Blood-Burning Technique.
This was the first-tier Qi Refining cultivation technique issued by the Blood Reversal Sect. Even though Wang Yu had already prepared himself mentally to pay any price, he was still shocked by it.
It was an utterly pure shortcut-type demonic technique.
It burned the cultivator’s essence and blood energy, converting it into the most primal form of Blood-Burning spiritual power. Essence represented the vitality and origin of the human body, while blood energy was closely linked to physical strength and overall health.
A loss of blood energy would lead to premature white hair, aged facial features, frailty, and susceptibility to illness.
A loss of essence would result in organ failure, sagging skin, age spots, loss of reproductive function, and shortened lifespan.
In other words, one traded lifespan for cultivation.
Three years of life could allow any practitioner, regardless of aptitude, to break through the first level of Qi Refining within just one month. From that point on, one would qualify as a proper Spirit Slave.
On the surface, it looked like a one-time trade—sacrificing three years of life to achieve the goal. Grit your teeth, and it’s done. The real issue, however, was in condensing Spirit Sand, what was sacrificed then was cultivation itself.
The requirement of producing one or two units of Spirit Sand per month was the true problem.
Could he even refine that much...
After reading through the entire Blood-Burning Technique, Wang Yu contemplated as he selected it and placed it into his only auxiliary tool: the Idle Slot.
[Idle Slot 1: Blood-Burning Technique]
Blood-Burning Technique (0/100): Forty-eight sessions of training per day. One year to master.
Wang Yu: "???"
This was the first time the Idle Slot had ever shown this kind of change. It had never happened before, and it was highly likely because this was a cultivation technique.
But this was a demonic art that burned lifespan—forty-eight sessions a day?
That meant a round every thirty minutes... was it going to turn him into dried jerky?!
Just as Wang Yu was about to remove it, he hesitated again. This might be his only chance to rise again.
"Try one round. Wait half an hour and see if there’s any change. No harm in deciding later."
Soon, thirty minutes passed.
Wang Yu did not feel any abnormalities in his body. On the contrary, a wealth of insights and sensations related to cultivating the Blood-Burning Technique emerged in his mind. A warm stream suddenly surged within his body and disappeared after three breaths.
No signs of shortened lifespan, and yet he did not receive the rapid advancement benefits of the demonic art either.
This condition left him even more puzzled.
Based on the patterns and usage methods he had figured out over the past sixteen years, Wang Yu flipped through a manual on common cultivation knowledge, and suddenly, inspiration struck him.
The rapid advancement by burning lifespan was a special effect of the Blood-Burning Technique, but that did not mean every cultivator was forced to activate it. It could also function by refining and absorbing spiritual energy normally.
The warm flow just now likely represented the Idle Slot automatically executing a round of Blood-Burning Technique.
The Idle Slot never tires and never stops, so practicing forty-eight times a day made perfect sense.
A cultivator’s aptitude had a major impact during the early stages of training. Spiritual Roots not only represented spiritual affinity but were also directly tied to the conversion rate of spiritual energy.
Normally, a cultivator with Heavenly Spiritual Roots had a natural affinity with matching spiritual energy. When cultivating, spiritual energy of the same attribute would automatically flow into the body and be gently refined into spiritual power.
They refined exactly what they absorbed. That was the reason their cultivation progressed so swiftly.
Wang Yu, however, had Wasted Spiritual Roots. All five elements were present, but his affinity was weak. He had to strain his focus just to capture spiritual energy, and what he caught felt wild and hard to refine.
The conversion rate was terrifyingly low. Out of ten wisps of spiritual energy absorbed, being able to refine even one was considered a success. Most of the time, not a single wisp could be refined. This is the fundamental reason why those with Wasted Spiritual Roots find it difficult to break through the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
The Blood Reversal Sect was established on multiple fourth-grade spiritual veins. Even though most of the spiritual energy was concentrated around the Nine Peaks, the stone house area still had spiritual energy comparable to a high-grade first-grade spiritual vein.
The cultivation environment could be considered quite decent.
Spiritual root aptitude and the quality of spiritual veins made up two-thirds of a cultivator’s early-stage cultivation speed. The third factor was related to the cultivator’s meridians and mental focus.
Cultivation techniques required a full great circulation within the body, which was extremely draining on one’s mental energy.
It demanded total concentration. This burden would only lessen after breaking through to the middle stage of Qi Refining, when the divine sense could extend beyond the body and the technique's circulation would become second nature.
Ordinary physiques had fragile meridians. Even with Heavenly Spiritual Roots, one could not withstand twelve hours of uninterrupted cultivation. Being able to perform four great circulations per day at the beginning was already considered decent.
In this aspect, everyone started on the same line, except for innate spiritual bodies that were Nascent Soul seeds.
As cultivation progressed, the meridians grew stronger and could endure more spiritual energy. This was the stage where those with better aptitude began to widen the gap.
The further one cultivated with Heavenly Spiritual Roots, the faster the progress. Conversely, the further one went with Wasted Spiritual Roots, the slower it became. In less than a year, the difference would be enormous.
Only upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage would these cultivation restrictions and difficulties disappear entirely.
The idle slot allowed for forty-eight cycles per day, which gave Wang Yu an extremely obvious advantage during the Qi Refining stage. But at the same time, his aptitude was far too poor.
The idle slot could not change his inherent aptitude. No matter the conditions, even with forty-eight cycles per day, the result would be the same. That was why the warm current he had felt earlier lasted only three breaths.
Even so, Wang Yu was thrilled beyond measure.
Having it was still better than not. As long as he could step onto the cultivation path and resolve the crisis in front of him, there was still hope to alter his aptitude in the future. Once the base level increased, the amplification effect of the idle slot would also rise drastically.
In fact, even without rare treasures that improved aptitude, a cultivator's talent would naturally improve with each major realm breakthrough.
However, those with four or five spiritual roots often died of old age before ever reaching that stage. Only those with three-root mid-grade spiritual roots had any hope of experiencing this benefit.
“Also, the idle slot doesn’t interfere with the main body. It’s like an accessory. The main body can still cultivate normally.”
After that, Wang Yu continued to comprehend his cultivation technique. Every half hour, insights and cultivation experiences related to the Blood-Burning Technique would surface in his mind.
This greatly helped him establish a solid foundation. Even if he failed to refine the spiritual energy that occasionally appeared within his body, it still provided many benefits.
The body being nourished by spiritual energy was, after all, completely different.
While observing the various effects of the idle slot, Wang Yu made another astonishing discovery: the idle slot not only didn’t affect his body, but it also had no interaction with the outside world—including spiritual energy.
In other words, the spiritual energy generated by the idle slot while circulating the technique appeared out of nowhere. Who knew where it was being drawn from?
This meant that even in places completely devoid of spiritual veins, he could still enjoy twelve hours of uninterrupted spiritual energy supply. Aside from the small amount, there were no drawbacks.
Though the advantages brought by the idle slot were all minor supportive effects, together they provided him with enormous help.
Thus, a full day passed.
Even while Wang Yu slept at night, he was passively cultivating and receiving feedback and benefits from the idle slot. Bit by bit, his understanding of the Blood-Burning Technique had risen to a whole new level.
There was no need for painstaking meditation or sensing. A breakthrough might come today.