「Ten days later.」

The Ghostly Flood Dragon, bottom hold.

Su Ye’s Magical Power surged, and he levitated several Storage Rings in the air.

A multitude of monster corpses poured out from them, falling with gravity onto the floor of the hold.

The floor twisted, transforming into a scarlet vortex from which thousands of blood-red tendrils extended!

The starving Ghostly Flood Dragon eagerly bound the corpses of the Reverse World monsters, dragging them into the bloody vortex!

A ravenous feast!

The Ghostly Flood Dragon’s feeding!

"Eat up, eat up..." Su Ye said with a gentle smile.

Over the past few days, Su Ye had led a team of the immortal city’s cultivators to clear out four nodes.

They had acquired a large number of Reverse World monster carcasses!

This haul included the Bone Dragon Eagle King, as well as two other tyrannical monsters of comparable strength.

In addition, there were also numerous lesser monsters.

In total, there were nearly three hundred of them!

’I wonder... after it devours all of them...’

’How much will my cultivation progress?’ Su Ye muttered to himself, a look of anticipation on his face.

SWISH SWISH SWISH.

The blood-red tendrils shot out, wrapping around the carcasses and dragging them into the ship’s hold!

「An hour later.」

The Ghostly Flood Dragon’s feeding concluded. It seemed quite satisfied, even feeling somewhat ’full to bursting’.

HUM.

Spiritual energy surged.

Through the Harmony link, an immense amount of pure spiritual energy flowed into Su Ye’s body!

Su Ye quickly sat cross-legged and began to circulate his energy. His Taiqing Cold Jade Skill activated, devouring and absorbing the pure spiritual energy!

WHOOSH.

The dense, pure spiritual energy suffused his body and soul, and Su Ye’s mind and body felt a wave of relaxation.

It was like returning to the origin of life, the feeling of being immersed in amniotic fluid.

For a time, the only sound in the bottom hold was a rhythmic DRIP... DRIP.

That was the sound of Liquid Magical Power being generated in his Dantian Qi Sea, dripping into the Mana Lake.

An unknown amount of time passed.

The pleasant, satisfying sensation slowly faded.

In its place, a sense of reaching a limit, a feeling of being shackled, emerged in Su Ye’s mind.

"Hm?"

He performed an Inner Observation of the Dantian and Qi Sea to investigate the situation.

Within his Qi Sea, three hundred drops of Liquid Magical Power had formed a viscous Mana Lake, occupying over eighty percent of the space!

According to the classifications in the Taiqing Cold Jade Skill, Su Ye could now be considered a Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivator!

But Su Ye’s brows furrowed slightly.

’Is this... my normal limit?’

He could feel that the spiritual energy hadn’t been fully consumed, yet his Magical Power was struggling to advance...

In cultivation, there is a concept known as the ’Magical Power limit’.

Every cultivator has an upper limit to the amount of Magical Power they can cultivate during the Foundation Establishment Stage.

This limit is related to several factors.

One’s Cultivation Technique, physical constitution, and Spiritual Root aptitude.

’The Taiqing Cold Jade Skill I practice is a high-grade Cultivation Technique. Among Foundation Establishment Stage techniques, it’s only slightly weaker than the absolute best.’

’And my physical body, thanks to multiple class advancements and the blessing of the [Cold Jade Dao Body], is considered top-tier within the Foundation Establishment Stage!’

’But... my normal upper limit for Magical Power is only three hundred drops...’

’So, is it because of my Spiritual Root aptitude?’

Su Ye frowned.

Even after cultivating the Cold Jade Dao Body, his Spiritual Root aptitude was only at the level of a mid-grade Spiritual Root.

It was only by relying on the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s cultivation acceleration that he could rival a cultivator with a Celestial Spiritual Root.

However, he could only ’rival’ them.

He wasn’t a true Celestial Spiritual Root cultivator!

The disadvantage of his Spiritual Root was like the shortest plank in a barrel, limiting his maximum Magical Power to just three hundred drops!

To be honest, three hundred drops of Liquid Magical Power wasn’t a small amount.

Many Cultivation Techniques known for being ’easy to build Magical Power with’ would only yield a maximum of two hundred seventy or eighty drops of Magical Power at Foundation Establishment Perfection, even for cultivators with decent innate qualities.

But for Su Ye, who had lofty ambitions and aimed to achieve ’Ninth-Turn Core Formation’...

’This amount of Magical Power is not enough...’

Su Ye’s mind grew focused.

He suppressed the feeling of hitting his limit and continued to refine the spiritual energy, forcibly increasing his Magical Power!

This was very difficult.

After reaching one’s Magical Power limit, advancing by even a single drop of Liquid Magical Power consumed several times the amount of spiritual energy as before!

Furthermore, the amount of spiritual energy required to advance his Magical Power was continuously increasing.

It was easy to understand.

When a spring is loose, it’s easy to compress.

But after the spring is taut, the force needed to compress it further increases sharply.

Moreover, one also had to keep the spring suppressed to prevent it from rebounding...

Therefore, ordinary cultivators would stop trying to cultivate further after reaching their Magical Power limit.

But Su Ye’s gaze was icy, his will like iron.

’It’s just a matter of consuming spiritual energy!’

’The monsters of the Reverse World are endless and numerous. By relying on the Ghostly Flood Dragon to convert and devour them, I will not lack for spiritual energy!’

’What’s more, I can also use Weiyuan Immortal City to purchase some Spiritual Objects that can help alleviate the Magical Power limit...’

A grand auction was to be held soon, which would be the perfect time, with the richest variety and highest grade of Spiritual Objects available!

As Su Ye mulled this over, he continued to consume spiritual energy and push his Magical Power forward.

...

「An hour later.」

Su Ye finished his cultivation.

He had finished absorbing the remaining spiritual energy.

HUM!

An azure spiritual light, so tangible it seemed to have substance, emerged and swirled around his body, surpassing the level of Foundation Establishment Perfection.

It rippled outwards like water, magnificent and mysterious!

’My Magical Power has advanced so much that it’s a bit difficult to contain...’

Su Ye glanced around, then circulated his Taiqing Cold Jade Skill to slowly gather the Magical Power that was leaking from him.

In this session, he had increased his total Magical Power to three hundred and five drops!

Surpassing most at Foundation Establishment Perfection.

However, Su Ye was not complacent.

’It is said that over a thousand years ago, in the center of the archipelago, a Nascent Soul True Monarch gave a sermon.’

’He once boasted that he had condensed his Magic Power Crystal with three hundred and forty-five drops of Liquid Magical Power...’

’...only fifteen drops short of the true limit for a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s Magical Power, the ’Circulation Number’ of three hundred and sixty drops...’

’But for me to reach the Circulation Number... how many Reverse World monsters would I have to kill?’

The corner of Su Ye’s mouth twitched slightly.

Fortunately, there were still over a dozen nodes within Weiyuan Immortal City.

His cultivation resources were still relatively abundant.

Su Ye finished his thoughts, ended his cultivation, and stood up. He went to the deck of the Ghostly Flood Dragon, and the night sea breeze soothed his spirit.

Just then, from the direction of the port...

A young cultivator in dark robes, his face panicked, was rapidly approaching the Ghostly Flood Dragon.

Su Ye raised an eyebrow. He recognized the man as a cultivator from the Luo Family stationed in the immortal city.

"What’s happened?"

Su Ye transformed into a streak of Escape Light and landed in front of him.

"Supreme Elder, an urgent report from Donglong Island..."

The cultivator handed over an Intelligence Jade Scroll.

Su Ye’s Divine Sense swept over it, reading all the information within.

"A Beast Tide?!"

Three days ago, a massive Beast Tide erupted in the Dongning Sea Region!

According to estimates, it was now speeding toward Weiyuan Immortal City!

"Hm?"

Su Ye’s eyes narrowed, and a sense of alarm rose in his heart.

...