Returning to his room, Ye Chen began his secluded cultivation, gathering dew and refining medicinal liquids.
However, with the recent rain and fog, the process of collecting herb-infused dew accelerated many times over. Moreover, this time the medicinal liquid he was refining was not the Hundred Herbs Liquid. It took only three days to successfully gather ten large bowls of herb-infused dew.
In the following days, he focused entirely on refining the medicinal liquid. All of this was conducted in secret, and his mysterious behavior made outsiders itch with curiosity.
Even his parents, Ye Ao and Xia Wei, found it strange, but they respected their son's actions and did not pry.
During this period, Ye Hua personally came by once, intending to seek revenge on Ye Chen. Unfortunately, Patriarch Ye Ao had issued a strict order forbidding anyone from arbitrarily barging into Ye Chen's courtyard, on pain of clan punishment.
Ye Hua could only squat outside Ye Chen's courtyard for three days. Still seeing no sign of Ye Chen emerging, he left in frustration.
Ye Chen was completely unaware of all this, and even if he knew, he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to an outsider like Ye Hua.
Finally, after a full eight days, ten vials containing a green medicinal liquid were neatly lined up on the table.
Looking at these ten vials of misty liquid, Ye Chen wiped the sweat from his brow, let out a soft sigh, and a faint smile slowly curved his lips.
The medicinal liquid he had painstakingly refined over these days could now be tested for its efficacy. At the same time, he felt it was time for him to break through once again.
...
In the quiet room, a wooden tub about half a zhang wide was set up, filled with clear water.
Ye Chen took out one of the vials and slowly poured out the green medicinal liquid. As he stirred the clear water in the tub with his hand, the entire bucket of water gradually turned into a green liquid, misty and diffuse, taking on a somewhat dreamlike hue.
Then, Ye Chen removed all his clothes, revealing his tall, well-built, and athletic physique, and stepped into the tub. Submerging everything below his neck in the green liquid, he closed his eyes and began cultivating, drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Visible to the naked eye, wisps of green energy from the liquid flowed into his body through the pores on his skin.
As the green energy flowed in, Ye Chen's pores subtly expanded, and the rate at which he absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth also increased noticeably.
In fact, the medicinal liquid refined this time was not the healing liquid from the first time, but an auxiliary cultivation liquid called "Jade God Liquid."
What is an auxiliary cultivation liquid? As the name suggests, it is a medicinal liquid that aids cultivation.
At first glance, it might not seem particularly special, but in comparison, auxiliary cultivation liquids are more precious than regular cultivation liquids.
Because while ordinary cultivation liquids refine the spiritual energy of various precious herbs to convert it into one's own energy, they often have corresponding side effects. For example, inherent toxicity from some herbs might also be contained within the cultivation liquid, integrating into the body during cultivation and causing significant harm.
This kind of toxin is often very difficult to remove during the refining process.
However, auxiliary cultivation liquids are different. Although they also contain spiritual essence, they are not completely absorbed. Instead, they serve a function: expanding the cultivator's meridians, speeding up the circulation of cultivation techniques, accelerating the absorption of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, thereby increasing cultivation speed.
Furthermore, it's worth mentioning that auxiliary cultivation liquids also help expand the meridians, which is immensely beneficial for cultivation. Hence, they are far superior to regular cultivation liquids.
Generally speaking, the speed of absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth depends on the width of one's own meridians. The wider the meridians, the faster the absorption. Otherwise, even if one cultivates in a place where spiritual energy is so dense it's almost liquid, narrow meridians would prevent fast absorption no matter how abundant the energy.
Auxiliary cultivation liquids, however, can temporarily alter the body, expanding the meridians. The cultivation speed and the rate of absorbing spiritual energy can be more than twice as fast as usual.
After expansion, the meridians also gain a certain resilience. Even after the effect wears off, the meridians often remain somewhat expanded...
Naturally, even auxiliary cultivation liquids cannot be used indiscriminately. The dosage must be precise; absolutely not too much. Otherwise, an excessive amount would turn the auxiliary cultivation liquid from an aid into a harmful substance, causing the meridians to over-expand and rupture, leading to profuse bleeding and potentially rendering one a cripple on the spot.
These ten vials of auxiliary cultivation liquid would be enough for an ordinary person to cultivate for ten months.
Seven or eight drops of Jade God Liquid would suffice for an ordinary person's daily cultivation. Yet, Ye Chen poured an entire vial into the tub. In other words, to maximize his cultivation speed, he intended to expand his meridians to their limit to absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
This was undoubtedly dangerous. An excessive dosage could cause his meridians to be literally torn apart, with severe consequences ranging from serious injury to death.
Ye Chen was gambling on all this. For him, conventional cultivation could not yield significant results. Only by seeking fortune amidst danger aligned with his cultivation principles.
Moreover, he did have a certain foundation: a Xiantian realm physique and half a month of practicing the Tyrant Heaven Refining Saint Art, both of which had significantly shaped his body, providing the crucial condition to bear the risk.
Inside the wooden tub, Ye Chen cultivated with his entire heart and soul. As time passed, the more auxiliary liquid energy he absorbed, the more his meridians expanded. Occasionally, faint points of fluorescent light could even be seen flickering in the air around him—a sign that the spiritual energy was nearly condensing into mist.
At the same time, the pagoda-shaped mark on his chest began to glow. Instantly, the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged toward this courtyard, misty and abundant, continuously absorbed by Ye Chen.
Visible to the naked eye, strands of spiritual energy from heaven and earth took form, turning into thin spiritual mist that continuously flowed into Ye Chen's body. After circulating through his meridians for three great cycles, it was immediately converted by his cultivation technique into internal force, becoming his power.
However, as he absorbed more of the jade-green energy and his meridians expanded further, a moment came when a crack suddenly appeared in one meridian, with a trace of blood surfacing.
Subsequently, cracks appeared in one meridian after another. In the end, even his pores were torn open, with thin streams of blood trickling out.
This was a sign of reaching the limit. Once the meridians' tolerance limit was exceeded, they would be torn apart.
This was also why auxiliary cultivation liquids could only be used in a certain amount. If exceeded, if the dosage was too great, it could literally burst a person's meridians, crippling them at best or causing death at worst—extremely dangerous.
Yet, to increase his cultivation speed, Ye Chen spared no cost, pouring the entire vial of Jade God Liquid into the tub.
Although the Jade God Liquid was diluted with clear water, for an ordinary person, seven or eight drops were enough for a full day of cultivation. Ye Chen, however, chose to pour in an entire vial. That potent dosage was far more powerful than one might imagine.
*Hum—*
In the end, increasingly dense spiritual energy from heaven and earth rapidly gathered. Through his dilated pores, it was swallowed into his body, instantly filling Ye Chen's limbs and bones, making them feel full and swollen, giving his meridians the sensation of being on the verge of tearing.
Blood flowed like a stream. His meridians could no longer bear it, one after another rupturing, dyeing the medicinal liquid in the tub red. He was approaching the brink.
A terrifying pain instantly flooded his mind, enough to make anyone gasp in shock, their eyes turning red as they screamed in agony.
But Ye Chen's eyes merely reddened. He had endured pain a thousand times worse than this before. Without a word, he silently bore all the suffering.
The effect was equally astonishing. In the world around, vast amounts of spiritual energy from heaven and earth surged into this area, flowing through Ye Chen's thirty-six thousand pores into his meridians, circulating rapidly before transforming into internal force within his body, returning to the dantian in his lower abdomen, accumulating power.
And at this very moment, Ye Chen broke through—Houtian Fifth Layer! His aura suddenly surged significantly, and a warm, comforting power abruptly filled his limbs and bones, further enhancing his physical strength.
Houtian Fifth Layer—five hundred jin of strength!
Unfortunately, all of this was unimportant to Ye Chen. Because even after breaking through, the spiritual energy from heaven and earth continuously flowing in from the outside showed no sign of decreasing. On the contrary, it grew more and more abundant, causing his meridians, which should have been torn apart by the Jade God Liquid's effect, to begin failing to hold up.
At this moment, Ye Chen suddenly submerged his entire body into the medicinal broth in the wooden tub, his hands swiftly forming seals in the water—
Human Yuan Body Art, activate!