Chen Fan opened his eyes and lightly swept his fingertips across the potions before him.
The next second, a dozen or so crystal-clear bottles of potions and dozens of pill bottles appeared neatly arranged before him, spiritual light swirling over their surfaces. One glance was enough to tell they cost a fortune.
"Ten bottles of Heaven-Grade Origin-Nurturing Potion, fifty bottles of Heaven-Grade Marrow-Cleansing Potion, plus some Qi Gathering Pills and Meridian-Warming Pills..."
After counting them one by one, Chen Fan could not help grinning.
As expected of a premier city ranked among the Immortal Palace's top ten, it provided supplies and resources to the max. Back in his small county town, he would never have dared dream of these things.
After all, he had been born without a spirit root. Before, even if he held the finest pills in his hands, he could not absorb them. It would have been a sheer waste of heaven's treasures.
But things were different now.
His false spirit root might suck, and his entry system might have only just activated, but that was no match for his flexible thinking!
Chen Fan's eyes shifted, an idea already forming in his mind.
"Absorbing them through meditation is too slow. Take them internally and soak in them externally-doesn't that mean double the fun? (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧"
He beckoned, and a huge white jade bathtub appeared out of thin air in the center of the cultivation room. Its texture was smooth and warm, its edges engraved with intricate spirit-gathering patterns. This was also standard equipment in Handong University's dormitories, specifically meant for disciples' medicinal baths.
As one of the Immortal Palace's leading institutions of higher learning, it provided every new student with a private cultivation suite, complete with bathroom facilities, a Spirit Gathering Formation, and a meditation cushion. Even spirit water came with a free allowance each semester; only after using it up did students need to pay spirit stones to top up.
The only fly in the ointment was the spirit water's dilution ratio.
"1,000:1. One part concentrated spirit liquid to a thousand parts ordinary water. They call it spirit water, but it's basically boiled water with a little spiritual Qi mixed in."
Despite his complaints, Chen Fan kept his hands moving. He placed his card over the valve's sensor and began filling the tub.
Still, even diluted this much, it would have been a treasure countless rogue cultivators outside would fight tooth and nail over. This round of benefits from the Immortal Palace was genuinely generous.
Soon, the tub was half full of clear spirit water, its surface shimmering with an extremely faint spiritual light.
Chen Fan turned his palm over, and a faintly crimson flame sprang out. It was the Fire Cloud True Fire condensed through the Fire Cloud Cultivation Method.
He guided the flame against the bottom of the tub and slowly heated it, controlling the heat with absolute precision. Before long, pleasantly warm mist rose from the surface.
"The heat's just right. Now for the main event."
He picked up the pill bottles before him, unscrewed their caps one after another, and poured them into the tub, bottle after bottle, without the slightest pang.
The Qi Gathering Pills dissolved into pale gold, the Meridian-Warming Pills into luminous white, the Marrow-Cleansing Potion shimmered pale green, and the Origin-Nurturing Potion was dark as ink jade...
Multicolored medicinal power slowly spread through the spirit water. The originally weak spirit water visibly thickened, and a rich medicinal fragrance instantly filled the entire cultivation room. A single breath made every pore feel as though it had opened.
What ordinary, impoverished cultivator would dare squander resources like this?
"I've got plenty of pills anyway. Splurge! Splurge to my heart's content!"
As Chen Fan poured, he cheered himself on inwardly and thought of a certain jailbird with fake academic credentials.
Ye Fan got caught and brewed by Elder Han as soon as he entered the Big Dipper. Now I'm brewing myself too. We both have 'Fan' in our names, and I even have an advanced education!
So does that make me the Pro version of the Heavenly Emperor?
After pouring in the pills, he added all ten bottles of Heaven-Grade Origin-Nurturing Potion and twenty bottles of Marrow-Cleansing Potion.
Hum-
The entire tub of spirit water suddenly shuddered and turned a deep, glassy blue-green. Fine bubbles of spiritual Qi formed on its surface, and the dense medicinal power almost seemed ready to take solid form.
"Hiss... this medicinal power is a little too fierce."
Chen Fan reached out to test the water. The moment his fingertips touched the surface, he felt violent medicinal power burrow into his skin with a slight sting.
If a Qi Refining Realm disciple who had opened only one or two spirit veins soaked in this, the medicinal power might burst their meridians outright.
But he had no choice.
His foundation was a false spirit root. Cultivate gently? He would have to wait until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse to catch up with anyone!
"Compete, compete, everyone just keep competing! Compete until cultivation resources dwindle and cultivation gets harder, until prices skyrocket and university graduates are unemployed the moment they graduate! Treat university students like clowns! All I'm doing is joining you in the rat race!"
Chen Fan hesitated no longer. He stripped off his outer robe and leaped into the tub.
Splash!
The warm medicinal water instantly enveloped his entire body. Countless tiny particles of medicinal power burrowed madly into his pores, sending numb, itching sensations through every limb and bone.
"Nice! Feeling this good right off the bat? What a steal!"
Chen Fan narrowed his eyes in comfort, casually scooped up the remaining Marrow-Cleansing Potion, tipped his head back, and poured it into his mouth.
Internal consumption plus an external soak, absorption on two fronts-double the efficiency!
He began circulating the Fire Cloud Cultivation Method, guiding the medicinal power inside and outside his body slowly through his meridians.
At first, everything went smoothly. The medicinal power gently nourished his meridians, like a full-body spa treatment.
But as more and more medicinal power accumulated, the situation abruptly changed in less than half an incense stick's time.
Boom-
The medicinal power accumulated in his meridians was like gunpowder suddenly ignited. In an instant, it went berserk!
The fire-attribute Fire Cloud Cultivation Method, combined with the overbearing marrow-cleansing medicinal power, sent a double burning sensation spreading along his meridians, as though countless fine needles were stabbing viciously into their inner walls.
"Fuck?! Why did it suddenly get so intense?!"
Chen Fan went pale and nearly choked.
He had forgotten how fragile his false spirit root's meridians were!
Others had innate spirit roots as their foundation, with broad, tough meridians that could contain even fierce medicinal power. His meridians were like narrow, winding sheep trails. Even drawing in Qi normally took effort, and now that so much violent medicinal power had suddenly flooded in, they could not withstand it at all!
The stabbing pain intensified. His meridians felt as though they might burst at any moment, and even his Dantian throbbed with swelling pain.
"I'm screwed, I'm screwed! Did I take this too far? I'm not going to cripple myself on the very first day, am I (ﾟДﾟ≡ﾟДﾟ)?!"
Chen Fan gritted his teeth and held on. Just as he was about to stop and dilute the medicinal power, the entry panel in his mind suddenly lit up without warning!
[Damage to the host's meridians detected. Cultivation environment is harsh!] [Entry [Diligence Can Make Up for Lack of Aptitude] automatically activated. Operating at full capacity!] [Effect triggered: aptitude restrictions temporarily dissolved, meridian damage continuously repaired, tolerance for medicinal power greatly increased!]
A gentle white light instantly spread from his Dantian, flowing through his meridians.
The next second, that heart-piercing pain noticeably diminished!
His meridians, which had been stretched to their limit, felt as though a pair of gentle hands had softly smoothed them. The tearing sensation rapidly faded, and even the meridian walls slowly thickened and strengthened.
"Holy shit? The entry's already getting to work?"
Chen Fan's eyes flew open in delighted surprise.
Before he could finish celebrating, another line popped up on the panel.
[Host detected maintaining focused cultivation. Intensive cultivation state meets requirements!] [Entry [Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence] triggered in tandem!] [Effect triggered: medicinal power absorption rate for this cultivation session +300%, spiritual Qi refinement speed doubled, diligence points continuously accumulating!]
Boom!
The instant those words sounded, Chen Fan felt his whole body jolt.
The medicinal power that had been rampaging through his meridians suddenly became like a tamed wild horse, obediently racing along the Fire Cloud Cultivation Method's circulation route. The refinement speed was absurd!
His pores frantically drew in and expelled medicinal power. The sensation of Qi within his Dantian grew at a visible rate, and his formerly thin fire essence rapidly condensed and thickened.
It felt like he had been riding a bicycle uphill, only to suddenly have it fitted with a rocket engine!
"This feels so, so, so, so damn good!!"
Chen Fan could not help letting out a low roar, every cell in his body crying out in exhilaration.
Seventeen years!
Seventeen whole years!
For the first time, he experienced the thrill of his cultivation soaring!
But he had barely enjoyed it for long before the remaining medicinal power in the tub kept surging into his body, each wave fiercer than the last.
If the medicinal power earlier had been a stream, now it was a raging river!
The white light of diligence can make up for lack of aptitude flickered slightly under the impact, and the enhancement from heavenly Dao rewards diligence was pushed to its limit as well.
Chen Fan's expression grew solemn again.
He knew the real test was only just beginning.
With this whole tub of potent medicine, he feared he would have to shed a layer of skin before this was over.