Bamboo Mound

"This is……"

"Yeah, I still have one of these!"

Ning Chang then remembered that he had won twenty bottles of pills that looked like an upgraded version of the Spirit Gathering Pill in the Three Sects Grand Competition.

Originally, it was kept together with the spirit stones, but because I needed to store other things, I piled these cultivation supplies together. I buried the spirit stones in the pill bottle, and after not seeing them for a while, I forgot about them.

"Speaking of which, having this thing should solve all the problems, right?"

As he spoke, he took out a bottle, poured out a pill, and held it in his hand.

Upon closer inspection, this pill does indeed appear to be an enhanced version of the Spirit Gathering Pill.

It's the same milky white color, the same size, the only difference being an inconspicuous line on it.

After capping the bottle and putting it back into his spatial bag, Ning Chang broke open ten spirit stones and placed them in front of him before swallowing the pill in his hand.

The pill lost its tactile sensation upon entering the mouth, transforming into a surge of spiritual energy that flowed into the body's meridians.

This single strike is equivalent to the spiritual energy content of half a spirit stone!

Of course, this is just a side effect; the main benefit is the cultivation enhancement effect brought about by this pill.

The impact on the absorption speed of spirit stones and the refining speed of spiritual energy.

However, since Ning Chang was only at the ninth level of the Spirit Fusion Realm when he took this pill, its efficacy was slightly reduced, and it was even less effective than the boost he received from the first complete Spirit Gathering Pill.

As for the spiritual energy floating around him, it's so thin that even if the medicinal effect were several times stronger, absorbing it for several days might not be as effective as what this one pill directly provides!

Before long, after easily refining this wisp of spiritual energy, Ning Chang hurriedly took advantage of the medicinal effects to begin absorbing the ten spirit stones in front of him.

……

As the spirit stones were consumed, the liquid spiritual energy within Ning Chang's meridians began to converge towards the center, and its liquid characteristics gradually disappeared.

Once the spiritual energy ceased its movement and transformed into a fixed, pure white band of spiritual energy, his meridians finally quieted down completely.

The effects of the medicine had worn off, and the ten spirit stones in front of him had vanished.

"Phew, so... this must be the Spirit Platform."

Ning Chang finished his cultivation, opened his eyes, and took a breath.

After sensing it, I found that the spiritual energy was several times stronger than before, and the control and mobilization speed were also far greater than before!

Most importantly, with his current spiritual power, he can already use spirit control to control himself quite easily!

It was also his fault for misjudging the difference in strength between realms. In fact, with the strength of the eighth level of the Spirit Fusion Realm, one could use Spirit Control to fly, and now that he had reached the Spirit Platform Realm, it was naturally even easier.

Unfortunately, the flight speed provided by the Spirit Control Technique is not as fast as the speed of his Azure Cloud Step when he fused with the Spirit.

"It's a convenient flying technique in certain situations, but for traveling, you should still use the Azure Cloud Step. However, it can be used as a stepping stone for the Azure Cloud Step in the air."

"As for spiritual energy, it has now been compressed to one-fifth of the meridian capacity. To replenish it, it will take five times the amount of spirit stones, which is three hundred!"

Judging from his performance in the Spirit Fusion Realm, if he completes these four-fifths, he will probably reach the third level of the Spirit Platform Realm.

He currently has 369 spirit stones left.

"Sigh... what a blunder... oh well."

Although he used his entire meridian as a dantian, expanding his spiritual energy capacity and genuinely increasing his endurance, the time and resources required for cultivation also increased significantly!

"Consider it preparation for getting on the road... or running away."

he consoled himself.

His current attack method, once unleashed, does not require further consumption of spiritual energy to maintain, and it consumes less than a few full-power Azure Cloud Steps.

If those methods fail to defeat the enemy, then the only option left is to run away, and sufficient spiritual energy reserves become the key to running away.

"Now, it's time to go."

He got up, stretched his stiff joints, and determined his direction. Then he leaped up and ran north among the treetops in the forest.

After a few tentative steps, he discovered that his current full-speed Azure Cloud Step not only consumed less spiritual energy than before, but also greatly increased the distance covered, covering more than a thousand meters in a single step!

However, a slight drawback is that although the consumption is reduced, the external spiritual energy still cannot replenish it in time, and spirit stones are still needed as energy when moving forward.

Of course, the main reason is that Ning Chang simply doesn't want to use his spiritual power unnecessarily.

The increased speed definitely made a difference. The scenery blurred as Ning Chang flew backward, and unless there was something particularly different over a large area, he couldn't see anything clearly as he moved forward.

"That's what happens when you're fast, but your reaction time can't keep up at all!"

After discovering this problem, he couldn't help but sigh that even though he tried to activate his heterochromatic eyes, it only improved the situation slightly, almost to no avail.

"This cultivation method strengthens the body and enhances magic, but it doesn't strengthen the brain. What's the use of having strength but no reaction or intelligence?"

"This won't do. If I get into a fight, my Azure Cloud Step will make me dizzy. How am I supposed to fight others?"

As I was pondering and moving forward, I suddenly felt a pang of heart palpitation, followed by an involuntary wave of sorrow that filled my heart.

The situation was sudden, and Ning Chang stopped in his tracks, his vision clearing again.

All that met his eyes was still the undulating forest. Although it looked no different from a normal forest, Ning Chang felt as if everything in front of him was affected by it, releasing endless sorrow.

Thousands of meters away, an old coyote, having exhausted its last strength, finally caught up with the hare again. Just as it was about to bite, it stopped in its tracks, along with the still-breathing hare.

After a long while, when the hare had bled and died, the coyote finally turned its gaze away from the south, raised its head, and opened its hoarse throat again, which had been hoarse from not howling for so long.

"Woo~"

All the birds in the forest returned to the branches and the ground, joining the silent ranks.

They may not be able to understand what happened, perhaps not even the emotion of sadness, but that doesn't stop them from unanimously agreeing that silence is the right thing to do.

Ning Chang suddenly realized that the enemy might have launched an attack on him. As he looked around warily, he felt an itch on his cheek. He wiped it with his hand and realized that two lines of tears had unknowingly streamed down his face!

"This……"

In an instant, the earth trembled, but not even a few birds took flight.

After that sound, a crimson light suddenly appeared in the corner of Ning Chang's vision. He immediately turned his head and realized what was happening.

"It's started... I didn't expect it to have such an impact here. Luckily, I left early."

That's right, the direction from which the blood-red light emanated was slightly to the left of the direction he came from, which is the location of the Han Chu Blood Sacrifice Field!

At this moment, Ning Chang had been walking for nearly half an hour since he finished advancing, but such a long distance could still affect him, making him feel lingering fear.

Just then, the crimson light flashed again, then expanded and shone like the rising sun.