There was less than a week left until the Great Mountain Spiritual Medicine Mystic Realm Competition.
It was finally time for them to set off.
During this period of time, while Jiang Li was receiving special training from Elder He, he also took the time to go to the Scripture Imparting Hall and entered the rooms of ‘body, qi, and spell’.
What he used were naturally three 2-hour tokens.
As for the token given to the first place of the Qi Refinement realm competition, he once again made a deal with Ma Donggui.
He had exchanged a large amount of demon beast blood, yin attribute materials, and some array foundation items for setting up the array formation in the Foreign Affairs Hall.
The things he exchanged for were not high-grade goods that could increase one’s combat strength, but common low-grade materials in the cultivation world.
It made Ma Donggui think that Jiang Li was going to build a small sect on his own.
As for the three scripture imparting sessions, it was a pity that there were no more powerful inheritances like the Heart Sutra.
Jiang Li did not get the Square Heaven Seal that he was thinking about either.
However, the three legacies he obtained were not bad. Any one of them could cause a bloodbath outside!
This relatively ordinary legacy had its own benefits too.
Although they were relatively weaker, the difficulty of imparting the scripture was also lower.
He did not need to wait as long as the Heart Sutra. Perhaps he could use it in this competition.
The sun had just risen and the flying ship team of Scripture Storage Valley was already in the air.
This time, there were only fifteen participants from the sect. However, they were one of the four major sects of the Great Mountain Region and wanted to display the prestige of a famous sect. It was impossible for the fifteen of them to bitterly walk over.
There were many people who came along to cheer for them.
After all, this Grand Competition concerned the distribution of resources in the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm. If the forces sent there was not enough, if they could not hold the fort and suffered a loss, that would be bad.
The Valley Master of the Scripture Storage Valley had to guard the sect and naturally could not move out.
The three Head Elders of the Demon Vanquishing Hall, the Rejuvenation Hall, and the Foreign Affairs Hall personally led a large number of people from their respective halls.
One team was responsible for suppressing the situation with force, another was responsible for providing medical support, and another was responsible for accepting the results after the competition.
This time, the sect had even sent out four airships to boost their prestige.
One luxurious ship, two escort warships, and one cargo ship.
This cargo ship indicated the Scripture Storage Valley’s absolute confidence in this Martial Competition. At the very least, they were determined to get first place in the Qi Refinement realm. After all, their Scripture Storage Valley had produced a freak who could fight a Foundation Establishment cultivator with just Qi Refinement realm cultivation.
In the rules of the competition, the difference between the first place and rest of the positions in both cultivation levels was immense.
Just getting this first place alone meant that they could obtain 10% of the production in the entire Spiritual Medicine Mystic Realm every year.
Coupled with the hard work of the other disciples, they should not do too badly.
After the competition, they would definitely be able to get a good share. At that time, if they harvested too many medicinal herbs and could not ship them back, what could they do? Therefore, a cargo ship was very necessary.
There were even disciples discussing among themselves. If it were not for the fact that their Eldest Senior Brother Chu Yunxuan had broken through to the Core Formation realm early on and had already surpassed the cultivation restriction of this competition, he would have been able to participate in the competition.
If that was the case, they might even win first place in both the Foundation Establishment realm and the Qi Refinement realm in this competition.
Before they left, the Valley Master gave another speech to the fifteen disciples in the Long Clear Hall.
The benefits represented by this large-scale Medicine Garden Mystic Realm were too great. The impact on the future was also extremely far-reaching. It might even cause the cultivation world forces in the Great Mountain Region to be reshuffled.
For example, the Hundred Tempering Mountain used alchemy and blacksmithing to establish itself in the cultivation world. If they were given a large share, they might even take a step further and leave the other three sects behind.
Therefore, this Grand Competition was not only about winning and losing, but it was also related to the survival of the sect in the future.
These words stirred up the fifteen disciples’ emotions, but at the same time, they also felt the heavy responsibilities on their shoulders. They made up their mind and decided to give it their all.
After walking out of Long Clear Hall, they stood on the back of the immortal crane and flew towards the flying ship team that was already floating in the air.
However, unlike the excitement of the others, Jiang Li who was originally the most optimistic and active seemed to be constantly thinking about something in his heart, and he did not respond to the cheers of the others.
This was a little abnormal for Jiang Li who had always been socially active.
Jiang Li stood on the back of the immortal crane. The strong wind blew on his face, making him feel a little cool and comfortable.
In his mind, he was not troubled. He only felt the cold air coming at him, but it seemed that the world he perceived was different from before. The surrounding spiritual qi seemed to have become clearer and more active.
Furthermore, this feeling had not just appeared. Instead, it had already been several days.
A few days ago, Jiang Li had a vague feeling that his body seemed to have become more familiar and sensitive to the surrounding spiritual qi.
While cultivating, the efficiency of refining high-grade spiritual qi had also increased. Usually, this efficiency would only increase when the level of the Ghost Wood Art cultivation method was raised.
However, although he was already on the verge of breaking through, he had yet to do so. This sudden change was still somewhat abnormal.
This feeling was different from the effects of his Mind attribute breakthrough. He could sense that this increase was due to the changes in his body.
After feeling it for a few days, Jiang Li had a bold idea.
Although it was only a guess, he felt that it should be closer to the truth.
As soon as they boarded the ship, Jiang Li casually greeted them a few times before rushing to the cabin assigned to him.
The group of people who knew him well only thought that he was nervous before the battle and went back to cultivate quickly without thinking much about it.
With a bang, he forcefully closed the cabin door. Jiang Li even activated the protective isolation array formation in the cabin. The small space instantly became incomparably quiet.
This time, the 15 disciples participating in the Martial Competition were all extremely important. They received top treatment for all minor matters.
The cabins on the ship were also arranged according to the standard of the elders. This was why there was a cabin with a single protective array formation.
Jiang Li took a deep breath, and then he took out a formation stone tray with a diameter of around two meters and a transparent glass ball the size of a volleyball.
Jiang Li had come into contact with this set of equipment when he was in the Immortal Ascension Pavilion. He had exchanged it from the Foreign Affairs Hall. It was a Spirit Testing Array used to test the grade of the spiritual root.
After half a year, Jiang Li suddenly wanted to test his spiritual root aptitude again.
If not for the fact that no one usually bought things like the Spirit Testing Array and that there was no stock in the Foreign Affairs Hall, Jiang Li would not have waited until he boarded the flying ship to do such a thing.
Sitting cross-legged on the Spirit Testing Array, Jiang Li’s emotions were slightly agitated. Then, he picked up the Spirit Testing Bead. Before he could embedded the spirit stone, two black and green lights quickly rose on the Spirit Testing Bead.
Oh right, his body was still filled with high-grade spiritual qi. Of course, the Spirit Testing Bead would have such a reaction.
For this test of spiritual root aptitude, he had to first remove the super talent [Spiritual Qi Infusion].
However, Jiang Li did not hesitate because he had originally planned to replace the 50 points of spiritual qi per second with 100 points of spiritual qi per second in the near future.
As soon as the minus button was pressed for five seconds, the pure spiritual qi that had been surging endlessly in Jiang Li’s body stopped abruptly. He had also cut off the spiritual qi flow that was being sent to his clone and artifacts in time. Otherwise, with the loss of spiritual qi, it would not be long before he was completely drained at this speed.
This feeling was really empty.
The spiritual qi that had been swelling in his body all year round suddenly disappeared. Although there were no side effects, it still made Jiang Li feel a little uncomfortable.
It was easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but it was hard to do the opposite of going from extravagant to frugal. It was just like how you, someone used to 5G Internet, suddenly had poor reception on a 2G network. The feeling of taking half a day to load an image was horrible.
After a few minutes, Jiang Li finally recovered. He placed an hourglass upside down and inserted a spirit stone into the stone tray. He then picked up the Spirit Testing Bead and sat there.
Testing the grade of his spiritual root required him to suppress his spiritual qi and cultivation method. It would automatically absorb spiritual qi under the effects of the array formation.
Therefore, Jiang Li could only focus on nothing. He helplessly closed his eyes and sat there.
As for the observation time and the progress of the spirit testing, it was handed to the Parallel Mind that had yet to transform into a second clone.
The second Parallel Mind entered the body of a red-coated rat zombie. It squatted beside the main body and helped to watch the test.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes. The fine sand in the hourglass turned into a thin yellow line. Time passed bit by bit.
The Spirit Testing Bead in Jiang Li’s palm was also slowly being filled with dual-colored light.
Finally, the black and green lights flickered as they filled up.
The red-coated rat beside him immediately overturned the hourglass.
Through the second Parallel Mind, Jiang Li had already seen the result. However, when he opened his eyes and saw the hourglass, he could not help but flash a hint of joy.
It took exactly ten minutes for the hourglass to be emptied. However, after Jiang Li filled up the Spirit Testing Bead, there was still sand in the upper half of the hourglass.
Although there was not much sand left, perhaps not even a minute’s worth, there was still some. The time it took for him to fill up the Spirit Testing Bead was less than ten minutes.
In other words, the current Jiang Li had a high-grade spiritual root aptitude.
As expected! Just as he had guessed, the grade of his spiritual root had increased!
This was very ridiculous. He had not eaten any heavenly treasures, immortal pills, or divine pills recently. How did the grade of his spiritual root suddenly increase?
Jiang Li hurriedly summoned the two Parallel Minds to recall the scene in his consciousness. When did this change begin?
As the saying went, three heads were better than one. The three minds analyzed the memories together and quickly came to a conclusion.
The change happened after he used his new ability, Cocoon Break!
Could it be that the slight bodily adjustment effect of Cocoon Break could actually be effective on the spiritual root aptitude?
Gasp! Did he just obtain a divine technique for no cost?
As long as he continuously broke out of the cocoon and adjusted his body, he would be able to continuously increase his spiritual root aptitude.
This was too ridiculous. No, he had to give it a try again.
Jiang Li immediately removed his clothes and sat cross-legged. After activating the effect, the cuticle layer on his skin became thicker and thicker. Soon, it started to dry and harden, forming a layer of insect cocoon-like outer shell.
Four hours later, the cocoon began to squirm, and it was quickly torn apart by Jiang Li from the inside.
Without caring about his clothes, he tested the Spirit Testing Array again.
With the sound of falling sand, time passed quickly.
The red-robed rat’s eyes were sharp, and it quickly overturned the hourglass the moment the Spirit Testing Bead flashed. However, the outcome was almost the same as before.
From the looks of it, the situation was not that simple. The ability learned from four ordinary insects was indeed unable to achieve the effect of defying heaven and changing fate.
Then why?
The transformation had indeed happened after he broke out of the cocoon last time. How could it be unrelated to this ability?
Jiang Li scratched his head as his three consciousnesses fell into deep thought again.
Perhaps “breaking through the cocoon” alone would not increase his aptitude. However, this was still an important reason for the change in his aptitude.
Combining his own situation, Jiang Li eliminated one possibility after another.
In the end, he focused on the [Spiritual Qi Infusion] that he had just eliminated.
High-grade spiritual qi continuously surged out of his body and constantly transformed into several spiritual qi currents that were distributed to his artifacts and clone.
This sort of bathing method using high-grade spiritual qi was extremely extravagant.
If this amount was converted to high-grade spirit stones, during this period of time, there would probably be more than a thousand high-grade spirit stones’ spiritual qi flowing through his body.
The value was equivalent to tens of millions of low-grade spirit stones. Even for a large sect like the Scripture Storage Valley, it was a painful expenditure.
Ordinary people would carefully absorb the pure spiritual qi inside to refine high-grade spirit stones. They would not be willing to waste a single breath.
However, Jiang Li actually let 99% of the high-grade spiritual qi flow out of his body.
It was equivalent to drinking just a mouthful of soup after the entire Imperial Feast was served. It could be said to be a model example of squandering.
However, perhaps it was this kind of spiritual qi cleansing without regard for the cost that slowly changed Jiang Li’s body under imperceptible influence, causing his body to gradually transform into a suitable vessel for cultivation.
However, that speed was naturally not obvious enough. Then, Jiang Li happened to obtain the cocoon break ability, and under the effect of this skill, his body could enter a type of transformation state, thus stimulating the changes that had accumulated over the past few months. This was the result of the current increase in spiritual root aptitude.
The combination of these two was the truth behind the heaven-defying change of spiritual root aptitude.
Perhaps in the future, he would really be able to break out of his cocoon and be reborn periodically, slowly improving his spiritual root aptitude.
When Jiang Li thought of this, he could not help but smile and feel happy. The importance of spiritual root aptitude on the path of cultivation was self-evident.
He looked at the other fourteen geniuses outside. Eight out of ten had top-grade spiritual roots, and the remaining few either had mutated spiritual roots or had other special talents.
Which ordinary disciple relied on hard work to advance? There was none at all.
Cultivation was never about fairness.
Even Jiang Li relied on a cheat to get this far. He had unlimited resources and powerful buffs brought about by the cheat to forcefully accumulate his foundation.
However, even so, aptitude was still extremely important to him.
Because most of the time, resources and aptitude played a multiplicative role, not just a simple additive effect.
If Jiang Li had a top-grade spiritual root aptitude, he would have long reached Foundation Establishment.
After feeling regretful for his aptitude, he took out a high-grade spirit stone and a small bottle of Spirit Melting Fluid.
He dripped the Spirit Melting Fluid onto the high-grade spirit stone with practiced ease. The glow of the spirit stone dimmed a little again. After a moment, he placed the two drops of liquid filled with spiritual qi into his mouth.
The crude usage of this Spirit Melting Fluid was like using a charger to charge a power bank.
It was an extremely great waste of high-grade spirit stones. When spiritual qi was infused into the spiritual liquid, it would waste more than half of the spiritual qi. When Jiang Li consumed the spiritual liquid, he would also waste more than half of the spiritual qi. The spiritual qi that really entered his body was less than one tenth of the original amount.
However, even so, it was still an extremely beneficial outcome due to Jiang Li’s cheat.
[Consuming a high-grade Spirit Melting Fluid. Added Status: Spiritual Qi Infusion]
[Spiritual Qi Infusion: 100 points of high-grade spiritual qi absorbed per second. Duration: 30 seconds] (− +)
After five seconds of pressing the plus button, the buff that Jiang Li had just deleted appeared on his interface again.
Then, Jiang Li did not dare to stay any longer and directly jumped into the coffin.
A large amount of spiritual qi washed through his body at an even faster speed. It was only because Jiang Li’s current body strength had increased by several times that he endured it. Otherwise, he really would not have been able to withstand this kind of cleansing.
Before his body exploded from the spiritual qi, he repeatedly used the “Spirit Surging Technique” (an enhanced version of the Yin Refinement Technique) to create a few spiritual qi springs in the coffin. More and more pure spiritual qi surged into the coffin space.
The already frighteningly high concentration of spiritual qi began to slowly rise again. The large number of ghosts floating in the air also began to move excitedly, countless ghosts flickering in the coffin space.
After the previous exorcism mission and the purchase of the Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn, the number of ghosts in the coffin space had increased significantly. It had already broken through the 400,000 mark and reached an exaggerated 430,000.
With these ghosts sharing spiritual qi, not only was it not a waste to Jiang Li, it was a form of help.
This way, he did not have to worry about the coffin exploding from the spiritual qi.
Moreover, under this sort of extravagant investment, Jiang Li really looked forward to this group of ghosts. What kind of level could they reach within the coffin?
“Young master, please forgive me for not welcoming you.”
Not far from Jiang Li, this voice sounded from a clay statue with a damaged head.
In the damaged area, half a beautiful and exquisite face was revealed. One of her eyes blinked as she looked at Jiang Li, and the emotions in her eyes were indescribable.
It seemed that the Seven Roads Ghost City Lord had recovered under the nourishment of the dense spiritual qi and Yin qi in the coffin.