Ten Years of Lifespan Burned in One Morning

In just half a year, this cultivation art could reach the Perfected Level.

Of course, that did not mean he could break through to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer in only half a year. A cultivation art's realm was much like that of spells—the higher the realm, the more complete one's control over spiritual power and development of the body's meridians became.

Cultivating a Perfected Level art could greatly improve Wang Yu's problem of poor aptitude, using technique and experience to offset his insufficient absorption of Spirit Qi.

In essence, it was simply another way of accelerating cultivation.

Generally speaking, complete cultivation arts came with matching spells, secret techniques, or even mutually complementary alchemy recipes and magical artifact blueprints.

The Blood Burning Art had only one—the "Life Burning Secret Technique." When this technique was combined with the cultivation art, it also enhanced one's comprehension. If Wang Yu wished to use it, there was no threshold whatsoever.

With both Placement Slots exerting force at once, he could refine a wisp of spiritual power each day. At most, he would break through to the Qi Refining Second Layer in ten days. In that case, his main body needed to cultivate the Life Burning Secret Technique immediately to conceal the anomaly.

According to the plan, Wang Yu had to burn ten years of his lifespan in an extremely short time. Only then would the rapid loss of vital essence cause obvious changes to his appearance.

He was too young. Burning it slowly would not do—he had to burn enough in one go.

"A Qi Refining Cultivator has one hundred fifty years of lifespan. Even burning away fifty years is worth it."

Comforting himself inwardly, Wang Yu hardened his heart and formed the [Life Burning Seal Incantation] with his hands, driving the Blood Burning Art at full force.

A faint red mist steamed from his pores, completely enveloping him. Bloody Qi spread through the stone house, and waves of stinging pain ran through his body, though they remained within his tolerance.

Strictly speaking, this was his first attempt at actively cultivating with his main body's Useless Spiritual Roots aptitude.

Though he had tried yesterday, he had failed at the very first step, "sensing Spirit Qi." He had entered the path purely through the Placement Slots.

But this time, the sensation of burning his lifespan was completely different.

There seemed to be specks of Five-Colored Spiritual Light in the air. The crimson mist generated by burning his lifespan was like a net, capturing all the Spirit Qi within a one-zhang radius around him and slowly absorbing it into his body.

The Blood Burning Art's Great Circulation route was also tinged with a layer of crimson. After breaking through the Qi Refining First Layer, Wang Yu could perform Internal Vision, a most peculiar sensory ability.

That bloodlight had all transformed from his lifespan and was extraordinarily efficient at assisting the refinement of Spirit Qi. Even though most of it escaped due to his aptitude, a small portion was still thoroughly captured by Wang Yu.

Before long.

A new wisp of blood-red spiritual power emerged in his dantian. This was a characteristic of activating the Blood Burning Art secret technique, sharply distinct from the initial wisp of ordinary spiritual power.

The two had not merged together.

When casting spells, this Blood Burning Spiritual Power carried a distinctive bloody glow. It was especially obvious when spiritual power surged or when confronting Realm Pressure. It was also the evidence Wang Yu had left for himself.

Something like: My spiritual power was cultivated by burning my lifespan, and you actually suspect me? That's where you're wrong.

When he awoke from his cultivation, Wang Yu subconsciously touched his face. Among his shoulder-length hair was a highly conspicuous white strand, painfully glaring.

"One year of lifespan for one wisp of spiritual power..."

This terrifying expenditure made his expression turn even uglier. According to the booklet's records, the Qi Refining First Layer merely required possessing spiritual power; the Qi Refining Second Layer required ten wisps, while the Qi Refining Third Layer required one hundred.

If everything followed his current efficiency, he could burn himself into a dried corpse and still only reach the Qi Refining Third Layer. It perfectly matched his Useless Spiritual Roots aptitude.

"Damn it..."

"If my Spiritual Root Aptitude is this poor, even the effects of a quick-success demonic art weaken? Damn it!"

Hostility rose within him. Wang Yu knew it was because he had burned his lifespan too quickly. Though he captured a great deal of Spirit Qi, it was difficult to refine all of it.

He should reduce the amount of lifespan burned at once to avoid waste, but what he wanted was the change in appearance caused by his lifespan draining away rapidly.

That would make him look as though he had burned even more of his lifespan!

After that, Wang Yu did not cultivate the Blood Burning Art again. Consuming too much lifespan in a single day would cause his bodily functions to plummet off a cliff.

Even if he could live for one hundred fifty years, burning thirty years at once carried the risk of sudden death.

This was an ailment that could result from the body rapidly falling out of balance. Having studied the Wonderful Scroll of Qihuang since childhood, he understood this deeply and would never take such a risk.

Now that he had two types of spiritual power within him, Wang Yu attempted to use the cultivation granted by the Placement Slots to condense Spirit Sand. This technique was not some marvelous art; it was more like an instinct of Cultivators.

Condensing Spirit Sand required a medium. Qi Refining Cultivators did not yet possess the control to turn spiritual power solid. Generally, the medium was powder or fragments ground from depleted Spirit Stones.

The cloth sack delivered on the first day contained one liang of it.

It was roughly the size of a medium egg, wrapped inside the cloth sack. Wang Yu selected half of it and poured in his cultivation at the cost of damaging his own cultivation.

In the end, he obtained two qian of Spirit Sand.

One liang equaled ten qian. One wisp of spiritual power could only condense two qian of Spirit Sand, which meant Spirit Slaves had to cultivate five wisps of spiritual power every month just to condense the standard one liang.

This was not difficult for those with Three Spiritual Roots or Dual Spiritual Roots, but for those with Mixed Spiritual Roots and Useless Spiritual Roots, it was harder than ascending to heaven!

This meant they had to consume lifespan just to meet the most basic requirement. If they accepted the steward's tempting offer, they would have to add another four qian of Spirit Sand on top of that.

If they wanted to raise their cultivation, they would have to burn even more lifespan.

Squeezed dry in every possible way, their lives grew shorter and shorter while the value they created grew greater and greater, until they died completely.

"What a method!"

Weighing the Spirit Sand in his hand, Wang Yu had no better options now. He lay down and fell asleep.

The two Placement Slots felt like "avatars" to him, staying somewhere beyond his sight and cultivating in his stead without interruption through all twelve double-hours.

This brought his daily cultivation cycles to ninety-six. Even so, he could only refine a single wisp of pure spiritual power.

Useless Spiritual Roots—terrifying indeed!

The next day, Wang Yu skipped the dawn lecture session and immersed himself in cultivation, going through the entire routine at yesterday's pace.

At this rate, he could save up one tael of Spirit Sand by the fifth day. He had specifically tested it with Blood Burning Spiritual Power: once the spiritual power cultivated by burning away one's lifespan was condensed into Spirit Sand, the aura belonging to Wang Yu would dissipate after it had been left alone for a while.

Its appearance would change from one carrying a bloody spiritual glow into pure, genuine Spirit Sand.

This meant he needn't worry about any flaws being exposed through the Spirit Sand. Besides Steward Duan, the other two stewards had also sent Wang Yu notes. There was no doubt that the forces behind them possessed even deeper foundations.

Yet what they had revealed for now was merely that they were three Foundation Establishment Stage True Inheritor Disciples affiliated with Cold Blood Peak. The gap in status between them was like dirt and gold; he only needed to keep his head down and stay close.

On Wang Yu's twelfth day at the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect.

Sitting cross-legged in the Stone House, Wang Yu's aura fluctuated. Dense Blood Burning Spiritual Power steamed around his body, then suddenly rose by an entire step.

"Qi Refining Second Layer!"

Wang Yu clenched his fist, a thoughtful glint flashing through his eyes. Though advancing one's cultivation mainly increased the amount of spiritual power, the changes to the body could not be underestimated either.