Chapter 138: Health Cultivation Lv.8, Vitality Development, Immortal Body, Xueheng's Gift (4K)

Chapter 138: Health Cultivation Lv.8, Vitality Development, Immortal Body, Xueheng's Gift (4K)



In the evening, at the Horticultural College of Maple City University, a figure clad in a black cloak and hood approached the flower garden.

"Wow, what a gruesome sight," exclaimed A Qin as she took in the scene before her.

What was once a well-ordered and vibrant flower garden now lay in ruins. The ground was cracked and littered with stones and dirt, and countless flowers and trees were either withered or broken, creating a chaotic mess as if the garden had been ravaged by war.

In the center of the flower garden stood a solitary figure, silent and motionless.

With hair like tangled vines of a murky green hue and an unremarkable middle-aged woman's face, it was none other than Professor Lu.

She didn't seem to be faring well. Her clothes were torn, and a lock of her vine-like hair had been violently ripped out, leaving an uneven break.

"Almost none of the 'children' you carefully cultivated have survived..." A Qin remarked as she stepped forward to greet the professor.

Professor Lu maintained her customary calm, as if nothing had happened. "This is a price I was prepared to pay... It doesn't matter." Her tone remained uninflected.

A Qin smiled and glanced at the professor's broken tendril of hair. "She even targeted your 'stigmata'. That girl must have been truly ruthless. If not for her insufficient strength, who knows, she might have even attempted to 'kill her master'."

"You made the wrong decision..." Professor Lu shook her head calmly. "On the contrary, the more she values her brother, the more it proves that I am right. The heavier the burden in her heart, the more detrimental it is to the path she must walk."

"I didn't make a mistake; I just didn't succeed," A Qin shrugged.

"As long as you're happy," Professor Lu said, glancing at her. "Why weren't you able to defeat him, considering your abilities, when faced with a martial artist who has only recently started his training?"

"He's more than just a martial artist," A Qin rebutted. She proceeded to recount her and Xue Jing's encounter and the battle that ensued, adding, "That young man knows very little about the recipients. I initially thought his peculiar black flame ability was brought about by the divine relic... but now I'm not so sure."

"The way he wields that ability is too natural, as if it's not borrowed power at all."

"Oh?" Professor Lu narrowed her eyes.

A Qin pondered for a moment before continuing, "Professor, that young man gives me a very unsettling feeling."

"Maybe I'm just feeling a bit traumatized after losing," she added, scratching her face.

"I don't know what you plan to do going forward, but I advise against continuing to target him." A Qin continued, "Even if you do, don't involve me. In any case, I don't want to be his enemy anymore. That person... is dangerous."

Professor Lu remained silent, simply nodding thoughtfully.

Without further ado, A Qin took her leave, leaving Professor Lu alone in the ravaged flower garden.

...

At dawn, as the sky gradually brightened, Xue Jing opened his eyes.

[Early to bed and early to rise, Health Cultivation experience +51]



[Health Cultivation upgraded to Lv.8 (37/6000)]



"Finally, Lv.8..." Xue Jing murmured, his body trembling slightly as the panel notification appeared.

His keen and resilient mental awareness sensed an indescribable force, akin to burning flames, roaming through every inch of his body.

A look of surprise crossed Xue Jing's face. "This is... vitality?"

The force bestowed upon him a vibrant and uplifting feeling, undoubtedly what was known as 'vitality'.

It was as if his lifespan, health, and vigor had been materialized into a blazing fire of life.

"Health Cultivation Lv.8... Has my vitality become so robust that it can now be perceived by my spiritual introspection?" Xue Jing pondered. He sat up from his reclining position and extended his right hand in front of him, fingers splayed.

With a thought, he attempted to manipulate his vitality using the [Visualization·True] ability, which could influence reality and turn book pages with its 'psychic' power.

The life fire that had been quietly burning within his body began to stir as if caressed by a gentle breeze.

"It's difficult... but not impossible," Xue Jing said, narrowing his eyes.

Under the guidance of his spiritual power, the vitality moved sluggishly, like a snail crawling.

Slowly, he concentrated the vitality onto his fingertips.

The life fire burning at the tips of his five fingers gradually intensified.

Soon, the fingernails on his long fingers began to grow at a visible rate.

It didn't take long for them to grow to a length of two or three centimeters.

The newly grown nails had a jade-like texture, pure and translucent, smooth and flawless, clean and exuding a strong sense of hardness.

The tips of the nails were sharp and pointed, resembling the claws of a fierce beast.

"What nonsense," Xue Jing shook his head, his fingers clawing at the air.

He opened the bedside drawer and took out a nail clipper, beginning to trim his newly grown nails.

However...

"Crack!"

He forcefully squeezed the nail clipper to its limit, bending the steel handle under the pressure, but the fingernail, akin to jade, remained almost unscathed.

Xue Jing furrowed his brows, "This..."

Putting the nail clipper back into the drawer, he stood up and walked to the corner of the room, where he picked up the Futu Dagger and unsheathed it.

He channeled his energy into the blade, and with a flash of light, the dagger sliced through the air.

The five sharp nails were instantly cut off at the root, leaving an incredibly smooth cut, as if they had been meticulously polished.

"Not bad." Xue Jing nodded in satisfaction.

"By the way, let's also test my recovery ability..."

He held the dagger and made a quick slash on his arm, and the sharp blade immediately left a deep gash, causing viscous blood to flow like ruby-red droplets.

Then, with a thought, he activated his vitality, concentrating it on the wound.

The wound began to squirm, healing at a visible rate; in just a few seconds, it was completely healed, leaving the skin smooth and flawless, without even a scar.

If not for the blood that still stained it, one would think nothing had happened at all.

"Amazing, super-speed regeneration." Xue Jing's eyes lit up.

"As long as I concentrate my vitality, I can recover from injuries in an extremely short time."

"With this, even if someone slashes my throat, I probably won't die... Even if my head is cut off, as long as I attach it back quickly, I should be able to recover."

He introspected his body and sensed the still-abundant life fire within.

"As long as I have enough vitality and am not instantly killed, I should be able to recover from any injury."

"This is practically an immortal body!"

Xue Jing looked at the [Health Cultivation Lv.8] on his panel with satisfaction.

As expected of one of the regular skills he valued the most, it was incredibly useful.

Considering that both [Fitness] and [Charm Technique] had triggered their transcendence conditions, [Health Cultivation] should also be able to transcend.

I wonder how powerful the skill will become after transcendence; I can't wait to find out...

...

At noon, after finishing his lunch, Xue Jing sat on the sofa, petting his cat, and checking his skill panel.

[Divine Nature: 702]



First, he checked the value of his Divine Nature, then turned his attention to [Plant Covenant].

Should I try upgrading [Plant Covenant] by a level or two to see the effect?

The upgrade cost for Godly Skills was quite reasonable: only 100 points for Lv.1 and 300 points for Lv.2.

With the additional method of acquiring Divine Nature, Xue Jing felt more comfortable spending his points.

As he was thinking about upgrading, there was a soft knock on the door.

He closed the panel and extended his spiritual awareness, visualizing the scene outside the door.

It was Xue Wan; she was holding a black bag and about to knock on the door.

Xue Jing interrupted his visualization and controlled his shadow flame to materialize a black arm, opening the door.

Xue Wan had already called earlier to inform him of her visit, so he was just confirming.

As the door opened, Xue Wan walked in, and her eyes immediately fell on the cat curled up next to Xue Jing, lighting up with delight.

"Fengwan, my little Fengwan, mommy's here!"

Xue Wan rushed over and hugged the cat close, rubbing her face affectionately against it.

"Meow~"

The cat's face was filled with a human-like look of helplessness as it turned to Xue Jing for help.

"Meow meow meow meow~" Xue Wan cooed and babbled adorably at the cat.

"That's enough; can't you see it's not happy?" Xue Jing rolled his eyes.

"Which eye of yours sees that it's not happy? Little Fengwan is just loving the affection from mommy, right?"

Xue Wan said, rubbing the cat's face against hers before burying it in its fur and inhaling the scent.

"Sniff sniff... You smell so good."

"Meow..."

Facing the cat's pleading gaze, Xue Jing could only helplessly shrug his shoulders in response.

"The little kitty must want mommy kisses, mua~mua~"

By the time Xue Wan was satisfied, the cat had a lifeless expression, lying on the sofa with its paws in the air and its pupils unfocused.

"This is for you."

Xue Wan had a bright and satisfied expression on her face as she handed the black bag to Xue Jing.

"What is this?" Xue Jing asked curiously as he reached out to take the bag and peeked inside.

Within, he found several dark green... vines?

"These are my mentor's hair, also known as her 'stigmata'," Xue Wan explained.

"Didn't you say that absorbing the corrupting and mutating substances from the stigmata would benefit you? This should do the trick, right?"

Xue Jing raised an eyebrow.

The previous day, he had chatted extensively with his sister, casually mentioning this matter.

He hadn't expected Xue Wan to procure it for him so soon.

He reached into the bag and pulled out several dark green vines.

[Detecting Divine Nature. Absorbing Divinity...]



"How did you get your hands on these?" Xue Jing inquired.

"Well..." Xue Wan feigned innocence. "...Mentor felt guilty about trying to force you to join the faith, so she's offering her hair as a token of apology?"

Xue Jing glanced at the messy, jagged ends of the vines.

They had clearly been pulled out forcefully.

"You're not fooling anyone," he said.

"Why are you even asking so many questions? Just take it!" Xue Wan retorted, sounding annoyed.

Xue Jing smiled but didn't press the issue further. "Thanks, sis," he said, his eyes shifting to the vines in his hand.

Stigmata are manifestations of corruption and mutation that appear on the bodies of recipients, resembling the body parts of the deity they worship.

So, this is what the hair of the Lord of a Thousand Red Hues looks like—if it even has hair, that is.

It didn't take long for the panel notification to light up after he started absorbing the divinity.

[Divinity Absorption Complete]



His Divinity value, which had been 702, now soared to 1028.

"These vines are probably just a small portion of Professor Lu's stigmata, and they provided over three hundred points of divinity?"

Xue Jing was surprised; he hadn't expected such a substantial gain.

He wondered how much divinity he would gain if he could get his hands on all of the professor's hair...

"I have to go now. I promised to go shopping with my classmates," Xue Wan said with a smile.

"I'll be there to watch your match this afternoon."

"See you later."

After bidding farewell, Xue Wan left.

"I'll walk you out," Xue Jing said, getting up from his seat.

He saw his sister out and then returned to his room, contemplating the thousand-plus points of divinity displayed on his panel.

"This is quite a windfall, but how should I spend it?"

Should he upgrade Twin Birth or Shadowflame? Or should he directly upgrade Plant Covenant to Level 4...?

"For Twin Birth, there aren't any pressing needs for a double-effect skill right now."

"But the upgraded level does offer longer durations for active effects and shorter cooldowns for the passive resurrection, which is nice."

Xue Jing pondered his options.

"As for Shadowflame, an upgrade would increase the strength of the activated substance, as well as improve the 'blue bar' and the annihilation power of the skill itself."

"I could even manifest a bigger Gundam!"

With that thought, he decided that upgrading Shadowflame took precedence over Twin Birth.

"However, I'll upgrade Plant Covenant by one level first."

Upgrading from Level 1 to Level 2 only required a hundred divinity points, and the cost-effectiveness was high, leaving him with more than enough points to upgrade either Twin Birth or Shadowflame afterward.

Xue Jing clicked to upgrade.

[Plant Covenant Lv.2 (Upgrade Divinity: 928/300)]



After the upgrade, the skill name, which had dimmed due to the contract with the oxygen-eating tree seeds, brightened noticeably, resembling the faintly dull appearance it had when only contracted with the golden-leaf plant.

Xue Jing reached out and touched the golden-leaf plant seeds on the table beside him, re-contracting them.

The skill name dimmed slightly again, but the change was minimal.

"Excellent, the 'blue bar' has increased considerably."

"Let's test the strength."

Xue Jing took out the dark red seeds from his pocket and, along with the golden-leaf plant seeds, tossed them onto the ground.

Immediately, green tendrils and sword-like leaves sprouted from the seeds, dancing in the air and engaging in a chaotic battle under Xue Jing's control.

The clashing of plants filled the room with the sounds of rustling leaves and snapping stems as wood shavings and fragments littered the floor.

Eventually, the golden-leaf plant showed signs of fatigue, unable to keep up with the oxygen-eating tree, and began to retreat.

"As expected of a noble exotic plant, it's no match for the other. The difference in contract consumption is significant," Xue Jing nodded in understanding.

"The quality of the golden-leaf plant's leaves has improved, increasing its proliferative growth limit from over ten meters to nearly thirty meters. Not bad."

As he played with the battling plants, the cat sat upright on the sofa, its eyes fixed on the fantastical scene before it, deep in thought.

"Is this what a martial artist is like?"

The cat wondered what Master Li, the old man, would make of this spectacle.

The Martial Way: From Beginner to Magical Proficiency?

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end