Cultivation: Immunity to Negative Effects

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Breakthrough, Qi Cultivation Level 1

WHOOSH...

The moment Zhang Chi’s will stirred, the surrounding Spiritual Qi surged into his body like weary birds returning to a forest, and he quickly guided it to converge in his Dantian.

BOOM!

In the next moment, Zhang Chi felt a jolt in his lower abdomen, as if some shackle had been shattered. A small vortex of Spiritual Power instantly took shape.

During the process, his physical body was scoured by the Spiritual Qi, and a dark, greasy substance immediately began to seep out from his skin.

At the same time, he opened his mouth and exhaled a puff of foul-smelling black vapor.

Afterward, however, Zhang Chi felt his mind clear and his body refreshed. He felt as light as a swallow, yet brimming with power.

"Haha, I finally did it! So this is the first level of Qi Cultivation? It’s truly powerful!"

Zhang Chi opened his eyes, a broad smile spreading across his face.

Half a month ago, he had been so frail he was weaker than an ordinary person.

Before his breakthrough, thanks to the nourishing Four-legged Snake, he had become one of the healthier ordinary people.

But now, he had transcended the realm of ordinary mortals.

Though he hadn’t tested it, he was confident that every move he made now carried nearly a thousand pounds of force.

His thoughts were also clearer than ever, and his reflexes had quickened.

He took a deep breath and exhaled, creating a gentle breeze around him.

He then tried holding his breath and found that his lung capacity had indeed grown stronger.

He could also feel his heartbeat growing more powerful, while his senses—smell, hearing, and sight—became much sharper.

Even the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi around him felt clearer and more vibrant.

Even with his eyes closed, he could perceive everything within a three-meter radius.

He could also perceive some of the conditions inside his own body.

The information was transmitted to his brain without color, feeling something like a night-vision display or an X-ray scan.

He knew this must be Divine Sense.

Beyond all this, there were other changes he couldn’t yet see or perceive precisely.

For instance, his physical appearance and physique had both improved, moving toward a more perfect form.

This was the inevitable external manifestation of his life form’s evolution.

His lifespan had also increased.

Barring any accidents, a Qi Cultivation Cultivator could live to be a hundred and twenty.

Even in his past life, reaching such an age was exceedingly rare.

In the mortal world here, it was nothing short of a miracle.

After all, for the mortals of this world, it was considered a great feat to live past sixty.

Besides, there’s a world of difference between merely surviving, clinging to a feeble existence, and living with a strong, healthy body perpetually at its peak.

And this was just the beginning. Once he obtained a Cultivation Technique and could use Magic, things would become even more incredible.

’Can’t get cocky. I need to keep a low profile!’

After a long moment, he finally calmed down and hurried toward another abandoned mine tunnel.

There was nothing special about the place, except for a puddle. He washed his body there, put his clothes back on, grabbed his tools, and walked toward the mine tunnel where the Four-legged Snake was located.

As his body had grown stronger over the past few days, completing his basic quota had become a simple task.

He had spent the rest of his time scouting the mine’s environment, which was how he’d found this miasma-filled area and the puddle ahead of time.

He had even secretly scouted out the locations Old Xu frequented.

Along the way, he adapted to his body’s increased strength and speed while inspecting the Jade Pendant in his mind.

The Jade Pendant looked the same as always, but it had turned deep red again from filtering out the large amount of Gold Fiend Power from the Spiritual Qi during his Cultivation.

At that moment, another realization dawned on him.

The Jade Pendant had leveled up. It could now absorb more negative energy, and its capacity limit was indicated by the color orange.

"Excellent!"

Zhang Chi was overjoyed.

The Jade Pendant was miraculous, but its limitations before the upgrade had been significant.

Especially now that he was a Cultivator, the amount of Gold Fiend he would absorb during Cultivation was bound to increase.

Its previous Level was clearly no longer sufficient.

But after the upgrade, that problem had been greatly alleviated.

The Jade Pendant’s recovery ability had also grown stronger, just as he’d expected.

When he wasn’t cultivating, the Jade Pendant could easily neutralize the negative effects of the Gold Fiend’s corrosion and gradually return to its white state, even without him consciously deactivating it.

—

Soon, he arrived at his destination.

Along the way, he ran into a group of other Mining Slaves.

But he had already controlled the Jade Pendant to stop absorbing the negative energy. This allowed the Spirit-Banning Shackles to take effect instantly, suppressing his Cultivation and successfully deceiving them.

The sensation was not pleasant, however. Not only was his Spiritual Power suppressed, but his physical body felt constrained as well. He couldn’t release his Divine Thought, and the Gold Fiend began to corrode his body once more.

Fortunately, he was prepared for this. Having become a Cultivator, his body was much stronger, so there was no great harm in the short term.

Once he was far away from the other Mining Slaves, he communed with the Jade Pendant again and instantly returned to normal.

In fact, the experience gave him a clearer understanding of the other Mining Slaves’ strength.

For a moment, he had even been tempted to attack those Mining Slaves and force them to give up their Cultivation Techniques.

But he quickly suppressed the urge.

There were more than ten of them, and he knew nothing about their individual circumstances.

Attacking rashly would surely lead to trouble.

For example, there were likely Body Refining Cultivators among them.

Even if there weren’t, he would most likely fail if one or two escaped, if they fought back together, or if they had other tricks up their sleeves.

—

Standing outside the monster snake’s tunnel, Zhang Chi began to ponder.

Now that he was a Cultivator and could absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, the nourishing effect of the monster snakes had become much weaker for him.

However, if he could get his hands on a Body Refining Technique or a Beast Taming Skill, these monster snakes might prove useful again.

He hadn’t come here to hunt for food this time. He was here to capture some of them alive to use against Old Xu and his cronies.

With the monster snakes on his side, and with him being a Cultivator while Old Xu and the others were suppressed by their Spirit-Banning Shackles and oblivious to his true strength...

With the tables turned so drastically in his favor, he was certain to succeed.

WHOOSH!

The next moment, Zhang Chi stepped into the mine tunnel, and two monster snakes immediately lunged at him.

Previously, this would have scared Zhang Chi out of his wits, and the outcome would have been grim.

After all, this was the first time he had faced such a situation.

Now, however, Zhang Chi was completely unafraid. He let them bite him, then simply reached out, grabbed both monster snakes, and quickly retreated from the tunnel.

He then realized he still wasn’t poisoned, but the Jade Pendant in his mind had turned a light orange.

Zhang Chi immediately understood. With its upgrade, the Jade Pendant could indeed absorb more poison.

Based on its current state, he figured he would be fine even if dozens of monster snakes bit him at once.

Furthermore, now that he was a Cultivator, capturing the monster snakes alive was finally possible.

He had actually tried to capture one alive a while back, but he had failed completely. He’d almost let it escape and had nearly gotten bitten again in the process.

Now, a simple squeeze of his hands was enough to hold the monster snakes fast; they were completely unable to struggle free.

He was, however, a bit puzzled that two monster snakes had appeared at once.

Fortunately, he soon figured out the reason.

’Their wild instincts must be stronger than their Spirituality. They detected the Spiritual Power fluctuations on my body and mistook me for some kind of Heavenly Material or Earthly Treasure. That must be why more of them are showing up than usual.’

’Still, for these monster snakes to be unaffected by a Cultivator’s natural aura is quite remarkable.’

After that, Zhang Chi moved quickly and soon reached the area with the miasma. He stuffed the two monster snakes into a small hole in the rock wall and sealed it with a stone.

Zhang Chi didn’t run into any other Mining Slaves this time. For one, this spot wasn’t far from the monster snakes’ territory.

For another, he had taken a different route.

Previously, he had gone from the tunnel with the puddle to the monster snakes’ tunnel.

That route was longer and passed through an area suitable for ordinary Mining Slaves to do their digging.

But his current location was also a good spot; there were even about a dozen chunks of Middle Grade Ore here.

A short while ago, some poisonous miasma had been emanating from this spot, but it had recently dissipated. That was why no other Mining Slaves had discovered it yet.

Zhang Chi had stumbled upon this place by accident while searching for a suitable location for his breakthrough.

He had already dug a hole in the rock wall here, cleverly concealed behind a chunk of Middle Grade ore.

After a few more trips, he finally completed his plan, having hidden a total of twelve monster snakes in the hole.

He could have hidden more, but he chose not to.

If he used too many, they might poison Old Xu and his men to death, which would be overkill. freewёbnoνel.com

That’s right. He was hiding these monster snakes for the express purpose of setting a trap for Old Xu and his cronies.