Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World

Chapter 492: Chapter 267: Spirit Bone Testing; Half a Qi Gathering Pill

Under Cheng Zongyang’s gaze, the color of the black paper began to gradually change.

The black faded away, replaced by green, red, and blue. The three colors spread like a gradient, gradually covering most of the paper’s surface.

Green took up about two-thirds of the area, followed by red, and then blue.

At the same time, Cheng Zongyang also noticed two thin yellow and gold lines along the edges.

Having supplemented his knowledge about Spirit Bones from his readings, he now understood that what was called a Mortal Bone wasn’t a complete absence of affinity. Instead, the proportion was simply too small—so small it was practically negligible, which was why it was given that name.

The same was true for Spirit Roots.

This result indicated that he possessed Spirit Bones for all five attributes, but they were heavily skewed toward the first three. The last two—yellow and gold—were negligible.

This meant he possessed Spirit Bones of the wood, fire, and water attributes!

’These three attributes... seem pretty good.’

Cheng Zongyang wasn’t concerned with the number of his Spirit Bones. After all, he had the Wilderness World and the marketplace hut. Even if he possessed an affinity for all Five Elements, he was confident he could maintain a cultivation speed that wouldn’t lag behind others.

These three Spirit Bone attributes even seemed to follow a nurturing cycle.

Water nourishes wood, and wood fuels fire.

’According to the records, I have a tri-attribute Spirit Bone, so I should also have a tri-attribute Spirit Root. I wonder if I can buy a Spirit Testing Stone. I should buy one later and take it back with me. It would be good for testing the aptitude of my clan members and the core members of the gang.’

Cheng Zongyang put away the Spirit Testing Paper, a clear direction for his future cultivation now in mind.

Back in his room, Cheng Zongyang took out a bottle of Qi Gathering Pills. These elixirs were different from the Qi Condensing Pills he had used before. Qi Condensing Pills were better suited for Innate Martial Artists, significantly accelerating the conversion of Qi and Blood Power into True Qi for Upper Three Grades Martial Artists and even those at the Innate Realm. Their effects far surpassed the Qi Blood Pills he had taken previously.

The Qi Gathering Pills in his hand, however, were intended for Qi Cultivation Practitioners in the early stages. They were not suitable for ordinary Martial Artists.

This type of elixir promoted the influx of Spiritual Qi, helping a Cultivator absorb and refine it to enhance their Cultivation.

However, if a Martial Artist were to take one, it would accelerate the cleansing of impurities from their Qi and Blood Power and advance the process of Washing Marrow and Chopping Bones. But due to their inability to absorb and refine Spiritual Qi, it would also lead to damaged meridians—even severe ruptures—requiring an immense cost in High Tier Elixirs to repair.

Therefore, almost no Martial Artist would be reckless enough to consume an elixir meant only for Cultivators.

Cheng Zongyang, however, was an exception!

The reason was simple: he had the marketplace hut.

’Damaged meridians? The hut can just fix them. What I need to do now is break through to the next Realm as fast as possible! I have to get back to the County Town before the year is out.’

He sat cross-legged on the bed, stored the Qi Gathering Pills in the marketplace hut, and sent his consciousness in after them.

When he appeared inside the hut, Luo Dingran and the others were nowhere to be seen. He didn’t look for them. Instead, he sat on the wooden bed and began circulating the Innate Qi Technique to regulate the flow of energy in his body and stabilize his physical state.

About fifteen minutes later, Cheng Zongyang telekinetically pulled the bottle of Qi Gathering Pills from the counter and tipped one out. He didn’t toss the whole thing into his mouth. Instead, he cut it in two and popped one half in.

’I’ll test the effect of half a pill first!’

Cheng Zongyang dry-swallowed the half-pill. Almost immediately, he felt an indescribable, pleasant energy from the outside world seep through his skin and flood into his body.

He could clearly perceive that this energy was undoubtedly Spiritual Qi.

The very Heaven and Earth Energy that only Qi Cultivation Practitioners could absorb and refine!

Just a moment later, Cheng Zongyang felt the unabsorbable Spiritual Qi roaming through his body, beginning to fill his meridians to their breaking point.

The influx of this foreign Spiritual Qi triggered his brain to issue an emergency command: an attempt to refine the energy and protect his body’s functions.

The process was like activating an internal defense mechanism. His Qi and Blood Power circulation sped up in an attempt to absorb or expel the foreign Spiritual Qi, much like white blood cells mobilizing to fight a virus.

That was right. For an ordinary person, and even for a Martial Artist, a small amount of Spiritual Qi was beneficial. But an excessive, unabsorbable amount that interfered with normal bodily functions could essentially be considered a type of "virus."

Under the combined effects of Cheng Zongyang’s conscious Breath Regulation and his body’s instinctive self-preservation, his Qi and Blood Power constantly assailed the roaming Spiritual Qi.

However, with each impact, the rampaging Spiritual Qi paradoxically began to purge impurities from his Qi and Blood Power, reducing the amount of useless or aged energy.

In this process, the Spiritual Qi seemed to act as a reverse catalyst, promoting the further purification of his Qi and Blood Power and making it even more refined.

At the same time, this purification process also accelerated the refinement of his True Qi, making it purer and allowing it to be generated more quickly.

As his Qi and Blood Power was refined and its impurities purged, his Bone Marrow rapidly activated its hematopoietic mechanisms to replenish what was lost. This cycle of depletion and regeneration actually accelerated the speed of his body’s Washing Marrow and Chopping Bones.

The excess Spiritual Qi entering his body set off a chain reaction.

However, this chain reaction came at a price.

Because the unabsorbable Spiritual Qi was continuously scouring his meridians, it gradually began to cause damage. Even his Five Viscera and Six Bowels, as well as muscles all over his body, began to throb with a dull pain.

Cheng Zongyang was aware of these changes the entire time. When he felt the pain spreading through his body, he knew he had reached the limit of how much Spiritual Qi he could withstand.

’Only half a pill!’ Beads of sweat dripped from Cheng Zongyang’s forehead.

As the pain intensified, he had no choice but to use the wooden bed to heal himself.

After an automatic scan of his condition, the treatment was classified as High Level, and Three Thousand Points were instantly deducted.

The effect was remarkable. As soon as the points were deducted, his internal injuries healed instantly. But moments later, he once again felt the Spiritual Qi running wild inside him!

Seeing this, Cheng Zongyang knew he had to find a way to stop the influx of Spiritual Qi and expel what was already inside his body. He summoned a Tang Blade from thin air, got off the bed, and began executing the Illusionary Blade Martial Art.

Among all the Martial Arts he knew, the Illusionary Blade was the most difficult to cultivate, demanding an exceptional mastery of speed.

He needed to expend the energy stored in his meridians, be it Spiritual Qi, True Qi, or Qi and Blood Power.

Only by depleting the current reserves would there be room for anything new! And the Illusionary Blade happened to be the Martial Art that consumed the most Qi and Blood Power or True Qi!

As Cheng Zongyang frantically practiced the Illusionary Blade, constantly channeling his True Qi, his reserves began to diminish noticeably.

However, his rate of consumption still couldn’t outpace his body’s own recovery rate, which was accelerated by the Spiritual Qi’s marrow-washing effects. He had no choice but to increase the intensity of his training further, hoping to achieve a greater effect.

As he picked up the pace, his True Qi consumption grew even more intense. Gradually, only one persistent thought remained in Cheng Zongyang’s mind: ’Faster! Even faster!’

Completely absorbed, he failed to notice that his Illusionary Blade was now a continuous stream of afterimages. Nor did he realize that on his personal interface, the progress bar for his Illusion Blade Skill was skyrocketing at a shocking rate, even faster than when he had trained in extreme environments.

It was this frenzied training, this state of complete self-abandon, that rapidly depleted his Qi, Blood Power, and True Qi. This, in turn, caused the Spiritual Qi to be pulled along in their current. The scattered Spiritual Qi from all over his body was guided into his meridians, becoming controlled and orderly.

Of course, this change was achieved because his rapidly circulating Qi and Blood Power and True Qi were "dragging" the Spiritual Qi along with them. Cheng Zongyang had unintentionally gained control over the Spiritual Qi, causing it to gradually converge in his right hand.

It was precisely this Spiritual Qi that, as his muscles suffered severe damage and even began to break down from the extreme speed and overexertion, passed through the damaged areas and repaired them!

But this also meant that the Spiritual Qi was being used up!

Thus, in this unexpected fashion, the Spiritual Qi in his body began to be "circulated" in an orderly manner.

External Spiritual Qi entered his body, circulated through all his meridians, scoured and cleansed his Qi and Blood Power, flowed into his right arm to repair and strengthen the damaged muscles, and was ultimately consumed.

This process lasted for nearly half an hour. The influx of Spiritual Qi stopped, and the energy already inside his body was completely used up.

By now, Cheng Zongyang’s skin was covered in a layer of gray filth—the impurities expelled from the cleansing of his Qi and Blood, the refining of his True Essence, and the process of Washing Marrow and Chopping Bones.

At that exact moment, however, with the repairing support of the Spiritual Qi gone, Cheng Zongyang’s brain issued another self-preservation command, forcing all the strength to drain from his body.

His body went limp, and he collapsed to the floor.