Chapter 417 – Red Mythical Talent, Ethereal Root!

Chapter 417 – Red Mythical Talent, Ethereal Root!

Upon hearing the Artifact Spirit’s words, Su Xing’s eyes lit up.

A full thirty-fold time differential—that was more than enough for Su Xing to accomplish a great many things.

“Interesting. Continue…”

Su Xing said calmly.

The Luotian Mirror’s Artifact Spirit continued its introduction:

“Furthermore, because a portion of the energy has been restored, the item replication function has also recovered…”

“As long as sufficient energy is provided, the Luotian Mirror can replicate precious natural treasures of a grade no higher than innate treasure level…”

Replication?

Hearing the Artifact Spirit’s words, Su Xing was finally moved.

Replicating treasures and precious natural materials—this ability was remarkably similar to the simulator’s!

The only difference was that the simulator’s replication consumed origin energy, while the Luotian Mirror only required the expenditure of magical power.

“And what if I were to combine the two?”

“Using the Luotian Mirror within the simulator to replicate precious natural treasures would surely yield twice the results with half the effort!”

At this thought, Su Xing’s heart began to race.

“Tsk tsk, truly worthy of being one of the three great primordial chaos treasures!”

“Now that this treasure has finally recovered some of its abilities… it’s far more powerful than before!”

“And this isn’t even the Luotian Mirror at its prime…”

Su Xing sighed inwardly. The Luotian Mirror was indeed the most powerful magical treasure he had ever encountered, second only to the simulator itself!

Only the Mirror of The Void could rival the Luotian Mirror.

“One replicates items… the other intercepts power from space-time. Each has its own strengths…”

Su Xing mused thoughtfully.

According to Su Xing’s intelligence, there should be three primordial chaos treasures in total.

But currently, Su Xing only knew of the Mirror of The Void and the Luotian Mirror. He had yet to learn anything about the third treasure…

“Hmm, best not to be too greedy… Ordinary people would find it incredibly difficult just to catch a glimpse of such treasures.”

“Yet I possess one all to myself, and as for the other… as long as I have origin energy, I can use it during every simulation. That’s already extraordinary!”

Su Xing thought it over. What he needed to decide now was how to use the Luotian Mirror’s replication function.

“It can replicate any precious natural treasure no higher than innate treasure grade… What valuable treasures do I currently have?”

The first thing Su Xing thought of was the Celestial Primordial Tree Fruit he had just obtained.

But then Su Xing shook his head and said:

“The Celestial Primordial Tree’s fruit would be a decent choice… but it would surely cost a considerable amount of energy, and I’m over ninety percent confident I can cultivate the fruit myself. No need to waste it.”

“Beyond that, there are the treasures related to Dao comprehension!”

“Dao-Enlightenment Tea, Dao-Hearing Pills… naturally, the more the better. If I could comprehend the Dao for two hundred years in a single simulation, the speed of my Dao comprehension would double!”

Su Xing recorded each of his plans one by one.

“Good. Then in this simulation, I should test the Luotian Mirror’s abilities… and cultivate the Celestial Primordial Tree!”

“I currently have two simulation attempts remaining… The only thing I’m lacking is origin energy.”

“But origin energy can’t be rushed. I’ll wait for news from Great Xia in a month’s time…”

Su Xing thought to himself.

“Then, let the simulation begin!”

Su Xing silently intoned, and the simulator’s Chime sounded in his ears.

【Simulation #152 initiated. Current remaining origin energy: 2,230,78456 points… Remaining simulation attempts: 1.】

【Simulation begins!】

【Drawing a talent costs 1 point of origin energy. Would you like to draw?】

“Yes!”

【Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the red mythical-grade talent Ethereal Root… Probability of drawing a gold talent next time: 100%.】

【Ethereal Root】: Mythical-grade talent. A darling of heaven and earth, one of the rarest supreme-tier spiritual roots in existence. As long as the possessor does not perish, cultivating to Golden Immortal is no difficult feat. (That’s right—with this, you are a true prodigy!)

“Holy crap, Ethereal Root… it’s finally appeared!”

Looking at the newly drawn talent, Su Xing could not conceal the joy in his heart.

“Ethereal Root! An existence even rarer than a Sacred Body… With the Ethereal Root, it’s the same as holding a ticket to becoming a supreme powerhouse!”

“A twenty percent chance for a red talent… and it came on the very first draw!”

Su Xing exclaimed that it was like having a pillow delivered right when he was falling asleep.

His cultivation had now officially entered the Golden Immortal realm, with a lifespan of a million years.

Therefore, for an ordinary Golden Immortal’s breakthrough, each level was measured in units of ten thousand years!

Even with Su Xing’s various talent bonuses plus the Zhengyi Breath Absorption Art, advancing further was extraordinarily difficult.

A single simulation would most likely not be enough to break through even one stage.

After all, a Super Spirit Root was considered merely average among Golden Immortals.

To put it bluntly, virtually every powerhouse who had achieved Supreme Unity Golden Immortal or above possessed an Ethereal Root…

“Hiss, but with this Ethereal Root talent, my cultivation speed will increase several times over at minimum!”

“In a single simulation, I’ll be able to advance my cultivation much further…”

No matter what, Su Xing was absolutely claiming this Ethereal Root talent!

“Excellent. Now that I’ve drawn the red talent most suited to me… let’s officially begin the simulation!”

Su Xing’s mind stirred as his gaze turned to the simulation panel.

【Please select the target for Plus One talent augmentation…】

“I choose to augment the Late Bloomer talent…”

Su Xing silently intoned.

【In the Luotian Realm, you become aware that you are in a simulation.】

【Over the next month, you begin researching the cultivation of the Celestial Primordial Tree.】

【During this period, you familiarize yourself with how to use the Luotian Mirror.】

【By injecting magical power, the maximum time flow differential between the outside world and the Luotian Realm can reach thirty-fold—one day outside equals one month inside.】

【However, to maintain one day’s worth of external time, you need to consume approximately half of an Early Golden Immortal’s total magical power.】

【Even though you have entered the Golden Immortal realm with continuously regenerating immortal power, under such intense consumption, you must constantly consume spirit liquid to prevent your cultivation from declining.】

【At the same time, the intense magical power consumption leaves you unable to focus on cultivation.】

【But fortunately, the Celestial Primordial Tree’s growth is quite encouraging…】

【One month passes in the outside world, which equates to roughly two and a half years inside the Luotian Mirror…】

【With the aid of Five Elements Soil, and through the exhaustive efforts of both you and Shennong Youtian, the Celestial Primordial Tree finally sprouts a thumb-thick sapling.】

【According to ancient texts, the Celestial Primordial Tree requires six thousand years to reach maturity, after which it bears fruit once every three thousand years…】

【Though the time required is immense, the differing flow of time within the Luotian Realm is sufficient for the Celestial Primordial Tree to bear fruit multiple times.】

【Now that the seed has been planted, you need only quietly await the divine tree’s fruiting while supplementing with cultivation.】

【One month later, you receive a staggering fortune from Xia’s military… including many exotic metals and dungeon items.】

【You know that in two more months, Blood Three will arrive at this location.】

【With your current strength, you cannot yet defeat Blood Three.】

【So within those two months, you evacuate all of Xia’s military’s human race members and flee to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm.】

【After entering the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm, you sell Red Moon’s intelligence to the Celestial Secrets Pavilion.】

【Afterward, you travel to the Azure Cloud Sect and conduct a trade with Qingyunzi.】

【Upon returning from the Azure Cloud Sect, you return to the Lesser Azure Cloud Realm and re-enter the Luotian Realm, preparing to attempt replicating the Dao-Enlightenment Tea.】

In the Real World, Su Xing furrowed his brow slightly upon seeing this.

“Maintaining thirty-fold time flow inside the Luotian Realm… the consumption is really that massive?”

“Just one day costs half of a Golden Immortal’s total cultivation?”

Su Xing immediately felt a headache coming on.

Originally, he had thought that since the Luotian Realm’s internal and external time flows differed, he could simply cultivate inside the Luotian Realm from now on.

Even if his cultivation speed wouldn’t be thirty times faster, improving it by ten times or so shouldn’t be a problem, right?

But Su Xing had overlooked the cost of activating the Luotian Realm’s time multiplier.

One had to understand that a Golden Immortal’s total magical power was absolutely staggering. Even if Su Xing fought an all-out battle against a Peak Golden Immortal cultivator, factoring in natural regeneration, it would take a full year to completely deplete his magical power.

Yet consuming half each day meant the expenditure far exceeded that of combat between Golden Immortals!

“As expected, anything involving time—even on a small scale—has terrifying consumption…”

Su Xing shook his head slightly.

With nearly half his magical power consumed each day, it would be impossible for Su Xing to maintain his power at full capacity.

If he couldn’t even keep his magical power full, there was no way to improve his cultivation.

“Perhaps thirty-fold time flow is simply too expensive?”

“I should try a lower multiplier next time and see how the magical power consumption compares…”

However, Su Xing’s primary objectives right now were still cultivating the Celestial Primordial Tree and replicating the Dao-Enlightenment Tea.

“Let’s see whether this Dao-Enlightenment Tea can actually be replicated…”

With a hint of anticipation, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【Over the next half year, you place the Dao-Enlightenment Tea at the Luotian Mirror’s core and continuously inject magical power into it.】

【As magical power is steadily infused, you faintly sense that a new leaf of Dao-Enlightenment Tea seems to be slowly forming.】

【But the replication speed is simply too slow!】

【You estimate that with uninterrupted daily injection of magical power, it would take at least a hundred years… to successfully replicate a single leaf of Dao-Enlightenment Tea.】

【Moreover, replicating the Dao-Enlightenment Tea consumes enormous amounts of energy. Simultaneously maintaining the thirty-fold time flow and replicating the tea is beyond what even your magical power can sustain.】

【Under these circumstances, you can only temporarily halt the Dao-Enlightenment Tea replication and devote all your power to accelerating the Celestial Primordial Tree’s growth.】

【Controlling the time flow requires massive amounts of spirit liquid, so over the next thirty years, you explore every Luo Tian legacy site in the Azure Origin Domain, obtaining countless quantities of spirit liquid.】

【In year thirty, you decide to leave the Azure Origin Domain and head for the Heavenly Secrets Domain.】

【Thirty years pass in the outside world, and you maintain a full thirty years of thirty-fold time flow inside the Luotian Realm.】

【This means the Celestial Primordial Tree has grown for a total of nine hundred years inside the Luotian Realm!】

【The once thumb-sized sapling has grown into a small tree taller than a person, with primordial energy clinging to its verdant leaves. Simply cultivating beneath the Celestial Primordial Tree, you can feel your primordial energy strengthening.】

【Beyond planting the Celestial Primordial Tree, you have not wasted the thirty-fold time flow.】

【You have also planted Spirit-Gathering Flowers across every hillside within the Luotian Sect, each batch maturing every three years. Over nine hundred years, this has yielded no fewer than five hundred thousand Spirit-Gathering Flowers!】

【After claiming the Luotian Sect’s legacy, you do not linger in the Azure Origin Domain, but proceed to the Heavenly Secrets Domain.】

【In year forty, you successfully arrive at the White Cloud Realm in the Heavenly Secrets Domain.】

【You conceal your identity and secure an Elder’s position within the White Cloud Sect, quietly awaiting the Celestial Primordial Tree’s maturation.】

【And so, in the blink of an eye, another sixty years pass.】

【In year one hundred, under the thirty-fold time differential, a full three thousand years have elapsed inside the Luotian Realm.】

【Over three thousand years, the Celestial Primordial Tree has grown to approximately three zhang (9.99 m) in height, its trunk so thick that one person cannot wrap their arms around it.】

【Unfortunately, the Celestial Primordial Tree has still not entered its maturation period.】

【Meanwhile, within the Luotian Sect, Spirit-Gathering Flowers now blanket every hillside.】

【Over a million Spirit-Gathering Flowers can be seen everywhere. You have arranged formations to gather the spiritual energy produced by the flowers, making the spiritual energy density within the Luotian Sect’s domain comparable to a supreme-grade grotto-heaven.】

【A million Spirit-Gathering Flowers produce approximately ten thousand drops of supreme-grade spirit liquid for you each day.】

【With this spirit liquid to supplement you, you are able to continuously maintain the time differential between the inside and outside of the Luotian Realm.】

【And a million Spirit-Gathering Flowers within the Luotian Realm are essentially sufficient for your current stage.】

【So you begin spending some magical power each day to transport Spirit-Gathering Flowers from inside the Luotian Realm to your spirit field grotto-heaven.】

【In addition to planting Spirit-Gathering Flowers, you also begin studying the Formation Dao, attempting to construct more advanced spirit-gathering formations.】

In the Real World, Su Xing nodded slightly upon seeing this.

“A million Spirit-Gathering Flowers, producing ten thousand drops of supreme-grade spirit liquid each day… Adding the Spirit-Gathering Flowers in my spirit field grotto-heaven, that’s over ten thousand drops per day.”

“For me at the Golden Immortal realm, that’s indeed sufficient…”

“However, the issue now is… constructing a Grand Grotto-Heaven isn’t as simple as piling up Spirit-Gathering Flowers and spiritual energy.”

“I must diligently study the Formation Dao and improve my spirit field grotto-heaven once more…”

Previously, Su Xing had witnessed the difference between lesser and grand grotto-heavens.

Su Xing’s current spirit field grotto-heaven could only be considered a lesser grotto-heaven. Even as a supreme-grade lesser grotto-heaven, it could at most produce supreme-grade spirit liquid.

But if he could advance one step further and create a Grand Grotto-Heaven, it would be enormously beneficial to his cultivation.

Not only because cultivation efficiency was higher within a Grand Grotto-Heaven, but most importantly, a Grand Grotto-Heaven could produce immortal liquid!

Immortal liquid—a treasure that was incredibly precious even in the ancient era.

Its concentration and efficacy were a full hundred times greater than spirit liquid!

A single drop of immortal liquid was equivalent to a hundred drops of supreme-grade spirit liquid!

Only powerhouses at the Supreme Unity Golden Immortal level and above were qualified to use immortal liquid.

After all, at that level, the depth of one’s magical power was immeasurable, and spirit liquid alone was no longer sufficient.

“For my current stage, supreme-grade spirit liquid is enough for cultivation… But if I used immortal liquid to cultivate, it would certainly yield twice the results with half the effort!”

“Therefore, the construction of a Grand Grotto-Heaven must be put on the agenda!”

“An Ethereal Root combined with immortal liquid cultivation… Only then can I cultivate to Supreme Unity Golden Immortal at maximum speed!”

Su Xing thought to himself as he turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【And so, over the next hundred years, in addition to cultivating the Celestial Primordial Tree and Spirit-Gathering Flowers, you study the Formation Dao within the Scripture Pavilion…】

【It is not until year two hundred that the Celestial Primordial Tree finally enters its maturation period…】