Chapter 341 - 337: Inner Qi Autophagy! Food Creation and the Grand Play!

Ma Ran released his hand, and the crimson dragon-embedded straight-blade Tang Blade transformed into a cloud of light smoke, disappearing without a trace, returning to his body in an instant.

He gazed calmly at Su Qiangwei, yet his tone carried a hint of amusement: "The ’Burning Martial’ system seems somewhat like cultivation immortality, but in fact, there’s a significant difference."

"Ascension?"

"There’s no need for that."

"I’ve mentioned it before; you might not have noticed."

"After communicating with the ’Profound Immortal’, I gained a lot."

"Besides overcoming the Thunder Tribulation and breaking through to the seventeenth rank of Inner Qi, I’ve also grasped some mysteries of world ascension."

At this point, Ma Ran said with certainty: "As the number of Extraordinary Ones increases, Earth’s ’Heavenly Dao’ is also gradually taking shape. In the near future, Earth will no longer be a ’Shallow Pool’."

"It will gradually upgrade to a ’Sea’, and perhaps even higher existence!"

Constantly upgrading, becoming stronger to the limit of the world, and then leaving directly...

That’s not Ma Ran’s style.

Perhaps it’s a bit of an emotional complex of "hard to leave one’s homeland", or perhaps it’s a deep-seated protective obsession, Ma Ran’s initial script was global sublimation, rather than traversing other civilizations to stir up trouble continuously.

After speaking, Ma Ran said no more.

Su Qiangwei nodded her little head repeatedly: "Got it! It’s good not to ascend!"

To be honest, having Ma Ran by her side is really reassuring.

Although they compete with each other usually, Su Qiangwei also admits that the ’Prophet’ is indeed a very reliable guy.

No matter what problem she encounters, she can always trust Ma Ran and rely on him.

She truly couldn’t imagine how Earth would be now without this guy, or how much responsibility and burden she would have to carry.

Feeling that her thoughts had strayed a bit and unconsciously beautifying Ma Ran’s image, Su Qiangwei blushed and forcefully changed the subject: "You mentioned ’Profound Immortal’ again just now..."

She glanced at Ma Ran’s half-white, half-black hair, and her tone became somewhat complex: "Was using the ’Foreknowledge’ ability to help Zhao Guanlan foresee the ’Sea Demon Calamity’ and then trading that information too much of a loss?"

No one knows when the exchange between the ’Prophet’ and the ’Profound Immortal’ was completed or what kind of transaction occurred.

But staying beside Ma Ran all the time, Su Qiangwei could roughly guess some of the content of the transaction.

It was nothing more than the ideas and concepts of the third-generation cultivation system on Cangming Star plus Zhao Guanlan’s personal views on the general changes on Earth.

As for how much lifespan Ma Ran sacrificed for it, she didn’t know.

Honestly speaking, Su Qiangwei felt a bit distressed and thought it was not worthwhile for her comrade-in-arms.

"Don’t think too much."

Ma Ran smiled freely and said: "It’s still the same sentence I said before."

"Time can’t keep up with my pace."

"As long as I accelerate the development of the Inner Qi system fast enough, my lifespan will keep increasing."

"In my view, lifespan, power, money, these things are all the same in a certain sense."

"Hoarding them like a miser is meaningless."

"Only by circulating them can value be created."

Originally, the saying "Superpower Erosion of ’Limited Foreknowledge’ overdraws lifespan" was just a pretense; Ma Ran anticipated that with his current state and lifespan, living into the mid-twenty-second century was easy and usual.

So...

He truly wasn’t lacking lifespan.

"Moreover..."

Ma Ran continued speaking, with Light Inner Qi swirling between his fingers, condensing into a bowl of seemingly real beef noodles, handing it to Su Qiangwei: "Originally, our country’s coastline would also be affected by the Sea Demon Calamity, resulting in heavy casualties, far exceeding the total of the A3 District incident and the Lotus City Demon Mountain battle."

"As part of the transaction, the ’Profound Immortal’ will confine the activities of the alien sea creature ’Feng Yuji’ within his jurisdiction."

"So..."

"This transaction isn’t actually a loss."

"In the long run, it’s even highly profitable."

"After all, the purposes of the ’Profound Immortal’ Zhao Guanlan and ’Sword Master’ Lin Qiubai, ’Demon Youth’ Zhang Kuang differ."

"Without any surprises, he will remain on Earth."

Su Qiangwei listened to all this.

But most of her attention was focused on the bowl of beef noodles in her hand.

The soup was rich, the noodles were chewy, and the diced beef on top gleamed with a rosy, lustrous sheen.

Just by appearance, it looked no different from real beef noodles.

However, it lacked any aroma.

Su Qiangwei activated her ’Pandora’ ability, conjuring a pair of chopsticks from her fingernail, and tried a bite.

"Wow! Such pure Inner Qi!"

"These noodles can directly replenish Inner Qi!"

"If they could be stored long-term, they’d be the ultimate strategic resource!"

"It’s a pity it doesn’t taste like beef noodles at all, only your aura."

With that, the young girl pretended to dislike it: "Eating these noodles feels like hugging you while munching on them."

Despite her words, she still quickly slurped down the entire bowl, even consuming the bowl made of Inner Qi.

"So, this is just a semi-finished product."

Ma Ran responded calmly: "This is one of my ideas for the eighteenth rank of Inner Qi."

"If the created Inner Qi food could perfectly mimic taste and aroma, it could permanently increase the Inner Qi limit and further refine Inner Qi."

"Although it can also be given to others for consumption, doing so would be a loss."

"Inner Qi food is mainly made for oneself to eat."

Su Qiangwei immediately understood his implications: "This isn’t an ordinary ’Food Creation Technique’! This is..."

"Cellular autophagy!"

The literal meaning of autophagy is "to eat oneself."

"Cellular autophagy" is a critical process in eukaryotic organisms for turnover of intracellular material.

In this process, some damaged proteins or organelles are enveloped by double-membrane autophagosomes and sent to lysosomes or vacuoles for degradation and recycling.

Like the theory of the life cycle of the immortal jellyfish, in the eyes of some Earth researchers, there also lies a possibility of longevity or even immortality within cellular autophagy.

By completing Inner Qi autophagy through the Inner Qi Food Creation Technique, one further purifies and sublimates the essence of Inner Qi in this process.

This...

Is very scientific!

The issue is, at Ma Ran’s current level, shouldn’t he be adding a bit of fantasy aura into the ’Burning Martial’ system?

"Don’t get caught up in this."

Ma Ran smiled slightly: "When I reach the eighteenth rank of Inner Qi, you’ll definitely be the first to know."

"What’s more important now is the imminent ’Sea Demon Calamity’ in Japan."

"Tell me, what are your thoughts?"

Su Qiangwei raised her eyebrows: "You’re testing me?"

"The ’Profound Immortal’ Zhao Guanlan now has the ’Yin Yang Master’ Ogata Shitou and the ’Blazing Rock Funeralist’ Zhou Yu as his henchmen, and the Profound Immortal Team’s influence is rapidly expanding, it’s already established."

"However, the Profound Immortal Team now is just a castle in the air, looking splendid but, in fact, lacking any foundation."

"They lack popular trust and public support."

"The Sea Demon Calamity, to the Profound Immortal, is not a disaster but an opportunity."

At this point, the young girl sneered: "You know this, I know it, Zhao Guanlan and those people on the Japanese side all know it."

"Those vested interests have surely found the location of ’Feng Yuji’, yet they haven’t prematurely awakened it."

"How much conspiracy and scheme are hidden in this, no need to elaborate, right?"

"So..."

"Tomorrow, ’Feng Yuji’ will awaken at the exact time you predicted, but it won’t be the main character."

"We’re in for a grand play."