Chapter 8

"Phew..."

He let out a stale breath and raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

His body was sore and exhausted, but he felt as though a huge burden had been lifted from him, leaving him far more energized.

Xunjing walked over to the table, sat down, and glanced at the plate of Sea King meat.

After a moment's thought, he waved his hand and stored it all in the Space-Time Gate Space.

He also set aside a separate area and froze time there to store food and supplies so they would not spoil.

His control over the Space-Time Gate Space was more than sufficient. Something this minor was easy.

Then Xunjing opened his attribute panel.

[Lifespan]: 7 months, 12 days (congenital deficiency, life origin: 3.43/10)

The change in the lifespan field made his eyes light up.

His lifespan had increased by a month and a few days, and a new status had appeared.

More importantly, he could now see the exact value of his life origin.

An ordinary six-year-old's life origin should be around ten, right? Mine is so depleted. No wonder my life is so short.

With the Life-Nourishing Art and Sea King meat together, each session restores 0.01 points of life origin.

I can practice about fifteen times a day at most.

Once my body gets stronger and my life origin recovers enough, I'll definitely be able to practice more often.

With this combination alone, without any other methods, it should take about sixty days to replenish all my depleted life origin. Just two months.

At that thought, Xunjing's eyes lit up.

"Wonderful! I can get my body healthy in two months at most. That's so much faster than I expected! Haha!"

He was already imagining how, once he fully recovered, he would use his talent to advance at breakneck speed, grow stronger, dominate the Ninja World, and then trample the Pirate World beneath his feet.

"That day won't be far off."

Uchiha Xunjing clenched his fist and muttered under his breath.

"What won't be far off?"

Uchiha Chisato's voice suddenly came from outside the door.

A moment later, the door opened, and she walked in.

The instant she looked at Xunjing, she noticed that his vitality had clearly increased, and his complexion was much better.

In her excitement, she appeared in front of Xunjing in a flash, took hold of one of his hands, and sent her chakra and sensory perception into him at the same time.

After confirming that she was not imagining things, she stared at him in delighted excitement and asked, "How did you recover so much? So quickly?"

"Was it the Sea King meat?"

"Yes."

Xunjing nodded firmly and pointed toward the open door.

Uchiha Chisato waved her hand, using Chakra Threads to pull the door shut.

Only then did Xunjing explain, "It's the effect of combining Sea King meat with the Life-Nourishing Art."

"I left the dining room earlier because I realized that, with my body in the condition it was in, my digestion was too weak to absorb the Sea King meat at all."

"So I wondered whether practicing the Life-Nourishing Art alongside it could speed up digestion."

"And I guessed right."

"The Life-Nourishing Art combined with Sea King meat more than triples the results of training. It also greatly reduces the soreness and fatigue afterward, so I can practice more times."

"Most importantly, my talent tells me that this combination is helping repair my life origin."

"At this rate, this method alone should make up for all my congenital deficiencies in about two months and give me a truly healthy body."

"If we add suitable restorative medicine, it'll only be faster."

"Really?"

Hearing that, Uchiha Chisato grew thoroughly excited. "This method of yours can really cure your congenital deficiency?"

"Of course. Every word is true."

Uchiha Xunjing nodded hard, his voice certain. "And I think it'll work just as well for your depleted life origin, Mom."

"So you should practice this Life-Nourishing Art with me."

"With your foundation and ability to absorb nutrients, you'll definitely recover much faster than I will."

"Of course, your understanding of the Life-Nourishing Art has to keep up, too."

His Life-Nourishing Art had already reached minor attainment, putting its effects leagues ahead of Uchiha Chisato's.

"All right, Mommy will listen to you! I'll give it a try right now!"

Uchiha Chisato smiled, her eyes curving with happiness. She gently stroked Xunjing's cheek, then moved aside, closed her eyes, and began practicing the Life-Nourishing Art.

Xunjing did not sit idle either. He went back to copying his medical books.

Every so often, he looked up to check Uchiha Chisato's condition and casually offered her a few pointers on the Life-Nourishing Art.

With that guidance and Uchiha Chisato's talent, her proficiency in the Life-Nourishing Art shot upward.

Only after completing more than ten rounds and feeling that the Sea King meat in her stomach had been fully digested did she stop.

With her physical capabilities, she was nowhere near her training limit.

Not to mention the steady supply of vitality and rich nutrients helping her recover.

She had stopped purely because she had used up the Sea King meat she had eaten.

By then, her Life-Nourishing Art had advanced beyond the beginner stage and firmly entered the practiced stage.

Given a few more days, she felt she could reach the proficient level.

"Phew... Xunjing, Mommy feels like she's back in her prime!"

Uchiha Chisato finished her practice and sat down across from Xunjing. "Not only did the training repair quite a few of my old and hidden injuries, it even replenished a large portion of my life origin!"

"Your method really works. Give me another twenty days or so, and my life origin will recover completely!"

"It's just that my soul origin won't recover so easily."

"Otherwise, I could return to my peak in no time!"

Still, a depleted soul origin did not affect lifespan quite as much.

As long as her life origin was fully replenished, most of her lifespan would return. Living another few decades would be no trouble at all.

Furthermore, once her life origin recovered, it could slowly nourish her soul and restore her soul origin bit by bit.

If she could further improve her life origin and constitution, that nourishing effect would become even stronger.

Returning to her peak no longer seemed like a dream.

Who could have imagined that a single meal of Sea King meat from another world, combined with the Life-Nourishing Art, could produce such miraculous results?

She even felt warmth in the socket of her blind right eye, as though it, too, was slowly recovering.

At her words, Uchiha Xunjing immediately broke into a smile.

"That's wonderful. Congratulations, Mom!"

To him, this was incredibly good news.

They could take their time finding a solution for her soul origin later.

After a pause, he asked, "Mom, does our clan have any meditation techniques that strengthen mental power and train the soul? A Yin Release training method would work, too."

He had the talent heaven rewards hard work at his disposal.

Even if neither the Ninja World nor the Pirate World had a complete method for training mental power, as long as he obtained a fragmentary or imperfect version, he was confident that his talent would let him break through its limits and gain the insight needed to create a true method for cultivating the mind and soul.

When that happened, would curing Uchiha Chisato's depleted soul origin even be an issue?

It would not be a problem at all.

He might even be able to use it to refine the Sharingan's awakening process, or develop complete training methods for the Mangekyō Sharingan, Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and Rinnegan.

"Well..."

Uchiha Chisato frowned slightly at his question.

"There are meditation techniques for training mental power and Yin Release, but their effects are mediocre. You have to keep at them for a long time before you see results. Do you need one?"

She figured that, since her son was asking, he probably had a way to use it to develop a method for strengthening mental power and restoring soul origin.

The sage inheritance seemed far more profound than she had imagined.

"Yes!"

Uchiha Xunjing nodded eagerly, unable to hide the excitement in his voice. "As long as it works at all, I'll find a way to improve and upgrade it!"

"Then we might be able to actively speed up the recovery of your soul origin, too!"

"All right."

Uchiha Chisato asked no further questions. She simply nodded, deeply moved.

"I'll head back in a little while and get it for you."

"But you must take care of your health. Don't rush. Take it slowly."