Chapter 75 - 63: The Strong Are Full of Surprises

After learning there was no Erysipelas in his body, Zhong Ming suddenly recalled something.

’The Clear Sound Spring Stone can cleanse the Divine Soul, washing away the fatigue and pain from the Heart Soul. Inspired by that, I once wondered... could I rely on the principle of the Flow of Water to wash my own injuries, pain, fatigue, and other negative conditions out of my body and into the world?’

’And the Erysipelas remaining in my body is undoubtedly a negative condition. Did I actually succeed? Has my Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water gained the ability to transfer injuries?’

Glancing at his own body—which had become more delicate, yet healthier and immeasurably lighter—Zhong Ming’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. He was becoming more and more certain of his guess.

And because of this, he couldn’t hide the smile spreading across his face.

’This is a truly powerful skill. It’s full of surprises.’

He was ecstatic. Seeing his joyous expression, Xie Yushuang also seemed to realize something. A flicker of change crossed her cool expression, followed by a hint of—shock.

Although, she quickly masked her emotions.

"You’ve figured out the reason for the changes to your body?"

"Yes. If I’m not mistaken, it’s an effect of the Dao Rhyme I comprehended."

"..."

Zhong Ming’s words made Xie Yushuang clench her elegant fists tightly. The others around them also fell silent.

As the absolute core of the team, Zhong Ming’s every move drew attention.

Thus, others had noticed when Xie Yushuang went to speak with him. Since nothing was hidden, they soon learned that Zhong Ming had no Erysipelas in his body, and that this was due to the influence of his Dao Rhyme.

They understood just how significant this was—to have no Erysipelas, and for it to be the effect of a Dao Rhyme.

Yang Chen: "Whoa. If he can control it at will, does that mean that as long as he has enough Spirit Stones, Zhong Ming can take Elixir Pills without limit and raise his cultivation indefinitely?"

Lin Shuyu shook his head at this. "It’s not that exaggerated. Besides Erysipelas, Elixir Pills can also cause an unstable foundation."

"Besides, a lot of the time, what limits our cultivation advancement isn’t the accumulation of Magical Power, but our Cultivation Method Realm. You have to practice your Basic Technique to a certain level before you can break through. Otherwise, no matter how many Elixir Pills you take, you’ll just be spinning your wheels. Your cultivation won’t increase one bit... You’ve all probably run into this kind of bottleneck, right?"

These words brought back some bad memories for Qi Hong. "I definitely have. I was stuck at the sixth level of Qi Cultivation for a whole six months before I finally broke through during a life-or-death battle."

Yang Chen: "Me too..."

Thinking about the difficulty of Cultivation—and how the hardest part was advancing one’s Dao Practice (the Cultivation Method Realm, which can also be described as one’s comprehension of heaven, earth, and nature)—Shi Yun, Yang Chen, and the others all felt a bit melancholy.

At the same time, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief, feeling that Zhong Ming’s advancement was still within the realm of their understanding.

But just as they thought they could finally make sense of Zhong Ming, Shi Yun suddenly slapped his forehead as if waking from a dream. "Wait, have you all forgotten something? Zhong Ming isn’t like us. For us, the Cultivation Method Realm is a major hurdle. But for our junior brother, his greatest strength is his enlightenment. The Cultivation Method Realm has never been able to hold him back."

"..."

This time, even Lin Shuyu couldn’t refute it.

"So, being able to take Elixir Pills without limit is a huge deal for Zhong Ming?"

"To say it’s like adding wings to a tiger would be an understatement."

At this point, Lin Shuyu couldn’t hold it in any longer.

"Isn’t Cultivation supposed to be hard? Aren’t you supposed to toil for years just to make a tiny bit of progress? How is someone improving every single day?"

"This isn’t Cultivation at all!"

Zhong Ming’s overly rapid progress had nearly shattered his Dao Heart.

At this moment, he felt that his own years of cultivation were a complete joke.

...

Zhong Ming couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to how his progress was affecting others.

Having realized his Dao Rhyme had the effect of washing away Erysipelas, Zhong Ming immediately began to experiment.

GULP...

Opening his mouth, Zhong Ming first swallowed an Elixir Pill and began to circulate the Longxi Breathing Technique—he needed the Erysipelas to be present in order to wash it away.

DING!

After consuming the Elixir Pill, things were different from when he had only been circulating the Longxi Breathing Technique.

This time, Zhong Ming also activated [Bright Mirror Stilled Water - Ripples], observing the respiration and rhythm inside his own body from a unique perspective.

HUMMM...

Naturally, Zhong Ming’s own Magical Power wouldn’t resist his Power of the Mind, allowing his observation to be countless times more detailed and profound than when he probed others.

Through this special mental vision, he saw his own organs operating in an orderly fashion, like an array of precise mechanical parts.

He saw the Elixir Pill that had entered his stomach emit jade-white and emerald-green fluctuations, which then spread throughout his entire body.

He also saw his cells and organs continuously absorbing these rhythms, strengthening themselves.

He even saw a stream, like a speeding train, rushing through his body—that was the path his Magical Power took through his channels.

At the same time, a portion of the Spiritual Qi released by the Elixir Pill was captured by this ’stream-train’ and carried along with it, flowing through his channels.

’But only a small portion is captured by the stream. The vast majority of the medicinal power overflows and dissipates... This must be why the human body can only absorb thirty percent of the medicinal power from most Elixir Pills, huh?’

At any other time, upon seeing the Elixir Pill’s Spiritual Qi dissipate, Zhong Ming could only let it go to waste, helpless to do anything.

But after comprehending Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water, everything was different.

HUMMM...

With a mere thought from Zhong Ming, a special rhythm permeated his Magical Power.

[Flowing]

All things flow, and water dissolves all things, capable of becoming a vessel for any power.

BOOM!

Magical Power was also a type of ’water’.

The rhythm of the Flow of Water made Zhong Ming’s Magical Power the perfect vessel for dissolving any power. Once the energy released by the Elixir Pill was captured by his Magical Power, it would merge into it.

Relying on this flow and fusion, Zhong Ming’s utilization of the Elixir Pill’s Spiritual Qi shot up to seventy percent in one go.

But soon, Zhong Ming frowned. It was the same principle as before: power merely flows, it doesn’t disappear.

Zhong Ming had only allowed the external Spiritual Qi to merge with his Magical Power; he hadn’t had time to refine it yet.

And after absorbing a countless amount of Spiritual Qi, Zhong Ming’s Magical Power immediately became heavy.

It was like a train loaded full of cargo.

Just like a real heavy-duty truck, the heavy Magical Power became difficult to control and hard to steer, and it put excessive pressure on its tracks (channels), creating all sorts of hidden dangers.

’Looks like I can’t intercept it all. Seventy percent is my limit...’

Letting the other thirty percent of the medicinal power dissipate from his body, Zhong Ming began to activate Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water and refine the Elixir Pill’s Spiritual Qi.

—He had once said that comprehending a Dao Rhyme would accelerate his Spiritual Qi refinement speed, and he hadn’t been joking.

Normal refinement involves a Cultivator using their Qi and Blood Power and the Power of the Divine Soul to infuse the unowned Spiritual Qi from nature, branding it and turning it into the Cultivator’s exclusive Magical Power.

His Affinity for Water made the water-attribute Spiritual Qi in nature naturally drawn to Zhong Ming. When refining this type of Spiritual Qi, he only needed to expend half the effort.

’Speaking of which, this is also the advantage of having a second-grade or first-grade Spiritual Root. Since their bodies have a high affinity for Spiritual Qi, they only need to use a third, or even just a tenth, of the effort I do to refine Spiritual Qi into their own Magical Power.’

’The existence of my Affinity for Water allows me to catch up to them to a certain extent.’

The Affinity for Water was useful, but right now, Zhong Ming was more concerned with [Flowing].

’This Dao Rhyme isn’t just for attacking or defending.’

HUMMM...

With a thought from Zhong Ming, his Qi and Blood Power and Power of the Divine Soul no longer crudely enveloped and refined the Spiritual Qi.

Instead, they rippled outwards, layer by layer, like concentric waves.

HUMMM...

As these waves swept over the unowned Spiritual Qi, they would infuse it from within.

This meticulous infusion made Zhong Ming’s speed of refining Spiritual Qi several times faster than normal.

Before the Spiritual Qi could even complete a full circulation, Zhong Ming’s Power of the Divine Soul and Qi and Blood Power had already placed his brand upon it.

However, this method was not without its consequences.

BOOM!

The ripples of Qi and Blood and ripples of the Divine Soul spreading through his body also created chaos within him. Externally, this manifested as his complexion turning flushed one moment and pale the next.

’This won’t work. The human body is a precise system. Randomly inducing ripples and vibrations will cause an internal imbalance.’

To solve this problem, Zhong Ming activated Mind Reading with a thought.

This time, he treated his own organs as a book, reading their True Intent and comprehending their mysteries.

[You have used Mind Reading and understood a part of the mysteries of the human organs. Your Reading progress has increased by 9.]

[You have used Mind Reading and understood a part of the mysteries of the human organs. Your Reading progress has increased by 11.]

After two consecutive readings, he actually found a solution.

’Inducing random ripples and vibrations is definitely not the way to go. But my body already has vibrations occurring at all times.’

With that in mind, Zhong Ming’s focus fell upon the source of the human body’s power—the heart.

THUMP!

THUMP!

THUMP!

The endlessly beating heart was like a drum, pushing Zhong Ming’s blood to flow to every part of his body.

And now, Zhong Ming mixed the power of the Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water into it.

THUMP!

After merging with the power of the Flow of Water, Zhong Ming’s heart continued to beat just as it had before.

But now, with every beat, it would stir up a ripple of Qi and Blood.

HUMMM!

This ripple would rush into Zhong Ming’s channels, infusing the unowned Spiritual Qi within them layer by layer.

’It worked!’

Just like that, his constantly beating heart became the main engine driving Zhong Ming’s refinement of Spiritual Qi.

Although the layers of Qi and Blood ripples spreading through his body also made his skin flush crimson,

because only his heart was beating so powerfully, it merely made Zhong Ming feel hot all over, as if he’d just gone through a round of extreme exercise like a normal person. It wasn’t like before, where the conflict of Qi and Blood had caused a faint imbalance within his body.

’Whew... The human body truly is a precise system. You can’t just change it at will.’

’However, while major changes are a no-go, applying a few small patches that follow its natural flow is perfectly fine.’

After this moment of reflection, joy filled Zhong Ming’s heart.

’So, with my heart acting as an engine, how many times faster is my Spiritual Qi refinement speed now?’

’Three times? Or five times?’

’With this refinement speed, it seems I’ll be able to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Cultivation by the end of the month, even without advancing my Cultivation Technique to the Third Realm, right?’

It could only be said that there was a reason why Yi Yunya and the Xie Family valued Dao Rhyme so highly, rushing to ally with and befriend Zhong Ming the moment they discovered he had comprehended one.

A Dao Rhyme truly was a Divine Skill. Its uses weren’t limited to combat; it also had endless wonderful applications in daily cultivation.

’But I can’t stop practicing my Cultivation Technique either. My goal isn’t just to reach the early mid-stage of Qi Cultivation. Yan Chen of Molten Fire Peak and Su Lingya of Cuixiang Mountain certainly won’t be waiting for me at the mid-stage of Qi Cultivation.’

’If I want to lead the struggling Longxi Peak to first place, I must become even stronger.’

"Huuu, haaa..."