In his previous life, Chiba had immersed himself deeply in Taoist inner alchemy, studying methods for preserving innate qi. Among these, the most renowned was the Innate Power:
> "Essence fills the body, illuminating the spirit. The secret teachings grant original enlightenment; nothing owed, nothing left behind."
And from Lu Zu's Zhi Xuan Pian:
> "One essence transforms into three talents, harmonizing yin and yang to form the sacred embryo.
The dragon and tiger follow the ghostly paths, while the tortoise and snake reverse the fire dragon's course.
Infants consume the yellow pomegranate, maidens drink from the white jade cup.
Accomplished merit rests beyond external things, as the world's seasons cycle endlessly."
Chiba recalled these ancient teachings and diligently studied their wisdom.
Three days later, at precisely four in the morning...
[You observe the evolution of innate qi from your giant elephant placenta and, combining it with the ancient sages' method of nurturing innate qi, you have realized the Nine-Turn Promise Innate Skill.]
[Nine is the extreme of numbers, representing the beginning of all things. From the limitless comes Tai Chi, and from it, all things evolve. This skill captures the essence of innate qi, allowing one to nurture it and sustain oneself.]
The system's voice echoed in Chiba's mind as profound knowledge and theories flooded his consciousness. Movements, breathing techniques, and mantras manifested automatically.
Chiba executed each movement with precision, adjusting his breathing and reciting the incantations. The innate qi within him flowed through a mysterious pathway, finally settling in his dantian, where it was stored.
Simultaneously, spiritual energy gathered from all directions, circulating according to the Nine-Turn Promise Innate Skill. After a complete cycle, a trace of pure innate qi was formed and stored in Chiba's dantian.
The Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Energy continued its automatic operation, utilizing this innate qi to nourish the particles in Chiba's body, promoting their evolution into giant elephant placentas.
The two powerful techniques formed a perfect cycle within Chiba's body. With every breath, ten thousand particles began evolving into the giant elephant placenta.
Chiba's strength, which had been stagnant for months, began increasing rapidly once again. He consumed bottle after bottle of foundation-building liquid, but it wasn't enough to meet his energy needs.
The energy required to convert particles into giant elephant placentas was immense. Determined, Chiba delved back into his research, aiming to develop a more potent elixir.
He reviewed the information he had previously gathered on refining the foundation-building liquid. This time, his focus shifted toward maximizing energy provision rather than cell awakening.
Ten days later, at exactly 10:15 PM, the system prompt sounded again.
[You have improved the Foundation Establishment Liquid and created the Foundation Establishment Pill.]
[Foundation Establishment Pill can provide ten times the energy of the Foundation Establishing Liquid...]
With the formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill in hand, Chiba began the refinement process.
---
Three days later, at five in the morning...
The first batch of one hundred Foundation Establishment Pills was successfully refined. The pills, white and smooth, were the size of a thumb and lay neatly on the table.
Chiba picked one up and placed it in his mouth. As it dissolved, the powerful energy flowed through his body like a torrent, rushing to his dantian and spreading throughout his limbs.
Suddenly, Chiba felt a sharp pain in his meridians. He quickly activated the Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Force, allowing the 840 million particles to absorb the potent medicinal power.
Millions of particles began evolving into giant elephant placentas. It was as if Chiba's strength was advancing by leaps and bounds.
After an entire night of cultivation, Chiba consumed ten Foundation Establishment Pills. This enabled 110 million particles to successfully evolve into giant elephant placentas, pushing Chiba's strength to new heights.
Chiba drew his sword. A layer of black Armament Haki emerged from his right hand and spread to the hilt, covering the entire blade. The once snow-white sword now gleamed a dark hue, its edge emitting a faint black light that felt intensely sharp.
With a light swing, a piercing sound cut through the air. Chiba then struck the corner of an iron table.
Shing!
The sword sliced through the metal effortlessly, meeting no resistance.
A satisfied grin appeared on Chiba's face. "As expected, with Armament Haki fully covering the blade, the sharpness has significantly increased."
"Chiba, when did your Armament Haki become so powerful that you can even cover the entire blade?" a surprised voice asked from the doorway.
Chiba turned to see Hina walking in with a cart of breakfast. Today, she had kept her makeup simple and elegant. Her long pink hair gleamed, and her fair face looked delicate and beautiful. Dressed in a rose-red professional outfit, she effortlessly highlighted her graceful figure.
"I just made a breakthrough today, so my Haki has improved," Chiba replied with a smile. He set down his sword, grabbed a large ten-pound drumstick, and began eating.
Although the Foundation Establishment Pill could provide all the necessary nutrients, Chiba still enjoyed eating actual food. There was a satisfaction in eating that pills couldn't provide.
Hina took a deep breath and said, "I'm probably not your match anymore. At the rate you're progressing, Chiba, it won't be long before you reach the quasi-Admiral level. You never cease to amaze me."
"Chiba, I want to test your strength. I'm really curious to see how far you've come."
---
๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฎ. ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐!
๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ:
โข ๐ฝ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ๐๐ช
โข ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ
โข ๐ผ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐๐
โข ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฒ
๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ป๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ:
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐: ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฑ+ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐.
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐-๐ข๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ!
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐. ๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐'๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐!
๐ ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ: ๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ค๐ฃ.๐๐ค๐ข/๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง