Chapter 85: The Gap Between Abilities

“Even simpler than I expected.”

Chen Luo glanced at the twenty-three remaining spirit stones on that side and picked up another one to continue his cultivation.

As each spirit stone was consumed…

Chen Luo’s strength steadily increased, advancing further with every step forward. His adaptation period after breaking through the barrier had practically vanished altogether.

Pale blue spiritual energy swirled around Chen Luo, enveloping him completely. As the Spirit Comprehension Art slowly spun within him, familiar streams of spiritual energy poured from his palms, circulating through his body as he refined them into his very being.

After an hour, the last spirit stone crumbled into dust.

The aura surrounding Chen Luo fluctuated slightly; the little snake of spiritual energy in his dantian grew from one coil to three, and his cultivation realm rose from the fourth level of Qi Condensation to the fifth.

In just one night, he’d broken through twice!

A cultivator with three sets of spirit roots who lacked outside resources needed three years to reach the middle stage of Qi Refinement, while someone with four sets of spirit roots required five years. Even with assistance, this time could be compressed by no more than half—yet Chen Luo surpassed others’ efforts in less than half a day, reaching not only the fifth level but also doing so directly, without having to pass through any lower stages first. Such a speed of cultivation was comparable to those gifted individuals born with superior spirit roots.

But Chen Luo didn’t think much about these small-scale breakthroughs; to him, they were like rekindling his cultivation, as familiar and easy as riding a bicycle.

The true feat worth paying attention to was reaching Foundation Establishment!

If I continue building up my reserves at this rate, then when I reach one hundred little snakes, I can attempt Foundation Establishment with a thirty percent chance of success.

Since Wu Shen is a cultivation method for the mind, after mastering Dream Entry, I should switch to cultivating techniques for the spirit soul, which will raise my chances by half.

I might achieve better results if I compress my spiritual energy after reaching the thirteenth level of Qi Refinement.

Chen Luo recalled the feedback from both the brains of two Foundation Establishment masters and that of the mummified brain. Only someone who had just ascended could dare to attempt such a thing—anyone else would likely be deemed insane.

Combining the knowledge of two Foundation Establishment masters raised the chance of success to thirty-five percent, high enough to tempt people to risk their lives, not to mention there was still another plan from the mummified brain.

“Thirty-five percent plus the Foundation Establishment Pill… wouldn’t that bring it up to sixty?”

Chen Luo’s eyes flashed briefly.

The effects of the Foundation Establishment Pill were no secret within the Divine Lake Immortal Sect; every disciple knew how it could aid in reaching Foundation Establishment. But knowledge was one thing, and being able to acquire such a pill was another entirely.

Even for ordinary cultivators, even if they possessed a Foundation Establishment Pill, their chances of successfully breaking through to Foundation Establishment were only slightly over thirty percent, regardless of the strength of their spiritual roots. With his innate talent alone, Chen Luo had already reached thirty-five percent success—this exceeded the success rate of ninety-nine out of one hundred Divine Lake Immortal Sect disciples.

As his cultivation base continued to rise, the external brain’s influence grew stronger still.

His ‘experience’ and ‘intuition’ helped him find the most efficient path to cultivate, saving time while simultaneously identifying optimal strategies for reaching Foundation Establishment. At present, he was still at the fifth level of Qi Condensation, but once he reached the tenth or even thirteenth levels, his chances of succeeding would surely increase further. In particular, the mummified brain from the Great Mausoleum of Yue Province contained unusually high levels of ‘experience’, surpassing even those of the two newly acquired Foundation Establishment brains.

This also gave Chen Luo a clearer understanding of the Great Mausoleum: it was likely left by an advanced cultivator.

“A hundred spiritual energy snakes and a spirit soul technique. The former is easy enough to find, but the latter is more troublesome; the library doesn’t sell them.” After spending so much time at the library, Chen Luo naturally knew what techniques were available there.

There were many techniques, including historical records, biographies, and reference books on the Four Arts of Immortality, such as talismans, formations, pill dao, and other related subjects. Although these resources seemed plentiful, they lacked specific techniques or skills that would be useful for cultivating the Four Arts of Immortality.

Just like the previous Yue Kingdom, access to upper-level legacies remained monopolized.

The Divine Lake Immortal Sect benefited from the status quo, so they had no fear of low-level techniques and legacies being disseminated outside their sect, since these did not pose any threat to their interests. Only core legacies passed down verbally between master and disciple, never to be shared with unaccredited disciples.

This was why independent cultivators found it difficult to make a name for themselves.

“Looks like I need to think a bit smarter.”

Chen Luo was preparing to alter his cultivation path slightly.

The next day, Chen Luo arrived at the practice field early in the morning. This was the most popular gathering place on Wu Dao Peak; aside from disciples who came for free teachings, everyone else congregated here to exchange information and ideas.

“Shixiong.”

Not long after he sat down, two familiar silhouettes appeared.

It was Huang Ying and Fu An.

Both looked somewhat exhausted, their expressions no longer as relaxed as before. It seemed they had encountered setbacks during their recent mission to defeat demons below the mountain.

“How come only the two of you are here? Where is Junior Brother Yao?” Chen Luo asked casually. The last time he’d been here, there were three people, so why was one missing?

“Junior Brother Yao has fallen,” both Huang Ying and Fu An replied with grim expressions.

During this mission, the group encountered a ‘Painted Skin Ghost’, which could change its appearance and blend seamlessly into crowds. They spent a great deal of effort killing it, but several of their fellow disciples died in the process. Close to half of the team members perished.

Yao Zhenghai had been killed by the Painted Skin Ghost during the process.

Including Xun Xian, who died several months ago, only three out of the five new disciples who entered Wu Dao Peak together remained alive.

It wasn’t just Wu Dao Peak; other main peaks’ disciples from the same generation were likewise suffering heavy casualties. Starting from this half-year milestone, the number of fallen disciples sharply increased, and it was unclear how many of the hundreds who entered the sect together still survived today.

Thankfully, despite the great risk involved, the rewards were also quite impressive. With these resources, Huang Ying officially broke through to the threshold of mid-Qi Refinement, reaching the fourth level of Qi Condensation. Fu An also reached the third level. It could be considered high-risk, high-return.

“You’ve reached mid-Qi Refinement?”

Huang Ying was about to say something else when she glanced at Chen Luo’s cultivation stage, only to find that she couldn’t understand it at all. She quickly realized what had happened, and shock flashed across her eyes before swiftly giving way to envy.

Huang Ying and Fu An braved life-and-death situations every day to go down the mountain on resource-gathering missions, barely managing to ascend to the fourth level of Qi Refinement as a result. Meanwhile, Chen Luo stayed holed up on the mountain, selling paper talismans to catch up with her cultivation progress. If Huang Ying had known that he’d already reached the fifth level of Qi Refinement, she would’ve been even more enraged.

“Is there really such a huge difference? Aptitude…is it truly so important?”

A hint of melancholy flashed through Fu An’s eyes.

Ever since joining the Divine Lake Immortal Sect, he hadn’t taken a single day off, believing wholeheartedly that despite his low-grade spiritual roots, he could defy all odds and change his fate, just like the five-elemental protagonist of the novel ‘Waste Material Transforms Into Immortal’. He thought he could sing his way to the top until finally achieving ascension.

Yet here he was now, only at the third level of Qi Refinement after all this effort, despite having received the same amount of resources and training tirelessly day and night. He watched Huang Ying surpass him, then Chen Luo, who had been “fishing” on the mountain the entire time, overtake him as well.

He still didn’t know when exactly he would reach the middle stage of Qi Refinement, especially recently, when he found himself clearly slowing down in his cultivation progress.