Chapter 181: Chapter 180: Assets and Bottleneck

"Three hundred and ninety-one..."

In his room, Chu Mu took stock of the assets in his Storage Talisman.

After half a year, minus his own consumption and the small portion he had given to Xu Yuan, he now had three hundred and ninety-one Vein Nourishing Pills left. Among them, a full thirty-one were One-Patterned!

As for Spirit Stones, even though he had spent a fortune on Magic practice over the past six months, he had still managed to accumulate a massive amount of wealth.

Nearly three thousand five hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones!

If he included the remaining three hundred ninety-one Vein Nourishing Pills, his net worth had surpassed ten thousand Spirit Stones in just over half a year.

Not to mention, the Storage Bag from Wang Mazi still contained raw materials for Vein Nourishing Pills worth nearly one thousand seven hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

If he refined them all, he would get at least three hundred and forty Vein Nourishing Pills, worth more than five thousand Lower Spirit Stones.

It was no surprise at all that such immense wealth, if discovered, would lead to others coveting it and hunting him down!

If their positions were reversed, and he had the power, he would probably be tempted to act as well!

’Wealth truly stirs the heart...’

Having finished his accounting, Chu Mu leaned against the headboard of his bed and sighed with emotion.

Wealth, companions, techniques, and location—on the Immortal Path, wealth came first!

And now, he could be considered quite wealthy.

The next step was to figure out how to convert this wealth into his own foundation.

Chu Mu’s eyes flickered as he quietly mulled it over.

After a moment, a rough plan began to form in his mind, but thinking of the day’s events, Chu Mu decided to put it aside for now.

’For now... it’s best to lie low for a while.’

Swallowing a Vein Nourishing Pill, Chu Mu sat down to cultivate.

His Cultivation, already at its limit, slowly increased under the surging Medicinal Power.

Three days and three Vein Nourishing Pills later, the intangible breaking point became increasingly clear.

But this time, it seemed different from usual.

Usually, after sensing the breaking point, further Cultivation would allow him to cross it as naturally as water carving a channel, entering a new realm.

Ever since he had secured his source of income, his Cultivation had entered the fast lane, progressing from the Qi Cultivation First Layer to the current Seventh Layer just like this.

But this time...

’Am I stuck?’

Within his perception, the intangible breaking point was crystal clear, but it was as if an invisible barrier was forcefully blocking his path just before it.

The natural progression he had grown accustomed to had become... an impossible struggle!

"A bottleneck?"

Chu Mu opened his eyes, a grim look clouding his features.

Bottlenecks between Grand Realms were an inevitable experience for every Cultivator.

But bottlenecks between Small Realms were another matter entirely.

First, the Spirit Root; second, Elixirs.

In terms of his overall Cultivation, the process of using his Spirit Root for Breathing external Spiritual Qi and its Refinement into Magical Cultivation accounted for very little.

His Cultivation was almost entirely... built up by Elixirs.

’Elixirs... Erysipelas and impurities?’

Chu Mu stood up, his brows tightly furrowed.

He had long predicted this problem and was mentally prepared for it.

After all, while Elixirs were good, their drawbacks were also extremely clear.

As far as he knew, the Longevity Sect and some of the major Clans had strict regulations on Elixir consumption for their talented disciples.

This was to prevent disciples from becoming addicted to the rapid Cultivation progress from piling on Elixirs, causing them to ignore the disadvantages brought by Erysipelas and impurities, which would affect their entire Immortal Path.

The drawbacks of Erysipelas and impurities were many, but the most significant one was that they would imperceptibly pollute one’s Magical Power and body, eventually forming so-called bottlenecks between Small Realms.

These bottlenecks could be forcibly overcome with Realm-Breaking Elixirs, but the Erysipelas and impurities would, of course, continue to accumulate imperceptibly.

This would continue to pollute their Magical Power, forming a stronger, more difficult barrier to overcome in the next realm.

And while there might be Secret Skills or methods in the Cultivation Immortal Realm to remove Erysipelas and impurities, it was clear that they were beyond his current reach.

This was undoubtedly a vicious cycle—a vicious cycle known to all.

But...

There was another fact that was just as clear, and just as well-known.

Spirit Root Talent was determined by fate. With a Pseudo Spirit Root Talent like his, if he didn’t use Elixirs, his Cultivation Progress would be so slow that "a snail’s pace" wouldn’t even begin to describe it. In his entire life, he probably would never have reached his current Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer!

What’s more, Elixirs weren’t the only factor causing bottlenecks. The impurity of one’s Spirit Root Talent would also unknowingly cause one’s Magical Power to become impure, which would also contribute to the formation of bottlenecks.

In other words, with low Spirit Root Talent, he had no choice.

He was still lucky; at least, for his Cultivation in the Qi Cultivation Realm, he had a more-than-ample supply of Elixirs!

This was a problem born from using too many Elixirs—a problem the vast majority of Cultivators would never get to experience.

After all, a single Vein Nourishing Pill cost fifteen Spirit Stones. How many Cultivators could afford to pop them like candy, as he did?

If he had to painstakingly cultivate by Breathing Spiritual Energy bit by bit, spending decades only to be held back by his impure Spirit Root Talent in the end, that would be a truly hopeless situation!

’So, at its current stage, the Divine Soul Saber still can’t completely remove the Erysipelas?’

Chu Mu perceived the waves of fluctuations originating from his Divine Soul, his thoughts racing.

Then, with a slight flicker of his will, a nearly imperceptible black speck suddenly materialized on his fingertip.

Under the focus of his Divine Sense, the black speck became clearly visible.

It was gas-like, yet seemed to have substance, resembling the black soot produced by something burning.

With a flick of his finger, the black speck dissipated into the air.

The source of this soot was his Magical Power, and by extension, the Elixirs.

His Divine Sense was already focused within his Magical Power. Under the waves of fluctuations from the Divine Soul Saber, his refined Magical Power would occasionally give off wisps of imperceptible black smoke.

This black smoke, when manifested in reality, was the black speck on his fingertip just now—the impurities refined out of his Magical Power by the Divine Soul Saber.

According to his previous observations and experiments, this refined black smoke contained the so-called Erysipelas and impurities.

The fact that he had only just encountered a bottleneck at the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, despite piling up a massive amount of Elixirs, seemed to prove that his judgment had been correct.

Finally, his gaze settled on the stalled Sword Technique Skill Level value on his Light Curtain Panel.

With his Spirit Root Talent, not piling on resources like Elixirs was equivalent to letting his Cultivation stagnate.

What he needed to consider was how to avoid the effects of the Erysipelas, not how to restrain his use of Elixirs.

’If the current Divine Soul Saber can’t completely remove the Erysipelas and impurities, what about a higher level of it?’

Chu Mu mulled this over in silence. After a moment of contemplation, he took out another Vein Nourishing Pill and swallowed it.

The medicinal effect was still surging, but the invisible barrier was as solid as a rock, making it impossible to advance even an inch.

But for him, this stagnation in his Cultivation wasn’t hard to solve.

Perhaps a single One-Patterned Vein Nourishing Pill would be enough to break through this so-called bottleneck.

But the key was clearly not how to cross the bottleneck, but the root of the problem itself!

The impure Erysipelas left behind by the Elixirs!

To solve the root problem, the first thing he had to do was understand what this impure Erysipelas really was, what position it occupied within his Cultivation, and how it had evolved into an obstacle to his Cultivation Progress.

He also needed to understand the specific refining effects of the Divine Soul Saber.

Only by understanding all of this could he find a targeted solution.

Following this line of thought, Chu Mu began to observe meticulously.

He took one Vein Nourishing Pill after another, observing the changes in Medicinal Power time and time again.

He clearly recorded each process, eventually forming a clear set of comparative data.

"Impossible..."

After ten days of observation, the final conclusion made even Chu Mu himself hesitate.

According to his observations and experiments over these ten days, combined with his past results, the conclusion was crystal clear.

He had specifically isolated a portion of his Magical Power for a separate experiment after the Refinement of a Vein Nourishing Pill.

Within five days at most, under the fluctuations of the Divine Soul Saber, although the refinement was still ongoing and the Magical Power was becoming purer, the experimental portion of Magical Power no longer produced any black smoke.

This was undoubtedly illogical. The refinement was still continuing, and the Magical Power was still growing purer under it, which meant that the Divine Soul Saber’s refinement of his Magical Power had not yet reached its limit.

In other words, if there was still Erysipelas in his Magical Power, it should have continued to be removed by this refinement.

The fact that no more appeared seemed to prove that the Erysipelas in his Magical Power had been completely refined away.

After all, it was all impure Erysipelas; it wasn’t possible for the ’quality’ of the impure Erysipelas to be different, right?

This directly contradicted his previous speculation.

If the impure Erysipelas in his Magical Power had been completely removed, then why was there still a bottleneck?

Chu Mu frowned, unable to hide his confusion.

After a long while, a flash of inspiration struck him as he was thinking.

’Magical Power... Divine Soul...’

’Essence, Qi, and Spirit... Magical Power, Divine Soul, and the body...’

Muttering to himself, Chu Mu felt he had probably missed something.

His past Qi and Blood Cultivation was within the framework of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. The current Immortal Path was also a Cultivation System built on the foundation of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Essence refers to Qi Blood, the physical body.

Qi refers to Spiritual Qi, Magical Power.

Spirit refers to the Divine Soul, the Divine Sense.

When Cultivation was obstructed and a realm bottleneck appeared, could it be purely the influence of Qi, or Magical Power?

’Does the impure Erysipelas only affect Magical Power?’

’Does it have no effect on the body, on the Divine Soul?’

After all, the Medicinal Power of an Elixir was turned into Magical Power through Refinement. This Magical Power was controlled by Divine Sense and ultimately nourished the Divine Soul and the physical body. Just like Essence, Qi, and Spirit, the three were completely interdependent.

And from the looks of the Divine Soul Saber, its main refining focus was on the Divine Soul and Magical Power.

As for the body, any effect was merely a negligible byproduct of the interdependent relationship after refining the Divine Soul and Magical Power.

’The body...’

Chu Mu’s eyes grew brighter. In that instant, he made many connections.

The Divine Soul Saber was rooted in the Divine Soul and had a direct impact on his Divine Soul and Magical Power!

And the main focus of Qi Cultivation was on the Divine Soul and Magical Power.

Only the body had been neglected by him ever since he had set foot on the Immortal Path...

...