Night of Despair

Every moment, old colonies of microorganisms die, and new ones are born.

With each new birth, wisps of gray smoke, extremely subtle, waft out and quickly disperse a few centimeters above the dumplings.

If not for his intense focus, Yu Hong wouldn't be able to see this swiftly dispersing, delicate smoke.

Moreover, the minuteness of this smoke is exaggerated to the extent that it can't be seen by the naked eye, unless one uses a high-power electron microscope combined with potent spiritual power to detect it carefully, only then might one barely perceive traces of it.

'From appearance to disappearance, it only exists for two seconds; indeed, collecting Earth's vitality is exceedingly challenging,' Yu Hong mused.

The three paths of Heaven, Earth, and Human, categorize by difficulty, and the future developments and gains are vastly different.

He originally thought that with his current traits and body, which had been refined to a decent degree, he should be able to take the top-tier Heavenly Vitality route, but... it seems he's still somewhat lacking.

But regardless, practice is necessary.

Carefully sensing those threads of vitality rising, Yu Hong operated the Inner Observation Diagram and the collection technique.

Immediately, the smoke of Earth's vitality wafting from the dumplings slowly drifted, gathered into a beam, and then leisurely floated towards him.

Whoosh.

The smoke instantly merged into the void outside Yu Hong's body, completely vanishing.

Still, Yu Hong could sense that strand of Earth's vitality orbiting around him like a satellite, continuously rotating.

'Success. The first thread of Earth's vitality collected.'

He exhaled with relief and proceeded with the second collection.

It's a task requiring time and patience, continuously collecting Earth's vitality from the outside world, accumulating and expanding it, forming a heavenly river to orbit around, then refining and purifying it to absorb it into the body, thereby achieving his cultivation.

This is the fundamental principle of the Qingyuan Heavenly River Miao Technique.

Yu Hong sat in meditation, initially his collection technique was slow, sometimes even failing to collect, but as time passed, his technique became more proficient.

The result was that the tiny colonies of microorganisms, fungi, and viruses around him suffered dramatically.

Inexplicably, their newly formed groups naturally perished.

Without the ability to regenerate, the old colonies soon died off, and the entire safehouse began slowly transforming into a completely sterile safe environment.

But the vitality from these colonies was far from enough to satisfy Yu Hong.

He thought for a while, did not open the door to leave, but instead, with a slight movement of his mind, another heavenly river appeared outside his body.

This was the Infinite River Technique fused with the Tai Ling Skill. Within it were hidden an Agrius Divine Split, Moon God Remnant Spearman, and for later replacement during downtime, a Golden Armor Three-eyed Dragon Head General added.

This was also the source of the large collection of eyeballs in his room.

Thinking for a moment, Yu Hong's gaze shifted to the Moon God Remnant Spearman.

Soon, with a flash of red light, a red muscle tumor man with two legs shot out from the Tianhe, appearing in the empty space in front of Yu Hong.

"As the spear points!" The Imperial Spearman remained spirited, shouting as he landed.

Yu Hong scrutinized the other; entrusting this guy to protect Yiyi for her safety had served its purpose.

'If using living creatures, it's part of the human vitality route, but it's worth a try. The three paths aren't fixed; whichever suits best should be used. However, the difficulty of refining impurities from the collected vitality varies by path.'

Immediately, Yu Hong turned to the page on human vitality collection, studying it for a while.

Then, pointing remotely at the Imperial Spearman.

Sss...

Suddenly, a thick wisp of gray smoke sprang from the top of the opponent's head, rapidly flowing into Yu Hong's side.

The next moment, a second heavenly river began to materialize beside Yu Hong, encircling him.

This was a gray and extremely slender heavenly river, maintained not by inner strength but purely by externally collected vitality.

The vitality of the Imperial Spearman was far from exhausted, continuously emitting rich gray smoke, incessantly feeding into Yu Hong's second Qingyuan Heavenly River.

Making the river thicker and broader.

Three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, the Qingyuan Heavenly River around Yu Hong was as thick as a palm, resembling a gray ribbon, encircling and whirling around him.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Spearman appeared utterly listless, his entire dark red muscular body slackened and feeble, with a weary, depleted face emerging from within the enveloping muscles.

"Are you alright?" Yu Hong couldn't help but ask.

"As the spear points!!" The Imperial Spearman mustered his muscles weakly to reply.

Seeing this, Yu Hong said no more, simply intending for him to transform into a red line to return to the Infinite River for recovery.

Upon retracting, he noticed a problem.

The Infinite River relies on the Tai Ling Skill inner strength for maintenance, which is different from the Fear Shadow Summoning Secret Technique. The river can't entirely switch over to rely on the Chaotic God Sky Eye Skill's inner strength. Fundamentally, they are different, and forced usage won't produce the effects of the Infinite River Technique.

Yu Hong felt the rapidly absorbing Infinite River at this moment, watching the river shrink swiftly, quickly restoring the Imperial Spearman.

He remained silent for a moment, deeming this not a long-term solution.

'It seems I still need to venture out to seek vitality for absorption in the short term.'

Click.

Suddenly, a light sound resonated.

The Qingyuan Heavenly River beside Yu Hong emitted a clear ring, signifying it could no longer contain more vitality.

Yu Hong promptly sat cross-legged and entered a meditative state, beginning to employ the subsequent Refining Method, consuming spiritual power, to purify and refine the vitality within the heavenly river.

Cultivation is timeless.

With this practice, he almost forgot the passage of time; the daylight outside changed to night, then from night back to day.

After a full day and night, Yu Hong finally awoke from the refining process.

By then, the Qingyuan Heavenly River had had its impurities refined, leaving only a circle as thin as a finger.

This refining wasn't complete; it needed to be repeated eight more times.

A total of nine refinements and purifications were necessary before it could be absorbed into the body.

When enough vitality is absorbed into the body, to the point of showing signs of renewed growth and development, it's a sign that the first level of Qi Refinement has been achieved.

During the subsequent time, after acquiring the Cultivation Technique, apart from visiting Wanxue Palace every few days to pay respects to his mentor, the rest of the time, he devoted himself to intense cultivation.

The difficulty of refining increased with each round, but fortunately, his spiritual power was vast and formidable.

In just five short days, he completed the first level of Qi Refinement.

His body began to show signs of a second growth.

Moving swiftly onto the second layer, he also succeeded by absorbing the vitality of the summonings within the Infinite River.

However, by the third layer, the Infinite River had severely diminished, with the three summons inside one by one becoming feeble; further absorption would lead to their complete downfall.

Yu Hong also realized he was progressing too quickly, covering in days what others would in years.

Yet, he truly couldn't wait any longer.

So he turned his doubts to his mentor, Yu Xuezi.

"Earth's vitality... it is indeed quite easy to refine, and your aptitude is indeed remarkable." Yu Xuezi couldn't help but twitch slightly upon hearing that Yu Hong could actually sense Earth's vitality.

Behind him, Bai Sheng and Hei Ying couldn't help but look down, remaining silent.

"Disciple is now troubled by finding places rich in Earth's vitality, hoping to absorb more." Yu Hong said helplessly.

The Infinite River was nearly barren, and the microorganisms around him were too weak to absorb enough to fill a Qingyuan Heavenly River anytime soon.

Yu Hong estimated that if he relied on absorbing microbial vitality to reach the next layer, at his current rate, it would take at least three to four years, not to mention.

That's why he sought his mentor's assistance.

"In truth, for Earth's vitality, you can choose places rich in vitality, capable of nurturing numerous forms of life; it's easier to absorb more there. However, it's challenging, and the amount extracted is far from sufficient to complete Qi cultivation. Therefore, I also combined absorption in the past; later, you can ask your senior brother to guide you to appropriate locations," Yu Xuezi advised.

"I understand, mentor." Yu Hong nodded.

"You naturally bring cultivation with you; previously accumulated inner strength can help you make rapid progress initially, but after reaching the Qi Refinement Realm, previous accumulation is not just unhelpful; it can actually affect the consolidation of your foundation. Be cautious," Yu Xuezi warned.

"I understand," said Yu Hong clearly, though this pace still made anxiety rise in his heart.

He had already started using the Black Mark to aid in cultivation. Meanwhile, another avenue of thought presented itself for reference.

He was on the verge of reaching the final Ninth Layer of the Chaotic God Heavenly Eye Skill, and once reached, it would yield a noteworthy Cultivation Technique trait.

From this line of thought, perhaps practicing a wide range of ordinary Cultivation Techniques could incorporate traits into himself, and if he could acquire another trait similar to Tao Breath Circulation, his cultivation speed could advance another notch.

"Then may I ask, Master, does the sect have a recorded collection of ordinary cultivation secret techniques? I wish to practice while reading through other techniques for reference," Yu Hong asked respectfully.

"Of course. Hei Ying, please escort your junior brother to the Book Collection Pavilion later," instructed Yu Xuezi.

"Certainly!" Hei Ying nodded respectfully from behind.

"In that case, disciple will take his leave for now." Yu Hong said spiritedly.

"Go ahead," Yu Xuezi watched as Yu Hong was led away by Hei Ying.

Once they were distant, he sighed softly.

"Why the sigh, Master? Isn't it a good thing that Junior Brother is so exceptionally gifted?" Bai Sheng asked in puzzlement from behind.

"We can only sense human vitality, our aptitude graded within human vitality, and it typically takes at least seven or eight days to achieve one session of cultivation refinement. Yet, Junior Brother effortlessly handles human vitality and even manages to successfully absorb the mythical Earth's vitality in just a few days. Is this not joyous news, Master?"

Listening to Bai Sheng, Yu Xuezi shook his head.

"Certainly not, but the overwhelming joy in my heart is too much to handle. However, it's just the Qi Refinement stage, too early, no need to rush."

"Yet in the Mining Star, finding vitality is indeed tricky. Master, can I take Junior Brother to find the Life Well?" Bai Sheng asked.

"No hasty decisions. If Yu Hu encounters a bottleneck, then take him afterwards," Yu Xuezi nodded.

Meanwhile.

Guided by Hei Ying, Yu Hong quickly arrived at an internal pavilion within Wanxue Palace.

The pavilion, crafted from jade, stood amidst a deserted garden in the palace, with a plaque reading: Book Collection Pavilion.

"This is the place. Take your time to explore; I must leave now. The day's cultivation tasks are yet to be completed, and I cannot be lax," Hei Ying said earnestly.

"Thank you, Senior Sister," Yu Hong replied promptly.

He watched as she swiftly departed, vanishing from sight.

Then he turned to focus on the Book Collection Pavilion.

'Whether I can shorten cultivation time depends on this visit.' He strode towards the front door.