Chương 19: Ren ‘Cheater’ Qingquan

Time passed, and soon half a year had gone by. During this time, Ren Qingquan's daily life consisted of reading novels, collecting points, and using the Soul Swallowing Technique to boost his level. What a pity that three months after starting his leveling spree plan, Ren Qingquan grew a bit lazier and occasionally took a break. So, over the past half a year, Ren Qingquan and I have only gathered 500 points each.

Of the 500 points Ren Qingquan earned over the past half a year, 300 went toward increasing the power of selective devour. Over the past half-year, Ren Qingquan has also adjusted his use of the Soul Swallowing Technique from swallowing 10 Martial Master fish and 100 Martial Apprentice fish every 15 days to swallowing 10 Martial Master fish every 2 days.

This allows him to maintain a state of equilibrium in which his soul barely feels the side effects of the Soul Swallowing Technique, while ensuring the soul he swallowed achieves the best energy gain-to-side-effect ratio. Even though Ren Qingquan has done many things to speed up his leveling, his progress inevitably slows with every increase in his strength. At the Martial Master realm, he can easily raise three small stages every half a month.

But since reaching the Martial Grandmaster realm, the number of souls he needs to advance a small stage has increased several times. All this meant Ren Qingquan's martial arts realm advanced only to the peak of the Martial Grandmaster realm after half a year of grinding.

Even so, I think this half a year of hard work is definitely worth it, mainly because after Ren Qingquan reached the peak of the Martial Grandmaster realm, the trace of spirit qi in his body has actually become active every time he circulated the Body Tempering Method. I guess that when he advances, Ren Qingquan will become a Qi Refining cultivator rather than a Martial Saint level martial artist. The difference between a Martial Saint and a Qi Refining cultivator lies mainly in the energy they use.

A Martial Saint uses martial arts techniques to continue strengthening their vital energy and imbuing every part of their flesh with it. As for Qi Refining cultivators, based on my half a year's worth of learning from the cultivation books that have been scanned, they focus on gathering refined spirit qi to expand and unlock their meridian path. At this level, a cultivator can easily cast spells with the spirit qi they have absorbed.

But because this world lacks spirit qi, if Ren Qingquan wanted to cast a spell, he would need to use refined spirit qi. Basically, he needs to cast every spell with Exp instead of MP. For information, the old man in the Ren Family's library focused on orthodox martial arts techniques and only used the Body Tempering Method to convert his vital energy into refined spirit qi whenever necessary.

Meanwhile, from what I can gather with my limited understanding, Ren Shiluo and Xiao Cai have walked the path of both martial arts and cultivation. It's a pity that Ren Qingquan's Soul Swallowing Technique couldn't help increase his vital energy once he went beyond the Martial Grandmaster realm. Instead, the Soul Swallowing Technique will focus entirely on improving the user's refined spirit qi. That's kinda understandable, though.

From my study, the effect of increasing vital energy is a bonus gained when Ren Qingquan's body is nurtured by the refined spirit qi. Aside from Ren Qingquan's growth, I've been steadily growing over the past half a year as well. When the number of points Ren Qingquan and I have collected reaches 1. 000, I receive a foreign yet familiar memory. It seems to be a memory that contains information about my cheat abilities. Somehow, part of the blurry memories I initially obtained has been fixed when there are 1.

000 points worth of energy around me. Anyway, the memory is pretty straightforward. It said I can awaken a new ability by spending 1. 000 points. Although I delayed it because some of the points are Ren Qingquan's, I have kept it in mind and will unlock it once my points reach 1. 100. Why 1. 100? I decided to add 100 more points as an emergency fund. Aside from that, I've also spent time checking on other people I've anchored.

Compared with Ren Qingquan's boring daily life, Ren Xuan and Ren Shiluo have become my source of information about the world. From Ren Shiluo, I've gathered many interesting pieces of news, including the location of a Martial Lord level battle, the state of the world, and some gossip. I also saw Xiao Cai constantly reporting to Ren Shiluo on Ren Qingquan's progress, but Ren Shiluo seemed unsurprised. No matter how ridiculous Ren Qingquan's progress became, he always attributed it to his wife's words.

To be honest, I am starting to get curious about Ren Qingquan's mother. From the way Ren Shiluo and Xiao Cai spoke, Ren Qingquan's mother seems to have been a strong cultivator with high attainment in divination who has since died. Before she left this world, she left several divinations about Ren Qingquan's future path, which both Ren Shiluo and Xiao Cai absolutely believed. For example, one divination says Ren Qingquan will face a life-and-death tribulation when he is fifteen.

If he passes it successfully, his luck will awaken, and his future will be smooth. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. This is kind of correct, considering the original Ren Qingquan did indeed die from stress after he lost to Ren Xuan, which I guess should count as a life-and-death tribulation. However, I didn't see Ren Qingquan's luck awaken. Perhaps it's because the original Ren Qingquan has died, so his luck never got unlocked.

That's why he only fulfilled half of the prophecy? Or is it because the current Ren Qingquan is no longer the original one? Except for that, she has also left a divination that Ren Qingquan, once his luck is awakened, will be able to increase his strength incredibly quickly. This is also why Ren Shiluo and Xiao Cai aren't too bothered by Ren Qingquan's skyrocketing strength. Initially, I kinda suspect Ren Qingquan's mother has some relation to Ren Qingquan's transmigration and my existence.

But after collecting clues, I immediately discarded that possibility. From what I heard in Ren Shiluo and Xiao Cai's conversation, Ren Qingquan's mother loved him deeply, especially since it was difficult for a strong cultivator to have children. That means there's no way she would let her son be possessed by a random soul from god knows where.

As for why I discarded the possibility that she is involved in my existence, it's because the person anchored to me is the transmigrator Ren Qingquan, not the original Ren Qingquan. If she didn't even expect the existence of Ren Qingquan the transmigrator, that means she would have even less to do with me. Anyway, returning to the present. Now that Ren Qingquan has reached the peak of the Martial Grandmaster realm, I guess he'll reach the Qi Refining realm in no time.

After reaching the peak of the Martial Grandmaster realm, the vital energy in Ren Qingquan's body stopped increasing. Fortunately, his refined spirit qi continued to grow as he devoured more fish souls. A few days later, the amount of refined spirit qi within Ren Qingquan's body reached a threshold, triggering a change in his body. When the change occurred, Ren Qingquan's body trembled slightly. At the same time, I heard Ren Qingquan's anxious voice calling me.

'System, what happened?' [There's nothing to worry about, host. You are simply advancing to the Qi Refining realm and opening your first meridian path. You merely need to find a calm place and stop devouring fish for now.] Ren Qingquan calmed down and followed my suggestion. He quickly found a relatively open spot in the fish market and sat down, guarded by the two guards who always accompanied him.

Meanwhile, I activated [Scan] to observe the changes occurring inside Ren Qingquan's body, with particular focus on [Scan]'s ability to perceive spirit qi. Soon, I could see an energy pathway within Ren Qingquan's body in detail. As the change occurred, I saw that the meridian pathway in his body had widened. Actually, I am not sure if widened is the correct word. Unlike blood vessels, the meridian doesn't exist in physical form. Instead, it exists as a network of spirit qi.

After around ten percent of the meridian path in Ren Qingquan's body had widened. The circulation speed of spirit qi in his body increased. With that increased circulation speed, the other meridian channel also widened slightly, though not as much as the first. At the same time, most of the refined spirit qi on his body began to be stored at a place near his lower abdomen. After a few minutes, the change slowed, and Ren Qingquan's body finally stopped trembling.

At this point, his body should be able to store far more spirit qi than before, and he has officially stepped into the first stage of Qi Refining. I also sent my congratulations to Ren Qingquan. [Congratulations! You've officially stepped into the Qi Refining realm and become a bona fide cultivator.] With my congratulations, Ren Qingquan opened his personal panel. [Name: Ren Qingquan Point: 206 Cultivation realm: First Stage Qi Refining. Cultivation method: Body Tempering Method. Cultivation Technique: Soul Swallowing Technique. Martial arts technique: Iron Palm (Beginner). System function: Devour, Scan, Calculate, Map, Mission, Skill Learning, Selective Devour.] Since his cultivation has now surpassed his martial arts realm, I decided to update the wording on the system screen. After reading his newly updated screen, I can hear Ren Qingquan's thought.

'Now that I've become a cultivator, I guess I need to learn a cultivation technique other than the Soul Swallowing Technique.' When I heard his plan, I decided to remind him. [Warm reminder. The area around you has no spirit qi, which makes you unable to absorb and store ambient spirit qi to cast a cultivation technique.]'So?' [That means you will need to consume refined spirit qi to cast any technique, just like when you cast the Soul Swallowing Technique.] Ren Qingquan nodded.

'Then, I need to mind what kind of technique I learn. They must either cost extremely low spirit qi to cast or only require a massive expenditure at the start while having lasting effects.' [That's right.]'I'll think about it once I return home.' Ren Qingquan stood up and continued his patrol around the fish market to collect some fish souls. Soon, evening arrived. Even after several hours of swallowing fish souls, Ren Qingquan still hasn't gained much spirit qi.

If this continues, I think Ren Qingquan will need about three months before his cultivation advances to the second Qi Refining realm. I guess it's time for Ren Qingquan to use his unorthodox mind and find a new way to advance his level quickly. While Ren Qingquan rested in the carriage on the way back to the Ren family residence, I decided to remind him of my findings.

[Host, if you continue to collect energy at this rate, the system has calculated that it'll take you approximately three months to advance your cultivation by a small stage.]'What! Three months?!' Ren Qingquan seemed utterly shocked by my revelation. [Indeed. Three months.] I could hear Ren Qingquan's mind activate and start planning a way to advance faster. Most of his plan is extremely ridiculous, and I won't even bother to think about it, but some parts seem pretty effective.

Suddenly, Ren Qingquan asked me, 'System, you said swallowing the soul of a higher-leveled creature gives a better spirit qi gain-to-side-effect ratio, right? And I can spend points to upgrade the selective devour function to decrease the side effect even further.' [Indeed, everything you mentioned is correct.]"I guess I need to start hunting for real to level up now." Ren Qingquan muttered in a low voice. Xiao Cai, who sat near him, seemed to hear Ren Qingquan's words.

She turned to him and asked, "Young master, did you mention anything?" Hearing Ren Qingquan mutter, I can't help but recall Ren Xuan. That guy's muttering has given me a lot of information. But Ren Xuan is Ren Xuan, while Ren Qingquan is my only contact with the outside world. So I feel the need to remind him to stop that bad habit. [Host, please don't mutter under your breath. That's a bad habit that may cause some problems.]