Chapter 356 – Extracting Cultivation Rewards, the Overpowered Talent “Plus One”!
by spirapiraChapter 356 – Extracting Cultivation Rewards, the Overpowered Talent “Plus One”!
In the Real World, Su Xing raised an eyebrow at what he saw.
Based on his deductions, this Secret Realm was likely a gathering place of the Wu Clan from ancient times.
The environment within was suited for Wu Clan habitation, and naturally, various spirit medicines and precious treasures used by the Wu Clan had been cultivated there.
“Tsk tsk… The precious treasures used by the Wu Clan are mostly for strengthening qi and blood…”
“It seems this Secret Realm trip wasn’t for nothing!”
From what Su Xing knew, cultivating the fifth layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art required numerous precious treasures that supplemented qi and blood.
If Su Xing wanted to gather these treasures on his own, it would take considerable effort — and some of the spirit medicines that had already gone extinct would be impossible for him to obtain at all.
The appearance of this Secret Realm undoubtedly spared Su Xing a great deal of trouble.
“Not bad. I definitely need to remember the location of this Secret Realm. Future cultivation of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art will require these precious treasures…”
So Su Xing thought.
But beyond discovering this Secret Realm, the experience of fighting the ancient Wu Clan giant had also benefited Su Xing immensely.
“Right now, my strength is indeed at peak Mystic Immortal realm… but battles between Mystic Immortals are incredibly difficult to decisively win. Without an overwhelming advantage in power, even years of fighting might not be enough to kill the opponent…”
Thinking about this made Su Xing’s teeth ache. He had truly witnessed the terrifying might of the ancient Wu Clan.
That horrifying physical body was considerably stronger than even Su Xing’s own, making it extraordinarily difficult to kill.
Su Xing had even paid the price of tens of thousands of years of lifespan to sever causality in reverse, barely managing to slay that Mystic Immortal realm Wu Clan member…
“Tsk tsk, I just wonder what that Wu Clan member’s background really was?”
“The ancient texts do record that the Wu Clan was violent and fond of slaughter… but surely not to the point of fighting to the death the moment they meet?”
Su Xing recalled the anomalies on the Wu Clan giant’s body. Perhaps it had been affected by some unknown influence, which was what had turned it into that state.
“Still, at least I’ve secured a place to settle in the Fifth Heaven. Hopefully, being in the Fifth Heaven will shield me from Qingyunzi’s pursuit as much as possible, so I can cultivate for a longer period…”
Su Xing felt a spark of anticipation as his gaze turned to the simulation panel.
【Year 425: You remained in the Secret Realm to cultivate. Each day, aside from practicing the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, you focused on comprehending your Spirit Domain.】
【In the blink of an eye, several decades passed…】
【Year 500: After decades of cultivation, your Spirit Domain expanded to over 1,800 zhang (5.99 km), and its power increased further.】
【However, what gave you a headache was that progress in the Great Shaman Body Forging Art had slowed considerably…】
【The fifth layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art was comparable to the Mystic Immortal realm.】
【For Mystic Immortal cultivators, breaking through a single sub-realm often took tens of thousands of years.】
【Even with your exceptional talent, advancing from the introductory stage to Minor Mastery in the fifth layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art would likely require a thousand years!】
【And that was already accounting for your talent bonuses…】
【The path of cultivation grew harder the further one progressed. You could feel that crossing a minor bottleneck in a mere thousand years was already unprecedented in history.】
【But for you, the pace was still too slow…】
【At the previous simulation duration, it would take the accumulation of two full simulations just to advance the fifth layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art to Minor Mastery…】
【The accumulation of qi and blood, the tempering of the physical body — these were inherently slow, grinding processes. Even with the aid of precious treasures, the pace remained sluggish.】
【Fortunately, you were in no rush. Beyond cultivating the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, you placed even greater emphasis on Spirit Domain cultivation.】
【You did not leave the isolated island Secret Realm. Instead, within it, you laid down prohibitions and formations, Shielding Heavenly Secrets, attempting to interfere with Qingyunzi’s divination.】
【You immersed yourself in cultivation day after day, and the days slipped by. Qingyunzi, it seemed, had not managed to locate you.】
【In the blink of an eye, another hundred years passed…】
【Year 600: Compared to a hundred years ago, your physical body had improved slightly, but you were still far from reaching Minor Mastery in the fifth layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art.】
【On the bright side, after a hundred years of cultivation, your Spirit Domain had expanded to 2,000 zhang (6.66 km), and its power had further increased.】
【After a century of cultivation, you were confident that if you faced the Wu Clan giant in battle again, you likely wouldn’t need to pay such a heavy price…】
【Just when you thought you had completely shaken off Qingyunzi’s pursuit—】
【One day, your Blessed by Fortune talent sent a warning.】
【The next day, Qingyunzi found you.】
【A dark figure tore through space in the void and stepped into the isolated island Secret Realm in a single stride.】
【This person was none other than Qingyunzi’s evil corpse!】
【Qingyunzi performed a quick divination, and a mocking smile appeared on his face. He could see that the divination method you had learned was the Lesser Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method!】
【This method was useful for divining one’s own fortune and fate of death… but far more renowned was the Greater Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method!】
【Seeing that Qingyunzi was about to strike, you asked the question burning in your heart before death: Where could the Greater Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method be found?】
【Qingyunzi did not conceal the answer. He told you that the Greater Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method had always been shrouded in mystery — across the entire Three Thousand Worlds, those who knew of it could be counted on one hand, and he happened to be one of them!】
【The Greater Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method was cultivated by the master of the Celestial Secrets Pavilion. It could divine the fate of the Three Thousand Worlds, the cycle of reincarnation, and the flow of time… It was the ultimate pinnacle of the Dao of Divination.】
【After explaining, Qingyunzi killed you with a single palm strike…】
【You died!】
【Ding! This simulation has ended!】
After the simulation ended, Su Xing’s eyes went wide.
This simulation had yielded an extremely valuable piece of information!
“The Greater Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method… cultivated by the master of the Celestial Secrets Pavilion?”
Su Xing murmured softly. Based on his deductions, both the Lesser and Greater Celestial Cycle Star Observation Methods should have originated from the ancient Star Shaman lineage.
And the Greater Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method was no exception — only it had long been lost… Perhaps during its disappearance, the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master had obtained it by chance?
Su Xing pondered this thoughtfully.
“The Greater Celestial Cycle Star Observation Method — divining the fate of the Three Thousand Worlds… Can it truly divine reincarnation and time?”
Su Xing found this rather troubling.
If the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master could truly peer into timelines, then he was absolutely the last person Su Xing could afford to provoke.
But then, Su Xing shook his head slightly.
“The Dao of Time stands at the pinnacle of all Daos in existence… Let alone a Grand Luo Golden Immortal — even a sage… would likely find it impossible to interfere with the timelines of past and future…”
Su Xing was more inclined to believe that the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master’s abilities could divine events that might occur in the future — rather than directly peering into time itself.
“Still, contact with the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master is inevitable sooner or later…”
From the intelligence Su Xing had gathered, the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master traditionally paid no heed to worldly affairs. However, if one reached the top of the three rankings of Heaven, Earth, and Mortal, one might be granted an audience with the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master — and be allowed to ask one question.
Depending on which ranking one topped, the difficulty of the question that could be asked varied.
If it was merely the top of the Human List, the intelligence gained might be limited in value.
But if one could reach the top of the Heaven Ranking or the Earth Ranking, one might be able to extract several truly valuable pieces of intelligence.
Su Xing closed his eyes and thought, carefully mulling over the simulation information from the final hundred years, not missing a single detail.
After a moment, he nodded and said:
“Regardless, if I’m in the Fifth Heaven, I should be able to resist Qingyunzi’s detection!”
“At the very least, I can simulate for six hundred years!”
This time, Su Xing had broken his simulation record.
But six hundred years… was still far too short!
Su Xing estimated that entering the Sixth Heaven would be impossible without reaching the Golden Immortal realm.
This meant that before reaching Golden Immortal, Su Xing would only have a mere six hundred years per simulation…
An extension of only a hundred years — given the difficulty of cultivation at the Mystic Immortal realm, it might take Su Xing a year and a half of real time before he could painstakingly cultivate to the Golden Immortal realm.
“So… next simulation, I absolutely must head for the Endless Sea!”
Although Su Xing’s magical cultivation had not yet reached the Mystic Immortal level, his physical body’s power had. Even if it would be difficult to cross the Endless Sea and reach the Celestial Secrets Realm—
Preserving his life shouldn’t be hard…
“Next simulation, it’s worth a try!”
Su Xing nodded slightly. After summarizing the gains from this simulation, his gaze turned to the simulation’s reward list.
【Hundred Flowers Divine Physique】: Gold talent. Price: 10 origin energy.
【Great Shaman Body Forging Scripture, Fifth Layer (Introductory)】: An ancient Wu Clan body tempering secret art. The fifth layer is comparable to the Mystic Immortal realm — an invincible aura forms around the body, capable of physically tearing through the void. Life force becomes tenacious beyond comprehension. Among the entire Wu Clan, those who could cultivate to the fifth layer were already considered outstanding. Price: 1,000,000 origin energy.
【True Immortal Realm, Fifth Layer】: Having survived the Three Calamities of Immortals, you achieved True Immortal status. The Great Dao is within reach, and your lifespan extends to one full cosmic cycle! Price: 600,000 origin energy!
【Spirit Domain Cultivation Results】: Upon selection, your comprehension of the Spirit Domain greatly increases. Your Spirit Domain coverage reaches 2,000 zhang (6.66 km), within which the power of spells and supernatural arts is greatly amplified, and Great Dao comprehension can be applied freely. Price: 120,000 origin energy.
Su Xing looked at the rewards on the simulation panel before him, the corner of his mouth twitching.
“How much? Fifth layer introductory… costs 1,000,000 origin energy?”
Su Xing’s teeth ached immediately.
After painstaking accumulation over a long period, he only had a little over a million origin energy on hand.
If he extracted the Great Shaman Body Forging Art’s fifth layer cultivation and the Spirit Domain Cultivation Results this time, he’d be bled completely dry!
Based on Su Xing’s experience, the origin energy required for breakthroughs in the Great Shaman Body Forging Art was cheaper than breakthroughs in Qi Refinement cultivation at the same realm.
“By my estimate, this one million origin energy… should be equivalent to what’s needed for a single sub-realm breakthrough at the Mystic Immortal realm!”
“It’s just that in the simulation, after I broke through to the Fifth Layer introductory stage, I cultivated for another hundred years, so it should cost a bit more?”
Su Xing smacked his lips. Regardless, one million origin energy for a single realm of Qi Refinement still exceeded his imagination!
With a whole week of hard work, how could Su Xing possibly earn one million origin energy?
He feared… that in the future, it would be difficult for him to successfully bring out cultivation gains from every weekly simulation.
Even if he could cultivate to the point of breaking through a realm, the origin energy would be insufficient…
“So be it. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it… For now, let’s break through first!”
Su Xing murmured:
“I choose to bring out the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Fifth Layer introductory cultivation… and the Spirit Domain cultivation results!”
【Congratulations on successfully bringing out Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Fifth Layer introductory cultivation. Cost: 1,000,000 origin energy points. Remaining origin energy: 762,405 points…】
【Congratulations on successfully bringing out Spirit Domain cultivation results… Cost: 120,000 origin energy points. Remaining origin energy: 642,405 points…】
Two consecutive Chimes rang out, and immediately two streams of mysterious energy surged into Su Xing’s body.
Su Xing’s aura underwent an earth-shattering transformation, and behind him, visions seemed to manifest…
Su Xing’s physical body trembled uncontrollably, and in mere moments, it had already undergone a tremendous metamorphosis!
As Su Xing carefully sensed the changes, he felt that his strength, vitality, and even physical durability had increased by more than tenfold!
Advancing from the Fourth Layer Perfection to the Fifth Layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art was a qualitative transformation!
Before this magnificent power, raw strength seemed like merely the most insignificant change.
After a long period of adjustment, Su Xing adapted to the growth in his physical power, and a look of shock flashed across his face.
“In terms of body tempering strength alone, I’m probably several times stronger than before the breakthrough!”
“This terrifying power—shattering a star with a single punch… tearing apart a minor world with bare hands—it doesn’t seem impossible?”
Su Xing waved his hand, and the air visibly warped around it.
He could feel that the primordial energy on his body’s surface had undergone subtle changes after entering the Fifth Layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art.
It seemed to have more uses now?
Su Xing thought for a moment, then tried coating both hands with primordial energy and tearing at the space before him.
The next second, the empty space in front of him was truly ripped open by Su Xing, revealing a black, lightless fissure.
“Physical strength alone… can tear through the void. So that’s how it is…”
Su Xing nodded slightly. This was a higher-level application of primordial energy.
Upon entering the Fifth Layer of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Su Xing’s physical body had met the threshold, and he naturally mastered such techniques.
“Indeed, physically shattering the void isn’t just a rumor… As I am now, if I wished, I could do it too!”
Su Xing shook his head slightly.
Although he could do it, Su Xing had no intention of relying on this method.
For body tempering cultivators, physically shattering the void and tearing open space was either for traveling or for fighting enemies.
But for either purpose, Su Xing’s own mastery of the spatial Dao already rendered void-tearing unnecessary.
Purely employing the spatial Dao was more efficient and safer…
Su Xing raised his head and seemed to catch sight of a roaring Ancestral Shaman phantom behind him, sensing an aura of boundless magnitude.
“Fortunately, I set up restrictive formations in advance… Otherwise, the breakthrough of a Mystic Immortal body tempering cultivation in the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm would probably cause a massive commotion!”
Su Xing sighed with relief.
Beyond the improvement in body tempering cultivation, the enhancement to Su Xing’s Spirit Domain was equally apparent.
The Five Elements Dao and other Great Daos, when unleashed within the domain’s range, all received massive power boosts.
Su Xing spent some time adapting to his newly acquired power.
…
A day passed quickly, and the date arrived at March 25th.
Su Xing departed from the mountain range, preparing to return to Celestial Demon City.
“Outside Celestial Demon City, there’s still one important item… that I need to obtain first!”
“And that is—the aliens’ blood essence!”
Su Xing’s plan was to return to Earth within the next month.
And on Earth, Great Xia likely still possessed numerous resources of considerable energy value.
Su Xing’s idea was to use pills to exchange for as much origin energy as possible.
The most efficient method was, naturally, refining Rebirth Pills!
From Martial Sovereign-stage and below to God-level Class Users—as long as Su Xing was willing to spend the time refining, he could mass-produce them within a few decades.
Soon, Su Xing transformed back into Jiang Hao’s appearance and reappeared in Celestial Demon City.
After a trip to the city lord’s mansion, Su Xing easily obtained the locations of alien strongholds on the Celestial Demon City battlefield.
From ordinary aliens below God-level to alien strongholds with Greater Divine Power, Su Xing knew them all.
Afterward, Su Xing spent three days massacring over a dozen strongholds on the frontline battlefield.
In total, he slaughtered several thousand sub-God-level aliens, seven aliens with Weak Divine Power, two aliens with Medium Divine Power… and even killed one alien comparable to the Celestial Immortal realm!
Su Xing carried out this operation with absolute decisiveness and without revealing it to anyone.
Relying on his overwhelming strength advantage, he naturally dispatched these aliens with ease.
And Su Xing’s harvest was hundreds of thousands of jin of blood essence of varying quality!
This blood essence would be enough to supply Earth’s Rebirth Pill production for who knows how long…
After sweeping the frontlines clean, Su Xing went into seclusion to refine pills, spending an entire week to produce several thousand Rebirth Pills.
Their quality ranged from Martial Sovereign-stage to those suitable for Earthly Immortals.
Su Xing left half the pills in Celestial Demon City as recruitment benefits for the Heavenly Abyss Army, and also withdrew several million spirit liquid as military pay.
After handling Celestial Demon City’s affairs, Su Xing chose not to linger. Instead, he changed his identity once more and made a trip back to Lesser Azure Cloud City.
From his business partner Bai Xuan, Su Xing once again obtained a batch of origin energy of considerable value.
By the time all of this was done, the date had reached April 7th, New Era 2026.
…
Inside the spirit field grotto-heaven, Su Xing—having been busy for half a month—brewed himself a pot of tea. After resting for a moment, his gaze turned to the simulation panel.
“Tsk tsk, before I even realized it, I’ve accumulated two simulation attempts again…”
“It’s time to try venturing into the Endless Sea… I just don’t know whether this origin energy will be enough to bring out cultivation gains.”
Su Xing glanced at the remaining 1,234,505 origin energy points on his panel.
Over the past half month, Su Xing had acquired five to six hundred thousand origin energy.
The majority of it had been collected from his business partner Bai Xuan.
The rest came from selling some blood essence.
“Over a million origin energy points… enough for one simulation!”
“The goal this time isn’t to advance my cultivation, but to try exploring the Endless Sea!”
“If I can successfully cross the Endless Sea and reach the Celestial Secrets Pavilion… Qingyunzi’s threat can be all but ignored!”
Thinking this, Su Xing silently intoned:
“Begin simulation!”
【Simulation #132 initiated. Current remaining origin energy: 1,234,505 points… Remaining simulation attempts: 1.】
【Simulation begins!】
【Drawing a gold legendary talent costs 1 origin energy point. Draw?】
“Yes!”
【Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the gold talent “Plus One”… Probability of drawing a gold talent next time: 80%…】
“Hm? Plus One… What kind of talent is this?”
Su Xing was taken aback. The name of this talent was truly strange, and he couldn’t quite imagine what its specific effect might be.
So he directed his gaze toward the talent’s description.
【Plus One】: Gold talent. Used before each simulation begins. You may designate and select any talent below gold quality and elevate it, granting it gold quality effects.
Su Xing froze for a moment after reading the new talent’s description, then an expression of wild ecstasy spread across his face.
“Holy shit! This talent! Could it really be what I think it is?”
It could elevate any talent below gold quality to gold quality…
And before every simulation, Su Xing could make a targeted selection!
This meant that all the talents Su Xing had previously drawn could be promoted to gold quality!
The first thing Su Xing thought of was the talent Late Bloomer!
The Late Bloomer talent doubled all cultivation speed after the age of one hundred!
And that was merely at Purple quality!
If it were elevated to gold… how terrifying would that be?
Similar talents also included Wisdom in Foolishness, among others…
“Good heavens, this Plus One talent seems a bit overpowered!” Su Xing blinked.