Chapter 325: Surging Inner Breath, Power Accumulation of Nearly Two Cycles

Chapter 325: Surging Inner Breath, Power Accumulation of Nearly Two Cycles

At the bottom of the lake.

"An increase of about four years of power!"

Jiang Ning finished digesting the Thunderfruit that was equivalent to twenty years' worth, slowly opening his eyes, and a look of surprise flashed across his face.

For an average fifth-stage Inner Fortitude Realm cultivator, a twenty-year supply of Thunderfruit would only increase their power by about two years.

But for him, it resulted in a four-year power increase.

The effect was directly doubled.

This meant that for him, one Thunderfruit was as effective as two.

How could he not be delighted!

The next moment, the remaining fifty-year supply of Thunderfruit appeared in his hand.

"Based on my previous experience, this Thunderfruit will increase my power by ten years!"

With this thought, Jiang Ning felt a surge of relief.

Ten years of power.

How many decades does a person have in their lifetime?

Even a powerful Grandmaster only lives for two cycles.

A single fruit like this is equivalent to the power accumulated by an average fifth-stage cultivator over ten years.

At this moment, Jiang Ning gained a deeper, more tangible understanding of the importance of resources.

No matter how high one's talent, it couldn't compare to the wonders of such resources.

Jiang Ning sighed inwardly.

Then, after several bites, the fifty-year supply of Thunderfruit entered his stomach.

He immediately visualized a furnace in his mind, transforming himself into a crucible, and began refining the spiritual fruit in his stomach.

In less than half an incense stick's time—

"About ten years of power!" He opened his eyes, his face filled with joy.

The consecutive power increases, totaling about one cycle of power accumulation, made him feel the inner breath in his Dantian had reached a substantial amount.

The improvement was significantly more noticeable than the previous one.

At this moment, based on his own perception, he estimated that he had accumulated over fifty-five years of pure power.

"I'm almost at one cycle of power!!"

He smiled.

Then, a Thunderfruit with lightning patterns appeared in his hand.

This was the symbol of a centennial Thunderfruit.

The ancient turtle by his side witnessed this scene, and its mouth instantly watered with envy.

It had gone to the Thunder Carp, the electric eel's lair, seeking the Thunderfruit. This Thunderfruit, a heavenly treasure, was most effective for the electric eel due to its aligned attributes, significantly increasing its Dao virtue and demonic energy.

But for the turtle, the effect was equally remarkable, providing a substantial boost to its Dao virtue and demonic energy.

It had barely reached two hundred years of Dao virtue.

Once it absorbed the centennial Thunderfruit before it, its Dao virtue could increase by at least fifty percent, gaining over a hundred years of Dao virtue.

If, one day in the future, it reached a thousand years of Dao virtue, it could then refine a demonic pill, becoming a so-called great demon.

Immediately, it saw Jiang Ning looking over and quickly averted its gaze, focusing on chewing the fish head in front of it.

Jiang Ning noticed the ancient turtle's furtive glance and couldn't help but smile. He turned his attention back to the Thunderfruit before him.

The centennial Thunderfruit would undoubtedly make my inner breath surge like an abyss, granting me power equivalent to over one cycle.

He took a bite.

Crack!

Lightning flashed from the Thunderfruit, instantly illuminating the dark lake bottom.

Jiang Ning couldn't help but grin, his mouth tingling.

"This stuff is too much even for an ordinary cultivator to handle!"

He endured the pain and quickly finished the centennial Thunderfruit, not bothering to savor it.

After swallowing the entire fruit, his tongue couldn't taste a thing.

It had gone completely numb.

Moreover, he felt a tingling and painful sensation in his stomach.

As the Thunderfruit entered his stomach, with the movement of his stomach and the action of gastric juices, the medicinal power and lightning energy within the fruit began to surge into his organs.

The next moment, Jiang Ning closed his eyes and visualized the furnace in his mind again.

Boom—

It was as if raging flames had ignited within him.

Crack!

At this moment, a clear sound of thunder emanated from his body.

The unleashed lightning energy began to temper his organs, refining the medicinal power, and strands of inner breath, like smoke and mist, emerged from his Dantian, merging into the cloud within, causing it to churn.

Initially, these strands were sparse, like the first spring rain.

In the blink of an eye—

They became countless, intertwining threads.

The continuous power increase caused the ocean in his Dantian to surge and roar.

It was unknown how long had passed.

Perhaps it was a single breath, or ten breaths, or even longer.

The phenomenon in his Dantian suddenly changed.

The previous scene of a surging ocean transformed into an infinite expanse of tranquility.

'Inner breath like an abyss,' these four words described not only the phenomenon in his Dantian but also the overwhelming pressure of the inner breath's eruption, akin to facing an abyss, filled with trembling and fear.

At this moment, Jiang Ning sensed that the inner breath in his Dantian had suddenly calmed, and he instantly understood.

In this instant, he possessed sixty years of pure power.

The power of sixty years of cultivation erupted, enough to unleash a mountain-splitting might.

Even with abundant inner breath, facing an army of ten thousand armored and armed warriors of the lowest rank, he could still pierce through them all.

After that, he calmed his mind, clearing his mind of distractions, and continued to refine the Centennial Thunderfruit within his body.

Time passed.

Jiang Ning slowly opened his eyes.

"A growth of sixty years of cultivation!" he exclaimed, feeling deeply shaken.

A single fruit had allowed him to achieve sixty years' worth of cultivation growth.

He had never dared to imagine this before, but it was indeed happening within his body at this very moment.

This meant that his cultivation had now surpassed a hundred years and was approaching the astonishing level of two sixty-year cycles.

Two sixty-year cycles, that's one hundred and twenty years, or forty-three thousand eight hundred days of accumulated cultivation.

He had achieved this in such a short time.

"Is this the effect of heaven-bestowed treasures?" Jiang Ning muttered to himself, feeling a sense of disbelief.

A moment later, he exhaled, and a turbid breath parted the lake water in front of him like a sharp sword, reaching three meters deep.

Then, it turned into countless bubbles that rose to the surface.

He slowly stood up, his mind occupied with a question.

How many years of cultivation was he away from achieving the level of 'inner breath like a prison'?

As far as he knew, above the level of 'inner breath like an abyss' was the level of 'inner breath like a prison'.

However, he wasn't sure how many years of cultivation were required to reach that level.

Beside him, the ancient turtle, upon seeing Jiang Ning stand, felt a surge of fear.

It sensed an invisible pressure emanating from Jiang Ning, compelling it to move away from him.

At the same time, Jiang Ning's gaze fell back on the corpse of the electric eel.

He made a decision.

Today's expedition had yielded more than he had imagined.

Not only had his cultivation increased several times over, but he now possessed nearly two sixty-year cycles' worth of cultivation.

Additionally, he had acquired essence energy points and the corpse of the already-demonized ancient turtle.

Then, his gaze shifted to the ancient turtle beside him.

In front of the turtle, the eel's large head had been devoured, leaving only the framework of its skull.

"Master!" the ancient turtle spoke, its voice now carrying a hint of reverence.

"How many years of cultivation do you have now?" Jiang Ning asked.

"Reporting to the Master. I had two hundred and three years of cultivation, but today, I gained three more years, making it two hundred and six years," the ancient turtle replied.

Jiang Ning nodded slightly, recalling the relevant knowledge he had read in books.

After demons awaken their spiritual awareness, their demonic energy increases as their cultivation grows.

The ancient turtle, with over two hundred years of cultivation, was merely a lesser demon.

Only those with a thousand years or more of cultivation, who have condensed their demon core, are considered true demons.

According to the books, in ancient times, true demons with a thousand years or more of cultivation were not uncommon.

Even these newly-turned true demons were not considered truly powerful within the demonic race.

Therefore, it was evident that lesser demons like the ancient turtle, with barely two hundred years of cultivation, were akin to weaklings.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Jiang Ning noticed the ancient turtle's next words.

"How is it that your cultivation increased by three years? What happened?" Jiang Ning asked, slightly puzzled.

"Master just fed me with his blood, increasing my cultivation by two years!" the ancient turtle explained.

Then, it pointed to the fish head in front of it, "And by digesting the brain of the electric eel, my cultivation increased by one year."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning understood more about the cultivation of demons.

"Old Turtle, weren't you no match for that electric eel? Did it have higher cultivation than you?" Jiang Ning asked again.

"Not by much!" the ancient turtle replied with a hint of envy. "Although our cultivation is similar, the electric eel's innate abilities and techniques are far superior to mine."

"When demons fight, cultivation is just the foundation, and one of many factors."

"Innate abilities and techniques have an even greater impact."

After this brief conversation with the ancient turtle, Jiang Ning gained a deeper understanding of demons.

Then, at his command, the ancient turtle shrank to the size of a palm.

Jiang Ning put it in his pocket and picked up the massive electric eel with one hand, heading back.

The lake water instantly became a force propelling him forward.

Without exerting any effort, he used his water control technique to move at an astonishing speed, covering a hundred zhang in a single breath.

"Indeed, my understanding is correct! There are many aspects to develop in water control."

Feeling the water in front of him part without resistance, while the water behind him propelled him through the lake bed, Jiang Ning nodded in satisfaction, enjoying this mode of travel.

Under the lake, a track-like channel became visible, moving at four-tenths of its speed on land.

Ordinary fifth-rank warriors, even on land, couldn't match his current speed in the water.

And all this while carrying the body of an electric eel that was six meters long.

When Jiang Ning returned home, the sky was already darkening.

As Jiang Li and Liu Wanwan saw the enormous eel demon that Jiang Ning had left in the courtyard, their eyes widened in shock.

"Little brother, where have you been?" Jiang Li exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise.

The electric eel was six meters long and weighed two to three hundred catties. It was the first time he had ever seen one of this size.

Electric eels were rare in Luoshui Lake, but they could still be spotted from time to time.

Usually, adult electric eels were only about three meters long and weighed around forty to fifty catties.

The eel that Jiang Ning had left in the courtyard looked like a giant python without a head.

It was six meters long and weighed two to three hundred catties.

"Wow—"

"Wow—"

"Wow—"

Little Beanbag also let out a series of exclamations.

"Uncle is so amazing!"

Seeing this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but smile.

"I just took a trip to the lake and caught this demon eel. I slaughtered it and brought it back."

"A demon?" Jiang Li's eyes widened even further.

"Mhm!" Jiang Ning nodded, and as he patted Little Beanbag's head, he continued, "A little demon in Luoshui Lake is a menace. I slaughtered it and brought it back."

Hearing this, Jiang Li's expression became a little uneasy.

Demons were mythical creatures, known to feast on human blood.

But in Jiang Ning's words, they seemed no different from chickens and ducks, easily caught and brought back for cooking.

This made him feel a little surreal.

Liu Wanwan quickly wiped her hands, "Ning, I'll take care of this electric eel. I'll prepare a sumptuous dinner tonight."

"Wait a moment!" Jiang Ning raised his hand to stop Liu Wanwan.

Then, he channeled his inner breath and sliced off a palm-sized piece of meat from the eel.

The meat was crystal-clear, like jelly, and full of elasticity.

He had just thought of the white dragon fish that was almost becoming a demon.

That white dragon fish was also a highly nourishing creature, but because it was so nourishing, ordinary people couldn't digest much of it.

And this electric eel, a fully transformed demon with over two hundred years of cultivation, was even more so.

He wasn't sure if ordinary people could eat it, so he wanted to try it first.

The next moment, flames rose out of thin air.

The palm-sized fish meat hovered above the flames.

At the same time, Little Beanbag took out a palm-sized ancient turtle from Jiang Ning's pocket. They stared at each other, the turtle's big eyes meeting Little Beanbag's.

"Dudu, did you catch this turtle for me?"

Little Beanbag looked up at Jiang Ning with great joy.

"You're the turtle! You're the turtle!" The ancient turtle spoke, full of resentment.

Jiang Ning had always called it Old Turtle, and after witnessing his strength, it didn't dare to argue.

But it never expected that a little girl would call it a turtle now.

It, a dignified soft-shelled turtle, was called a green-haired turtle by her.

This was too much for the master to bear, and even the mistress couldn't tolerate it!

Hearing this, Jiang Ning glanced at the ancient turtle.

"Hmm?" A nasal tone immediately sounded in his voice.

The ancient turtle shivered.

It had just been brought back by Jiang Ning and had witnessed his incredible speed in the water, knowing full well his strength, far beyond its own, and also aware that its master couldn't tolerate this.

At this moment, the others heard the ancient turtle's voice.

Little Beanbag's eyes widened in shock.

Jiang Li and Liu Wanwan's expressions were also filled with astonishment, their faces showing disbelief.

Based on the conversation and the source of the voice, they instantly realized it was coming from the small soft-shelled turtle in Little Beanbag's hand.

This left them completely incredulous.

How could a tiny turtle speak human language?

Just then, Little Beanbag wrinkled her nose.

"So fragrant!"

"Slurp—"

Saliva immediately began to flow from her mouth as she looked up at the cooked fish meat in front of Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning's gaze also fell back on the fish meat before him.

As the aroma of the grilled fish wafted over, his eyes lit up.

Life is short, and pleasures are few.

Gourmet food is undoubtedly one of life's greatest joys.

Without delicious food, in his opinion, life's happiness would be greatly diminished.

"Dudu, I want to eat it!" Little Beanbag let go of the ancient turtle in her hand and tugged at Jiang Ning's clothes, her eyes filled with pleading.

"This won't do!" Jiang Ning shook his head.

He picked up the already grilled fish meat, blew on it habitually to cool it down, and then took a bite.

"Mmm—" His eyes lit up instantly.

Despite the lack of seasoning, it was the most delicious food he had ever tasted.

After being grilled, the meat was firm like beef but incredibly fresh and tasty.

"Slurp—" Little Beanbag, seeing this, sucked in her drool.

Jiang Ning quickly devoured the palm-sized fish meat.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end