"No! This isn't right!" he suddenly exclaimed, and in the next moment he ceased suppressing his presence, letting it climb once more to the 'special' 1st layer of the Spiritual Foundation Realm.
Mikael rubbed his chin, a deeply pensive expression settling on his face.
'This training exercise is…isn't up to par anymore! It was a good and unexpected find that worked better than any blind control training exercise I could have come up with on the spot, but now…it's too 'green', and I'm sure I could do something better with only a little bit of time.'
His expression deepened as his mind worked at extreme speed, running through countless calculations to test the validity and viability of his statement.
'If I combine this suppression training exercise with my cultivation knowledge and my newly acquired deep understanding of all cultivation-related subjects, I'm pretty sure I can easily create a specialized training technique that would be 2x and…'
Vrrrmmm.
A faint vibration pulsed from Sangrelia behind him, mirroring the excitement in his eyes.
'If at the same time I began to use my newly acquired knowledge to integrate the use of Spiritual Plants and/or Pills into my cultivation and training, I could once more speed up my progress, easily reaching 3x my initial speed—and the best part is that…this is a conservative estimate!'
A glint passed through his eyes. 'And—it's not like Spiritual Plants and/or Pills can only be used for this part of my cultivation, after all.
'Before, I didn't dare to use pills. Not only was my knowledge too low to know which ones to use, when to use them, and how to extract the greatest benefits, but there was also the problem of lingering impurities after ingestion, and I have no intention of destroying my potential just for some short-term gains, but now…
'Both problems are "resolved." For the knowledge, there was the 2nd point on the list that took care of it, and as for impurities, with the profound understanding I've now gained, I'm fairly certain I have a viable solution that could allow me to deal with them.'
'Which transforms this slow poison, potential-destroying method into one that is completely viable and will drastically speed up my progress! The only problem…'
His expression darkened. 'Is that it would cost a lot of money, but—'
His gaze shifted to the storage ring on his finger.
'Lucky me, I'm rich as fuck from my harvesting expedition in the Savagefang Mountain Range, and at the same time I also have nearly an entire year of Sect resources that I never claimed, so…'
"Both options are totally viable, and this will multiply my progress speed," he murmured to himself, excited at the prospect.
"Ahhhh… ahhhh… ahhhh."
He took several deep breaths to calm himself from this extremely good news, then, without further ado, began working on developing this new Qi Control exercise.
After all, it would be far more optimal to know the detailed process before heading out to buy the pills—this way he could choose the most adapted ones, allowing him to increase his 'cultivation speed,' in this case Qi Control training speed, to the greatest extent possible.
With that in mind, he began his development process.
He began by taking out a small notebook from his storage ring, in which he rapidly sketched a human diagram with the meridians highlighted, with special attention afforded to the dantian, and then?
He worked from here, continuing this development process by thoroughly analysing the 'suppression' method and finding how it worked, and why it worked better than some other control exercises he could think of on the spot.
After that, it was a 'simple job'—he simply had to use his knowledge to his advantage, trust his gut feeling, and steadily refine the technique.
With his sharp mental faculties, he ran through countless variations in rapid succession, then tested each one by hand to determine which approaches worked best… and which fell short.
He put on paper the results of these tests, and from there he continued, gradually improving the technique; with each test it became a little better, a little more efficient with every refinement.
Rapidly, the suppression method kept evolving, shedding its flaws and slowly approaching the level of a Cultivation Art.
Time passed quickly.
By the time two entire days had gone by, Mikael had finally reached his goal. Without fanfare, he closed the notebook and sent it back into his storage ring.
His gaze then shifted to another notebook—extermely simple in appearance, yet bearing an…intriguing title on its cover:
Qi Control Method.
Without wasting a moment, he quickly opened the book and began to read it once again; it not being his first reading was logical, after all—otherwise, how could he have developed it?
But it was effectively the first time he read it since it had been fully completed, and instantly his lips curled upward ever so slightly.
'Art! Cultivation Art—I can distinctively feel their unique characteristic of being hard to comprehend present in this book, which means… I successfully created it!'
As he had that thought, excitement rose within him, but knowing that even if it was a Cultivation Art it would mean nothing if the effect was trash, he quickly devoured the text, eager to see the results of his two days of research.
Snap!
The sharp sound of the scripture suddenly being closed resounded as Mikael, wearing a pensive expression, stood there staring into the empty air before him.
'It is Mid, High, or Peak?' He was hesitant and unsure, but after rereading it once again he was able to confirm it.
'Pretty sure it should be High—the difficulty of comprehension of this book is more or less at the high level of the Spiritual Foundation Realm…' Mikael's expression stayed neutral, neither joyful nor sad.
'It's… okay, clearly not comparable to the other Cultivation Arts I am cultivating, but for something I created in two days and based on the suppression method, it's certainly a worthwhile upgrade.'
Then he slightly shook his head, 'Never mind, all that is secondary, the only thing that truly matters is how efficient this Qi Control Method is!'
On that thought he immediately began to operate the newly created Qi Control Method, and the Qi in his body began to move in strange and extremely complex patterns, the most simplified way to describe it would be that he needed to form shapes with his Qi under a suppression process similar to what he had previously used to train his control.
It was while doing this exercise that time seemed to slip away, with Mikael fully absorbed in gauging the efficiency of this newly forged Cultivation Art.
Finally, after an unknown span of time, he allowed his Qi to settle into a passive state and ceased executing the method.
'2.72—the efficiency is 2.72 times greater than before!'
The thought left him faintly pleased, and without wasting a moment he rose from his meditative position and soared into the sky, his destination clear in his mind.
The Alchemy Hall of the Core Court.
After a not so short flight he reached the 'Alchemy Section' of the Core Court, the potent scent of medicinal herbs reaching him even as he flew high in the sky.
His gaze caught the cauldron-shaped buildings.
Another Mikael, one not having been to the Scripture Pavilion for the past two months, would have wondered why they had this form, but the him of now, far more informed, knew that it was a kind of 'feng shui'.
By creating buildings in the shape of cauldrons, the alchemists working inside—whether it was pill refining or other domains of alchemy—would see slightly better results compared to doing so in a normal structure, which was why such designs were commonly seen as an alchemist's dwelling.
On that thought Mikael descended, landing before the largest and most beautiful of them all, a masterpiece of meticulous and masterful architecture built entirely from Verdant Serenity Timber, a special wood known for its ability to purify the mind, restore mental energy, sharpen focus, and more.
Needless to say, for such miraculous properties it was extremely precious, which was why, as his gaze fell on the structure built wholly from Verdant Serenity Timber, his steps slowed for a moment.
'I don't know if I should be impressed or disgusted by this extravagant display of wealth,' he thought as his steps carried him closer to the building—only to feel something.
A heavy pressure filled the air, weighing down on him, and it came from the massive wooden doors leading into the cauldron-shaped building that housed the Alchemy Hall.
Mikael's eyebrow twitched. "I have like an impression of déjà vu… I really really don't know why," he muttered to himself with the most sarcastic tone possible.
His thoughts drifted to the Forging Hall, remarkably similar—there it had been the Forging Intent pressing down on those entering, and here the Alchemy Hall seemed to be doing the same with what he assumed was Alchemy Intent.
Anyway, he ignored this pressure and stepped into the building, also ignoring the thick medicinal scent, the pills in bottles, the cauldrons, herbs, and more that were present everywhere in an extremely messy fashion.
Not bothering with any of that, he made his way straight to a counter where an old man with a long white beard sat reading a book on alchemy with a bored expression.
"Elder." Mikael clasped his fist into his open palm in a polite cultivator salute.
"How can I help you?" the Elder asked in a lazy, unhurried tone, only half-raising his gaze from the book.
"I am here to sell Spiritual Plants and buy Pills."
The old man waved his hand toward the counter before him. "Place the Spiritual Plants you want to sell on the counter," he said in a rehearsed tone, as if he had spoken those words thousands of times before—and to be fair, it was probably the case.
Mikael gave the counter a quick once-over. "We will need a bigger counter."
"Oh?" The Elder's attention was caught by his words, his previously bored gaze sharpening as he rose from his seat.
"In this case, follow me."
The two of them moved deeper into the Alchemy Hall, passing several alchemists at work—some refining pills, others preparing cauldrons, studying alchemical texts, or engaging in other tasks.
After passing them all, they entered a room marked with a tag that read: Appraisal Chamber.
The room was empty save for a large, clearly visible formation circle on the ground, its lines pulsing with an orange light.
The Elder crossed his arms before speaking. "You can place your Spiritual Plants on the formation; it will automatically analyse their value…" He paused for a moment, as if remembering something.
"Oh, and don't worry about your Spiritual Plants being damaged—there's a high-grade preservation formation integrated into the appraisal formation, so no harm will occur."
Mikael gave a small nod before waving his hand, and instantly a thick medicinal fragrance exploded outward as numerous precious-looking Spiritual Plants, heavy with medicinal scent, appeared above the formation, floating in midair as if suspended by nothing.
Which, in truth, was Mikael's Divine Sense holding them so they wouldn't fall to the ground, but as soon as he felt the formation 'hold' them, he withdrew his control, and even then they continued to float as the array activated and began scanning the Spiritual Herbs.
The Elder observed the 'sea of precious Spiritual Plants' with his mouth slightly agape. "This… is effectively not something that can be done at the counter…" he murmured to himself in a tone of mild shock as his gaze swept over the collection.
The worst were in the Body Forging Realm, but there were dozens, nearly a hundred, of Early-stage Spiritual Foundation Realm Spiritual Herbs, with even tens at Mid-stage, and there were even some at the Late Stage!!!!
Author Note:
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I hope you liked this 'optimization' chapter, after all as Mikael said(don't know if he said it in this chapter but I am pretty sure to have written this…sometime) work smarter not harder or better work smarter and harder!
We saw him place effort in increasing the efficiency of his training which make him 'lost' some time but he definitely get it back later and more.
Also the first time we saw alchemy and consequently pills in the novel!
It's been like 110 chapters since he arrived in the Akashic Records Universe(a 'Cultivation World') and he never used pills!
Honestly I don't know how this miracle was possible but as you can understand…it will soon change and you will see how useful the knowledge he acquired turn out to be…
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Want to read ahead? Unlock advanced chapters on Patreon—just search SDASLUMMY.
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— End of Chapter —