On the bed, Ling Feng formed a cultivation seal with his hands, his eyes tightly closed and his breathing steady and strong.
Viewed straight on, a faint green glow could be seen flickering around Ling Feng. It was the medicinal power of the polygonum ginseng taking effect, beginning to flow through every limb and bone in his body.
As Ling Feng began circulating the dou qi vortex within him, however, his dou qi began transforming that potent medicinal power into a stream of green energy with each rhythmic breath.
The two energies began merging, finally gathering in Ling Feng's dantian. Instantly, the dou qi vortex within him spun faster, and his dou qi climbed steadily along with it.
If ordinary dou qi cultivation was a dripping faucet, then right now, that faucet had been opened all the way, pouring dou qi into Ling Feng without pause.
For a time, as his dou qi continued to rise, Ling Feng's still somewhat youthful face seemed to take on the luster of warm jade.
Sensing the increasingly abundant dou qi within him, Ling Feng's lips curled into a faint, gratified smile.
Having tasted the sweetness of success, Ling Feng did not stop there. His eyes remained tightly closed, and the hand seal at his fingertips did not budge. He settled his mind and focused his energy, maintaining his best cultivation state as he continued greedily absorbing the gentle energy of the polygonum ginseng.
Time trickled by as he cultivated.
"Whew..."
At a certain moment, Ling Feng abruptly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath of stale air, temporarily emerging from his cultivation state.
"Judging by the sky, four to six hours must have passed."
Glancing out the window at the noticeably changed sky, Ling Feng murmured to himself, "It takes four to six hours to consume a single three-hundred-year-old polygonum ginseng. At this rate, I can consume no more than eight of them a day."
With that in mind, Ling Feng sensed the increased dou qi within him and began calculating again. "After absorbing this polygonum ginseng's energy, I can faintly sense the threshold of Two-Star Dou Zhe. It looks like I'll be able to break through soon if I absorb the medicinal power of a few more... no! It should only take a few hours."
"I only just broke through to One-Star Dou Zhe, and I can already touch the threshold of Two-Star. This speed is practically a rocket shooting straight up!"
Ling Feng smiled with delight.
An ordinary person might need half a year, or even a whole year, to advance by a single star. Ling Feng, however, needed only a few hours, with no bottleneck whatsoever.
This was downright cheating!
"Xiao Yan, just you wait. Before long, I'll surpass the backer behind you, and when that happens, it'll be the day your Xiao Clan is destroyed!"
Recalling his past humiliation, Ling Feng's smile faded, and hatred colored his eyes. He looked utterly cold, as though Seven had possessed him.
"Let's see who dares stop me then!"
Blinking, Ling Feng returned his attention to the cultivation resources laid out on the bed. A thought crossed his mind. For now, I still need to keep my head down and grow stronger.
With that in mind, Ling Feng went back to stuffing himself with medicinal herbs!
"Chomp!"
"A twenty-year-old bone-washing flower... its medicinal power isn't enough. A thirty-year-old vermilion fruit..."
And so, Ling Feng continued force-feeding himself medicinal herbs.
Time passed slowly in arduous cultivation as he forgot sleep and neglected meals.
The sunlight streaming through the window gradually weakened, and the sweltering temperature slowly dropped as well.
Thus began Ling Feng's days of force-feeding himself medicinal herbs and cultivating to become stronger.
Apart from the necessities of daily life, Ling Feng devoted almost all his time to cultivation.
He kept this up for eight full days.
Although cultivation was somewhat monotonous, that was a trivial matter to Ling Feng, who had already seen through the true nature of this world.
He understood very well that in this world, the strong reigned supreme, with rigid distinctions between high and low, noble and humble.
Before the strong, ordinary people were mere ants, free to be bullied, beaten, or killed at will.
The original Ling Feng and his father were the best examples.
Precisely because he had those cautionary examples before him, Ling Feng cultivated so diligently. Though he possessed the potential to become powerful, he understood that talent was only talent. Until it matured, it was all an illusion.
In this world, countless geniuses died before they could grow. It was because Ling Feng understood this world's cruelty that he cultivated so hard.
And though the days of cultivation were austere, the results filled him with joy.
Over these eight days of force-feeding himself medicinal herbs, Ling Feng had already advanced to Eight-Star Dou Zhe.
At that moment, in Ling Feng's courtyard at the Jia Lie Residence.
"Mm..."
Emerging from his cultivation state, Ling Feng suddenly opened his eyes. A flash of white light shot from them, only dissipating after more than ten seconds.
The dark red magic core that had been floating before Ling Feng dropped as well.
It was the magic core of a low-grade third-rank magical beast, a Fire-Swallowing Fox.
The magic core had originally been brimming with energy, but after Ling Feng's devouring, the energy inside had clearly been consumed completely.
"The energy in this third-rank magic core isn't as pure as that of medicinal herbs, but it's clearly much greater than that of a three-hundred-year-old polygonum ginseng. It's just that the magic core's energy is rather violent, making it slower to refine."
Ling Feng murmured as he watched the Fire-Swallowing Fox's magic core fall. Having inherited the Taotie bloodline, he could devour all things.
Magic cores were among them.
Regardless of a magic core's attribute, as long as it contained energy, Ling Feng could devour and consume it.
Over the past few days, Ling Feng had already experienced the energy of magic cores. Compared with medicinal herbs and pills, however, the energy contained in magic cores was more violent and less pure, so consuming it took him somewhat longer.
But as his strength increased, Ling Feng discovered that the time he needed to refine magic cores decreased noticeably. After several days of experimentation, he reached a conclusion.
The stronger he became, the more powerful his devouring ability grew.
"Now that I'm an Eight-Star Dou Zhe, I can devour all the energy in this third-rank magic core in half a day. But one third-rank magic core clearly isn't enough to advance to Nine-Star Dou Zhe."
Sensing the dou qi energy in his vortex, Ling Feng pondered. A few days ago, absorbing a single third-rank magic core had been enough for him to advance smoothly by one star.
But as his strength grew, Ling Feng discovered that advancing was becoming harder.
From One-Star Dou Zhe to Two-Star Dou Zhe, and then to Three-Star Dou Zhe, the strength of one's dou qi doubled with each step. Simply put, the stronger one became, the more energy advancement required.
Knock, knock!
Just as Ling Feng sank into thought, a knock came from outside the door.
Ling Feng looked toward the doorway, opened his mouth, and spoke.
"Who is it?"
"Lord Ling, it's your servant, A Zhen."
"A Zhen?"
Raising an eyebrow, Ling Feng thought the name sounded familiar, but did not dwell on it. He asked, "What do you need?"
"The Mittel Auction House is holding a special auction today. The clan leader said there might be some good items up for auction, and specifically instructed me to invite you to attend with him. Would you be interested in going to the Mittel Auction House?"
"The Mittel Auction House?!"
Ling Feng's eyes lit up. This was the perfect chance to see what good things were being auctioned.
The Mittel Auction House was the finest auction venue in Wutan City, offering everything from Black Tier Dou Techniques to cultivation methods. Ling Feng also wanted to see whether he could hunt down some worthwhile finds.
Most importantly, Ling Feng really wanted to see whether Ya Fei, hailed as the queen of the Dou Qi Continent's business world, truly possessed such peerless beauty.
"Tell Jia Lie Bi I'll be there shortly."
"Yes."
We have optimized the site to address freezing in certain versions of Safari on iPhones. If you still encounter similar issues, try another browser, such as Google Chrome, or switch back to the default font (yes, the font is the cause). Please also contact us, and we will look for ways to improve things!
At the request of many readers, we now offer an ad-free VIP membership feature.
Click to view