Cultivation: Beginning with the Heart Reflecting Heaven and Earth

Shen Chi, along with three iron corpses and other refined corpses, was gaining battle merits faster than Lu Qian and the other two combined.

All I can say is that this special physique is incredibly powerful, and it may become even more powerful in the future.

"The only thing that can rival a special physique is a Heavenly Spiritual Root, but Heavenly Spiritual Roots and special physiques are not contradictory; you can have both!"

Lu Qian had an example right in front of him: Luo Wei, who possessed both a Heavenly Earth Spiritual Root and a special physique, making her the best among her peers.

Yun Shanchuan possesses a special physique and dual spiritual roots, along with some talent in comprehension, thus earning him a place among the Ten Sons of Canglan.

If Mu Xue's Thousand Silk Puppet Body is exposed, it may also improve the Holy Land's evaluation of her. Although these things may not seem different on the surface, there will definitely be some emphasis on resources in reality.

As they approached their base, Mu Dong suddenly spoke up, "It's been a month. I reckon the Holy Land is about to make some real arrangements for us."

Mu Xue's face fell, as if she wasn't too happy. "A new school is going to be built. Are we going to have to attend classes with these natives from the Western Continent?"

Mu Dong remained expressionless. "This isn't a peaceful place like a sacred ground. It won't be as relaxed as just classes; it'll likely lean towards practical combat!"

Lu Qian and Mu Dong were on the same page, saying, "That should be it, otherwise there's no reason for us to spend a month exploring the surrounding area first. And don't forget, it's a merit-based system now, so they probably won't let us sit idle!"

Mu Xue could only force a smile. "I just hope the Holy Land doesn't make us do missions with those people!"

Mu Dong coldly reprimanded, "Just follow the Holy Land's arrangements! We have no choice but to obey!"

However, each of them had some suspicions in their hearts.

It's a very simple question. If the Holy Land doesn't intend to have new and old students together, why would it need to transfer people from the Holy Land to the Academy?

Once you understand these things, you'll naturally realize that whether they like it or not, some things have already been arranged, and they can only accept it.

After returning to his base, Lu Qian received over two hundred battle merits again. He first exchanged them for a bottle of Qi-stabilizing pills, and then exchanged all the remaining merits for Qi-cultivating pills before going into seclusion.

While refining pills, he also began to cultivate the Crimson Flame Melting Technique and simulate various scenarios in his mental world to hone his adaptability and combat skills.

"If someone can seize the initial opening, they should be able to quickly accumulate a large number of battle merits!"

This idea came to Lu Qian's mind.

When the disciples of the Holy Land first arrived, many forces here were caught off guard. At the same time, the Western Continent was home to a large number of evil creatures and demonic beasts. As long as one had enough strength, it was not difficult to accumulate a lot of battle merits.

However, after a while, without a doubt, those easily dealt with evil monsters and demons will have already been eliminated.

In other words, the difficulty of obtaining battle merits in the early stages is not the same as the difficulty of obtaining battle merits later on.

The reason he made that connection was because he heard from Shen Chi that Ye Lingyue, the second among the Ten Talents of Canglan, had already arrived here.

This can only mean one thing: the Holy Land was not unaware of this loophole; it simply opened it up specifically for certain geniuses.

Just like the Spirit Stone in the training mission, the Holy Land took it out as a reward at that time, and then Luo Wei got it.

It's probably similar now. These kinds of precious rewards, which seem to be prepared for everyone, are actually only available to specific people who can meet the requirements.

However, there's not much to say about these things, because at least it's considered fair competition.

If others had demonstrated sufficient ability, they could have obtained those things as well; the problem is, no one has.

However, Lu Qian had another thought: if an ordinary disciple of the Holy Land like him demonstrated sufficient strength, would the Holy Land still offer such good resources as a reward at that time?

These things are not worth pondering deeply; one can only improve one's own cultivation.

Perhaps because hunting iron corpses provided his body with sufficient training, Lu Qian no longer felt a sense of fullness while refining pills. Instead, he felt as if his body was an insatiable bottomless pit, continuously absorbing the medicinal power of the Qi-Nourishing Pill.

When the Peiyuan Pill was almost used up, Lu Qian began to feel that he might break through. This time, he picked up the Guyuan Pill.

"The exchange price for the Qi-Strengthening Pill is five times that of the Qi-Nourishing Pill. I hope it won't disappoint me!"

He chose to exchange for the Qi-Strengthening Pill because he felt that the Qi-Nourishing Pill was not as effective as before, so he chose the more potent Qi-Strengthening Pill.

"Try it in your mind first, and see if you can break through naturally!"

Lu Qian did not immediately take the risk and tried it. Instead, he prepared to try it in his inner world first. After succeeding more than ten times in a row, he corrected some parts that would cause hidden injuries and hidden dangers before he began to take the pill and achieve a real breakthrough.

As expected, when Lu Qian broke through to the fifth level of Qi Refining and felt that he had become much stronger, he did not immediately relax, but instead went into seclusion to adjust his breathing for a while.

"The potency of the Strengthening Essence Pill is indeed much stronger than that of the Nourishing Essence Pill, but it's not five times more effective; it's actually about two to three times stronger!"

"Using it to improve cultivation level now is a bit wasteful, but it's great for breaking through bottlenecks!"

"I've been too eager to refine pills lately, causing internal heat and damaging some meridians. I need to rest properly and stop refining pills so frantically. I should focus on cultivating the Three-Step Seed Condensation Technique and the Crimson Flame Melting Technique!"

Since arriving in the Western Continent, Lu Qian has been most concerned with honing his combat skills and refining pills to improve his cultivation.

After exchanging for the Three-Step Seed Condensation Technique, he only practiced it for a short period at the beginning, and then he practiced it less.

When Lu Qian finally felt that everything was still manageable, he noticed the talisman that had been blocked outside the cave. After taking a look at it, he sighed, "The carefree days are finally coming to an end!"

The above message was simple: new and old students would be meeting soon and would be choosing members to form five-person teams.

A team must have both new and old members; those who are not in a team will be forced to form a group.

In short, the Holy Land is determined to familiarize both new and old students, which fully demonstrates the Holy Land's strong resolve to expand into the Western Continent.

In this situation, no one can remain uninvolved.

Lu Qian had even more in mind. He had originally considered going to earn merit on his own, since it wasn't good to always hold back Mu Dong and Mu Xue.

To this end, Lu Qian conducted multiple solo combat drills in his mental world.

It seems that the Holy Land does not allow them to act alone, or at least does not encourage it much, otherwise they would not have to be divided into groups of five.

"It's a bit like letting us get used to the feeling of war in advance!"

Holy lands possess war artifacts, and these artifacts are usually controlled by multiple squads.

To fight alone, you need to be strong enough; otherwise, having more people is always better than having fewer.

Lu Qian didn't think too much about it. He got up and went to find Mu Dong and Mu Xue. If he really wanted to recruit people into the team, he would definitely have to discuss it with them.

When he went to find Mu Xue, there seemed to be no one in the cave. But when he went to find Mu Dong, he found that Mu Xue was there too.

Upon seeing Lu Qian approach, Mu Xue immediately smiled, "Even if you hadn't come, we were just about to go find you!"

Then she exclaimed in surprise, "You've already reached the fifth level of Qi Refining?"

Lu Qian nodded naturally, "These past few days of training have loosened my bottleneck, and I broke through after taking the pill!"

Mu Dong frowned. "I remember you broke through to the fourth level of Qi Refining not long ago. You've already reached the fifth level so quickly? It's only been a few months, right?"

If Lu Qian had a Heavenly Spiritual Root or a special physique, Mu Dong would most likely not have asked such a question. However, Lu Qian only has a Three Spiritual Root, so this breakthrough speed is a bit too fast.

Mu Dong even began to suspect that Lu Qian might have taken too many pills.

If that's the case, then things are a bit bad.

Lu Qian originally possessed three spiritual roots. If too much poison accumulated in his body, it would be difficult for him to break through his bottleneck, and it could even be said that his path to enlightenment would be hopeless.

Having chosen to break through, Lu Qian naturally prepared a reason, and quickly said, "Elder Tao left me some things; after using them, I naturally broke through!"

There are many spiritual treasures of heaven and earth that can enhance cultivation without any side effects, but they are very difficult to obtain.

Things like century-old stalactites can enhance cultivation without any side effects like poison. If Elder Tao wants them, there are ways to obtain them.

Lu Qian directly shifted the blame to Elder Tao, saying that if Mu Dong had any questions, he could figure them out himself.

Upon hearing Lu Qian's words, Mu Dong didn't ask any further questions, simply saying, "If it's Elder Tao's arrangement, then I was overthinking it!"

Although Tao Pili seems energetic and decisive, he is actually quite reliable in getting things done.

Therefore, when Lu Qian used Tao Pili's name, Mu Dong naturally assumed it was Tao Pili's arrangement to help Lu Qian quickly improve his cultivation, and thus felt relieved.

Mu Xue, however, didn't think too much about it and said naturally, "Brother Lu isn't someone who can't distinguish between what's important and what's not, there's nothing to worry about!"

So this topic was skipped.

Lu Qian smiled and asked, "How did your discussion go? Do you know what the situation is this time?"

Mu Dong shook his head. "I think it's probably going to Xiexi Ridge. As for anything else, I don't know."

"It's definitely Xiexi Ridge. It's hard to find people anywhere else, and only Xiexi Ridge can barely be considered a suitable place to live."

Seemingly possessing clandestine intelligence channels, Mu Xue was extremely confident in her deduction: "Since the Holy Land has decided to take action, it will need to find a scapegoat, and Evil Dwelling Ridge hides a large number of evil cultivators. Where else could be more suitable than Evil Dwelling Ridge?"

That's true. The area around Black Abyss Forest, including Black Abyss Forest itself, is not very suitable for human habitation. Evil Dwelling Ridge is the best of the worst, and it has gathered a group of evil cultivators, as well as a group of mortals.

Most mortals were captured by evil cultivators to be used as cultivation materials or for their own purposes. Of course, evil cultivators also absorbed fresh blood from those mortals.

The talents that the Holy Land absorbed from the Western Continent were almost all from among those mortals.

Lu Qian then spoke up, "You can't possibly send us a bunch of guides, can you?"

"Probably not. We're really going to fight. Giving us a bunch of burdens wouldn't be enough for us to protect."

Mu Dong immediately shook his head, refuting Lu Qian's statement. "However, they should be more familiar with this place than we are. Moreover, the Holy Land should have been training these people before we arrived; they might even have more practical combat experience than we do!"

When it comes to their extensive practical experience, probably no one can deny it.

In places like the Western Continent, there is basically no greenhouse environment. Most people have to learn to use their claws and teeth from a young age in order to truly survive.

There are very few exceptions.

Mu Xue still seemed somewhat dissatisfied. "If we have to find those people to be teammates, at least they should be clean and pleasing to the eye. There shouldn't be too many people like that, right?"

Mu Dong said helplessly, "They are at least human beings, and cultivators at that. You don't need to talk to them like that!"