Chapter Forty-Four: Terrifying Consumption

Wang Changsheng clutched the cloth bag, a sense of unease stirring in his heart. This unease was not the fear that Old Mou would come seeking to reclaim the spirit stones and elixirs; he doubted Old Mou would remember such things for long. Rather, this was the anxiousness of a man who had suddenly come into great wealth.

Ever since Wang Changsheng’s windfall, he felt a certain emptiness and dread. The sudden acquisition of so many cultivation resources, coupled with the inscrutable motives of the sect, left him uneasy—perhaps there was some unspeakable purpose behind it all.

He calmed his agitation by circulating the Longevity Technique. Only after a session of breathing and focus did he manage to suppress his restlessness.

“With so many cultivation resources, if only I’d had them sooner, why would I ever have gone to the Shen Heaven Realm…” Wang Changsheng sighed.

Indeed, compared to the Cheng Heaven Realm, the Shen Heaven Realm’s greatest flaw was its thin spiritual energy. In such an environment, spirit stone veins could not form, making cultivation resources scarce.

Now, with these resources, whether in the Shen Heaven Realm or Cheng Heaven Realm, there would be no shortage of supplies for cultivation.

“But now, the Shen Heaven Realm is terrifying… I nearly got devoured by beasts, nearly eaten by humans, and now I’m being raised like livestock…”

He felt a thousand grievances, but had no one to confide in. Worse still, this sect intended to slaughter the “pigs,” yet complained they were too lean, deciding to fatten them up before they killed!

He was fully aware that he was being reared as a tribute, yet powerless to resist.

“What should I do? Use these cultivation resources, or not…”

He was at a loss. After all he had endured, he understood deeply that for a cultivator, nothing was more important than strength. With these resources, his progress in cultivation would be rapid.

The Longevity Technique required far more spiritual energy than other cultivators of the same rank.

Now with spirit stones and elixirs at hand, he had to decide whether to cultivate. If he advanced, his vigor would increase, and then he would face merciless slaughter.

“No matter, I’ll cultivate first and decide later!”

With a sweep of his hand, he stowed the cloth bag in his storage ring, returned to his room, and began cultivating with the spirit stones.

After careful consideration, he ultimately chose to cultivate.

He knew his own physical condition; if he did not cultivate, his body would soon wither away, and death would come all the same.

He had already faced that decline once, and then he truly understood despair—no matter what he did, he could not halt his body’s decay; his cries for help went unanswered.

Fortunately, his second uncle had appeared just in time to save him.

If he did not cultivate, he would certainly die.

As for cultivation, if his vitality grew strong, he would likely die as well. But if his strength improved, he would have more means at his disposal; perhaps he could find a way out.

Only by cultivating and growing strong could he glimpse a hope of survival.

Comparing the two options, Wang Changsheng chose cultivation—his most rational decision after weighing all possibilities.

Now, Wang Changsheng absorbed spiritual energy even faster. Where once a single low-grade spirit stone could sustain him for some time, now it lasted only a day. Moreover, understanding his predicament, he pushed the Longevity Technique to its limits.

“Still not enough!”

He opened his eyes, watching a spirit stone crumble to dust in his palm, determination flashing in his gaze.

He took out an elixir plant—unknown to him, but the spiritual energy emanating from it assured him of its quality.

The key was its spiritual energy.

He ate it—raw.

He swallowed the elixir in one gulp, chewed a few times, and let it slide down his throat.

“Ah…”

No sooner had he swallowed it than a searing pain tore through him—not from poison, but because the elixir’s spiritual energy was vast, far denser than that in a spirit stone.

A single spirit stone required a day to absorb, but consuming an elixir in one go released its energy all at once, surging from his stomach and buffeting his organs.

The agony was unimaginable.

Boom… boom… boom…

True energy mingled with spiritual energy, roaring within him.

“My meridians have snapped…”

He grimaced bitterly; he hadn’t expected that eating an elixir raw would result in such a consequence—the energy was simply too potent.

He hurriedly circulated the Longevity Technique. The broken meridians began to reconnect; fortunately, the Longevity Technique excelled in such matters, enabling him to repair the damage wrought by the surging spiritual energy.

Once the energy stabilized within him, he realized his dantian had expanded, and his meridians grew more resilient.

More importantly, he discovered that, quite unknowingly, he had broken through to the fifth level of the Open Meridian Realm.

“So aimless…”

Upon discovering his breakthrough, Wang Changsheng felt only bitterness, not joy; his vitality had increased, even the white hairs on his head were fewer, and his black hair now outnumbered the white.

“Is this not a step closer to death…” he muttered helplessly.

He knew full well that the faster he cultivated, the closer he came to his demise, but he dared not stop. Only by continuing to cultivate could he find a chance at survival.

What vexed him even more was that he had no idea how he had broken through.

Who among cultivators was more bewildered in their practice than Wang Changsheng? Likely none.

After his breakthrough, he did not pause, but continued to cultivate, taking out another elixir plant, brimming with even more spiritual energy than the last.

Chastened by his previous experience, he dared not swallow it whole; he had no wish to endure that agony again.

He took a moderate bite, held a spirit stone in hand, and began absorbing its energy. When the elixir’s energy waned, he replenished with the stone.

Though this slowed his progress, it spared him pain; the cleansing wash of spiritual energy left his entire body comfortable, and Wang Changsheng even let out a contented sigh.

Days passed slowly in cultivation.

When at last he found only an empty cloth bag in his hand, he realized he had exhausted his resources.

In his storage ring, nearly five thousand spirit stones lay untouched.

“My speed of absorbing spiritual energy keeps increasing…” Wang Changsheng was troubled.

By his calculation, these supplies should have sufficed to break through to the sixth level of the Open Meridian Realm, yet after his mad absorption and cultivation, he had only reached its threshold. To break through, he would need more spirit stones and elixirs.

But he was out of both.

“The sixth level… if I had another batch of resources like this, it should be enough!” he muttered.

What he did not know was that if other cultivators learned how quickly he absorbed spiritual energy, they would curse his wastefulness—or even want to kill him.

Given these resources, with steady cultivation, others could not only reach the sixth level, but perhaps even the seventh, eighth, or ninth. Yet Wang Changsheng, in just a month, had consumed them all.

He estimated he needed more to break through.

Without comparison, there is no pain; Wang Changsheng’s knowledge of the cultivation world’s norms was limited, gleaned only from Li Fusheng. If he knew how much more he consumed than others, he might reconsider cultivating the Longevity Technique.

Without backing, which wandering cultivator could afford such consumption?

He rose slowly, exhaled a long, turbid breath, and murmured, “Not bad… nearly at the sixth level. I wonder if there will be more resources this time…”

With that, he opened his door.

“Who’s there?!”

No sooner had he opened the door than a shout rang out, and Wang Changsheng felt a powerful aura pressing down upon him.

Recognizing the familiar aura, his expression changed instantly.

“Again!” he cried, leaping aside.

Boom!

Bang!

Two explosive sounds followed: the first as Old Mou’s fist smashed into the wall, shattering half of it; the second as Wang Changsheng, in his haste, fell flat on the ground.

Seeing Wang Changsheng evade his attack, Old Mou did not hesitate, circulating true essence and launching another assault.

The first strike was not serious, allowing Wang Changsheng to dodge; but this time, Old Mou used his full strength.

According to Old Mou’s judgment, a cultivator of Wang Changsheng’s level should not be able to evade—his punch should have dealt with the stranger.

As Old Mou attacked again, Wang Changsheng roared:

“Old Mou, stop! Stop!”

“It’s me, it’s me, I’m one of us!”

“I’m Old Wang from next door! Old Mou, we’re neighbors!”