Chapter 169: Cultivation Treasure Land

Feeling the spiritual energy rushing towards him, Shen Changqing took a deep breath.

Although he had sensed the dense spiritual energy within the first level, the concentration there was worlds apart from what poured out from the secret room door.

Just moments ago, even standing right in front of the door, Shen Changqing hadn’t felt such a rich concentration of spiritual energy. Only when the door was opened did it surge forth, as if it had been sealed and accumulated for ages.

"To be able to seal spiritual energy, the construction of this secret room is no simple matter."

From the outside, the secret room door looked no different from any ordinary stone portal.

But an ordinary stone door could never contain spiritual energy like this.

Therefore, this seemingly unremarkable entrance must have a more extraordinary origin. However, Shen Changqing had no inclination to investigate the door’s history at the moment.

He first flipped the sign on the door to its front side, then stepped inside, closing the stone door behind him.

The secret room was small, barely able to accommodate three or five people.

In the very center, a yellow cushion was placed.

Now, with the secret room door closed, Shen Changqing was completely immersed in spiritual energy, his body’s true Qi stirring restlessly.

Even the exhaustion in his mind began to dissipate under the impact of this energy.

Spiritual energy existed in the world at all times.

But its concentration was like comparing a small pond to a vast ocean compared to the spiritual energy in this secret room.

He sat cross-legged directly on the cushion.

The instant he sat, an even more potent surge of spiritual energy rose from beneath the cushion, flowing into his body.

"So, the spiritual energy in the secret room originates from beneath the cushion, and the cushion’s position is directly aligned with the Spiritual Vein!"

He took another deep breath, not daring to waste any time, and immediately calmed his mind, beginning to circulate the Heavenly Martial Gang Qi, absorbing this energy to replenish his losses.

Looking at his status panel, Shen Changqing had nothing left to improve for now.

Both the Heavenly Martial Gang Qi and the Invincible Golden Body had broken their limits.

After breaking those limits, it was incredibly difficult to improve them through his own efforts. He could only use slaughter points to open up further paths.

Therefore, all he could do now was make progress in comprehending True Intent.

Calming his mind, he began to circulate his internal energy cultivation method.

The spiritual energy filling the secret room was almost entirely drawn over and merged into Shen Changqing’s body.

At that moment, his physical body vibrated with Qi and blood, and the true Qi in his Dantian surged.

As the spiritual energy passed through his body, impurities in his flesh and true Qi seemed to be expelled.

But that was only a secondary effect.

The true benefit was that the vast spiritual energy, guided by his intent, flowed directly towards his Sea of Consciousness.

Instantly, Shen Changqing felt his spiritual thoughts in his Sea of Consciousness were like a small boat adrift on a vast ocean, or like parched earth finally receiving the nourishment of rain.

Quickly, the exhaustion of his spirit began to recover rapidly.

In less than two quarters of an hour, all the spiritual energy he’d consumed while cultivating the Hundred Battle True Intent had been completely replenished.

"This is much more potent than the replenishment from Enlightenment Tea!"

Shen Changqing was inwardly astonished, but he didn’t waste time, calming his mind and directly entering his Sea of Consciousness space, beginning a new round of cultivation.

Blood-colored world.

Blood-colored iron cavalry.

The Hundred Battle True Intent primarily encompassed war and slaughter.

To battle Heaven and Earth.

To be unyielding in battle.

If he allowed someone else to cultivate the Hundred Battle True Intent, Shen Changqing couldn’t be sure which aspect of True Intent they would lean towards. But he had comprehended his own Martial Arts True Intent in the midst of countless battles, so it was more inclined towards killing.

Destroying everything!

Slaughtering everything!

That was the Hundred Battle True Intent that Shen Changqing had comprehended.

"The blood-colored world represents destruction, and the blood-colored iron cavalry represents slaughter. When my spiritual thoughts merge into the blood-colored iron cavalry, I become the iron cavalry, advancing through a world of destruction, slaughtering all living beings, thereby comprehending the power of killing."

After slaying another fierce beast in the blood-colored world, he clearly felt his own power growing stronger.

An intent to kill was constantly brewing within him.

Inside the secret room, Shen Changqing sat cross-legged.

The spiritual energy that had originally filled the room had now completely vanished. All the spiritual energy had merged into his body, not a single trace leaking out.

Suddenly, a loud voice resounded.

"Kid, your time is up!"

The voice was like a thunderclap, echoing in the secret room, yet not leaking outside.

Shen Changqing, who was sitting cross-legged on the cushion, immediately opened his eyes.

A faint flash of crimson disappeared, and his pupils quickly returned to their original clarity.

His time was up.

He hadn’t even realized that three days had passed so quickly.

However, Shen Changqing also discovered that he could stay in the blood-colored world for much longer than before.

In the past, when he cultivated, he would quickly have to withdraw because of severe spiritual exhaustion.

But this time, no signs of spiritual exhaustion had appeared.

If Zhong Ning hadn’t awakened him with his voice, he might have been able to cultivate in the blood-colored world indefinitely.

"Could it be—"

"Because of the constant replenishment of spiritual energy, even if I generate consumption during cultivation, the spiritual energy can still replenish it at all times, without me having to stop cultivating because of excessive exhaustion, as I did in the past.

In this way, the effect of cultivating the Hundred Battle True Intent is much stronger than when I cultivated in the past."

Three days of bitter cultivation, Shen Changqing felt, was comparable to more than half a month of bitter cultivation in the past.

After all, when he cultivated the Hundred Battle True Intent in the past, the actual cultivation time was only a few hours. Beyond that, he would have to withdraw due to severe mental exhaustion.

Afterwards, he would have to spend time brewing Enlightenment Tea to soothe himself.

All of this consumed a lot of time.

So, in a day, the actual cultivation time was only a few hours.

Unlike being in the secret room, cultivating continuously around the clock, one day was enough to equal three days of cultivation in the past.

More importantly, with a steady stream of spiritual energy replenishing him, Shen Changqing found that the power of the blood-colored iron cavalry he controlled in the Sea of Consciousness would always be in a state of abundance, not weakening with the consumption of his spirit as it had in the past.

As such, killing the creatures in the blood-colored world became even faster.

Therefore, if he calculated it carefully, one day of cultivation in the secret room was enough to equal seven days of cultivation normally.

Three days of bitter cultivation were comparable to twenty-one days of cultivation in the past.

Just then, Zhong Ning’s annoyed voice rang out again.

"If you stay inside and don’t come out, you’ll have to pay extra."

Shen Changqing gathered his mind and opened the door of the secret room.

The first level of the Martial Pavilion was still deserted.

Zhong Ning’s words just now were clearly delivered by means of spiritual thoughts.

Spiritual Thought Transmission!

This was a very advanced technique, only achievable after breaking through to the second realm of the mental system.

Outside the Martial Pavilion, Zhong Ning saw Shen Changqing walking out, a faint smile on his face.

"How was it? Is cultivation in the secret room much different from usual?"

"Uh, the effects are much stronger than before."

Shen Changqing frankly admitted.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the blood-colored lotus had already sprouted the phantom of a second petal, but the phantom was very faint, and it was impossible to see the shadow of the petal unless you looked closely.

From nothing to something.

From illusion to solid.

He secretly estimated that it would still take a year or two.

However, if he could cultivate in seclusion in the Martial Pavilion, this speed would be accelerated greatly.

One month.

If he could cultivate there continuously for a month, Shen Changqing was confident that he could break through the Hundred Battle True Intent from ten percent to twenty percent.

Zhong Ning chuckled and said, "Of course. Spiritual Veins are few and far between in the world, and the Spiritual Vein in the Martial Pavilion was transported here by a powerful figure in the past. It’s also the most powerful foundation of the Martial Pavilion, bar none.

Anyone who can cultivate there continuously can break through to the second realm of the mental system with ease."

Hearing this, Shen Changqing deeply agreed.

Suddenly, a hint of doubt appeared on his face.

"Elder Zhong, I’m curious about something. If the Spiritual Vein is really so powerful, why don’t you let people cultivate in it all the time? I believe that with the concentration of spiritual energy, it shouldn’t be difficult to cultivate a Grandmaster at the peak of the mental system!"

This question made Zhong Ning’s expression strange.

"You’re not the first person to ask such a question, but what you don’t know is that the spiritual energy of the Spiritual Vein is limited and can’t be consumed indefinitely. If a large number of people cultivate in it continuously, it’s easy to drain the spiritual energy in the Spiritual Vein.

If the spiritual energy is drained, the Spiritual Vein will be damaged.

Only if some of the spiritual energy is drained and some is left can the Spiritual Vein slowly recover."

"But you might also ask, since the Spiritual Vein can’t fully supply everyone, why not supply just one person and push them to the peak of the mental system? That would also play a significant role."

Facing Zhong Ning’s rhetorical question, Shen Changqing nodded.

Seeing this, he shook his head and laughed.

"You understand too little about the mental system. It’s easy to enter the mental system, but difficult to improve. Whether it’s nurturing True Intent or True Intent manifestation, the thresholds involved are not particularly high.

But after True Intent manifestation, you can’t reach the true peak by just cultivating bitterly.

Truly powerful Grandmasters of the mental system can only nurture strong enough Martial Arts True Intent after experiencing all kinds of battles and training.

The spiritual energy of the secret room is at best shortening the threshold from nurturing True Intent to True Intent manifestation. This stage is considered the entry stage. What’s really difficult is the path to take after True Intent manifestation."

"For newly promoted Grandmasters, the secret room is a treasure, but for Grandmasters after True Intent manifestation, the jade wall on the fifth floor is the real treasure!"

End of Chapter