Talent Enhancement

Talent Enhancement

Heaven and earth essence was not a single kind of energy, but a collective term for the countless energies existing between heaven and earth.

Spiritual energy, yin energy, baleful energy—all could be called heaven and earth essence.

Before breaking through to the Innate Realm, the energy Zhou Shan absorbed through his Nine Breaths Assimilation talent had merely been an ordinary type of energy from heaven and earth. But as his cultivation broke through to the Innate Realm, his Nine Breaths Assimilation talent had also been enhanced.

Now, what Zhou Shan absorbed through his Nine Breaths Assimilation talent was no longer ordinary essence energy, but spiritual energy.

Surging spiritual energy poured into his body. After circulating once through the twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians, it did not need repeated refinement before directly transforming into Innate True Qi.

For other martial artists, even exceptionally gifted martial arts geniuses, their cultivation speed would slow after breaking through to the Innate Realm. Yet Zhou Shan's cultivation speed had not slowed at all.

Golden Bell Shield (Two Hundred and Sixty Years of Cultivation)
Traits: Immune to a Hundred Poisons, Double Rebound, Condense Qi into Armor, Rigid and Soft Harmony, Exhale Like Arrows, Leakless Body

Zhou Shan opened the panel and examined the Golden Bell Shield's data.

"Just as I thought."

The cultivation displayed for the Golden Bell Shield on the panel had reached two hundred and sixty years.

In other words, during the ten days since he had broken through to the Innate Realm, while refining the acquired Internal Force within his body into Innate True Qi, his cultivation had continued to rise without pause—at the rate of one year per day.

Compared to before, his Nine Breaths Assimilation talent had been greatly enhanced.

Zhou Shan now understood that as his cultivation realm rose, his Nine Breaths Assimilation talent would strengthen alongside it, allowing him to absorb higher-grade heaven and earth essence. For now, it was spiritual energy. In the future, he might absorb lunar essence, solar essence, stellar energy, and more. It might even be possible for him to absorb the legendary immortal energy.

Zhou Shan looked at the ability traits listed after the Golden Bell Shield.

After breaking through to the Innate Realm, several of the traits had changed.

Among them, Enhanced Poison Resistance had become Immune to a Hundred Poisons. Zhou Shan now possessed a physique immune to a hundred poisons. Poisons fatal to ordinary people had become ineffective against him. Arsenic, crane's crest red, heartbreak grass, and the like—even if he swallowed them outright, they could not harm him.

Only rare poisons of heaven and earth, poisons refined from Demonic Beasts that had reached the Innate Realm, or poisons wielded by Innate Realm Grandmasters who cultivated poison techniques—only poisons capable of threatening Innate Realm Grandmasters could affect Zhou Shan. Even so, with a physique immune to a hundred poisons, his resistance would be stronger than that of other Innate Realm Grandmasters even if he were poisoned by an Innate poison.

Enhanced Rebound had become Double Rebound.

Double Rebound meant exactly what it sounded like. If he was attacked, the enemy would suffer two waves of rebound force, with the second wave even stronger than the first.

With Zhou Shan's current realm and two hundred and sixty years of cultivation, if a martial artist who had just entered the Aperture-Opening Realm attacked him, they would be shaken to death alive by the Double Rebound.

Even those with more than two hundred years of cultivation would be shaken into grave injury.

With the Double Rebound trait, dealing with small fry was extraordinarily convenient. He did not even need to make a move. As long as their attacks landed on him, he could shake those insignificant fish and shrimp to death alive.

On a battlefield, one man could stand against ten thousand.

Enhanced Internal Force Body Protection had transformed into the even stronger Condense Qi into Armor.

Whoosh!

With a thought from Zhou Shan, Innate True Qi burst from within his body and enveloped him, forming a layer of qi armor ten centimeters thick. It resembled a suit of armor, its surface gleaming gold, as though a golden-armored war god had descended into the world.

In terms of defensive power, Condense Qi into Armor was far stronger than the Golden Bell Shield.

Zhou Shan withdrew his True Qi, leaving only golden Innate True Qi covering his left arm. He raised his right hand and fiercely struck down with a Great Strength Vajra Palm, yet the ten-centimeter-thick qi armor had only half its True Qi breached.

That had been his full-force strike, yet he still could not break through the qi armor.

To break his golden qi armor, one would need at least an Innate Realm Grandmaster with more than four hundred years of cultivation. As for Innate Realm Grandmasters with equal cultivation, they could forget about harming him in the slightest.

However, while this Condense Qi into Armor defense was powerful, it consumed True Qi at an extreme rate. If it was not attacked, the consumption of True Qi was practically zero. But once it came under attack, True Qi would be rapidly depleted, making it impossible to sustain for long.

Yet as Zhou Shan's cultivation grew deeper and deeper, its duration would increase accordingly. Moreover, with his Nine Breaths Assimilation talent, he could constantly inhale and exhale spiritual energy to transform it into Innate True Qi. If he did not use it to increase his cultivation, he could rapidly replenish his Innate True Qi.

The Rigid and Soft Harmony and Exhale Like Arrows traits had not changed, while an additional trait, Leakless Body, had appeared afterward.

Cultivating a Leakless Body meant that all of Zhou Shan's Weak Points had completely vanished. Even without circulating Innate True Qi, he could let martial artists below the Innate Realm punch and kick him, hack at him with blades, and slash at him with swords, all without suffering the slightest harm.

"I've now broken through to the Innate Realm, and I can still gain one year of cultivation every day. It's time to prepare the heavenly treasures needed for Marrow Cleansing Blood Changing!"

Zhou Shan closed the panel.

When martial artists cultivated two hundred and fifty years of Internal Force, they reached their limit. They then had to open the Ren and Du Meridians, repeatedly refine their acquired Internal Force, and cultivate it into Innate True Qi, further strengthening their bodies. Yet that too had a limit.

Under normal circumstances, five hundred years of cultivation was the limit of the human body for Innate Realm Grandmasters. To continue increasing cultivation, they had to rely on heavenly treasures for Marrow Cleansing Blood Changing, allowing their bodies to undergo a qualitative transformation.

Each time they underwent Marrow Cleansing Blood Changing, martial artists could further refine the Innate True Qi within their bodies. Thus, every completed Marrow Cleansing Blood Changing increased their cultivation limit by two hundred and fifty years.

It was like Di Shitian and Xiao Sanxiao in Wind and Cloud. One had consumed Phoenix Blood, while the other had consumed Dragon Turtle Blood, which was why they possessed several thousand years of cultivation. Otherwise, a few hundred years of cultivation was the limit for ordinary people.

Thus, nine rounds of Marrow Cleansing Blood Changing meant nine rounds of "qi refinement." Including the one round of qi refinement performed when breaking through to the Innate Realm, there were ten rounds in total. That was the cultivation path after the Innate Realm.

After undergoing just one Marrow Cleansing Blood Changing, one would become a Grandmaster.

A Grandmaster's cultivation was still "qi refinement."

Zhou Shan possessed the Nine Breaths Assimilation talent. He was refining spiritual energy and transforming it into Innate True Qi at every moment. It was equivalent to idle cultivation, and accelerated idle cultivation at that.

What he needed to do was gather the heavenly treasures required for the Marrow Cleansing Blood Changing of the Indestructible Vajra Skill.

"Where should I look for heavenly treasures?"

A thoughtful look appeared on Zhou Shan's face.

Different Cultivation Techniques required different heavenly treasures, but every heavenly treasure capable of Marrow Cleansing Blood Changing was incomparably precious and rarely seen in the world. Searching blindly would be like fishing for a needle in the sea.

"I've got it. I can post a bounty through the Black Dragon Society!"

Zhou Shan's eyes lit up.

The Black Dragon Society's branch halls were spread across all thirteen provinces.

Every province and every prefecture had a branch hall of the Black Dragon Society.

Posting a bounty through the Black Dragon Society would directly reach all of its branch halls and bases throughout the thirteen provinces.

Aside from the assassins specifically trained by the Black Dragon Society, it also had countless part-time assassins. These part-time assassins came from every walk of life and included all sorts of people. When it came to gathering information, nothing was more convenient.

Therefore, the Black Dragon Society did not merely conduct assassination business. It also sold information. However, in this information trade, the Black Dragon Society mostly only provided a platform for part-time assassins to conduct transactions among themselves.

When someone with a need posted a bounty, the Black Dragon Society charged a certain fee.