Chapter 270 - 198: Taking Stock of the Gains, The Miraculous Effect of the Red Crystal
It wasn’t kept in a Storage Bag, and over the years, he had scoured countless ancient texts without ever finding any information about it...
With his keen senses, Lin Changheng carefully investigated the crystal for a while before a sudden theory formed in his mind.
’Why wasn’t this Crystal Stone stored in the Storage Bag with the rest of the items?’
’Could it be that it’s not an "external object"?’
’But rather an "internal object"—something from within the body?’
That would explain why when Huang Jiuyuan moved the skeletal remains, this Red Transparent Crystal Stone fell out from inside the Bone Transformation Cultivator’s body...
This theory was certainly possible, and it was one of the most reasonable explanations Lin Changheng could come up with.
And if this Crystal Stone and the Jade Void Brilliance Scripture shared the same origin, did that mean...
He drew in a sharp breath.
Lin Changheng immediately sat cross-legged, set down the Crystal Stone, entered a state of Meditation, and began to cultivate, powerfully circulating his Cultivation Technique.
「More than half a day later.」
Suddenly, Lin Changheng’s expression flickered.
He had once again produced a strand of Red True Essence within his body.
Normally, he would "feed" it to the Red Sky Profound Flame residing in the center of his Dantian.
The flame, in turn, would send him signals of intense craving.
But this time, Lin Changheng ignored the flame and slowly guided the essence elsewhere.
He channeled it through his meridians and Qi Veins until it reached the palm of his hand, where it swirled erratically. Lin Changheng opened his eyes and gazed at the wisp of Red True Essence. Then, with a beckoning gesture from his other hand, the Red Transparent Crystal Stone flew into his grasp with a WHOOSH.
He brought the two close together, comparing them.
He examined them with both his naked eye and his Divine Sense. After a long moment, his pupils suddenly constricted.
"Just as I thought!"
After an incredibly detailed comparison, Lin Changheng was certain: the two came from the exact same source.
Even the minute details were identical.
The only difference was that the crystal was solid, while the Red True Essence he cultivated was gaseous.
This was a difference in their state of matter, which perhaps also reflected a difference in quality.
Lin Changheng naturally thought of the difference in Magical Power between the Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation realms, which also progressed from gaseous to liquid to solid. ’Could the Red True Essence be the same? Does it have multiple states?’
’Or is it that for a Cultivator practicing this technique, the Red True Essence is gaseous while they’re alive, but condenses into a solid after death?’
Both were possibilities, and Lin Changheng couldn’t determine the truth for the time being.
’I wonder if I can make use of this Red Transparent Crystal Stone?’
Lin Changheng’s eyes gleamed as the thought crossed his mind.
He immediately put the thought into action.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Lin Changheng gripped the fist-sized Red Crystal Stone in one hand and began his Cultivation.
He sat cross-legged on the stone bed, eyes gently closed, his breathing long and steady.
At the same time, the Spirit Gathering Array activated. Dense Spiritual Qi gathered and swirled around him. As he circulated the Jade Void Brilliance Scripture, the Spiritual Qi was drawn into his body, flowing powerfully with a constant roar, scouring his meridians and Qi Veins like a rushing stream.
As his Cultivation Technique circulated, a thought from Lin Changheng caused a suction force to emanate from his hand at the perfect moment, beginning to draw out the energy contained within the Red Transparent Crystal Stone.
Lin Changheng was extremely careful with this attempt, proceeding slowly and cautiously, refusing to be reckless.
If he detected any problem, he could stop immediately.
An unknown amount of time passed before the Red Transparent Crystal Stone finally changed. With a HISS, a wisp of red energy loosened. It wavered unsteadily before being arduously extracted by the suction force from his Cultivation Technique.
As the red energy entered his body through his palm, Lin Changheng immediately stopped drawing any more.
He then focused his full attention, using Introspection to observe the changes within his body.
He began monitoring the potential changes this wisp of red energy might cause.
Lin Changheng was confident that as long as he didn’t absorb too much, he could quickly suppress, expel, and control the effects even if the energy turned out to be poisonous or harmful.
But his contingency plan for a negative outcome proved unnecessary.
Although this wisp of red energy was not his own, it was still from the same source.
It was like a blood transfusion between two people with a compatible blood type.
Lin Changheng simply enveloped it with his Cultivation Technique to refine it, and to his surprise, he directly assimilated it for his own use...
The Magical Power contained within was stripped out and absorbed into his Dantian, completely indistinguishable from the power he refined himself.
The process was incredibly fast—much faster than refining Spiritual Qi by performing multiple Circulations!
Before he could even celebrate, Lin Changheng made another discovery: after the Magical Power was stripped away, what remained was a wisp of gaseous Red True Essence!
"You’ve got to be kidding me!"
This time, Lin Changheng was genuinely thrilled!
The strand of True Essence wavered slightly within his Dantian, immediately provoking a reaction from the Red Sky Profound Flame.
It was like a starving, newborn infant catching the scent of milk.
It trembled with intense desire.
"Go!"
Lin Changheng naturally directed the Red True Essence toward the flame.
Upon receiving the command, the Red Sky Profound Flame instantly shot out a tongue of fire. Like a frog’s tongue snatching an insect, it wrapped around the Red True Essence and pulled it into its core.
SIZZLE...
The instant the Red True Essence was drawn in, the Red Sky Profound Flame violently expanded to several times its size. A dazzling, golden-red light erupted from the depths of its core, like pouring oil onto a raging fire!
Instead of its usual flickering, the flame began to pulse like a heart, as if it were digesting something.
Simultaneously, the air around Lin Changheng began to slowly heat up, becoming scorching hot.
Lin Changheng himself, however, remained serene and unfazed, looking as though this were a common occurrence.
And indeed, it behaved this way every time he "fed" it True Essence.
Once the Red Sky Profound Flame finished absorbing it, Lin Changheng fed it the strand of True Essence he had cultivated earlier, only stopping after it too was fully digested.
...
’This thing is incredible!’
Lin Changheng couldn’t bring himself to put the Red Transparent Crystal Stone down.
It had two core functions:
First, it could accelerate his Magical Power Cultivation. It was like directly absorbing the fruits of someone else’s labor, requiring only a simple refinement.
It was a bit like the "pre-made meals" from his past life—the end result was the same, but it was far more efficient!
It could save him a significant amount of time, or allow him to advance his Cultivation much further in the same amount of time!
Second, he could obtain more Red True Essence.
He could feed it to the Red Sky Profound Flame to speed up its accumulation, hastening its evolution into a Tier Three Flame.
The only drawback was that it was a consumable item. Once used, it was gone forever.
’But what if... I could get more Red Transparent Crystal Stones?’
’Wouldn’t my Cultivation speed get an enormous boost?’
But the instant that thought appeared, another one followed. ’No, that’s not right...’
Lin Changheng’s expression turned extremely grim.
’If I’m already thinking about hunting others to get these Crystal Stones, what about everyone else?’
’Wouldn’t they have the same idea?’
’And be thinking about hunting me?!’
Lin Changheng suddenly realized that this characteristic of the Jade Void Brilliance Scripture effectively turned it into a technique for... Raising Gu!
’The Gu devour each other until only the most powerful, highest-cultivation Gu remains?’
’So that’s the catch!’
Lin Changheng’s expression was grim.
Clearly, this ran completely counter to his path of steady progression!
Even if he didn’t want to play the game, he would be forced to participate.
Because the hunters wouldn’t care whether he was innocent or not!
’This damned Cultivation Technique... I could deal with the slow Cultivation speed, but why didn’t it mention any of this beforehand?’
’Maybe I can find an opportunity to switch to a different Cultivation Technique.’
Lin Changheng was instantly snapped out of his initial excitement over the wonderful gains. He sobered up and began to think about how to deal with this in the future.
But he also had to admit that this Cultivation Technique was incredibly tempting, especially the Red True Essence it produced, which had given him a Tier Two Upper Grade ability ahead of schedule!
’Fortunately, I have the Fifth Layer of the Concealing Breath Skill to hide myself. Also, the origin of this Cultivation Technique seems to be in the neighboring Jin Country, so I don’t have to worry about being targeted as prey in the short term...’
Lin Changheng’s Tenth-Layer Origin Treasure Seed activated its Enhanced Enlightenment and Clear Heart abilities, allowing him to begin thinking calmly.
In the end, he formulated several principles to follow to avoid risk:
First, he must never reveal what Cultivation Technique he was practicing. Currently, only he and the Huang Family knew. Since no Cultivator in their clan practiced this technique, it wouldn’t attract prying eyes and cause them to become collateral damage.
...