King Body came at the cost of lifespan. Under normal circumstances, Lin Zheyu would never take such a risk. But if it could be enhanced through Origin Force, that changed everything.

The loss of lifespan was mainly due to the frequent poisoning and detoxification required to build resistance, which excessively depleted the body's essence. One or two cycles of poisoning and detoxification would not place much strain on the body, but over long periods and at high frequency, the burden became much too much.

Moreover, the Toxicology Codex stated that, in theory, if one's technique was flawless and the body strong enough, no poisons would accumulate during cultivation. However, that was only in theory.

There was always a gap between theory and reality, and a single misstep could leave residual toxins behind. However, using Origin Force to enhance the process could completely eliminate both flaws.

One advantage of using Origin Force was that, within that special mental state, Lin Zheyu's vitality and stamina were infinite. When training inside it, he would never tire and would always remain brimming with vitality, allowing endless cultivation.

If he enhanced the Poison King Body inside that space, he wouldn't need to worry about depleting his essence, and his boundless vitality could gradually erase any residual poisons. After the enhancement was complete, only the strengthened poison resistance would be transferred to his physical body, without any side effects. But all of this was still just his speculation. He would have to verify it through personal experimentation.

I hope my guess is right,

thought Lin Zheyu to himself.

Since he didn't know how much energy would be required to enhance the Poison King Body, he prepared four sets of Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction to be safe. As he drank the decoction, his body absorbed it like a dry sponge soaking up water, and his strength quickly returned.

Suppressing his excitement, Lin Zheyu sent out a mental command.

Use one unit of Origin Force to enhance the Poison King Body.

In that instant, his mind wavered, and he entered a mysterious realm of consciousness. Yet before even a single breath passed, he was forced back out.

Lin Zheyu was utterly bewildered as he thought,

What was that?

It felt as though he had entered the consciousness space, stood there in a daze for a second, and then exited. When he checked his mind, the single unit of Origin Force he had just used had already returned.

"Did it fail?"

Lin Zheyu widened his eyes, momentarily stunned. Although he had half expected this outcome, he couldn't help feeling disappointed. It was clear now that poisons and medicinal herbs could not materialize out of thin air in the consciousness space. But since the Poison King Body appeared among his consciousness data, it meant it could be enhanced with Origin Force.

Strange. When I use Origin Force to enhance myself, my mind enters that mysterious state, and in that space, training stakes and footwork tools can all be manifested, but I guess this doesn't apply to poisons and such, eh?

Could it be that anything meant to be ingested to enhance strength cannot manifest, and only external tools used for training can?

wondered Lin Zheyu.

He felt that this must involve some kind of special energy conservation principle, but that made things much more troublesome. It meant that when using Origin Force to enhance the Poison King Body, all the necessary herbs would have to be consumed beforehand.

One unit of Origin Force is roughly equivalent to a year's worth of cultivation time. If I want to use Origin Force to enhance the Poison King Body, does that mean I'll need to consume in advance all the poisons, antidotes, and secret medicines I'd require over the course of a year?

Not just that, I'd also need the medicinal strength of the Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction used to remodel the body.

Lin Zheyu thought about it and couldn't help but feel amazed.

The 1-year figure was something he had calculated roughly before. It was a reference value he had derived by comparing his normal training progress with the enhancement speed from Origin Force.

He had carefully calculated that while practicing the Golden Goose Technique at the third stage, training 5 hours daily would raise his progress by about 1% in roughly 15 days. However, at that third stage, 1 unit of Origin Force would boost his progress by about 25%. Training 5 hours daily for 375 days would yield the same 25 percent increase, and this was roughly equivalent to a year.

In other words, 1 unit of Origin Force was roughly equal to a year of arduous training. But this 1 year referred to a year of training without using any potent medicinal herbs, relying solely on food to replenish nutrients.

During his usual training, he was reluctant to use herbs to aid cultivation, relying instead on food to restore his physical condition. All the money he saved was put aside to buy Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction, which he used as energy for Origin Force enhancements.

"If I eat all the poisons, antidotes, and tonics needed for a year of training all at once... will that kill me?"

Lin Zheyu felt a little speechless. With so many different herbs taken at once, the question was whether he could even stomach them. Would it work if he didn't ingest them at all?

Lin Zheyu pondered silently. The medicinal decoction he drank clearly wasn't absorbed directly through the stomach, as absorption in the stomach wasn't that fast. It was only through the activation of mysterious energy that the medicinal power could be absorbed rapidly.

If he didn't drink it but instead just made contact with the herbs, could the mysterious energy directly draw out the medicinal power from them? He had never needed to consider this before, so the thought had never occurred to him. But once the idea arose, it seemed highly plausible.

I'll try it next time I accumulate more Origin Force. Enough thinking about that. I can't let the Blood-Nourishing Bone-Fortifying Decoction I drank go to waste; I should use it to enhance the Golden Goose Technique first!

Lin Zheyu calmed his mind and cleared away stray thoughts.

Use one unit of Origin Force to enhance the Golden Goose Technique.

In an instant, his mind entered the mysterious consciousness space, where he began endless cultivation of the Golden Goose Technique. Within that space, his spirit knew no fatigue. It never stopped, training relentlessly.

Meanwhile, mysterious energy surged within his physical body, drawing out the medicinal power and nourishing and strengthening his physique. A continuous stream of blood qi energy was refined and coursed through his body, reaching the limits of what his body could contain.

Yet the refining did not stop there; blood qi energy continued to pour forth without pause. Under the influence of the mysterious energy, the blood qi was compressed and refined, becoming ever purer and more powerful.