New Reinforcement Material--Dan Poison?

Zhao Hao sat cross-legged on the stone bed, his mind sinking into the system panel.

[Cultivation Arts]

In that column, the densely packed names of as many as seventeen cultivation arts were the capital he needed to survive in the Demonic Sect.

What he needed to solve first was the foundation of his cultivation speed—the

Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art

!

With a shift of his will,

Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art

was selected and entered the

[Main Item Slot]

.

[Main Item: Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art (Proficient 10/200)]

He dragged the

Earth Origin Art

he had memorized from the Scripture Repository into the

[Consumable Material Slot]

.

[Enhancement Success Rate +4%]

One book was only 4%?

Zhao Hao's brows knitted tightly.

He placed another nine books in one after another.

[Enhancement Success Rate: 40%]

This meant that to enhance the Proficient-level

Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art

to the next level, he would need a full twenty-five beginner-level cultivation arts.

And the cultivation arts in the Scripture Repository totaled only seventeen in all.

He tried using spells as materials, but the system gave no response at all.

"Cultivation art enhancement can only use cultivation arts?"

Zhao Hao steeled his heart and threw in the remaining seven cultivation arts—all seventeen of them in total!

[Enhancement Success Rate: 68%]

Still short by 32%.

He selected one low-grade spirit stone.

[Enhancement Success Rate +0.2%]

One spirit stone could only provide 0.2% progress now.

To fill this 32% gap, he would need one hundred and sixty low-grade spirit stones.

No.

Zhao Hao immediately rejected it.

The spirit stones had to be saved to enhance his spiritual root. That was the true foundation; the success rate could not be discounted in the slightest.

[Main Item: Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art (Proficient 10/200) enhance to (Minor Achievement 10/400)]

[Consumable Materials: Seventeen cultivation arts]

[Enhancement Success Rate: 68%]

[Begin enhancement?]

Zhao Hao stared at that dazzling 68%.

Fortune and nobility were sought amid danger!

It had failed at 80% before, so maybe this time his luck would turn around!

At worst, he would go soak in the Scripture Repository for another day tomorrow and memorize the cultivation arts all over again!

"Confirm enhancement!"

[Ding! Enhancement beginning...]

[Enhancement successful!]

[Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art proficiency increased to (Minor Achievement 10/400)!]

It worked!

He knew Zhao Hao's luck would not stay this bad forever!

A "buzz" rang through Zhao Hao's mind, and a torrent of information far vaster than the last one swept through him.

The routes and barriers in the cultivation art that had originally only been "Proficient" were now dismantled and crushed apart, and every knack and deeper profundity poured wholly into his mind.

At the same time, his memories of those seventeen cushion cultivation arts rapidly blurred until they vanished completely.

His luck had burst through the heavens!

Zhao Hao clenched his fists and immediately tried circulating the Minor Achievement-realm

Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art

.

The circulation speed of the art was more than twice as fast as at the Proficient level!

He absorbed the spiritual energy in the cave abode again. The speed was indeed much faster, but compared with the scene described in the sect's ancient records of a Heavenly Spiritual Root, where "spiritual energy surged like a tide," it was still a hundred and eight thousand li away.

The root was still too weak.

His gaze fell on the heavy one thousand low-grade spirit stones in his storage bag.

It was time!

Zhao Hao did not hesitate in the slightest.

He placed [Spiritual Root: Fire (low grade)] into the main item slot.

Then he dragged all one thousand low-grade spirit stones he had borrowed from Lu Gui into the material slot!

[Main Item: Fire Spiritual Root (low grade) strengthened to (mid grade)]

[Materials Consumed: one thousand low-grade spirit stones]

[Strengthening Success Rate: 100%]

[Begin strengthening?]

"Begin strengthening!"

[Ding! Strengthening successful!]

[Spiritual Root: Fire (mid grade)]!

A warm current washed through his limbs and bones, and even his skeleton gave off faint, crisp cracks, as if he had shed his mortal bones and been reborn.

Zhao Hao closed his eyes and could clearly "see" that between himself and the fiery-red motes of spiritual energy in heaven and earth, a sensation of being "linked by blood" had formed.

If absorbing spiritual energy before was like picking things up with chopsticks, then now it was like switching to a pair of huge hands and scooping.

He did not stop. He immediately placed [Spiritual Root: Fire (mid grade)] into the main item slot again, then took one spirit stone from his own twenty-stone monthly stipend and put it into the material slot.

The system showed no reaction at all.

He added four more in succession.

[Strengthening Success Rate +0.1%]

Just as expected!

Zhao Hao understood in his heart.

Once a spiritual root rose by one grade, the cost of strengthening rose with the tide and lifted all boats, becoming five times what it had been before.

He recalled the very beginning, when four spiritual roots of different attributes had served as materials and provided an 80% success rate. And during his first strengthening of a cultivation technique, one high-level material had provided 100%.

He understood.

The core logic of this system was "sacrifice of the same kind."

Using ordinary items to strengthen things was not worth it in terms of value.

But when used on things like spiritual roots and cultivation techniques, which were difficult to improve through normal means, it was a heaven-defying divine skill!

Once he figured this out, Zhao Hao's train of thought opened completely.

His attention turned to spells.

Preserving his life and hiding himself were the first priorities!

He placed Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art into the main item slot.

[Main Item: Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art (Beginner 0/100)]

He first put in one spirit stone.

[Strengthening Success Rate +1%]

Its value was about the same as the initial Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art.

From the thirty-two spells Zhao Hao had memorized in the Scripture Repository, he picked out the five most useless ones and threw them into the material slot.

[Strengthening Success Rate: 100%]

Confirm strengthening!

[Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art proficiency increased to (Proficient 0/200)!]

He paused briefly, then used all twenty-five remaining spells as materials.

[Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art proficiency increased to (Minor Achievement 0/400)!]

Sensing the various techniques that had appeared in his mind about how to restrain his aura and disguise his cultivation, he was still not satisfied.

Minor Achievement was not enough.

Tomorrow, he had to go to the Scripture Repository again and grind both Mysterious Yin Breath Concealment Art and Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art to the max!

By now, night had fallen.

After Zhao Hao finished all this, he began his first proper cultivation session after the double strengthening of his spiritual root and cultivation technique.

The instant the technique began circulating, the spiritual energy inside the cave abode was stirred by an invisible giant hand and turned into a cyclone visible to the naked eye, surging madly into his body!

In just the time it took an incense stick to burn, he felt a wisp of pure spiritual power condense within his dantian.

[Realm: Qi Refining First Layer (2/100)]

According to the technique's description, once he condensed another ninety-eight wisps of spiritual power, he would be able to break through to the second layer of Qi Refining.

At his current speed, in one night of six double-hours, he could condense roughly twenty-four wisps of spiritual power, bringing his progress to [25/100].

This speed was already comparable to one-fourth of a true Heavenly Spiritual Root!

But Zhao Hao soon discovered a new problem.

The speed at which he absorbed spiritual energy actually could not keep up with the refining speed of the minor-achievement-level Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art!

His spiritual root was still too weak.

His thoughts turned to the bottle of Qi Gathering Pills in his storage pouch, where only five remained.

"They can speed up cultivation..."

Zhao Hao hesitated no longer. He took one out and swallowed it.

The pill melted the moment it entered his mouth. A vast surge of medicinal power exploded open, then was frantically refined by the minor-achievement-realm Mysterious Yin Qi Absorption Art, transforming into the purest spiritual energy, which he absorbed like a whale gulping water!

An hour passed.

[Realm: Qi Refining First Layer (26/100)]

Normally, absorbing spiritual energy and cultivating for an hour gave 4 points of progress. One pill had actually made it skyrocket by 20 points!

And because his cultivation art proficiency was high enough, the vast majority of the medicinal power had been perfectly absorbed.

This cultivation speed was practically like riding a rocket!

Zhao Hao swallowed another Qi Gathering Pill and immersed himself in the pleasure of his strength soaring rapidly.

One... two...

When the medicinal power of the final Qi Gathering Pill was refined, the spiritual power inside him surged with a thunderous boom, and the bottleneck shattered in response!

[Realm: Qi Refining Second Layer (25/100)]

In a single night, he had broken through to the Second Layer of Qi Refining!

Zhao Hao slowly opened his eyes, feeling the aura inside him that was several times stronger than before. Joy had just risen to the corners of his mouth.

But just as he checked the panel, a newly added status bar made the expression on his face freeze.

[Status: Qi Gathering Pill Toxin (extremely slight)]