Exhilarating Cultivation with a Supreme Wood Spirit Root

He opened his mouth and inhaled.

A massive amount of Wood Spiritual Energy poured directly into his body. Every pore across his body opened wide, simultaneously absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.

His body was like a bottomless pit, devouring the spiritual energy around him!

"Damn, this is too fierce! My meridians are about to give out!"

Han Yuan's expression changed. He hurriedly took out a Pulse Protecting Pill and swallowed it.

A phantom die was still spinning at high speed.

"Hurry up, stop spinning!"

The rapidly spinning die came to an abrupt halt, its number landing on 13.

Random Buff Multiplier: 13

Pulse Protecting Pill Effect ×13

Pulse Protecting Pill Toxin -100%

The Pulse Protecting Pill's medicinal power rapidly multiplied and spread throughout his body, protecting the meridians battered by the massive influx of spiritual energy. In particular, countless tiny meridians beneath the surface of his skin had already ruptured, but under the restorative effects of the Pulse Protecting Pill, they slowly recovered.

These tiny meridians were as numerous as capillaries, like the roots of a plant. They spread through the surface layers of Han Yuan's skin, converging layer by layer into smaller meridians, then transferring into larger meridians, before finally circulating into his Dantian and Wood Spirit Heart.

Normally, a Pulse Protecting Pill's effects could not reach such fine meridians, but a Pulse Protecting Pill with its effects amplified thirteenfold was clearly anything but normal.

Han Yuan's condition quickly stabilized.

He had never imagined that the gap between a Top-grade Spiritual Root and a Mid-grade Spiritual Root could be so vast!

When he had cultivated at full force before, his meridians had not suffered the slightest problem.

Now, before he had even cultivated at full force, his meridians were already on the verge of bursting.

That was right. He had played it safe just now and had not fully activated the Ancient Wood Nourishing Spirit Art, using only thirty percent of its power.

Yet the amount of spiritual energy he absorbed was already ten times what it had been before!

If he went all out, would it not reach more than thirty times that amount?

Did an ordinary Supreme Wood Spirit Root truly cultivate at such an outrageous speed?

This was likely caused by a combination of factors, and now was not the time to investigate the reason.

Han Yuan immersed himself wholly in refining spiritual energy.

As cultivation continued, he gradually discovered that the main and auxiliary meridians, even the ninety-six lesser meridians, were not the main force behind the circulation technique's refinement of spiritual power.

On the contrary, it was those inconspicuous tiny meridians that supplied an enormous amount of spiritual power!

The human body's capillaries totaled ninety thousand kilometers in length. These miniature meridians were no small number when added together either. No matter how tiny each one was, their total was still dozens of times greater than that of the main and auxiliary meridians.

In a daze, Han Yuan felt as if he had become an ancient tree. His eight main meridians were the trunk, his Dantian the fruit, his Wood Spirit Heart the tree's core, while the smaller and miniature meridians were its roots and rootlets, buried in the soil that was heaven and earth, greedily absorbing nourishment.

Even his Spiritual Sense was like invisible rootlets, drawing power from the heaven and earth farther away.

When his Spiritual Sense spread beyond Cangming Tower, he seemed to see some of his own kind!

Closest to him stood the familiar Great Banyan Tree. From this special perspective, it too was like him, its roots and leaves absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.

The Great Banyan Tree seemed to sense his Spiritual Sense and sent back a friendly, cheerful ripple of Spiritual Sense. He also saw more spirit trees and even spirit plants in the distance, all in the same state.

But Han Yuan soon noticed something wrong.

These spirit plants were not absorbing spiritual energy slowly, yet there was no surging tide of spiritual energy around them!

Although these spirit plants were absorbing spiritual energy, they were also releasing spiritual energy at the same time!

The amount they released was somewhat less than the amount they absorbed, but their impact on the surrounding spiritual energy density was extremely small!

For example, he often sat beneath the Great Banyan Tree, yet he had never felt any major change in the density of spiritual energy. It was as though these spirit plants were not absorbing spiritual energy at all.

If he absorbed spiritual energy out in the open, it would definitely create a spiritual energy vortex and cause quite a commotion.

Why was that?

Han Yuan could not help recalling the contents of the Ancient Wood Qi Recovery Art.

This was the core spell that needed to be cultivated after the Ancient Wood Hidden Qi Art.

He brought it out from his memories again and studied it carefully.

Gradually, Han Yuan began to understand.

If the Ancient Wood Hidden Qi Art allowed one to blend among the trees, then the Ancient Wood Qi Recovery Art turned one into an ancient tree.

Where did plants get their nourishment?

One source was the sky, such as sunlight and air. The other came from the earth!

When plants shed mortality and became spirit trees, it was the same. They not only absorbed the spiritual energy in the air, but also absorbed the spiritual energy of the earth, converting it into their own spiritual power. The excess was then transmitted back into the sky, forming a cycle of spiritual energy!

A spirit tree's roots absorbed the earth's spiritual energy not through their own efforts alone, but through this cyclical circulation of spiritual energy!

Similar to the siphon effect, this too was a special effect of spiritual energy. Calling it the Spiritual Siphon Effect was fitting enough.

Spirit wood was born with the ability to wield this Spiritual Siphon Effect. Calling it a racial talent would not be wrong. Generally, for every amount of spiritual energy it released, it could absorb twice as much!

Who would have thought that such a plain, unremarkable spirit tree contained such a profound mystery!

The Ancient Wood Qi Recovery Art, the accompanying spell of the simplified technique Ancient Wood Nourishing Spirit Art from the Jianmu Immortal Codex, made use of precisely this Spiritual Siphon Effect.

"Awesome, absolutely incredible! Those who created these cultivation techniques and spells must have been unparalleled geniuses!"

Han Yuan sighed in admiration. He already found it difficult to learn the techniques left behind by his predecessors, while those predecessors had comprehended these techniques through observing heaven and earth. Compared to them, Han Yuan felt thoroughly ashamed of his own inferiority. I can't compare. I really can't compare!

"Even if I completely comprehend these techniques and spells, I would have no right to be proud!"

Han Yuan sighed inwardly and began cultivating and refining spiritual energy while comprehending the Ancient Wood Qi Recovery Art.

This spell could only be comprehended while cultivating, which was why it was called an accompanying spell.

Under his rapid cultivation, the Ancient Wood Qi Recovery Art reached Entry Level very quickly.

At a certain moment, his Spiritual Sense seemed to pierce through the barrier of the ground, finally sensing a faint fluctuation from the earth vein.

"Huh? It seems the ground beneath the Cultivation Room was modified, so it's easy to come into contact with the earth vein. This is perfect for my cultivation!"

Han Yuan was pleasantly surprised.

These cultivation conditions were completely maxed out!

Sure enough, when his Spiritual Sense pulled, a strand of spiritual energy far denser and heavier than usual passed directly through the stone floor from underground and surged into his body through the surface of his skin.

His Spiritual Sense was being depleted very quickly. Dragging this single strand of Earth Vein Spiritual Energy consumed one hundred times as much Spiritual Sense as absorbing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth!

But Han Yuan did not panic.

Driven by his Spiritual Sense, the Earth Vein Spiritual Energy began to circulate through his body. As it traveled through his meridians, the spiritual energy gradually began to separate.

One portion became increasingly pure, while another remained much the same. Yet after being refined by his meridians, its heavy aura was stripped away, and it too seemed to become lighter and more ethereal, gradually converging with ordinary spiritual energy.

In the end, the pure spiritual energy flowed into the Wood Spirit Heart, while the remaining portion turned midway through a main meridian, transferred into another auxiliary meridian, then passed through lesser meridians and miniature meridians until it drilled out through Han Yuan's pores and merged back into heaven and earth.

The next time he drew out a strand of Earth Vein Spiritual Energy, the consumption of his Spiritual Sense dropped tenfold. It now required only ten times the consumption of absorbing spiritual energy between heaven and earth!

This meant that his Ancient Wood Qi Recovery Art had undoubtedly reached Entry Level!

A tiny Spiritual Siphon Effect had formed within his body.

Although its Entry Level consumption was still ten times greater than normal, this was only Entry Level. At Minor Accomplishment, the consumption would be equal to normal; at Major Accomplishment, it would be one-tenth of normal; and at perfection, his qi recovery speed would be one hundred times faster!

The Ancient Wood Qi Recovery Art truly deserved to be called a core spell. It was insanely powerful!

His endurance was completely maxed out!

Suddenly, a phantom die appeared before Han Yuan's eyes.

"Hm? It's here!"

Han Yuan was somewhat surprised.

The die spun rapidly before him.

He could not see how many faces it had or what numbers were on them. He also did not know whether he would be able to see them clearly once his realm grew higher.

"Stop!" Han Yuan commanded with his thoughts.

The die stopped instantly.

The number landed on "5."

Han Yuan did not care much about it. Instead, he lowered his head and looked at the ground.

Five strands of Earth Vein Spiritual Energy were drawn from below the ground and surged into Han Yuan's body. They circulated in the same manner, ultimately forming five spiritual energy cycles of the Spiritual Siphon Effect. When Han Yuan drew another six strands of Earth Vein Spiritual Energy, all of them benefited from the reduced consumption.

What Han Yuan wondered was whether these five strands of spiritual energy had originally existed within the earth vein, or had appeared out of thin air.

"Forget it. Why think about that? I should reach Major Accomplishment as soon as possible. By then, even if I'm not a perpetual-motion machine, my cultivation speed will definitely increase again!"

Han Yuan cultivated diligently. The Pulse Protecting Pill's medicinal effect was being consumed unexpectedly quickly. Even with thirteen times the effect, it seemed unlikely to last long.

He would need an extremely large number of Pulse Protecting Pills in the future.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. "If I refine pills, can I enjoy the multiplication effect? Could one pill become five? But that isn't something that takes effect on my own body, so perhaps it won't work... I'll only know after trying!"