At that moment, Ye Feng remembered the spoils he had received that morning. He immediately got up and rummaged through the clothes nearby for the wooden box, afraid it might have gone missing.
Ye Feng found the wooden box, carefully set it on the table, and slowly opened it. Inside was an irregularly shaped, pale blue gemstone, similar to a sapphire, but much lighter in color.
To an ordinary person, this might have been nothing more than an ordinary gemstone, but it was different for Ye Feng, because he sensed traces of natural energy leaking out of it. On examining it closely, he could sense the surging natural energy inside. It was much like the spirit stones of legend. For now, he would call it a Natural Spirit Stone.
An ordinary person could make their cells more active and strengthen them simply by absorbing a tiny amount of natural energy. But without knowing a cultivation method, natural energy would also erode the brain and leave them mentally confused.
I really stumbled upon a treasure this time. But I'm still in the body tempering period. The medicinal baths and the true qi I usually condense are already enough for my current needs, so I don't need much natural energy.
I can save this Natural Spirit Stone and absorb it when I enter the foundation establishment period to strengthen my true qi.
I wonder how Uchiha Shinichi's family obtained this Natural Spirit Stone. If I could find a vein of Natural Spirit Stones, I'd strike it rich and never have to worry about cultivation resources again.
But after thinking it over, Ye Feng decided to wait. If he impatiently asked where it had come from right after obtaining it, even a fool would realize it was a treasure. There was no way they would tell him. He had no use for it yet anyway, so he would store it away first.
However, Ye Feng could not rest easy without keeping it on him, yet carrying it took up space and was inconvenient. With no other option, he could only dig a hidden compartment beneath the floor of his room and place the wooden box containing the gemstone directly beneath where he sat to meditate, making do for a few days. Once he learned how to use sealing scrolls from Orochimaru, storage would become convenient. At that moment, Ye Feng could not help envying Obito Uchiha's Kamui Dimension:
"It would be even better if I had my own time-space."
Three months passed peacefully like this.
During that time, Obito Uchiha also obtained samples of Rin Nohara's flesh and blood. Ye Feng handed them all to Orochimaru and had him grow two cloned bodies. Ye Feng also obtained sealing scrolls and the Sealing Jutsu for them from Orochimaru, allowing him to keep the Natural Spirit Stone on him at all times without worry.
Over those three months, Obito Uchiha and Hyuga Kong benefited considerably as well. Their bodies grew much stronger, their chakra cultivation became somewhat faster, and their faces grew much darker, but also gained a measure of resolve.
Obito Uchiha would mainly rely on the evolution of his Sharingan in the future. As for Hyuga Kong, Ye Feng planned to give him the opportunity involving the Giant Tenseigan, but the time had not yet come. The primary task now was to strengthen Hyuga Kong's own body and chakra. Ye Feng even planned to teach him Tai Chi once his body had been strengthened to a certain degree.
Gentle Fist and Eight Trigrams Palm were themselves similar to Tai Chi, except Tai Chi leaned more toward using nimble moves and turning an opponent's strength against them to inflict damage, while Gentle Fist and Eight Trigrams Palm focused more on controlling the flow through the meridians. Combining the two could make Hyuga Kong's movements and techniques more agile and more damaging, further strengthening his close-combat abilities.
In the middle of the night, Ye Feng woke from cultivation. He had reached a bottleneck: his body was barely absorbing any more of the medicinal bath's potency or true qi. Yet he had not entered the foundation establishment period, so his dantian could not gather true qi. All the true qi he cultivated dissipated uselessly, which was a great pity.
Suddenly, inspiration struck. Cultivating chakra reduces cellular vitality, while true qi can strengthen it. Then if I extract chakra and nourish my body with true qi afterward, wouldn't that prevent damage to my cells?
At that thought, Ye Feng could not wait to try it and began extracting chakra. He was very careful, spreading his spiritual power throughout his body. As soon as he sensed the slightest sign of weakness, he stopped extracting chakra and switched to cultivating true qi to nourish his body.
Before long, Ye Feng discovered that his chakra had increased, while his cells seemed to have suffered no damage. He could not help rejoicing inwardly:
"It really works. Although extraction will be a little slower, it's very safe and won't shorten my lifespan. Even if it's slower, that doesn't matter. With my physical condition and powerful spiritual power, the rate at which I can extract chakra still far exceeds that of an ordinary person."
The next day was the weekend. The Ninja Academy had two days off each week.
Although he had already reached perfection in the body tempering realm, Ye Feng did not know how to break through this limit and enter the foundation establishment realm. He felt it probably still had something to do with his body and decided to continue training with Might Duy. Perhaps enough accumulated effort would allow him to break through the bottleneck.
Seeing that he still had plenty of medicinal bath herbs at home, which he no longer needed, Ye Feng thought he might as well bring them to Might Duy and the others. After all, he still wanted to learn Might Duy's forbidden jutsu, and giving him some benefits could make obtaining it easier.
Ye Feng even thoughtfully considered that they might not understand the proper quantities and add the herbs haphazardly, so he packaged them into individual bags, with one bag for each use. Then he divided them into three portions and stored them in sealing scrolls.
Ye Feng arrived at the entrance to Konoha early. The others had not arrived yet, so he began warming up on his own.
Before long, almost everyone had arrived. Obito Uchiha was late as always, arriving last.
"These are medicinal herbs I prepared. Every day when you get home, put them in a large tub of water. The hotter the water, the better the effect. Soaking in it can greatly speed up your physical training. One portion each." As he spoke, he took out three sealing scrolls and handed them out.
This was their first time hearing of medicinal baths, and they had never heard that such baths could strengthen the body. But since they came from Ye Feng, and they knew he never lied, they put them away, half convinced and half doubtful.
"Senior Might Duy, I feel like my body has reached a bottleneck, but I don't know how to break through it." Ye Feng voiced his cultivation problem.
Surprise appeared on Might Duy's face. He looked at Ye Feng in disbelief and said:
"I really never imagined your talent for Taijutsu would be this great, Ye Feng. Since you've reached this point, I'll explain it to all of you. A person's body actually has a limit that restricts how much stronger it can become. But if you can break through that limit, your body will undergo a qualitative change. Your physical strength alone will be enough to rival a Jonin."
Hearing Might Duy's words, the others also looked surprised. This was the first time they had heard that the physical body alone could possess such strength. At that moment, Hyuga Kong spoke as though muttering to himself:
"If breaking through gives you the strength of a Jonin, then how strong is Ye Feng, who's close to breaking through? He must at least be stronger than a Chunin, right? Stronger than a Chunin at four years old?!"
The others realized it as well, and all of them turned to look at Ye Feng in disbelief.
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