Strength Improvement

Inside the cell, Chen Lin sat cross-legged, the soles of his feet facing upward, his hands resting on his legs with his palms facing up as well.

"According to the Mysterious Origin Body Tempering Technique, if I want to temper my body with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the first step is to sense the existence of spiritual energy. This step is easy to describe, yet hard to achieve; it all depends on one's fate."

Chen Lin had learned this information from the memories of the original owner of this body.

Warriors with exceptional talent could generally sense spiritual energy within a single day.

Warriors with fairly strong talent could basically sense spiritual energy after cultivating for seven or eight days.

As for warriors with poor talent, merely sensing the existence of spiritual energy could take them half a year or even a year, not even counting the time needed afterward to actively absorb it.

The Basic Body Tempering Method the original owner had cultivated did not possess the ability to absorb spiritual energy to temper the body, so Chen Lin did not know what his own talent was like.

Continuously adjusting the rhythm of his breathing, Chen Lin maintained the five centers facing heaven posture and worked hard to focus his mind.

When the prisoners in the other cells saw Chen Lin cultivating, none of them dared move. They barely even dared breathe, afraid of disturbing him and getting brutally beaten for it.

"Inhale... exhale..."

Chen Lin's breathing gradually steadied as he continuously emptied his thoughts, making his heart ever more tranquil.

"Stand like a pine, sit like a bell; let the heart be still, let the spirit condense..." Chen Lin's self-control was quite good. Without spending much effort, he met the mental-state requirements described in the technique.

Not a sound could be heard. The entire prison seemed to have fallen into a deathly stillness.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths... one quarter-hour, two quarter-hours, three quarter-hours...

"Hm?" Chen Lin suddenly opened his eyes, confusion filling them. "What exactly does this spiritual energy of heaven and earth look like? Why can't I sense it at all? Could it be because my talent is too poor?"

Chen Lin found it hard to accept. After all, he had a cheat, and the original owner's cultivation talent had always been praised by others. How could his talent possibly be poor?

"Try again!" Chen Lin took a deep breath, closed his eyes once more, and continued trying to sense the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

Still the heart, relax, focus the mind...

A few quarter-hours later, Chen Lin opened his eyes again.

"Still not right. Where exactly is the problem? Could it really be that my talent is too poor, and I need to cultivate for seven or eight days first?"

Only now did he somewhat understand why so many people in the original owner's memories claimed that sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was extremely difficult.

He rose and stretched his limbs. Seeing this, the prisoners all could not help taking great gulps of the foul-smelling air.

After loosening his muscles and bones, Chen Lin chose to sit down and cultivate once again.

The prisoners immediately began carefully controlling the force of their breathing.

Time passed second by second. Ten breaths, twenty breaths, one quarter-hour, two quarter-hours, half an hour, one hour...

As the sky outside gradually darkened, Chen Lin's thoughts slowly emptied completely. He seemed unable to feel the passage of time at all, his mind sinking into a mysterious and profound state.

Vaguely, Chen Lin dimly sensed strands of five-colored gas drifting within two meters around him, as fine as threads of hair.

"This is... spiritual energy?" Chen Lin awoke from that mysterious and profound state, his eyes widening round.

Chen Lin had not expected to sense the existence of spiritual energy of heaven and earth in less than a day. At once, he felt rather pleased with himself.

"According to the technique's introduction, as long as I sense spiritual energy once, sensing it again afterward will become much easier. If I sense it again later, I can try drawing it into my body to temper my flesh!" Chen Lin thought to himself, joy unconsciously spreading across his face.

The others in the prison could not make heads or tails of Chen Lin's situation. For a moment, they looked at one another in silent bewilderment.

Chen Lin had no mind to pay attention to the other prisoners' reactions.

Before he completely forgot that feeling from just now, Chen Lin hurriedly tried again with all his focus.

Gradually, Chen Lin's breathing steadied again, his state of mind calmed once more, his thoughts emptied, and his spirit focused entirely on the space between his brows.

In his hazy state, Chen Lin seemed to sense that aura again. As time passed, it was as though a nearsighted person without glasses had suddenly put them on—the five-colored, hairlike strands of gas from before gradually became clear.

That was it!

This time, Chen Lin's emotions did not fluctuate much. He observed them carefully.

Those hairlike strands of spiritual energy were like swimming fish, drifting aimlessly through the air.

Whenever they approached Chen Lin's feet, palms, or the top of his head, his body seemed to possess some mysterious suction force that drew them inside.

With a thought, Chen Lin focused his awareness on the five centers. His mind continuously sent out thoughts of "draw in spiritual energy," and the suction force at the five centers seemed to answer his will, increasing severalfold at once. The spiritual energy within two meters flowed into Chen Lin's body through the acupoints of the five centers like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

Before long, a warm sensation surged through his limbs and bones. Chen Lin's entire body was like a desert parched for ages, constantly drinking in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

A trembling sensation rising from the depths of his marrow made Chen Lin's body shudder involuntarily.

As spiritual energy continuously entered his flesh, transformed through the acupoints, streams of strange energy were constantly released throughout Chen Lin's body, madly tempering his flesh.

Time passed second by second, and Chen Lin's body continued to undergo changes.

Whether it was his skin, muscles, bones, blood, or internal organs, all of it was undergoing some inconceivable strengthening.

It was as though a certain shackle on his body had suddenly been broken open by a gap, releasing endless potential from the deepest reaches of his bloodline.

"According to the technique's explanation, every person is born with a breath of innate true qi within their chest. As time passes, this qi gradually merges into the body, hiding in the bloodline and lying dormant. If an ordinary person does not cultivate a technique, this true qi will return to heaven and earth upon their death."

"A warrior's cultivation is to use techniques to absorb the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, continuously tempering the body and refining this innate true qi out, then constantly cultivating and strengthening it until it becomes part of one's own power."

As Chen Lin recalled the technique's description and sensed the feedback from the constant changes occurring throughout his body, his heart was utterly tranquil.

The only thing that left Chen Lin slightly regretful was that the range in which he could absorb spiritual energy seemed limited to two meters around him. He could not absorb any spiritual energy beyond that range.

This made Chen Lin secretly ponder how he could increase the range of his spiritual energy absorption.

An hour later, Chen Lin had no choice but to stop this absorption of spiritual energy because his body had become overly saturated.

Opening his eyes, Chen Lin rose to his feet. A string of crackling pops erupted from his body, startling the other prisoners into fearful expressions.

Chen Lin silently sensed his body and felt that it had improved considerably once more.

His consciousness sank into his mind. Chen Lin opened the Slaughter Jade Book and checked his personal data.

[Host: Chen Lin]

[Realm: Early Martial Master]

[Soul: 25]

[True Qi: 0]

[Body Strength: 106]

[Slaughter Points: 0]

[Techniques: Soul Strengthening Technique Level 1 (3/10), Mysterious Origin Body Tempering Technique Level 1 (1/100), Basic Body Tempering Method Level 6 (1/60)]

[Martial Skills: Basic Swordplay Level 4 (1/40), Basic Movement Technique Level 4 (1/40)]

After checking his data, Chen Lin inwardly thought that it was indeed as expected.

Because this was his first time absorbing spiritual energy to temper his body, his body strength had directly risen from 100 → 106, increasing by a full 6 points. Based on his earlier tests, his strength had increased by at least sixty jin.

Do not underestimate those sixty jin and think it was too little. Converted into the Slaughter Points Chen Lin earned at the slaughterhouse, he would have needed to work for nearly a whole day to achieve the same result.

One hour of arduous cultivation surpassed more than half a day of his previous labor. Chen Lin was already very satisfied.

At this moment, in the dungeon corridor outside, a jailer led two prisoners in clean prison uniforms to the cell where Chen Lin was held.

The two prisoners were tall and powerfully built, their muscles bulging like iron towers. One look was enough to tell that they were no good.