Talent Enhancement

A bitter flavor laced with sweetness burst across his tongue, seeming to affect even his nasal passages and making him feel as though air were about to spray from his nose.

Zhao Hongming endured the discomfort and swallowed. A surge of heat slid down his throat and fell into his stomach.

The Small Revitalizing Pill was fiercely potent and took effect with astonishing speed.

After only a few breaths, Zhao Hongming felt a ball of fire flare up in his abdomen, burning ever hotter.

That fire swiftly spread throughout his entire body.

Zhao Hongming knew that the Small Revitalizing Pill's medicinal power had begun to disperse.

After these days of cultivation, much of the essence within his body had been transformed. His flesh and blood had long been crying out for sustenance.

The sudden influx of the pill was like timely rain, continuously replenishing the essence that had been refined away from his flesh, blood, and internal organs.

At this moment, Zhao Hongming wisely refrained from circulating the Eight Desolations Eternal Youth Technique to refine it.

He knew that the Eternal Youth True Qi would not react to this medicinal power at all. Cultivating it would only be wasted effort.

Thus, how much medicinal power he could absorb depended entirely on whether his body could live up to expectations.

Yet before he could even properly sense it, he discovered that the burning sensation within him was gradually fading.

That was far too fast, wasn't it?

Zhao Hongming opened his eyes, momentarily stunned.

He felt as though his body had changed slightly, yet also as though nothing had changed at all.

He clearly remembered that Chang Wubing's complexion had turned rosy after taking the medicine. Why had nothing seemed to happen to him?

Zhao Hongming had read quite a bit of information, yet he had never seen an explanation for such a situation.

What he did not know was that, under Heaven's Reward these past few days, his cultivation had broken through at an exaggerated pace.

The treasury of essence within his body had nearly been dug dry.

At a normal rate of cultivation, the Eight Desolations Eternal Youth Technique could feed the transformed essence back into the fleshly body, preventing Zhao Hongming's current condition.

But his cultivation had grown too quickly, and the Eternal Youth True Qi had not yet had time to sufficiently restore his body.

Had the Eight Desolations Eternal Youth Technique not been an incomparably profound Immortal Martial Arts Technique, Zhao Hongming would inevitably have fallen seriously ill.

Under such circumstances, one Small Revitalizing Pill was already enough for an ordinary person, capable of replenishing a martial artist's essence expenditure for some time. But for Zhao Hongming, it was far from enough.

The moment the Small Revitalizing Pill entered his stomach, its essence was immediately divided cleanly among every inch of flesh and blood in his body.

After hesitating slightly, Zhao Hongming picked up another stalk of Divine Wood Ganoderma Grass and placed it in his mouth to chew.

The distinctive fragrance of ganoderma drifted from his mouth.

Zhao Hongming felt a coolness in his throat, as though he had swallowed mint.

Divine Wood Ganoderma Grass belonged to the category of spiritual herbs, and its effects were comparatively even better than those of the Small Revitalizing Pill.

It could nourish the kidneys and replenish qi; it was a precious medicine for replenishing essence.

Gulp.

Once the spiritual herb entered his stomach, the earlier cool sensation gradually turned into warmth.

The Divine Wood Ganoderma Grass had mild medicinal properties, nowhere near as intense as the Small Revitalizing Pill.

After being nourished by the Small Revitalizing Pill, Zhao Hongming's body was no longer as ravenous as before, but the medicinal power still vanished quickly.

"Eh?"

Zhao Hongming discovered that one line of information on his Heaven's Reward Martial Arts Panel had changed.

Talent Enhancement had changed from 1.2 to 1.3.

The Meridian Opening Chapter of the Eight Desolations Eternal Youth Technique mentioned that cultivating this technique could improve the cultivator's physique.

When he had previously broken through to Second Rank Meridian Opening, this change had not occurred. He had thought it was because his cultivation was too low.

Now, it seemed that was not the case.

It was purely because his cultivation had risen too quickly, causing his own essence to fail to keep up.

Now that he had replenished his essence, his talent immediately changed.

This delighted him beyond expectation.

Zhao Hongming excitedly clenched his fist.

He carefully sensed his condition and felt that the essence in his body had not yet reached fullness.

He was still a little short.

Zhao Hongming picked up another Small Revitalizing Pill and swallowed it.

The second Small Revitalizing Pill entered his stomach, and the same sensation appeared. After the time it took to burn an incense stick, its medicinal power had been completely absorbed by his flesh and blood.

Zhao Hongming continued by taking another Small Revitalizing Pill. He sat quietly cross-legged on the bed, waiting for his body to digest the medicinal power.

After swallowing five Small Revitalizing Pills in succession, Zhao Hongming finally felt that the essence in his body had been completely replenished.

The essence within him had reached complete saturation. A great deal of medicinal power continuously seeped out through the body's openings, such as his mouth and nose.

Only then did Zhao Hongming stop taking medicine.

He glanced at the Heaven's Reward Martial Path Attribute Panel, where all the information was displayed.

Name: Zhao Hongming

Cultivation Technique: Eight Desolations Eternal Youth Technique—Second Rank Meridian Opening (136/300)

Breakthrough Available: None

Today's Cultivation Time: 4 hours

Physique: Good

Talent Enhancement: 1.4

Talent Enhancement had become 1.4.

That meant that under normal cultivation, one hour of arduous practice could increase his progress by 14 points.

His cultivation speed had quickened by several more degrees.

Several days later.

Imperial Study.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the spies in Chu Country have recently sent back the latest news. As Your Majesty predicted, the Red River Palace Master of Chu Country has successfully broken through to the First Rank of Creation. Chu's ruler, Xiong Tuo, has also been frequently sending envoys to Han Country and Zhao Country recently. He likely has ulterior motives."

A man dressed in a black robe stood beside Jian'an Emperor Zhao Yongxu, his expression solemn.

Han Country and Zhao Country lay respectively to the left and right of Wei Country, one to the east and one to the west. Chu Country bordered the south of Wei Country and had fought Wei Country many times.

Great Wei's south was currently suffering from a Great Drought, and at such a critical moment, Chu Country was frequently dispatching envoys to Han and Zhao.

Chu Country's purpose was already as clear as day.

In truth, after the Red River Palace Master had broken through to the First Rank of Creation, Zhao Yongxu had already sensed a threat. Chu Country, to which he belonged, might harbor ambitions to attack its neighbors.

Thus, he had sent many spies from the Hall of Heroes to operate around Chu Country and gather the latest intelligence.

In Zhao Yongxu's judgment, even if Chu's ruler Xiong Tuo wished to attack another nation, Han Country—the weakest—should have been his first choice.

He had never expected Xiong Tuo's first target to be Wei Country.

At present, throughout Great Wei, the Zhengyi Sect's leader possessed the highest cultivation, at Martial Courage Ninth Grade, equal to those of Han and Zhao.

Compared to those two nations, although Great Wei's national strength was no longer what it had once been, it still surpassed Han Country.

But the facts lay before him, forcing him to weigh and plan anew.

"Wang Aiqing, what do you think of this matter?"

The man in the brown robe beside him clasped his fists. "Your Majesty, Chu Country knows it cannot swallow Great Wei alone, which is why it seeks to join forces with the other two nations to attack us. First, this can drain Great Wei's national strength. Second, it can make Han and Zhao become enemies of Great Wei. Once that happens, Great Wei will be beset by enemies on three sides, and our future position will become even more difficult."

"Wang Aiqing is right." Jian'an Emperor Zhao Yongxu rose from his chair and ordered, "Feng Daban, summon the Left and Right Prime Ministers of the Secretariat to the Celestial Secrets Pavilion at once to discuss affairs of state."

"Yes."