Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 60 Instantaneous Palm Fire Thunder (Seeking further reading, monthly votes, and recommendations)
"With five spiritual acupoints opened at once, I'm just one step away from the fifth level of Qi Refining!"

Feeling the condition inside his body, Zhou Ling's face lit up with joy.

Although refining beast fire is risky, the rewards are equally considerable.

The most direct benefit is that it cleanses and improves his physical constitution.

It can accelerate future cultivation speed.

In addition, it also stimulated a new growth talent, [Marrow Cleansing and Root Refinement], which can enhance spiritual roots.

This is what excites Zhou Ling the most.

It is important to know that the aptitude of cultivators is divided into:
Ordinary spiritual roots, low-grade spiritual roots, medium-grade spiritual roots, high-grade spiritual roots, earth spiritual roots, and heaven spiritual roots.

In addition, there are some powerful spiritual roots and spiritual constitutions.

The quality of one's spiritual root plays a crucial role in determining a cultivator's cultivation level.

Spiritual roots signify one's affinity with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Ordinary spiritual roots have the lowest affinity.

For cultivators with ordinary spiritual roots, unless they encounter some extraordinary opportunity, their cultivation will reach its limit once they reach the late stage of Qi Refining.

The affinity of low-grade spiritual roots to spiritual energy is five to ten times that of ordinary spiritual roots. Low-grade spiritual roots have a greater chance of entering the Foundation Establishment stage, but the chance of reaching the Golden Core stage is slim.

The same applies to intermediate-grade spiritual roots, superior-grade spiritual roots, and so on.

At the same time, the higher the quality of the spiritual root, the smaller the cultivation bottleneck and the faster the progress.

Zhou Ling originally had a low-grade spiritual root, and being able to enter the Foundation Establishment stage would already be his limit.

But now that I have the talent of [Marrow Cleansing and Root Refinement], I will have the opportunity to improve my spiritual root in the future.

Although improving one's talent requires rare and precious items from heaven and earth, these are certainly not easy to find.

However, improving one's spiritual root is an extremely extraordinary feat.

It's already good enough to have any opportunity at all!
Secondly, in terms of cultivation, he activated five spiritual acupoints at once, bringing the total number of spiritual acupoints in his body to thirty-nine.

He was only one step away from the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Although it's considered a minor bottleneck, Zhou Ling is still very confident that he can break through it before next year's assessment.

At that time, the treatment for those at the fourth and fifth levels of Qi Refining will be completely different.

Simply put, the fourth level of Qi Refining is just the passing grade, while the fifth level is considered good, which greatly increases the chances of entering the inner sect later.

Another point is that the quality of spiritual energy has also been significantly improved.

For independent cultivators, the Spirit Flame Technique, a mid-grade Yellow Rank technique, is already quite good.

The grade of a cultivation technique also determines the purity and richness of its spiritual energy.

Just like two cultivators at the sixth level of Qi Refining, their combat strength is different. The cultivator who cultivates high-level techniques can easily crush the cultivator who cultivates low-level techniques.

After being tempered by the beast fire, Zhou Ling felt that not only had his spiritual energy increased, but it had also become more refined and profound.

Compared to before, the quality of spiritual energy has more than doubled.

As spiritual power increases, it will bring great benefits in both combat and drawing inscriptions.

Even condensing the secret technique of fire and lightning in one's palm can be of great help.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but try to condense fire and lightning in his palm.

"Fire and Thunder in the Palm!"

Zhou Ling's lips moved slightly, and a two-inch-sized flame immediately appeared in his palm.

Lightning flashed on the surface.

Seeing how easily fire and lightning could be condensed, Zhou Ling was overjoyed.

Originally, it was extremely difficult to condense the fire and lightning in his palm using the spiritual flames within his body.

But now, with just a thought, fire and lightning condensed in his palm almost instantly.

"boom!"

There was a loud bang.

With a flick of his wrist, Zhou Ling unleashed a bolt of lightning that struck the rock several feet away.

It burst forth with a blinding burst of flames and lightning, its power astonishing.

The entire rock burst open, turning into scattered fragments.

"The power of the lightning and fire in his palm is so formidable!" Zhou Ling thought excitedly.

This power far exceeds that of a mid-grade first-tier attack spell.

Moreover, the speed at which the fire and lightning in his palm condense is far faster than ordinary spells.

However, he soon realized the truth.

The spiritual flame he had previously condensed was merely an ordinary spiritual flame.

Therefore, when condensing fire and lightning in the palm, not only is the speed slow, but the power is also ordinary, comparable to a mid-grade first-level spell.

However, by using the newly fused beast fire to condense this secret technique, the palm-shaped fire thunder, the situation is completely different.

It should be noted that when a cultivator casts a spell, he must first circulate the corresponding secret technique, and some may even need to silently recite incantations in conjunction with it.

Only when spiritual energy condenses and takes shape can it be used to launch an attack.

A secret technique cannot condense energy so quickly without reaching the pinnacle of its cultivation.

Even the most basic first-tier mid-grade spells require decades, or even longer, of arduous practice to reach perfection.

At this moment, Zhou Ling was simply using the fused beast fire to unleash the palm fire thunder, and it felt as if he were divinely aided.

Effortlessly condense!
Perhaps the palm-wielding fire and lightning technique he possesses now is different from the one he originally cultivated.

After all, it was originally condensed from the spiritual flames he cultivated, but now it is a spiritual flame of heaven and earth, such as beast fire.

Although they may look the same on the surface, their internal nature is completely different.

After exhaling, Zhou Ling carefully felt the energy drained by the use of the palm-fire thunder.

His face lit up with joy again, though it was only about 10%.

In other words, he could unleash six or seven palm strikes of lightning and fire in quick succession at once.

With this power, even if it encounters a late-stage first-tier demonic beast, it can at least bleed it dry if it doesn't kill it.

Looking up, I saw that the sky was already ablaze with red clouds.

Zhou Ling was startled and dared not linger in the valley any longer. He summoned the Stone Rock Rat and put it into the medicine basket. Then he used his Lightness Technique to quickly leave Nine Leaf Valley.

······.

By the time they returned to their tents, night had fallen.

After giving Chu Xing some instructions, Zhou Ling returned to his own tent.

After lighting a fire to cook rice and having a simple meal, we happily tallied up today's harvest.

Besides the main ingredient, the Condensing Essence Grass, there are many other spiritual herbs.

There are also more than a hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Today's earnings alone are probably equivalent to one or two years' income for an average pharmacist.

And most importantly, it incorporates beast fire.

It also triggered the [Marrow Cleansing and Root Refinement] talent, the value of which is immeasurable.

As for the rock rat, Zhou Ling gave it some beef jerky and instructed it not to leave the camp.

If those demon hunters saw it, they wouldn't care whose spirit beast it was.

If they kill us, we'll suffer in silence!
The rock rat, having something to eat, kept nodding and squeaking.

······.

In the following days, Zhou Ling did not rush back, but continued to search for herbs in the mountains.

I hope to find another Ningyuan Grass.

After all, alchemists also have a certain success rate.

Having an extra plant on hand is always a good precaution.

However, after several days, they still hadn't seen any trace of the Condensing Essence Grass, but they had collected quite a few other spiritual herbs.

Besides the fire-attribute spiritual herbs he needed, these herbs also included Blood Yang Grass, Ink Essence Grass, and others, enough to buy several Condensing Essence Grasses.

To ensure the medicinal efficacy of Ningyuan Grass.

Three days later, Zhou Ling bid farewell to Chu Xing and the others and returned to Xixia Immortal City first.

(End of this chapter)