Chapter 8

"Phew—"

He let out a 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.

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

After thinking for a moment, he waved a hand and stored it all inside the Space-Time Gate.

He even set aside a special area and froze time there, using it to store food so it would not spoil.

His control over the Space-Time Gate was more than enough for such a trivial task.

Next, Xunjing opened his status panel.

[Lifespan]: 7 months, 12 days (Congenital deficiency, Life Origin: 3.43/10)

The changes in the lifespan section made his eyes light up.

His lifespan had increased by more than a month, and there was even a new status.

More importantly, he could now directly see the numerical value of his Life Origin.

"A normal six-year-old's Life Origin should be around ten, right? I'm this depleted—no wonder my life is so short."

"Now, this Life-Nourishing Art combined with Sea King meat can restore 0.01 points of Origin at a time."

"I can practice it about fifteen times a day at most."

"Once my body improves and my Origin has mostly recovered, I'll definitely be able to practice even more times."

"Just relying on this combination, without any other methods, it should take around sixty days to completely make up for my depleted Origin. Only two months."

At that thought, Xunjing's eyes shone.

"Great! At most, I'll be fully recovered in two months. That's way faster than I expected! Haha!"

His mind was already painting a picture of himself making a mad dash forward with his talent once he had fully recovered—growing stronger, dominating the Ninja World, then crushing the Pirate World beneath his feet.

"That day isn't far off."

Uchiha Xunjing clenched his fist and muttered softly.

"What isn't far off?"

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

Then the door was pushed open, and she walked in.

The moment she saw Xunjing, she immediately noticed it—his vitality had clearly increased, and his complexion had improved considerably.

With an excited flicker, she appeared directly before Xunjing, grabbed one of his hands, and sent both Chakra and her sensory power into him.

Once she confirmed it was not her imagination, she stared at him in surprise and excitement. "How did you recover so much? And so quickly?"

"Was it the Sea King meat?"

"Mm."

Xunjing nodded firmly and pointed toward the open door.

Uchiha Chisato waved a hand, and a Chakra thread pulled the door shut.

Only then did Xunjing begin to explain. "It's the effect of using Sea King meat together with the Life-Nourishing Art."

"I left the dining room earlier because I realized that, in my condition at the time, my digestive ability was too poor. I simply couldn't absorb the Sea King meat."

"So I thought, if I practiced the Life-Nourishing Art alongside it, could it speed up digestion?"

"Turns out, I was right."

"The Life-Nourishing Art combined with Sea King meat more than doubled the cultivation effect. And after practicing, the soreness and fatigue in my body eased considerably, so I could practice more times as well."

"Most importantly, my talent tells me that this combination is helping repair my Life Origin."

"At this rate, relying on this method alone, I should be able to completely make up for my congenital deficiency in about two months and obtain a truly healthy body."

"If I pair it with suitable restorative medicine, it will only be faster."

"Really?"

The moment Uchiha Chisato heard that, she became completely excited. "The method you mentioned can really cure your congenital deficiency?"

"Of course. Every word is true."

Uchiha Xunjing nodded forcefully, his tone certain. "And I think it will work just as well on your depleted Life Origin, Mom."

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

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

"Of course, that's assuming your comprehension of the Life-Nourishing Art can keep up."

His Life-Nourishing Art had already reached Minor Accomplishment. Its effects far surpassed Uchiha Chisato's.

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

Uchiha Chisato smiled so brightly that her eyes curved into crescents. She gently touched Xunjing's face, then turned and walked to one side, closing her eyes as she began practicing the Life-Nourishing Art.

Xunjing did not remain idle either, lowering his head and continuing to copy his medical books.

From time to time, he looked up to check on Uchiha Chisato's condition and casually gave her pointers on the key aspects of the Life-Nourishing Art.

Just like that, with Uchiha Chisato's talent, her proficiency in the Life-Nourishing Art rose rapidly.

After she had completed more than ten rounds and felt that the Sea King meat in her stomach had been completely digested, she finally stopped.

With her physical condition, she was still nowhere near her training limit.

What was more, the constant influx of vitality and highly nutritious food kept restoring her condition.

She had stopped purely because she had finished eating the Sea King meat.

By then, her Life-Nourishing Art had already broken through the Beginner stage and firmly entered the Proficient stage.

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

"Phew—Xunjing, Mom feels like she's returned to her peak!"

Uchiha Chisato finished her practice and sat down across from Xunjing. "Not only have many of the old and hidden injuries in my body been repaired during cultivation, but even my Life Origin has recovered by a large amount!"

"Your method really works. Give me another twenty days or so, and my Life Origin will be completely restored!"

"It's just that Soul Origin isn't so easy to recover."

"Otherwise, I could return to my peak in a short time!"

That said, depleted Soul Origin did not have as great an impact on lifespan.

As long as her Life Origin was completely restored, most of her lifespan would return. Living another few decades would not be difficult at all.

And once her Life Origin recovered, it could slowly nourish her soul and gradually restore her Soul Origin.

If her Life Origin and physique could improve even further, the nourishing effect would become stronger still.

Returning to her peak no longer seemed like a dream.

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

She even felt a warmth coming from her blind right eye socket, as though it too was slowly recovering.

The moment Uchiha Xunjing heard this, a smile immediately blossomed across his face.

"That's great. Congratulations, Mom!"

To him, this was simply tremendous news.

As for Soul Origin, they could slowly think of a solution later.

After a brief pause, he asked again, "Mom, does our clan have any meditation techniques that can strengthen spiritual power and cultivate the soul? A Yin Release cultivation method would work too."

He possessed the talent Heaven Rewards Hard Work.

Even if neither the Ninja World nor the Pirate World had a complete method for spiritual cultivation, as long as he could obtain an incomplete or imperfect version, he was confident he could use his talent to break through its bottlenecks and comprehend a true method for cultivating the spirit and soul himself.

At that point, would healing Uchiha Chisato's depleted Soul Origin still be a problem?

It would not be a problem at all.

Perhaps he could even use it to optimize the Sharingan awakening process, or even develop complete cultivation methods for the Mangekyo Sharingan, Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and Rinnegan.

"Well..."

Uchiha Chisato frowned slightly upon hearing that.

"There are indeed meditation techniques for cultivating spiritual power and Yin Release, but their effects are average. You have to persist for a long time before seeing results. Do you need one?"

She calculated inwardly that since her son was asking, he most likely had a way to use it to find a path toward improving spiritual power and restoring Soul Origin.

The Sage Inheritance seemed to run far deeper than she had imagined.

"I do!"

Uchiha Xunjing nodded quickly, unable to conceal the excitement in his voice. "As long as it has some effect, I'll find a way to refine and upgrade it!"

"By then, your Soul Origin might even be able to accelerate its recovery on its own!"

"Alright."

Uchiha Chisato did not ask any further questions. She merely nodded, deeply moved.

"Mom will head back later and bring it to you."

"But you must take care of yourself. Don't rush things. Take it slowly."