Volume 5 Chapter 51
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Volume 5 Chapter 51: Progress (Part 2)
As Xu Qingfan slowly withdrew the "Flourish Qi" and "Withered Qi" back into his dantian, the spiritual glow emitted by the two strands of Spirit Qi gradually faded away. Xu Qingfan finally opened his eyes.
Because of the intense pain caused by using the "Formula of Life and Death" to transform his body, Xu Qingfan’s eyes were bloodshot, and coupled with the blood flowing from his ears and nose, his appearance was even more terrifying.
However, once he opened his eyes, Xu Qingfan, disregarding the image of a cultivator or a master at the Condensed Core Stage, instantly collapsed onto the bed and lay there panting heavily.
These past two years of continuously using the "Formula of Life and Death" to transform his body brought him pain far beyond his imagination. More than once, Xu Qingfan felt on the brink of collapse—both physically and mentally. Yet when he thought about the upcoming chaos and calamity in the cultivation world, his disciples and Jiuhua standing behind him, and the helplessness he felt during battles due to a lack of power, Xu Qingfan gritted his teeth and persevered.
He did not know how many times he teetered on the edge of collapse, nor how many times he gritted his teeth and held on. In the end, even Xu Qingfan himself did not realize that he managed to endure the terrifying pain for a full two years.
It seems that Xu Qingfan was unaware that beneath his calm demeanor lay an unusual resilience and determination.
Yet despite this, when it was all over, Xu Qingfan still felt that his body and Divine Sense were numb from the painful torment, with no feeling at all. Exhausted in both mind and body, he felt like a mortal who had traveled a thousand miles, panting with his tongue out.
After a long time, Xu Qingfan’s body finally regained some sensation. No longer hesitating, he forced himself to sit up cross-legged again, took out a bottle of "Blood Spirit Pill" and some elixirs used to stabilize the Divine Sense from his sleeve, poured out a few, and immediately swallowed them, then resumed meditating.
"The Formula of Life and Death" can reshape a body, but the reshaped body needs Xu Qingfan to use the medicinal power of "Flourish Qi" and "Blood Spirit Pill" repeatedly to restore its functions and drive away fatigue. Otherwise, the body will become numb like Xu Qingfan’s just was, and eventually it will gradually lose vitality.
After two years of torment, Xu Qingfan’s Divine Sense is close to collapsing, similar to when he was repeatedly struck by the "Art of Annihilation" from Zhang’s followers. It needs immediate healing.
This is why Xu Qingfan is so eager to meditate and cultivate once more.
This session of meditation took Xu Qingfan a full three months, but when he opened his eyes again, the bloodshot lines disappeared, replaced by a sharp gleam, and the pallor of exhaustion on his face was replaced by a healthy glow.
After two years of arduous transformation, Xu Qingfan’s "Flourish Qi" and "Withered Qi" have grown stronger and are used more freely. Despite enduring much damage, his Divine Sense is now more robust and resilient after recovery. Xu Qingfan is now just a step away from the mid-phase of solidifying his core.
If only for these reasons, Xu Qingfan feels that the pain and hard work of the past two years have been worth it.
Sensing that his Spirit Qi and Divine Sense had fully recovered, Xu Qingfan closed his eyes again, finally having the chance to feel the changes in his body and abilities.
After examining and testing his body, Xu Qingfan showed both satisfaction and disappointment. The grueling practice of the past two years changed his body in ways that pleased him, but also left him wanting more.
"The Formula of Life and Death" can improve a cultivator’s abilities, but its effects are slightly inferior to Liu Huaxiang’s secret techniques. In these two years, Xu Qingfan used "The Formula of Life and Death" eight times in total to transform and reshape himself. On the first use, it increased his capacity to absorb Spirit Qi from thirty percent to almost fifty percent, delighting Xu Qingfan. He believed that in a few years, he might increase this to ninety percent or more.
However, what followed left Xu Qingfan somewhat disappointed. The effects of using the "Formula of Life and Death" to transform his body became less and less effective. By the eighth time, the results were almost negligible. After completing the ritual eight times, Xu Qingfan could only retain less than seventy percent of the Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi.
Xu Qingfan estimated that using the "Formula of Life and Death" could potentially elevate his talents to the level of Feng Qingtian Jin Qinghan Ting’er. But as the effects kept diminishing, truly reaching that level might take several decades.
With a great disaster looming, the one thing Xu Qingfan lacked was time. So after noticing that the eighth try had minimal effect, Xu Qingfan decisively stopped using the "Formula of Life and Death" to transform his body and talents. Although it was important, Xu Qingfan had more pressing matters to attend during his retreat.
As he felt the sixty-seven percent of Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi being absorbed into his body, Xu Qingfan sighed lightly. Although he was a bit regretful, he wasn’t dissatisfied.
It’s important to note that initially, Xu Qingfan couldn’t retain any Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi at all. But now, capturing sixty-seven percent was just enough to meet the cultivation world’s standard of a "genius." Of course, this "genius" status was relative, still falling short compared to Feng Qingtian Jin Qinghan Ting’er. Yet, it was a significant improvement from his earlier state. At least now, his accumulation of Spirit Qi would be twice as fast in future practices.
More importantly, after the continuous transformation from the "Formula of Life and Death," the countless cycles of "Flourish Qi" and "Withered Qi" breaking down and rebuilding his body, Xu Qingfan gained greater confidence in perfecting the formula. His body’s resilience and vitality became much stronger than before, leading to an unexpected benefit.
That benefit was a significantly increased harmony between "Flourish Qi," "Withered Qi," and Xu Qingfan’s body.
Previously, because of the vastly different natures of "Flourish Qi" and "Withered Qi," Xu Qingfan had to be extremely cautious every time he used both Spirit Qis simultaneously. If they met, they would clash beyond Xu Qingfan’s control, potentially causing his body to collapse instantaneously.
Over the past two years, while the "Formula of Life and Death" transformed his body, "Flourish Qi" and "Withered Qi" were constantly clashing. This allowed Xu Qingfan to develop strategies to handle it. Moreover, with the increased compatibility between the Spirit Qis and his body, the damage caused by their conflict was now far less severe than before.
This led Xu Qingfan to have ideas about another goal for his retreat: improving his first magical ability, "Wind of Desolation."
Before Xu Qingfan started practicing "Flourish Qi," he followed the principle of wood and fire generating wind. By combining "Wood-type Spirit Qi" with "Phoenix Spirit Qi" and adding the highly destructive "Withered Qi," he created his first magical power—"Wind of Desolation."
However, as the "Wood-type Spirit Qi" absorbed the Holy Spirit aura from the "Holy Spirit Stone" and slowly transformed into "Flourish Qi," the conflict between "Flourish Qi" and "Withered Qi" made it increasingly difficult to use this ability, and using it became very dangerous.
But now the situation is different. With methods to handle the conflict and the greatly improved compatibility of the two Spirit Qi with his body, the damage caused by their clash is significantly reduced. Additionally, the various injuries Xu Qingfan experienced during his transformation into the wind have lessened. Thus, if "Flourish Qi," "Phoenix Spirit Qi," and "Withered Qi" are merged again, the damage stays within a range Xu Qingfan can tolerate.
Although "Flourish Qi" absorbs the Holy Spirit aura from the "Holy Spirit Stone," it essentially remains wood in nature. When combined with "Phoenix Spirit Qi," it can still transform into wind, and this wind, compared to ordinary wind magic, has more spirituality and a holy aura.
Xu Qingfan’s original plan for modifying "Wind of Desolation" was to remove the "Withered Qi" from it, leaving only the combination of "Flourish Qi" and "Phoenix Spirit Qi" to form the "Wind of the Holy Spirit."
However, doing so meant that aside from being effective against certain evil cultivators practicing special magic, the attack power of "Wind of the Holy Spirit" was far less than the previous "Wind of Desolation," which left Xu Qingfan helpless.
But now, with the greatly reduced harm from the conflict between "Flourish Qi" and "Withered Qi," Xu Qingfan came up with another idea.
Generally, he would still use the "Wind of the Holy Spirit," but when he needed to boost the attack power, he could mix "Withered Qi" back into the "Wind of the Holy Spirit." This would create tremendous destructive power due to the clash between "Flourish Qi" and "Withered Qi." This destructive power would surpass that of either "Wind of Desolation" or "Wind of the Holy Spirit" alone. An opponent caught in such wind would directly face the conflict between "Flourish Qi" and "Withered Qi," and even if their cultivation was not less than Xu Qingfan’s, their body would collapse instantly.
According to Xu Qingfan’s vision, this kind of wind could be called the "Wind of Destruction," and together with the "Wind of the Holy Spirit," it is collectively known as the "Wind of Life and Death," which is the first divine power transformed by Xu Qingfan.
However, the "Wind of Destruction" poses significant harm to Xu Qingfan’s body and cannot be used lightly, but once unleashed, it is hard for an opponent to escape severe injury or death.
