Chapter 269: To Strengthen Oneself Is a Constant Journey
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
An Lin returned to his living quarters and began to cultivate through tempering his core.
The Beast Core within his body was growing brighter and brighter, shining like a miniature sun within his sea of vital energy.
The energy contained within the Beast Core was already extremely dense. An Lin had an indistinct feeling that he had reached a certain threshold and breaking through the threshold would allow him to also make a breakthrough in his cultivation base!
In a short span of one year, he was already close to reaching Spirit Nurturing Intermediate Stage. This was all thanks to the Divine Liquid Creation Technique as well as Wings of True Fire, which combined to strengthen his body and increase the size of his sea of vital energy.
Only after building a strong foundation could he progress quickly through the ranks.
The next day, An Lin traveled to Dou Shuai Palace and traded Emperor Ziwei’s immortal pill coupon for a Five Elemental Immortal Pill. This was a sixth-grade immortal pill which could improve the consumer’s control over the power of the Five Elements.
The Evergreen Technique, Wings of True Fire, Divine Liquid Creation Technique, and Earth Lotus Supreme Skill were all cultivation methods which tied to the power of the Five Elements. He felt like the Five Elemental Immortal Pill would further his proficiency in those techniques and provide the impetus for his breakthrough.
Thus, he swallowed the immortal pill right in front of Yi Xi.
This was an experiment of his. Even if he couldn’t make a breakthrough, gaining further proficiency in his control over the Five Elements wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Soon, he could feel his blood begin to boil as the effects of the immortal pill took effect.
Blue liquid began to surface on his skin as a lotus flower containing the power of earth appeared on his forehead. On top of this, crimson wings of flames began to appear around his body, and a green halo materialized above his head, emitting powerful life force energy.
All four of his cultivation methods began to manifest themselves on his body!
Yi Xi widened his eyes as his breathing accelerated. “There it is, this the qualitative change in the immortal pill I was talking about!”
Boom!
Vital energy suddenly began to surge in the air before condensing into a huge wave of vital energy which converged above An Lin’s head.
The vital energy created a vortex of over a thousand feet, engulfing the sky above them in a spectacular show.
In the end, the vital energy began to surge into An Lin’s body, assisting him in completing his transformation.
Yi Xi’s knees gave out from under him as he sat onto the ground with his mouth hanging wide open. “This is a true mighty figure in immortal pill-consumption. Not only did he activate a qualitative change in the power within his body from consuming the immortal pill, he even managed to make a breakthrough in his cultivation base! What fearsome skill!”
The vortex of vital energy gradually subsided.
An Lin stood up and looked around with bright eyes as he felt the new energy surging around his body.
From this day forth, he was a Spirit Nurturing Intermediate Stage cultivator!
“Congratulations on your successful breakthrough, Mr. An Lin!”
Yi Xi immediately offered up words of congratulations and stared at An Lin as if he was looking at his idol.
“This is all thanks to the immortal pill you refined for me, Elder Yi Xi.” An Lin joined his hands in a grateful salute.
“No, no… it was clearly because of your unmatched skill in consuming pills…
“Ahem… I was wondering if Mr. An could perhaps give me some directions on how to consume immortal pills…” Yi Xi asked a little sheepishly.
Asking someone how they consumed pills was a very abrupt question. Especially as An Lin was probably using some sort of mystic technique in conjunction with consuming the pill to bring out the best effect. His question was akin to asking a magician to reveal how their magic tricks worked.
However, the pill-consumption technique An Lin demonstrated was simply too sensational, Yi Xi couldn’t bear to pass up this opportunity.
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely provide you with a satisfactory reward for your disclosure!” Yi Xi continued eagerly as if he was afraid An Lin would refuse.
An Lin scratched his head with a puzzled expression.
What the hell was he saying? All I did was swallow the pill and digest it.
This was like someone suddenly coming up to you and asking you to instruct them on how to eat food. For f*ck’s sake, even a three-year-old child knew how to eat; you’d have to be a retard to require instructions on how to eat!
Yi Xi could see from An Lin’s perplexed expression that he was unwilling to disclose his secret.
This was most likely a highly confidential secret so it was normal that An Lin didn’t want to tell anyone.
After a brief moment of disappointment, Yi Xi soon recovered his composure. Even if An Lin didn’t tell him his secret technique, Yi Xi was determined to figure it out by himself! This was his pride as the disciple of the Lord Lao Zi, and there was nothing that could stump him!
An Lin was a little perplexed by the situation and decided it was best to bid Yi Xi farewell. He then immediately fled the scene.
After rising into the air, he turned his gaze upon the system anxiously.
The “cultivate hard and improve every day” phrase that the system had thrown at him was a severely traumatic experience. It was only through extremely good fortune that he managed to encounter a lot of miraculous events which helped him break through to Spirit Nurturing Intermediate Stage within the span of a year.
Now that his cultivation base had changed, there should be a new set of instructions in the system’s taskbar.
Spirit Nurturing Final Stage—Condition: Slay an Emperor-level sea monster through your own strength.
An Lin’s expression faltered at this condition. “This…”
Emperor-level sea monsters were the same as Emperor-level demons; only after reaching the Soul Formation Stage were they worthy of the title.
As for sea monsters, there were plenty in both the East Sea and the West Sea. As long as he was diligent, he would definitely be able to find one.
This mission was essentially asking him to challenge an enemy above his own cultivation base. What if he used the Gundams to beat a sea monster to the brink of death, after which he delivered the killing blow? If the system counted this as slaying a sea monster “through his own strength”, then this task really wasn’t very difficult at all.
Obviously, An Lin wasn’t going to pass up the chance to improve his cultivation base through completing a system mission, especially when the mission seemed like a very achievable one. After all, progress in cultivating through normal means was far too slow. Even a prodigy of the highest caliber would require quite a few years to make each breakthrough.
An Lin was unwilling to waste that much time. He wanted to catch up to Xu Xiaolan as soon as possible.
With that in mind… Let’s go slay a sea monster in the East Sea during this holiday period!
An Lin immediately departed after making his decision!
He set off at the crack of dawn with Xiao Chou and Da Bai in tow.
After making a final decision on his plans, An Lin suddenly felt like he was forgetting something.
“Why do I have the feeling I’ve forgotten someone?” He furrowed his brows in deep thought.
I’ve got Xiao Chou… and Da Bai…
“Holy f*ck! Xiao Hong!” An Lin yelled in sudden realization.
He suddenly remembered his little red flower as his eyes widened in shock.
Da Bai also came to a realization at An Lin’s exclamation. “Woof! I knew there was something missing recently, turns out it was Big Sister Hong! Perhaps she’s still with Xu Xiaolan! ”
An Lin grimaced. “I don’t think she came out after diving into Xu Xiaolan’s lap at the Winter Dragon Tomb… It’s been so many days, I can’t believe we’ve never noticed her absence…”
“Big Sister Hong’s sense of existence is diminishing further and further, she’s probably already returned to the Vermilion Bird Sect with Xu Xiaolan.” Xiao Chou shook his head in resignation.
An Lin slapped his forehead and sighed. “So be it, she can photosynthesize in the Vermilion Bird Sect anyway. We don’t have much time. Let’s set off for the East Sea immediately!”
Da Bai wagged his tongue. “Aren’t we going to recruit some team members? Woof!”
“Xiaolan has to return to her sect to consolidate Shen Yin’s inheritance, Su Qianyun needs to stay by Chang’e’s side, and Big Brother Cheng is in seclusion at the Ten-Thousand Spirits Immortal Sect and won’t come out until he reaches Spirit Nurturing Final Stage.” An Lin sighed in resignation.
There were two Spirit Nurturing Final Stage cultivators in their class now. Su Qianyun lived up to her title as a Dao-mad cultivator, her dedication to her Dao allowed her to make extremely quick progress to become the first student to reach Spirit Nurturing Final Stage in their class.
Xu Xiaolan, on the other hand, managed to make a breakthrough after exploring the Winter Dragon Tomb.
When Xuanyuan Cheng learned of this, he was completely distraught. He was a student that had been granted a letter of recommendation from a True God; to be overtaken by two of his classmates in quick succession was too much for him to bear.
Hence, An Lin was unsurprised that Xuanyuan Cheng made the decision to put himself into seclusion in order to improve his cultivation base as quickly as possible.
“It’s just an Emperor-level sea monster, we can take care of it ourselves!”
An Lin wore a calm and confident expression. It was just a Soul Formation Stage sea monster, what did he have to fear?
“Let’s go, Da Bai, Xiao Chou, we’ll set forth to the East Sea immediately!”
