Chapter 103: Taking The Yuan Gathering Pill
“Hiss—”
Chen Jin’s face still showed a look of panic as he sat up in the inn at Luofu Mountain Market.
A faint pain lingered in his mind, and he subconsciously touched his calf, relieved it was still there.
“This moth is a bit messed up, like a mentally twisted murderer.”
The ecstatic expression when it tasted his calf reminded Chen Jin of Hannibal.
Shaking his head, he cast away the strange thoughts from his mind.
Chen Jin sat on the bed and began to carefully consider what had just happened.
This exploration yielded a lot of information.
First was the mysterious bronze giant gate.
Behind the gate lay a massive amount of Primordial Qi, which could perhaps further strengthen his body. The creature carved on the gate, with a human head and snake body, surprisingly matched Fuxi and Nuwa from myths and legends.
Chen Jin was very curious about what lay behind the great gate and what the creature on the gate signified to the civilization of the Primordial Era.
Pangu created the heavens and earth, Nuwa mended them—were these legends only about the Blue Star, or did they also exist in the Primordial Era?
Of course, these were too far away for Chen Jin. What he truly noticed was the bronze halberd stuck in the moth’s back.
This weapon was abruptly stuck in the moth’s back, and its origin was unknown. However, based on the fierce aura Chen Jin sensed from it, he could be sure that this item was not ordinary; it was likely a weapon left by a cultivator from the Primordial Era.
If his guess was correct, then the value of this treasure would be immeasurable.
“So, the current key is still to focus on killing the moth.”
Chen Jin carefully considered the battle between him and the moth. To kill this beast, two points had to be resolved: one, a method for ranged attacks, and two, a way to defend against the moth’s mental attacks.
At the bottom of that deep valley, there was still a high temperature of one to two hundred degrees, making modern weapons like crossbows unusable.
Under such temperatures, bullets would directly explode in the chamber, the gun barrel would deform and lose accuracy, and the bowstring’s physical strength would plummet, even snapping directly!
“I still need to use projectiles.”
“But this moth is extremely agile, and the projectile’s flying speed must be fast enough!”
The spear was too large and heavy. It could carry immense kinetic energy, but its speed couldn’t keep up, making it impossible to hit!
Moreover, the speed wasn’t just slightly off; it was vastly different! The moth could directly bite and eat it, meaning that simply improving Chen Jin’s martial cultivation level wouldn’t solve this problem.
“It’s better to use small projectiles like flying knives or long nails. It doesn’t matter if their power is weaker, the important thing is to hit the moth!”
But this brought another problem.
These small projectiles were simply difficult to exert force with!
When throwing a spear, the entire body from the thigh to the waist and then to the arm exerts force! When switching to a flying knife, it mainly relies on the flick of the arm and wrist. Using the spear-throwing method, not only is it difficult for all the force to be transmitted, but the accuracy will also drop significantly!
If a person can unleash 2000J of energy when throwing a spear, 500J for a flying knife would be considered very good.
However, for Chen Jin, there was a very simple solution.
That was… mental power!
“In a few more days, the Inheritance Points from Beyond Martial Arts Hall will be distributed. It’s time to start cultivating mental power.”
If his mental power cultivation went smoothly, even a random pebble could be accelerated to the speed of a bullet! The moth wouldn’t be able to dodge!
Then, only the problem of resisting soul suppression remained.
This problem was actually very easy for Chen Jin to solve: he just needed to train his Beast Tamer talent.
The reason Wei Zun told him to cultivate mental power first instead of Beast Tamer secret techniques was because the soul strength of Beast Tamers was insufficient in the early stages, making it difficult to suppress opponents directly, unlike Mental Masters.
But if it was just for defense, it would be more than enough.
“Unfortunately, my Inheritance Points are only enough to redeem one of them, and I don’t have that much energy and time to cultivate both simultaneously.”
Chen Jin pondered for a while, not dwelling on it too much, and decided to continue cultivating mental power according to his original plan.
One problem at a time; being overly eager was not advisable.
However, now he had more important things to do.
Chen Jin’s gaze shifted to the enhanced Gathering Yuan Pills placed beside him, a hint of anticipation flashing across his face.
These thirty pills had cost him a full 450,000, and he had spent another month strengthening them in the Primordial Era.
Now, it was time to test their effects!
One hour later, in the cultivation room of Beyond Martial Arts Hall.
Chen Jin took out a Gathering Yuan Pill and swallowed it.
Soon, he felt a massive medicinal power spread through his Dantian. This medicinal power seeped into his meridians, quickly transforming into a large amount of True Force!
Chen Jin’s complexion lit up with joy!
The True Force provided by the enhanced Gathering Yuan Pill was at least double that of before! Moreover, it was more solidified and easier to condense into True Essence!
In terms of overall effect, it was close to triple!
Chen Jin didn’t hesitate and immediately began circulating the Golden Cicada Art to convert the dissolved True Force into True Essence.
Before long, Chen Jin’s Dantian was filled with True Essence. He didn’t stop but began to consume the stored True Essence, expanding the boundaries of his Dantian!
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Under the impact of the robust True Essence, the Dantian expanded bit by bit in all directions, like farmland being cultivated.
One hour later, the medicinal power completely subsided. His Dantian had expanded by about three percent compared to before.
Not much, but this was the effect of just one Gathering Yuan Pill, which was terrifying.
Furthermore, Chen Jin discovered another benefit brought about by the strengthened meridians.
That was, his meridians were extremely resilient, allowing him to take pills continuously!
“For ordinary people, even taking a regular Gathering Yuan Pill would require half a day to recover before taking another.”
“Moreover, if taken daily, it would cause continuous stimulation to the meridians, accumulating pressure. Therefore, ordinary martial artists, even if they don’t consider the cost, usually only take one pill every four to five days to avoid hidden dangers. Even rich young masters like Yikong Xiaduoduo, whose meridians are relatively strong, take at most one pill every two days on average.”
But Chen Jin had no such worries. His meridians were as tough as steel bars, and even taking the enhanced Gathering Yuan Pill posed no pressure.
He didn’t hesitate and continued to swallow the second pill.
Thus, in the following days, he began a frantic session of pill-taking.
He took 7 pills on the first day, 8 pills on the second day, slowed down on the third day, taking only 2 pills, and immediately increased it to 7 pills on the fourth day.
In this way, by the fifth day, he had consumed all 30 pills.
By then, his Dantian had expanded by a large circumference compared to the beginning, and its capacity for True Essence had increased by a full forty percent!
Feeling his body filled with True Essence, Chen Jin smiled, experiencing a sense of security.
“With my current strength, although my mastery of Thirteen Saber Slashes that Break the Void is not high, I should be able to reach the ninth slash even by pure True Force pushing!”
Chen Jin’s mind moved, and he approached the Punch Force Tester, unleashing a punch!
“Bang!”
The punching target made a dull thud! The numbers on the display screen rapidly flickered!
【6319kg! 】
“My punching power has increased by another ton compared to before.”
Now, even if Chen Jin simply unleashed True Force, his punching power surpassed that of most martial artists who had just entered the Innate Realm! It would take martial artists at the fifth or sixth level of the Innate Realm to match him!
Chen Jin then moved to the True Force Tester. As a blue light flashed, large numbers appeared on the display.
【Beep! Test complete! 】
【Your current total True Force is: 34.1, True Force Quality is: 7.3】
Looking at the data before him, Chen Jin’s smile deepened.
“The effect of the recent pills is getting weaker. It’s not a matter of drug resistance, but that the expansion of the Dantian is reaching its limit. This means I have basically completed the ‘Essence Replenishment’ stage of cultivation.”
“The True Force total of ordinary cultivators at this stage is around 12 to 13, with a True Force Quality around 3.0. In other words, the richness of my True Force is now about six to seven times that of cultivators at the same level!”
This number was slightly lower than before, but Chen Jin’s mentality was very stable. As martial cultivation improved, the gap in enhancement from the Primordial Era narrowing was normal.
Not only the enhancement from the Primordial Era, but also innate factors like talent and physique would narrow the gap, otherwise, how could a commoner like “Ji” stand at the pinnacle of the martial way?
However, even so, a gap of six to seven times was already terrifying, and it was no exaggeration to say it was a crushing advantage.
“After completing Essence Replenishment, the next step is Essence Forging.”
There was no specific standard for this step. Theoretically, if the True Force Quality reached 5.0, one could attempt to break through to the Innate Realm, meaning Chen Jin could attempt to break through to the Innate Realm now.
However, in reality, very few geniuses would do so; they would all strive to squeeze their potential to the extreme and condense the quality of their True Essence.
Like An Liang, although Chen Jin didn’t know her specific True Force Quality, the emitted True Force was so refined that it was at least 12.0 and above. Xia Duoduo also revealed that her father had told her not to rush to break through to the Innate Realm before her True Force Quality reached 10.0.
The reason seemed to be that at the moment of breaking through the Life and Death Profound Pass, the entire body would transform from postnatal to innate, greatly enhancing the body’s potential. Moreover, True Force entering the brain region for the first time would also greatly strengthen it.
The more robust the True Force and the more abundant the Qi and Blood, the better the strengthening effect!
Of course, there was no need to get stuck in the Gathering Yuan Realm indefinitely just for this enhancement; that would undoubtedly be like losing the bigger picture for a minor gain.
Generally speaking, it was enough to condense the True Essence to near its limit.
Taking a deep breath, Chen Jin was not impatient.
Essence Forging, like Meridian Opening, was a process that required gradual refinement. There were no auxiliary pills like Gathering Yuan Pills that were inexpensive and had direct effects. Helpful medicines cost tens of millions, so it had to be done slowly.
Now, it was time to start cultivating mental power.
Chen Jin picked up his mobile phone. Just as he was about to go to the Inheritance Room of Beyond Martial Arts Hall to redeem secret techniques, his phone suddenly emitted a soft “beep.”
He looked down and unlocked it, shocked to find dozens of unread messages in his message list.
This surprised Chen Jin. Usually, only Li Junjie and others would chat with him occasionally. He had no idea who had sent so many messages at once.
He tapped to open it.
13:34
【Sun Zhenyuan】: “Kid, you there?”
13:45
【Sun Zhenyuan】: “Reply quickly, urgent matter.”
13:57
【Sun Zhenyuan】: “No, where the heck are you, kid?”
14:22
【Sun Zhenyuan】: “Reply quickly, I’m not here to ask for money back!”
14:31
【Sun Zhenyuan】: “Smiling.jpg, see the message and come to school immediately, there’s great news!”
After that, Sun Zhenyuan urged him every ten minutes. It was already 5 PM.
There were also over twenty unread messages from Xia Lin, also urging him to go to school.
It could be seen that Xia Lin was very irritable at this time. Chen Jin strongly suspected that no matter what the matter was, he would be beaten up by the two of them if he went to school.
But he also knew that Sun Zhenyuan and Xia Lin wouldn’t look for him without reason, especially since it was winter break. He immediately replied to the messages and rushed to school.
However, upon arriving at the school, Chen Jin was surprised to find that Xia Lin and Sun Zhenyuan were not angry but were smiling and making him a cup of tea.
“Teacher, what’s the urgent matter you needed me for?” Chen Jin asked, confused.
“Oh, someone from the city is looking for you. Your previous performance caught their attention. They applied for a subsidy from the Education Bureau, and they have good things for you.”
Chen Jin was greatly alarmed, his pupils shaking: “Then where are they? They haven’t left already, have they?”
Sun Zhenyuan smiled and said, “No, the scheduled time is nine o’clock tonight. It was originally set for tomorrow noon, but there was a last-minute urgent matter, so it was moved up.”
Chen Jin: “?”
Chen Jin: “Then why were you teachers rushing me so much?”
Sun Zhenyuan leisurely took a sip of tea and said slowly, “I know you get so engrossed in cultivation that you neglect everything else. I was afraid you wouldn’t take it seriously if I didn’t urge you a few more times.”
Chen Jin: “.But you didn’t have to start urging me from one o’clock, sending a message every ten minutes. Don’t you find it bothersome, Teacher?”
Sun Zhenyuan: “WeChat has a new self-scheduled message sending function, it’s very useful.”
Chen Jin was speechless. Looking at the smiling and leisurely Sun Zhenyuan and Xia Lin, he seriously suspected that these two were just bored and deliberately messing with him. Otherwise, why didn’t they just say it directly on WeChat?
The urgency of their urging made Chen Jin think the sky was falling, only to find out that these two were actually leisurely drinking tea and chatting.
In fact, Chen Jin guessed correctly. These two were also unhappy about being called in for overtime during winter break and deliberately played a trick on Chen Jin to vent their frustration.
Chen Jin left the office in annoyance, not wanting to see them, and decided to go to the school’s cultivation room to hone his martial skills.
At nine o’clock in the evening, the people from the Education Bureau arrived on time.
Leading them was a refined middle-aged man, whom Chen Jin found somewhat familiar. He then remembered it was the person who had observed the battle from the high platform during the final exam.
Behind him followed a man and a woman. The woman wore a business suit and carried a briefcase, seemingly the middle-aged man’s secretary. The other person was dressed in casual wear, appeared to be in his early thirties, and had an extraordinary demeanor, with the calm and collected air of a master.
Sun Zhenyuan and Xia Lin stepped forward, and after exchanging greetings and pleasantries, the middle-aged man, seeming to be in a hurry, quickly got to the point.
“Hello, Student Chen. My name is Qu Jianbai. I am a commissioner under the Education Bureau responsible for assessment and ranking. Your performance during the final exam left a deep impression on me. I heard from the two teachers that you have also awakened the talent of a Mental Master. Is this true?”
Chen Jin nodded, then moved his mind, and the coffee cup in front of Qu Jianbai shifted a small distance to the side.
Qu Jianbai turned to look at the man with the extraordinary demeanor beside him. The latter nodded and said, “It is indeed mental power.”
Upon hearing this, Qu Jianbai revealed a heartfelt smile. He opened the briefcase beside him, took out a student file, and asked, “Student Chen, I see that you chose the 《Nine-ringed Shielding Technique》 in the Inheritance Room. Have you obtained any methods for cultivating mental power through other channels?”
Chen Jin thought, “If you hadn’t suddenly appeared, I would have gone to Beyond Martial Arts Hall to redeem it,” but outwardly, he shook his head.
Qu Jianbai smiled, “It is indeed difficult for commoner children like you to obtain books for cultivating mental power. But rest assured, the country will not overlook any talented individual.”
Saying this, he took out an A4 paper and said, “This is an agreement to confirm acceptance of the subsidy. As long as you sign it, you will receive a method for cultivating mental power!”
“Rest assured, this method was directly applied for by our city’s Education Bureau, and it is absolutely the most top-tier training method!”
“Furthermore, to help you get started quickly, we have also invited Mr. Wu to provide guidance. Mr. Wu is a Mental Master at the Mingxin Realm and will explain the basic rules and some practical tips for cultivating mental power in detail!”
