Modifying Cultivation Tecnique

Their mom had spent years worrying about Alex's future, only for him to smirk and say: "What do you mean, no goal? I play all those games to build my reputation as the Whale God. And the novels? Of course, I do it because of Mom. Mom helps others with charity, and I help authors pay their bills by buying their chapters."

If Emily had actually heard that, she would've smacked him upside the head. Luckily, she wasn't here. Mingyue, unaware of all this, just admired how Alex could be so optimistic, even after losing his father.

After some hesitation, she decided to tell him what had happened. She was curious—if Alex were in her place, what would he do? As she spoke, Alex didn't interrupt. He just listened, occasionally making small sounds to show he was still there. When she finally finished, Alex let out a long sigh. "If what he says is true, then your mom doesn't deserve to be one, Mingyue. But you don't know how much of it is the truth. I'm not saying your uncle is lying, but given his low position in the family, how much could he really know about the family's true secrets?"

Alex's voice was calm, but his words carried weight. "I don't think it's that simple, Mingyue. You need to see the truth with your own eyes. I'm not telling you to forgive them or anything like that. But before you decide anything, make sure you know the full picture. You have Vesa with you—I'm sure it won't be hard to figure out their true intentions." He paused for a moment, then added, "But there's something else I keep wondering about. You say your father was always busy with himself but didn't have a strong cultivation. If that's true, how did he even manage to marry into your family? Haven't you told me over and over how important marriage is for cultivators?"

Mingyue frowned slightly. "What are you getting at?"

"It just doesn't make sense." Alex continued, tapping his fingers against his arm. "Your mom was a genius in her generation, just like you. Even if she was poisoned, would she really just marry anyone? And then there's your brother. He has good spiritual roots and a strong bloodline—not as good as yours, but still way above average. Do you really think both of you just got lucky?"

Mingyue's mind started churning. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how strange it was. But then, she let out a small laugh. "What are you trying to say, Alex? That he's not my real father?" She smirked. "You've been reading too many novels. What's next? My real father comes from some hidden cultivation clan, and my mom had an affair with him?"

Alex chuckled. "Damn, you caught me. Haha." Then, in a more serious tone, he said, "You get my point, though, right? Take some time to cool off, but don't beat yourself up over this. Just look for the truth with your own eyes. Don't jump to conclusions before you know everything."

Mingyue sighed, then smiled faintly. "Yeah… You're right. Thanks, Alex." She felt lighter, as if the weight on her chest had eased a little. Ending their conversation, she wiped the tears from her eyes. And just like that, Mingyue returned to her usual self, snapping back into work mode. She quickly started giving instructions to Zan Lu.

Meanwhile, Alex turned his attention elsewhere. "Feng Xue, keep going with the experiment." Leaving her to her work, Alex headed toward the training area.

Sitting cross-legged, he held two crystals in his hands. Closing his eyes, he focused, feeling the flow of qi and mana within them. He had studied how cultivators used qi to strengthen their bodies.

The method Mingyue had given him was simple but brutal—breathe deeply into the lungs, spread the qi throughout the body, then hold the breath as long as possible.

After that, exhale and force all the qi out. It was crude, painful, and put immense pressure on the body. Alex had asked for other samples to compare, and he realized something: Different techniques had different breathing patterns, circulation methods, and distinct phases. The better the technique, the higher the efficiency. Mingyue had mentioned they didn't have cultivator doctors in that region. "Well, cultivators don't get sick," Alex muttered to himself. "The only real threats are wounds and poison, so an alchemy master is enough. No wonder their cultivation methods are so crude. They barely understand human biology." 

He wasn't a doctor, but with Vesa's assimilation of the ERX chip and his abilities, modifying this cultivation method wasn't difficult for him. He redesigned it, introducing a new phase that strengthened the body from its foundation—the weakest parts first. Starting with the spine, nerves, veins, lungs, heart, and kidneys, then moving on to the other organs. Once the foundation was stable, he would advance to the eyes, flesh, skin, and, finally, the brain. "Based on the simulation, this should work. Mana goes in first, followed by qi. But I need to test it myself… If something happens to my brain—" Alex chuckled. "Yeah, not funny if I turn into an idiot."

With that, he started. He channeled mana into his spine first. A thin thread of energy seeped into the bone, and almost instantly, his cells began greedily absorbing it. It wasn't the dramatic transformation he had expected. Instead, it felt like pouring water onto dry sand—it vanished almost instantly. In just a few seconds, the mana crystal in his hand crumbled to dust. Alex frowned. "Vesa, what's going on? This isn't what I expected."

[It's because your body has begun transforming into a progenitor, King. The cultivation method you are trying to use is vastly different. In the Queen's world, no cultivator focuses on the spine or other core organs like nerves before reaching the Immortal stage.]

Alex scoffed. "That's not surprising. It's not like they avoid it on purpose. They just don't have a choice—when they try to break through to immortality, their bodies change on their own. But this means the results will be completely different for normal people or other awakeners." His excitement grew. This meant he could bypass the entire foundation stage as long as he absorbed enough mana and qi. But then another thought hit him. "Wait. The reason I have abilities in the first place is that my brain mutated, right? Same as how other awakeners get their powers. So doesn't that mean having an ability is basically the same as having a spiritual root or a bloodline?"

[It's not the same, King. In your world, the body mutates to use mana, but for bloodlines and spiritual roots, the transformation is much deeper—it reshapes them into something entirely new. That's why cultivators have such long lifespans compared to awakeners. But this is just a theory. We need more data to confirm it.]

Alex sighed. "I get what you're saying, Vesa. But the core mechanics should be similar. Never mind. This is still way too far ahead—hell, even now, research on how mana creates awakeners is still a massive debate."