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◈ Xianxia Cultivation with a Dragon Heart ◈

Chapter 31: The Fruits of Cultivation

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Han Yujin sat with his eyes closed, breathing slowly. A red aura flickered over his body before fading away again. The same phenomenon could even be seen beneath his closed eyelids, giving him a somewhat dangerous appearance.

Crack...!

Faint sounds, as though his bones were twisting from within, occasionally came from inside his body. Each time, the red glow intensified.

About two hours later.

All the strange phenomena had disappeared when Han Yujin opened his eyes with a deep exhale. His eyes glimmered in the dark dwelling, holding the light within them.

It had been about four months since he had succeeded in refining the fruits and begun cultivating. His supply of Bloodwood Spirit-Fruit Spirit Liquor, which he had been rationing, was also beginning to run low. It was time to replenish it.

He had become reasonably proficient with the Five Elements Arts, including the Water Escape Art, and he maintained the Clear Mind Art constantly, as naturally as breathing, except for when he briefly dozed off.

Most importantly, his Dharma Soul sublimation rate had reached an astounding 58 percent.

'In only around four months.'

It was undeniably an astonishing result.

They said that those born with a Heavenly Spiritual Root needed only around a hundred days to meet the minimum requirements for entering the Dharma Soul Stage. There was even a separate term, Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment, for laying the foundation of a cultivator within one hundred days.

Of course, that only referred to the minimum requirement of a 40 percent sublimation rate. It took longer to actually enter the Dharma Soul Stage. There was no reason for such geniuses not to aim for Perfect Foundation Establishment, a 100 percent sublimation rate.

'It took me about four months to reach a 27 percent sublimation rate...'

Even in an environment thick with spiritual energy and scattered with spiritual resources, he had only caught up to a little over half the talent of someone with a Heavenly Spiritual Root.

But put another way, he was keeping pace with half the growth speed of a genius acknowledged by the cultivation world. Despite possessing talent that only ranked in the lower tier of True Spiritual Roots.

'And once I reach the Dharma Soul Stage, I can resolve this lack of talent too. No, I'll go beyond merely resolving it. I'll walk a path unlike any before or since.'

It was still only an idea, but it held plenty of potential.

'The Dragon Heart...'

Even if that idea proved to be nothing but a complete fantasy, there would be another way somehow. His awakened ability was that absurdly overpowered.

After taking a little more time to settle his body and mind, Han Yujin left his dwelling. Muyong, who had been sprawled out and dozing right by the entrance, suddenly woke and followed after her owner.

"No, don't follow me. Stay here. Today's the day of the expedition."

He conveyed his meaning through the Spirit Beast Training Formula. Muyong understood a little late, let out a few squeak, squeaks, then slipped back inside the dwelling.

Being able to communicate with a pet was truly convenient. Otherwise, a situation like this might have been a little troublesome.

'I've never found any sign of danger here, and I prepared several emergency burrows...'

There was no way anything would happen if he left Muyong behind. At most, she might secretly try to open the lid of the spirit-wine jar and break it.

Thinking briefly of that incident, Han Yujin chuckled and used the Wind-Cloud Art to leave his dwelling.

It only took about twenty minutes to reach the lake. That was even faster than before, and since he had not particularly rushed, it proved how much his skill had improved.

Practicing the Water Escape Art and Earth Escape Art had also deepened his understanding of the Wind-Cloud Art. Once he entered the Dharma Soul Stage, he might find it easy to learn the Wind Escape Art, which was similar in nature to the Wind-Cloud Art.

After finding the exact spot by the lakeshore where he had been before, Han Yujin immediately jumped into the water without hesitation. He moved as though he were entering his own bedroom.

'You're all dead, you bastards.'

He was brimming with confidence. Confidence that no matter what enemy he encountered, he could at least escape.

A faint blue glow settled around his body as he entered the water. Swimming at tremendous speed, he began by gathering aquatic grass.

It was a fairly attractive spirit plant, with patterns resembling lily-of-the-valley blossoms blooming across it. Even aside from those patterns, its bright colors gave the lake a somewhat livelier atmosphere.

Various fish that had been hiding among the aquatic grass fled in panic as the unfamiliar creature approached at high speed. Naturally, Han Yujin paid them no attention and mercilessly harvested the plants.

Since they were easy to harvest, they were not difficult to process either. In other words, roughly tearing them out like this would not harm their efficacy.

Besides the aquatic grass he had come for, he collected many other spirit plants. Analyzing them one by one to discover their uses was both part of his cultivation and a small source of amusement.

Then, at a certain moment.

Han Yujin's hand paused just as he was about to rip out another clump of aquatic grass. Then, Whoosh! He spun and shot diagonally downward.

A certain aquatic creature that had cautiously appeared from that direction while sizing him up, the same lizard monster as before, visibly startled.

'I've been wondering when you'd show yourself.'

He had deliberately entered the lake from this area. From experience, he was certain this was the lizard creatures' territory.

His attack came in an instant.

He shot forward like a bullet with the Water Escape Art while casting a water-element attack spell. A wheel-shaped energy, transparent and rippling as it blended into the surrounding water, flew even faster than Han Yujin himself.

The lizard creature, which had once seemed so fast, hurriedly twisted its body, but it was a step too late. The attack had been nearly an ambush, and the ambusher had not been slower than the lizard in the first place.

Kiiung...!!

The lizard monster's mournful cry mixed with the dull underwater blast.

Han Yujin boldly plunged through the thickly spreading blood. Purple-Gold Radiance surrounded his body and illuminated the water in all directions.

At that very moment, the lizard launched its final counterattack. Its wide-open jaws suddenly flew at him through the blood, which contained spiritual energy and disrupted the senses.

It was clearly savage by nature. Rather than being frightened upon realizing it would die, it charged forward as though determined to die with him.

But its final struggle was completely blocked by the seemingly formless Purple-Gold Radiance. It was helplessly pushed back by an enormous repulsive force.

Immediately afterward, a second Water Wheel shot from Han Yujin's hand and struck the creature's torso, turning its internal organs into pulp.

'One.'

He withdrew the Purple-Gold Radiance, which consumed a great deal of spiritual energy, then headed toward the surface while using the Object Manipulation Art to drag the corpse along as loot.

Then, in an instant, he turned like lightning and shot back down. By coincidence, just as in that incident before, a second lizard monster had appeared.

It had cleverly hidden in the blood its kin had left behind, apparently intending to launch an ambush. It might have worked against an ordinary creature.

Han Yujin's body streaked downward at high speed like a human harpoon. Once again, the Water Wheel he fired seemed to crush the surrounding area through the force of its spiritual-energy waves alone.

Another dull blast erupted.

The creature that had tried to ambush him was caught by its own trick and failed to evade in time. Its head became a complete bloody pulp.

'Two.'

Han Yujin smiled in satisfaction and used the Object Manipulation Art to bring that corpse out of the water as well.

Now that he had proper offensive, defensive, and mobility abilities, the lizard monsters that had once posed such a threat had become prey he could deal with in one or two moves. Even if three or four attacked him at once, they would not be much of a threat.

After coming ashore, he stacked the two corpses together and tossed out a seed as he cast the Bloodwood Essence Fruit Art. Once the tree rapidly grew and collapsed, he recovered six fruits along with the seed.

"Good, good."

The words escaped him naturally.

The quality of the fruits was clearly better. It was not some placebo effect. The difference in spiritual-energy density was far too obvious to miss.

The lizard monsters were the first creatures he had encountered in this primeval forest that knew how to make good use of spiritual energy. Since they were of a higher level, it was only natural that fruits grown by feeding on them would be of higher quality as well.

After resting briefly on a nearby rock, he jumped back into the water.

This lake truly was a treasure trove of resources for cultivation.

* * *

Calling his days pastoral would probably not have been too strange.

He cultivated every day amid dense, unchanging wilderness. He brewed wine, refined spiritual pills, cared for and played with his pet, occasionally prepared delicacies from unusual ingredients, and sometimes even set aside a day for a picnic somewhere scenic.

Other than relying on hunting and gathering instead of farming, it felt much like living in some quiet, peaceful rural village.

As he felt himself growing through cultivation every moment, he rarely felt bored. The loneliness that inevitably tried to slip through the gaps was also manageable, thanks to Muyong.

Making spiritual pills from the aquatic grass harvested from the lake was not difficult. Compared to refining the fruits, it was no more challenging than frying an egg or cooking instant noodles.

His efforts to understand the lake's ecosystem also proceeded without issue.

Recently, after he had hunted the lizard creatures to the point of nearly wiping them out, there seemed to be a slight change. But the lake was so vast that it was literally only a slight change, nowhere near enough to cause any major problem.

Even if some major issue did arise, it was not really Han Yujin's concern. So long as nothing powerful enough to threaten his safety appeared.

'I did find one creature, though.'

Fortunately, it was very slow. It looked like a cross between an octopus and a turtle, but whether it was simply laid-back or something else, he had never once seen it move quickly. It also seemed completely unconcerned by whatever happened around it.

Still, just in case, he almost never went into the area where it stayed.

'Living like this forever might actually be all right...'

The thought suddenly came to Han Yujin.

As he basked in the sun while stroking Muyong, who was sprawled asleep on his lap, and achieved self-realization through growing stronger every day, this kind of life truly did not seem bad.

'Now I understand how cultivators can shut themselves away and devote themselves to cultivation for so long...'

Come to think of it, he had already spent over two years living in the primeval forest.

His Dharma Soul sublimation rate had reached an astounding 84 percent. Thanks to the Clear Mind Art, which he could now maintain even while asleep, and Clear Mind Pills made from the aquatic grass, the hallucinations he had worried about no longer threatened to become a major problem.

And that would continue to be the case.

He could clearly feel the pace slowing as his Dharma Soul sublimation rate rose, but no matter how slowly it went, another three years of cultivation would allow him to achieve the Perfect Foundation Establishment said to be reserved only for geniuses.

In less than ten short years.

'I'm definitely not a genius.'

But considering that his awakened ability allowed him to cultivate in such an abundant, even extravagant environment, he could be considered nearly comparable to one.

The Dharma Soul Stage was not far away.

Realizing that anew, he let out a relaxed yawn.

The preliminary procedures for working as a Hunter in reality were nearly finished as well, so in many ways, it felt as though everything was finally getting on the right track.

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