Chapter 23: The True Application of Decomposition Talent in Cultivation
"Since others can already keep up with my cultivation pace, it shouldn't be a problem to push the speed up a little more, right?"
Fang Yuan quietly took out a Supreme Qi-Gathering Pill.
A lower-grade Qi-Gathering Pill had ten times the medicinal potency of a Lower-Grade Qi-Nurturing Pill.
Likewise, the supreme grade was ten times stronger than the lower grade.
The moment a Supreme Qi-Gathering Pill entered his stomach, it released a tremendous surge of medicinal energy.
Fang Yuan's three major cultivation techniques activated simultaneously at full force, splitting the Spiritual Energy into three streams that flowed into his Dantian, his physical body, and his Sea of Consciousness respectively.
Every part of his body seemed like a bottomless pit, devouring Spiritual Energy with ravenous hunger.
Ten minutes later, the medicinal energy was completely wrung dry.
"Body Tempering's demand for Spiritual Energy keeps growing!"
He was startled to discover that fifty percent of the Spiritual Energy had been seized by his physical body.
Thirty percent had been swallowed by the Sea of Consciousness to strengthen his Spiritual Sense and nourish his soul.
Only a meager twenty percent had been channeled into his Dantian.
"Unbelievable — even a Supreme Qi-Gathering Pill is barely enough for me now?"
It was only then that Fang Yuan truly felt the immense resource pressure of cultivating Essence, Qi, and Spirit simultaneously.
"Even Supreme Qi-Gathering Pills are starting to fall short!"
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Fang Yuan's mind.
He took out a piece of Refined Iron, and a golden gleam flickered across his teeth.
The innate talent [Shatter Gold] activated.
This was an innate talent inherited from the Mighty Bull — it could shatter metal.
His teeth bit down on the Refined Iron and effortlessly chewed it into iron fragments, which Fang Yuan then swallowed in one gulp.
Once the Refined Iron entered his body, the [Gold-Devouring Innate Talent] immediately began refining it.
It was then converted into wisps of golden iron energy that merged into his bones.
The Cloud Body Art activated in response, refining the golden iron energy to strengthen his physical body.
The golden iron energy was not used directly to metallize his bones; instead, it was taken over by the Cloud Body Art and transformed into nourishment for growth.
The progress of Body Tempering steadily began to rise.
After swallowing another Supreme Qi-Gathering Pill, his body's demand for Spiritual Energy dropped significantly.
"I really am a gold-devouring beast now!" Fang Yuan laughed at himself, feeling that his cultivation had become absurdly extravagant.
Suddenly.
A flash of inspiration struck Fang Yuan's mind.
"Wait — why do I need to shatter the metal myself?"
Fang Yuan pressed a finger against the Refined Iron.
"Decompose!"
In an instant, the Refined Iron transformed before his eyes, splitting directly into two things.
[Golden Iron Energy] + [Iron Slag]
That mass of golden iron energy — wasn't it exactly what the [Gold-Devouring Innate Talent] produced after refining? And the golden iron energy produced by the Gold-Devouring Innate Talent wasn't necessarily as pure as what the decomposition talent yielded.
Fang Yuan opened his mouth and inhaled; the mass of golden iron energy in front of him was drawn straight into his mouth and converted into nourishment for cultivation.
Before long, he had fully absorbed it — and his cultivation speed was even faster than before! What's more, he no longer needed to physically swallow metal to achieve the same effect.
By the same logic!
Fang Yuan took out a Supreme Qi-Gathering Pill.
He pressed a finger against it.
"Decompose!"
In a fleeting moment, the Pill dissolved into a Spiritual Energy Orb and a trace of Herbal Residue.
The Spiritual Energy Orb rapidly began to disperse.
Fang Yuan opened his mouth and inhaled; the Spiritual Energy Orb was wrapped in Spiritual Power and guided into his mouth, where he swallowed and absorbed it in an instant.
The absorption efficiency improved dramatically!
The Spiritual Energy that could not be absorbed in time dispersed into the cultivation chamber — not out into the world, but contained by the Spirit-Gathering Formation of the chamber!
"Wait a moment — if a spirit Pill, once decomposed, ultimately becomes pure Spiritual Energy for absorption, why don't I just decompose Spirit Herbs and spirit ores directly into Spiritual Energy and golden iron energy to absorb?"
Fang Yuan took out some failed Pills and scrap material, and decomposed everything at once!
The failed Pills and scrap material decomposed into herbal powder, which then further decomposed into pure Spiritual Energy that dispersed throughout the cultivation chamber.
The Spiritual Energy within the entire cultivation chamber instantly reached an extraordinarily dense level.
Fang Yuan sat cross-legged at the center of the cultivation chamber, driving his three cultivation techniques at full force, rapidly absorbing the Spiritual Energy filling the room.
He also took out his scrap artifacts and scrap iron, decomposing them all as well, converting them into a vast amount of golden iron energy.
Fang Yuan accepted everything without hesitation, absorbing it all into his body.
After an unknown amount of time.
Fang Yuan sensed that the concentration of Spiritual Energy and golden iron energy had dropped considerably.
He opened his eyes in puzzlement.
The floor was covered in a thick layer of Herbal Residue and stone powder.
The Spiritual Energy and golden iron energy in the air had grown noticeably thin.
Fang Yuan's eyes went wide. "I've absorbed all of that scrap material and scrap artifacts completely?"
Fang Yuan turned his gaze inward.
A sixth complete cloud pattern had appeared on his bones!
His Body Tempering cultivation had, in this single session, broken through to the Sixth Layer of Body Tempering!
In his Dantian, his Spiritual Power had grown to sixty percent capacity — a massive surge!
Within his Sea of Consciousness, the number of Spiritual Sense strands had risen from six hundred to six hundred and fifty, and the intensity of each strand had increased substantially!
"Indeed — this is the true way to use the decomposition talent for cultivation!" Fang Yuan exclaimed with a sigh of wonder.
Spirit Materials decomposed into the purest Spiritual Energy and golden energy — not only were they easier to absorb, but the laborious intermediate steps of alchemy and Artifact Forging were entirely bypassed. He could only say that his perspective had been too narrow before.
The remaining Spiritual Energy in the cultivation chamber was no longer worth his attention, so he brought his twelve spirit beast cubs inside and let them freely absorb the Spiritual Energy on their own.
Fang Yuan watched as the spirit beast cubs, upon entering the cultivation chamber, naturally began to breathe in and circulate the Spiritual Energy.
Seeing this, Fang Yuan took out some Spirit Stones and decomposed them.
The pure Spiritual Energy within the Spirit Stones was extracted directly and dispersed throughout the cultivation chamber.
The cultivation chamber once again became rich with Spiritual Energy.
"Oh? The amount of Spiritual Energy in Spirit Stones is actually quite substantial!"
Fang Yuan's eyes lit up.
Compared to the Spiritual Energy contained in Spirit Herbs and Spirit Materials, the amount in an equal volume of Spirit Stones was not particularly large.
But the issue was that the same volume of Spirit Herbs could be exchanged for dozens or even hundreds of times as many Spirit Stones!
The cost-effectiveness of Spirit Stones had suddenly skyrocketed!
"No one else can decompose Spirit Stones the way I can — extracting all the impurities and converting them into the purest, gentlest Spiritual Energy Orbs! The Spiritual Energy in Spirit Herbs is full of impurities and difficult to refine, which is precisely why alchemy is needed to harmonize them. But I don't need that! For me, the most cost-effective resource turns out to be Low-Grade Spirit Stones!"
Fang Yuan understood it all now, and a deep sense of joy welled up in his heart — the joy of having uncovered a great secret.
What made Fang Yuan even happier was that, under such a dense flood of Spiritual Energy, the spirit beast cubs one by one began to show signs of awakening their innate talents.
The first to show a change was the Black Scale Rat. It was not only absorbing Spiritual Energy but had also drawn in some golden iron energy.
Its bloodline had been nourished and had finally reached the threshold for awakening.
Under Fang Yuan's watchful gaze, the Black Scale Rat's body suddenly swelled by a full size; a powerful suction force erupted from within it, immediately devouring a massive amount of Spiritual Energy, and it began to radiate the aura of a first-tier, lower grade demon beast.
A Dantian space also appeared within the spirit beast's body, and Demon Power began to stir within it!
The Black Scale Rat's intelligence seemed to have grown enormously; at that moment, an expression of eager flattery actually appeared on its little rat face.