Cultivation Improvement

As time passed, Dong Lin's cultivation progressed faster and faster.

The second Greater Celestial Circuit took noticeably less time, requiring only two days to complete.

The third Greater Celestial Circuit took twenty-three hours.

The fourth Greater Celestial Circuit took twenty-two hours.

The fifth Greater Celestial Circuit took twenty hours.

Other than eating and sleeping, Dong Lin devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation.

If he could cut out the five hours he spent resting each day, his cultivation speed would likely improve even further.

"They say continuous cultivation causes mental fatigue and drains one's spiritual sense. Why don't I feel anything?" Dong Lin rubbed his chin in puzzlement.

After seven days of cultivation, Dong Lin already had five units of spiritual power in his dantian.

Seven days of cultivation had increased his spiritual power by four units.

Such an astonishingly terrifying cultivation speed would surely shock the sect's disciples if word got out.

Fortunately, Dong Lin was a low-key person.

After receiving the sect's basic education in immortal cultivation, Dong Lin had learned many common facts.

Including, but not limited to, the fact that this body of his was fourteen years old.

Cultivators generally judged a person's age by their bone age, because cultivators' appearances aged at an absurdly slow rate.

Someone who looked like a young man in his thirties might actually be over a hundred years old.

Judging by bone age was generally quite accurate. Even body refiners, who tempered their bones to strengthen the foundation of their physical bodies, could not alter their bone age.

Cultivators lived far longer than ordinary people.

Qi Refining Realm cultivators who had achieved some success in cultivation and cleared the hidden ailments from their bodies could generally live for one hundred and fifty years.

Dong Lin had heard that after establishing one's Dao Foundation, one could gain roughly another fifty years of lifespan.

Moreover, as one's cultivation increased, one's lifespan would grow longer and longer.

The ultimate goal of cultivation was immortality and eternal life.

To cast off the shackles of lifespan and roam freely through the universe—that was the ultimate pursuit.

Disciples who entered a sect were generally under sixteen.

The world of immortal cultivation had existed for tens of thousands of years, and it had long since developed a mature system for cultivation.

The best age to begin cultivating was generally twelve or thirteen. At that age, a child's meridians had basically stabilized and were no longer as fragile as those of a newborn, allowing them to withstand the mild scouring of spiritual energy.

If a child was raised by an immortal sect from an early age, medicinal baths would be used to temper their muscles and bones before they turned eleven.

That way, they could embark on the path of cultivation ahead of schedule at around eleven years old.

Naturally, the earlier one stepped onto the path of cultivation, the greater the advantage.

Cultivation tested many things about a person. Often, the fewer worldly emotions and desires one had, the faster one cultivated.

Children had pure hearts, which made cultivation twice as effective with half the effort. Thus, the earlier one entered the path of cultivation, the greater one's advantage as a cultivator.

Dong Lin had entered the path of cultivation at fourteen, which was not particularly late.

Still, as the son of a sect steward, why had he not begun cultivating at twelve? This left Dong Lin rather puzzled.

The four spirit jade pieces in the cultivation room were actually High-Grade Spirit Stones.

High-Grade Spirit Stones possessed an extremely high density of spiritual energy and contained spiritual energy of exceptional quality.

In the world of immortal cultivation, spirit stones were not only useful aids for cultivation but also the universal currency.

The exchange rate between spirit stones of different grades was one to ten.

In other words, one High-Grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, or one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

For the current Dong Lin, buying things needed in the Qi Refining Realm required Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

So Dong Lin found some time to visit the commercial street outside the sect's outer gate, the one he had passed through when he first arrived, and exchanged all the High-Grade Spirit Stones in his possession for Low-Grade Spirit Stones at a trading house.

Dong Lin's sect jade badge contained one thousand Sect Contribution Points.

After looking into it, Dong Lin learned that Sect Contribution Points were extremely valuable.

If he exchanged them for spirit stones at the Cavern Repository, one contribution point could be exchanged for one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.

That meant Dong Lin currently possessed a fortune worth one hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones.

One had to know that even the entire fortune of an ordinary Golden Core Realm expert was only around one thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones.

Yet Dong Lin possessed one-tenth of that the moment he entered the Qi Refining Realm.

Dong Lin had not touched those contribution points yet, because exchanging contribution points for spirit stones at the Cavern Repository was actually a terrible bargain.

Sect Contribution Points could be used to exchange for all manner of rare natural treasures in the Cavern Repository.

If one wanted to buy treasures outside with spirit stones, the price would naturally be determined by the seller.

As a result, such treasures were generally overpriced.

As the sect's treasure vault, however, the Cavern Repository required fixed amounts of Sect Contribution Points for most items.

There were all kinds of treasures there, and many rare, peerless treasures seldom seen elsewhere could also be exchanged for with Sect Contribution Points.

Therefore, unless they were truly short on spirit stones, most sect disciples would not use contribution points to exchange for them.

It was not a worthwhile deal.

After obtaining four hundred spirit stones, Dong Lin immediately spent fifty spirit stones to buy one hundred Five-Grain Pills from a pill shop.

Those one hundred Five-Grain Pills could save Dong Lin a great deal of time. Eating three meals a day was quite troublesome.

Whenever Dong Lin craved something tasty, he had to come to the outer sect market. The time spent going back and forth was considerable.

Of the five hours he spent each day, aside from the necessary three hours of sleep, the rest went toward eating.

Although seven hours of cultivation a day already made him a cultivation maniac within the sect, it was still far below Dong Lin's expectations.

With Five-Grain Pills and by sleeping one hour less each day, Dong Lin could devote ten hours a day to cultivation.

After all, having two immortal mountains in his mind yet being unable to reach them was an unbearably tantalizing feeling.

Dong Lin could not wait to raise his cultivation so he could meet the requirements to cultivate those two techniques.

Dong Lin did not know what level of cultivation was required before he could officially access those two immortal arts.

In any case, the higher his cultivation, the greater his chances would surely be.

After purchasing the supplies he needed, Dong Lin hurried back to the cultivation room without stopping.

He began another round of cultivation.

After the previous rounds of cultivation, Dong Lin had basically become thoroughly familiar with the circulation of spiritual energy through both the Greater and Lesser Celestial Circuits.

At present, it was basically impossible to significantly increase the speed at which his cultivation technique circulated.

He could only speed up his cultivation progress by compressing his idle time.

At that moment, Dong Lin transformed into a heartless capitalist and ruthlessly exploited himself.

There could not be the slightest conflict between employer and employee.

With no need to waste time on trivial matters, Dong Lin's cultivation efficiency indeed improved greatly.

The sixth Greater Celestial Circuit took nine hours. In just over an hour, he could complete one Lesser Celestial Circuit.

The seventh Greater Celestial Circuit took nine hours.

The eighth Greater Celestial Circuit took nine hours.

The seventeenth Greater Celestial Circuit took eight hours.

The eighteenth Greater Celestial Circuit took eight hours.

The seventy-third Greater Celestial Circuit took seven hours.

The seventy-fourth Greater Celestial Circuit took seven hours.

Time passed unnoticed in cultivation.

Before he realized it, two months had passed since Dong Lin entered the Qi Refining Realm.

The seventy-four units of spiritual power he had painstakingly cultivated filled Dong Lin with immense satisfaction.

Dong Lin rose to his feet and stretched both arms before him, looking at his hands brimming with dense spiritual energy.

"This feeling of power filling my entire body is far too wonderful."

Dong Lin could not help but sigh.

Could such meager cultivation alone make one's body and mind feel so joyful?

Then after reaching higher realms in the future, what kind of sensation would that bring?

Although he had yet to begin cultivating the two immortal arts, Dong Lin was not worried about his future.

Not a single small bottleneck that should have hindered the growth of his spiritual power had appeared.

Simply circulating his cultivation technique continuously allowed his cultivation to rise, leaving Dong Lin utterly addicted and unable to pull himself away.