Gilded Version

Within Uchiha Aozora's Sea of Consciousness, the Wordless Page hung at the center.

On the Wordless Page, five Golden Droplets swam about like tadpoles.

Of the five Golden Droplets, three had come from clearing the riverbed, while the other two had come from delivering a letter and searching for lost items.

Watching the Golden Droplets swim around, Aozora beamed with delight.

In just one week, he had obtained five Golden Droplets. If used properly, these droplets could at least complete one Daoist magic or Divine Ability.

"Which Daoist magic or Divine Ability should I complete?"

"Guidance and Qi Cultivation is the foundation. Every Daoist magic and Divine Ability requires qi to drive it. By the same logic, every ninjutsu in the Shinobi World requires Chakra. But after fully completing Guidance and Qi Cultivation, will it increase Chakra recovery speed, or will it gain an advanced ability like Clone?"

"Henge is already Pale Gold. Judging by what happened when I fused merit into it last time, continuing to complete it should grant knowledge of altering meridians and bones. Once that happens, after transforming, Even for an Byakugan or Sharingan probably won't be able to tell real from fake."

"True Fire of Samadhi doesn't need consideration yet. Before my body is properly trained, everything else is futile."

"Weapon Control has already given me a method to wield ordinary tools. The remaining knowledge should all concern wielding Spiritual Artifacts, but I don't even have Chakra Conductive Metal right now. Pass."

"Clone has already been completed."

"Outer Body Incarnation—"

Thinking of Outer Body Incarnation, Aozora could not help pondering for a while.

"Forget it. Outer Body Incarnation only has the faintest outline right now. If I rely entirely on merit to complete it, I don't even know how much it'll cost. I'll first collect the Clones of all five natures and see whether I can complete some of it."

"The Yin-Yang Eye should receive new feedback once the Sharingan advances in the future. Using merit on it now would be a bit wasteful."

After weighing his options for a long time, Aozora eliminated most of them, leaving only Guidance and Qi Cultivation and Henge.

After considering it for a while, Uchiha Aozora eliminated Henge as well.

"There aren't many situations where I need the Transformation Jutsu right now, and I don't have a chance to use an alternate identity either. I'll deal with it later!"

Having made his choice, Uchiha Aozora stopped hesitating and directly visualized "Guidance and Qi Cultivation" on the Heavenly Book.

Looking at the four familiar Pale Gold ancient characters, Uchiha Aozora was filled with emotion.

Ever since he had refined Chakra at the age of five and seen those four ancient characters, he had felt far less lost in the Shinobi World.

The ancient page and its Pale Gold characters were like old friends, allowing him to instantly find something to rely on in this unfamiliar world.

While Uchiha Aozora was lost in thought, the Golden Droplets, like fish that had smelled blood, darted toward the four Pale Gold ancient characters and surged into them one after another.

The droplets gradually lost their luster, while the gold of the Pale Gold characters steadily deepened.

By the time the ancient characters had turned Gilded, only one of the five droplets of merit remained.

This droplet of merit still desperately squeezed itself toward the ancient characters.

Yet no matter how hard it tried, it still could not burrow into the four characters.

In the end, the Golden Droplet could only reluctantly leave the Gilded ancient characters alone and continue drifting across the page.

Seeing this, Uchiha Aozora felt greatly disappointed and muttered, "It seems merit can only complete Divine Abilities and Daoist magic. If I want to trigger new Divine Abilities and Daoist magic, I'll have to rely on myself."

He had only just sighed when, in the next moment, Uchiha Aozora eagerly stretched his sinful little hand toward the Gilded Edition of "Guidance and Qi Cultivation."

Lines of text appeared in his mind, arranging themselves into paragraphs.

Scene after scene appeared in his mind and played in succession.

After a long while, Uchiha Aozora opened his eyes and exclaimed, "As expected of the Gilded Version. It's seriously maxed out—absolutely insane!"

The brand-new version of Guidance and Qi Cultivation did not contain much additional knowledge. It merely improved Guidance and Qi Cultivation, which could originally only be practiced through special movements, into a version that could be practiced while sitting, lying down, or walking.

Compared with the original version, the Gilded Edition's qi cultivation efficiency was somewhat lower, only half of the original's efficiency.

Yet Uchiha Aozora was still overjoyed.

When conditions allowed, he could naturally practice using the original version. But during periods when he previously could not cultivate, he could now practice using the Gilded Edition of Guidance and Qi Cultivation.

His body had always been stronger than an ordinary person's, allowing him to refine more Chakra.

Now that he had mastered the Gilded Edition of Guidance and Qi Cultivation, he could refine Chakra while others slept, refine Chakra while others walked, and even refine Chakra while eating.

If he spent several times more time refining Chakra each day than others did, the gap between his Chakra reserves and those of other ninjas would rapidly widen.

"Most importantly, I won't have to stay up late cultivating immortality anymore. I can cultivate even while sleeping. Brother won't have to worry about my dark circles anymore!"

Aozora could not wait to follow the Heavenly Book's inheritance and begin practicing the Gilded Edition of Guidance and Qi Cultivation.

The first form he practiced was the Sleeping Form.

Aozora lay on his side with his head facing east, curled like a dog and coiled like a dragon. Then he bent his right arm beneath his head as a pillow and placed his left hand over his navel. Finally, he stretched out his left leg and drew back his right leg.

After assuming the posture, Aozora slowly began breathing in and out according to the breathing method taught by the Heavenly Book.

When his breathing frequency and rhythm matched those in the inheritance, Aozora drew a portion of Chakra from his dantian and began circulating it through a full cycle.

At first, this Chakra still required Aozora's control.

But after it completed one full cycle, once Aozora released his control, the Chakra actually continued slowly traveling along the circulation route with each breath.

With every cycle, a new strand of Chakra merged into his dantian.

Seeing this, Aozora no longer forced himself to stay awake. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

He slept dreamlessly through the night.

But at dawn, Aozora had a dream—a hungry dream, a dream of being so, so hungry.

In the dream, his stomach was so hungry that it evolved a huge mouth and devoured things everywhere.

The terrifying hungry dream startled Aozora awake, and then he discovered that he was hungry.

"Grrr—grrrr—"

With no food in his belly, his stomach rebelled.

Unable to bear the hunger, Aozora did not even bother washing up. He rushed into the kitchen at top speed and quickly made some food to fill his stomach.

Only after eating three bowls of noodles did Uchiha Aozora feel alive again.

"I forgot that Guidance and Qi Cultivation also refines essence into qi. Next time, I need to eat more midnight snacks before cultivating."

"No, it's not just at night. I'll need to eat more during the day too. I need to keep all kinds of snacks on hand."

"Huh? Does that mean I've passively gained a physique that never gets fat no matter how much I eat?"

Thinking of this, Aozora's mood brightened considerably.

"It's just a little expensive."

"Right, I'll make money first today. I'll go ask how to claim the demolition Compensation."

After lying down for two minutes after breakfast, Aozora returned to his room to wash up and change into a long robe embroidered with the Uchiha Clan Crest on the back.

Today was a rest day, so the Clan Head should be at home.

Thus, Aozora leisurely headed toward the Clan Head's home.

Every step he took was as though he were measuring the ground. Whether it was his pace or stride length, every step was exact to the smallest degree.

Aozora had already tested the Sleeping Form last night.

Now, he began practicing the Walking Form of the Gilded Edition of Guidance and Qi Cultivation.