Alternative Materials for Strengthening Spiritual Roots!

Alternative Materials for Strengthening Spiritual Roots! Lin Yaoyao's figure disappeared at the end of the mountain path, and the lively aura that belonged to his Eighth Senior Sister dispersed with her.

Zhao Hao shut the stone door of his new cave abode tightly with a backhand motion. The cave abode's restrictive spiritual light flashed, completely cutting off inside from outside.

He did not delay for even a moment. With a thought, that curvaceous "Maid Corpse" appeared in the empty stone chamber, standing there woodenly with lifeless eyes.

Zhao Hao circled the living corpse twice. There was not the slightest trace of suggestive interest on his face, only caution.

Lin Yaoyao's warning was only one reason. In this demonic sect, anyone's gift could be a poison-tempered knife.

Especially this Seventh Senior Brother, whose way of doing things was so bizarre—heaven knew what contingency he had left on this living corpse.

He steadied his mind, called up the system panel, and tried placing the late first-rank [Iron Corpse] bestowed by his master, True Person Corpse Heart, into the [Main Item Slot].

It worked!

Immediately after, he dragged the [Maid Corpse] into the [Consumable Material Slot].

[Enhancement success rate +0.8%]

"Only this little success rate?"

Zhao Hao frowned, then placed the other late first-rank Iron Corpse gifted by his Third Senior Brother Shi Lei into the material slot.

[Enhancement success rate +20%]

As expected.

Enhancement between the same rank could provide a base success rate of 20%.

And if he wanted to raise items like magical artifacts or refined corpses from one grade to the next, the same-rank materials required were probably five times what they had been before.

Using an early first-rank living corpse to enhance a late first-rank Iron Corpse was truly not worth it.

Just as he was about to give up on the idea, an utterly insane thought shot out from the depths of his mind without warning!

A refined corpse, in essence, was also a cultivator's corpse containing spiritual power, and before death, it had also possessed spiritual roots.

Then... could it serve as "nourishment" for his own spiritual roots?

Once this thought took root, it could no longer be suppressed.

Zhao Hao's heart skipped half a beat. He took a deep breath and, as if driven by ghosts and spirits, dragged his own [Spiritual Root: Fire (Middle Grade)] into the [Main Item Slot].

After that, he tremblingly moved his intent toward the [Consumable Material Slot].

In the next second, his pupils abruptly contracted.

Among the options in the material slot, three choices had appeared in bold: [Maid Corpse (Gifted by Wu De)], [Late First-Rank Iron Corpse (Gifted by Shi Lei)], and [Late First-Rank Iron Corpse (Gifted by Master)]!

It really worked!

Zhao Hao's heart began to pound violently.

He first selected the [Maid Corpse].

[Enhancement success rate: 60%]

So high!

He immediately removed the [Maid Corpse] and swapped in the late first-rank Iron Corpse gifted by Third Senior Brother Shi Lei.

[Enhancement success rate: 60%]

Zhao Hao then tried the one bestowed by his master, True Person Corpse Heart.

[Enhancement success rate: 60%]

The three refined corpses actually provided exactly the same success rate!

Thoughts raced through Zhao Hao's mind, and he instantly understood the key point.

At the beginning, when he had still been trash with five spiritual roots, that pitiful low-grade fire spiritual root inside his body had essentially been equivalent to only one-fifth of a normal spiritual root.

That was why the other four low-grade spiritual roots had each been able to provide a 20% success rate.

But now, his fire spiritual root had already advanced to middle grade. According to this world's classification of spiritual roots, it was probably equivalent to one spiritual root within the body of a cultivator with three spiritual roots—in other words, one-third of a complete spiritual root.

These refined corpses all contained complete spiritual roots within them. Their "total amount" happened to be three times that of his current middle-grade spiritual root.

That was why any one of them could provide a 60% success rate.

This meant that with only two refined corpses, the quality of his spiritual root could undergo another qualitative change, surpass three spiritual roots in one leap, and reach an entirely new level!

Although it still would not reach the level of a single heavenly spiritual root, its quality would definitely far exceed one of the spiritual roots in a dual-spiritual-root cultivator—that was, one-half of a complete spiritual root!

Once he had figured this out, Zhao Hao no longer hesitated in the slightest.

He did not dare casually offer up something from his master, True Person Corpse Heart, as material. The methods of an Old Devil at the Golden Core stage were unfathomable to ghosts and gods, and the possibility that he had left a mark on it was extremely high.

If sacrificing it drew the attention of that Golden Core Old Devil, the loss would outweigh the gain.

But as for the "gifts" from his Seventh Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother, he felt not the slightest psychological burden using them.

He decisively dragged the [Maid Corpse] and [Late First-Rank Iron Corpse (Shi Lei)] into the [Consumable Material Slot] at the same time.

[Enhancement success rate: 120%]

The success rate had overflowed. Nothing could go wrong!

"Confirm enhancement!"

[Ding! Enhancement successful!]

[Spiritual Root: Fire (High Grade)]!

An indescribable feeling of clarity spread through his entire body, as if he had broken free of some invisible shackle.

Zhao Hao could clearly feel that between himself and those fiery-red motes of spiritual qi in the world, there seemed to be an extra layer of unseen flesh-and-blood connection. His affinity had skyrocketed!

He immediately sat down cross-legged and circulated the Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art.

The spiritual qi inside the cave abode instantly rioted, stirred by an invisible giant hand, turning into a crimson vortex visible to the naked eye as it madly poured into his meridians!

In just the time it took an incense stick to burn, two strands of pure spiritual power had appeared out of thin air in his dantian.

One had to know, he was now at the second level of Qi Refining, and the spiritual qi required to condense a single thread of spiritual power was already greater.

If he had still been at the first level of Qi Refining, he probably would have condensed three threads of spiritual power by now!

The cultivation speed of a high-grade spiritual root was actually this terrifying!

Relying on the minor-achievement-level Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art, his cultivation efficiency at this moment had truly become comparable to the legendary heavenly spiritual root!

The sense of crisis eased slightly, but Zhao Hao did not slack off.

He once again placed [Spiritual Root: Fire (High Grade)] into the main item slot, then put the refined corpse granted by True Person Corpse Heart into the enhancement slot.

[Enhancement Success Rate: 30%]

Sure enough, after the quality of his spiritual root improved, the success rate provided by materials of the same level had also decreased accordingly.

It seemed that if he wanted to push his spiritual root to true "supreme grade," he still needed to find more "nourishment."

Just after noon, Zhao Hao left his cave abode and went to the Scripture Pavilion again.

Although the system's enhancement was heaven-defying, it also came with a price.

Every time a cultivation method was sacrificed as material, all related memories and insights would vanish like smoke and clouds. If he wanted to use it again next time, he had to start from scratch, with no possibility of clever shortcuts at all.

For the next month, Zhao Hao became the strangest disciple on Ten Thousand Corpse Mountain.

His daily life followed only two points and one line: the Scripture Pavilion and his own cave abode.

During the day, he "downloaded" all kinds of cultivation methods and spells in the Scripture Pavilion. At night, he returned to his cave abode and sacrificed all these "study materials" to the Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art and the Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art.

This cycle was so dull, yet Zhao Hao never tired of it.

A month later, when he walked out of his cave abode again, his entire aura was already completely different.

[Name: Zhao Hao]

[Realm: Fourth Level of Qi Refining (15/100)]

[Spiritual Root: Fire (High Grade)]

[Cultivation Methods: Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art (Perfect), Hundred Poisons Body Tempering Art (Perfect)]

[Spells: Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art (Perfect), Evil Light Art (Perfect), Spirit Shield Art (Perfect), Light Body Art (Perfect), Qi Gazing Art (Perfect), Earth Escape Art (Perfect), Blood Escape Art (Perfect)]

[Status: Qi Gathering Pill Pill Poison (Mild)]

Relying on the perfect-level Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art and a sufficient supply of pills, his cultivation had advanced like a hot knife through bamboo, stepping into the middle stage of Qi Refining.

Yet under the concealment of the perfect-level Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art, the aura he displayed outwardly remained steadily at the early third level of Qi Refining.

According to the description in the art, a perfect-level Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art was enough to hide him from the probing of cultivators two major realms above himself. As long as he did not engage in intense magical combat with others, they absolutely would not be able to see his true strength.

This progress perfectly matched the performance a "heavenly spiritual root" should have. According to records, disciples with heavenly spiritual roots usually reached Foundation Establishment in three years. This meant he had three golden years to develop.

The reason he came out of seclusion now was not because he had encountered a bottleneck in cultivation.

It was because he had run out of resources.

The day for inner sect disciples to receive their monthly stipend had arrived.

More importantly, after he stepped into the middle stage of Qi Refining, the effect of Qi Gathering Pills had already been greatly reduced, and the Qi Gathering Pill poison in his body had also begun affecting the absorption efficiency of this kind of pill.

He needed more effective pills, and he also needed more spirit stones.

Zhao Hao walked out of the cave abode. Sunlight spilled over his body, bringing a trace of warmth.

He had two goals for this trip.

First, to collect the monthly stipend of an inner sect disciple.

Second, it was time to make money.

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