Chapter 162 – Thousand Blazing Flame Art Fifth Layer, Time to Trade with the Military (5k)

【After obtaining the jade fragment and the cultivation art, you quickly pinpointed the location of that ancient tomb ruin.】

【But just like last time, you didn’t rashly charge into the ancient tomb ruin.】

【Instead, you simply settled down to live within the Immortal Martial Era instance.】

【In your daily routine, you continued collecting spirit liquid in preparation for your next simulation’s breakthrough, while also not neglecting your cultivation, continuing to deepen your comprehension of elemental force and the Thousand Blazing Flame Art.】

【Year Twenty-One: This year, your spirit liquid reserves surpassed 1.3 million drops.】

【That same year, your spiritual sense detected a familiar aura.】

【You quickly locked onto the target. Though the person had disguised their appearance and concealed their aura, relying on the Spiritual Imprint of the Myriad-Mile Tracking Art, you confirmed it was Zong Laogou!】

【You decisively launched a sneak attack on Zong Laogou. As expected, Zong Laogou sensed the danger in advance.】

【The two of you erupted into a great battle. In an instant, the earth tilted and boulders shattered.】

【You fought Zong Laogou for over a hundred rounds, suppressing him completely.】

【He was shocked by your strength and, knowing he was no match for you, prepared to flee.】

【Since you didn’t have the talent “Small is Cute Too~”, no matter how much you taunted him, Zong Laogou desperately fled.】

【But your mastery of elemental force had already entered the third layer, the Projection Level, making you far stronger than last time.】

【Even though Zong Laogou’s escape techniques far surpassed yours, after half a month of pursuit, you still managed to kill him.】

【You killed Zong Laogou without hesitation and destroyed his nascent soul.】

【Before dying, Zong Laogou also destroyed his own storage artifact, leaving you nothing.】

【You weren’t too disappointed by this. Hunting down Zong Laogou served two purposes — first, for revenge, and second, to gauge where your strength stood.】

【Sure enough, after achieving elemental force projection, your strength had improved tremendously. Killing Zong Laogou wasn’t difficult — it was just that escape techniques remained your weakness.】

Su Xing gave a slight nod upon seeing this, inwardly agreeing.

“Indeed, even though I’m now a Spirit Transformation cultivator, my proficiency in escape techniques is still far too lacking…”

An ordinary Spirit Transformation Great Perfection cultivator, if they mastered even a passable escape technique, could travel twenty thousand li per day without much trouble, even if their spiritual energy wasn’t particularly dense.

While Su Xing could also fly through the air, it was purely by relying on the dense spiritual energy within his body. Though his speed wasn’t slow either — capable of traveling ten thousand li per day —

Su Xing’s spiritual energy wasn’t infinite. Traveling long distances using spiritual energy naturally required rest.

As for his body tempering cultivation… although Su Xing had reached Divine Power Realm Great Perfection with a formidable physical body,

techniques and flight had never been the forte of body tempering cultivators.

If he relied solely on his Divine Power Realm cultivation to travel, Su Xing would practically have to run on two legs across the ground — how could that compare to the speed of flight?

However, after reaching the Void-Shattering Realm, body tempering cultivators could achieve physical levitation, flying entirely without relying on spiritual energy. Only then would a body tempering cultivator’s escape speed rapidly improve.

“Looking at it this way… it’s time to learn an escape technique.”

Su Xing thought, rubbing his chin.

“Zong Laogou’s divine ability Shrink the Earth to an Inch is a rather good minor divine ability… More advanced escape techniques include At Arm’s Length Yet Worlds Apart, or even the Rainbow Transformation Art…”

Whether for fleeing or pursuing enemies, escape techniques could not be overlooked.

Su Xing quietly added the study of escape techniques to his plans, then turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【After killing Zong Laogou, you resumed your routine of cultivation and spirit liquid collection.】

【Year Twenty-Two: This year you collected over sixty thousand more drops of spirit liquid.】

【But what troubled you was that breaking through at the late Spirit Transformation stage was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.】

【Despite your diligent daily cultivation, the spiritual energy you absorbed was like a stone sinking into the ocean, accumulating only slowly.】

【Year Twenty-Three: Your collected spirit liquid reached 1.43 million drops, not far from your goal.】

【Year Twenty-Four: You finally achieved your goal of accumulating 1.5 million drops of spirit liquid.】

【You evenly distributed the 1.5 million drops of spirit liquid among one hundred and fifty small jade bottles, feeling deeply satisfied.】

【Early in Year Twenty-Five: Your cultivation was still stuck at the eighth layer of the Spirit Transformation stage, but you were not far from the ninth layer.】

【Knowing time was running short, you decided to explore the ruin tomb once more before the apocalypse arrived!】

【You came to the familiar mountains and shattered the massive boulder inscribed with formations.】

【You entered the ruin tomb.】

【Everything inside the ancient tomb was arranged exactly as it had been in your previous simulation.】

【You passed through the narrow, elongated tomb corridor and soon encountered that living-dead puppet comparable to the Void-Shattering Realm.】

【The living-dead puppet attacked you without hesitation.】

【You reacted swiftly, rapidly activating your elemental force. An invisible layer of elemental force armor materialized over your body.】

【Gripping the Blackice spirit sword, with Elemental Force Entwinement coiling around the Blackice blade, you struck back at the living-dead puppet.】

【A great battle erupted instantly. Each swing produced violent sonic booms, and the devastating power even caused the protective formations on the stone walls to ripple incessantly.】

【You fought the living-dead puppet for several hundred rounds. Your elemental force, with its extreme destructive power, successfully wounded the living-dead puppet.】

【But this puppet happened to feel no pain and would never bleed. From the wounds you left on its body, black liquid seeped out.】

【Then the wounds began to heal in an eerie manner, and the living-dead puppet’s assault on you remained undiminished.】

【You persisted for another hundred-plus rounds before finally feeling that your internal elemental force was running low.】

【This puppet surpassed you in physical durability, recovery, and even patience.】

【Even with Projection Level elemental force, it only meant your death was somewhat less unsightly.】

【The living-dead puppet crushed your skull with a single punch…】

【Your nascent soul was devoured by the living-dead puppet. You died!】

【Ding! This simulation has ended!】

After the simulation ended, Su Xing let out a soft sigh.

“Alas, it seems I still underestimated the strength of that puppet…”

“Projection Level elemental force still can’t defeat this puppet? It seems I’ll only be able to try after breaking through to the Void-Shattering Realm!”

Su Xing was somewhat surprised by the strength of this Void-Shattering Realm puppet.

The puppet seemed to be purely a body tempering cultivator that didn’t cultivate spiritual energy.

Yet its physical body and raw power were astonishingly strong, and it possessed an eerie recovery ability — truly a formidable opponent.

“With such a powerful puppet serving as tomb guardian, one can only imagine the tomb master’s strength…”

Su Xing knew it would be impossible to obtain the treasures within the ruin in the short term.

At minimum, he would need to advance to the Void-Shattering Realm to have a chance.

After a moment of brief deliberation, Su Xing turned his gaze to this simulation’s rewards.

【Formation Dao Prodigy】: Purple talent. Price: 1,000,000 energy points.

【Ten Years of Alchemy Experience】: Alchemy insights. Price: 500,000 energy points.

【Spirit Transformation Stage, Eighth Layer】: Qi Refinement cultivation. Price: 10,000,000 energy points.

【Low-Grade Spirit Liquid, 1.5 Million Drops】: Condensed from extremely concentrated spiritual energy, capable of nourishing the dantian and promoting cultivation, easily absorbed. Price: 150,000,000 energy points.

【Primordial Energy Cultivation Insights (Projection Level: Introductory)】: Projection Level elemental force insights, entering the third stage of elemental force cultivation. Can project elemental force externally to combat enemies, and can also enhance held artifacts. Price: 30,000,000 energy points.

【Earth-Grade Art Thousand Blazing Flame Art, Cultivation Progress (Fifth Layer)】: Cultivation insights for the Thousand Blazing Flame Art. The fifth layer corresponds to the Spirit Transformation stage cultivator level. Price: 10,000,000 energy points.

【Spirit-Gathering Flowers x2,000 (Mature), Spirit-Gathering Flower Seeds x1,500】: Price: 215,000,000 energy points.

After seeing this simulation’s reward options, Su Xing hesitated briefly.

“The talent, cultivation level, and alchemy experience can be eliminated right away… The Spirit-Gathering Flowers are too expensive and the returns aren’t high enough, so there’s no need to pick them for now.”

Su Xing first ruled out several options and turned his gaze to the remaining three.

Spirit liquid, Primordial Energy Cultivation Insights, and the Earth-Grade Art Thousand Blazing Flame Art cultivation progress.

“The spirit liquid is a must-pick. Without spirit liquid, even by the end of the next simulation, it would probably be difficult to break through to Spirit Transformation Great Perfection…”

Su Xing murmured thoughtfully.

Late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivation was this arduous — twenty-five years had only raised him a little over one layer.

With sufficient spirit liquid to assist, it should be enough! By bringing out 1.5 million drops of spirit liquid this time, he could collect another million-plus drops during the next simulation.

Combined, it should be enough for Su Xing’s cultivation needs.

“As for the choice between elemental force insights and the art…”

After some deliberation, Su Xing decided to choose the Thousand Blazing Flame Art cultivation progress!

Although Projection Level spiritual energy could boost Su Xing’s combat power by over thirty percent,

in the short term, Su Xing had no need for combat.

Moreover, he was currently at Entwinement Level Great Perfection. Advancing to Projection Level spiritual energy would only require a little over ten years — just one simulation’s worth of time.

The fifth layer of the Thousand Blazing Flame Art was clearly more difficult to cultivate.

Of course, the most critical point was this:

Even with over two million drops of spirit liquid, Su Xing still wasn’t confident about breaking through to Spirit Transformation Great Perfection.

But if he added the assistance of the Thousand Blazing Flame Art, which absorbed spiritual energy faster than the Eternal Spring Art, his confidence in breaking through to Spirit Transformation Great Perfection would increase substantially!

“The elemental force mastery — I can pick it during the next simulation, and it won’t be too late…”

“I choose the spirit liquid and the Thousand Blazing Flame Art!” Su Xing silently intoned.

【You have successfully extracted 1.5 million drops of spirit liquid. Cost: 150 million energy. Remaining energy: 48.37 million points.】

【You have successfully extracted Earth-Grade Art Thousand Blazing Flame Art, Cultivation Progress (Fifth Layer). Cost: 10 million energy. Remaining energy: 38.37 million points.】

Watching his simulation energy plummet, Su Xing felt a pang of heartache.

“Damn, this simulation energy really isn’t enough to go around! Are consumption costs measured in the hundreds of millions now?”

Su Xing shook his head lightly, but fortunately he still had tens of millions left. Combined with next week’s shipment, his next simulation should allow him to extract the rewards he wanted.

“As for after that, sigh… if it’s really not enough, I’ll just have to go shake down the Baili estate again…”

Su Xing had been keeping his eye on the father-son duo at the Baili estate, who were currently buying up dungeon items on a massive scale.

Once they’d accumulated enough dungeon items, Su Xing was planning to go harvest another wave from them.

As Su Xing was mulling this over, a flood of memories surged into his mind — insights into the Earth-Grade Art, the Thousand Blazing Flame Art!

In mere moments, Su Xing’s comprehension of the Thousand Blazing Flame Art broke through to the fifth layer, equivalent to a Spirit Transformation cultivator.

Following that, Su Xing sensed a subtle change beginning to occur within the spiritual energy in his body.

Because he had never previously cultivated a fire-attribute art, Su Xing’s wood-attribute spiritual energy had held an almost absolute dominance.

But now, Su Xing’s comprehension of the Eternal Spring Art and the Thousand Blazing Flame Art were neck and neck.

This also meant that Su Xing could control the attribute of his spiritual energy at will.

Channeling wood-attribute spiritual energy could accelerate spirit plant growth, stabilize his own injuries, and grant him greater recovery and endurance.

Unleashing fire-attribute spiritual energy could significantly boost the power of his Separation Fire techniques, and even make his spiritual energy far more lethal.

“With a Wood-Fire Dual True Spirit Root, these two attributes complement each other in a cycle of mutual generation. Not only won’t my spiritual power become imbalanced, it can even enhance the power of fire-element techniques!”

Su Xing’s eyes lit up. He was clearly quite satisfied with his newly acquired fire-attribute art.

“Moreover… the Earth-Grade Art Thousand Blazing Flame Art absorbs spiritual energy at a rate that’s considerably faster than the Eternal Spring Art…”

“Roughly a thirty percent improvement!”

“With this, I have much better chances of breaking through to Spirit Transformation Great Perfection!”

Su Xing nodded with satisfaction, then turned his gaze to a jade box that had appeared before him.

Opening the jade box, he found one hundred and fifty exquisite jade vials arranged neatly inside.

Su Xing took out one jade vial and removed the stopper from its mouth.

In an instant, a rich wave of spiritual energy surged toward his face.

“Hiss… as expected of spirit liquid! Just a single whiff and I can feel the spiritual power in my body becoming noticeably more active. The effect is far superior to simply absorbing spiritual energy!”

Su Xing murmured to himself.

He then carefully tasted a few drops of spirit liquid, wanting to test its effects.

The moment the spirit liquid entered his mouth, Su Xing felt a vigorous surge of spiritual energy suddenly appear within his body.

Su Xing hurriedly sat cross-legged, focused his mind, and began circulating the Thousand Blazing Flame Art to digest this newly emerged spiritual energy.

“Damn, can’t waste even these few drops!”

Su Xing muttered.

The spiritual energy was warm and gentle, flowing endlessly like a ladle of clear water slowly pouring into Su Xing’s dantian.

Su Xing only needed the slightest guidance to digest it and convert it into his own spiritual energy.

After roughly a quarter of an hour, Su Xing slowly opened his eyes.

Although these few drops of spirit liquid felt like a drop in the ocean for someone already at the Spirit Transformation stage like Su Xing.

He could still feel that by absorbing spirit liquid, his cultivation speed was significantly faster than before.

“Hmm, the spiritual energy content in this spirit liquid isn’t as high as what’s in spirit stones… but it’s far purer, and the absorption rate is much faster!”

“For pure cultivation purposes, spirit liquid clearly has the advantage over spirit stones!”

Of course, spirit stones had their own advantages.

Formation arrays, artifact refining, and other applications all required spirit stones.

Spirit liquid, on the other hand, was only useful for cultivation and for refining certain specific pills.

After a pause, Su Xing briefly assessed his condition and estimated:

“The rate of cultivation advancement is roughly twice as fast as before, maybe a bit more!”

“Tsk tsk, with a sufficient supply of spirit liquid, breaking through to Spirit Transformation Great Perfection within twenty-five years would be a sure thing!”

The corners of Su Xing’s mouth curled upward.

One had to know that spirit liquid was even rarer than spirit stones.

Even in the cultivation world, spirit liquid was only provided as a cultivation aid in the monthly stipends of inner disciples and true legacy disciples.

As for ordinary disciples, they could only cultivate using spirit stones.

The difference between the two was immediately apparent.

“Tsk tsk, I’d better keep the remaining spirit liquid safe. Apart from using it in simulations, I can’t waste a single drop in reality…”

Su Xing murmured, carefully replacing the stopper on the vial.

He then placed the jade box inside the spirit-gathering formation hidden beneath the mountain.

This way, spirit liquid evaporation could be minimized.

“Right now the spirit field blessed land only has three spirit-gathering formations, and the Spirit-Gathering Flowers haven’t been fully transplanted yet…”

“I need to set up at least a few more spirit-gathering formations to ensure the spirit liquid supply!”

With that thought, Su Xing got to work setting up the spirit-gathering formations.

Over the next week, Su Xing alternated between setting up spirit-gathering formations and planting Spirit-Gathering Flowers across the mountain like an old mountain farmer.

In one week’s time, Su Xing had finished setting up all the spirit-gathering formations and completed the Spirit-Gathering Flower transplanting.

He also found time to refine three thousand pills.

That morning, Su Xing wiped the sweat from his brow and grumbled, “Damn, among all the transmigrators out there, I should qualify as a model worker, right?”

A week had passed, and by now the spirit field blessed land had fully advanced into a grotto-heaven! The rich spiritual energy made every breath Su Xing took feel refreshing and comfortable.

The taste of spiritual energy was far more pleasant than any Siberian pure oxygen.

And with the spirit-gathering formations now perfected, Su Xing had collected over a hundred drops of spirit liquid today.

Spending less than an hour each day collecting spirit liquid going forward would be effortless for Su Xing, who was accustomed to high-intensity work.

After finishing his work and checking the time, Su Xing prepared to head to the villa to meet up with Jin Congxue.

Jin Congxue had gone with a youthful girl-next-door look again today — a plaid T-shirt paired with light blue jeans, looking both pure and alluring.

But today, Jin Congxue’s mood didn’t seem great. Something appeared to be weighing on her mind.

Su Xing raised an eyebrow at the sight and asked:

“What’s wrong, Miss Jin? Why does your mood seem so off today?”

Jin Congxue sighed at his words and said with a troubled expression:

“Don’t even get me started… The Baili Trading Company has been buying up dungeon items nonstop lately. Not only are they scooping up goods in Guang Province, they’ve even extended their reach to Jinling City…”

“Now the amount of dungeon items our Jinling City branch has been able to collect has dropped by nearly a third!”

A strange look flashed across Su Xing’s face when he heard this.

He quickly understood what Jin Congxue meant — so the Baili Trading Company’s aggressive purchasing of dungeon items had actually begun affecting the Tarot Trading Company’s business?

After pondering for a moment, Su Xing said, “We can put the dungeon items matter aside for now. Let’s focus our main efforts on securing contracts for more mining district dungeons!”

A flash of surprise crossed Jin Congxue’s face, but she nodded and replied:

“That could work, but getting our hands on more mining district dungeons won’t be easy. Ultimately, it requires the military’s approval.”

“With the resources I currently have, it’s already no small feat to absorb those two mining district dungeons in the short term…”

“If we want to contract more mining district dungeons, we’ll need a bargaining chip — ideally something that would make the military’s heart skip a beat!”

Su Xing raised an eyebrow. He broadly understood what Jin Congxue was getting at.

Jin Congxue’s connections within the military were likely centered on Grandpa Lu.

But even a Martial Emperor’s influence had its limits. Contracting one or two mining district dungeons in short order was still acceptable.

Any more than that, and it would start to constitute a monopoly…

But if Su Xing could produce something that would genuinely tempt the military in exchange,

he could naturally obtain the rights to more mining district dungeons. Perhaps even mining district dungeons containing Second Rank and Third Rank exotic metals would be opened up to him.

“But what exactly does the military need?”

Su Xing stroked his chin, sinking into thought.

Obviously, there were far too many things the military needed that he had on hand — Essence Nurturing Pills, Organ Tempering Pills, Divine Power Pills, Dragon Spirit Pills…

Any of these would be enough for the military to immediately treat Su Xing as a top-tier talent to be cherished.

But none of these could be casually revealed. The hidden dangers were too great!

After a moment of deliberation, Su Xing murmured, “Perhaps… I could start by offering some spirit rice to trade with the military?”