Cultivating with Solar Power

Liu Yi circulated the Five Elements Qi Refining Instruction 3.0. In an instant, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi surged madly into his body like a flood bursting through a breached dam, instantly being refined into Five Elements Spiritual Power.

With a hum, the surrounding Spiritual Qi gathered even faster. He hurriedly grabbed the Spirit Stone fragments and desperately absorbed the Spiritual Qi within them.

Three shichen later, the churning Spiritual Qi gradually subsided.

He opened his eyes, his face grim. He had broken through, but not to the Foundation Establishment Realm. He had reached the Tenth Layer of Qi Refining instead.

"It's over, all over!"

His heart filled with despair, and he muttered, "How could this happen? It doesn't make any sense!"

The deadline for the sect assessment was close at hand. Stuck at the Tenth Layer of Qi Refining, he no longer had time to cultivate to the Twelfth Layer of Qi Refining, Great Perfection.

Worse still, he had only four years of life left, and expulsion from the sect seemed inevitable.

After a long while, he finally managed to suppress his turbulent emotions. He forced himself to calm down and began considering why this breakthrough had failed.

Suddenly, his expression changed drastically as a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

Perhaps it was because he had condensed 129,600 acupoints that he had disrupted the normal pace of cultivation.

As a result, he could not establish his foundation at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, and might not even succeed at the Twelfth Layer of Qi Refining, Great Perfection.

At the thought, his expression shifted between light and shadow. Filled with regret, he wanted nothing more than to give himself two hard slaps.

Although the higher one's Qi Refining layer, the more solid one's foundation would be after Foundation Establishment, and the greater one's potential after advancing, that only applied to cultivators with plenty of life left.

For him, the most pressing matter now was not to pursue a deep foundation, but to establish his foundation as soon as possible, remain in the sect, and extend his life.

"What a trap!"

He let out a helpless sigh. "Still, heaven never seals off every path. Even if I'm expelled from the sect, I can cultivate in the mortal world. I'll still have a chance at Foundation Establishment."

"It's just that the Spiritual Qi there is too thin, unless I can find a new source of energy for cultivation."

"A new source of energy for cultivation, a new source of energy for cultivation..." Liu Yi repeated, racking his brains for a way out.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "In my previous life, there was solar power generation! In this life, there are also Cultivation Methods that absorb the power of the sun."

"Both martial arts and immortal cultivation have them, but their cultivation efficiency is too low, and they're too dangerous."

"If I can improve one into a more complete method, I can solve the problem of cultivation energy."

"Solar power is inexhaustible. There's no need to worry about it running out. And in this immortal cultivation world, moonlight and starlight can be used for cultivation too!"

But soon, his expression grew grave again.

Using solar power to cultivate was far too dangerous. One careless move and he would set himself ablaze.

"I'll have to conduct a lot of experiments and feel my way forward bit by bit. Every part of the method has to be tested repeatedly to make sure it's safe. Otherwise, I'll burn myself to ashes before I even establish my foundation."

"And if I could imitate the batteries from my previous life and make an energy storage device to store solar power directly, wouldn't it be just like a Spirit Stone?"

His eyes lit up instantly, and he was so excited he nearly jumped to his feet.

A moment later, he calmed himself, held his breath, and focused, using his Divine Sense to inspect the circulation through his meridians.

The 129,600 acupoints twinkled like brilliant stars, while Five Elements Spiritual Power flowed through his meridians like surging rivers.

Every inch of muscle and every bone radiated a golden sheen, nourished by spiritual power.

Now, he was confident that with physical strength alone, he could kill a Qi Refining Ninth Layer immortal cultivator with a single punch.

Even more astonishingly, his control over the Spacetime Realm had quietly climbed to 3%.

That seemingly tiny figure had doubled his computational power for deduction.

It had also allowed him to faintly touch upon the mysteries of time and space.

Now that he had more powerful computational power for deduction, he was more confident in his plans for the future.

He quickly put away the remaining 20 Spirit Stone fragments, tucked them into his robes, and headed toward the Scripture Pavilion.

He figured that among the texts on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion, he might find secret manuals on artifact refining and cultivation methods that could absorb solar power, starlight, and moonlight.

More than a month later, the day to leave the Heavenly Revelation Sect finally arrived.

Over a hundred outer disciples gathered in Heavenly Revelation Square at the Heavenly Revelation Sect.

Like Liu Yi, they were all being expelled from the sect because they had no hope of establishing their foundations.

Outer and inner disciples surrounded them, watching the spectacle.

They pointed and whispered, their eyes full of contempt, as though they were looking at a swarm of insignificant ants.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out, "Brother Yi! I finally found you!"

Liu Yi turned to see Qian Duoduo shouting as he shoved his way through the crowd and ran toward him.

"Old Qian, I really didn't expect you to come all this way to see me off before I left."

Qian Duoduo sighed softly and took out 20 Spirit Stone fragments, holding them out. "Brother Yi, these Spirit Stone fragments are a small token from me. Please take them. They might help you establish your foundation."

Liu Yi hurriedly shook his head and refused. "I can't! I still owe you over a hundred Spirit Stone fragments. How could I take more from you?"

"Don't stand on ceremony with me!" Qian Duoduo pressed the Spirit Stone fragments into his hand.

"Twenty Spirit Stone fragments aren't much to me. I'll earn them back soon enough. But for you, they might be the key to breaking through."

Holding the Spirit Stone fragments, Liu Yi fell silent for a moment, then nodded solemnly. "Old Qian, I'll remember this kindness. When I make it, I'll definitely pay you back!"

Qian Duoduo nodded. The two briefly reminisced about the past, and then he turned and left.

Just then, a flying boat over three hundred meters long tore through the air in the distance and slowly came to a stop in Heavenly Revelation Square.

The cabin door opened, and a woman in white stepped out.

She had an icy bearing, a graceful figure, and skin as lustrous as jade.

This was none other than Ye Qingxue, the saintess of the Heavenly Revelation Sect. She possessed a mutated Ice Spirit Root and had broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm from the Twelfth Layer of Qi Refining, Great Perfection.

After 20 years of cultivation, she had reached the Early Golden Core Stage and was the dream lover of countless disciples in the sect.

Wherever she passed, the watching disciples involuntarily held their breath, their whispers fell silent, and countless admiring gazes followed her.

Behind her came two Golden Core Realm inner disciples and over a hundred new disciples recruited through the Immortal Ascension Conference.

Some were full of high spirits, while others were nervous and reserved, but none could conceal the anticipation in their eyes for their new lives in the sect, or their longing for immortal cultivation and longevity.

Liu Yi watched the scene before him, his feelings indescribably complicated. Today was like yesterday, as though a cycle had come full circle.

One hundred and twenty-eight years ago, he too had stood in Heavenly Revelation Square, harboring the same hopes of immortal cultivation and longevity.

Now, however, he had become a failure cast aside by the sect.

The cruelties of the immortal cultivation path flashed before his eyes, one after another. Countless outer disciples were reduced to laborers for the sect, operating formations day and night to produce Spiritual Qi, only to be ruthlessly discarded in the end, just like him.

At the thought, he clenched his fists, flames of unwillingness burning in his eyes.

He silently swore that he would break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm and never again be looked down upon.

He would also shatter the shackles of cultivation aptitude and smash the towering wall of resource monopolies.

He would make cultivation something other than the privilege of a chosen few, and drag those lofty immortal cultivators down from their pedestals.

I refuse to accept this!

What gives them the right to sit so high above everyone else?

I'll drag them down from the clouds! I'll make them compete alongside us ants and roll around in the mud with us.

The idea was madness, but in this immortal cultivation world that had already gone mad,

it was truly hard to survive without being mad enough, without being crazed enough.

And it was not without hope of success. Over the past month, he had gained a great deal and made new plans for the future, which remained for him to carry out step by step.

Just then, an icy voice rang out above Heavenly Revelation Square. "Disciples expelled from the sect, board the flying boat at once!"

Liu Yi abruptly came back to his senses. Suppressing the emotions churning in his heart, he walked toward the flying boat with heavy steps.