Therefore, only those cultivators who have lost hope of breaking through and who don’t have any suitable magic tools at their disposal, choose to focus on techniques.
Qu Hancheng is a perfect example of such an old cultivator.
In Luo Chen’s view, Qu Hancheng’s Fireball Technique has reached a level of mastery comparable to his own.
That’s already quite impressive!
His hand seals are well-practiced, he forms the spell quickly, and releases it swiftly. However, he isn’t very good at controlling the direction of the fireballs he throws.
He couldn’t possibly match Luo Chen’s ability to launch dozens of fireballs and control their trajectory.
But Luo Chen’s goal doesn’t lie here.
"One, two...sixteen, seventeen. Will you continue?"
Qu Hancheng’s face turned pale as he wiped off his forehead sweat.
"I can’t go on. I only have enough spirit power to cast seventeen Fireball Techniques."
Only seventeen?
Luo Chen furrowed his brows, his eyes falling on the pockmarked ground.
"What’s your Spirit Root? How long have you been at the Sixth Level Qi Refinement stage?"
"I have a Triple Spirit Root. I reached the Sixth Level Qi Refinement stage when I was 75 years old, and eighteen years have passed since then."
Ninety-three, huh!
"It must be hard for you to be still working at your age," Luo Chen said, softening his tone.
After catching his breath, Qu Hancheng chuckled weakly. "Not at all, I’m thankful to Hall Master for giving me an opportunity. I can take it a bit easier in the future."
Luo Chen hummed in acknowledgment before sinking into his thoughts.
Eighteen years at this stage. even without any elixir aid, his Triple Spirit Root talent should have still propelled him to the perfection of the Sixth Level Qi Refinement stage.
Wait, considering the limited resources of early to middle stage cultivators, they couldn’t afford to live in the First Order Spirit Vein Land of the Inner City.
So, his advancement would be slower.
This old man must be at the middle stage of the Sixth Level Qi Refinement.
Even so, he is far ahead of my current progress.
But why is his total spirit power less than half of mine?
Luo Chen’s brows rose, as he realized that his total spirit power might far exceed that of an average person.
Fireball Technique, the spell he is most proficient at.
When he was at the Fifth Level Qi Refinement stage, he could cast nearly a hundred Fireball Techniques.
That might sound like a lot, but if everyone wanted to ensure maximum strength and contain the most spirit power, he could probably only cast about twenty.
That’s also why his commonly used Flying Flame Fireflies always maintained around ten in number.
After breaking through to the Sixth Level Qi Refinement stage, he could exert himself to cast around thirty, which was ten more than before at the Fifth Level.
And it was foreseeable that this number would continue to increase as he continued his cultivation.
If he reaches the same stage as Qu Hancheng, he might be able to cast around forty in total.
Does this mean that my spirit power is more than double of a cultivator of the same stage, if not more?
Coming to this conclusion gave Luo Chen a start.
"At what point did this change take place?"
Suddenly, Luo Chen thought of the Grandmaster Level Longevity Technique.
"It must be the Grandmaster Level Longevity Technique. It made my meridians fully permeable, doubling my storage limit for spirit power."
"And it’s for this reason that I need to amass much more spirit power than cultivators of the same stage in order to break through each stage."
Understanding this, Luo Chen’s furrowed brows loosened considerably.
This was surely a good thing.
Whether in terms of combat or foundational strength, this was invariably beneficial.
However, for Luo Chen who didn’t have a long lifespan, it was really bad news.
It means he will need to spend more time and resources to break through each stage like cultivators of the same grade.
"Could the situation be even worse?"
Luo Chen thought of a commonly-known fact.
While a cultivator constantly transports spirit power, the Dantian expands, the meridians become broader, everything is geared towards breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, and accumulating a massive amount of spirit power.
If my base is already double that of others at the same stage, doesn’t that mean my Dantian will be much broader than that of an ordinary person as I continue to cultivate?
And the spirit power required will be much more?
Double? Triple?
Luo Chen’s head started to spin.
"Hall Master, is there anything else?"
A voice from the elderly cultivator by his side brought him back. Luo Chen shook his head, indicating that he could leave first.
After the man left, Luo Chen took a deep breath.
"Sure enough, everything has its pros and cons."
"The Grandmaster Level Longevity Technique gave me many advantages, such as an increased limit for pills refinement, automatic energy recovery, accelerated cultivation, and so forth."
"As it turns out, fully accessible meridians, increased foundation strength, were also stealthy benefits."
"But this benefit hinders my fast progress."
After pondering for a while, Luo Chen suddenly laughed.
"All that matters is that I’ll need more cultivation resources."
"What am I worrying about? With the means to refine pills, isn’t spirit stones as good as free?"
Realizing this, Luo Chen leisurely returned to Crescent Valley.
"Inform everyone that we will stop practicing Allure Pills in the afternoon. We will dedicate all our time to refining Jade Marrow Pills!"
...
...
That afternoon, the Pill Hall went all out to refine Jade Marrow Pills.
The result was delightful!
Complete failure across the board!
Luo Chen gleefully got dozens of waste pill stone beads.
On his way home, he angrily hurled stone beads using the Primordial Chaos Bead technique of Heavenly Maiden Scatter Flowers.
Wherever the beads went, flowers, grass, bugs, moths all suffered a tragic fate.
Seeing him in this state, Gu Caiyi and the two bodyguards didn’t dare to provoke him.
After getting home, Luo Chen, as usual, began brewing the Nourishing Origin Liquid.
The materials he bought for three hundred spirit stones were enough for him to brew thirty batches of Nourishing Origin Liquid.
As he sat inside the Purple Cloud Bronze Furnace, an odd thought crossed Luo Chen’s mind.
"In the future, any cultivator who consumes the Allure Pills refined in this pill furnace could possibly carry some of my aura."
"So, when they...do that... would it feel like I’m indirectly a part of it?"