My Clones Can Cultivate

Chapter 86

Liyu couldn’t help but feel truly proud of himself at this very moment as the overwhelming surge of qi rushed through his meridians.

He didn’t really want to think about it, but he simply couldn’t help calculating his ridiculous cultivation speed. If he continued cultivating at this pace, and if he only needed to cultivate like an Earth Grade cultivator... assuming he required just five qi beads to form a qi cluster and break through... then he would reach it incredibly quickly.

It would take him only 8 minutes and 20 seconds to form a single qi bead; then, forming a qi cluster containing five qi beads would only require around 41 minutes and 40 seconds. Wouldn’t that mean that within just a single day or so, he would already reach the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm?

That kind of cultivation speed... Liyu calmed his racing heart, which had become excited by the mere thought of it, before continuing his cultivation.

Thanks to his greatly enhanced mental capabilities, he could split his focus into two separate parts: one part concentrated entirely on cultivating and continuously operating the Foundation Breathing Sutra, while the other part simply did what Liyu usually did whenever he had nothing much to occupy his mind... it wandered from one random thought to another.

Most of those thoughts didn’t really make much sense, but Liyu simply went along with them. Just like his current train of thought.

Of course, Liyu himself knew that there was no way he would actually be able to cultivate that fast. The reason was simple: he possessed a Divine Grade spirit root.

The gap between the Divine Grade and the Earth Grade was so unimaginably vast that comparing the two was perhaps the peak of foolishness. Just as the Divine Grade spirit root granted him cheat-like abilities, such as the 100× cultivation speed boost, it also came with a severe drawback: its appetite.

The amount of energy required to satisfy a Divine Grade spirit root was simply far too enormous. That was why Liyu was rather worried about how many qi beads he would actually need before finally forming a qi cluster and stepping into the First Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.

"I wonder... could I perhaps upgrade it into the next grade... the Sky Grade?" If he managed to do that, the amount of qi threads he could gather every second might even double once again; combined with the Divine Grade Spirit Root boost and the Devouring Debt boost, his cultivation speed would undoubtedly rise to an even more terrifying height.

Of course, Liyu expected the system to scoff at those thoughts, and sure enough, it did exactly that: "Hey, Host, don’t start getting cocky just because you managed to upgrade an Earth Grade technique from the Bronze Rank all the way to the Obsidian Rank. Yes, it is indeed an achievement worthy of praise, but don’t think upgrading it any further will be anywhere near as effortless as it was with an Earth Grade technique."

"In fact, I can already tell you that it will demand far more from you than you can currently imagine. The gap between every cultivation grade is monstrous. If you insist on pursuing that goal now, not only might you completely fail to push it into the Sky Grade, but you could also suffer an even more terrifying backlash from forcing yourself beyond your current limits. And let me assure you... that backlash would be far worse than the one you just experienced."

"Therefore, my advice is simple: attempt such a thing only after reaching the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm... or, even better, after stepping into the Core Realm. By then, your energy reserves will be vastly greater, your experience far richer, and your chances of succeeding much higher."

Liyu quietly listened to the system, his expression remaining unchanged. Of course, he knew the system was right; truthfully, he wasn’t even seriously considering attempting another upgrade anytime soon.

In fact, the mere fact that he couldn’t even activate the Origin Eyes anymore was enough proof. If he tried to use them now, the only thing waiting for him was an intense pain that forced him to immediately shut his eyes. But more importantly, he had actually been lucky... extremely lucky.

After all, there was a certain parasite that would have attempted to feed on the little energy remaining inside his body if he hadn’t been rescued in time. Who knew what that Devouring Debt title might have done to him if he hadn’t received proper treatment and recovered some energy? Liyu didn’t even want to imagine it, so he abandoned any thoughts of forcing another optimization.

Instead, he focused entirely on cultivating. After reaching the Third or perhaps the Fourth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, he would stop and learn the combat technique that the clan lord had promised to teach him.

With that thought in mind, he shifted his full attention toward cultivation; although part of his mind had already been focused on it all this time, now, he devoted everything to it.

Soon after eight minutes and a few seconds had passed, he received a system notification: "Ding! Enough qi threads for a qi bead have been gathered. Beginning condensation... Condensing... Ding! Condensation completed. One qi bead has been formed."

Liyu looked at the system notification without much change in his expression and simply continued cultivating. As time passed in a blur, more and more of the same notifications continued to ring inside his mind: "Ding! A qi bead has been formed."

Liyu continued cultivating, yet the longer he cultivated and heard the repeating notifications, the stronger the strange feeling inside his heart became. Wasn’t he supposed to have accumulated a large number of qi beads already?

So why wasn’t a qi cluster forming? He opened his eyes after some more time had passed, and what he saw made him frown: "Qi Beads Formed: 150." He had been cultivating for quite a while, and yes, his cultivation speed was every bit as insane as he had expected.

So why did it feel as though he had only just started cultivating? Liyu closed his eyes once more and entered another round of cultivation. After another period filled with the same repeating notifications, he slowly opened his eyes again; this time, however, his expression completely fell: "Qi Beads Formed: 230."

He had already formed two hundred and thirty qi beads, and yet he still felt as though he had a very long way to go before he could finally condense a qi cluster. Just how many qi beads did he actually need?

He couldn’t help but ask, "System... just how long have I been cultivating?" The system answered almost immediately: *One day, eight hours, twenty-six minutes and forty seconds."

Liyu’s face became completely blank; a whole day had already passed, and he still didn’t feel as though he was anywhere close to gathering enough qi beads to form a single qi cluster.

Still, he refused to let anxiety slow down his cultivation; instead, he focused even harder and continued cultivating at an even greater level of concentration.

------

Meanwhile, in another part of the Li Manor, Li Bao was sparring against multiple disciples who were at the same cultivation realm as himself. His swordsmanship was extremely refined, constantly forcing his three opponents backward; every movement he made was graceful, while every strike he unleashed was precise and nearly impossible to block.

Those sparring against him already knew that Li Bao was holding back tremendously; otherwise, they wouldn’t merely be injured, they would have already lost their lives. Not only that, but all of them were merely using wooden swords for practice.

Li Bao slightly twisted his body and activated Phantom Crossing; he had already calculated the trajectories of all three opponents, subtly guiding their movements until they unknowingly entered the exact positions he wanted.

Now, he could defeat all three with a single move. "Phantom Crossing!’ With a speed far beyond what someone at the Third Stage of Qi Gathering should even remotely possess, Li Bao vanished; his figure flashed across the training ground like a phantom. In a single burst of flawless grace, his wooden sword struck all three opponents before they could even react. "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The three disciples were sent flying backward almost simultaneously before crashing heavily onto the training platform. Silence immediately descended upon the training grounds. He struck down all three of them while also shattering their wooden swords.

Li Bao stopped and slowly held his sword in one hand as the three disciples collapsed onto the ground, painful groans escaping from their mouths.

They soon recovered, however, since Li Bao had indeed gone easy on them; in fact, he seemed to have become far more humble and gentle compared to how he had been before.

After the battle with Liyu, where he had suffered a crushing defeat, instead of throwing tantrums or hurling curses as many had expected him to do, he simply continued training his skills.

Seeing the way his son was acting, Elder Jin couldn’t help but feel conflicted: had his son truly lost the drive and ambition that he had spent years planting within him and become a fool, or was he simply so broken by his defeat and humiliation that he was pretending everything was fine?

He prayed it was the latter; his son must not lose his drive, or else Elder Jin feared that all of his grand dreams would come crashing down.

Soon after his son finished sparring, he sat down beside his father for the tea they always shared after every intense training session like the one he had just completed.

As Li Bao sipped his tea, his expression remained calm and even; he didn’t look annoyed at all, and in fact, he looked rather refreshed. Elder Jin could no longer hold himself back and finally asked the question that had been weighing heavily on his mind:

"Hey, son... what’s wrong?" Li Bao gently placed his teacup on the table before looking at his father with a calm expression: "I already know what you’re thinking. You think I’m pretending, and that deep inside I’m probably very upset." Li Bao lowered his gaze to his own hand:

"Maybe you’re right... and maybe you’re wrong. I hate to admit it, but it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth to be defeated by someone who was an entire realm below me. But no matter how much I try to rationalize it, none of it makes any sense."

"Not only did I use my fastest movement art and push myself to my limits... yet in the end, he still defeated me as though he were merely playing with a child. It felt as though every bit of pride and superiority I once possessed was beaten out of me as well."

A faint smile appeared on his face: "Aren’t you the one who always said that one can only discover their true limits when they encounter someone truly superior? Back then, I never understood what you meant, but after facing Young Master Yu... I truly felt inferior, and I’ve learned to accept my own limits."

Hearing the words coming out of his son’s mouth, Elder Jin couldn’t help but become irritated: "What nonsense are you talking about? You’ve earned the right to compete in the upcoming tournament! Maybe Liyu is beyond you, but what about Xie or Jie? If you go all out, you should still be able to defeat either one of them."

Li Bao slowly shook his head. There were three whole cultivation stages separating him from the Anomaly Brothers; if he truly fought against either of them, he was almost certain that any one of them could defeat him.

He looked at his father, his eyes already conveying the words he wanted to say, yet he still spoke them aloud: "Dad... I’m sorry. I failed you, but I can’t compete in the tournament. I don’t think I’m ready to even enter it. We have no idea who the other clans have chosen as their candidates or what cultivation realms they’ve reached."

"If they turn out to be Late or even Peak Qi Gathering cultivators... then I fear I’ll only end up slowing the others down. Because of that, I’ve been feeling anxious. What if I fail? Wouldn’t I only bring great shame upon myself... and upon the clan?"

"That thought alone has made me push myself far harder than I ever wanted. But Young Master Yu can take my place now; he is several times more of a genius than I could ever hope to become. So... I give up on that dream, Dad."

Hearing his son’s seemingly cowardly words, Elder Jin shot to his feet in anger, his teeth grinding loudly as rage filled his heart before he rushed off. He was truly furious. Li Bao, however, felt strangely relieved by his own decision; he let out a soft sigh.

Even he couldn’t help but realize just how much he had changed. Liyu’s overwhelming victory over him had completely altered the way he viewed both himself and the world. He genuinely believed that the person who deserved to participate in the upcoming Selection Tournament was Liyu instead of him.

That guy... the calm face of Liyu appeared in his mind. Li Bao slowly shook his head: "He is special; in fact, I wouldn’t even be that surprised if he managed to break into the Qi Gathering Realm within a month or so."

Li Bao couldn’t help but laugh at his own ridiculous thought. It normally took cultivators days or even weeks just to form a single stable qi bead; forming a qi cluster usually required months.

Depending on many different factors, one could cultivate diligently for years and still remain stuck at the Second or Third Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm. So what in the world had he just been thinking?

He chuckled once more; who knew, perhaps the beating Liyu had given him had also left him a little delusional.