Chapter 6

Tang Chuyang originally started to guide the essence light points with a cautious mindset. However, when he activated his spirit to guide the elemental essence, the myriad light points of various colors within half a meter around him surged towards his sea of consciousness like flies drawn to the scent of blood, immediately scaring him pale, and without a second thought, he retracted his spirit.

When his consciousness returned to his body, Tang Chuyang realized he was drenched in cold sweat.

"What's going on?!"

Even though he was out of danger, Tang Chuyang was still somewhat shaken. According to Tang Chulan, other cultivators could only guide ten units of elemental essence at a time when they first started practicing, and that would already make them geniuses. But his spirit, with just a slight movement, had attracted at least ten thousand units of elemental essence, which, if all entered his sea of consciousness, would surely burst him!

The amount of elemental essence a cultivator can absorb is directly related to the strength of their spirit. From the lowest level of the First Essence Realm to the highest level of the Ninth Palace Realm, the colors of the spirits are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, silver, and gold, respectively.

An orange spirit represents the lowest level of the First Essence Realm, while a golden spirit represents the highest level of the Ninth Palace Realm. When Tang Chuyang shifted his attention to his own spirit, he was shocked to find that his spirit was not any of these nine colors!

Tang Chuyang's spirit was like a semi-transparent bubble, between a light white and transparent, with occasional colorful light streaks passing over it, displaying all the colors a spirit should have. From a distance, it looked like a kaleidoscope constantly changing colors.

"The problem must be with the spirit! Could it be because my spirit is a fusion of two souls that it has become so strange?"

This was the only reason Tang Chuyang could think of; otherwise, he couldn't explain why his spirit had such an incredibly strong ability to absorb elemental essence on his first try.

Having identified the problem, Tang Chuyang became somewhat troubled. At the beginning of cultivation, a cultivator's spirit is very fragile. A cultivator who can absorb and refine ten units of elemental essence in one go is considered to have superior talent.

If the amount of elemental essence absorbed exceeds ten units, the most likely outcome is that the fragile spirit and the innate divine seal will be burst by the massive amount of elemental essence, resulting in a head as shattered as a smashed watermelon, a sight as disgusting as it is horrific.

Clearly, refusing to cultivate was not an option. Based on the simple information Tang Chuyang knew, to live comfortably and without being bullied on the Five Elements Continent, one needed sufficient strength, or it would be like dreaming in broad daylight.

Therefore, despite being greatly shocked by the astonishing scene during his first cultivation, Tang Chuyang calmed down and closed his eyes, focusing his consciousness on his spirit.

This time, Tang Chuyang did not rush to absorb elemental essence but began to familiarize himself with his spirit. Spirit manipulation is a basic skill that every cultivator must master, as even when wandering in the upper realms, it is not absolutely safe.

Whether in the Immortal Realm or the Demon Realm, not all beings in the upper realms are friendly to a cultivator's spirit. If one encounters a celestial entity that specializes in devouring spirits and cannot escape or counterattack in time, the outcome is predictable.

After a full hour, Tang Chuyang felt he could manipulate his spirit with ease. He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and began to sense the elemental essence of the world.

As the lively light points of various colors appeared in Tang Chuyang's perception, he did not rush to guide the essence but chose to focus on a grayish-white light point. His perception, like an invisible hand, suddenly grabbed this gray light point, and with a swoosh, he instantly retracted his spirit's perception into his sea of consciousness.

"Phew, so this is possible!"

While familiarizing himself with his spirit, Tang Chuyang discovered something very interesting: his spirit could take on a form!

If Tang Chuyang's memory served him correctly, his second sister, Tang Chulan, had once told him that all cultivators' spirits, even those of the Ninth Palace Realm, were just light orbs.

But Tang Chuyang's spirit was different. Not only was its color unique, but its function was also extremely peculiar, as his spirit could transform into a human form!

Because of this realization, Tang Chuyang wondered if his spirit's perception could also take on a form, such as a hand to grab individual units of elemental essence. The experiment proved that his idea was very reliable; on his first try, he successfully captured a unit of elemental essence into his sea of consciousness.

The tiny light point of elemental essence was instantly devoured by Tang Chuyang's spirit as soon as it entered the vast sea of consciousness. As Tang Chuyang waited for something to happen, his spirit showed no reaction and did not even leave a trace.

According to the cultivation experience introduced by Tang Chulan, after a spirit devours external elemental essence, it should convert it into a more refined form of essence, using half to nourish the spirit and the other half to strengthen the cultivator's innate divine seal and physical body. However, the current situation left Tang Chuyang at a loss.

"Is it because one unit of elemental essence is not enough?"

Tang Chuyang thought of a possibility, which was the most likely reason for the current strange situation. After a brief hesitation, he released his perception again. Since he could now capture elemental essence at will, he was not worried about being chased by thousands of light points as before.

After capturing another light point, his spirit still devoured it completely without leaving a trace.

"Alright, let's keep going. I don't believe I can't feed you!"

Tang Chuyang began to quickly capture elemental essence one by one, and eventually, he boldly brought back ten units at once. The semi-transparent spirit still showed no reaction. Finally, Tang Chuyang gritted his teeth and brought in over a hundred units of elemental essence into his sea of consciousness!

Then two hundred, four hundred, one thousand, two thousand, five thousand, until he brought back over ten thousand units of elemental essence, the spirit finally trembled slightly and released a thin, milky-white thread of essence, which wrapped around Tang Chuyang's deep blue innate divine seal.

"Damn! What am I doing?!"

Staring in disbelief at the spirit devouring over ten thousand units of essence before releasing such a tiny amount of refined essence, Tang Chuyang suddenly felt an urge to slap himself a few hundred times. If he had known this, he would have brought in all the essence at once, rather than spending dozens or even hundreds of times more effort to achieve what could have been done in a second!

However, after feeling depressed, Tang Chuyang realized something incredible. Others might self-destruct by absorbing a dozen units of essence at once, but he had absorbed over ten thousand units on his first try, and his spirit only showed a slight reaction. Compared to those geniuses, what level was he? Super genius? Monster? Freak?

Not thinking about what he couldn't understand, Tang Chuyang, who had struggled and suffered in his previous life, had long cultivated this beautiful habit. Being able to absorb over ten thousand units of essence on his first try, and doing so without any significant reaction, was something no one would believe. Therefore, Tang Chuyang decided not to think too much about it and began to absorb elemental essence recklessly.

After all, Tang Chuyang had already experimented and found that even if he extended his spirit's perception to the limit, he could only attract less than twenty thousand units of essence at once. And his spirit had to devour over ten thousand units of essence to release such a thin thread of refined essence, clearly indicating that even if he absorbed more elemental essence, it would not significantly affect his spirit. The semi-transparent bubble was like a bottomless pit!

When the room outside was completely bright, Tang Chuyang, who had just finished his first cultivation, looked at the black impurities expelled from his pores with a shocked expression. In just one night, he had completed the Qi Induction stage, which he had estimated would take at least half a year!

The completion of the Qi Induction stage is marked by the expulsion of a large amount of impurities from the body, with a significant increase in physical strength, speed, and resistance to damage, far exceeding that of ordinary people by five times!

Looking at the large amount of black, disgusting impurities covering his body, Tang Chuyang's expression was more of shock than joy.

"Damn! Even if being reborn comes with benefits, this is too overpowered! What others take a year to achieve, I did in half a day?!"

Despite his disbelief, the physical sensations confirmed that everything was real. Without a doubt, he had completed the Qi Induction stage in just half a day and was now in the second stage, 'Qi Condensation and Spirit Connection'!

Knock, knock, knock!

"Little brother, are you up yet? Hey! Tang Chuyang, your second sister is here to see you, get up quickly!"

The loud knocking and Tang Chulan's sharp voice jolted Tang Chuyang out of his daze. He looked down at his black, disgusting body and quickly wrapped himself in a brocade quilt to avoid scaring his second sister.

"Second sister, I broke out in a stinky sweat last night, and the room smells terrible. Could you please ask someone to prepare some hot water for me to take a bath?"

This was the perfect excuse, and Tang Chuyang almost didn't hesitate before shouting it out. After saying that, he remained silent.

"Hey! Kid, who gave you the nerve to order your second sister around?! Fine, wait a moment, I'll get the water for you!"

Tang Chulan had intended to scold Tang Chuyang, but remembering that he was still recovering from his injuries, she stomped her foot in frustration and went to arrange the hot water for him, planning to deal with him properly once he recovered.