Chapter 206 - 201 Breakthrough i
Chapter 206: Chapter 201 Breakthrough i
Translator: 549690339 |
As long as there is a sufficient supply of Thousand Eyes Tree Blood, it’s possible to endlessly cultivate termites with long-range spirit control or mental attack capabilities.
In actual combat, the ability to launch mental attacks and perform spirit control is incredibly strong.
Not only can they kill enemies beyond their own level, but few insects can withstand such strange modes of attack.
The enemy often falls victim without a sound or a sign.
Moreover, as termites are social insects, they exhibit a high degree of unity, whether there are ten or ten million. As long as they belong to the same colony, they can act as one. During group combat, the stacking of mental attacks is particularly terrifying.
Even a Grade Five Bee General could be taken down silently and swiftly.
With such an important special ability, Qin Niu naturally wanted to find ways to preserve it.
After contemplation, he decided to start from two approaches.
The first approach was to feed the Ant Queen with Thousand Eyes Tree Blood.
The risk of termites consuming Thousand Eyes Tree Blood was almost non-existent; if the Ant Queen hadn’t been fed before, it was because it hadn’t completed its initial cultivation.
Comparatively, evolving through consuming Ancient Banyan Tree Blood was most crucial.
It could transform the termites completely.
While evolving spirit control or attack abilities by consuming Thousand Eyes Tree Blood was also important, it certainly couldn’t compare to the former.
Up to now, the Ant Queen remained Qin Niu’s core insect pet, and naturally, he aimed for perfect cultivation. He did his utmost to cultivate it as strongly and perfectly as possible.
Now, having completed its initial cultivation, he could consider the second cultivation for the Ant Queen.
The only downside was that the egg-laying of the Ant Queen would be temporarily suspended during the second cultivation period.
The current situation was unstable, with undercurrents swirling, and Qin Niu needed more termites to ensure he could face danger with composure.
Therefore, he planned to postpone the second cultivation of the Ant Queen appropriately.
Currently laying a thousand eggs a day was an extremely tempting situation.
He truly did not wish to interrupt it.
The second cultivation approach: planting the Thousand Eyes Tree to increase its blood production.
The Ancient Banyan Tree was extremely mysterious; any plants taken from the maze would immediately wither and die upon transplantation. And they would die for good, not even the Everlasting Spring Technique could revive them.
This gave him an unconventional idea, to proactively plant the Thousand Eyes Tree within the Ancient Banyan Tree Maze.
Since he now treated the Ancient Banyan Tree as his ‘private property,’ it was entirely reasonable for him to develop the land under its cover.
This was an idea he had been considering for a long time.
Now, with the rapid growth of the termite colony, the Thousand Eyes Tree Blood was no longer sufficient, forcing him to find ways to increase the production of the blood.
This plant was extremely special, and up to this point, he had only seen it under the Ancient Banyan Tree.
He even suspected that it was a symbiotic plant of the Ancient Banyan Tree.
It might not be found at all in the outside world.
After cultivating the termites, he directly entered the Ancient Banyan Tree Maze.
Today’s tasks were quite heavy: collecting Banyan Tree Blood, taking the Boundary-breaking Elixir to enhance his cultivation level, and planting the Thousand Eyes Tree.
First was collecting Banyan Tree Blood. As usual, he swung the Ink Blade mercilessly, striking the Ancient Banyan Tree harshly to create wounds, then collecting the blood with a jar.
This Ancient Banyan Tree really seemed to be cursed, having to endure several cuts every day.
Fortunately, its self-healing ability was extremely strong; it had become accustomed to the cuts. Each time, it would heal quickly and return to its original state.
Next, Qin Niu cleared a space beside its trunk and transplanted a few seedlings of the Thousand Eyes Tree. He specifically chose small saplings.
After planting them, he didn’t notice anything unusual.
This filled Qin Niu with silent joy; the plan seemed very likely to work.
He sat down cross-legged beside the newly planted Thousand Eyes Trees, took out the Boundary-breaking Elixir, didn’t think much of it, peeled off the wax seal, and swallowed it in one go.
It didn’t melt in his mouth as the legends suggested but instead was quite chewy.
The taste was slightly odd, a little bitter.
It also carried a hint of earthy scent along with a rich medicinal fragrance from a mixture of various herbs.
After consuming it, he didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary.
It was as if what he had eaten was just ordinary food.
Having some experience in cultivation, he immediately closed his eyes and concentrated, starting to cultivate the Everlasting Spring Technique.
His thoughts were simple: break through to the Acquired Realm first.
The Everlasting Spring Technique seemed more suitable for his cultivation, and advancing to the next level seemed relatively easier. The experience of breaking through from the Mortal Realm to the Acquired Realm with the Medicine King Sutra had left him with a deep psychological shadow.
The difficulty of leveling up was not to be underestimated.
But this was also a test for his cultivation spirit, granting him a preliminary understanding of the Dao heart.
At this moment, as he began to cultivate the Everlasting Spring Technique, the power within his body also grew rapidly.
At first, he didn’t feel anything special, but gradually, his internal power felt as if it was possessed by a deity, increasing at an amazing pace.
Qin Niu clearly absorbed only a trace of power from the outside, but it was enough to double his internal power.
And this was just the beginning.
The growth rate of his power was like a rolling snowball.
By now, absorbing a trace of power from the surroundings, his internal power could increase by more than tenfold.
The shocking rate of cultivation growth even scared him.
And it seemed to be just the beginning.
Eleven times.
Twelve times…
It seemed to have no end.
To think that cultivating the Everlasting Spring Technique under the Ancient Banyan Tree was already twenty times faster than outside.
Now after consuming the Boundary-breaking Elixir, the speed of cultivation continued to amplify.
When this amplification reached tenfold, it was effectively two hundred times the normal cultivation speed in the outside world.
Cultivating for one day was equivalent to half a year of cultivation for others in the outside world.
The charm of elixirs was so great that it was simply irresistible.
In the past, I thought cultivating under the Ancient Banyan Tree was already like having a huge advantage, but I didn’t realize that was just child’s play.
Only now could it be called a truly privileged life.
Qin Niu was keenly aware that this cultivation opportunity was extremely rare. Who knew when the next chance to obtain a Boundary-breaking Elixir would come.
Hunting monster beasts for their Beast Cores was a matter of luck.
If one could encounter such an opportunity once in ten years, it would be as if their ancestors’ graves had billowed with blue smoke.
Even if one did encounter it, there was no guarantee of success in the kill.
Because every monster beast that managed to mature was an existence of extreme terror.
The King Pig that Qin Niu had slain last time wasn’t really a true monster beast in the strict sense.
At best, it was a powerful King Pig that had encountered a stroke of luck.
It barely qualified as a half-demon.
In reality, it was much weaker compared to a true half-demon.
Moreover, even if one hunted down a monster beast and obtained its Beast Core, one couldn’t necessarily refine it into a Boundary-breaking Elixir.
Because even Master Zi Zhou, with the highest success rate of elixir formation, only had a thirty percent chance.
Therefore, this cultivation opportunity was extraordinarily precious.
Many people, if given such a chance once in their lifetime, would be able to rise above the common herd and directly change their fate.
Time was rapidly slipping by, and his cultivation level was overcoming barriers one after another, advancing by leaps and bounds.
He easily broke through to the third level of the Acquired Realm, and then came the fourth level, fifth level…
When his cultivation level broke through to the tenth level of the Acquired Realm, the rate at which his strength was increasing started to diminish. This indicated that most of the elixir’s energy had been consumed by him.
“Taking the Boundary-breaking Elixir for the first time, I was a bit too impatient. Quality steel should be used on the blade’s edge. Others probably cultivate to the peak of the tenth level of the Acquired Realm before taking the Boundary-breaking Elixir, using the power of the elixir to breakthrough.”
Qin Niu had a moment of realization.
Many pits could only be known after one had fallen into them.
The detours one must take in life really cannot be skipped.
Fortunately, the cultivation environment he was in was extremely special.
The cool energy under the Ancient Banyan Tree was very concentrated, at least twenty times that of the outside world. This had become an important aid for his assault on a new realm, its effect no less potent than that of the Boundary-breaking Elixir.
Clenching his teeth, with an unrestrained determination in his heart, he wanted to break through the Acquired Realm and experience the taste of a higher realm.
Boom!
Boom!
The power of the Everlasting Spring Technique surged within him like raging waves, rushing crazily through his body, repeatedly tempering and strengthening every inch of his skin, muscles, and internal organs.
His entire body became as solid as if it were cast from steel, extraordinarily robust.
Now, he was like a human-shaped mech capable of crushing steel blades with his bare hands.
Ordinary arrows shot at him probably couldn’t even penetrate his defenses.
And this was without donning the King Pig Leather Armor.
Otherwise, his defense would be even more terrifying.
But then again, the fundamental strength of the body is what truly matters. Armor, no matter how strong, is ultimately an external object; its role is merely to gild the lily.
If the body itself isn’t strong enough, no matter how powerful the armor, against a real master, one move would be enough to shatter the flesh beneath the armor.
“Charge, charge, charge!”
Qin Niu bit down hard, his cultivation level rising rapidly.
He wanted to break through.
As the amping effect of his cultivation began to wane, he felt a clear insufficiency of strength when attempting to break through the major barrier.
Yet he did not give up, harboring an unwavering determination in his heart.
His resolve was indestructible.
As time passed, his power had reached the peak of the Acquired Realm’s tenth level, and he could even vaguely glimpse some of the rules and abilities of the new realm.
But breaking through was still extremely difficult.
Since the start of his cultivation of the Everlasting Spring Technique, this was the first time he had encountered an obstacle.
Or it could also be called a bottleneck.
After breaking through the Acquired Realm, he would no longer be an ordinary person, but would have stepped halfway into the threshold of Immortal Gate, becoming a true cultivator.
Such an existence, even in Black Tiger City, was by no means commonplace.
Rather, it was an exceedingly rare and transcendent being.
Not even Old Master Huang, whom he had slain, would have reached this realm.
Otherwise, no matter how much Qin Niu schemed, it’s unlikely he could have killed him.
At this moment, the more he glimpsed the aspects of the new realm, the more he yearned to break through.
He also felt a twinge of regret, wishing he had not been so hasty.
At the very least, he could have waited to advance to the tenth level of the Acquired Realm before using the Boundary-breaking Elixir to charge at the new realm. But what’s done can’t be undone, and regret was pointless.
All he could do was grit his teeth and persist to the end.
Sometimes, when facing difficult challenges, having faith is crucial.
If one’s resolve wavers at the slightest setback and contemplates giving up, then once the spirit is gone, failure is sure to follow. But if one’s will is as solid as iron, and one strives with a steely resolve, one might just succeed in the end.
At that moment, he felt a drizzle-like cold energy raining down upon him from above.
When these energies invaded his body, they caused his blood to stagnate and his spirit to become sluggish.
He knew this meant the sky had darkened and the Ancient Banyan Tree was beginning to cleanse its territory of all living beings.
The energy from the Boundary-breaking Elixir was almost depleted, night had fallen, and the new realm was extremely difficult to break into; multiple difficulties weighed on his heart, shaking his conviction.