Improved Strength

In the cell, Chen Lin sat with his legs crossed, soles facing upward, hands resting on his thighs, palms also facing upward.

"According to the Mysterious Origin Body Tempering Technique, the first step to tempering the physical body with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is to sense its existence. This step is both simple and difficult, entirely dependent on personal fortune."

Chen Lin had learned this information from the memories of his previous body.

Generally, Martial Artists with exceptional talent could sense the existence of spiritual energy within a day.

Martial Artists with relatively strong talent could sense spiritual energy after about ten to eight days of cultivation.

As for Martial Artists with poorer talent, just sensing the existence of spiritual energy could take a year or a half year, and this didn't even include the time required for actively absorbing it afterward.

The Basic Body Tempering Method that Chen Lin's previous body had practiced did not have the ability to absorb spiritual energy to temper the body, so he was unsure of his own talent.

Continuously adjusting the frequency of his breathing, Chen Lin maintained the posture of "five points touching the sky" and strove to concentrate his spirit.

The other prisoners in their cells saw Chen Lin cultivating and dared not move or even breathe heavily, fearing they might disturb him and be beaten.

"Hoo~ inhale~"

Chen Lin's breathing gradually smoothed, and he continuously emptied his thoughts, making his mind even quieter.

"Body like a pine, sitting like a bell, mind must be still, spirit must be concentrated..." Chen Lin's self-control was quite good. Without much effort, he met the requirements of the technique regarding his state of mind.

Silence descended, and the entire cell seemed to fall into a deathly stillness.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths... a quarter of an hour, two quarters of an hour, three quarters of an hour...

"Huh?" Chen Lin suddenly opened his eyes in the cell, his gaze full of confusion. "What does this spiritual energy of heaven and earth even feel 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 his previous body's cultivation talent had always been praised. How could his talent be poor!

"Let's try again!" Chen Lin took a deep breath, closed his eyes again, and continued to try to sense the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

Mind still, relax, concentrate spirit...

A few quarters of an hour later, Chen Lin opened his eyes again.

"Still not right. Where is the problem? Could it really be because my talent is too poor and I need to cultivate for ten days or eight days?"

At this moment, he finally understood why, in the memories of his previous body, so many people said that sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was very, very difficult.

He stood up and stretched his limbs. Seeing this, the other prisoners couldn't help but take deep breaths of the strange-smelling air.

After stretching, Chen Lin chose to sit down and cultivate again.

Seeing this, the prisoners immediately began to control the intensity of their breathing.

Time ticked by, ten breaths, twenty breaths, a quarter of an hour, two quarters of an hour, half an hour, an hour...

As the sky outside gradually darkened, Chen Lin's thoughts became completely empty. He seemed to lose all sense of the passage of time, his mind sinking into a profound and mysterious state.

Vaguely, Chen Lin sensed wisps of colorful, hair-like gas drifting around him within a two-meter radius.

"Is this... spiritual energy?" Chen Lin jolted awake from his profound state, his eyes wide open.

Chen Lin hadn't expected to sense the existence of spiritual energy in less than a day. He felt a surge of pride.

"According to the technique's introduction, once you can sense spiritual energy once, sensing it again later will be much easier. If I can sense it again later, I can try to absorb it into my body to temper my physique!" Chen Lin thought to himself, a smile unconsciously spreading across his face.

The others in the cell couldn't figure out Chen Lin's situation. They looked at each other in silence.

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

Before the feeling he had just experienced completely faded, Chen Lin quickly tried again with his mind.

Gradually, Chen Lin's breathing became steady again, his state of mind peaceful, his thoughts emptied, and his spirit fully concentrated on his brow.

In a daze, Chen Lin seemed to sense that familiar aura again. As time passed, it was as if a nearsighted person who had forgotten their glasses suddenly put them on. The colorful, hair-like gas gradually became clearer.

It was it!

This time, Chen Lin's emotions were not greatly stirred. He observed carefully.

He saw that the hair-like spiritual energy was drifting aimlessly in the air like swimming fish.

When they approached Chen Lin's feet, palms, and the top of his head, his body seemed to possess a mysterious suction force, drawing them into his body.

Chen Lin moved his mind, focusing his consciousness on his 'five points', and continuously sent out thoughts of 'absorbing spiritual energy'. The suction force on his five points seemed to respond to Chen Lin's mental commands, and the suction force increased several times. The spiritual energy within two meters seemed to flow like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, continuously entering Chen Lin's physical body through the acupoints on his five points.

Soon, a warm sensation spread through his limbs and bones. Chen Lin's entire body felt like a long-dry desert, constantly absorbing the spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

A tremor from the depths of his bones made Chen Lin's body involuntarily tremble.

As spiritual energy continuously entered his physical body and was converted through the acupoints, streams of strange energy were constantly released throughout Chen Lin's body, madly tempering his physique.

Time ticked by, and Chen Lin's physical body was undergoing constant changes.

Whether it was his skin, muscles, bones, or blood and organs, all were undergoing some incredible strengthening.

It was as if some shackles on his body had been suddenly broken, and countless potentials were released from the deepest part of his bloodline.

"According to the explanation in the technique, upon birth, humans possess a breath of innate True Qi in their chest. This Qi gradually integrates into the body over time, hiding within the bloodline and lying dormant. If an ordinary person does not cultivate, this True Qi will return to heaven and earth upon their death."

"The cultivation of a Martial Artist is to use techniques to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, continuously temper the physical body, refine this innate True Qi, and then continuously cultivate and strengthen it, eventually making it a part of their own strength."

Chen Lin recalled the descriptions in the technique while feeling the feedback from the constant changes occurring throughout his body, his heart filled with peace.

The only thing Chen Lin regretted was that his range of spiritual energy absorption seemed to be limited to two meters around him. He couldn't absorb any spiritual energy beyond that distance.

This made Chen Lin secretly ponder how to expand the range of his spiritual energy absorption.

An hour later, Chen Lin had to stop absorbing spiritual energy because his physical body was too saturated.

Opening his eyes, Chen Lin stood up, his body emitting a series of crisp cracking sounds that startled the other prisoners in the cell, filling them with fear.

Chen Lin silently felt his physical body, sensing a significant improvement.

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

[Host: Chen Lin]
[Realm: Early Martial Master]
[Soul: 25]
[True Qi: 0]
[Physical Body Strength: 106]
[Slaughter Points: 0]
[Cultivation 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 reviewing his data, Chen Lin inwardly thought, "As expected."

Since this was his first time absorbing spiritual energy to temper his body, his physical body strength had directly increased from 100 to 106, a full 6 points. Based on his previous tests, his strength had increased by at least 60 jin.

Don't underestimate just 60 jin and think it's a small amount. If Chen Lin were to earn Slaughter Points at the slaughterhouse, it would take him nearly a full day to achieve this result.

An hour of arduous training was equivalent to more than half a day's labor in the past, and Chen Lin was already very satisfied.

Just then, down the dungeon corridor, a jailer led two prisoners in clean attire to Chen Lin's cell.

The two prisoners were tall and strong, with bulging muscles, resembling iron towers. They clearly looked like trouble.