After making a plan for his future cultivation, Li Xingkong began a long period of secluded cultivation as outlined in the plan.
First and foremost, the most important thing during seclusion is to improve the efficiency of energy acquisition. As Qi Refining Method, the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method is undoubtedly very effective, but it is somewhat insufficient for the Foundation Establishment stage. After all, the surface area of the human body is limited. Even if Li Xingkong can use Spiritual Qi to increase the amount of sunlight he can absorb, there is still an upper limit to this method, and the upper limit is not very high.
Unless he can create a structure similar to a Dyson sphere that can envelop the entire planet and absorb all the light and heat it emits for his own use, but relying on such a Dyson sphere structure to absorb energy would mean that he himself would be bound by the Dyson sphere, and without this massive structure, his own energy supply level would be greatly reduced.
Moreover, a Dyson sphere is a massive project that a mere Foundation Establishment like him cannot handle. Even from the perspective of a cultivation civilization, it is an extraordinary undertaking, something that Foundation Establishment cultivator simply cannot accomplish.
"System, how can this Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method be enhanced?"
Li Xingkong, but couldn't think of anything that could be improved. The only way to improve was to expand the area. Now that he had mastered the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method, he would need to control the Spiritual Qi around his body to form the corresponding Qi Refining Method structure and use the Spiritual Qi to expand the Qi Refining area.
Do you remember what our first lesson was when we first started practicing?
The system replied to Li Xingkong lazily, as if it had just woken up.
That's true, I haven't interacted with the system for a long time, so it's naturally quite bored.
"Isn't the first class for choosing a major? Of course I won't forget that."
Li Xingkong.
"Right, how were you taught back then? The Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method was limited by fixed stars, which is why other Qi Refining Method were developed later."
The system provided a brief notification.
"So you're saying that my current Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method has reached its final state?"
The system's message was clear enough.
"For most people, that's true; the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method has reached its limit at your level."
The system replied affirmatively.
"Of course, you asked if it can be improved further. There are ways, just like you thought, such Spiritual Qi condensing Spiritual Qi around the body to expand the area for absorbing sunlight, or setting up a large array for dedicated cultivation. These are all methods. However, the problem is that the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method has already reached its limit in terms of its ability to absorb light energy at your level. Increasing the area will have a very small effect on improving the efficiency of Qi Refining. Although increasing the area does improve efficiency, it is not a proportional increase. You might increase the energy absorption area by 100 square meters, but the efficiency will only increase by less than 50%."
"The decreasing efficiency is one problem, and another is that maintaining control over so much Spiritual Qi energy also consumes Magic Power. In game terms, this approach trades maximum Magic Power for faster Magic Power regeneration, which is quite uneconomical."
Li Xingkong thought about it and realized it was true. The magic Magic Power needed to maintain this Spiritual Qi energy definitely couldn't be dissipated, which was equivalent to occupying a portion of the Magic Power supply for a long time, indirectly lowering the upper limit of Magic Power. Moreover, as the area increased, the amount of magic Magic Power required also increased, making this Dharma Aspect uneconomical.
"Of course, there's another way: just stop being human."
The system quietly suggested another solution.
"This is the limit to maintaining human form, but if you don't mind, you can completely abandon human form and expand your size. If you do that, then theoretically there is no upper limit to the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method; the upper limit only depends on how big you want to become."
"Um, this..."
Li Xingkong felt a little embarrassed. He still accepted the idea of being human, but the inhuman appearance was indeed hard to accept. The system's words made Li Xingkong think of some strange, giant creatures, like Titans, King Kong, or Po Kong. Thinking about such creatures, Li Xingkong shook his head.
Spiritual practice is important, but so is one's identity as a human being.
"Let's forget about it. Since there are other Qi Refining Method, there's no need to abandon our human identity for this."
Li Xingkong's words piqued the system's curiosity. Given his personality, shouldn't cultivation be his top priority?
"In that case, we'll have to start from scratch."
Having said that, Li Xingkong had no choice but to turn his attention to another Qi Refining Method he had mastered, the Moonlight Qi Refining Method.
The Moonlight Qi Refining Method is based on gravity and cultivates by harnessing gravity. Theoretically, its upper limit is much higher than that of the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method.
"By the way, how did previous cultivation civilizations solve the problem of Magic Power supply during the Foundation Establishment stage?"
Li Xingkong remembered that the system had seen so many cultivation civilizations, so it should naturally have other people's operations that he could refer to.
"Although I have seen many cultivation civilizations, unfortunately, there are very few people who have encountered the same problem as you."
The system searched for a while, then spoke to Li Xingkong.
"Why? Doesn't this problem occur to all Foundation Establishment cultivators?"
Li Xingkong was somewhat puzzled. This problem should be quite common, and he encountered it after practicing for a few moves. There was no reason why others wouldn't encounter it.
"First, in the realm of cultivation civilization, what do you consider to be the most precious resource?"
The system asked Li Xingkong a question.
"Um, wealth, companions, methods, and land—the most precious thing is wealth? Natural treasures and cultivation resources?"
Li Xingkong and then answered.
"Wrong. In the cultivation civilization, the most precious things are knowledge and cultivation techniques! Not everyone has a system as powerful as mine, and not every society is like yours, where all knowledge is publicly available online, and you can learn whatever you want. In previous civilizations, nine out of ten pieces of knowledge were the most precious things, and these things were never passed on to outsiders."
"Correspondingly, the cultivation methods people use are naturally not much better. As for Qi Refining techniques, they learn whatever they can, and the same goes for cultivating Divine Sense Foundation Establishment Stage. For them, the techniques they have are far from reaching their limits, so there is naturally no problem of excessive consumption."
"Only someone like you, who cultivates the strongest Qi Refining Method, also possesses the strongest Foundation Establishment Method Qi Refining Method. Moreover, this ' Heavenly Evolution Foundation Establishment Method ' is a system I created by combining the strengths of many different methods. Each of the Hexagram, taken out individually, is a top-tier Foundation Establishment Method. But now you want to cultivate all Eight Trigrams simultaneously, so the consumption will naturally be much greater."
After the system explained it this way, Li Xingkong understood. It was because his Foundation Establishment Method was too good, so good that its only problem was that it consumed a lot of energy. So much so that he could only withstand one Hexagram at the moment, and any more would cause his Magic Power to be insufficient.