Chapter 22: Dispersing Cultivation

Upon returning to his room, Wang Lin immediately closed the door. He didn't consume the four Spirit Seizing Pills, but instead placed them in his Storage Pouch. He was now going to conduct an experiment with the mysterious bead.

Carefully taking out the bead and the gourd, Wang Lin pondered for a moment, his expression uncertain, weighing the pros and cons in his heart. The dew was crucial for his future Cultivation; without it, his Cultivation would definitely be slow.

However, the clouds on the mysterious bead tightly gripped his curiosity. After a long while, he made up his mind: if the dew was gone, he could accumulate more, it would just take some time. But if the bead developed a tenth cloud, some unusual change might occur, and perhaps after soaking in the spring water, his Spiritual Qi would increase to an incredible Realm.

Thinking of this, he immediately took out his best morning dew gourd without another word, prepared a stone bowl, and painstakingly poured out the jelly-like liquid from the gourd.

In a short while, the dew was completely poured out. A small, half-bowl of green liquid in the stone bowl gradually emitted a clear fragrance. Wang Lin inhaled it and immediately felt refreshed and comfortable all over.

He worried that this scent would attract attention from others in the School, so he immediately threw the bead into it and observed carefully. After a long time, the liquid had only slightly decreased.

Wang Lin was a little disappointed; he had thought it would catalyze immediately. However, the good thing was that the clear fragrance dissipated as soon as the Stone Bead was thrown in. Wang Lin pondered for a moment, placed the stone bowl under the bed, sat cross-legged on the bed, and meditated with a Low-Grade Spirit Stone in hand.

His breathing, one long and three short, gradually stabilized. Although he still hadn't managed to guide Spiritual Qi into his body in these two months, he no longer felt out of breath after a short while with this breathing method as he did before. Now he was accustomed to this breathing, and even when not meditating, he mostly breathed this way.

An entire night passed. In the morning, Wang Lin opened his eyes and quickly retrieved the stone bowl from under the bed, finding that half of the liquid was gone, but the tenth cloud on the bead still hadn't appeared.

He wasn't discouraged. After putting the stone bowl back, he hesitated for a moment, took out a Spirit Seizing Pill from his Storage Pouch, and swallowed it. A warm current immediately appeared in his body.

Wang Lin had gone through this process every day during his month with Sun Dazhu. He was familiar with it and quickly began to breathe. It wasn't until night fell again that he slowly exhaled a long stream of white Qi, his brows furrowed, and he said to himself with a bitter smile, "This Spirit Seizing Pill is actually similar to Sun Dazhu's medicinal soup; both contain some Spiritual Qi-filled Spiritual Plants. Every time I take it, my body just feels comfortable and my spirit is full, even my hunger disappears. Unfortunately, I still can't condense a trace of Spiritual Qi."

He sighed softly. Wang Zhuo could achieve the first layer of the Qi Condensation Realm in three months. Wang Lin showed no outward signs of abnormality, but inwardly he was quite emotional, thinking that talent was indeed the key to cultivating immortality.

But Wang Lin's personality wouldn't allow him to give up easily. He thought to himself that he had the mysterious bead and no lack of Spiritual Qi. Although he couldn't condense Spiritual Qi now, he would naturally succeed over time.

"Time…" Wang Lin bit his lower lip, took a deep breath, and pulled out the stone bowl from under the bed. He saw that only a tiny bit of liquid remained, but the tenth cloud still hadn't appeared on the bead.

He immediately took out the night dew gourd again and poured out the liquid inside. This time, there was slightly more liquid; after filling the bowl, a little was left. Wang Lin drank the remaining liquid in one gulp and continued to breathe.

This time, the warm current rising in his body was thicker than all previous ones, almost reaching a tangible state as it slowly flowed within him. A feeling of dry mouth and tongue immediately appeared. Wang Lin gritted his teeth and breathed in the one long, three short manner.

Not long after, Wang Lin felt something was wrong. The warm current in his body didn't gradually dissipate as it usually did; instead, it accumulated more and more with each breath. A sensation of swelling pain surged throughout his body. Wang Lin had a misconception that he was like a constantly expanding balloon, having reached his body's limit.

In his alarm, Wang Lin quickly stopped breathing, but the swelling pain persisted. He opened his eyes and immediately discovered with horror that all the blood vessels in his body were bulging, like grotesque green worms clinging to his skin, a shocking sight.

Wang Lin didn't know that the medicinal soups he had taken before actually contained little Spiritual Qi. Even if he absorbed the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi using the one long, three short method, all this Spiritual Qi combined couldn't keep up with the rate of Spiritual Qi loss caused by his lack of a Spiritual Root.

Furthermore, at every critical moment, the Spirit Transformation Plant would act, so condensing Spiritual Qi in his body had never succeeded.

But now it was different. The dew he drank contained far more Spiritual Qi than the medicinal soup, almost to an incredible degree, far exceeding the rate at which his Spiritual Root dissipated Spiritual Qi. If he hadn't breathed at this point, it would have been fine; it would have naturally dissipated over time. But once he breathed, it was like adding fuel to the fire.

Knowing he had caused trouble, he didn't know how to deal with it and could only watch helplessly as the blood vessels in his body bulged high, nearing the point of collapse. At this moment, a flash of inspiration shot into his mind like lightning. Wang Lin didn't have time to think, gritted his teeth, and immediately reversed his breathing, breathing in the one short, three long manner.

He figured that since normal breathing was for absorbing Spiritual Qi, then reverse breathing was very likely for releasing Spiritual Qi.

Wang Lin's guess was more or less correct. This reverse breathing method was known to everyone in the cultivation world, as it was precisely the preliminary preparation for Dispersing Cultivation and recultivating.

As he breathed, traces of Spiritual Qi emanated from every pore on his body. As soon as they appeared, they were as if sucked under the bed, absorbed by the Stone Bead.

Time slowly passed. The swelling sensation in Wang Lin's body gradually dissipated, and the blue blood vessels on his skin slowly flattened. At this point, what was emanating from his body was no longer Spiritual Qi, but traces of turbid Qi. These Qi were not absorbed by the Stone Bead but dissipated into the air on their own.

Through a stroke of luck, Wang Lin completely forced the Spirit Transformation Plant out of his body.

To force out the Spirit Transformation Plant, there were only two methods. One was to use a large amount of Spiritual Qi to slowly wear it down, eventually dissolving it completely. This was the method Sun Dazhu used. Later, disheartened with Wang Lin and pained by the cost of the herbs, he stopped caring about him.

The second method was to disperse cultivation, dissipating all Spiritual Qi in the body and starting anew. Sun Dazhu didn't choose this method because Wang Lin's body lacked Spiritual Qi at that time; any trace of it would immediately dissipate, making it impossible to meet the requirements for Dispersing Cultivation.

This process of Dispersing Cultivation lasted for a day and a night. Wang Lin eventually collapsed weakly onto the bed, relieved that he had saved his life and vowed never to drink dew indiscriminately again.

Drowsily, he felt sleepy all over and vaguely fell asleep.