Chapter 397: Bottleneck period, fighting tower in ranked matches |
Xu Hei first made a trip to the Scripture Repository, purchasing a collection of unofficial histories, miscellaneous talks, and books recording the world's demonic beasts.
His knowledge was still too shallow; there were many things he had neither seen nor heard of, such as the Northern Polar Region, that formation spirit, and even the history of the Penglai Sea, of which he knew very little.
He wasn't sure if these books would be useful, but reading them certainly wouldn't hurt.
As he left the Scripture Repository, Xu Hei ran into Hai Teng, who was also holding a book, seemingly a novel.
Xu Hei wanted to glance at the book's title, but Hai Teng quickly hid it, handed over contribution points to the old monkey guarding the pavilion at the entrance, and hurried away.
"What was that about?"
Xu Hei was baffled; why was this snake acting so secretive?
He didn't dwell on it. After finishing these tasks, he headed straight to the cultivation island and found a time-accelerated cultivation room, entering closed-door cultivation mode.
This accelerated cultivation room wasn't the top-tier one, just a B-grade room with four times the speed.
Not being the best, nor the worst, but staying in the middle is the true wisdom. Xu Hei wasn't sure if he understood it correctly, but that's what the literal meaning suggested.
In fact, the A-grade cultivation rooms were already occupied, so he had no choice but to pick a B-grade one.
"Two hundred contribution points per day, seventy thousand a year, wait, why am I saying 'only'? Oh, right, because it's not my contribution points being spent."
Xu Hei took out Elder Mo's token and inserted it into the slot.
Actually, these time-accelerated cultivation rooms weren't popular, and few people would waste contribution points on them.
Most cultivators lacked not time, but resources! Insights!
Xu Hei was an exception.
He took out a bottle of blue pills, surrounded by a blue glow, with faint roars of beasts audible. These pills, called Qing Beast Pills, greatly enhanced true essence and were particularly effective on demonic beasts.
He had twenty-two Qing Beast Pills in total.
Xu Hei swallowed one whole, then activated the Demon God Cauldron to fully refine it.
A month later, he had refined all the Qing Beast Pills.
Xu Hei then took out a tricolored pill, called the Three Pattern Pill, which also accelerated cultivation speed. Without hesitation, he swallowed it.
...
Thus, Xu Hei cultivated in the accelerated room for a full year and a half.
Outside, nearly five months had passed.
During this year and a half, he consumed a hundred and eighty different pills, seven kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, plus an ancient spirit medicine aged ten thousand years, finally raising his cultivation to the peak of the mid-stage demon core!
This was almost ten times the amount other cultivators would need, which was the cost of a Perfect Core Formation.
Accumulating true essence during the Core Formation Stage was not something achieved overnight.
Many people took ten, twenty, or even hundreds of years to break through a small realm.
But Xu Hei, with ample resources and the aid of the divine Demon God Cauldron, which sped up pill absorption and perfect refinement, managed to accumulate his true essence to the peak in a year and a half.
At this moment, Xu Hei's Golden Core was full, smooth, and in an absolutely perfect state, entirely black-purple, shimmering with a ghostly light.
The next step was the late stage of the demon core.
Additionally, Xu Hei had opened the third dragon vein, though it happened at the start of his retreat, and there had been no movement since.
This made Xu Hei realize that opening dragon veins wasn't something that could be achieved just by going into seclusion, but it wasn't urgent for now.
Xu Hei took out three pill bottles and placed them in front of him; these were Qingyuan Pills for breaking through.
"Let's try one first."
Xu Hei opened the first bottle and swallowed a pill.
"Boom!!"
The pill dissolved upon entry, releasing a surge of true essence that crashed like waves, washing through Xu Hei's meridians, causing his internal organs to churn.
His Golden Core vibrated violently, with a powerful force continuously striking it, trying to break it apart.
In an instant, three days passed.
Xu Hei reopened his eyes, a trace of regret flashing through them.
"Failed..."
The first attempt to break through failed, which didn't surprise Xu Hei. His true essence had just accumulated enough, barely allowing him to try, and he hadn't expected to succeed.
Only someone as wealthy as Xu Hei would dare to casually swallow a Qingyuan Pill like this.
"Forget it, today isn't the day for a breakthrough, let's go out for a walk."
Xu Hei opened the door of the cultivation room, removed the token, and stepped outside.
After nearly half a year, this was his first time coming out, and the air felt much fresher.
The communication talisman showed no activity; the captain hadn't sent any task gathering messages, which was unusual.
Xu Hei glanced at the A-grade cultivation room, still occupied, not knowing who was inside.
He headed straight for the Simulated Combat Tower, his destination.
As usual, a beam of light flashed, and Xu Hei entered the tower's space.
"Welcome, esteemed five-star client, Mo Xuan, to the Simulated Combat Tower!"
"Please select your combat mode."
The familiar, emotionless female voice echoed from the sky.
Without thinking, Xu Hei said, "Ranked mode."
He had tried the previous modes before, but the ranked mode, rumored to involve real cultivators, intrigued him.
"Please choose, single or multiplayer."
"Single!"
"Please select your side's terrain."
At this moment, various terrain maps appeared before Xu Hei, featuring mountains, seas, deserts, human cities, palaces, fortresses, and more.
After a brief consideration, Xu Hei chose a vast sea as his battlefield, the most common terrain in the Penglai Sea.
In an instant, Xu Hei's surroundings transformed into a vast sea, spanning a hundred miles.
However, this hundred-mile sea was enclosed in a light barrier, beyond which lay endless void.
"Your opponent: Anonymous; Race: Human; Rank: Fourth stage, thirty-seven stars."
As the voice announced.
In the distant void, a hundred-mile desert appeared, identical to Xu Hei's sea, serving as another battlefield.
In the vast void, the two battlefields rapidly approached, colliding in an instant, merging into a larger battlefield, expanding from a hundred miles to two hundred miles.
Half sea, half desert, connected into one, separated by a light barrier in the middle.
This was the arena for the ranked mode, each choosing a terrain, fair and just.
"The battle will begin in ten breaths, please prepare."
The emotionless female voice echoed in both terrains.
Xu Hei hid in the sea, scanning the desert ahead, unable to spot any trace of his opponent, but knowing they must be lurking somewhere.
Before the match officially started, Divine Sense couldn't penetrate, and only the naked eye could be used for observation.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."
The countdown began, Xu Hei held his breath, taking out formation flags and placing them around; these external items could also be simulated in the combat tower.