Qi Sea

Qi Sea

"Also, the Yuanyang Spiritual Root is very popular among Heavenly Spiritual Roots. After all, everyone at our school is a virgin. The Yuanyang Spiritual Root can refine the Yuanyang Essence Qi within a virgin's body into magical power, and its effect in boosting magical power is incredible."

Zhao Tianxing said proudly, "Especially the Yuanyang Spiritual Root at our high school. It has been passed down for nearly twenty years, handled by generation after generation of seniors. It has absorbed the Yuanyang Essence Qi of tens of thousands of students, giving it an even more mysterious quality."

Zhang Yu frowned as he listened. Somehow, this Yuanyang Spiritual Root sounded very dirty, and besides...

"Didn't everyone get sterilized? Can we still use this virgin root?"

"It's the Yuanyang Spiritual Root." Zhao Tianxing explained, "Sterilization Surgery only temporarily removes certain organs. The Yuanyang Essence Qi in our bodies still continuously pours forth from the kidneys, only it no longer stimulates our emotions or minds."

"Otherwise, how would people undergo restorative surgery after growing up, regaining new roots generation after generation?"

As Zhang Yu walked, he continued asking, "Among the school's Heavenly Spiritual Roots, are there any that are especially helpful for increasing magical power?"

Zhao Tianxing's heart stirred at those words. Recalling Zhang Yu's recent actions, he thought that the other party had truly been unusually concerned with raising his magical power lately.

Could it be for the Magic Competition?

After thinking it over, Zhao Tianxing said, "There are many Spirit Roots that can help boost magical power. The most effective one at our school should be the Qi Sea Spiritual Root. It's just rather expensive, but since this time you've received it as a free reward, the price doesn't matter..."

The Qi Sea Spiritual Root, nicknamed the Wall-Penetrating King, had the greatest advantage of an enormously wide coverage range. It could even pass through all kinds of walls, buildings, and the earth itself, gathering Spiritual Energy over a vast area and improving the efficiency of magical power refinement.

After hearing Zhao Tianxing's introduction, Zhang Yu had already decided that he wanted to try this Heavenly Spiritual Root.

They arrived at the Spirit Root rental office beside the Quiet Rooms. Zhang Yu did not hurry to state his goal. Instead, he picked up the brochure on the desk and began reading.

The administrator beside him was a female teacher with a baby face.

Seeing Zhang Yu's actions, she immediately seized the opening to ask, "Student, are you a member here? Do you have any Spirit Roots you're familiar with?"

Without even raising his head, Zhang Yu said, "No and no."

The administrator promptly recommended, "We currently have an event where new members who top up ten thousand get an extra thousand. Student, would you like to try it?"

Zhang Yu said, "My Heavenly Spiritual Root rental is a reward for a 0% Distraction Rate. I'm only here to claim the reward and have no interest in anything else, so there's no need to sell me anything."

The administrator gave a helpless smile and stepped back. "Then let me know if you need anything, student."

From the way he spoke, she silently labeled Zhang Yu as stingy and lost interest in pitching to him.

Zhang Yu did not care what she thought. He merely lowered his head and quickly scanned the brochure, finding that what it said was more or less the same as Zhao Tianxing's explanation.

He then said to the administrator beside him, "I'd like to rent the Qi Sea Spiritual Root."

She said, "Please scan your student card."

Zhang Yu took out his student card and handed it to her.

This Songyang High School student card represented his identity as a high school student. It was an important credential that allowed him to legally practice Immortal Cultivation in his daily life and enjoy all kinds of services related to cultivation on the Immortal Path.

Before long, the administrator in the office brought a jade box before him.

"The Qi Sea Spiritual Root is inside. Go to Quiet Room No. 2 later, open the jade case, and swallow the Spirit Root."

"You've rented it for one hour. The time starts from when you enter the Quiet Room. Going over by one minute counts as another full hour, so watch the time yourself..."

After the administrator handling the rental business gave him another round of reminders about the details, she urged Zhang Yu to go in quickly.

Zhao Tianxing, standing nearby, said, "Then Zhang Yu, go ahead and get busy. I should leave too."

Zhang Yu nodded at him. "Thanks."

Watching Zhang Yu turn and leave, Zhao Tianxing kept replaying Zhang Yu's expression and tone in his mind. Our relationship should have gotten closer this time, right?

Meanwhile, inside Quiet Room No. 2.

It was a room of around twenty square meters. A Meditation Cushion sat in the center, while the surrounding walls were covered in a layer of soundproofing material, painted with large and small distorted Talisman Arts.

It was said that these Talisman Arts could accelerate the gathering of Spiritual Energy and somewhat improve the efficiency of Breath Circulation.

However, Zhang Yu had only one hour for Breath Circulation from the moment he stepped through the door. He had no time to care about the room's arrangement. He sat directly on the Meditation Cushion and opened the jade case.

Inside the palm-sized jade case lay a crystalline object, delicate and translucent, gleaming with a faint blue light.

The crystal floated at the center of the jade case, surrounded by wisps of light particles like blue smoke.

This was the Spirit Root he had rented this time, the Heavenly Spiritual Root known as the Qi Sea Spiritual Root.

Zhang Yu carefully picked up the Qi Sea Spiritual Root. The moment he brought it to his mouth, he felt a chill in his throat. The Heavenly Spiritual Root drilled into his body like a mass of icy water, plunging straight into his lower abdomen and entering his Lower Dantian in a single breath.

As soon as the Qi Sea Spiritual Root entered his Dantian, it seemed to take root and sprout. Sections of crystal-like rootlets extended from it and burrowed into the magical power around it.

Zhang Yu understood that, according to the user manual and the administrator's instructions, the Heavenly Spiritual Root had now been successfully planted in his Dantian.

Next, he merely needed to perform Breath Circulation as he normally did, and the Heavenly Spiritual Root would naturally take effect.

With that thought, Zhang Yu took a deep breath and began circulating the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method.

Rumble!

A tremendous boom seemed to erupt inside his mind.

Zhang Yu only felt the Spiritual Energy all around him swarm over, pouring toward the Heavenly Spiritual Root within his body.

"Twice?"

"Three times? Too fast... it's still rising!"

Feeling ever more Spiritual Energy flood into his body, Zhang Yu hurriedly settled his mind and operated the Level 6 Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method with all his strength.

As the circulation of magical power throughout his body accelerated, thread after thread of Spiritual Energy was refined into magical power.

His Dantian, which had felt somewhat swollen from the swarming Spiritual Energy, returned to normal once more.

But as though it sensed the speed at which Zhang Yu was refining magical power, the Qi Sea Spiritual Root within his Dantian contracted and expanded, once again increasing the speed at which it gathered Spiritual Energy.

This time, it was not merely the Spiritual Energy around Zhang Yu that swarmed over. Even the Spiritual Energy outside the room was drawn in.

The corridor... outside the window... the sky... even underground...

As Zhang Yu's efficiency in refining magical power rose, the Qi Sea Spiritual Root increased its range for gathering Spiritual Energy step by step, finally stopping at a radius of fifty meters.

He felt an ocean of Spiritual Energy, like the Yangtze River and great rivers rolling on without end, continuously surge into his body. It was then guided into the circulation of magical power throughout his body, ultimately refined strand by strand into his own magical power.

At this moment, Zhang Yu actually felt the exhilarating rush of his magical power skyrocketing.

"So this was the true efficiency of the Level 6 Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method?"

Only then did Zhang Yu finally understand that when he normally circulated Spiritual Energy and refined magical power, he had never been able to unleash the true might of the Level 6 Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method.

Now, with the assistance of the Qi Sea Spiritual Root, he had truly pushed the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method's efficiency in refining magical power to its limit.

Not daring to waste even a single second, Zhang Yu devoted himself completely to circulating Spiritual Energy and refining magical power.

At the same time, in the Spirit Root rental office, the administrator who had just received Zhang Yu looked at the computer screen before her and said in surprise, "Hmm? The Spiritual Energy concentration has dropped?"

The school's rented Quiet Rooms for Breath Circulation naturally did more than provide quiet. The Spirit-Gathering Talismans arranged within could control the room's Spiritual Energy concentration and improve the effects of Breath Circulation.

The administrator carefully examined the monitoring data and discovered that Quiet Room No. 2 was showing a clear Spiritual Energy convergence phenomenon. It was drawing in a huge amount of the surrounding Spiritual Energy, causing the concentration in nearby rooms to fall.

"Quiet Room No. 2... I remember that was the first-year student from just now, wasn't it?"

"To gather Spiritual Energy to this extent, and he can do it as a first-year?"

The administrator found it increasingly astonishing. In her memory, only second-year students at the very least could make the Qi Sea Spiritual Root perform to such an extent.

"Zhang Yu?"

Recalling the name and class that the student had registered, the administrator silently committed them to memory. She also overturned the stingy label she had just placed on him.

"He's this impressive in his first year. This student must have spent quite a lot of money on the Immortal Dao."

As she activated more Spirit-Gathering Talismans and adjusted the Spiritual Energy concentration back up, she silently thought, I'll add his contact information later. If I can get him to open a Platinum Member account with me, I won't have to worry about my performance targets for the next few months.

She planned to tell no one and develop this promising client all by herself.

In the blink of an eye, an hour passed.

Zhang Yu was immersed in the thrill of Spiritual Energy surging toward him. Without noticing it, his magical power had risen from 9.4 to 9.5. This one hour had clearly equaled half a day of Zhang Yu's hard cultivation.

Just then, a female voice sounded from the room's intercom.

"Student Zhang Yu, your hour is almost up. Would you like to extend your time?"

For some reason, Zhang Yu felt that the administrator's voice seemed much gentler than before.

Feeling the Spiritual Energy surge wildly and the satisfaction of the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method operating at full power, Zhang Yu could not help asking, "How much does it cost to extend?"

The administrator hurriedly said, "The Qi Sea Spiritual Root costs five thousand yuan per hour to rent. However, we have a promotional event today. If a new user tops up one hundred thousand yuan at once, not only will you receive an extra ten thousand yuan, but you'll also get a 12% discount on rental fees."

Zhang Yu sighed helplessly in his heart and slowly stopped his Breath Circulation. "I still have things to do today, so I won't extend."

When returning the Spirit Root, Zhang Yu increasingly felt how courteous the administrator had become. It just so happened that he also had a few questions to ask.

So Zhang Yu reluctantly glanced at the Qi Sea Spiritual Root being put back into its jade case and asked, "If this Spirit Root were sold, how much would it cost?"

The administrator's gaze shifted, and she smiled. "The Qi Sea Spiritual Root costs sixty million."

Zhang Yu sucked in a cold breath inwardly, though his expression remained unchanged as he remarked, "That expensive?"

The administrator smiled and said, "Yes. Actually, we don't really recommend buying one. Renting is much more cost-effective than purchasing. After all, equipping a Heavenly Spiritual Root in the Early-Stage Qi Refining is still far too extravagant. Most cultivators only consider buying a Spirit Root after getting into university."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly. He knew that the final hurdle for advancing from the Qi Refining Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm was planting a Spirit Root that belonged to oneself. That truly was something only university students needed to consider.

But whether one planted a Heavenly Spiritual Root, Earth Spiritual Root, or Human Spiritual Root depended entirely on the cultivator's own financial means.

As for the even more advanced Divine Spiritual Roots and Immortal Spiritual Roots, one could only transplant those after joining a special department or entering a major Sect.

"Useful Heavenly Spiritual Roots really are... fucking expensive."

Zhang Yu gave the stored Spirit Root a deep look. He thought that one day, he would buy a Spirit Root that belonged to him.

Before he left, the administrator took the initiative to add his contact information. Only then did Zhang Yu learn that her name was Wei Xin.

Wei Xin silently changed Zhang Yu's contact note to Zhang Yu (Platinum Member Prospect).

(End of Chapter)