Blood Burning Art

---Blood Burning Art!

This was the first-tier Qi Refining Cultivation Method issued by the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect. Even though Wang Yu had mentally prepared himself to pay any price, he was still shaken by it.

It was an utterly orthodox shortcut-type demonic art.

It burned the cultivator's vital essence and blood qi, transforming them into the most primordial Blood Burning Spiritual Power. Vital essence represented the life force and origin of the human body, while blood qi was closely related to physical strength and health.

A loss of blood qi would lead to such conditions as prematurely graying hair, an aged appearance, frailty, and frequent illness.

A loss of vital essence would lead to organ failure, sagging skin... blemishes, shortened lifespan, and depleted essence.

In other words, it traded lifespan for cultivation.

Three years of lifespan—regardless of one's aptitude—would allow a cultivator to break through to the Qi Refining First Layer in only one month. From then on, they would be a qualified Spirit Slave.

It seemed that paying three years of lifespan would accomplish the goal, a one-time transaction that could be endured by gritting one's teeth. The problem was that condensing Spirit Sand depleted one's cultivation.

Once cultivation fell, it had to be cultivated back up again, which meant continuously and permanently burning away one's lifespan.

The requirement of one or two Spirit Sand per month was the real problem.

Could he even condense that much...

After reading through the entire Blood Burning Art, Wang Yu selected it while pondering, placing it into the [Placement Slot]—the only cheat he had to rely on.

[Placement Slot 1: Blood Burning Art]

"Blood Burning Art (0/100): Forty-eight sessions per day; mastery in one year."

Wang Yu: "???"

This was the first time the Placement Slot had displayed such a change. It had never happened before, and it was very likely related to this being a Cultivation Method.

But this was a lifespan-burning demonic art—forty-eight sessions a day?

That meant one cycle every half hour on average. Wouldn't that suck him dry into a human husk?!!!

Just as Wang Yu was about to take it out, his resolve wavered again. This was his only possible chance to turn things around.

"Try one cycle. Wait half an hour and see what changes before deciding."

Very soon, half an hour passed.

Wang Yu felt no abnormalities in his body. Instead, his mind had gained quite a bit of experience and insight into cultivating the Blood Burning Art. A warm current abruptly appeared inside his body, then vanished after about three breaths.

He had neither lost lifespan nor enjoyed the effects of this rapid-progression demonic art.

That only left him even more confused.

Based on the patterns and methods Wang Yu had figured out over the past sixteen years, he flipped through that booklet recording common knowledge of the Cultivation World again. Then a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him.

Burning lifespan for rapid advancement was the special effect of the Blood Burning Art. That did not mean every cultivator was forced to activate that effect; it could also refine and absorb Spirit Qi normally.

The warm current that had appeared from nowhere inside his body just now was most likely the result of the Placement Slot running the Blood Burning Art once.

The Placement Slot never tired and never stopped. Forty-eight sessions a day now seemed perfectly normal.

A cultivator's aptitude had an enormous impact on early cultivation. Spiritual Root Aptitude not only represented affinity with Spirit Qi, but was also closely related to the conversion rate of Spirit Qi.

Normally speaking, those with Heavenly Spiritual Root aptitude were naturally attractive to Spirit Qi of the same attribute. When they cultivated a Cultivation Method, Spirit Qi of the same attribute would flow into their bodies of its own accord, gently refined into the cultivator's spiritual power.

They refined however much they absorbed. That was why their cultivation advanced at lightning speed.

Wang Yu's Useless Spiritual Roots possessed all Five Elements, but their affinity was poor. He had to expend mental effort to capture Spirit Qi himself, and it felt violent and difficult to refine.

The conversion rate was even terrifyingly low. Refining one strand out of every ten absorbed would already count as a success; more often than not, he could not refine even a single strand of Spirit Qi. That was why Useless Spiritual Roots found it difficult to break through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

The Inverse Spirit Blood Sect was built atop several Fourth Tier Spirit Veins. Though most of the Spirit Qi was concentrated above the Nine Peaks, the Stone House Area still possessed an amount of Spirit Qi comparable to a first-tier high-grade spirit vein.

Its cultivation environment could be considered quite good.

Spiritual Root Aptitude and the spirit vein environment made up two of the three factors determining a cultivator's early cultivation speed. The remaining factor was related to the cultivator's meridians and mental strength.

For a Cultivation Method to complete a Great Circulation within the body consumed an enormous amount of energy.

It required absolute concentration. This only became less taxing after breaking through to the Qi Refining Mid Stage, when Divine Sense emerged from the body and the method's circulation became instinctive.

The meridians of an ordinary body were weak. Even someone with Heavenly Spiritual Roots could not endure cultivating all twelve double-hours of the day. In the beginning, being able to complete four Great Circulations per day was already quite good.

In this regard, everyone stood at the same starting line, save for Nascent Soul Seeds with Heaven-Born Spirit Bodies.

As cultivation increased, the meridians would grow stronger and able to withstand ever more Spirit Qi. This process was where those with exceptional aptitude began to pull ahead.

Heavenly Spiritual Roots cultivated faster and faster, while Useless Spiritual Roots cultivated slower and slower. Within less than a year, the difference would be like heaven and earth!

Only after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage would all these restrictions and difficulties in cultivation completely vanish.

Forty-eight sessions a day in the Placement Slot could grant Wang Yu an extremely obvious advantage during the Qi Refining Stage. But likewise, his aptitude was simply too poor.

The Placement Slot could not change his aptitude. Whatever the conditions were, running the method forty-eight times a day would still be the same. That was why the warm current he had felt earlier lasted for only three breaths.

Even so, Wang Yu was incomparably delighted.

Being able to begin was better than having nothing at all. As long as he could step onto the Cultivation Path and resolve his current predicament, there was still hope of changing his aptitude in the future. Once the base increased, the multiplier the Placement Slot could amplify would rise in a straight line.

In fact, even without rare treasures and spiritual medicines that improved aptitude, a cultivator's aptitude would improve whenever they broke through a Great Realm.

It was simply that those with Four Spiritual Roots and Five Spiritual Roots usually died of old age before reaching that point. Only Middle Grade Spiritual Roots at the level of Three Spiritual Roots had any hope of enjoying it.

"And the Placement Slot and the main body don't affect each other. It's like an accessory—the main body can cultivate too."

Next, Wang Yu continued contemplating the cultivation art. Every half hour, a new insight and some Cultivation experience regarding the Blood Burning Art surfaced in his mind.

This was an enormous help in getting things underway. The Spirit Qi that occasionally appeared within his body brought him many benefits even if he Could not refine it.

A body nourished by Spirit Qi was different, after all.

As he experienced every aspect of the Placement Slot's effects, Wang Yu made another startling discovery. Not only did the Placement Slot not affect the main body, it had no interaction with the outside world whatsoever—including Spirit Qi.

In other words, the Spirit Qi generated for Wang Yu by the Placement Slot's operation of the cultivation art appeared out of thin air. Who knew where the hell it was drawing it from?

This meant that even in a place without a Spirit Vein, he could still enjoy an unceasing supply of Spirit Qi for all twelve hours of the day. Aside from the relatively small amount, it had no drawbacks whatsoever.

The conveniences brought by the Placement Slot were all minor auxiliary effects, but when combined, they could provide him with Very High help!

Thus, a day passed.

Even while sleeping at night, Wang Yu cultivated passively, receiving the feedback and benefits brought by the Placement Slot. Bit by bit, his understanding of the Blood Burning Art completely crossed over into A level beyond before.

There was no need to painstakingly study or feel it out. The breakthrough might come today.