Chapter 25

### Chapter 25: The Three Stages of Innate

He had thought that only his Star Absorption Technique possessed such a mysterious function, allowing his body, meridians, and spirit to reach their optimal state. However, it now seemed that this was not the case; as long as one had money, the items in this world were also incredibly powerful!

Of course, the price of these restricted drugs was terrifying!

Take, for example, the Heaven-Breaking Pill, which was specifically used to break through the bottleneck from the third to the fourth stage of Innate. One pill alone cost two hundred yuan stones! That was two million silver notes! Think about it, in Wuzhou, he had helped many people break through their bottlenecks, and he only charged each person a thousand taels!

"I've lost a fortune!" Ding Hao cursed inwardly.

Restricted drugs also had a significant drawback: many of them had side effects. Therefore, Ding Hao would not choose to take them directly.

He continued walking forward, and a restaurant appeared ahead.

Ding Hao had a thought and walked in.

"Two pounds of braised bristle beast meat, three taels of Wuzhou Bai." A customer in front of him ordered these.

Ding Hao followed suit, "Two pounds of bristle beast meat, three taels of Wuzhou Bai."

Before long, the braised meat and wine were placed in front of Ding Hao. These items cost him one-fifth of a yuan stone. The broken yuan stones were not something Ding Hao broke on the spot; there were specially cut half-yuan stones, quarter-yuan stones, and even smaller pieces available for change.

After sitting down, Ding Hao picked up a piece of the braised bristle beast meat, dipped it in some sauce, and found it mouth-watering and increasingly fragrant with each chew. It was indeed delicious. This meat was nourishing, but in Ding Hao's view, the spiritual energy was thin, and the effect was limited; it would take long-term consumption to have any significant impact.

Wuzhou Bai was a local wine from Wuzhou, very strong, and much more pungent than wine on Earth.

Ding Hao took a sip and saw a kitchen helper walk in, say a few words to a young man in the hall, and the young man immediately looked delighted and followed the helper into the kitchen.

After a while, the helper came out again, and Ding Hao beckoned him over.

"Waiter, what did you just say to that young master?"

The helper didn't hide anything and said, "That gentleman just reserved a bowl of Spirit Rice."

"Is that so." Ding Hao asked, "We're not in the outer domain anymore, so why are you still being so secretive?"

The helper smiled, "After all, this is still a border village. Those officials might come to inspect at any time, so we have to be careful."

As they were talking, a military officer entered with several soldiers and shouted, "Routine inspection!"

Ding Hao was taken aback, not expecting to run into an acquaintance. This officer was none other than Zhou Genwei, the magistrate of Wuzhou City.

After being demoted, Zhou Genwei was stationed in this village.

The innkeeper saw him and hurriedly smiled, leading them to a private room upstairs.

Ding Hao, wearing a black cloak, went unnoticed by Zhou Genwei.

After they went upstairs, Ding Hao said, "Your business isn't easy, either."

The helper sighed, "Indeed, these people eat and drink, and when they leave, they demand a bribe."

Ding Hao thought to himself that Zhou Genwei could always find a way to enjoy good food and drinks. He then asked, "Waiter, how much do you sell Spirit Rice for?"

The helper replied, "Sir, Spirit Rice is very valuable and hard to transport. Each time, it needs to be reserved. However, you're lucky; this batch has a bit more. Spirit Rice costs two yuan stones per bowl."

Previously, the merchant had said that Spirit Rice cost two yuan stones per bowl, but now Spirit Rice cooked in a bowl cost two yuan stones, which was a completely different price.

Ding Hao said, "I don't want cooked Spirit Rice; I just want the raw Spirit Rice. How much per bowl?"

"Raw Spirit Rice, huh." The helper said, "I'll have to ask the innkeeper."

A moment later, the innkeeper came down, and the helper explained the situation. The innkeeper smiled and approached, asking, "Sir, are you planning to transport it? However, be careful; Spirit Rice is very sensitive to the will of heaven. Each time, you can only carry a very small amount. I advise you not to take the risk."

"What's it to you? Just sell it to me," Ding Hao said.

The innkeeper smiled, "I'm not worried about anything else, but Spirit Rice is very hard to come by. If someone else in the village gets it, won't they compete with me?"

Ding Hao said, "You don't need to worry about that. I'm sure your price won't be cheap, and others won't have any profit margin. Besides, I plan to grind it into powder and consume it myself. I'll use your private room upstairs, and I'll leave after I'm done."

The innkeeper listened and said, "That works!"

After some haggling, they finally agreed on five yuan stones per bowl, and it was a very small bowl. In Tucheng, it only cost two yuan stones, so the profit margin was significant. However, because it was so precious, transportation was also very dangerous, and many people had died in the process.

In the private room on the second floor, Zhou Genwei and his group were still drinking and making a lot of noise, while Ding Hao had already spent ten yuan stones to buy two small bowls of Spirit Rice.

"Go get a small stone mortar."

"Yes, sir."

The helper quickly brought a stone mortar, which was used for crushing garlic and was clean.

Ding Hao said, "Grind both bowls."

"Sure thing." The helper thought he had never seen such a strange way to consume Spirit Rice, but since the guest needed it, he was duty-bound to comply.

The two bowls of Spirit Rice were quickly ground into powder. At this point, the innkeeper and the helper no longer worried that Ding Hao was a competitor. Who would buy it in this state?

The innkeeper and the helper then left the private room.

Ding Hao, of course, wouldn't eat it. He lifted his black cloak and placed his hands in the powder, his eyes shining with joy.

"Spending ten yuan stones was worth it; the spiritual energy in these two bowls of Spirit Rice is unmatched by thousands or even tens of thousands of ordinary pills!"

"Star Absorption Technique, absorb!" Ding Hao's eyes glowed with joy.

While using his hands to absorb the spiritual energy from the two bowls, he closed his eyes and began to sense the Original Pill.

At this moment, his Star Absorption Stone ring was stored in his storage pouch, so no one could compete for the spiritual energy.

Although his black qi vortex immortal root would also absorb some of the energy, it was not as greedy as the Star Absorption Stone, and most of the spiritual energy flowed continuously into his dantian.

This spiritual energy was like white smoke, enveloping the large Original Pill.

Ding Hao had once asked others about their Original Pills, which were generally only half the size of his, and some were as small as a fingertip. His, however, was the size of a child's fist, making it quite large.

Because his meridian opening had a high level of spiritual energy, he received more rewards from the will of heaven, making his Original Pill particularly large!

The larger the Original Pill, the better. When it dissolves, the Sea of Qi will also be larger!

So, good talent means a larger Original Pill and a larger Sea of Qi, which allows for faster cultivation and greater strength. One stage of Innate is equivalent to two stages for others, and two stages of Innate are equivalent to three or even four stages for others. This allows one to progress further on the path of cultivation!

Therefore, in this world, valuing talent and admiring geniuses is not wrong. One step ahead leads to many more steps ahead!

Ding Hao's Star Absorption Technique was in operation, and the suction force from his palms continuously absorbed the spiritual energy from the Spirit Rice. If others ate the Spirit Rice, it would enter their stomachs, be digested, and only a small part would enter their meridians and be utilized, while most of it would be excreted as waste.

Thus, the efficiency of the Star Absorption Technique in utilizing spiritual energy was extremely high!

Additionally, other cultivators absorb spiritual energy from the air and then refine it into spiritual energy, which is a time-consuming process. However, with the Star Absorption Technique, the spiritual energy from the Spirit Rice is directly absorbed and utilized, making it both direct and efficient, eliminating a time-consuming and energy-draining step!

In Ding Hao's dantian, the white spiritual energy mist was increasing, completely enveloping the Original Pill. If one could see through this thick mist, they would notice that the colorful Original Pill was undergoing a chemical change.

The white mist was spiritual energy, and the Original Pill was also spiritual energy. When the two types of spiritual energy combined, they would melt together. Subsequently, the white mist decreased, forming a water column on the Original Pill, and water droplets seeped out from the Original Pill. Finally, the enlarged water column rolled down and dripped into the dantian.

This was the origin of the Sea of Qi.

The Sea of Qi, when one becomes a powerful cultivator, would be a vast ocean of spiritual energy! However, even the largest ocean starts with the first drop!

The Original Pill had nine layers, with the outer layers being the thinnest, making the first layer the easiest to dissolve.

Of course, even the easiest to dissolve, it would take a general cultivator over a month. Previously, Ding Jun had spent a month to dissolve the first layer, and the young prince had praised him for being very fast.

What they didn't know was that Ding Hao had spent only half an hour to dissolve the first layer to a significant extent.

Dissolving the first layer in half an hour was an astonishing speed! If this news spread, it would cause a huge stir!

Next door, Zhou Genwei and his group continued to drink and make noise, unaware that in the short time, Ding Hao had rapidly approached the second stage of Innate!

After a while, Ding Hao opened his eyes and looked at the two bowls of rice grains that had lost their spiritual energy, frowning, "The spiritual energy has been drained! I'm just a little short of reaching the second stage of Innate!"

"Should I leave now, or buy more Spirit Rice?" Ding Hao thought for a moment, "My neighbor is an official, and the innkeeper doesn't know I have a grudge with Zhou Genwei. Even if he had any ill intentions, he wouldn't dare to act with the officials around. I might as well take advantage of the officials' presence to improve myself further!"

With that, Ding Hao put on his black cloak, opened the door, and called the helper, "Here are fifty yuan stones. Bring me ten more bowls."

The helper almost fell over, thinking he had never seen anyone eat so much Spirit Rice. Was he crazy?

Seeing the helper's stunned expression, Ding Hao said coldly, "What, do I need to repeat myself?"

"Old sir?" The helper, hearing Ding Hao's voice, thought he didn't sound old, but he didn't dare to doubt. In the Nine Provinces world, there were too many powerful people, and there were many old demons with young voices, not to mention various methods to alter one's voice.

The helper thought, "No wonder he ate so much; he must be an old demon."

"Yes, yes, sir, I'll go right away."

After the helper went downstairs, the innkeeper came in a moment later, explaining the situation. It turned out that their supply of Spirit Rice was limited, and most of it had been reserved. They could only provide eight more bowls.

"Eight bowls, then eight bowls. Bring them quickly."

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**End of Chapter 25**