Crash Course on Cultivation

"Cultivation techniques?" At the very instant he heard that term, Bell could not help but command his system to bring up his status screen, also telling it to not show the blood-related skills in the process. Although he could remember very well that he had obtained a few notifications after he was finished evolving which talked about the two types of cultivation techniques he could obtain, he could not help but wonder what his status screen looked like now that he had more stats available to him.

Ding!

Soon enough, a small holographic screen appeared in front of his field of vision. Though, at the very moment he looked at it, he could not help but become speechless as he did not expect the screen to be so long. If the shape of the screen when his status was displayed back then was in the shape of a chocolate bar, then it wouldn't be wrong that the current shape of his status screen looked more like a small ruler.

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[Bell]

Species: Void Erudite Mosquito (Rank 3)

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Qi Root: Two-Branch Mortal Qi Root (4 Qi/min.)

Origin Marrow: Mortal Stage 1

Internal Cultivation Realm: Qi Sensing Stage 1

External Cultivation Realm: None

Internal Cultivation Technique: None (Spend 500 Impure Blood Energy to obtain one)

External Cultivation Technique: None (Spend 500 Impure Blood Energy to obtain one)

Qi: 8/100

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Lifespan: 1 year (limit of 100 years)

Constitution: 1.21176

Constitution Multiplier: 1.1x

Siphoning Efficiency: 57

Impure Blood Energy: 109/2,061

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Constitution Skills:

[Three-tailed Silver Fox's Majesty (MAX)]…and 12 others

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Naturally, with so much information thrown at him all at once, Bell took a while to organize and process all of the things he could see through the status screen in front of him. The first thing he took note of was the fact that there was a counter beside the Qi Root stat that allowed him to know how much qi he could absorb every minute. Seeing how he already had 8 points of qi on the Qi stat, he thought about the two times he tried to actively absorb qi from the surroundings.

After that, he focused his attention on his Origin Marrow, which he would make sure to ask Sixth Void about since even the cultivation novels he had read back then did not have something like this. As for the internal and external cultivation techniques, Bell could not help but let out a sigh of relief as he found out that he could obtain one by spending Impure Blood Energy. Well, even if the cultivation technique given to him is of the lowest tier, he was certain that it was still leagues better than having none.

Next, he focused his attention on the Lifespan stat, only to be left speechless once more as there was a note on the side, telling him that his lifespan could reach up to 100 years. Wondering why such a note would be there, he then recalled how he had obtained a skill called [Vitality Siphoning]. From the name of the skill itself, he had a hunch as to what it allowed it him to do, deciding to test it out once he was free.

Other than those stats, only the Constitution Multiplier stat was left, with Bell not knowing what it was. Of course, he knew that it was related to the Constitution stat he quickly raised to 1 point, but as to how it worked and how it would be increased, he did not know. Naturally, he could not ask this to Sixth Void since he was certain he had no idea what it was either.

As he closed his status screen, he noticed how Sixth Void was looking at him with his eyes still glistening, maintaining silence after he told Bell how those with One-Branch Mortal Qi Roots still had the ability to become stronger through cultivation techniques. Seeing how he was waiting for him to respond, Bell went ahead and humored him, asking, "What are cultivation techniques, Sixth Void?"

"I'm glad you asked," Sixth Void responded in a cheerful tone, eager to explain what those were. "Cultivation techniques, from the name itself, allows a being to utilize qi to a greater extent and increase the speed at which they cultivate. Of course, one could also break through the ranks by just absorbing qi alone, but even a cultivation technique of the lowest tier would allow one to cultivate around ten to a hundred times faster."

"There are two types of cultivation techniques that are in wide circulation. Those two types are internal cultivation techniques, which is related to qi and the soul of the being, and external cultivation techniques, which is related to the body of the being."

Taking in a deep breath, he continued to explain, "Although the ultimate goal of both techniques are the same, which is to elevate the power of a being to greater heights, it could be said that both techniques are needed for a being to truly be powerful."

"Why is that?" Naturally, Bell did not know how the cultivation system in this world worked, so he asked with immense curiosity.

"I'll try to explain it in the simplest manner I can," Sixth Void said before going silent for a bit as he pondered over he was going to convey how both techniques worked in co-existence. Eventually, he finally found a way to explain it, saying not long after, "Think of this way. Internal cultivation techniques increase the efficiency of the body, while external cultivation techniques increase the base power of the body."

"I see…and what does that mean?" Bell, who felt like he kind of understood what Sixth Void was trying to say, asked for clarification.

"In other words, external cultivation techniques increase your base strength while internal cultivation techniques increase how much a certain portion of that strength would affect something. Hmm…let's say you can lift a small rock. With an external cultivation technique, you can increase your strength to lift two small rocks. Of course, an internal cultivation technique works the same way, but in this case, the strength you use to lift one small rock can now lift two small rocks. Are you getting what I'm trying to say?"

"Er…" For a while, Bell went silent as he tried to wrap his head around, only to realize that the effects of the cultivation techniques were akin to math. External cultivation techniques increased one's strength in terms of addition, while internal cultivation techniques increased one's strength in terms of multiplication. With that, he finally understood what Sixth Void was trying to say when he said that both techniques were needed to be truly powerful.

"If I'm getting it correctly, using your analogy, if I have both an internal cultivation technique and an external cultivation technique, I would be able to lift up four small rocks?" Bell asked, to which Sixth Void profusely nodded in glee as he said, "Yes, that's it!"

"I get it now…" Bell said with a light chuckle in response to Sixth Void's words. In any case, he now knew what the Constitution Multiplier did, which allowed him to see how much his Constitution would be amplified thanks to internal cultivation. On the other hand, the Constitution stat more or less showed his current external cultivation. Then again, obtaining Constitution skills would also increase his Constitution, to which Bell thought was an advantage normal beings wouldn't have.

Seeing that Bell now understood what he was trying to say, Sixth Void then headed back to the realms of cultivation as he said, "With cultivation techniques explained, let's head back to the cultivation realms. Using what I told you about the two types of techniques, the Qi Sensing Realm is an internal cultivation realm that amplifies your strength by two times once you reach the peak of this realm. Once you condense all of the qi wisps you created in the Qi Sensing Realm to form a qi strand, you're now officially at the Qi Gathering Realm, which increases that amplifier to three times."

"As for the external side of things, the first realm is the Body Forging Realm, which is self-explanatory if you think about it. Just like the Qi Sensing Realm it also doubles your strength, but unlike the Qi Sensing Realm, it increases your base strength to double of what it was originally. Once you have successfully removed all of the impurities from a certain part of your body, you would now be at the Body Refining Realm, which increases your base strength to triple of what it was originally at the first stage."

"In any case, there's no point going any further into the realms yet since you still haven't started cultivating seriously," Sixth Void finished off his explanation with his statement. "In any case, I think that's all you need to know for now regarding how to cultivate. Any other questions?"

Unsurprisingly, Bell had a lot of those as he listened to Sixth Void's explanations, noticing how he intentionally stopped at some points to make him curious. With those in mind, he started to ask away.

"You mentioned a while ago that the Two-Branch Mortal Qi Root is the second lowest possible grade for a Qi Root. If that's the case, what's the highest possible grade?" Bell asked, to which Sixth Void lightly smiled under his mask as he replied, "To be honest, I have no idea either. In any case, the highest possible grade in the place you're in is a Nine-Branch Mortal Qi Root. Any being that has this Qi Root is guaranteed to reach the immortal plane, which I am actually a part of."

He then added, "In that place, Nine-Branch Mortal Qi Roots are the lowest possible grade. If your Qi Root has ten branches, it's now called a Ten-Branch Immortal Qi Root. As for the highest possible grade there…well, the highest I've seen so far is a Fifteen-Branch Immortal Qi Root."

Listening to Sixth Void's response, he wondered if the system would give him the ability to upgrade his Qi Root in the future, now knowing how his Qi Root was actually one of the worst ones out there. With that question answered, he then asked, "Since Qi Roots dictate one's talent in terms of internal cultivation, shouldn't there be something that dictate one's talent for external cultivation?"

At this point, Sixth Void looked at Bell with slightly widened eyes as he asked, "Where did you get that information?"

"I just got it from the memories I unlocked in my bloodline. Is there anything like that?" Naturally, Bell wouldn't tell him the real reason.

In response to Bell's question, Sixth Void nodded as he explained, "Yes. If the Qi Root is for internal cultivation, then for external cultivation, it would be the Origin Marrow. Unsurprisingly, since the Origin Marrow is a part of one's body, it's harder to improve compared to the Qi Root, which could easily be boosted by just eating a few special fruits."

"Nevertheless, it could also be said to be easier to improve since unlike the Qi Root, there are cultivation techniques that allow one to improve the grade of the Origin Marrow. Naturally, they're incredibly rare since such a technique would allow one to turn into a phoenix rising from the ashes."

"As for the grades of the Origin Marrow, it's quite simple. The lowest possible grade is Mortal Stage 1. This then spans on to Mortal Stage 9. After that, if you go one step higher, you would reach Immortal Stage 1, just like how the grading of the Qi Roots go."

After that, he looked at Bell for a bit, feeling that he was about to ask what was the highest grade of Origin Marrow he had seen so far. With that, he decided to take the initiative and say, "As for the highest grade of Origin Marrow I've seen so far, I've never seen anyone with Immortal Stage 2 Origin Marrow yet. Even my Origin Marrow isn't at Mortal Stage 9, only at Mortal Stage 6 or so."

Now knowing what Origin Marrows were, Bell now understood that it dictated how fast he would be able to cultivate the external cultivation realms. Unfortunately, unlike the internal aspect of cultivation which gave him numbers to work with through the system, there was no such thing like that on the system whatsoever when it came to the external aspect. In this regard, Bell could only shrug his non-existent shoulders and think that it was probably just the system making his cultivation journey feel more authentic.

Just as he thought that there were no more questions in his mind, an idea popped into his head all of a sudden, which Bell thought was now possible since he now had the ability to cultivate. Of course, this idea soon spread throughout his mind as it turned into one of his greatest priorities besides extending his one-year lifespan.

With it in mind, he looked at Sixth Void and said, "I still have one more question to ask."

"Go ahead, ask away," Sixth Void responded, wondering what was on Bell's mind.

Fortunately, Bell did not take long to voice out his question as he asked.

"What cultivation realm do I need to achieve to be able to turn into a human?"

Unsurprisingly, it was that question.