Before long, Fang Xu discovered an important problem.
When he had practiced the Azure Essence Sword Art in the past, most of the energy needed to condense true essence mana had come from within his body.
The energy stored in his cells had been forcibly extracted.
His vitality had suffered as well.
No problems were apparent in the short term.
But prolonged cultivation would inevitably deplete his cells' remaining divisions and shorten his lifespan.
His Sage Body could heal injuries and replenish vitality, but it could not change the inherent flaw in this method of cultivation.
"Refining Essence into Qi only completes the conversion from essence to Qi."
"Without enough external energy to replenish it, cultivation is essentially just consuming yourself."
Fang Xu opened his eyes and picked up a bottle of nutrient solution.
He opened the cap.
He downed the entire bottle in one gulp.
Six Treasury Immortal Thief sprang into action.
The nutrient solution had barely entered his stomach before it was broken down into a large quantity of pure substances.
These nutrients were distributed throughout his body.
Some entered his cells, replenishing the energy he had consumed earlier.
The rest was absorbed by the six bowels' circulation and converted into Qi once more.
Fang Xu did not interfere.
He observed the entire process repeatedly.
Only after confirming every detail did he begin trying to reverse it.
Since essence could be converted into Qi, Qi should also be able to turn back into the vital essence his body needed.
Fang Xu mobilized a strand of Qi from his middle dantian and fed it into the six bowels' circulation.
His first several attempts all failed.
The Qi underwent no changes after passing through the six bowels, merely completing an ordinary circulation cycle.
Fang Xu was in no hurry.
He