Chapter 1147: Chapter 847: Cultivation Process Inconsistent with Description
"So this is the legendary meridians?"
Li Zheng "saw" that there were countless invisible thin lines within his body, these lines spread throughout every corner of his body, some branching out like capillaries, dense and hard to find.
If it weren’t for his extraordinarily strong spiritual power, he might not even be able to "see" those dense branches.
Recalling the cultivation technique description, Li Zheng gained some understanding in his heart.
"The human body has the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, which serve as the main pathways for the meridians, the main use in cultivation is through these main pathways."
"And those branches...seem to have no important role, generally speaking, each meridian that is opened is beneficial for cultivation, the more meridians opened, the faster the cultivation speed, and the greater the power of using divine techniques."
"Additionally, some branches from the Eight Extraordinary Meridians can also play different amplification roles in different cultivation techniques, for example, this Left Focus Yang meridian group, when fully opened and cultivated, facilitates the circulation of spiritual qi within the body, and is a crucial part required in all cultivation techniques."
"The Myriad Evils Demon Technique primarily cultivates the three meridian groups: Left Focus Yang, Right Focus Yang, and Central Hub."
"Left Focus Yang and Right Focus Yang have different functions individually, and when both are opened, they can extend additional amplification properties according to the characteristics of the cultivation technique, paired with the Central Hub meridian..."
"There are even more variations within."
"Alright, it seems this cultivation technique is like a program code, there are fundamental rules to follow, it’s not as simple as what’s written in novels."
Thinking of those immortal cultivation novels read long ago, the protagonist and their mother-like divinity, getting a secret manual allows them to cultivate, closing their eyes makes them unbeatable within the same realm, and leapfrogging levels lets them exchange for equal value.
Those people couldn’t even explain what cultivation is, why cultivation is possible, or why spiritual qi can circulate within the body.
Forcibly pushing the issue, they’ll spew some vague nonsense like "The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao," and then trigger resonance with the great Dao, receive blessings from the Heavenly Dao, suddenly comprehending and rapidly advancing in cultivation, becoming unstoppable by gods.
The main tactic being a bunch of nonsense.
Half an hour later, Li Zheng opened his eyes, looking at the now transparent and pure stone in his hand, lost in thought.
"What does this mean?"
He had only opened half of the Left Focus Yang meridian group, and a spirit stone was already used up?
That abundant spiritual energy, completely absorbed into the body, yet not even one meridian group could be fully opened?
Crack!
With a gentle pinch of his finger, the once indestructible spirit stone became fragile as if it were lime, turning to powder between his fingers.
Taking out another spirit stone, Li Zheng closed his eyes and continued cultivating.
Half an hour later.
Crack!
The second spirit stone was entirely consumed.
Continue.
Crack!
Continue!
Crack!
...
Crack!
...
Crack!
As cultivation continued, spirit stones were used up increasingly faster, from one every half hour at the start to one every five minutes by the end!
"What the heck, this isn’t right?"
After an unknown period, Li Zheng stopped cultivating, looking at the pile of spirit stone powder in front of him, bewildered.
Over a hundred spirit stones were used up, yet he couldn’t open all of the main three meridian groups?
This doesn’t match the description in the cultivation technique records.
Didn’t it say one spirit stone could satisfy an ordinary cultivator’s cultivation needs for ten days or half a month?
Yet he had used up over a hundred by now?
Is it due to different physique?
Or is it because of different race?
Or perhaps the environment is the issue?
Regarding physique, he was what Yan Jinjin referred to as the "Formless Body", judging by Yan Jinjin’s envious look, the "Formless Body" is definitely a protagonist-level physique, possibly not found in millions in the world Yan Jinjin came from.
So needing a bit more for cultivation makes sense... right?
In terms of race, he was originally a transmigrator, from Earth.
And then a clone subjected to multiple genetic technology modifications.
So needing a bit more for cultivation seems reasonable... doesn’t it?
Regarding environment, this universe is different from the world Yan Jinjin came from, there is no natural spiritual qi supply for cultivation needs, entirely dependent on spirit stones for energy.
So needing a bit more for cultivation is quite reasonable... is it?
"Forget it, I don’t understand this area of knowledge, such professional matters require experts to solve the mystery."
Li Zheng temporarily didn’t dare to cultivate. Even with three explanations, the consumption of spirit stones was abnormally high, unlike normal behavior. He needed to find Yan Jinjin to clear things up to avoid any problems.
Arriving at the Basic Research Institute, Yan Jinjin had now become a thoroughly professional researcher. Clad in a plain white coat paired with glasses, he looked the part.
However, as his knowledge expanded, so did his arrogance. Nearly everyone in the Basic Research Institute was beneath him in his eyes, carrying an attitude of superiority.
"Your problem is easy to solve. The fundamental incompatibility between Fire Ability and Water Ability lies in the absence of a buffering medium. I’ll help you organize it later and measure your genetic compatibility to select a suitable buffering medium for you."
"Money? The Basic Research Institute never focuses on monetary issues. You just need to leave your genetic sample and promise to provide it whenever needed in the future."
"Lab rat?"
"No, no, no, don’t equate your status with a lab rat. Your kind of consumable is worth less than a healthy mouse here."
"Any other questions? If not, then head to the room over there to clean yourself inside and out—don’t dirty my experiment table like last time... cough, I mean the medical bed."
"Next!"
As soon as Li Zheng entered, he saw Yan Jinjin sitting importantly behind a silver metal table, barking orders at the long queue in front of the table.
After the research results of the Basic Research Institute were published, they quickly spread throughout the entire district, and even races from other districts came over to try out the new genetic abilities.
After trying it, they found that this new genetic ability was not only much more powerful than before, but even its endurance problems were substantially improved.
Without much extra promotion, the races spontaneously spread the new genetic abilities.
Compared to the technology side’s armed weapons, this stronger control power was certainly more welcomed by the Outer City residents, with many longtime residents willing to drain their savings to try to develop new genetic abilities.
And the Basic Research Institute could also use these people to expand the gene pool and collect more data for research purposes.
To put it bluntly, Yan Jinjin was using the Outer City residents as experimental subjects.
However, he also had an eye for it; knowing that the Fourth District was Li Zheng’s foundation, he used only mature research results on the residents of the Fourth District. With no fewer than a thousand clinical cases as research support, generally, there wouldn’t be any problems.
"Master!"
Yan Jinjin raised his gaze to greet the next guest at the table, but spotting Li Zheng’s arrival, he sprang up, obsequiously nodding and bowing like a dog pleasing its owner.
"What brings you to the Basic Research Institute today? Anything you need me to do for you?"
"A little something." Li Zheng played with a spirit stone in his hand, "First handle things here, then find a quiet place for me to discuss something."
Seeing the spirit stone in Li Zheng’s hand, Yan Jinjin’s eyes twitched, changing to a fiery gaze. He called to a passing researcher eagerly, "Hey, you with eyes all over your body, come handle the requests of these consumables! Forget about whether it’s professionally compatible, just roll them into the room to clean themselves inside and out while waiting!"
After speaking, he sheepishly turned to Li Zheng, "This way, Master."
Leading the way as he spoke.
Li Zheng followed behind, only speaking after distancing from the crowd, "When did I allow you to entertain residents from other districts?"
Smack!
Sweat instantly appeared on Yan Jinjin’s forehead.
He wiped his sweat repeatedly, "Rest assured, Master, I know my limits. Mature research results and powerful genetic abilities are given priority to residents of our district. Those consumables only receive unstable genetic injections; it’s all for the residents’ future in our district."
"After all, this research requires vast amounts of material support. The diverse genetic material from other district races has its unique virtues. Wouldn’t it be great if it could be utilized by us?"
"Having limits is essential." Li Zheng wasn’t familiar with these messy things, but he was warning Yan Jinjin, preventing him from doing anything rash without permission.
The key was developing something useful; if anything excessive came out, even Li Zheng’s power couldn’t manage it, and trouble would ensue.
Soon, under Yan Jinjin’s guidance, they arrived at a room remodeled into a medical room.
Rooms in the research institute applied space expansion technology, making the interior much larger than the exterior.
However, space expansion has limits. The primary research technology comes from the special rules within the Matrix, extracted from capsule dwelling.
In the Matrix, as long as the terminal is willing, it can gradually upgrade the capsule dwelling, stretching limited space to an incredibly large value.
Outside the Matrix, without such special rules, space expansion is restricted, at most reaching about twenty times its original size without further development.
This means space expansion technology has reached its limit; unless a new breakthrough is found, it can’t advance further nor push this technology forward.
"Master..."
Yan Jinjin’s eyes burned with curiosity, wanting to ask about the spirit stone, but he swallowed his words, instead questioning Li Zheng’s purpose here, "Master mentioned needing something resolved. What’s troubling you?"
"Just a minor issue." Li Zheng shared the doubt he faced during cultivation.
Yan Jinjin listened closely, shaken, "Master... are you saying there’s a cultivation technique usable in this world?!"
He had previously tried; the cultivation techniques he knew couldn’t be practiced in this universe.
Summarizing the reasons, he identified two possibilities.
First, world rule restrictions kept cultivation techniques from functioning.
Second, the absence of Spiritual Qi.
Just like a car lacking suitable fuel for power, it naturally couldn’t operate.
Precisely due to being unable to cultivate previous techniques and unwilling to abandon the mighty power from cultivation, Yan Jinjin devoted himself to researching gene technology, seeking alternate methods.
Yet now Li Zheng spoke of a cultivation technique and spirit stone supply? How could this not delight Yan Jinjin?
"Is the cultivation technique the main point?" Li Zheng was displeased, "Explain why my spirit stone consumption is so exaggerated compared to records?"
"Well..." Yan Jinjin pondered briefly, seriously responding, "I believe your estimation is correct; it’s the influence of those three factors."
